Avatar through 2.14

[rachelmanija]

SQUEE! I love the beautifully detailed and coherent worldbuilding! I love the creatures! I love the realism-- supply lines, friendly fire, idealistic freedom fighters who don't care about civilian casualties, different currencies, and economies. I love that likable characters can still have scary temper tantrums and fits of depression. I love that there is strategy! I love the martial arts! I love the eunuchs behind the throne! I love the genuinely snappy dialogue! I love the exquisitely gorgeous animation! I love that there is BRAINWASHING!!! AWESOME!!!

I really disliked several unfunny fluff episodes early on, so I was relieved that once the ongoing narrative kicked in, it became compelling once again, and dispensed with the stupid hippies and swamp rednecks.

Though, I hate the romantic scenes. They clunk horribly. Also, everyone is twelve and it's creepy. Though Yoon and I fell into a fit of hysterics at imagining Zuko trying to court a girl, so that could be amusing if it ever happens.

yhlee has more coherent notes. Spoil us in any way, and die via pinpoint chi-strikes.



Oh, and I love Zuko and his emo. (He has emo with an emu!) I loved him standing on the mountaintop while the lightning basically mocked his pain.

I love uncle Iroh.

I love the all-girl hit squad.

I love Toph.

And I still love Aang (especially now that we've seen his unpleasant side) and Katara and Sokka. Probably especially Sokka.

I love the training scenes.

And since I despise and detest Mr. Slick-Talking, Cooler-Than-You, Straw-Chewing, Band-of-Merry-Rebels Jet, I was alarmed to see him fall in with Zuko, but relieved to see them end up on opposite sides, delighted to see Zuko cut off his twig, and delighted to see him GET BRANWASHED a la Clockwork Orange.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

OMG! You hate Jet????

*bonds*

I felt so alone when I voiced my intense dislike when I watched season 1 last week(in 2 days...someone needs to put season 2 on sale for cheap)

Zuko's emo is truly inspiring, isn't it?

I kinda feel the same way about romance in the show...the idea of Aang in a ship war just squicks me out, even if it's a fanon ship war and not a canon one. I just assume that Aang and Katara will get together when they grow up and ignore the rest, either fanon or canon hints to tease(and granted, I've only seen the first season, but I don't see how Zuko/Katara is remotely plausible, but I know most people are nuts for that)

I think, though, that Zuko is 16, Sokka 15, Katara 14, and Aang 12.

And Uncle Iroh is the most awesome thing ever. I am sad we didn't get to keep the bounty hunt he liked.

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

...there are people who like Jet? I loathed him.

Cannot imagine Zuko in any pairing, whether with girl, guy, or emu.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Oh man...just go to my LJ and click my avatar tag...all but one person who chimed in on Jet loved him. (Don't worry, people replaced actual spoilers with *spoileried* for me.) I just don't get it.

The thing is, Jet is a character type I normally like...but he lacks the moral complexity and self-awareness that makes the type interesting. What makes the character type interesting is the awareness that they're doing something wrong, but the belief that it's for a greater good. Jet is just lashing out and completely unaware that anything he does COULD be wrong as long as he gets what he wants. He's not interesting, he's just a cocky brat who needs to have some sense knocked into him. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't clearly meant to see him as the COOLEST! THING! EVER!\

I have such strong opinions on him despite only seeing him in the one episode so far.

I think I could ship Zuko with someone who literally slapped his emo out of him. Maybe. But really, nothing in Avatar ignites my shippy tendencies at all. Well, Sokka/Suki set off "possible future ship" alerts, but that's it. I'm positive I was supposed to ship Sokka/Yue, but mostly I was annoyed by Yue but delighted she was clearly destined to die and provide teen emo angst.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I love Jet! If only for the fact that they centered an entire episode around someone so pathological. Also, I kind of find his whole Freedom Fighter shtick amusing.

But I pretty much love every character on Avatar. I even love Zhao for his insatiable ambition.

[oyceter]

People like Jet?! I hated him!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Did you not read the comments in my entries when I mainlined season one? I felt alone.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I felt so alone when I voiced my intense dislike when I watched season 1 last week(in 2 days...someone needs to put season 2 on sale for cheap)
When I hooked a couple friends of mine, we watched season 1 in one Sunday. That was a trip.

I don't see how Zuko/Katara is remotely plausible,
Because he'll save her from the pirates! Isn't that romantic?

Hee to the icon!

[oyceter]

Ba Sing Se is my favorite thing ever!

Toph and Iroh are my favorite characters. Toph is so awesome! And snarky!

And yeah, I really don't like Avatar doing romance, particularly with Katara and co. I can see Zuko doing it more, because he reads as older to me, but I keep thinking Aang and Toph are 8.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I have yet to meet Toph(but highly anticipate her, as well as what one friend of mine refers to as "The Charlie's Angels of the Fire Nation") but I constantly had to remind myself that Aang was 12, not 8-9 with occassional flashes of maturity and insight.

[octopedingenue]

This is true, but I cannot bring myself to feel guilty for making Toph half of my only Avatar OH TEE PEEEEEEEEA with Sokka. The snarky babies once they are both past puberty! The snarky snarky babies!!

Also I ♥♥♥♥ yet mock Jet in equal measure, largely for his awesome sidekicks Smellerbee and Longshot and his hilarious freedom fighting stalkercrush on Zuko. HEY THERE BABY, WANNA COME BACK TO MY PLACE FOR A MOLOTOV COCKTAIL?

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I love the beautifully detailed and coherent worldbuilding!
Yes! TRIVIA: Take a closer look at the credits. The Firebender is Azula, and the Waterbender is Master Pakku.

I love the creatures!
Platypus-bears! Did you notice that in "Zuko Alone," the animals at the farm were PIG-everything?

I love the realism-- supply lines, friendly fire, idealistic freedom fighters who don't care about civilian casualties, different currencies, and economies.
It's so well thought-out!

I love that likable characters can still have scary temper tantrums and fits of depression.
Well-rounded characters!

I love that there is strategy!
Sokka is the Idea Guy!

I love the martial arts!
Did you know that each nation's bending style corresponds to a specific martial art? Waterbending is Tai Chi, for instance.

I love the eunuchs behind the throne!
He's just a puppet!

I love the genuinely snappy dialogue!
"Oh no! What a nightmare!"

I love the exquisitely gorgeous animation!
It's so pretty!

I love that there is BRAINWASHING!!!
HERE WE ARE SAFE. HERE WE ARE FREE.

I really disliked several unfunny fluff episodes early on, so I was relieved that once the ongoing narrative kicked in, it became compelling once again, and dispensed with the stupid hippies and swamp rednecks.
I still dislike the swamp rednecks, but I actually grew to enjoy the hippies on subsequent viewings. That episode in general I wasn't too fond of initially but now really like. It's a lot of fun. Especially watching Sokka get exasperated. I still don't care for "The Swamp" that much, though.

Though, I hate the romantic scenes. They clunk horribly. Also, everyone is twelve and it's creepy.
Hee. It's cute!

I loved him standing on the mountaintop while the lightning basically mocked his pain.
AND NOW HE CAN GIVE IT BACK!

I love the all-girl hit squad.
Dangerous Ladies FTW!

I love Toph.
She only becomes more awesome. You think she cannot get more awesome than she is right now, but she does. Just wait.

delighted to see him GET BRANWASHED a la Clockwork Orange.
That episode was downright Orwellian. And this is a KIDS SHOW.

Oh my God, I love seeing people get into Avatar. I LOVE THIS SHOW SO HARD.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Speaking of the matial arts, do you know what earth bending is based off of?

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Though, I hate the romantic scenes. They clunk horribly. Also, everyone is twelve and it's creepy.
Imo, the romantic scenes clunk horribly because everyone is twelve. XD I like how awkward and retarded the 'romance' is. I'd be disdainful if the romance was smooth and destined and such.

Reading your's and yhlee's reactions to the show renews my love of Avatar.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Yeah. And I think it's realistic for the world they live in-- I'd find it really odd of the average age for an Earthbender to get married off was 24 or something.

[sarge-5150.livejournal.com]

Toph rocks.

[mattador.livejournal.com]

I dislike Jet, but I enjoyed the dynamic between him and Zuko- his admiration and friendship and how it suddenly became fanatical hatred.


I really love the Zuko-and-Iroh arc overall in Season Two, actually- from the way that Zuko, purposely trying to reject his heritage, flails around for some sort of direction, behaving worse than ever and even abandoning his uncle, to the brilliance of Iroh's bending lesson- to the conversation between Toph and Iroh, which made me go "awwww" despite my general dislike of fluffiness.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

to the brilliance of Iroh's bending lesson
I love how "Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor!" falls completely flat. Poor, humorless Zuko.

Zuko's arc is awesome throughout the series. It's so weird watching first-season episodes and seeing how far he's come. He started out as this annoying bully.

And, ya know, just because I have it handy:

"Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor! Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything."

"Why are you telling me these things?"

"It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole."

LEGO Avatar

[0ccam.livejournal.com]

Here: [link (http://www.lego.com/eng/avatar/default.aspx)]

I've started watching 'Avatar'!

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I've only seen about five episodes, so I haven't read your post, but it's actually really good.

Re: I've started watching 'Avatar'!

[oyceter]

OMG! You are watching too!!!!

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

They make it clear that three years have passed, not one, by the second season. And Toph has breasts by the end of season two, so she's definitely not 8 or 9.

By season three Aang is like fourteen or so, definitely the youngest--Zoku and Sokka are accepted as young men, and Katara as a young woman.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Toph is the same age as Aang: 12.

How are you getting that three years have passed by the second season? That makes no sense. Very little time has passed. It's only been a few months. Roku tells Aang that Sozin's Comet is coming at the end of the summer. He tells him on the winter solstice. The entire series only covers about six months.

Aang is still twelve in season three. Maybe thirteen, if he had a birthday.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Aang and Toph are the only ones who are 12, though, at least at the series start -- Kat and Azula are both 14, Sokka is 15, Yue was 16 (and that was marriage-age in her tribe) and Zuko 16 -- but something close to a year has passed in show continuity so that can all be tweaked up. (Three years haven't passed in the show -- but there is an episode where Iroh mentions that three years have passed since the then-14-year-old Zuko was scarred and banished, which might be where folks get that idea.)

As for Jet, I like him because I find the character interesting, not because he's likeable, if that makes any sense -- to my eyes they're setting him up to *look* like the cool bad-boy-rebel sort, but then they undermine the facade of coolness by showing how manipulative and ultimately nihilistic he is. He's a rebel without a cause, and I like how he serves in the story to disillusion Kat and the others about falling for slick flattery and a cool image.

A couple of fic recs -- may_flyer's Progression is a dark, unflinching look at the development of the nihilistic lashing-out-at-everything Jet, and ladylisse's Long Long Time Ago is a near-future AU where Aang has failed, and the new Avatar has been born into the Foggy Swamp Water Tribe -- gorgeous writing and characterization, and it makes the swampbillies into a beautiful, complex culture instead of the one-note joke seen in the show.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I wish I remembered season 2 better so I could discuss it with you guys! However, I will note that while Toph and Iroh are my favorites, Sokka is making a strong bid to make the favorites category into a trio.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've loved anyone in my life as much as I love Toph. Have you gotten to the episode where Toph teaching Aang earthbending yet?