“Avatar: The Last Airbender” remains an all-time favorite show for this reporter. PHOTO CREDIT: Amazon.com
I used to watch a ton of cartoons when I was younger –– probably too much, but that’s another subject matter –– including “Teen Titans,” “Looney Tunes,” “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “Tom & Jerry,” but my all time favorite was “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
In summary, the show is about four nations based on the main four elements: earth, water, air and fire. Every nation had benders, or certain civilians who possessed the power to bend the element of their nation. The Fire Nation decided to attack the other nations and dominate the entire world. With this, people depended on a powerful being known as the Avatar, the only person who possesses the power of all four elements and is reincarnated once the prior Avatar dies. Unfortunately for everyone in this world, the latest Avatar, Aang, had been missing for over 100 years.
I remember watching the show when I was younger, and I know that I enjoyed it very much. However, when I saw it on Netflix last year, I realized I’d completely forgotten every aspect of it. When I tried to remember the show, I had very faint thoughts about the plot and characters. I entirely forgot about the plot of the second and third season, as well as the main heroes and villains of the show.
I decided to rewatch it when it first came out on Netflix, and I decided to rewatch the entire series again this week. I have to say, it is still one of the best cartoons that I have ever watched. It is so entertaining and exciting to watch. Even though I have watched it numerous times, I still feel surprised at every scene.
My favorite season has to be either season two or season three. Season two is great mainly because of the introduction of Azula and Toph, who are two of my favorite characters after Aang and Appa. Season three I also love because of the intensity of the show, and the final battle. The fight scenes are ridiculously well-animated and thought out, and the sound effects are so awesome that I actually watched a video on the people behind the sound effects for the show. They had so many props and items in a room that they used to make walking sounds, fighting sounds and even eating sounds.
When watching the show, I noticed little things that I had not before when I was younger. For instance, I noticed that Aang slowly lost his cheerfulness and became more serious and cold as the show progressed. To be fair, he slowly came to the realization that he is the only one in the world who can save everyone and defeat the Fire Lord from taking over the world. Another thing I noticed, which was surprising to me, was that Katara and Sokka are not twins. When I first watched this show, I thought that they were twin siblings, and I thought both of them had water-bending abilities. Turns out, Sokka is older than Katara, and Katara is the only sibling, and the only Southern Water Tribe Member, who can bend water.
It was so much fun watching this series again because of how funny it is; I honestly keep on forgetting just how funny. Between Sokka just being his dopey self and Toph being an absolute boss, I’m thoroughly entertained while watching. As stated before, the fight scenes are also entertaining; every time I watch one, I act as if I don’t know who is going to win. I also slightly sadistically get excited when I think Fire Nation villain Azula has either lost or died, but then she just springs up and fights again.
“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is still one of my favorite cartoons to watch, and I continuously rewatch it for pure entertainment and enjoyment. “Avatar” is a very good show to watch if you’re feeling down or just want to watch something with comedy, drama and action all in one show. You can laugh while watching Sokka make a fool of himself, and then throw your remote when you see Azula show up for the 86th time to try and kill Aang and the others.