Netflix has brought back Avatar The Last Airbender. One of the most loved shows of the 2000s cartoon era. Not only that but Netflix is also producing a live action series of Avatar The Last Airbender. This is the best time to be alive if you are a geek. Many people wonder why Avatar the last Airbender is so popular. If you haven’t watched the show, give it a try, most likely you will not regret it.
It was a show that debut in 2005 in Nickelodeon. When it came out it was absolutely amazing and quite a surprise. Nickelodeon was not well known for having anime style cartoon on their network. It was not the first show inspired by anime like Winx Club, W.I.T.C.H and Totally Spies.
But it was not just the fact that it looked like anime. The Last Airbender was popular for several reasons. It was not just a show for kids. After Netflix started streaming it in 2020, people swarmed to the video streaming website to watch it again. I personally have watched it over ten times. Yes TEN TIME! I don’t get tire of it. The show is so good, I have memorized many lines.
Enough talk, lets find out why this show is so popular, decades later.
The Writing
There are many ideas for TV shows and movies that make it to the big screen and on television. However, one of the reasons why it flops is because of the writing. The movie could look amazing as far as cinematography, art work, fashion design, character make up and so on. However, if the story is not well writing and if the story contradicts itself then people are going to go online and leave those nasty one star and two star reviews. This is what happened to the Rise of Skywalker.
The writing in Avatar the Last Airbender was so well done and well research. From the martial arts styles and the eastern cultures and philosophies, even adults fell in love with the show. The creators hired a professional martial artist that specialized in Chinese Martial Arts. The reason the writing was so good its because it was grounded in reality.
The writers of Avatar were also really good at foreshadowing. For example: we don’t see Azula until season 2 but she is included in other scenes of season one. The giant lion turtle in season 3 was actually foreshadowed in season 2 when Aang and the gang went to the spirit library (with the giant owl).
The characters are well written and they have their own episodes for their development. Also the world itself was beautifully written. The four nations and their elements. The martial arts styles that go with the bending styles. Everything was well researched and well thought out. There was a lot of heart put into this show.
The Art Style
One of the problems with western animation now a days is that they dont want to put in a lot of effort into making cartoons with real human proportions. Many animation studios in America are using Flash animation which just makes the show look terrible and the movement very robotic. Hand draw animation is much better and makes the movement of the characters look more fluid and smoother.
Unfortunately many animation styles are switching to Flash animation because its cheap and it gets done much faster. They don’t put a lot of effort into their animation. Avatar The Last Airbender on the other hand was done with a lot of love. Each episode of Avatar the last Airbender cost about $1 – $2 million dollars. It was hand drawn and made with love and care.
The art style of Avatar was influenced by Japanese anime which is now the leader of animation. Anime is wildly popular and since there was an anime boom back in the early 2000s, I believe that was one of the reasons why it was successful. People wanted more and more of it. Some people were convinced it was a Japanese anime but no, it was made it America.
It Was Simple
Avatar the Last Airbender was not this complicated Game of Thrones style of story. It was light hearted, it was funny and it was a great adventure. People like to be entertained by a show without getting so confused. That was one of the problems with shows like Game of Thrones (although it was awesome). Game of Thrones was so complicated that some people got lost. However, when you watch Aang and the gang go on their adventures, you know where they are going, you know who all the characters are but they still surprise you. There were two stories being told in Avatar, Aang’s story and Zuko’s.
There were many bad guys in Avatar The Last Airbender but final boss battle was Fire Lord Ozai. Everything in Avatar was leading up to the fight with Ozai. We enjoyed watching Aang learn all four elements and anticipated the final fight. Everything was simple yet surprising. The story kept you at the tip of your seat along with laughter and it was heart warming.
We Love The Characters
Come on, you know you love Sokka. The comic relieve of the group who has no bending abilities. However, is not just Sokka but how the characters interact with each other. We all kind of knew that Aang and Katara were going to fall in love. Also the fact that Toph was blind and people forgot that she was blind was too hilarious. It was one of the few shows where a group of people would be in danger and then be able to crack corney jokes for kids.
We loved the characters. We miss the characters. We all miss Katara, but most of all, we miss Sokka and his way with girls. Strangely enough everyone loved Zuko. Despite of being a villain, people loved Zuko. He had a bad temper, he was emotional but he turned out to be a great guy. Zuko has the best character development I have ever seen.
People Learned Something From It
Avatar The Last Airbender was based on eastern cultures, religions and philosophies. One of those religions is Buddhism. Some say its a way of life and some say it is a religion. Either way, it is highly important in the Avatar series because Aang was raised by the Air Nomad monks, who were based off Buddhism. The philosophy of the airbenders is that of the Buddist in India and China.
Regardless of what country you are from we all draw knowledge from Buddhism, one way or another. One of the episodes that was filled with knowledge was “The Guru.” The episode about opening the seven chakras was filled with life lessons for all ages.
We are still obsess with Avatar the last airbender because we learned valuable life lessons that we do not learn in our everyday life. It is spiritual and that is why Avatar The Last Airbender was so popular and so good.
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