Avatar: The Last Airbender

I am not anti-cartoon. I watched an obscene amount “Dragonball Z” in college, I love Pixar movies, and I firmly believe “The Lion King” represents a high point in cinema. But I have not bothered to tune into Nickelodeon since the days of “Double Dare” and “David the Gnome”. Therefore when “Avatar: The Last Airbender” first aired it managed to stay clear off my radar.

This was a mistake I began to remedy last summer when I managed to view the first season thanks to the magic of Netflix. I saw, over that summer, a series which had a tremendous heart and a wonderful story. I also found myself more than a little annoyed by the over the top characters, simplistic world view, and the imitative deference shown to Japanese anime.

I was not opposed to continued viewing, but I was not compelled to do so. Therefore I let an entire year slip before diving back into the story of Aang, Sokka, and Kitara. I noticed that the entire series was streaming on Netflix, in preparation for the abysmally reviewed movie no doubt, and decided to give season two a try. Suddenly I was hooked.

The characters came to life, the story grew up a bit, and the series as a whole really gelled together in a unique and engaging way. Sokka was a character that I could not stand in season one, but by the end of the series I was rooting for him more than almost anyone. Zuko had a character evolution nearly equal to that of Wesley from the Buffy/Angel universe. Kitara went from being a the plucky sidekick who needed protection to the plucky sidekick that arguably is the second most powerful person in the series. Aang was fun, but I would have to say that I found him the most uninteresting of our core characters.

A spark of brilliance that came early in season two was the introduction of Toph, the blind earthbender that “sees” with her feet. Toph is a wonderful depiction of a strong self assured female that I would be proud to have my future children model themselves after, minus the nose picking. It is possible that the existence of Toph is what made me go from casual viewer to ravenous consumer of this series.

I will admit that “Avatar: The Last Airbender” takes some getting used to. It is likely that the first season was just as good as the second and third but I simply did not “get” the show until I had spent enough time with it. I reluctantly concede that watching this show with my wife was a bit embarrassing as I am sure she could not see the brilliance of this epic series from the out of sequence episodes she sat in from of while surfing the internet. It did not help that each episode has an orange “Nickelodeon” tag plastered prominently above the opening credits.

Do yourself a favor though and check this series out. If you have a little one to watch it with they act as wonderful cover from your family and friends snide and uninformed remarks. If you do not have a child willing to watch this series with you do it anyway, you will be happy you did!