Avatar: The Last Airbender (Revisited)
 

The poor reaction to the announcement of title of the same name being released with the Wii has thrown into sharp focus how underappreciated this series is.

Probably the only drawback to this show is that some of the humor and script comes off as childish, but since Nickelodean is trying to market the show to children, that really can't be helped. The rest of the show is extremely well-thought out and the characters are well-developed and entertaining.

The attention given to detail concerning any martial arts exhibited in the show is amazing. The four bending styles in the show (Air, Water, Earth and Fire) are all based on real kung fu styles (Ba Gua, Tai Chi, Hung Gar and Northern Shaolin, respectively). The fight choreography doesn't stop at the bending styles though, and even extends to the different weapon styles used by characters, such as hooked swords, war fans and kamas, and stays very accurate to the original style.

I could go on for hours about how awesome and amazing this show is, but then there wouldn't be much left to discuss. Thoughts? What do you like or dislike about the show? Go!

Really?

Well, that's about it. Past the silliness, it's quite a detailed and VERY good show.

Well, no matter how badass it is, Avatar mode does seem just a bit too much Dues ex Machina.

What do I LIKE about the show?

Everything. I mean, even the childish humor is cute at times, as well as the Love Interest story thing.

Is it me or is Saka just priceless throughout the show, too?

I curse Nickelodeon Netherlands for airing this show right during dinner!
CURSE THEM!

I've only seen a few episodes of it, and I'm in love with it, but I've not seen enough to judge it completely.

Well, if it weren't childish, it would be right up there with the best. But it's always funny, too.

And yes, Saka is there purely for comic relief.

Not entirely! He's just really good when he IS the relief! Remember, he's kicked ass before too, you just never notice becaus Aang is normally topling entire armies with a swing of his arms. :rolleyes:

The detail to the martial arts is easily the best part of this show. Most anime just take things that look like martial arts and use them, Avatar actually gets not only to the detail of the moves but how they are used in combat. I am studying Tai Chi and often find myself naming off the positions the water benders use. FYI the basic water gathering and throwing are embrace ball followed by house parts main.

Haha really funny thing is I learned the technique the swamp water benders use to move their boats the week after seeing that episode.

I sometimes wonder if it really is targeted at kids though. Though you dont see it death is implied. Heck if they had it openly with a touch of swearing and blood and you have a typical anime. Only with fighting much more thought out.

Is there a DVD for this yet? I never see the show on.

There are DVDs out, for the first season. I haven't seen one locally, but you'd probably have more luck than me; if that fails, buy online.

The second season though won't be a while.

Anyway, speaking of the second season, I do love the new characters introduced. Especially Toph.

Since I haven't been able to catch this show, I'll talk about what I know: the game and why almost no one is looking foward to it.

See, it's made by THQ. Those are the guys who make the atrocious Spongebob, Rugrats, Jimmy Neutron, and Power Rangers games. They also make Tak, which I've heard is good, and WWE games, which I admit to enjoying in high school. Still, a less-than-stellar developer/publisher, known for making crummy Nickelodeon games for a quick buck, is one strike.

Then, it's a beat'em up. Now, this is a show about fighting, and there are alledgedly RPG level-up elements in the game, but it's doubtful this'll do anything that TMNT didn't do on the NES.

Another discouraging note is that it's coming out on the Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PSP, Game Boy Advance, and PC. That's eight platforms. How mich love do you think each iteration is going to get, with one studio (THQ, Studio Australia) doing all of them?

Finally, look at some screen shots from the Wii version. Pretty pitiful, yeah?

So, all-in-all, it doesn't look to promising. Sorry.

[QUOTE=Mesden]Really?QUOTE]
Yes really. I could probably write a thesis on this show. I've downloaded every episode and watched through the series a total of three times now as I introduced it to friends.

Anywho, I'd say without question my favorite character is Uncle Iroh. Especially now that he's being fleshed out a bit in the second season. When I get old, I wanna be exactly like Iroh, except I won't have all that firebending n stuff.

As to the game, I suppose I'm just a hopeless optimist. I know that chances are slim to nil that the game will end up being any good at all, but I can dream, can't I?