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Post by username on Jul 20, 2008 11:11:04 GMT -5
The only good reason listed there is Aang unlocking the Avatar State. And I don't think that one flaw would take an excellent episode down 6 points. I honestly don't see how someone can really not like the finale, but like Avatar. The finale really was everything that made Avatar so great, but amped up to 11.
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Post by Victim ~*of *~Circumstances on Jul 20, 2008 11:27:01 GMT -5
It's alright, I didn't take it that personally. But, as long as we're still Avatar fans there really isn't any harm done.
I guess people arn't as bothered about deu ex machinas and plot holes like Koh as I have. Oh well, once again to each their own...
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Post by GROOONK'D on Jul 20, 2008 11:29:02 GMT -5
It is a fact that all the low ratings are by Zutarians, whether they post it here or not.
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Post by sebastianthecrab on Jul 20, 2008 12:14:26 GMT -5
most animated shows never have HALF of the questions answered by the end and Avatar had like 98% of the questions answered and had the best battles i have ever seen in a cartoon.
so for that, i give it a 10
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Ana
Metalbending Cop
Posts: 5,061
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Post by Ana on Jul 20, 2008 12:46:14 GMT -5
It is a fact that all the low ratings are by Zutarians, whether they post it here or not. Do not say that. You know what they say about assuming and that pretty offensive to Zutarains. That said, I have to agree with Kaneda. I just don’t see how someone could dislike the finale but like Avatar. I don't even see how someone could dislike the finale at all. The finale was everything that’s great about Avatar (good animation, music, character development, etc.) but better/in a stratifying four episode package.
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Post by username on Jul 20, 2008 13:01:09 GMT -5
It is a fact that all the low ratings are by Zutarians, whether they post it here or not. Do not say that. You know what they say about assuming and that pretty offensive to Zutarains. I'm a Zutarian and I must admit he's probably right. A lot of people got overly invested in shipping like that.
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Post by Victim ~*of *~Circumstances on Jul 20, 2008 13:16:22 GMT -5
^I'm glad Avatar shipping isn't as open ended as Final Fantasy....7 was it? That whole thing with Tifa/Cloud/Aerith.Dx
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fuego
Pabu
Four Nation Health Care
Posts: 3,430
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Post by fuego on Jul 20, 2008 13:34:11 GMT -5
find it funny that it the little thing that make such big annoyances...I'm with Kaneda, even with it flaws, it was able to sell to me like if this something I never seen.
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Post by conspiracytheorist on Jul 20, 2008 15:00:38 GMT -5
That said, I have to agree with Kaneda. I really don’t see how someone could dislike the finale but like Avatar. The finale was everything that’s great about Avatar (good animation, music, character development, etc.) but better/in a stratifying four episode package. See, here's where I disagree. The finale wasn't everything that's great about Avatar. The fantastic action sequences were there, and the shivers-down-your-spine music was there, and the animation was fantastic, and the characters were brilliant. As far as production values go, the finale was definitely the Avatar we know and love. But I don't think that the finale captured absolutely everything that made Avatar such an enjoyable series. What about the focus on the four elements? For years that was the driving force behind the show. And ultimately, Aang defeated the Fire Lord without having mastered all four elements. Instead, he steals Ozai's ability to firebend after he comprehended, in those final seconds, what the lion turtle had spoken to him. Aang didn't have to compromise his beliefs, which is a wonderful thing. But in order for that to happen, the series had to redefine itself somewhere along the line. Sokka's discovery of the parchment detailing the Fire Nation's darkest day in "The Library" started a chain of events that distracted the series from its roots, and when it came time to tie it all up, the four elements were kicked to the curb. I was so happy when the finale opened up with firebending master Zuko and pupil Aang, but that happiness quickly evaporated as Aang's moral dilemma (which was excellent, by the way) forced the bending disciplines out of the viewer's mind. Don't get me wrong - Aang's conflicting thoughts about killing the Fire Lord were handled with care, and I understood and appreciated that. But bending the energy within oneself doesn't have anything to do with the show was at its core - it was simply a means to give Aang the happy ending that he deserved. It was the same deal with the way Aang regained access to the Avatar State. Aang's little info dump before the invasion earlier this season cannot serve as an excuse for the abrupt manner in which he recovered his ability to glow it up. Azula blocked Aang's chakra by shooting him full of lightning, yes. But if the lone ingredient for finding his way back into the Avatar State is "Aang needs to bump against a rock in a particularly jarring way," then when the narrative comes out of the oven, it's going to look about as appetizing as Sokka's pitiful sand sculpture of Suki. The Avatar State was steeped in mystery for the entirety of the first season, and it was an absolute thrill to watch. Even in the second season, when a lot of the murkiness had been cleared up, we knew that whenever Aang booted up the AS, things were serious. That's why the emotional impact of Aang's "death" at Azula's hands was so massive - and why Katara braving her closest friend's fury in "The Desert" gives me goosebumps even now. For twenty episodes we waited for Aang to recover the Avatar State. There was no question, really, that he was going to use it to beat the Fire Lord. It was integral enough to the story to have an entire episode centered around and named for it, after all. So when it came not from a willingness to sacrifice his spiritual needs, or earthly attachment, or from a lengthy spirit world journey in which Aang learns a valuable lesson and gains access to the AS because of it, or from a simple four elements montage in which Aang realizes that everything is connected and that control of the AS is now available to him because he "gets it now," but as a result of a carefully placed jab to some scar tissue, it was a fairly big disappointment! It felt like the Avatar State had been cheapened, all in the name of wrapping things up on time. Please understand... these aren't just a few of the things that I thought could have been "done better" - I'm seeing that phrase thrown around a lot right now. These are flaws that I think fly in the face of the spirit of the show. Sozin's Comet was fantastic. In fact, despite all of the criticism I have brought against the finale (and by extension, the creative team behind the show), it is still 9/10, if not 10/10 material in my eyes. But I wanted 11/10. No, I wanted 20/10. I wanted this show to wrap it all up without compromising its original mission: to portray a reluctant hero's journey to save the world by mastering all four elements. This show's first season was a complete and total masterpiece because, while it wasn't tied together by successive plot points like the second and, to some degree, third seasons were, it was constantly exploring the universe that Mike and Bryan had created by way of the Avatar's journey to master his first element. And in the process, we learned so much about the other elements that we couldn't help but fall in love with that universe. The characters were so strong, the individual, twenty-two minute stories so intricately woven, the animation so pleasing to watch, all on a consistent backdrop of the four elements; it was wonderful. Can you see what I'm trying to communicate, here? As the show progressed, it underwent a radical transformation - from being centered around a boy's journey to master the four elements to being centered around a boy's journey to beat the Fire Lord by any means necessary. With this change came a loss of focus on those four elements. We still got snippets like the training scene at the beginning of "The Runaway" every once in a while. But those didn't satiate my hunger for more stuff like "Bitter Work". After a certain point in the second season, episodes like "The Waterbending Scroll" vanished into thin air - where characterization takes center stage, but one of the four bending disciplines is the fuel that makes the motor run all the way through. Even an episode entitled "The Firebending Masters" could not hold a candle to "The Deserter" in terms of communicating to us what exactly firebending was all about. This shift in focus forced the finale to solve things with energy bending instead of airbending, firebending, waterbending and earthbending, and I felt like the series as a whole - not just the finale - had lost something HUGE in that moment. Edit: Gave it a 9, if you're curious.
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Saylisk
Zuko
I laughed the first 592 times I looked at this.
Posts: 122
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Post by Saylisk on Jul 20, 2008 18:35:25 GMT -5
I LOVED every sec of it! I didnt like a few things though which is why I gave it a 9/10. I wanted words when katara and aang kissed. And I also wanted to figure out the fates of other characters like Azula, Long Feng Jet & co. (He died right?) the Dai li, Toph & her parents, Pakku & Kana And other people, But overall I truly loved it!
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redx6
Aang
Sokka likes mushrooms. Metroid Prime three Couruption rulz!!
Posts: 58
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Post by redx6 on Jul 20, 2008 18:37:06 GMT -5
I loved the ending but I wish Ozai and Azula died or at least were in horrible pain. I gave it a 9/10 I agree with you vectorprime
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nandireya
Zuko's Path to Redemption Mod
...tickled pink...
Posts: 6,822
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Post by nandireya on Jul 20, 2008 19:56:30 GMT -5
It is a fact that all the low ratings are by Zutarians, whether they post it here or not. The initial post said not to take your shipping preferences into consideration when rating...so the shipping outcomes should not be affecting the scores...it didn't affect mine. I couldn't care less about the ships.
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Post by KyoshiWarrior on Jul 20, 2008 22:42:56 GMT -5
10. I couldn't have it any other way. Even though I had a lot of questions about other things, I still loved it. It was epic, amazing, stupendous, awesome, and any other words that means the same. Mike and Bryan did an amazing job.
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Zenjamin
Ba Sing Se Zuko
Toko supporter
Posts: 2,617
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Post by Zenjamin on Jul 21, 2008 1:07:30 GMT -5
9.5.
Only thing that was missing was the lack of Iroh kick-buttery.
But I forgive them because of the upcoming Iroh spin-off series.
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Post by username on Jul 21, 2008 4:02:14 GMT -5
9.5. Only thing that was missing was the lack of Iroh kick-assery. Don't be ridiculous! Iroh v Flag was simply riveting!
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