Avatar: The Last Airbender

Post by **fani** » March 14th, 2007, 9:26 am

hey, I was wondering if anyone has reviewed the Avatar DVD's or actually watch/like the series round here. Go watch it, it's a really good series, and it's NOT an anime ripoff

Post by **cboy666** » March 14th, 2007, 10:46 pm

Haven't reviewed the DVD's but I watch the show some times.

Post by **YCougar** » March 15th, 2007, 1:27 pm

I've enjoyed the show, myself. It's a cartoon that takes itself seriously but throws enough fun in there to keep things entertaining. There are actually a lot of the same characteristics in Avatar that have caused me to enjoy the new TMNT 'toon so much.

The anime influence is mainly stylistic, and not too extreme (thank heavens) I think Katara's rant in the first episode was the most excessive they ever got, and it's been improved greatly since. It's generally more "animated" than most anime, anyway. They also get points for color - lighting will change and the way the characters are colored reflects that. Always a plus in a 'toon for me.

Also, I just love the world in general, as well as the story. Some nice Eastern culture thrown in there, too. I know I'm eagerly awaiting the beginning of the third season.

Post by **Jeroen** » March 15th, 2007, 3:37 pm

When I happen to bump on it while flipping through channels, I leave it on.
What I like most about it is that it has a great epic feel to it wich is hard to acomplish for tv. Great backgrounds too!!

Post by **rebelrex** » May 31st, 2007, 11:19 am

i heard m night shyamalan was considering making a movie about it... not sure what the deal is now though

Post by **Kirby-chan** » June 7th, 2007, 3:49 pm

I own the DVD box set of the first season, if you get the box set, you get a bonus DVD with more behind the scenes stuff than the individual DVDs. I'd reccomend to hardcore fans, but the other DVDs are just the ones you find in the individuals.

And yes, the guy who directed Lady in the Water is in the process of making a three part saga of Avatar in Live Action. I for one, am afraid, I was very dissapointed with LITW, the director seems to concentrate more on character humor than story plot and pacing, and he seems to have a habit of making cameo appearances in his movies. I'm just a little nervouse, this series is one I admire. It has a great story and wonderful characters, what drew me in was the animation, it is so smooth and professional!! I hope the movies don't screw it up.

Code Horror · Post by **Code Horror** » July 29th, 2007, 3:19 pm

I've seen that show, I love it actually.

Post by **YCougar** » July 31st, 2007, 12:05 am

So it's finally been announced... the third season will begin on September 21, 2007.

And here's the official trailer, shown at Comic Con.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2zrv1IRTUM

I can't wait.

Post by **Megagents** » August 2nd, 2007, 9:57 pm

No offense but I believe Avatar's creators must not have enough faith in their own animation skills therefor they went for a "anime style"

Code Horror · Post by **Code Horror** » August 2nd, 2007, 10:11 pm

Megagents wrote:No offense but I believe Avatar's creators must not have enough faith in their own animation skills therefor they went for a "anime style"

As an otaku, I'm offended by what you just said.

Post by **YCougar** » August 3rd, 2007, 1:50 am

That's what I used to think about anime - that it was all jerky because of laziness and/or lack of artistic ability. I've become a little more open-minded since.

Based on what I've read about Avatar, they did a lot of research for the show... and since it incorporates a lot of Eastern culture, an anime-type style probably made the most sense. But even then its look isn't wholly "anime" but not in the poser way that USA-made anime-like shows are. This is a strength, I think.

Still, I've never been an anime fan (my preference will always be for fuller animation, and the art style itself is not my favorite) but I love Avatar. The artistic quality (color schemes, backgrounds) besides the story keep me coming back for more. And since the lower framerate is used effectively to make some gags funnier, I can deal.

(...Though to be fair, all you're losing with a lower framerate is silky smoothness. If the show is to look good at all, regardless of how many drawings per second, you have to have skilled animators. The difference is not having to deal with all that inbetweening. And it's not like American TV shows are much smoother anyway - it's all about saving enough money to keep the show afloat.)

Post by **Megagents** » August 3rd, 2007, 10:24 pm

Code Horror wrote:
Megagents wrote:No offense but I believe Avatar's creators must not have enough faith in their own animation skills therefor they went for a "anime style"
As an otaku, I'm offended by what you just said.

I didn't mean they settled on an anime style, I meant they think the only way to get people to like their cartoon was to go anime style because it's popular.

I'm really starting to get tired of this anime craze and how people put down American animation, even though it's American animation that inspired anime in the first place.

Check out this thread I made ---> http://retrojunk.com/forums/showthread. ... ight=anime

Code Horror · Post by **Code Horror** » August 3rd, 2007, 11:19 pm

Megagents wrote:
Code Horror wrote:
Megagents wrote:No offense but I believe Avatar's creators must not have enough faith in their own animation skills therefor they went for a "anime style"
As an otaku, I'm offended by what you just said.
I didn't mean they settled on an anime style, I meant they think the only way to get people to like their cartoon was to go anime style because it's popular.

I'm really starting to get tired of this anime craze and how people put down American animation, even though it's American animation that inspired anime in the first place.

Check out this thread I made ---> http://retrojunk.com/forums/showthread. ... ight=anime

So Eastern countries tell better stories through animation, so what? It's popular and I hope Anime and its popularity never dies.

Post by **GRUNT** » February 11th, 2008, 11:12 am

Huge Avatar fan right here *waves hand* :].

I own the DVD boxed sets for the first and second season ('Books' 1 and 2). Sadly. they don't contain the mini-comics that come with the individual DVDs

. However, I think that the special features you get in the boxed set are the same as you can find if you own all the individual DVDs, so you may want to get the individual ones instead of the boxed set unless you just like boxed sets :].

Waiting for the Book 3 boxed set

.

Avatar's great stuff. I love how the action is....well, PROPER action. It's very inspired by both Hollywood and Hong Kong films.

Post by **Foxtale** » February 11th, 2008, 7:04 pm

I am an avatar fan although sometimes the 'anime-esque" style gets to me (even though I love anime) but I think it has a great story. I also think it is great that a company tried to do an epic story and it caught on so well and gained so much popularity. Does any body know how many seasons they planned for the series? Or did they not have a definite plan, and try to keep it a float for as long as possible like most American cartoons?