Why I’m suddenly obsessed with Avatar: The Last Airbender

As some people may know Avatar: TLA was recently put on Netflix, and much like that one Japan season of Queer Eye it stuck on my ‘recommended for you’ every time I logged in or even looked at the main screen thing for Netflix. Don’t get me wrong I do love a good cartoon, but I kept putting (okay for like a week but I saw that ad a lot okay!?) this one off. It was one of those moments where I thought about how uncultured I was for not having seen it yet but somehow talked myself out of watching it every time. I think I’m still smarting after the season finale of Voltron (we don’t talk about her).

Anyways, I’m currently on episode 9, or 10(?) of season 3 and I’m sitting back and am kind of baffled in a good way. The show has a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, I know that M Night Shyamalan film is simply not spoken of but it kind of makes me wonder how someone could butcher such good content.

To those who haven’t seen it (I fully urge you to do so it’s easy watching) the show follows a world where society is split into four nations which are also the four elements; fire, water, earth and air. Select people of these nations can also control and use these elements and are called benders, the Avatar can control all of them and is claimed to bring ‘balance’ to the world. The fire nation has waged a 100-year war in its efforts to be supreme rulers and in this time have wiped out the Air Kingdom and immobilised the majority of the water and earth kingdoms. In the first episode we follow two young water tribe siblings (Katara and Sokka) as they discover Aang, the last Airbender and the Avatar, frozen in ice where he has remained for the past 100 years. The story follows them as they travel the world helping Aang mastering the other three elements and fighting back against the fire nation.

It’s so wholesome sometimes I just can’t even.

There is something so tragic about every single protagonist in the series, they’ve lost parents or children or been through something traumatic and had to deal with the aftermath. The themes of the show are really mature and sensitively handled by the show runners, making difficult situations like genocide understandable through the framework and sensitivity surrounding the dark subject matter.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a sucker for a redemption arc and this show does not disappoint. (kinda spoilery) Prince Zuko of the fire nation is one of my favourite animated characters ever. He is so single mindedly determined to get his father’s approval and praise but when he finally gets it, he has the devastating realisation of a hollow victory. The character progression and growth weren’t the only one to surprise and impress me, even the main protagonist and secondary characters had movement in their narratives which, in cartoons, can sometimes be difficult to decipher through the plot.

The world-building is fantastical and original, using oriental influences from their martial arts to the scenery and architecture. Ranked as one of the greatest animated shows of all time I recommend to anyone and everyone who loves light-hearted action and comedy. The show has heart and linear narrative with minimal plot holes, the characters are all relatable and have been through strife yet still remain hopeful. For a cartoon aimed at kids it really highlights how dark subject matter doesn’t always have to be tackled head on to be explained.

A sequel series called the Legend of Korra was released by Nickelodeon after the success of Avatar and, despite being quite a bit darker than TLA has still gained praise for being a good show. The world and universe of Avatar had so much potential that the number of books and graphic novels following the show is really rather large, with big storylines like The Promise being adopted by fans as cannon.

As I finish writing this post I actually finished the third season of Avatar and wow that ending was a goodun. Just going to say here and now that Iroh is so underrated and an actual icon. Shows like this are known for focusing on the children and their paths often leaving the adults two dimensional and plot points. Iroh, the Dragon of the West, is perhaps one of the most interesting characters in this show with so much backstory that is never fully explained (lmao hmu with the deets if you know them bc I wanna know asap) which I found really refreshing.

Also Toph amirite.

There is a lot more to say but this is kinda long already so go watch this show! I kinda love it.

All images ©Nickelodeon