Avatar - La leggenda di Aang

This is show is one of the best shows ever created. There are many great lessons in this show that all people (adults and kids) should learn. The show delves into many branches of philosophy, including moral philosophy, that teaches people how to think critically and to always help and understand others. The show has a fantastic plot filled with great comedy and character development. The show has great action scenes as well! I highly recommend this show to everyone!

Avatar The Last Airbender shouldn't be underestimated. For a while I didn't even look twice at it due to it being on Nickelodeon and me being past the age of watching anything on Nick aside from the classic Nicktoons or Nick shows from the 1990s. But word got around that it was really fantastic, a sort of Kung fu style show where a master goes from place to place having adventures. Turns out the people I heard the word from weren't kidding: the saga of Aang, the last airbender and Avatar, who masters the four elements (air, earth, water, fire) and has to save the world by stopping the power-hungry fire lord, Ozai, is as epic as anything I've ever seen. It's an achievement of storytelling that creeps up on you, and while the first season isn't perfect the second season delivers episode after episode that enriches the characters and makes us care about them as we would in, for obvious example, Star Wars.

In fact, the only minor complaint I would have against the second season (not sure yet about the third) is that it borrows quite heavily from the Empire Stikes Back (i.e. the 'one-who-will-save-us-all' mythology from Joseph Campbell is off training with an old master, feels his friend(s) in pain and danger in the future, rushes off before finishing training, bad things ensue, etc). But really, all of the characters get developed quite well, and if anything the development of the character Prince Zuko, a scarred son of Ozai who has been banished until he can bring back the Avatar along with his banished uncle Iroh, is astonishing in its complexity. We don't care about this character at first, in the first season he comes off like a whiner with Iroh as the wonderful comic relief (think Pokemon if the brother and sister weren't so annoying). But by season two a whole other dimension comes into play: who are you, and what are you doing with yourself?

The trek with the three main characters, and the extra characters like Toph (a little blind girl who is one of those great bad-asses you have to see to believe), is one that is sophisticated enough to bring in adults, and for kids it's often just rollicking fun when it isn't deep or dark. The villains are convincing and scary, the humor hits when it needs to (and sometimes it can be just downright trippy and hilarious, like the second episode of season two, the Cave of Two Lovers), and the animation is often breathtaking. As they say on the internet now: it's made of Win!

It seems rare for Nickelodeon to turn out a good new show these days, and even more rare for me to like an anime style cartoon, which is why I'm baffled as to why I love this show so much. Having not missed an episode yet, and having a reminder for new episodes on my desktop, I've seen that it just keeps getting better and better as it goes. Some of the story lines are predictable, but that doesn't turn me off of Avatar as it might some other things, which just adds more to my confusion as to why I love this show so much. Many kudos to Nickelodeon, this is easily greatest show since Rocko's Modern Life (IMO) and after Spongebob Squarepants, that is most definitely saying something!

OK, so I was 12 when this show came out and needless to say, I was completely enamored by it. For a TV station like Nickelodeon, best known for its wacky shows like SpongeBob, Rocko's Modern Life and their sitcoms like Drake and Josh, to suddenly come out with this anime-inspired animated series with deep philosophical themes as well as tackling genocide and war, this was a massive step forward.

Of course, this isn't the first form of media that has incorporated the power of the elements, but their method of how they do it here is remarkable. For every element to be adopted into its own nation, reflecting the psyches and philosophies attributed to the respective element is truly inspiring.

All the characters are written for and performed expertly, save for maybe some of the guest characters (*cough cough* Jet). My favourite character by far is Zuko. The progression and development of this character is incredible and captures perfectly the transition from villain to antihero to hero. Aang is a good character too, but he's a bit of a goody-two-shoes half the time. Katara and Sokka are equally appealing characters, as well as Toph.

The brilliance of this show is that it is perfectly paced. Sure, you get the occasional filler episode, but every episode (leaving out The Great Divide) has a purpose and adds more layers to this intriguing story and the world it is set in.

Again, for a children's show to incorporate seriously heavy topics and still have a silly sense of humour is just impressive. I get annoyed every time someone stereotypes this series as just a 'kids show', brushing it off. This show can be watched by someone of any age, and that is one of the reasons I admire it so much. It's not pandering at all and tackles the heavy subject matter in a mature way.

Sadly, after The Legend of Korra, Nickelodeon never seemed to follow in the footsteps of Avatar which I found upsetting. Kids need more shows like this, if I'm being honest.

I don't know when, but for me, Netflix started streaming Avatar and I was like my childhood, It calls to me. As I mentioned I'm sitting here alone in my apartment in quarantine rewatching my favorite show from when I was in middle school. 14 years later and as an adult I'm sitting here crying because of all the emotion that's portrayed in every episode. It's just so real. It might be the massive amounts of alcohol that I'm consuming on my own but I swear, this show is so heartfelt and raw. Practically every episode tackles loss, friendship, bravery and humility all tied in with some friendly humor. The show holds up so well. 10/10 would recommend even without the wine.