Something from ATLA that totally blew my mind...

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I was re-watching Overanalyzing Avatar on YouTube the other day, enjoying it as usual, when the guy running that show pointed out something incredibly interesting to me, a detail that both has an entire scene framed around it AND is likely to go unnoticed on a first-time viewing:

Turns out that the super secret Order Of The White Lotus signals its hideouts and welcomes its members to them through a simple (yet impossible-to-crack) code: they set up a board of Pai Sho --an in-universe board game-- and have both players go through a specific series of moves coordinated between them, playing through an entire game using only those moves, effectively resulting on a board game secret handshake.

It'd be like if you could walk into a place, sit down to a chess board and have an entire wordless conversation with its own rhythm and meaning by shuffling pieces around. Just awesome.

I thought that was incredibly neat and a very creative use of a piece of the setting that seemed to only be there to enrich the lore without actually playing a big role on it.

Stuff like that is why I still watch this show twenty years later.

 

[TheMinuMaster]

I love details like that too. It’s one of the reasons I keep rewatching Avatar—every time you notice something new. One of my favorite small touches is the dagger Iroh gives Zuko: one side says ‘never give up without a fight,’ and the other says ‘made in Earth Kingdom.’ It’s such a clever nod to the whole ‘made in China’ idea, and it fits perfectly with the show’s world. Little things like that make the Avatar universe feel incredibly alive.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

I still watch ATLA every now and then because it’s brilliant as it is. It really boggles me that everyone knows not all animated series/film can be transitioned to live action but they still try only resulting it in butchering the IP.

 

[Zerpina]

I was re-watching Overanalyzing Avatar on YouTube the other day, enjoying it as usual, when the guy running that show pointed out something incredibly interesting to me, a detail that both has an entire scene framed around it AND is likely to go unnoticed on a first-time viewing:

Turns out that the super secret Order Of The White Lotus signals its hideouts and welcomes its members to them through a simple (yet impossible-to-crack) code: they set up a board of Pai Sho --an in-universe board game-- and have both players go through a specific series of moves coordinated between them, playing through an entire game using only those moves, effectively resulting on a board game secret handshake.

It'd be like if you could walk into a place, sit down to a chess board and have an entire wordless conversation with its own rhythm and meaning by shuffling pieces around. Just awesome.

I thought that was incredibly neat and a very creative use of a piece of the setting that seemed to only be there to enrich the lore without actually playing a big role on it.

Stuff like that is why I still watch this show twenty years later.

When you get to season 2, The Tales of Ba Sing Se, pay close attention to the tale of Iroh.
There's a lot to that episode, if you don't pay attention to it, you'll completely miss the point of it.

I have always liked Avatar. It was a kids' show that didn't talk down or dumb it down. They handled some actual adult issues very well, I might add. In it, Zuko has one of, if not the best, story arcs for who he is.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Since Cap’n @Zerpina mentioned Zuko here’s a fact I think not everyone knows.
Dante Basco , Zuko’s voice actor played Rufio one of The Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg’s Hook. The thing blew me the most is he has Filipino descent.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Goes to show they really care, wish I could say the same with shows nowadays. Atla is great an will still hold up years ahead.

 

[fake-kun]

That's cool and all, but why is this thread in the Anime & Manga subforum?

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

That's cool and all, but why is this thread in the Anime & Manga subforum?

What is the issue?

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

When you get to season 2, The Tales of Ba Sing Se, pay close attention to the tale of Iroh.
There's a lot to that episode, if you don't pay attention to it, you'll completely miss the point of it.

I have always liked Avatar. It was a kids' show that didn't talk down or dumb it down. They handled some actual adult issues very well, I might add. In it, Zuko has one of, if not the best, story arcs for who he is.

That's actually my favorite episode on the entire run (well, along with Zuko Alone and The Avatar and The Firelord).

It's really, really well crafted.

There's only one thing that bothers me, though... Wouldn't the people of Ba Sing Se know Iroh really well, since he was not only the extreme famed Dragon Of The West, but also the guy that held them under the siege? I could never actually buy his refugee status as a result.

Eh, maybe they never actually saw him because he never made it past the wall.

It's a super nitpick, though. STFU, me.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Goes to show they really care, wish I could say the same with shows nowadays. Atla is great an will still hold up years ahead.

Indeed.

Too bad they ran Korra to the ground. It could have been the start of something instead of the screeching halt it ended up being, all because of corporate intervention and the whims of the money-making machine (or so the story goes).

 

[Zerpina]

There's only one thing that bothers me, though... Wouldn't the people of Ba Sing Se know Iroh really well, since he was not only the extreme famed Dragon Of The West, but also the guy that held them under the siege? I could never actually buy his refugee status as a result.

Ya!! any episode, with Mako err..... I mean Uncle Iroh I love, and Iroh was in disguise with a new alias as well. Think about it... Ba Sing Se was a HUGE HUGE City, from what i remeber reading about it thousands of square kilometers in size, and people weren't actively looking for a disgraced general either.

He was just another face in the crowd. Most people would assume he would be hiding in the Fire Nation. I would assume anyhow.... And well it's just cartoon logic, after all.

Indeed.

Too bad they ran Korra to the ground. It could have been the start of something instead of the screeching halt it ended up being, all because of corporate intervention and the whims of the money-making machine (or so the story goes).

Oh yeah, that show was a complete fucking trainwreck....

The first couple of episodes were all right, but I really just couldn't get into it. I understand they had to advance the story, but honestly.... I didn't feel we needed more to Avatar.

It seemed like the original show ended just perfectly, and there was really nothing left to tell.
LOK felt tacked on, like most shows do when they are forced to add just one more season because the ratings got high again.

And TBH Korra, was a Unlikeable Bitch.
I did specifically watched the episodes with Toph in them tho, she was still a fun character.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Too bad they ran Korra to the ground. It could have been the start of something instead of the screeching halt it ended up being, all because of corporate intervention and the whims of the money-making machine (or so the story goes).

It should've stayed as a mini series.

As far as I'm concerned it's non canon.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

And TBH Korra, was a Unlikeable Bitch.

That's exactly the thing: Korra, the way she was written, was a complete disservice to the show.

She's somehow more bratty than the 12-year-old Aang (despite having none of his grievances) and effectively un-does Katara -- ATLA had a very mature, very independent, very capable Water Tribe girl and somehow thinks Korra is an acceptable follow-up. She was doomed from the start because of how unflattering the comparison was among fans of the original, i.e the people most likely to be watching LOK.

It feels like a joke pulled by the same team that kept everything so tight and beautiful just a few years prior.

I literally couldn't watch even a single season of Korra, despite trying to.

I like your points about BSS and it really IS cartoon logic after all... I just find it funny that no-one connects the dots between that and Zuko's scarred side, either.

God I love Avatar.

 

[MasterEn]

That's cool and all, but why is this thread in the Anime & Manga subforum?

because it is about an anime.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

because it is about an anime.

Inb4 people debate about what qualifies as an anime and if the nationality of a series legitimises its status.

 

[Zerpina]

Look...
Avatar is heavily inspired by anime. Creators even said that, if I remember right, it's also heavily influenced by Japan and surrounding regions history. It looks VERY anime, and if you didn't know who produced it and only saw a few stills or about a minute of the show... again, without knowing Nickelodeon made it, you'd almost think it was just an anime dub.

So, let's not get into a heated debate over it....
It's as close to anime as a Western franchise can get, without being from Japan.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Although, it'd be funny if a thread about ATLA started a never-ending flame war.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I did specifically watched the episodes with Toph in them tho, she was still a fun character.

I need to get into the series for good but Toph is the best addition to the main team.


In a way she's reminding me of Ed.

 

[MasterEn]

Inb4 people debate about what qualifies as an anime and if the nationality of a series legitimises its status.

people will always do this, with anything and everything.
we are past the days where such distinctions were so neat and clear. now many animations can be considered both "cartoons" and "anime".
in the end, it doesn't matter. avatar the last airbender is a fantastic piece of animation; regardless of whether it's a cartoon or anime.