lherman - 2017-02-04 14:40:07

I take the time to write a review on this one because of a characteristic very special to this anime. I used to watch it on TV when I was a kid and of course it was very good, very funny. Then I watched the whole thing again as an adult, and found a whole new level of humor and story that as a kid I hadn’t understood! It’s like a totally new show! It’s amazing.

walter.davion - 2017-01-19 14:25:27

It occurs to me that in the spaces between these written reviews, I do a lot of thinking about less specific things, more the strange concepts and feelings that stick with you. Emotion is something that drives some of the best films, games and television that I’ve had the privilege to watch. But sometimes the greatest joy in experiencing these wild feelings, the best aspects of the things I’ve come to review are the moments that have taken careful time and keen precision to build towards. Those fantastic moments of tangible glory, heartache beyond compare and those singular times we can see ourselves portrayed in those moments we come to remember.

So you can gather from the slightly dramatic tone that I may have liked the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, our focus for a review today. But that would be to undersell what I thought. To be passionate and joyful in explaining myself is what I hope to get across because this final season, this build-up to the end of all this adventure, paling around and emotional see-sawing has proved itself entirely a fitting finale to an incredibly well written and enjoyable series. If I was to recommend the third season of Avatar, I would. But with a caveat.

It’s common knowledge to not best start things halfway or toward the end, because of course you may spoil yourself on things or be confused by what you might find. I knew a long time ago the results of this series and the plot itself I’d already spoiled myself on a time ago. But I will reiterate a moot point because I feel I have to plead in this case, I have to urge you; please watch the first two seasons of Avatar before you watch this one. Not just for the knowledge you’ll gain so you know your Suki’s from your Ty-Lee’s, but for what I have to say is the most wonderful pay off to dozens of conversations, intimate moments and emotional outpouring’s that build characters that you connect with.

The personal character arc’s of villains such as the Fire Princess, Azula, the conflicted Prince Zuko, the troubled Aang, the determined Katara, the charming Sokka… well, just naming characters won’t do us any good, but there is an incredible feeling that rides with watching these characters grow. I’ve not felt such a confidence in seeing characters change and knowing it’s not always for the purely ‘better’ or ‘good’. Complications arise that I was barely aware of to begin with. A plot line involving the murdered mother of Katara and Sokka shows a complex vengeance that rests within the otherwise motherly manner that Katara presents and with the complication of some dark things she’s learned, it leads her into a rather thrilling episode trying to track down her mother’s killer. Zuko and his development is perhaps the most renowned exponent of why people should watch the show and all I’ll add to that discussion is the interactions between him and his father, sister, girlfriend, friends and uncle lead to perhaps one of the first moments to reduce me to tears in watching this show. Make no mistake, though it’s taken three seasons to get to this point, I would regard it as a powerful moment that makes this entire animation a must watch. Though the main characters development is terrific in so many ways, it is the rise and fall of Princess Azula that by its end had me fascinated and heartbroken. With her development it revealed the frail insecurities hidden within herself and the relatable fears, of measuring up to others, to want for love and doubt it’s existence even though you know it’s there, to be fearful of even your closest friends. If I was to recommend something less said, I would highly put forward observing her character arc for a master class in how to produce relatable villainy as well as a tragic one.

One of the things I’ve been told to help my style of writing is to try and focus in a little more on the specifics. But quite honestly that’s not what I find drives me to write about these shows, to talk about recommending them. Season 3 of Avatar drove me on because it hit emotional points that I wasn’t quite aware I was being spurred on to feel. It’s easy to fear exposition on your emotions over a show that’s really aimed for children but in all honesty, recommending this show as a twenty-five year old adult comes easy, exactly because it reminds me of why feeling for characters, learning to go with things even if you’re not quite sure where you’re going with them, is so important to a good show and to me.

I would recommend this show, for children, for adults, for elder people and young people alike. It has something amusing and interesting for everyone. But do enjoy the entire show if you can. Even if you stop for a little halfway or thereabouts, don’t hesitate to finish Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’ll leave you feeling something and sometimes, that’s more than enough.

schumm.rowan - 2016-05-12 16:04:45

A world full of benders and invented creatures that will make you forget that it doesn't even exist. It was my first anime ever, but beeing a kid I didn't realize that for a long time. The characters are on point as well as the soundtracks. 

I saw all three seasons and wished for a fourth. What more to say?

thiel.lura - 2015-03-24 03:43:09

There are so many things to say about Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3:Fire. It is simply better than Korra.

maribel27 - 2014-05-05 14:30:32

First off, I would like to say that this show is a wonder to all. It animation is executed beautifully and the story is well thought out. I enjoy my time with this show as it had little tiny snip-its of fun and laughs along with it's daring amount of action, danger and excitement (Of course I'm talking about all the fire an explosions! Boom! Pow!)

Overall it is an amazing show with nearly no flaws. And the finale is one of the most action packed I have seen out of an american show such as this.

I would recommend this to someone who is looking for anything really in a show, this show as a lot of everything. And it's PG too! :D

davis.ellis - 2013-11-11 19:17:52

The incredible tale comes to a close.

Amazing, phenomenal story. Gorgeous animation. Beautiful and epic music. Excellent characters. This is a show that I shall always hold close to my heart.

jaron.botsford - 2013-10-18 06:30:59

Note: This review is a review of all three books.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a western cartoon that can match up with anime due to it's story, characters and it's anime-styled animation. Heck, during the it was still airing people were confused if whether Avatar is an anime or not. Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the creators and the writers of the show, admitted that their inspiration was anime along with some Hong kong Action films and Kung Fu cinemas. Some of the anime that they mentioned were the Miyazaki movies and Fooly Cooly. Honestly, if Avatar would ever be an anime, it would be one of the best shonen out there. Now enough of that and let's get it on to the review.

Story/Characters

The story is set on a fictional world where there are only four thriving societies. The water tribe, the earth kingdom, the fire nation and the air nomads and with each nations, the people there can control and bend their own respective elements. Bending have become part of their culture and and their daily lives however everything changed when the fire nation attacked and disrupted the peace and prosperity. The Avatar is the only person who can master the four elements and bring balance again to the world but when the world needed him most, he suddenly vanished. The war have continued for at least 100 hundred years and the fire nation is almost on complete victory. However on a faithful day, two water tribe siblings have founded a boy in the iceberg and they discovered that he was the new Avatar and so, the journey to save the world begins.

Sounds pretty basic huh? But honestly what matters the most is execution and this is what Avatar have done right in both story and characters. Our main protagonist is an airbender named Aang, which is not your typical angsty protagonist in a war ridden era. Granted, he have acted like that in some cases but it was justified and it was part of his character development. He was mostly a cool headed and a goofy kid but can also be serious if necessary. As the avatar, he both a moral and ethical obligation to the world but his own beliefs, being raised by monks, is also challenged for being the avatar and this is what makes him an interesting and a strong lead. His development to a goofy and funny kid to a great, responsible Avatar is simply compelling. Now we got also the two water tribe siblings, Katara and Sokka. Katara is the main heroine and unlike most heroines in a show like this, she is not fucking useless like Sakura Haruno or Inoue Orihime in Bleach and she have helped to save the group many times. She is also a strong girl not just only in terms of bending skills but also mentally. She also acts as the motherly figure of the group and she doesn't feel annoying at all....most of the time. Her brother Sokka is no slouched either. He is the comedic relief character but he is also the strategist and tactician of the group and have made great contributions for the group. Despite being a comedic relief character, yes he also developed and became a sturdy strong swordsman but still retaining his sense of humor and sarcastic attitude. "SPARKY SPARKY BOOM MAN!"

As they travel, they also have met new companions and of course, enemies. Toph Bei Fong is a blind loli who joined Team Avatar and she is a very skilled earth bender and boy, she is indeed skilled. I would say that she is one of the greatest earth bender during her time and it was really surprising for her age. Despite being blind, that helped her to become a very skilled earth bender but also one of the reason why she was secluded to the world by her family and causing her to have some family issues. Speaking of family issues, my favorite character in the entire series would be Prince Zuko of the fire nation. The antagonist of the series. He was banished by his father in the fire nation and was cursed to forever find the Avatar. Why he was banished is up to you to find out by watching the show. Zuko is probably the most dynamic and most developed character in the series. I won't spoil that much but his conflict within himself and his interaction with his uncle iroh(another character that i really like) have made him choose some good and bad decisions in life which would the catalyst for his great character development after so many mistakes in his life. Whether he would be redeemed and would not be redeemed is again up to you to find out. The villains are also good especially Azula, Zuko's sister and the complete of opposite of him. She is a sociopath who aims for perfection but there is always a reason why. Finally, the main villain of the series, Fire Lord Ozai. Okay, he might come off as a one dimensional villain to many people and quite frankly, he is but he is intimidating, a psychopathic tyrannic ruler of the fire nation and a worthy adversary of the avatar. One of the reasons why he is awesome is also because of his voice actor.

Overall the story might be slow paced at times especially during book one and the first half of book two. I haven't disliked or hated a single character in this series as they are all dynamic, interesting and fun characters to watch and to root for. They might not be that deep and the story might not be edgy or that deep but since when does a story needs to be edgy for it to be good? Avatar despite being garnered for kids, have dealt with many mature themes and to me, the best kind of kid show is something that everyone can enjoy and have mature themes in them. The series is also not entirely black and white and the characters have made decisions that challenged their own beliefs and to me, and many fans of the series will agree that the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender is it's forte.

Animation:

The Animation is smooth and much fluid than most anime and that is somewhat not surprising considering american studios have more budget. As i said before the character designs are very anime-influenced. The visuals and the background is really not that impressive and there is some inconsistency in the animation. The character expressions are believable and the lips syncing is spot on. The fight scenes are also very well choreographed as the actors themselves was taught kung fu and other eastern martial arts by the use of technology, they are able to integrate the real life fight scene into animation.Although, It can be somewhat inconsistent at times and some of the effects they use are quite average but there is a significant amount of increase in the quality of animation in each book.

Sound:

It's mostly made of traditional japanese, chinese and native american original soundtrack but quite frankly, nothing really stands out and catchy with probably the exception of the main theme song of Avatar. The actors really did a great job of portraying the characters in this though. It's a perfect example of how an english dub anime should be done. Not saying that anime english dubs sucks though, they are still great. Well, some of them. Aang was voiced by multi talented Zack tyler who sounds great at both being a goofy and a serious character. Katara was voiced by Mae Whitman, Sokka being voiced by Jack DeSena who really sounds hilarious whenever he is saying some goofy jokes or during some comedic scenes, Toph Beifong being voiced by Jessie Flower whom have the cutest voice of them all, Dante Basco as Zuko who sounds like a teenager despite being like what? 38 years old? Uncle Iroh being voice by Mako Iwamatsu and also was Mako's last character to be voiced(R.I.P) there fore Iroh sounds a legit wise old man, Grey DeLisle as Azula which is really perfect because she made Azula sounds Intimidating, cunning and sexy at the same time and last but not the least, Mark Hamill as Fire Lord Ozai who voiced the Legendary agent of chaos, The Joker in the animated series and the Arkham games. I mean come on this is Mark Hamill! How can not the villain of this series not be awesome with that voice?

Enjoyment:

The series was a very enjoyable series and will forever have a place in my heart. The story might be simple but the execution is great, the characters are all interesting and fun to watch, the action scenes are thrilling to watch like your good ol kung fu movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the soundtrack fits perfectly well to the series and a high caliber voice acting. The series will forever remained as one of the best if not the best animated TV series that have come from america and will surely be remembered by those who have keep of track of the series since the very first day it aired in their television. So what are you waiting for? Go watch it now and enjoy one of the most fun and epic adventure in animated form!

xreinger - 2013-08-26 23:32:59

Legends and Last Airbenders: A Summary of All Avatar so Far..