I’m surprised you managed to make a video about this and keep it to only 11 minutes. It would need to be at least 5 hours to cover everything great about the show
I completely agree!!! It is a cult classic. It is the whole childhood of a generation!!! The writing, the characters, the world building, the magic system...it is simply epic. It is work done right!!! 😁👍
@@johnypanta6208 cult classics are usually niche shows/movies/books/etc. (Firefly, the Warriors) that are loved, but not popular. I know like 3 people who haven’t seen it, and those that do all love it.
Yay, I’m so excited for more Merphy Avatar content. Avatar: The Last Airbender is masterful storytelling, but it’s also incredibly influential to much children’s and young adult media that came after it. It’s my favorite show as well, but I also feel like it’s kind of a part of me because I had benefit of watching it as a kid when it aired.
Yeah, I remember watching it when I was 10 and I LOVED it, then I watched it again two years ago when I was 21 and I LOVED IT MORE, and obviously appreciated it more. A total masterpiece. One thing remained the same, Toph will always be my favorite character of Avatar haha❤❤
Avatar the last Airbender is the first show aimed for kids I've seen that actually chose to be healthy in its romance and shipping, not going for the "chemistry" option when the characterization doesn't mesh and I'll always love ehasz for doing that. Sadly couldn't be repeated in korra
Avatar is one of the only shows out there (others include clone wars and breaking bad) that got better as the seasons went on and didn’t overstay its welcome. The writers knew that season 3 was the perfect finale and didn’t add an unnecessary season 4. It led to every character and story arc being concluded and the 20 episodes per season allowed each storyline to develop slowly with often full episodes focusing on certain characters. Plus it really utilises the medium of animation so well with such creative fight choreography and action as well as some truly hillarious facial expressions that elevate a lot of the jokes. It’s also a show that doesn’t look down on children and truly trusts them to understand and handle a lot of this content to a degree, creating a show that’s perfect for kids and adults
Fun fact: The writers actually wanted to go on for a fourth season: where Zuko finds his mother and Azula gets a redemption arc. I think the main writer said something along the lines of, "When Iroh was there for Zuko, Zuko would be there for Azula." But I hear it got cancelled for the movie...
@@Suplex479, S3 was not as strong but definitely not a lot worse. The story didn’t flow as well but it has a lot of the best episodes in the show and the character work is just as strong as S2, maybe even better.
Exactly! They are truly masters of their craft. Also I agree with Clone Wars! With the exception of Season 7, which kind of ruined a lot... they should not have included Anakin or Padme because they butchered their arc which ended perfectly for Episode 3 in Season 6. They should have made the Ahsoka storyline into a "movie" and saved the bad batch arc for a long prologue episode for the Bad Batch and not included it in the Clone Wars. (There were a lot of things I feel like the directors of Season 7 did not do well and this would have helped with those issues or made them irrelevant.)
@@ThatOneLadyOverHere, those final 4 episodes of S7 are honestly the best Star Wars content ever though even if the rest of the season wasn’t as strong
I just love how my little sisters knew this show was good when I got glued to it with them. Kids shows are RARELY written well, and while there are movie productions made for "all ages", there are rarely shows where the story and plot does not totally underestimate the viewer, while not being vulgar and inappropriate for kids.
A lot of the newer older kid shows (like last decade or so, so not always that new) are pretty interesting to watch as adults because they have cohesive storylines and get pretty deep. Not necessarily as good as Avatar, but still good and worth watching.
Iroh's scene where he's visiting his son's grave hits me every time. I loved Mako's voice acting. He was taken from us too early. If you continue to do more videos about Avatar the Last Airbender, I hope you'll also do the post series books as well.
What makes this show SOOOO great is how human it is... EVERY character is flawed, but NOT ONLY the characters, the societies are flawed as well! There are good and bad people everywhere in the world, every one group of people has a struggle and admirable virtues as well. This show can definitely make you believe this is a real world, because of how familiar of a reflection on our society it is, no matter where you come from (IRL lol). But lastly, OMG, they tackle on SO MANY real social issues BUT in a brilliant, smooth, respectful way. With this show a kid can learn about war, poverty, establishmentarianism, human suffering, grief, death... SO MANY REAL LIFE STRUGGLES, but BEST OF ALL, there is absolutely no political affiliation in it, any parent can teach their kids about all these issues however they like!! ITS PERFECTION!
I think what makes it great is something that doesn't get really talked about because it seems so obvious: how much thought and intentionality was put into it. If you watch the commentaries you get an idea of just how much thought goes into the bending forms, their martial art inspirations, how they make it look and feel tangible, how it connects to the characters spiritually. Like just look at toph, who is the only earth bender whose bending draws on mantis style instead of the typical hungar used by most earth benders. I forget exactly but I think it was an old legend that it was developed by a blind woman or something like that. They had a martial artist expert as an advisor to come up with ideas like this based on what the writers were thinking. He also instructed the animators in all the martial arts so they could feel it in their very being and animate it well. And we wonder why future adaptations fall short lol
I totally agree with you, Avatar is just a so well done show, it's still one of my favorites show from my infancy, the world is just to interesting to visit and explore , I love bending so much and how each characters use it and even if is the same element is still unique for each one and there is no character that I don't love or that is not important for the plot itself, and that's why I love this show so much, I've already rewatched it like 3 times.
One of my favourite things about the series is that each of the bending styles pulls from real martial arts. Water Bending - Tai Chi, Air Bending - Ba Gua (Circle Walking), Earth Bending - Hung Gar, Fire Bending - Northern Shaolin . And there are also specialized bending where Toph actually uses a different style called Mantis style because it involves limited use of the eyes.
Honestly this shows depth on the whole bending is what hooked me. I LOVE THE BENDING so much I used to try waterbending when I went swimming and earthbending when I went hiking and rock climbing. And the fact each nation and bender had their own darkness, not just portraying firebenders as the villains (the dai li and hama the bloodbender). Such an awesome show!
YES Hama was SUCH a good way to present what (if memory serves) was basically the theme of season 3. The subversion of Hama being an "evil waterbender" really slaps the viewer in the face with the idea that anyone can become a monster. That theme of the complexity of people and seeing that no one culture/people is inherently bad or good, individuals make choices, individuals decide whether to use their abilities to help or to harm. And that monsters don't often spring out of nowhere. They're often a person with a flawed response to something. Cases like Hama, Azula, and Zuko come from a place of pain and suffering. Hama shows us what happens when we let our pain blind us and make us bitter and hateful. Azula shows us, well, a lot, but in large part she shows us what happens when fight our pain too much and hurt others just to not have to face it. Zuko is the hope, at the end of his arc he is what happens we allow ourselves to heal and process pain, and use that experience to better empathize with and help others.
You could do a master class on stylized fight scenes just from the last agni kai. SPOILERS for the end of the show The primary Zuko-Azula part of the fight has no dialogue, no other characters involved or reacting, no flashbacks, no internal monologues, nothing but the music and the sound of roaring flames (which if I’m remembering correctly is slightly muted and distant under the music). The world-level stakes of the fight are established beforehand, and the personal stakes/relationship of the characters is established in the two simple lines of dialogue right before the fight starts. The show knew it had already done the heavy lifting to make this fight meaningful, and it trusted the medium, animation, to stand on its own for 2-3 minutes uninterrupted while letting the viewer use their brain to fill in all the things a lesser show would spoon feed throughout the fight.
I love Avatar. I think one of the things that make it great is how intentional the writing is, and how it uses familiar tropes/themes in meaningful ways. For example, “the war” is something we see in many fantasy stories, but Avatar did not just use war as a setting or backdrop for the action to take place in. It wasn’t just an explanation for the plot or an excuse to have action scenes. The war was meaningful and impactful to every character. It also took us beyond the battles and fight scenes that get highlighted by stories set in a time of war. We also see the scars (literally and metaphorically) left by the conflict (whether that be on individual characters, communities, or even nature itself). War isn’t just an excuse to have the bad guys and good guys fight each other. It is an internal motivation for our characters. It also shows that war isn’t divided between good guys and bad guys. There are people in the Fire nation who are good people, and people in the Earth kingdom/water tribe who are terrible people. Also, the way disability is written in this story is unique, or at least not seen often. Toph’s blindness isn’t a label that tags her as a token character. Her blindness affects her and her character, but she is able to overcome her challenges, not by negating them, but by building strengths to manage them. Toph is still blind (as the characters often forget) but she is not helpless. Other characters with disabilities also show that they can participate in the story despite their very real limitations. I could go on and on. This is such a great story.
"What's so great about Avatar!?" is what has been running through my mind since I heard Merphy mention it for the first time. I have been LONGING for this video. Thanks!
The fact that people are still revering a children's show almost 2 decades after it first aired is a testament to how amazing and influential this show is.
This show came out when I was 10. I love it so much. When my best friend passed away I was in a really bad piece, avatar studios was announced the next day. I just cried, and Monk Gyatso’s word filled my mind,”You can not focus on what was, you must act on what is” tears kept flowing because amidst all the tragedy I was happy.
Aaron Ehasz and his wife truly were phenomenal writers! I love this show so much-especially the finale. That scene where Sokka is hanging on to a dangling Toph by the fingertips while saying “I don’t think boomerang is coming back…” literally gets me so emotional just thinking about it! And the Tale of Iroh makes me cry every time!
I watched this series as a kid back when it came out on nickelodeon. I was too little to really understand the complex topics it approached and now being older I only love it more. This is a series that I rewatch every year and every once in a while I breakout singing “SECRET TUNELLLLL”. A must watch for EVERYONE
Have you read the Kyoshi novels? If not, you should. As good as the main show? Eh, maybe not. Still great? You beat cha. And, they are super fast reads too. You get to see more of the ATLA world and people too.
I love that your talking about avatar again! I found avatar through you and some of my best memories with my brother was when I would go down to his room and watch avatar late into the night with him. We are definitely mega fans😂. Also another thing that I love about it is that it is so quotable!!
I bought the entire show on DVD last year in anticipation of my daughter becoming old enough to watch it. (I have no idea when that is, though. In four years? In 8?) She is going to love it, or so help me. Yes, DVD. It is what they had, and I want to own it and not be at the mercy of the whims of streaming services. It is that important to me.
Bending is awesome but I love that Bending also connects to the infrastructure of each region . Architecture , transportation , business . It's an element of world building that isn't visible in a lot of fiction
I have been with Avatar since day one. I remember putting on the TV that night and was instantly hooked. I have rewatched Avatar and Korra at 20+ times completely. The foreshadowing and imagery is amazing. This is my favorite franchise and I adore it. I have read all the material taking place before the series with the Kyoshi novels then the comics which is slowly bridging the gap between Avatar and Korra. I also listen to the podcast with Janet Varney and Dante Basco (who i met irl) Braving the Elements. Then I patiently wait for more content in this wonderful universe. It is my comfort series. Sorry about the long tangent.
I couldn't put my finger on it, but you really captured why I love the Avatar world so much. It feels like a real, populated place..every region has its unique quirks and dangers, fashion trends. The costume design goes unapplauded but it really enhances the worldbuilding...they don't just wear different colours but there are different styles and materials used across the nations. Not only that, but you can see class difference in the clothes, nobles and working class, as well as military regalia. Super stunning.
There are many scenes I can watch out of context and STILL cry (Iroh singing leaves from the Vine, Iroh forgiving Zuko, Katara grabbing Aang's hand when he goes into the Avatar state because of Appa, Roku's dragon curling up with him before being consumed by the Volcano, etc.) 😥
Avatar is a masterclass in every aspect of storytelling and I believe any medium can learn from it. From worldbuilding that takes very little exposition and is mostly Show don't Tell, unique characters that never feel similar where you confuse them with each other and they never make decisions that seem out of character just to advance the plot. Then the fantasy/power elements (bending in this case) is perfectly engrained in every detail from their character arcs to plot (by which I mean it makes most sense that the fire nation would rule even if you take characters out of the equation, because of all the technology and damage potential that fire allows. Especially with it being the only element that is created from the bender, even the weakest.) It's just perfect
Absolutely a master piece worth studying. Composition is worth studying as well because they know what they are doing there too. The way they handle the left and right sides of the screen, or where they put everything is just so well thought through. Literally things I have been taught in art class and it's such a good example of different ways to use the same art concept in different senarios.
If you like Avatar you'll definetely love "Wakfu". (avaible on Netflix) Why did you never heard about it ? Because it's a french animated TV show and I've heard the english dub wasn't very good, so consider subtitles if you need it. But this show deserves way more love outside of France.
Yes! Merphy + Avatar, she keeps pumping out so much of the stuff I love! One piece, Hunter X Hunter, Avatar... I swear if she wasn't married I'd ask her to marry me 🤣
I think the introduction of Toph was when I knew this show was something special when it came to characters. Before this show, any time I'd see a show with a disabled character, they were always a one-off, the main focus of the episode, and were pitied, but would often get really, dramatically upset about just wanting to be treated like everyone else, with their disability ignored. But Toph took an approach much more like myself with my own disability. She didn't whine or complain about it; she would outright make jokes about her own disability. And while yes, she wanted to be independent, she would still get irritated when people overlooked her blindness in the few instances where it did actually affect her (like people asking her to read stuff). I dunno, she just felt much more like a real disabled person than just some... I don't even know how to describe it. Personified PSA?
Personally I think that the best part about the bending system is how you can tell exactly what every movement of the character does in relation the the element. A convention I go to every year has a martial arts team perform routines of the bending arts live and you can literally imagine exactly what the bending would look like if they animated it into the show. Every single action has a clear reaction, which makes it feel so grounded and real
I adore Sokka and his arc. It's much more understated than, say, Zuko's ark, it's very gradual, but it's one of the best things. Man I just love Sokka so damn much, he's such a great character.
favorite thing about the avatar series is that there are subcultures in each nation, it helps make the journey feel more real and exciting. its like a fun roadtrip through a continent.
Ive rewatched your Avatar review videos about a dozen times so I am super pumped for more! I dont know how familiar you are with childrens animation shows nowadays, but you can find Avatars influences all over them. So many things that are basically requirements for a good animation show (multi-dimentional characters with arcs, a diverse, lived in world maybe with an accurate map that the viewer can refrence, magic systems with rules and limitations) are things so many of the creators saw first in Avatar.
I like to describe the brilliance of Avatar by borrowing the term "Gesamtkunstwerk", translates as "total work [of art]". Wagner coined it to talk about his philosophy that the best opera is one where he had total control over the music, lyrics, story, and even choreography and staging, so all components could work together. But I think the term works even better to describe Avatar. Not that one person had total control, but that regardless of that, every aspect is not just brilliant on its own, but feeds into each other to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Yes the world building is great, and the choreography is amazing, and the character development is extraordinary, and the animation and music are beautiful. But beyond each individual component, the choreography is inspired by the world building, the characters' developments are so beautifully inspired by their relation to their cultures, the music feels like it grows and tells us more about the characters, the music and art feel authentic to the style of the world building, etc. It all pieces together as a total work, a Gesamtkunstwerk.
omg agreed to every single point!!! I first watched Avatar when it was coming out when I was a kid and have re-watched countless times and it's just incredible. It gets better every time which shouldn't be possible LOL
the humor in this show is there for the reason it excists at all. to helo us through tough times. laughing about unfortunate things is what makes it easier to deal with
I appreciate the choreography of this show. I believe it was unprecedented or rare for an animated TV show to use motion capture since this show did come out in the early 2000s. This show was way ahead of its time.
If there's any show that could rival Avatar the Last Airbender, it's probably Arcane. The level of detail and craftsmanship that went into ATLA is incredible, but Arcane was just absurdly good. Hope you end up covering Arcane, Merph, because you'd absolutely love it
The music, the writing, the characters, the pacing, the structure, the filler, the arcs, the set pieces, the setting, the magic system, the power scaling, the sound effects, the voice acting, the character designs, the
I'm glad to see you talking about avatar! Gives me hope that there may be more tv content on your channel in the future. I'd love to see a review on Arcane for exemple. The only show that tops avatar on my list.
Aw this vid came out the same day my roommate and I finished watching ATLA! I'd seen it before, she had not. Extremely satisfying watching her watch the developments
Everything you said but also I love that Avatar breaks away from the idea you have to kill the baddy to win. Aang found another way to win, kinda conveniently actually just happening on a giant lion-turtle that just gave him what he needed, but whatever. I always loved that and I don't think I've seen it anywhere else.
Back then I'd see thumbnails from the series for years thinking it's just some cartoon, and when i finally got around to watching it, except for some filler episodes, I was blown away by it. Aangs last internal struggle befor the finale sticks with me till this day, I had never befor seen a series, especially one generally for kids and teens, tackle something like that in such a good and powerful way. It also reminds me a bit of full metal alchemist:brotherhood, allthough i think this one has the more memorable cast and humor, while brotherhood takles darker themes in more depth, but I guess great works shouldn't be compared in that way. Just writing this to recommend that series as well, tbh! Looking forward to more videos on the avatar, it's one of my all time favs, and besides, with you reviewing one piece, hunterXhunter and mistborn, you've become my go-to channel for in depth reviews on series and books I like anyways !
My favorite part of Avatar has to be how they handle adult topics in a way that childen can understand them. War, genocide, revenge, redemption, fighting for freedom. Speaking as someone who grew up watching this series, being able to go back and pick up new themes each time i rewatched it, because I had reach a new level of emotional maturity, was phenomenal.
This is my favorite show as well!! I was wanting to watch right away and chime in and chat but couldn’t get around to it. I speak for many when I say I will LOVE more videos! My favorite aspect of AtlA is the balance between being kid friendly, wholesome and also deep/heavy. The fact that it can be enjoyed by young kids, teenagers AND fully grown adults even STILL, is incredible to me. I watched this live as a pre teen and have probably seen it all the way through 8 times or more! Hope to hear a lot about Zuko and Iroh in your coming videos
To me the reason is that it's a children's show. It was, mostly, made for children and yet it contained well build world, character arcs, important topics such as friendship, revenge, justice etc. It was my first show that contained serious topics so it just stick with me.
I agree, I think that's the secret sauce. It's deep, layered, beautiful, amazingly written but it's brought in a fun, light-hearted charming package. It doesn't try to lean too hard on one end or the other, it has that PERFECT balance that funny enough is a major component of bending lol
It's a perfect show. Even the ending is largely considered one of the rare finales that fans don't hate! Something that may not get enough credit are the young voice artists, though, and what a great job they did. (Let's be honest, kid actors can be hit-or-miss)
Excited to see more avatar videos! It's great watching your journey of watching avatar to now. Avatar has been my favorite show every since it ended! I can rewatch it many times and it never gets old.
keep talking about this show. I can't get enough enjoyment from this show. Between the series itself and being able to share my enjoyment of this show with people on youtube, it is fantastic and keeps it going.
Avatar is tied with Firefly for my favorite show. As different as they are they have a lot of similarities, like how one is an ancient world fantasy and the other is future sci-fi and both mix silly humor with intense drama so well.
Other than the stuff you mentioned, a big reason why I love the show is how well rounded the ending was. Everything felt earned and you felt satisfied that you watched a great story unfold. And as I've seen more and more shows mess up the ending I have only grown to appreciate atla's ending even more
I think the character arcs are done so well! My personal favorite is Zuko. I also love all the different places that we go in the Avatar world...like Ba Sing Se and Kyoshi's home...not to mention the Air Benders temples.
I think the thing that makes me really like this show is a lot of the same reasons I love One Piece, which is my favorite series. Between the use of comedy, heavy themes, emotional moments, world building, lovable characters, etc. it manages to execute on all of them really well. Toph best character!
This show is definitely on the top 10 of "things that ever played on TV". As you implied more than once in previous Avatar videos, I cannot believe this is a Nickelodeon cartoon (same way I cannot believe Gravity Falls is Disney's). I was already 20 when this series premiered, and seeing the orange silly-putty splattered on it definitely did not encourage me to pick it up, in fact, it did the opposite. Some time later, perhaps even a few years, I accidentally caught an episode on air TV on a holiday morning, and I was blown away. As I did not have access to cable TV back then, and air TV does not care about playing things in order, I bought a few CDs, went to an internet café with a 512 kbps ADSL broadband connection, launched Kazaa to the dismay of all the gamers there, and proceeded to download the whole damn thing (this all happened on Minecraft, for legal reasons)
Just want to say I watched this after the character breakdown vid, and I’m hooked. Love your style and enthusiasm. Can’t wait for more, and looking forward to the backlog.
I'm all here for more Avatar-content :) Love this show. I watched it as a child and rewatched it since than a couple of times. Even as a kid I loved the highly emotional darker scenes the most. Also the past with the Avatar before Aang and his connection to Zuko. It's so good. Also the way they show how old Aang really is, with Bumi and the air-temples. My most watched scene as a kid was the dance-sequence between Aang and Katara. The dance is so beautiful ! An aspect which is sadly not mentioned often is the clothes. They are so gorgeous and the many character specific details make them so personal, different and distinct to every character. I absolutely love every thing about Avatar XD
I got goosebumps when you used the clip from Zuko and Azula's final fight. The subtle, tense music creeped into my mind and I could just envision his foot sliding as his stance is nearly broken. All that to say, everything in ATLA is amazing. I was a fortunate kid who watched it from episode one, eagerly awaiting the next episode each week. I know I've seen it over a dozen times. It doesn't get old and, unlike a lot of things from childhood, the quality is only enhanced with age as I discover even more about how detailed and wonderful they made that show. I'm constantly looking for stories I love as much as ATLA and it's rare that I am blown away like that. Oh, the joys of being a critical writer.
I wish there would be like some Avatar-OnePiece-Crossover in the future, it would be so nice if the Straw Hats would meet Aang and co. At least Zoro could get lost and find himself in the Avatar-Verse. He could become friends with Sokka and train him :D
I'm all here for more ATLA related content! Glad you're enjoying your rewatch! I think I usually watch through the show at least once a year on average, and it never gets old. There's always some different aspect that I'll enjoy even more than usual depending on where I'm at in life while watching it it seems like.
I’m surprised you managed to make a video about this and keep it to only 11 minutes. It would need to be at least 5 hours to cover everything great about the show
I completely agree!!! It is a cult classic. It is the whole childhood of a generation!!! The writing, the characters, the world building, the magic system...it is simply epic. It is work done right!!! 😁👍
@@johnypanta6208 cult classics are usually niche shows/movies/books/etc. (Firefly, the Warriors) that are loved, but not popular. I know like 3 people who haven’t seen it, and those that do all love it.
Facts
Yay, I’m so excited for more Merphy Avatar content.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is masterful storytelling, but it’s also incredibly influential to much children’s and young adult media that came after it. It’s my favorite show as well, but I also feel like it’s kind of a part of me because I had benefit of watching it as a kid when it aired.
Yeah, I remember watching it when I was 10 and I LOVED it, then I watched it again two years ago when I was 21 and I LOVED IT MORE, and obviously appreciated it more. A total masterpiece.
One thing remained the same, Toph will always be my favorite character of Avatar haha❤❤
Me too!
Avatar the last Airbender is the first show aimed for kids I've seen that actually chose to be healthy in its romance and shipping, not going for the "chemistry" option when the characterization doesn't mesh and I'll always love ehasz for doing that. Sadly couldn't be repeated in korra
Hard agree 👏
By chemistry do u mean the dramatic bs that ussually happens in romance? Then i agree fully
@@bradeye1133 I think they mean attempting to show chemistry when the characters don't have it
@@avriel6903 ah fair
Avatar is one of the only shows out there (others include clone wars and breaking bad) that got better as the seasons went on and didn’t overstay its welcome. The writers knew that season 3 was the perfect finale and didn’t add an unnecessary season 4. It led to every character and story arc being concluded and the 20 episodes per season allowed each storyline to develop slowly with often full episodes focusing on certain characters. Plus it really utilises the medium of animation so well with such creative fight choreography and action as well as some truly hillarious facial expressions that elevate a lot of the jokes. It’s also a show that doesn’t look down on children and truly trusts them to understand and handle a lot of this content to a degree, creating a show that’s perfect for kids and adults
Fun fact: The writers actually wanted to go on for a fourth season: where Zuko finds his mother and Azula gets a redemption arc. I think the main writer said something along the lines of, "When Iroh was there for Zuko, Zuko would be there for Azula."
But I hear it got cancelled for the movie...
Season 3 was a lot worse than season 2
@@Suplex479, S3 was not as strong but definitely not a lot worse. The story didn’t flow as well but it has a lot of the best episodes in the show and the character work is just as strong as S2, maybe even better.
Exactly! They are truly masters of their craft.
Also I agree with Clone Wars! With the exception of Season 7, which kind of ruined a lot... they should not have included Anakin or Padme because they butchered their arc which ended perfectly for Episode 3 in Season 6. They should have made the Ahsoka storyline into a "movie" and saved the bad batch arc for a long prologue episode for the Bad Batch and not included it in the Clone Wars. (There were a lot of things I feel like the directors of Season 7 did not do well and this would have helped with those issues or made them irrelevant.)
@@ThatOneLadyOverHere, those final 4 episodes of S7 are honestly the best Star Wars content ever though even if the rest of the season wasn’t as strong
The avatar is one of those showes I’ve watched multiple times a year since it came out and I don’t think I’ll ever stop
I just love how my little sisters knew this show was good when I got glued to it with them. Kids shows are RARELY written well, and while there are movie productions made for "all ages", there are rarely shows where the story and plot does not totally underestimate the viewer, while not being vulgar and inappropriate for kids.
Truth
A lot of the newer older kid shows (like last decade or so, so not always that new) are pretty interesting to watch as adults because they have cohesive storylines and get pretty deep. Not necessarily as good as Avatar, but still good and worth watching.
All of this!👏🏾
Iroh's scene where he's visiting his son's grave hits me every time. I loved Mako's voice acting. He was taken from us too early.
If you continue to do more videos about Avatar the Last Airbender, I hope you'll also do the post series books as well.
She already has a few videos on the books, check her avatar playlist
😢i can hear the song just reading you talking about the scene.
What makes this show SOOOO great is how human it is... EVERY character is flawed, but NOT ONLY the characters, the societies are flawed as well! There are good and bad people everywhere in the world, every one group of people has a struggle and admirable virtues as well. This show can definitely make you believe this is a real world, because of how familiar of a reflection on our society it is, no matter where you come from (IRL lol).
But lastly, OMG, they tackle on SO MANY real social issues BUT in a brilliant, smooth, respectful way. With this show a kid can learn about war, poverty, establishmentarianism, human suffering, grief, death... SO MANY REAL LIFE STRUGGLES, but BEST OF ALL, there is absolutely no political affiliation in it, any parent can teach their kids about all these issues however they like!! ITS PERFECTION!
I think what makes it great is something that doesn't get really talked about because it seems so obvious: how much thought and intentionality was put into it. If you watch the commentaries you get an idea of just how much thought goes into the bending forms, their martial art inspirations, how they make it look and feel tangible, how it connects to the characters spiritually. Like just look at toph, who is the only earth bender whose bending draws on mantis style instead of the typical hungar used by most earth benders. I forget exactly but I think it was an old legend that it was developed by a blind woman or something like that. They had a martial artist expert as an advisor to come up with ideas like this based on what the writers were thinking. He also instructed the animators in all the martial arts so they could feel it in their very being and animate it well.
And we wonder why future adaptations fall short lol
I totally agree with you, Avatar is just a so well done show, it's still one of my favorites show from my infancy, the world is just to interesting to visit and explore , I love bending so much and how each characters use it and even if is the same element is still unique for each one and there is no character that I don't love or that is not important for the plot itself, and that's why I love this show so much, I've already rewatched it like 3 times.
One of my favourite things about the series is that each of the bending styles pulls from real martial arts. Water Bending - Tai Chi, Air Bending - Ba Gua (Circle Walking), Earth Bending - Hung Gar, Fire Bending - Northern Shaolin . And there are also specialized bending where Toph actually uses a different style called Mantis style because it involves limited use of the eyes.
Good examples. Also in the Korra series they highlighted : Jeet June Do , Wing Chun and Western style Boxing
All true
Honestly this shows depth on the whole bending is what hooked me. I LOVE THE BENDING so much I used to try waterbending when I went swimming and earthbending when I went hiking and rock climbing. And the fact each nation and bender had their own darkness, not just portraying firebenders as the villains (the dai li and hama the bloodbender). Such an awesome show!
YES Hama was SUCH a good way to present what (if memory serves) was basically the theme of season 3. The subversion of Hama being an "evil waterbender" really slaps the viewer in the face with the idea that anyone can become a monster. That theme of the complexity of people and seeing that no one culture/people is inherently bad or good, individuals make choices, individuals decide whether to use their abilities to help or to harm. And that monsters don't often spring out of nowhere. They're often a person with a flawed response to something. Cases like Hama, Azula, and Zuko come from a place of pain and suffering. Hama shows us what happens when we let our pain blind us and make us bitter and hateful. Azula shows us, well, a lot, but in large part she shows us what happens when fight our pain too much and hurt others just to not have to face it. Zuko is the hope, at the end of his arc he is what happens we allow ourselves to heal and process pain, and use that experience to better empathize with and help others.
@@Kuhboose1 catastrophes of war. Whereas azulas got severe narcissism mixed in with a conqueror complex due to her mommy issues
Avatar is one of my very favourite series, and very close to my heart because of fond childhood memories. ☕
You could do a master class on stylized fight scenes just from the last agni kai. SPOILERS for the end of the show
The primary Zuko-Azula part of the fight has no dialogue, no other characters involved or reacting, no flashbacks, no internal monologues, nothing but the music and the sound of roaring flames (which if I’m remembering correctly is slightly muted and distant under the music). The world-level stakes of the fight are established beforehand, and the personal stakes/relationship of the characters is established in the two simple lines of dialogue right before the fight starts. The show knew it had already done the heavy lifting to make this fight meaningful, and it trusted the medium, animation, to stand on its own for 2-3 minutes uninterrupted while letting the viewer use their brain to fill in all the things a lesser show would spoon feed throughout the fight.
I love Avatar. I think one of the things that make it great is how intentional the writing is, and how it uses familiar tropes/themes in meaningful ways. For example, “the war” is something we see in many fantasy stories, but Avatar did not just use war as a setting or backdrop for the action to take place in. It wasn’t just an explanation for the plot or an excuse to have action scenes. The war was meaningful and impactful to every character. It also took us beyond the battles and fight scenes that get highlighted by stories set in a time of war. We also see the scars (literally and metaphorically) left by the conflict (whether that be on individual characters, communities, or even nature itself). War isn’t just an excuse to have the bad guys and good guys fight each other. It is an internal motivation for our characters.
It also shows that war isn’t divided between good guys and bad guys. There are people in the Fire nation who are good people, and people in the Earth kingdom/water tribe who are terrible people.
Also, the way disability is written in this story is unique, or at least not seen often. Toph’s blindness isn’t a label that tags her as a token character. Her blindness affects her and her character, but she is able to overcome her challenges, not by negating them, but by building strengths to manage them. Toph is still blind (as the characters often forget) but she is not helpless. Other characters with disabilities also show that they can participate in the story despite their very real limitations. I could go on and on. This is such a great story.
"What's so great about Avatar!?" is what has been running through my mind since I heard Merphy mention it for the first time. I have been LONGING for this video. Thanks!
The fact that people are still revering a children's show almost 2 decades after it first aired is a testament to how amazing and influential this show is.
@@undead890 Man I have never seen it. But Merphy is making a pretty good case for it!
@@kevinboerner8397 It's definitely worth a watch if you haven't already.
Everything.
The answer is everything is absolutely fantastic about the series.
Uncle Iroh accepting and forgiving Zuko will never not be a tearjerker.
This show came out when I was 10. I love it so much. When my best friend passed away I was in a really bad piece, avatar studios was announced the next day. I just cried, and Monk Gyatso’s word filled my mind,”You can not focus on what was, you must act on what is” tears kept flowing because amidst all the tragedy I was happy.
Avatar: the Last Airbender is just perfection. ❤ This is my favorite animated show ever!
Sokka has always reminded me of Usopp! And both are such incredible characters
I am re-watching The Last Airbender every 2-3 years. And love it till today.
The following comics are great too, btw.
Aaron Ehasz and his wife truly were phenomenal writers! I love this show so much-especially the finale. That scene where Sokka is hanging on to a dangling Toph by the fingertips while saying “I don’t think boomerang is coming back…” literally gets me so emotional just thinking about it! And the Tale of Iroh makes me cry every time!
more merphy avatar content?? yes please!
I watched this series as a kid back when it came out on nickelodeon. I was too little to really understand the complex topics it approached and now being older I only love it more. This is a series that I rewatch every year and every once in a while I breakout singing “SECRET TUNELLLLL”.
A must watch for EVERYONE
Have you read the Kyoshi novels? If not, you should. As good as the main show? Eh, maybe not. Still great? You beat cha. And, they are super fast reads too. You get to see more of the ATLA world and people too.
I love that your talking about avatar again! I found avatar through you and some of my best memories with my brother was when I would go down to his room and watch avatar late into the night with him. We are definitely mega fans😂.
Also another thing that I love about it is that it is so quotable!!
I bought the entire show on DVD last year in anticipation of my daughter becoming old enough to watch it. (I have no idea when that is, though. In four years? In 8?) She is going to love it, or so help me.
Yes, DVD. It is what they had, and I want to own it and not be at the mercy of the whims of streaming services. It is that important to me.
I love Zuko... I think his arc is the most satisfying, when he asks Iroh for forgiveness... wow, just remembering it makes my eyes teary
Bending is awesome but I love that Bending also connects to the infrastructure of each region . Architecture , transportation , business . It's an element of world building that isn't visible in a lot of fiction
I have been with Avatar since day one. I remember putting on the TV that night and was instantly hooked. I have rewatched Avatar and Korra at 20+ times completely.
The foreshadowing and imagery is amazing. This is my favorite franchise and I adore it. I have read all the material taking place before the series with the Kyoshi novels then the comics which is slowly bridging the gap between Avatar and Korra.
I also listen to the podcast with Janet Varney and Dante Basco (who i met irl) Braving the Elements. Then I patiently wait for more content in this wonderful universe. It is my comfort series.
Sorry about the long tangent.
I couldn't put my finger on it, but you really captured why I love the Avatar world so much. It feels like a real, populated place..every region has its unique quirks and dangers, fashion trends. The costume design goes unapplauded but it really enhances the worldbuilding...they don't just wear different colours but there are different styles and materials used across the nations. Not only that, but you can see class difference in the clothes, nobles and working class, as well as military regalia. Super stunning.
Best animated series EVER. I keep rewatching it at least once a year.
There are many scenes I can watch out of context and STILL cry (Iroh singing leaves from the Vine, Iroh forgiving Zuko, Katara grabbing Aang's hand when he goes into the Avatar state because of Appa, Roku's dragon curling up with him before being consumed by the Volcano, etc.) 😥
Avatar has had such a massive impact on my life. Its art, characters, music, animation, world... I could go on and on
Have you read the Kyoshi series? If not I DEFINITELY recommend it because it really expands the world.
Avatar is a masterclass in every aspect of storytelling and I believe any medium can learn from it. From worldbuilding that takes very little exposition and is mostly Show don't Tell, unique characters that never feel similar where you confuse them with each other and they never make decisions that seem out of character just to advance the plot. Then the fantasy/power elements (bending in this case) is perfectly engrained in every detail from their character arcs to plot (by which I mean it makes most sense that the fire nation would rule even if you take characters out of the equation, because of all the technology and damage potential that fire allows. Especially with it being the only element that is created from the bender, even the weakest.)
It's just perfect
Absolutely a master piece worth studying. Composition is worth studying as well because they know what they are doing there too. The way they handle the left and right sides of the screen, or where they put everything is just so well thought through. Literally things I have been taught in art class and it's such a good example of different ways to use the same art concept in different senarios.
If you like Avatar you'll definetely love "Wakfu". (avaible on Netflix)
Why did you never heard about it ? Because it's a french animated TV show and I've heard the english dub wasn't very good, so consider subtitles if you need it. But this show deserves way more love outside of France.
Yes! Merphy + Avatar, she keeps pumping out so much of the stuff I love! One piece, Hunter X Hunter, Avatar... I swear if she wasn't married I'd ask her to marry me 🤣
Avatar The Last Airbender and Star Wars The Clone Wars were my childhood.
I just love all your discussions about ATLA and what it means.
I think the introduction of Toph was when I knew this show was something special when it came to characters. Before this show, any time I'd see a show with a disabled character, they were always a one-off, the main focus of the episode, and were pitied, but would often get really, dramatically upset about just wanting to be treated like everyone else, with their disability ignored.
But Toph took an approach much more like myself with my own disability. She didn't whine or complain about it; she would outright make jokes about her own disability. And while yes, she wanted to be independent, she would still get irritated when people overlooked her blindness in the few instances where it did actually affect her (like people asking her to read stuff). I dunno, she just felt much more like a real disabled person than just some... I don't even know how to describe it. Personified PSA?
Personally I think that the best part about the bending system is how you can tell exactly what every movement of the character does in relation the the element. A convention I go to every year has a martial arts team perform routines of the bending arts live and you can literally imagine exactly what the bending would look like if they animated it into the show. Every single action has a clear reaction, which makes it feel so grounded and real
I adore Sokka and his arc. It's much more understated than, say, Zuko's ark, it's very gradual, but it's one of the best things. Man I just love Sokka so damn much, he's such a great character.
I love Avatar, I always wished that I could bend metal. It's such an interesting series. Glad to see it being discussed here :)
favorite thing about the avatar series is that there are subcultures in each nation, it helps make the journey feel more real and exciting. its like a fun roadtrip through a continent.
I’m not sure if you have read it yet, or if it’s on your schedule, but I highly recommend the Avatar Kyoshi novels. I absolutely love Kyoshi’s story.
Ive rewatched your Avatar review videos about a dozen times so I am super pumped for more!
I dont know how familiar you are with childrens animation shows nowadays, but you can find Avatars influences all over them. So many things that are basically requirements for a good animation show (multi-dimentional characters with arcs, a diverse, lived in world maybe with an accurate map that the viewer can refrence, magic systems with rules and limitations) are things so many of the creators saw first in Avatar.
I like to describe the brilliance of Avatar by borrowing the term "Gesamtkunstwerk", translates as "total work [of art]". Wagner coined it to talk about his philosophy that the best opera is one where he had total control over the music, lyrics, story, and even choreography and staging, so all components could work together.
But I think the term works even better to describe Avatar. Not that one person had total control, but that regardless of that, every aspect is not just brilliant on its own, but feeds into each other to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Yes the world building is great, and the choreography is amazing, and the character development is extraordinary, and the animation and music are beautiful. But beyond each individual component, the choreography is inspired by the world building, the characters' developments are so beautifully inspired by their relation to their cultures, the music feels like it grows and tells us more about the characters, the music and art feel authentic to the style of the world building, etc. It all pieces together as a total work, a Gesamtkunstwerk.
The best part is the show remains amazing every time you rewatch it. I’m blown away each time.
Avatar 🤝 One Piece
Having perfect world-building, story-telling, and characters who will make you cry over and over and over again.
Yay, I've missed Merphy Avatar content so much! I think the relationships and character arcs in this show are what truly make it stand out.
Answer: everything 😂 It’s good to hear her talk about Avatar again it’s what made me discover her channel
omg agreed to every single point!!! I first watched Avatar when it was coming out when I was a kid and have re-watched countless times and it's just incredible. It gets better every time which shouldn't be possible LOL
the humor in this show is there for the reason it excists at all. to helo us through tough times. laughing about unfortunate things is what makes it easier to deal with
I appreciate the choreography of this show. I believe it was unprecedented or rare for an animated TV show to use motion capture since this show did come out in the early 2000s. This show was way ahead of its time.
If there's any show that could rival Avatar the Last Airbender, it's probably Arcane. The level of detail and craftsmanship that went into ATLA is incredible, but Arcane was just absurdly good. Hope you end up covering Arcane, Merph, because you'd absolutely love it
What there many anime that do that too
The music, the writing, the characters, the pacing, the structure, the filler, the arcs, the set pieces, the setting, the magic system, the power scaling, the sound effects, the voice acting, the character designs, the
I'm glad to see you talking about avatar! Gives me hope that there may be more tv content on your channel in the future. I'd love to see a review on Arcane for exemple. The only show that tops avatar on my list.
Aw this vid came out the same day my roommate and I finished watching ATLA! I'd seen it before, she had not. Extremely satisfying watching her watch the developments
Great video! Are you still planning to review The Rise of Kyoshi novel?
Ok, you've persuaded me, I'm gonna go and watch the series.
Everything you said but also I love that Avatar breaks away from the idea you have to kill the baddy to win. Aang found another way to win, kinda conveniently actually just happening on a giant lion-turtle that just gave him what he needed, but whatever. I always loved that and I don't think I've seen it anywhere else.
Back then I'd see thumbnails from the series for years thinking it's just some cartoon, and when i finally got around to watching it, except for some filler episodes, I was blown away by it.
Aangs last internal struggle befor the finale sticks with me till this day, I had never befor seen a series, especially one generally for kids and teens, tackle something like that in such a good and powerful way.
It also reminds me a bit of full metal alchemist:brotherhood, allthough i think this one has the more memorable cast and humor, while brotherhood takles darker themes in more depth, but I guess great works shouldn't be compared in that way. Just writing this to recommend that series as well, tbh!
Looking forward to more videos on the avatar, it's one of my all time favs, and besides, with you reviewing one piece, hunterXhunter and mistborn, you've become my go-to channel for in depth reviews on series and books I like anyways !
I rewatched Avatar a month ago and found your videos about it so its nice to see you talking about it again!
My favorite part of Avatar has to be how they handle adult topics in a way that childen can understand them. War, genocide, revenge, redemption, fighting for freedom.
Speaking as someone who grew up watching this series, being able to go back and pick up new themes each time i rewatched it, because I had reach a new level of emotional maturity, was phenomenal.
This is my favorite show as well!! I was wanting to watch right away and chime in and chat but couldn’t get around to it. I speak for many when I say I will LOVE more videos!
My favorite aspect of AtlA is the balance between being kid friendly, wholesome and also deep/heavy. The fact that it can be enjoyed by young kids, teenagers AND fully grown adults even STILL, is incredible to me.
I watched this live as a pre teen and have probably seen it all the way through 8 times or more! Hope to hear a lot about Zuko and Iroh in your coming videos
To me the reason is that it's a children's show. It was, mostly, made for children and yet it contained well build world, character arcs, important topics such as friendship, revenge, justice etc.
It was my first show that contained serious topics so it just stick with me.
I agree, I think that's the secret sauce. It's deep, layered, beautiful, amazingly written but it's brought in a fun, light-hearted charming package. It doesn't try to lean too hard on one end or the other, it has that PERFECT balance that funny enough is a major component of bending lol
there’s a video about avatar’s silent world building on the channel ‘savage books’ and it is SO GOOD. highly recommend!
It's a perfect show. Even the ending is largely considered one of the rare finales that fans don't hate!
Something that may not get enough credit are the young voice artists, though, and what a great job they did. (Let's be honest, kid actors can be hit-or-miss)
I love Avatar, especially the new books that are coming out.
The Kyoshi Duology was so incredible!
Avatar is what brought me to your channel, glad to see you talk about it again
Excited to see more avatar videos! It's great watching your journey of watching avatar to now. Avatar has been my favorite show every since it ended! I can rewatch it many times and it never gets old.
Just started watching and am halfway through season 1. Enjoying it quite a bit so far.
It gets better and better
keep talking about this show. I can't get enough enjoyment from this show. Between the series itself and being able to share my enjoyment of this show with people on youtube, it is fantastic and keeps it going.
We just found your channel and we're bout to binge-watch so many of your videos!
Honestly, appa's lost days literally makes me cry everytime I watch it
I enjoyed this show as a kid, but loved it as an adult. The Last Airbender should definitely be the golden standard for shows
Love seeing your excitement for this series because I feel the same way. Will be watching every avatar video you make !!
there’s literally never been a better redemption arc then Zuko and I will forever be awed by it
Avatar is tied with Firefly for my favorite show. As different as they are they have a lot of similarities, like how one is an ancient world fantasy and the other is future sci-fi and both mix silly humor with intense drama so well.
Other than the stuff you mentioned, a big reason why I love the show is how well rounded the ending was. Everything felt earned and you felt satisfied that you watched a great story unfold. And as I've seen more and more shows mess up the ending I have only grown to appreciate atla's ending even more
I was 7 when I watched the series finale air, knowing it was something special. So glad it’s one of the most popular shows out today!
I think the character arcs are done so well! My personal favorite is Zuko. I also love all the different places that we go in the Avatar world...like Ba Sing Se and Kyoshi's home...not to mention the Air Benders temples.
Ooooooh yes!! I'm SO excited for the character arc video!!! This show is so freaking incredible at them!!!!! ❤
I think the thing that makes me really like this show is a lot of the same reasons I love One Piece, which is my favorite series. Between the use of comedy, heavy themes, emotional moments, world building, lovable characters, etc. it manages to execute on all of them really well. Toph best character!
This show is definitely on the top 10 of "things that ever played on TV". As you implied more than once in previous Avatar videos, I cannot believe this is a Nickelodeon cartoon (same way I cannot believe Gravity Falls is Disney's). I was already 20 when this series premiered, and seeing the orange silly-putty splattered on it definitely did not encourage me to pick it up, in fact, it did the opposite. Some time later, perhaps even a few years, I accidentally caught an episode on air TV on a holiday morning, and I was blown away. As I did not have access to cable TV back then, and air TV does not care about playing things in order, I bought a few CDs, went to an internet café with a 512 kbps ADSL broadband connection, launched Kazaa to the dismay of all the gamers there, and proceeded to download the whole damn thing (this all happened on Minecraft, for legal reasons)
Just want to say I watched this after the character breakdown vid, and I’m hooked. Love your style and enthusiasm. Can’t wait for more, and looking forward to the backlog.
I am very very excited for more ATLA videos. It has been my favorite show for a long time since I first watched it as a kid on cable.
I am glad you are watching shows, I really hope you watch Mushishi too some time soon. Its hauntingly beautiful
Merphy considering making video essays on my favorite show of all time? Yes please. Give me all the ATLA context 💕
I'm all here for more Avatar-content :)
Love this show. I watched it as a child and rewatched it since than a couple of times. Even as a kid I loved the highly emotional darker scenes the most. Also the past with the Avatar before Aang and his connection to Zuko. It's so good. Also the way they show how old Aang really is, with Bumi and the air-temples. My most watched scene as a kid was the dance-sequence between Aang and Katara. The dance is so beautiful ! An aspect which is sadly not mentioned often is the clothes. They are so gorgeous and the many character specific details make them so personal, different and distinct to every character. I absolutely love every thing about Avatar XD
I got goosebumps when you used the clip from Zuko and Azula's final fight. The subtle, tense music creeped into my mind and I could just envision his foot sliding as his stance is nearly broken.
All that to say, everything in ATLA is amazing. I was a fortunate kid who watched it from episode one, eagerly awaiting the next episode each week. I know I've seen it over a dozen times. It doesn't get old and, unlike a lot of things from childhood, the quality is only enhanced with age as I discover even more about how detailed and wonderful they made that show. I'm constantly looking for stories I love as much as ATLA and it's rare that I am blown away like that. Oh, the joys of being a critical writer.
I wish there would be like some Avatar-OnePiece-Crossover in the future, it would be so nice if the Straw Hats would meet Aang and co.
At least Zoro could get lost and find himself in the Avatar-Verse. He could become friends with Sokka and train him :D
I loved this. ATLA is my favourite show, and I totally get the crying for out of context scenes.
YES, individual character arc videos, I'm HERE FOR IT
There's too much to love 🍃 Amazing stuff, so excited for more Avatar content
I just discovered this show and watch it every night with my 4 yr old. We love it!
The greates thing of watching Avatar is getting access to hundreds of hours of Hello future me content with Tim..... and now with Merphy too
Please Keep up the avatar content! I think Zukos arc is one of the best ones, not only in avatar, if not in media. (Sorry for my inmigrant English)
I'm all here for more ATLA related content! Glad you're enjoying your rewatch! I think I usually watch through the show at least once a year on average, and it never gets old. There's always some different aspect that I'll enjoy even more than usual depending on where I'm at in life while watching it it seems like.