The plot is there, it's definately engrossing and not nearly as fragmented as that of many of it's brethren "serious" cartoons from the far east. The characters are there as well - the girls are extremely cute, Uncle Iroh is flat out awesome, and the bad guys are just so damn evil.
The problem I have is that Avatar is a genere of show of which fight scenes are a central component, and the fight sequences in Avatar are just so goddamn awful. I guess we have the litigious shitstains at the Parents Television Council to thank for that, but Pirates of Dark Water suffered under the same constraints and still managed to have some halfway decent fights. I don't know how much of that applies to the american sub of Naruto but last I checked it wasn't all that heavily censored, either.
It's not like they're written poorly - the action shows some great potential, but between the "pitched" battles between Aang and Zuko where it looks like Aang is playing a game of "Does-this-bug-you" to the brilliant military strategy of dropping "slime" on tanks, the fight scenes all feel like one long, drawn out pulled punch. Essentially, take Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, and go to the opposite extreme.
Despite all that, it's an awesome series, the characters are endearing enough, and there's enough intrigue to make it a solid hit IMO. And since nobody has taken King Boomey yet...
It's not something people hear about.
quote:
Seaning:
I have no idea how you can complain about Avatar's fightscenes in the slightest. And you spelled 'genre' wrong.
I used the british spelling you peasant.
And I can complain about it because they're AWFUL. You can practically HEAR the writers shouting "BETTER MAKE SURE THEY KNOW HE'S NOT HURT!! BETTER MAKE SURE THEY REALIZE NOBODY DIED!! BETTER MAKE SURE THEY DON'T ACTUALLY HIT EACH OTHER, ELSE WE MIGHT BE SUED!!" Maradon! fucked around with this message on 06-27-2006 at 07:10 PM.
Take Airbending and Firebending for example. Firebending is practically entirely offense; they take a huge breath and unleash a devastating barrage of attacks. Earthbending, you can make shields out of rock, waterbending, you can at least bring up some blocking device, but firebending? There's no defensive maneuver in their entire repetoire.
Meanwhile, Airbending is almost entirely defensive and evasive. Aang can throw people with wind, sure, and he can knock them back with air blasts, but it's not nearly as effective as burning someone to death or crushing them between boulders.
Also, you might have noticed, Aang is really bothered by the idea of killing people. He's a vegetarian and very in-tune with life. Most of the Airbending monks were this way, which is why they removed themselves from society, so that they wouldn't have to go to war, figuring that no one could come to their aerial temples (the downside of this is that they were completely caught off-guard when the Firebenders DID show up).
I disagree entirely, though. The fight scenes kicked complete ass (they do get better in season two, though. See: Zuko Alone).
quote:
Talonus has sealed the pact
Haven't watched the series yet (on my to watch list), but it doesn't sound much worse than most anime. Actually, other than a few rare series (Noein, Black Lagoon, Diebuster, etc), I'd say most fight sequences suck these days. Too much talking, too much emo crap, and too little action.
You'll enjoy Avatar fight sequences, then.
There's no talking, no shouting out moves, maybe the occasional quip, but other than that, it's grunting, screaming or roaring angrily. There's never any pause to consider deep philosophical questions mid-battle, a la Naruto. And, this is important, every fight scene ENDS in the same episode it begins!
quote:
Peanut butter ass Shaq Mr. Parcelan booooze lime pole over bench lick:
Also, you might have noticed, Aang is really bothered by the idea of killing people.
I noticed this, and I've also taken into account that killing Aang would be the worst of all possible scenarios for the fire kingdom. My statement still stands though: All the fight scenes, even ones that don't involve Aang at all, are fundimentally unsatisfying.
quote:
Mr. Parcelan had this to say about Knight Rider:
[stuff]
And let's not forget Sokka. Sokka takes enough hits to account for the entire rest of the cast.
Besides, the whole damn point of fighting with *bending is to not hit your opponent physically.
It's not something people hear about.
Firebending is about 95% offense, 5% miscellaneous use.
Airbending is about 90% defense, 10% offense.
Earthbending is an even 50/50.
Waterbending is, like, 30% offense and 70% miscellany.
Check out the latest episode in Season Two...Bitter Work, I think it's called. Iroh explains the bending styles through their people pretty well.
I just watched 'The Waterbending Scroll' again. There is one of the best examples of Iroh pwning.
Katara: "Aang, I'm so sorry...it's all my fault." Mr. Parcelan fucked around with this message on 06-29-2006 at 12:26 AM.
Aang: "No it isn't."
Iroh: "Yeah, it kind of is."
Also, Season 2's Fire Nation stuff beats out anything else in the series, really. But it helps because they introduce the best character there too. How can you say no to patricide? Lashanna fucked around with this message on 06-27-2006 at 07:19 PM.
quote:
From the book of Lashanna, chapter 3, verse 16:
But it helps because they introduce the best character there too.
Clearly you mean in episode one, season one.
It's not something people hear about.
quote:
From the book of Mr. Parcelan, chapter 3, verse 16:
You'll enjoy Avatar fight sequences, then.There's no talking, no shouting out moves, maybe the occasional quip, but other than that, it's grunting, screaming or roaring angrily. There's never any pause to consider deep philosophical questions mid-battle, a la Naruto. And, this is important, every fight scene ENDS in the same episode it begins!
Yarr, definitely on the too watch list... but my to watch list is too friggin long right now. (About 20 gigs worth of shows...)
Fights don't always have to begin and end in the same episode, and talking can be acceptable. Ruruno Kenshin (old) and Black Lagoon (new) are great examples of that. Most shows fuck up the flow with the talking though. Talonus fucked around with this message on 06-27-2006 at 07:24 PM.
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Lashanna Model 2000 was programmed to say:
Also, Season 2's Fire Nation stuff beats out anything else in the series, really. But it helps because they introduce the best character there too. How can you say no to patricide?
Patricide, attempted fratricide and...uh...Irohcide.
Now that's fighting.
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Sean obviously shouldn't have said:
Clearly you mean in episode one, season one.
no
Lashanna fucked around with this message on 06-27-2006 at 07:24 PM.
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Nobody really understood why Lashanna wrote:
no
I'm going to have to agree with Sean here.
P.S. owned.
Azula can lay down some really awesome jams.
Of course, so can Iroh.
It's not something people hear about.
"It's Sunday! One more day and that building would have been filled with people!"
"Wait... I see parachutes! Everything's gonna be OK." (no parachutes)
Not to mention cutting out all the crying and tiny scrapes, haha. When is Avatar on? I'm too lazy to look it up.
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
quote:
Fazum'Zen Fastfist loves Parcelan like a fat kid loves cake
Not to mention cutting out all the crying and tiny scrapes, haha. When is Avatar on? I'm too lazy to look it up.
Fridays at 8:00, usually. But there's not another one on until July 14th (but it's a two-parter mini-movie!)
And for those trying to play off the "nobody dies" business, keep in mind that they talk about death almost every single episode. They showed a skeleton, indicating pretty clearly that Monk Giatso died, and there's just tons of references to death.
"Daaaaaad's gooooonna kiiiiill yooooou!"
Maradon! fucked around with this message on 06-27-2006 at 08:06 PM.
quote:
Maradon! had this to say about Robocop:
Yeah, but the point is that the threat of death isn't even remotely present in any of the fights, and so there's no sense of peril, and so a lot of the tension falls completely flat.
Well, it gets pretty intense when Azula comes around, so just be patient.
But, as you said, they can't kill Aang. If they do, he just reincarnates into a new one and, this time, they might not be able to stop him before he reaches full power.
Further, they don't want to kill his friends because then he might use the Avatar state and beat the crap out of them or they need to use them as bait for the Avatar.
And, as stated, Aang just doesn't like to kill people.
It's not something people hear about.
1) Very small ones
2) Very big ones that look like shit
3) Ones that are several times bigger than the half hour .avi they came from
quote:
Mr. Parcelan thought about the meaning of life:
Well, it gets pretty intense when Azula comes around, so just be patient.But, as you said, they can't kill Aang. If they do, he just reincarnates into a new one and, this time, they might not be able to stop him before he reaches full power.
Further, they don't want to kill his friends because then he might use the Avatar state and beat the crap out of them or they need to use them as bait for the Avatar.
And, as stated, Aang just doesn't like to kill people.
But they can permanently destroy the Avatar if they can kill him in the Avatar state.
When they brought that bit up about the Avatar state, I got a huge feeling of foreshadowing as to what will later happen in the series.
quote:
Willias spewed forth this undeniable truth:
But they can permanently destroy the Avatar if they can kill him in the Avatar state.When they brought that bit up about the Avatar state, I got a huge feeling of foreshadowing as to what will later happen in the series.
But only Aang knows that.
quote:
Mr. Parcelan was listening to Cher while typing:
But only Aang knows that.
Yeah, but it doesn't seem like one of those things you bring up in the storyline for no reason other than to make the main hero's berserk mode seem more dangerous.
quote:
Maradon! stumbled drunkenly to the keyboard and typed:
Thanks for unabashedly having out with the season 2 tidbits guys. No really it doesn't bother me
Waaahhh wahhhhh wWAAAAHHHHHHH
It's not something people hear about.
quote:
Verily, the chocolate bunny rabbits doth run and play while Maradon! gently hums:
I used the british spelling you peasant.
Except that's not the British spelling of the word, and even if it were it would still be wrong since the rest of your post didn't comply to that same standard.
So neener.
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
quote:
Yes, Fazum'Zen Fastfist deserved to die, and I hope they burn in hell!
Well, real Kung Fu. Is everyone in this show Asian? WHERE ARE DA WHITES, HEH?
Most are Asian. Water Tribe seems Inuit based.
It's not something people hear about.
