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Post by fionordequester on Sept 21, 2010 23:08:55 GMT -5
Ah, no responses? I was gonna wait until someone did, but, I feel the wait has been long enough. Anyways... Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the Aang and Zuko. "Forward, through the blockade! "Charge for the Avatar!" Zuko said: Into the valley of Death Rode the hunter and hunted.
"Forward, through the blockade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the prince knew Someone had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do or die: Into the valley of Death Rode the hunter and hunted.
Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the hunter and hunted.
Flash'd as they turn'd in air, Engaging the ballistacians there, Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro' the line they broke; Zuko and Aang Reel'd from the catapult blast Shatter'd and sunder'd. Rode the hunter and hunted
Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, While Momo and Sokka fell, They that had done so well Came thro' the jaws of Death Back from the mouth of Hell. Rode the hunter and hunted
When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honor the charge they made, Honor Aang and Zuko, Noble hero and anti-hero on....
Avatar: The Last Airbender! So yeah, as what I have posted above suggests, I was expecting this to be an extremely action packed episode, and I'm still undecided on whether or not it was. And, having considered it, I guess it was, though I certainly wasn't expecting the large break in the action in the middle of the episode. Which, leads me into my opinion on the episode. Normally, I save this for the end, but, I feel compelled to talk about it now. It's actually a rather strange one for me, as there are things about it that bother me, but, what caused me to complain is almost all stuff that was subtle, easily missable, and aside from one, don't matter much at all. Then, I rewatched the episode, and found out that by paying very close attention, that one of the things I complained about was in fact justified. It was also an exciting episode with some First of all, I actually liked the fact that Aang tried to go off without his friends, both because it shows him developing further into a responsible hero, and because quite frankly, whenever his friends are involved in his fights, they slow him down MUCH more frequently than they ever help him out (in combat anyways). Heck, basically the whole plot of Episode 7 was Aang trying desperately to rescue Sokka after Sokka royally screwed up by trying to help him with Heibai. I guess I was also kind of hoping that this would be a really gripping episode, in which we got to see how Aang acted when he was alone, inside the very Nation that wants his head on a pike. But, nope. Katara and Sokka both convince Aang to take them along with him, much to my chagrin. I mean, I'd have been fine if it had been just Sokka (heck, this episode would've been a great opportunity for him to show off his brand, spankin' Kyoshi Warrior stuff!), but, why Katara?! If they get into a fight, she's just going to be a distraction to both our heroes! Actually, now that I think of it, what exactly has she done to help out the gang anyways? The only thing I can think of is calming down Aang in Episode 3, and defeating some inept grunts in Episode 2. Other than that, the only thing she seems to provide is friendship. That would be fine, in other circumstances, but not when Aang is headed off to the battlefield! Anyways, the trio rides off into the sunset (without any extra supplies, so I guess Katara won that debate), when suddenly, after what's presumably a few more hours, Zuko and Iroh show up to interrogate a random villager. Zuko is kind of taking up most of the camera, but if you look closely at the background, you see Iroh on a Rhino (and, hilariously enough, STILL without proper clothing). Anyways, the way this interrogation carried out bothered me for some weird reason. It's just, the way Zuko went about it seems radically different from the way he did it twice before. Both times before was basically a shock and awe scare tactic, with his entire crew showing up to intimidate the villagers. This time though, he's...almost entirely alone. Where'd his escorts go? Just to add on to that, it almost looks like Zuko's plan just relied on some random guy just happening to have insomnia and just standing there for him to walk out. It also seemed strange that he knocked the guy to the ground before asking him where the Avatar was. Actually, it was kind of funny. But whatever. Just funny little things that I notice for whatever reason. I'm weird like that. I like the music that starts off at the beginning of that "Light Brigade" scene I put at the top of this post. It sounds kind of like a much slower version of this song from Mega Man Legends... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiqok0-cVWsI thought it did anyways. It sounded cool either way. Anyways, after a pep conversation between Aang and Co., we see Zuko and Iroh, and I'm glad that Iroh actually seems worried and serious for once. He's actually acting like a soldier and guardian! Yeah, sure, he joked about how much Zuko's boulder stank, but that was just clever wit, from what I can tell. Speaking of boulders, what were with those weird faces Aang was making right before he spotted the blockade? He looks like a fly flew up his nose, and he's trying not to sneeze. Again, Iroh tries to talk Zuko out of this, saying that there's nothing he can do if Zuko is captured by the Fire Nation, which leaves me wondering why he didn't feel this way every time Zuko got curbstomped by Aang. Actually, that brings up an interesting question. How do people just seem to know that the Avatar is going to be a good guy? Is there just some clause in play that the Avatar cannot be evil? Because it seems weird that Iroh was so unconcerned about Zuko getting hurt or something. I do like Zuko's reaction to this. He just bull charges in, but the way he closes his eyes and apologizes right before that was pretty sweet I think. It showed that despite his insistence that his father will understand, he's nowhere near as he's making out to be, and is also developing a deeper bond with his Uncle, since he's apologizing and all. After that, we switch to Zhao, and even though I give him a lot of flak for sucking more than a liposuction pump, he really does have a great voice actor. What's also great, is pretty much the whole next minute and a half, which also has the great fortune of being accompanied by a very exciting and adrenaline packed song. I like how it fits in with everything going on without ever needing to drastically change tempo or feel. I love Bruce Faulconer's soundtrack for DBZ probably a lot more than almost any other Anime soundtrack, but it did sometimes suffer a bit from trying to adapt to every little thing onscreen, and abrubtly changing in tempo and sound in order to do that (for those who get turned off from his music by watching it on Youtube, listen to it by watching the actual English dub instead. Some of his music makes A LOT more sense when you see the scenes they were supposed to accompany). Still, I do wonder why Zhao is now suddenly referring to Zuko as a traitor. I mean, yeah, Zuko tried to hide the Avatar from the Fire Nation, but even after that, Zhao never made any effort to treat Zuko like it, even after he found out about it, and even after Zuko proceeded to humiliate him in combat so...hmmm. I guess Zuko must've done something profoundly effed up after Episode 3 that we never saw (well, besides how he almost leveled the Kyoshi homeland, but hey, THEY attacked HIS troop!) Anyways, after Aang gets by, and after Zhao lets Zuko pass so he can follow him, even though he just saw the direction that Aang flew off in, and as far as he knows, Zuko shouldn't have any better idea about where Aang is going. Apparently Zhao possesses psychic powers or something, because that's twice now that Zhao's somehow come to conclusions that he shouldn't have been able to come to. So, after Aang and Co. enter the temple, and encounter some Fire Nation, it's here that for the very first time in the episode, I just had to roll my eyes. Ok, so, consider all that talk from Katara and Sokka on all about how they're gonna kick Fire Nation butt, and how they're not going to let Aang do something so dangerous all by himself. All that, and what's the very first thing Katara and Sokka do when encountered with opposition? They run. Yep, no fight, no resistance, no nothing, they just run, and totally ditch Aang. Listen, I know that Katara and Sokka are kind of out of their league against the firebenders, but, is it really too much to ask that they at least have some kind of game plan for stuff like this?! Even Katara's excuse is getting weaker and weaker by the day. I mean, I know she doesn't know any offensive water bending, but at the very least she could've gotten some kind of spear, or sling, or club, or even an axe, something that didn't require lightning fast reflexes or incredible skill and finesse to use. I mean, I know that the show producers have a kid friendly rating to keep up, so, Sokka or Katara K.O.ing any Firebenders with weapons designed to kill probably wouldn't go over too well, but still, it's not like it has to actually work or be shown onscreen. It's all very frustrating, because apparently, Avatar is allowed to show corpses to 6-11 year olds, and just look at what the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon got away with, or, the Venture Brothers. TMNT actually showed decapacitations, and the Venture Brothers had onscreen deaths! Anyways, Avatar gives the group the proper 1-3 second curbstomping they needed, as usual, before running off to his friends, and running into a dead end as they meet a friendly fire sage, who gives us some character development. It seems that the Fire Sages were loyal only to the Avatar, but Roku died, and they eagerly awaited the return of the next Avatar. But, he didn't, and he and the Fire Sages were forced to follow Ozai, presumably because he threatened their families or something. I found the plan for getting the door open to be very clever actually. Even when Plan A didn't look, it looked like it worked, and that was the whole trick right there! So, when they hid, the Fire Benders would assume they were inside and open it! I definetly wouldn't have thought of that! But, it ultimately fails, as Zuko has sneaked up on Aang, getting both of his hands bound behind his back, and the Fire Nation sages manuever their way out of the locks that the gang trapped them in. It doesn't last long though, as Aang hops, and he flops, and he not only gets out of Zuko's armlock, but he actually throws him into the air despite his inferior position...sigh...Basically what this show is telling me is that even when Zuko catches Aang by surprise, even when he literally starts the fight by trapping both of Aang's arm, their fight will still end up becoming a curbstomp battle with Zuko getting thrown through the air literally 10 seconds into the fight. Just when I thought Zuko just might be becoming a competent villain for Aang...ok Zuko. I don't know what you've been trying to do for these past few battles, but it's not working. You need to stop, take your Uncle, and go off on an island somewhere. You need to go there, for about 6 months, spend about 10 hours a day doing nothing but firebending and martial arts with Iroh, every day of the week (well, maybe not every day), do about 100 pushups and situps a day, and drink plenty of juice. I don't care if you've already spent your whole life preparing for this day, whatever you've been learning, it's either B.S., or you're doing it wrong!! By the way, two of the things I was going to complain about was how Zuko was all by himself, and how he managed to find the hidden door, but then I found an answer to both things. First of all, the Fire Sages were in a rush, so they probably didn't close the door behind them. Secondly, Zuko told Iroh to continue driving the ship to continue trapping Zhao in a wall of smoke, which was something I missed before. I assumed that they did that until they got on the island, but, this way makes more sense. Actually, now that I think of it, just about every firebender has kind of sucked so far. Granted, besides Zuko and Zhao, we've just had a group of old men, and that egotistical Prison Warden, so, I guess I shouldn't be surprised but...still. It's odd. Not too much to comment on from there, except, man does Zhao have a mean streak when he's frustrated. But, that's what the Fire Sages get when they betray the Avatar in favor of mortal men, especially guys like Ozai. And nice Firebending on behalf of Roku! He managed to actually melt off Sokka and Katara's chains without burning them in the slightest! Although, I do have to question the wisdom of how early they revealed Sozah's comet and all that. Basically, the writers have now confined themselves to absolutely having to finish this story in only a years time, at most. And this is really early in the story to, so unless the writers have planned this whole thing out from beginning to end, they've left themselves having a much harder time of working in any cool or new ideas they have without having to rush things to fit under the time limitation they've given themselves. I guess it gives the story a new sense of urgency (which was kind of needed when you realized how easily Aang has been able to evade his captors so far), but, it still doesn't seem wise to do that. It almost seems like the writer had this and the discovery of the genocide of the Air Temple so early because they wanted a bunch of exciting stuff to happen to get viewers hooked, so that they'd have a better chance of getting more Seasons to finish their story with. Back in the old days, Ocean edited Dragon Ball Z to get to the exciting stuff right away, so, I started thinking of that when reflecting on this. I don't know though. I guess more than all of that, I just love the charm of a nice long cartoon like Samurai Jack, or Dragon Ball Z, in which it's an epic journey where many years pass. It seems odd that everything happens so quickly here and... Ah, who am I kidding? I'm just upset because I know that this show is going to be short and sweet. Still though, that would've been cool to have Aang end up like, 2-3 years older at the end than at the beginning, instead of him just constantly being the same age though. But, you can't have everything your way I guess. What do you guys think?
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Aanglover
Avatar Yangchen
The Aang Guru
This isn't the end, but rather, a new beginning.
Posts: 1,537
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Post by Aanglover on Sept 23, 2010 10:56:32 GMT -5
First..I'd like to commend you for typing so much of your opinions about the show...if i typed that much i'd probably have carpal tunnel by now.. xD And you definitely brought up some good points as well that i have actually thought about when i was watching the show for the first time (like the extermination of the air nomads). So i will Exalt you for being dedicated and passionate to your reviewing! But yes it is a short and sweet show..Compiled of 61 episodes altogether...and it's technically a "kids" show so they couldn't make it too complex or else they couldn't understand what's going on. And, like you, i do really wish as well that we could have see a more grown up Gaang as well.... but Avatar does have an in depth story and conflicted characters that's really refreshing to me. Unlike shows like inuyasha and pokemon, Avatar's not really about all the action but rather the character development (both physically and emotionally) and how they change from the trials they undergo. From this sheer fact...that's probably why Avatar won and was nominated from many awards throughout it's airing. If you read this summary of the show and how it got a Peabody Award you'd understand where the creators Bryan and Mike got their inspiration and why they made a series like this one. www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=2044If you want a story with a good understanding, beautiful artwork, comic elements but also a genuine moral sense and seriousness...Avatar is definitely it! i'm happy to hear reviews from new watchers. and keep 'em coming!
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Post by fionordequester on Sept 25, 2010 23:01:29 GMT -5
Thanks Aanglover, and don't worry, this whole thing gets easier as you keep going. Well, for me it does anyways. So... Ahoy mateys, all hands on the poop deck for some more...Avatar: The Last Airbender! And...I have to say, I'm surprised by how bad this Episode was slammed on the review page. I be readin' all this aboot the fight choreography not bein' so good, the pacing bein' off, the buccaneers not bein' interestin', the events in it being almost entirely irrelevant... So, I'm looking at all that, and I'm like "Really? I thought it was pretty good!". As a matter of fact, this Episode was one of my favorites! Now, if you're gonna look at it in terms of plot development, of course not too much happened, but is that such a problem to begin with? Does every episode absolutely need to move the story along? No, and besides that, what it lacked in plot development, I thought it more than made up for with character development, especially with Katara. Because, I think if we're honest, she was getting dangerously close to being a Mary Sue (a character without any real flaws). The lassie wasn't quite there, but she was walking the plank if you ask me. So, seein' what the lassie's like when she's not so shipshape was refreshing to me. Another thing I'd like to note is that besides the first 5 minutes or so, there wasn't anything to nitpick, and that Sokka seems to have his Sarcastic meter turned up to 11 just for this Episode. Anyways.... Aang is lookin' like he's havin' a panic attack as he talks with Sokka. But it's aight, because Katara's gonna try to teach Aang some of the stuff that she knows! One wonders why they didn't do this earlier, like, say, Episode 4, but, that's cool. Sokka ain't so down with this though... "Sokka: Great. What am I supposed to do?"Well, you could train, do some pushups and situps, catch up on some of your Kyoshi Warrior techniques, practice some of your strikes, run around to build endurance, gather some grub for... Aang: You could...clean the gunk out of Appa's toes. ...Ok, that works to. Why Appa can't use the water to get his own gunk, I don't know (he seems smart enough), but hey, if Sokka says he's willin'... Speakin' of bein' willin', Zuko again shows us how awesome he can be when he displays what has to be THE most impressive display of patience yet. Apparently, not only does Iroh not have much interest in capturing Aang, but the scurvy dog is willin' to change course, for no other reason than...well, just listen... Iroh: Even more urgent. It seems that I've, ugh...I've lost my lotus tile Zuko: Lotus tile? Iroh: For my Pai Cho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant. But, it is essential for the unusual strategy that I am employing Zuko: You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?! Iroh: See, you like most people underestimate it's value. Just give me 10 minutes to check the merchants at the (name I can't understand). Hopefully, they'll have the lotus tile in stock, and I can get on with my life. Zuko: (Scream of frustration) Iroh: I'm glad to have such an understanding nephew!Iroh, that's puttin' it lightly. Trust me, I'm a powergamer, and I know what it's like to say, play Diablo II, and lose that really awesome Sigon's Set in Hardcore mode, but here's an idea, USE A DIFFERENT STRATEGY!! I'll admit that this conversation was funny (if only because of the "get on with my life" line), but it's still...it's still... Nope, I'm not even going to comment this time. Hmph, I'm glad this guy wasn't born in our time period. He'd probably spend all his time playin' World of Warcraft, he would...nyyeeehh! Still, Iroh must be doing something right if Zuko's willin' to put up with this. I can't imagine Zuko bein' this tolerant in say, Episode 1 or 2. Iroh is clearly having a positive impact on him, but, why is it that the show never wants to show Iroh at anything but his most abominably biscuit eating moments? But whatever, back to Aang and Katara. Or rather, Aang making Katara look totally worthless as Katara shows us for the very first time, that there is an unhealthy competitive side to her personality. I have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, people like that always irritate me and cause stress to others, but, on the other hand, she was getting to be a little too much like a Mary Sue anyways. What do ye buckos think? Savvy? I'll tell ye what Sokka's thinkin'. Total exasperation as all their supplies get washed away, and maybe even a bit of frustration at the fact that, rather than Aang usin' that Air Orb of his, and actually retrievin' the supplies with his water bending abilities, he lets em' wash away. I would think so, I'd be pretty irritated to if I were Sokka. I rather enjoyed the next 6 minutes of this. People say that the Pirates were borin' and not much more than archtypes, but, just what do you guys expect? Does every villain have to be a unique, bourgeoise rat? I don't think Zhao is interestin' or unique, but I'm not complainin' about his personality (no, it's his inneffectuality that irritates me). Besides, I thought the Buccaneer Captain had a certain...charisma about him. I guess it might just be his voice actor, who I could've sworn was the guy who voiced Captain Ginyu from Dragon Ball Z (but nope, he isn't). And I mean the awesome, gruff, charismatic Brice Armstrong Captain Ginyu, who sounds cool. Not the goofy Dave Kelly Captain Ginyu, who sounded like an evil Ernest I think I also like the soundtrack that plays for the pirates, as it actually has human voices in them, which I thought made the Corsairs seem a little more intimidating, edgy, and unique. To top off those minutes, I like how the show doesn't sugar coat the fact that Katara put all them at risk of feedin' the fishes, that pillagin' someones booty was wrong, and that Katara did royally screw up here. It's not like EPISODE FOUR, in which Aang apparently felt no obligation to defend the Kyoshi Village and give Zuko the ol' heave ho, and never seems to acknowledge that onscreen (although offscreen, I get the feelin' that he did, based on how much more serious he got). Ye know what the worst part is? As bad as Episode 4 was about that, that's nothing but a WARM UP, compared to that...other episode...that I saw before starting this thing...that one I've mentioned a few times...in which almost every takes a sudden...I'd rather see Aang's Episode 4 showboating a million times over rather than... Nah, happy thoughts! Yo ho ho ho! Yar watching an episode that's not that episode, happy thoughts! Let's think of somethin' funny, like... How hilarious Iroh was in this, the way he acts like a lassie having her first shopping trip, and even imitating a monkey statue as the scene finishes (if you look closely in the background when Zuko asks about Aang's location, you'll see him). Or, Zuko, after he captures Katara. I swear, the moment he captures Katara, he utters the absolute funniest thing I've ever heard coming out of his mouth... Zuko: I'll save you from the pirates!You ever hear one of those lines in a show, one of them that just strikes you as so bizzare and strange, or otherwise silly, that you spend days just repeating it to yourself, and trying to figure out what the heck that was about? You know how I said that his attitude in Episode 8 was strange? Well that's nothing compared to this! I thought for a long while on this, and finally, I just figured that he must've said that in reaction to Katara screaming in shock at the Pirate attack, to be a sarcastic jerk, but, it just came so completely out of the blue. I love this conversation to. I don't know why, maybe it's just his voice acting, or the way he's talking into Katara's ear as he's listin' his demands, or that smile he gets on his face after Katara rebuffs him for the first time, but, it almost looks to me like he's trying to get his mojo working, like he's trying to woo Katara. Like, he's trying to use his princely charms and wits to hornswaggle the information out of her. Cor Blimey though, he HAS gotten more patient, hasn't he? I was really shivering me timbers by how he didn't immediately get mad, or frustrated in the least. As a matter of fact, it seems like he's relyin' more on wit, and less on brute force as the show goes on, and I found that really interestin' to watch. He's developing as a character quite nicely. So, Aang gets captured, and the critics are right in that he does get captured a wee little bit too easily, but you know what? At least he actually did something this time, UNLIKE EPISODE FOUR, in which he stood around like a lamb as he let himself get captured. Plus, he had a good reason for not succeeding this time. If I had broken that net that that corsair had captured me with, I think I would've succumbed to it just as easily as Aang did. I seriously was not expecting even those shards of rope to be so fast even after losing so much momentum. Basically, Aang just happened to go up against weaponry he had no familiarity with, was specifically designed to counter his airbending abilities, and suffered for it. I do dislike Sokka's biscuit eating after Aang got captured though. Starting up after this was probably my favorite part of the Episode, and what I thought was the very best fight scene in the show, for a lot of reasons. Firstly, Aang doesn't immediately curbstomp his opponents, which is always nice. Secondly, for what I think is the very first time in the show, Katara and Sokka were actually vital to winning the fight and escaping from many dark moons in Davy Jones's Locker, from the way Sokka turned the corsairs and Zuko against each other, to the way Katara and Aang had to work together to escape, to the way their constantly saving each others lives, it was all really cool to see. Besides though, these scallywags just kick a lot of butt, and I could actually buy them being a match for Zuko and his gang. Zuko and the Pirate Corsair for example. If you look closely, you can actually see the Captain employin' a very clever strategy. He's rushing in and giving Zuko as little breathing room as he possibly can, so that Zuko's unable to use his firebending powers to their full extent. The smoke bombs were really clever as well. Then, just to finish off a great Episode, Iroh again gets the comeuppance he deserves for causing Zuko so much trouble...or maybe not...I really do wish they'd show Iroh helping Zuko work out his problems onscreen. I don't care what anyone says, this Episode was great! It provided some much needed character development to Katara, some subtle character development for Zuko, some of what I thought was the best action in this cartoon, very little to nitpick, and just had some all around great action! This episode is definetly A material if you ask me. Also.... Iroh: Oooooooh!! This is HAAAANDSOOOME! XD
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Post by fionordequester on Oct 2, 2010 2:04:38 GMT -5
I thought this Episode was pretty great. It had good dialouge (in my opinion), and had a great character in Jet, so I rate it a B+, losing just a few points for the fact that...well, you'll see. Although, I do enjoy the fact that Katara has finally found a way to not be completely useless in battle. How does this start? By having Katara be a raging...nag. Seriously, what in this blue Earth could've provoked her to mock Sokka as much as she did in the beginning? The guy actually brings up a really good point, and tries to be calm and reasonable in persuading the gang to walk, and Katara's reaction is to give him the most undeserved, mocking, "Awww, wittle Sokka thinks he's the weader" brow beating she's ever given him up till now. I even cringed towards the end because of her sarcasm. I was just all "what the heck was up with that?!" when she was done. It doesn't stop there. It seems that throughout the entire walk, the pair are mocking Sokka for following his instincts, and are actually enjoying every second of it!Jeez, first Zuko, then Sokka, and now Katara and Aang. At this point, everyone and their mothers are going to be having a turn with the sarcasmatron. So, they get caught when they accidently wander into some Fire Nation guys, and are immediately "trapped" by one of them, and now, there is no escape (or so, the characters act like it). Fine, I'm willing to roll with that...except for this one small insignificant question I have... ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TELLING ME THEY CAN'T JUST WALK AROUND THAT FIRE?!And you know what? Even if the fire wall had been able to trap them, we've already established that in addition to being extremely strong (enough so to be able to chuck Zuko, in body armor, into the air with minimal effort, and perform one handed pushups without breaking a sweat), Aang can leap like 20 feet in the air, so if he'd just use his brain, grab Sokka and Katara, and just jump over the wall, they probably wouldn't have even struggled with these guys. Or better yet, Aang could've just used his Airbending to get rid of the flames, or even had Katara douse the fire with her newfound water bending powers. But nope, they end up saved by Jet, and his group of oddly appropriately named freedom fighters, culminating with Jet stumbling towards Katara, and wasting no time in putting the moves on Katara, and wooing her within the first few minutes. Aang, apparently doesn't have anything to say about this either. You know, it's just so funny that Aang has nothing to say. Maybe it's just me, but I could've sworn that, in Episode 4, both Aang and Katara had this silly little thing called A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP!! Well, ok, it wasn't implicitly romantic, but they definetly seemed to have a heavy crush on each other. The sad thing is, I don't know whether to be irritated by this sudden lapse in continuity by the Avatar makers, or grateful for the fact that even the show itself seems to be trying to forget that Episode 4 ever happened. It may as well have never happened. Sokka still seems just as useless in a fight as he was before, and seems oddly undisturbed by the fact that the last time he saw his girlfriend, her village was getting razed by Zuko and his men. Hm...anyways, for as much as I'm nitpicking, I thought the show did a great job with Jet's character. He really is a master manipulator, and you could see why everyone looked up to him so much. And also... Jet: Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe their right!Freedome Fighters: Booooo!Jet: Or maybe...they're dead wrong!I really loved the way they foreshadowed Jet's dark side with this scene. It wasn't the way he emphasized his line, or the words themselves, but it was the way the soundtrack dropped a subtle, sinister note the instant he said that, and the fact that the moment he says this is the very first instance in the Episode in which he stops smiling. It's subtle, and yet, it's also really disquieting even on your first viewing. I think it just shows how much the soundtrack has evolved from the early Episodes of this show. It's not like Episode 3, in which it was beating it into our heads that Commander Zhao was evil right as he shows up onscreen!Speaking of Jet, even though he is in fact a master manipulator, he makes what I thought was a fairly stupid mistake in bringing Sokka along. I don't know, but, it seems like if I was going to bring someone along to waylay old men, or otherwise helpless travelers, the last person I'd choose is the one guy who's the most critical and suspicious of me in the entire group. Or maybe Jet is just that cracked. It's kind of scary to think about with this guy. Speaking of nonsensical reactions, I find it kind of sad that Katara and Aang are so quick to side with Jet over Sokka, despite Jet being a total and complete stranger. Actually, ever since this show started, Katara seems to get on Sokka's case often. I could understand when Sokka was still a sexist jerk, but now it just comes off as meanspirited most of the time, especially since the guy usually has stuff to say that's worth listening to, and usually has their best interests at heart. Not always particularly bright though. I dunno, I think if I had flat out told Jet, who's clearly insane, to screw him, that he was a heartless murderer while he and his whole gang were surrounding me, I'dve tried to break away from the group instead of just standing there and letting them capture me. But, that's just me. I also like the dialouge between Jet, Katara, and Aang after this to. Not only does it set him up as even more of a magnificent heathen than he already is, and cement him as the master manipulator, but, I also found this line of dialouge fairly amusing... Katara: I've never used bending on water I can't see. I don't know...See guys? Episode 4 doesn't exist after all! Not only does the show itself seem to distance itself from that Episode as much as it can, but the beauty of it is, if you try to tell me that it does, well then.....you'd just have to accept the fact that this show just created a plothole the size of Mike Tyson's fist. You know, with the way Katara performed CPR on Aang by bending water inside his body that she couldn't see? That ring a bell to anyone? Aaahhh...what a wonderful, wonderful feeling! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be hear typing, and celebrating at the sheer amount of just how much Episode 4 doesn't exist! Hip hip hooray! Speaking of wonderful, there is one thing I'll definetly give this episode credit for. The fight between Aang and Jet is actually really impressive, not because Jet actually did a good job against Aang as Qui Chin said he did (lets face it, had Aang not been a pacifistic idiot, he would've squashed Jet in a matter of seconds), but because they actually managed to have Jet fight a protracted battle against Aang in the treetops while still remaining mostly realistic!Seriously, do you know how much of an achievement that is in these kinds of shows, especially when Jet is at as much of a disadvantage as he was here? I mean yeah, I guess there were small amounts of cheese, like Jet jumping extremely far at one point, and somehow never failing to cling onto branches, but, for the most part, it managed to be intense without sacrificing a shred of realism. That, is extremely impressive to me, and one of the reasons I'm starting to like the show more and more as it goes on. By the way, good idea on the writers part to nerf Aang's flying stick. Aang's already overpowered enough as it is if you ask me. I like the shows brief spin on the ending by the way. For just a little bit, the show makes it sound like everyone in the village was killed, when in actuality, Sokka rescued them by flying Appa, and because of the old man whom he saved from Jet. I just love it when writers pay attention to minor details like they did there. Anyways, the ending was really clever. For just a brief moment, you think that Jet actually succeeded, which made the victory all the sweeter. So, there wraps up what was another great Episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender! The beginning may have had some stupid stuff in it, but otherwise, great!
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Post by fionordequester on Oct 6, 2010 17:40:31 GMT -5
Alright, new policy, if I don't get a reply on a log I posted in three days, I'm just going to go ahead and post the new one. So now... Hey guys...welcome back to some stupid Avatar: The Last Airbender... First of all, making this log has been by far the longest, most arduous, frustrating process of this entire thing so far. I, for the very first time, am using video clips, and figuring out how to do it was a real doozy to say the least. I actually spent THREE WHOLE DAYS just trying to figure out how to not only find Avatar: The Last Airbender footage to use, but also had to figure out how to convert it, and then upload it to Youtube. It's a long and boring tale that I don't feel like getting into, but if you want to know all the details, ask "Iamaang92" about it. Anyways, I hadn't even gotten started actually writing this log for this Episode yet by the time I was done. Not only was this Episode a real drag just because of all the complaining I did (believe it or not, despite my nitpicking, I don't go into anything wanting to complain), but my mind actually started to falter midway through about how to write this in a way that's interesting. See, because of the sheer volume I end up writing, and my own perfectionistic tendencies, I try really hard to make it as readable as possible. By using my wits to point out stuff in a way that I think is amusing sometimes, making sure I transition smoothly from one point to the next, and basically just expressing my thoughts clearly. Unfortunately, by the time I got to describing the tales of the Ganjinn and Zhang tribes, I started struggling with that. I had trouble thinking of a good way to write about them, and besides that, my mind started going out of focus a bit. I started procrastinating a lot, and basically had to sit down to make myself come up with some way to describe stuff in a way that didn't feel like it dragged on too long, or was weak. Combine that with this log's length, and I started getting somewhat fatigued by how it just seemed to drag on and on. It got to the point where it actually took me a whole hour just to finally figure out what I was going to say about Aang's story. Anyways, I'm just glad to be done with this stupid Episode... Why is it stupid? Well, I...did not enjoy this Episode. As a matter of fact, I'd say this is just about the only Episode so far in which I actually felt insulted at some points. Besides that, with the exception of the soundtrack, everything aspect of this Episode seems below the standards for an Episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender. But once again, the very worst thing of all is the writing and story. If you thought the writing in Kyoshi Warriors was bad...you ain't seen nothing yet. So, without further ado... First of all, this was one of the Episodes I've seen before, but, I didn't remember it too well. The only three things I remembered was Aang resolving the situation at the end, two warring tribes, and Aang getting really angry at at least one point in the Episode. So, thinking that that was a really interesting premise, I thought that this was going to be a much better Episode than it was. So, just a fair warning, this is gonna be my longest one yet, because there is so much wrong with this Episode, that I pretty much had to tear this Episode apart inch by inch. But, enough about that, lets get started... Man, Katara and Sokka must not have been in a very good mood this Episode. Seriously, one minor disagreement over the Camp and the tarp, and they're practically gnawing at each others throats. It seems like the obvious thing to do would be to use the tarp as a blanket, THEN start using it IF it rains, but no, Sokka has to throw a complete hissy fit, mock Katara, and start a huge fight.... Yeah, one thing about this Episode. I don't know why, but for some inexplicable reason, everyone suddenly decides to be complete jackasses to each other in this Episode, and I'm not exaggerating on that either. This Episode is literally the whole gang at their...second worst (bested only by a certain...other Episode that's been haunting me since day one). While we're on that topic, if you think the insults they're throwing at each other are lame now...trust me, you haven't seen NOTHIN' yet! Speaking of seeing, I find Aang's facial expression kind of odd here for whatever reason. His eyelids are half closed, but his eyebrows are all scrunched up, which I'm fairly certain is not only a difficult facial expression to pull off (believe me, I've tried), but, it makes him about a decade older than he really is (like Monk Gyatso actually). And so, after that, the Episode takes it's very first descent... It got dumb. After more pointless bickering from Sokka and Katara, we see our very first Ganjin, and it's here that the Episode's quality immediately starts dropping. First thing that immediately bothers me is how obvious it was that this guy was voiced by the same guy who does Sokka. Considering how good the voice acting has been so far, I just thought "no, there's no way it could be what I think it is...", and just figured that either it was Zuko's VA doing his voice instead (I could picture it), or, it was the guy who voiced Robin from Teen Titans (sounds exactly like him actually, when Robin's excited, upset, or angry that is). But nope, it's Sokka's VA, and he does almost nothing to hide it. The monk's "voice" is literally just Jack speaking in a slightly higher voice. But, that's the least of this Episodes problems... And then, in one of the oddest, most bizarre moments in this Episode, Sokka goes in behind the guy, and for whatever reason, starts OPENLY MOCKING THE GUY BEHIND HIS BACK AS HE SPEAKS. I don't know what the H.F.I.L. is up with Sokka here, but in just four minutes, he's made me almost as angry at him as I was when he his head was still full of that chauvinist, HOO-RAH, nonsense. I don't know what the Ganjinn Monk man did to deserve it, as he is perfectly reasonable about it if you ask me. I guess he seems to have a lot of nerve, but not anymore than Sokka. That may still be a little too much though, as he apparently sees no in marching up to a whole tribe of armed and deadly Zhang, and tell them "back off, this area is MINE"! Fortunately, the show neglects to show what could've happened to him, but instead, they just show this stupid conversation... Zhang Leader: Where are the rest of the Ganjinn? Still tidying up their campsite?Ganjinn Monk: Yes! But they sent me ahead of them to hold a spot!Zhang Leader: I didn't know the canyon guide took reservations.Ganjinn Monk: Heh! Of course you didn't! That's the ignorance I'd expect from a messy Zhang! So unorganized and ill prepared for a journey!I swear, my heart sunk a little the instant I heard these lines. I was thinking to myself "Oh great, looks like Mathew Hubbarb's writing this Episode...". So, I just tried to suck it up, hope that this isn't seriously what the writer was going with, and if it was, accept the fact that it was going to be one of those Episodes. But that doesn't mean we can't get some hilarious lines. After the Canyon guide man clears away the rocks, and after the Ganjinn arrive, sparks fly! They immediately start tearing into each other, "Sick people over old people!", "Old people over sick people!"! After the initial volley, the Ganjin leader leads off with a powerful assault, "Maybe you wouldn't have so many sick people if you weren't such slobs!" The Zhang leader isn't one to be outdone though, for it is here, that she comes up with the ABSOLUTE...GREATEST COMEBACK TO EVER GRACE OUR EARS! Surely, even the most hardened of men would quiver in their boots at such a powerful assult! Men, make sure your buckled down, make sure your wearing clean underwear, because you just cannot handle, the sheer power of what is to come...I present to you...The Greatest Comback Ever Devised... www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiAaSQamFi8...OH...OOOHHH...OWWWWNNNNEEEED !! Yeeaaah! You know you're hardcore when you can stare someone straight in the face, and yell "Screw you sissy! I don't need to live!" Lets see, not feeling fat and weary all the time? Living a long and fulfilling life...NAH! It's instant gratification and gum disease for us! Yay! By the way, does the Ganjinn leaders voice sound silly to anyone else? I think it does, he sounds like that Rare Hunter from the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh, and that's not a compliment. So, it looks like the two tribes are kind of screwed if Aang doesn't help them out, and so, the group comes on board. However, in doing so, we are unfortunately introduced to the rest of the Episode, in which Aang suddenly plants his foot down harder than he has probably the entire series so far, as he shows actual rage for probably the very first time in the entire series...too bad it had to happen in this Episode... Seriously, what is with Aang? I mean, I'll support him FINALLY being assertive when it's appropriate, but it just comes completely out of nowhere, with no development behind it. I mean, we're talking a guy who witnessed Zuko threatening innocent villagers in Episode 2, Zuko burning a village to the ground in Episode 4, a crazy king threatening his friends in Episode 5, a village who's earthbenders are regularly abducted to live a life of slavery in Episode 6, a monster destroying a village in Episode 7, and a mass murderer trying to destroy a whole village of innocent people in Episode 10. And that's not even counting all the times that someone has tried to kill him or his partners. Yet, not once before this Episode has he ever showed any actual rage towards any of this. So, basically, you can threaten him and his friends and destroy life and property, all without him getting more than a little bit peeved. But factionalism, and arguing amoungst yourself? BOY, YOU BETTER BELIEVE HE'S GONNA KICK YOUR BUTT FOR THAT! BETTA RECOGNIZE! In all seriousness, I don't really even know whether this is bad writing on account of this Episode, or bad writing on account of the other 10 Episodes, but it's still pretty sudden, and it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I guess you could argue that he's finally learning that Pacifism isn't going to get him anywhere (and will in fact get people killed ALA, Episode 10), but again, I really wish they'd show that kind of stuff onscreen, instead of just assuming that we know that that's what happened. It's too bad, I WANT Aang to start being more assertive, but the way it's presented in this Episode just seems a little off to me. Heck, maybe he's just going through puberty. I dunno. If this is the route we're taking, I hope he starts being this assertive more in the future, otherwise, this Episode is gonna reek of out of characterness. But, on a positive note, the next three minutes are pretty entertaining. I really like the Canyon Guide, if just for his eccentricity...or, at least I did until his nervous breakdown. You'd think a guy who has such a dangerous job and should KNOW that someone is inevitably going to screw up at least once in his life time would function under stress, but, apparently not. You baby... As a matter of fact, why is this guy so completely helpless just because he has one broken arm (yeah, I know the show says both arms, but it's pretty clearly that he's still able to move at least one of them)? I mean, I don't remember most of the Episodes I watched too well, but, I distinctly remember that when Toph earthbended, a large part of it was by using her feet to do it (actually, I think that's how she was able to navigate her way around without getting herself hurt, by feeling vibrations or something, right?). Granted, I only saw like, two VERY brief instances of her earthbending, so, maybe I'm wrong. Can someone please clear this up for me? Because I really don't see why having one immobile arm makes the Canyon Guide so utterly helpless. Then again, maybe Toph can do that just because she's...Toph, my favorite character, whoo! Can't wait for the show to get to her! Speaking of abilities, we established later on in the Episode that the Ganjinn and Zhang are all capable warriors, so why the heck are Aang, Katara, and Sokka the only ones trying to help the Canyon Guide? Oh well, at least Aang's starting to develop his offensive capabilities a little. That tornado trick looks like it's sure gonna come in handy. Anyways, it's about 10 minutes in, and I didn't remember any of this from the last time I watched this Episode. So I just figured, "ok, so the Episode had kind of a weak beginning. But hey, it's Aang finally taking charge! It surely can't be THAT bad from here...right?!". Well...no... It got dumber. After splitting the warring tribes up (which seems like the LAST thing you'd want to do when faced with the threat of giant carnivores...), Katara and Sokka make this shocking discovery, that their respective tribes happen to AGREE with them on how to set up a tent... Which doesn't have anything to do with anything, so, thank you Avatar.... Anyways, it is here that the Ganjinn leader officially takes a step up on the Douchameter, from going from "Pompous Jerk", to "Officially Too Dumb To Live", by revealing that he was in fact smuggling food. And it is here that I just have to roll my eyes, as Katara jumps COMPLETELY out of character by showing hardly any shock...or anger...or any other emotion you'd think she'd have when confronted with the fact that the tribe are a cold blooded pack of liars who WILL use an entire tribe as scapegoats for their own selfishness and greed. But enough about that... It gets even worse when the Ganjinn have a rather poorly animated flashback, one that reveals that all of their anger, all of their hatred is because of the fact that one guy from the tribe, just happened to do them wrong, and they, for some reason, decide that the entire tribe must therefore be bad, all on account of that ONE GUY being evil... Oh, and get this. Katara doesn't need any sort of convincing, she just instantly accepts their story as truth, despite witnessing not two seconds ago that the whole tribe are a bunch of selish, idiotic, self-righteous liars who have already shown themselves willing to scapegoat the other tribe for the sake of saving face. How does she know they're not lying now? So now, it's Sokka's turn to be converted, and surprisingly enough, the Zhang leader not only shows herself to be more intelligent, insightful, and self-aware than the Ganjinn leader, to the point where I can actually kind of see why Sokka was willing to believe her. Even her reasons for hating the Ganjinn are more justified (although, they're still dumb. Does she really not see why the Ganjinn would act the way they did?), and is probably in the right about how the story went down considering how horrible the people of the Ganjinn have proven themselves to be... And that's not a good thing. Seriously, when you're writing a story like this, in which you're trying to show your audience the folly of the feud the two tribes are having, it's not a good sign when the audience can actually side with one side over the other. It just seems like careless writing. Also, does anyone else find it funny that the Zhang flashback is much better animated, despite being drawn in a much uglier style? No? I thought it was. Next morning comes, and of course, Sokka and Katara prove to be completely useless, as is their following conversation... Aang: Katara, Sokka, will these people cooperate long enough to get out of the canyon? Katara: I don't think so, Aang, the Zhang's really wronged the Gan Jins. They ambushed Jin We and stole the sacred orb. Aang: What are you talking about? Sokka: Yeah, Katara, what are you talking about? Wei Jin didn't steal the orb, he was returning it to their village gate and was wrongfully punished by the Gan Jin. Katara: Not punished enough if you ask me!Uh, yo, Katara? Did all that stuff about Wei Jin's motives for stealing the orb just fly over your head? You're not even going to respond to that? And why is Aang so utterly uninterested in the fact that they have two different stories? He's not gonna take the time to have them straighten them out? Really? I dunno, seems like that'd be kind of an important detail. Anyways, after that, it's just more of the Ganjinn and Zhang being complete idiots, and Katara and Sokka being so blinded by the idiot ball, that they don't do a blasted thing to stop the Ganjinn and Zhang from slaughtering each other. Apparently, these douches can't put aside their differences for one minute to save their own lives, and when Aang discovers that both of them smuggled food (a fact that Katara and Sokka conveniently forgot to mention, by the way...), Aang becomes so incredibly enraged, he does the unthinkable... For a few, brief moments...he channels the spirit of Elmer Fudd. Seriously, that's what it looked like to me, and to be honest, it was funny, but also really insulting at the same time. This was pretty much the image in the entire Episode that stuck out to me when I watched it last, and I remembered it being much more moving and dignified than it actually turned out to be. It's just such a horrible way of handling this moment. I mean, this is a really significant moment. We are seeing, for the very first time in the show, what happens when Aang is finally angered to the point of almost losing it, after all this time of trying to keep his calm no matter what happened throughout the series. I mean, that's some really significant stuff right there, and it's also a crucial step to his development as a character, and eventually the kind of hero that the world truly needs. And how do they handle it? By making him look like a character straight out of a Hannah Barbera cartoon, then completely destroying the moment by him making a stupid joke about how much he loves Custard, that's how. How fricken mentally challenged... Oh, and the voice acting leaves a lot to be desired as well. Seriously man, your character is making Elmer Fudd faces, PUT SOME EMOTION INTO IT YOU LAZY MORON!! But, fortunately, it's after that moment that I come across one very awesome moment, in which Aang faces off against a horde of Canyon Crawlers. Behold, what you are about to see are the ONLY 40 seconds of the Episode, besides the 3 minutes where the Canyon Guide was NOT a bipolar nutcase, that I actually liked.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUKucbCU2lgNot only was it extremely refreshing to see Katara and Sokka acknowledge their mistakes and put it past them, but, I absolutely LOVE that scene in which Aang faces off against the Canyon Crawlers, almost gets munched, then immediately pwns them. I loved the way he was drawn, I love the way he moved, and I love the hardcore expressions on his face. Farewell 40 seconds, you were so nice while you lasted...because... IT GOT DUMBER! You see, Aang comes up with a brilliant plan, to lure the Canyon Crawlers up the mountain as everyone rides on them. Seems straight forward, except that there's no way it should've worked. How the H.F.I.L. does everyone manage to wrap a bag over the Crawlers mouths without getting chopped into lunch bull meat? Why have the Canyon Crawlers suddenly decreased in size from their last appearance? How are the bags so tough, that they're not immediately punched through by the Crawlers sharp talons? Why does everyone just HAPPEN to be carrying around a set of reigns to ride the animals with, despite NONE OF THEM having any reason whatsoever to do so?! There was just so much wrong with what transpired with these two minutes, that I could no longer resist the temptation to look up who wrote this Episode. At this juncture, I thought it just HAD to be Mathew Hubbarb, the 2nd least talented writer so far, so I looked it up on this sight....and my heart sank like a rock, and my jaw hit the floor when I saw who wrote this... It was none other than John O'Bryon himself who wrote this Episode!! That's right, this guy wrote not one, but TWO of what were some of my absolute favorite Episodes in the series, and he turns in this pile of anal sludge?! It's just...before this Episode, up till now, the guy was the fricken man when it came to writing great Episodes. Every Episode he's written so far has had almost nothing for me to nitpick, every one he's written so far has contained all of my favorite fight scenes, and best of all, each Episode he's written has ended up either adding another layer to one of the characters, or has had them change for the better somehow. But now, thanks to his inexplicable drop of quality (or just plain laziness), the final straw comes in the last four minutes of this Episode... Now, up until now, despite everything about this Episode, I was...somewhat entertained. It was stupid, but, even at it's worse, the show's still not that bad. But then, just when I thought I could wait out the rest of the Episode, it takes a turn that pretty much completely destroyed whatever good feelings I had towards this Episode... IT...GOT...DUMBER!! In response to our idiotic leaders, who apparently aren't grateful at all that they saved each others lives, Aang goes out, and lies to them, and it is the absolute, most ill conceived, idiotic lie I can ever remember witnessing on a T.V. Show. Remember Zuko and Iroh's story about them "crashing" their ship? Nothing but a warm up compared to this... Apparently, Aang expects them to not only believe that a simple ball game between two children somehow got twisted into being a ritual in which someone travels many miles to deliver a sacred relic in just 100 years, but that Weijinn and Jinwei were brothers, despite living in seperate tribes!! And you know where it really gets stupid? EVERYONE IN THE TRIBE INSTANTLY BELIEVES HIM!! Everyone is instantly willing to believe that their religion is a hollow lie, that this whole thing has SOMEHOW been misconstrued as badly as it was from something that happened only 100 years ago, and that Aang has somehow lived for the 100 years he'd have needed to live to actually know this, all without aging a single day past 12!! To top it, while Sokka gives the appropriate reaction, Katara actually seem proud of the fact that Aang's lie basically just hosed who knows how many years of tradition and religion. It started bad, and it ended horribly. This Episode was by far the worst of the series so far, and it left me seething mad like you wouldn't believe! The sad thing is, when I look at this Episode with John O'Bryan in mind, I realize that it actually DOES have the elements of a John O'Bryan Episode. I mean, it had good fight scenes, an interesting premise, and had it not been so badly written, it would've been good character development for Aang. But no, we got the dialouge we got in this Episode. Besides that, there was just so much that didn't need to be in here, like that whole "dirty and clean" nonsense between the tribes. What the H.F.I.L. was that?! If they were trying to create cultural differences between the two tribes, fine, but was that seriously the best they could come up with?! All it did was make the two tribes seem like total stereotypes. Everyone in this Episode was so annoying as well, from that bipolar Canyon Guide who started out cool, but turned into a throwaway joke halfway through, Sokka with his irrational anger, Katara with her obstinance and sudden ability to overlook things that should be setting her stark raving mad, Aang with his mugging to the camera and mentally challenged lie, and finished off with the Ganjinn and Zhang leaders and their "Too Dumb To Live" attitudes. I almost hate to call Aang, Katara, and Sokka's behavior out of character but...there's something really off about it. Like, somethings not right about it. All I can say is...this must've been a rushed Episode. There's no way something that had such an interesting premise, but turned out so badly was not rushed, especially not a John O'Bryan Episode. In addition, there was just so much in this Episode that was handled badly, and flat out just didn't make sense, that I have a hard time believing that it wasn't rushed. Like the goofy expressions Aang was given in what was supposed to be a significant, character developing moment. It's almost like the writers just decided to make this whole Episode one big joke. Anyways, I'm done. I felt so burnt out after this Episode ended. But, fortunately, I've already seen Episode 12, and not only does ti blow this Episode completely out fo the water, but it might just have been the very best Episode in Season 1. Seriously, it screams awesome! So, yeah, nice leaving this on a positive not, huh?
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Aanglover
Avatar Yangchen
The Aang Guru
This isn't the end, but rather, a new beginning.
Posts: 1,537
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Post by Aanglover on Oct 6, 2010 20:17:26 GMT -5
yes.....now u know why The Great Divide episode isnt loved by the fandom at all.....kinda like TLA movie.... XD You'll like the next few episodes though. They're really good, trust me.
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Post by fionordequester on Oct 7, 2010 21:20:28 GMT -5
Hey acquaintances and readers, we’re gonna have a devil of a time with… Avatar: The Last Airbender! Unfortunately, it is with this Episode that I have had to suspend even more disbelief than I had to with Episode 4. This is another great Episode otherwise, but some of the stuff that went on here was just ludicrous. But we’ll get to that in a minute. First of all, I’ve gotta hand it to the voice actors of Sokka and Katara. Sokka’s delivery of his lines is just hilarious, and Katara stuns me by doing perhaps the best imitation of a cough I’ve ever heard in a cartoon. Seriously, it is dead on! It was so good, it made me wonder, just for a second, if Katara’s VA actually was sick when she was delivering the lines. That’s how good it was. Anyways, I’m really confused about Zuko being on speaking terms with Zhao’s men now. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Zuko had officially been branded a traitor in Episode 8, right? Then why isn’t he being attacked and subdued on sight by Zhao’s men? Why does he still have the power to tell Zhao’s men to take a hike? And speaking of him and Zhao… Iroh: Is everything okay? It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order. Zuko: I don't care what they do. Iroh: Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar before Zhao. Zuko: How, Uncle? With Zhao's resources it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar. My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all.And you’re just now being intimidated by that? Zuko, he’s had his “resources” ever since Episode 3, yet you’ve been dancing circles around him this whole time. Believe me; he’s got nothing on you. So what if he’s got an extra rank? You may not be that smart, or have that much good sense, but you have more of it than Zhao does, an awesome mentor who obviously knows his stuff, all the heart and determination in the world, a better network of spies as proven in Episode 4 (somehow…), and far superior fighting skills to Zhao. What’s there to be afraid of? Not falls from great heights apparently, because despite Aang and the Yu Yan Archers jumping off a fricken cliff, Aang is barely hurt from crashing head on into tree branches as all of that, while the Yu Yan Archers apparently avoid it entirely by just instantly knowing exactly where to jump, exactly where to shoot their stupid grappling arrows, and somehow landing in a way where they don’t slip or fall off of the branches, and none of them have any trouble whatsoever being able to shoot arrows at Aang as they’re hopping and swinging through the trees like Tarzan on Ampiphetimines. Best of all, apparently, none of them had any fear whatsoever of jumping off of a cliff…THIS IS JUST… Ok, look, its scientific fact. The human body can only withstand a fall of 30 feet before sustaining serious, life threatening injury. Therefore, Aang and all of his pursuers should’ve broken almost every bone in their bodies from the falls they fell at. That’s not even counting how ludicrous it is that their ropes somehow managed to not snap under the G forces that such a fall should’ve created, or that the archers even managed to hang on to their ropes without scrapping the H.F.I.L. out of their hands with all the friction a fall like that should’ve created. And they’re not even using any gloves of any kind, so there’s nothing protecting them against the friction either. And how were they able to keep their arrows straight when there was so much wind blowing in the beginning of their fight? Finally, why on earth is Aang so unfocused in this fight? THERE ARE PEOPLE SHOOTING ARROWS AS YOU MAN, FOCUS ON THEM FIRST! I know you need the frogs, but you really couldn’t have worried about that AFTER kicking around the guys who, as far as you know, are trying to kill you?! Speaking of dishing out pain, it’s during Aang’s conversation with Zhao that I make a rather disturbing discovery about Zhao. Judging by how he’s talking to Aang, about "just barely keeping him alive" (torturing him basically), and smiling at how horribly he feels about being the last Airbender, he really does just love seeing people suffer that much… That’s alright though, because it’s here that that The Masked Devil, appears to rescue Aang! Apparently, The Masked Devil took my advice from Episode 8 and started really hitting the weights since his humiliation there, because the guy has drastically improved since then. I mean seriously, in that Episode, the guy couldn’t even defeat Zhao and a handful of his cronies, but now, he’s just cutting swathes through scores of Zhao’s men! The stunts he pulls as he’s rescuing Aang are all amazing…and also slightly unrealistic, unfortunately… Still, not since the days of Ryu Hyabusa in “Ninja Gaiden” has a Ninja ever kicked as much butt as The Masked Devil did here. It looks like in addition to hitting the weights; he’s given himself a crash course on swordsmanship to. What a guy! Not since then have I ever seen swords so absurdly sharp either, as The Masked Devil easily cuts through Aang’s chains with swords that…can apparently…cut through…metal… It’s too bad that The Masked Devil couldn’t really use his Firebending though, because the guy ends up in hot water a lot thanks to his handicap. Apparently he’s so desperate for his life back, that he won’t even use Firebending out of fear of being identified. But hey, at least he has skills to not choose to use, unlike Zhao, who’s apparently shocked by the fact that Aang was able to escape after he opened the gates, despite knowing that Aang is an Airbender who can, quote, “run faster than wind”, can fly, and has absolutely no one around to stop him… Look, I know this is hard for you Zhao, but will you please think things through before automatically assuming you’ve got it handled?! First of all, you had an Archer stationed right in The Masked Devil’s blind spot, with the high ground advantage, AND a clear shot! All you would’ve needed to do was just have him fire at the back of The Masked Devil’s head, and that would’ve been the end of that! Secondly, why did you let The Masked Devil and Aang get as far away from you as you did before firing?! It makes no sense!! But, Aang gets away, The Masked Devil is revealed to be Zuko, and my favorite piece in this Episode starts. As the sad emotional feeling swells, Aang has this to say... Aang: You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always miss my friend Kuzan. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had…and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?Zuko’s response? Trying to blow Aang to kingdom come immediately after… Really Zuko? Aang saves your fricken life when he could’ve just left you to get killed by Zhao, and that’s how you repay him?! You really can’t stop for just a few seconds to talk and get to know Aang before it’s back to business as usual? I guess you’re being careful not to allow yourself to get attached to him, but still, you’re lying straight on your back, with nothing protecting you from Aang’s blasts of wind. You’re not exactly in a favorable position dude…sigh… So ends another great, if somewhat flawed Episode of Avatar. I give it a B+, just because I really don’t like being demanded to suspend as much disbelief as I was forced to suspend in this Episode. I mean, I really hate that. One of my favorite things about this show is that despite the incredible fight scenes, and despite all of the fantastical things that happen, the show has been, for the most part, grounded in reality. I mean, there are occasional moments of minimal cheese, but it’s not like Rurouni Kenshin, Ultimate Muscle, or just about any other typical Japanese Anime in which the laws of gravity are regularly broken in each action scene. Heck, even my very favorite Anime cartoon, Yu Yu Hakusho, falls victim to this every so often. That’s why it really irritates me when Episodes like Episode 4 and this one decide to just screw the rules and do impossible stuff. So, anyways, I’m just about done, but one last thing. Are the frogs featured in this Episode supposed to be symbolic? Like, maybe the frogs gradually thawing out represents how Zuko’s attitude towards Aang is gradually getting less hard and cold? Because I find it really weird the way they keep showing up everywhere in this Episode. Speaking of showing up, is The Masked Devil ever going to show up again? Or is that the end of his days incognito? I hope he does, he looked cool.
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dirtyyasuki
Iroh
Take it to the limit... then break it.
Posts: 199
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Post by dirtyyasuki on Oct 8, 2010 21:33:21 GMT -5
The Masked Devil will be back... Oh he will... Oh and I know you get worked up with Aang's passivity at times when it comes to him running into or away from conflict, I did too. But eventually I got over it. After all Aang has said that his upbringing as a monk and as an Air nomad has taught him to revere all life so it would follow that Aang would whenever confronted with the choice of conflict or avoiding it. He would very much prefer not to open the proverbial can of "whoopass". But Aang gets better as the series progresses. Maybe he doesn't completely lose his anti-violence bent as his character develops, but he will certainly show less and less restraint as his story unfolds.
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Post by fionordequester on Oct 14, 2010 18:15:11 GMT -5
Ah, love. It is the fabric that sews a blanket of humans to cover the world. It is the Binding Blade that cuts through through darkness and carves out a niche in our hearts. It is the force that spurs us to make our lives worth living. It is that unapolagetically passionate and free flying anomally that flies amoung a spirit amoungst a spirit, and pulls the two into one. No bars can hold it, no squeeze can stop it from oozing out, and it just will not play by the rules. Try to stifle it, and your body and soul will yank you around town. I mean, just ask Aang on.... Avatar: The Last Airbender! Seriously though, just a minute in, and the guy has done no less than stealing his own friends stuff just to make a necklace for Katara. His justification? Aang: Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka.That still doesn't give you the right to steal and destroy his stuff you little toad. Oh well, at least he got his desired effect. Apparently, Katara looks so beautiful with the necklace, that it warrants a lens effect just to give the full effect. Not that she needed any help. None of those stupid fanservice outfits or anything, as is so common in many cartoon shows, and she still looks attractive. Now that's good artwork! Aang of course, is a little intimidated. This guy needs assurance that everything will work out fine! And who should happen to provide him a solution, then some silly, prancing, yet somehow equally badass guy, who is actually toying with a huge bear. Judging by how easily he's dodging it, it baffles me why he doesn't have any kind of weapon on him, even though the guy clearly has some sort of martial arts training. But oh well, to make up for his error, Appa comes up and scares the bear away. Just to cement the fortune teller into the kids brains, the guy hands them an umbrella at the exact moment it rains. Sokka, the man who can't seem to resist the opportunity to provide us with giggles, starts setting himself up to be proven wrong at every turn. How nice. There are two people that catch my attention, Mae, and some white haired guy. It's weird to me that, despite having absolutely nothing to say or do, that this guy has such a distinctive appearance. I mean, he has white hair that nobdoy else in the series has had, and he dresses completely differently from everyone else in the village, in his all black ninja threads. Is he a reference to some aspect of culture revolving around fortune tellers? Is he like that one girl in Episode 12, and is going to have a really important role later on? Because otherwise, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why he has such a distinctive appearance. Then there's Meng. I love how when the filter comes up to show Meng falling in love, Aang is making this dumb, morose face that speaks of anything but attractive to me. There's just something really amusing about that.... Anyways, in an odd show of obliviousness, neither Katara, Aang, nor Sokka seem to notice Mae's behavior, or feel the need to point it out. Though, I guess in Sokka's case, he was just too hungry to notice, so hungry apparently that he's actually willing to steal Aang's food right out from under him. Then, just to add some more salt in the wound, he offers Aang the puffs, like he's somehow entitled to ownership of the puffs. It's just like...like.... No...no...Cor blimey! Can't be thinkin' bout that, ya scurvy dog! Ye be thinkin' happy thoughts now, yar har har!... Anyways, pro tip Aang. If you're going to spy on Katara, Sokka's sister by the way, then come back and try to pretend it was just a bathroom break, it might be helpful to be gone for more than 30 seconds. If anything, it's a credit to Sokka's acting skills that he was able to do such a good job of pretending he didn't know what Aang was probably really up to. Or at least, have a really good idea. If it does, hopefully the emphasis won't be as wasted as the commercial break that came as Aunt Wu predicted Aang's future. It's so funny how the show cuts away, obviously to build drama, only for it to fall completely flat almost immediately after the show comes back on. Seriously, the show could've had a great plot point here. I mean, we had this powerful fortune teller who's been predicting Aang's arrival, as though she had something to tell him, and yet, she does nothing but waste his time with obvious information. If that's all she was going to do, why did she go to the trouble of calling them in the first place?! I guess it doesn't help that Aang seems utterly uninterested in finding out anything of important. I mean, he could've asked her so many things with more relevance to them. Like, what he should avoid on his journey...who he should seek to teach him Earth and Fire Bending since he's still got two elements left to master...how he can make peace with Zuko and buddy up with him...when is the next time the Fire Nation is going to attack him...where he should go next from here....why he can't control his Avatar State and how he can fix that... I don't know, anything but asking about his crush Katara. Anything but rendering this just another filler Episode that doesn't accomplish anything of importance. I'm getting fed up with these, and I think this is definetly one of the weaknesses of the show as a whole so far. It's not that it moves too slowly, but, I honestly don't have any clue what the group is up to. Anyways, this show, for as good as it is, seems to have a slight problem with giving us a good, tight narrative. I mean, first of all, Episodes 1-2 gave us the objective of finding a Water Bending master for Katara and Aang. Alright, cool, except for the fact that they literally never mention this ever again, but end up dropping it completely by having the two learn it from that scroll in Episode 9 instead. Instead, we go from Episode 2 to 7, with no mention at all of what the group is trying to accomplish, or even just where the heck they're going. Then, we go to Episode 8, where I actually know where Aang is going for once, only for Roku to give him the typical "Time is running out, you must beat the Fire Nation speal", which really didn't tell us much of anything, and after that, I am again completely left in the dark about what the Gaang is doing. By my count, they should be moving on to Earth and Fire now since that scroll already taught Katara and Aang how to Water Bend, and yet, they never bring this up at all. It's something that's been grating at the back of my mind more and more with each Episode, but almost every single Episode has felt like a filler Episode so far. I mean, Episode 1-3 introduced all of our major heroes and villains for this Season, Episode 7-8 introduced Roku and the oncoming Apocalypse, Episode 9 had Aang and Katara mastering Waterbending, Episode 12-13 gave us character development on Aang and Zuko as well as Zhaos' promotion...other than that, what else have we had to actually advance the plot in any way? Even if you took out all of those Episodes, that still leaves us with eight whole Episodes that don't seem to have any purpose. So basically, more than half of this show so far could've easily been taken out without any baring whatsoever on the plot. Besides making M. Night Shyamalan look even more laughable for turning out such an exposition heavy piece of sludge, despite everything he could've easily taken out, it's just something that starting to slightly sour my opinion as far as the writers are concerned. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think they made the right move by showing off a little of the Avatar world before moving on with the plot, but I just think they spent too long doing that, that's all. It's just weird. I wasn't this bothered until I really started analyzing my feelings about this Episode. It's funny how you won't know you feel a certain way until I analyze them. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm still enjoying the series. I wouldn't be still writing these logs if I wasn't. I'm not going to sit down for anything unless I know I'll have a good chance of being entertained. And what entertains me most? Clever writing that's what, and fortunately, despite my complaints, this Episode does indeed have a lot of that. I like how Aang cleverly dodges Katara's question while answering it at the same time. I like Sokka's fruitless attempts at reasoning with the villagers. I found Katara's questions for the fortune teller to be really funny. And speaking of funny, just wait till you get a load of this... Aang: So, Sokka, you know some stuff about ladies, right? Sokka : Some stuff? You've come to the right place. What can I do you for? Aang: Well, there's this girll Sokka: I think I know who you mean. Aang: You do? And you're ok with it? Sokka: Of course I am. And, to tell you the truth, I've been picking up the subtle vibe that she likes you too. Aang: She does!? Sokka: Oh yeh, she's crazy about ya. All ya have to do now is not mess it up. Aang: Well, how do I do that? Sokka: The number one mistake nice guys like you make: being too nice.Oh no...no...no....RED FLAG AANG! DON'T LISTEN! CLOSE YOUR EARS! It's... Aang: You can be too nice? Sokka: Yup. If you want to keep her interested you have to act aloof, like you don't really care one way or the other.Oh great, now you've gone and done it Sokka! Seriously, what is it with you?! Sokka, lets get a few things clear here... First of all, you're automatically gonna label yourself the new Tom Cruise just because you just happened to get to first base with a girl? You got one kiss ok, and it wasn't even on the lips. You've lived your whole life with every girl besides Katara either much younger, or much older than you. Literally the only exposure you've ever had to a girl close to your age, besides Katara, has been with the Kyoshi Warriors. Somehow, I don't think any of those adventure books you must've read about CHIVALRY and BEING A MAN'S MAN!! qualify you as an all knowing seer of sexual prowess. You're not James Bond. Ok? You're not Don Juan. You are not going to just be traveling around, with all of these hot, beautiful women coming out of the woodworks to be swooned by you. You're not going to be waiting on hand and foot with all these girls just dieing to hook up with you, and attend to your every desire. That's the truth, that's all there is to it, and you're certainly in no way, shape, or form qualified to give Aang advice. Anyways, it was here that I thought "oh, so this is gonna be the plot of the Episode". I mean, Aang would act like a jerk, take it too far, Katara might be hurt in some way, and Aang would have to admit that he did what he did for another reason, and their friendship would be stronger because of that. Nope, as it turns out, it's a throwaway gag for about two scenes, as Aang tries to woo Katara by doing a really bad impression of Jet. So...that's about a minute wasted right there. Not that it matters anyway, as Aang already had the fortune teller telling him to trust his heart, so of course this wasn't going to go anywhere. But, fortunately, we do finally get our source of drama at about 16 minutes into the Episode...though not much was really done with it. It's something I have mixed feelings about actually. I guess I found Aang's conversation with Meng to be really touching (I love Mae's voice acting here), but, other than that, I just felt like the problem was resolved too quickly and too easily. I also thought it would've really helped if we had seen more of the panic and fear of the villagers, as the climax kind of skips past that, and goes straight to Aang having to remind Sokka of how powerful he is, despite him basically singlehandedly defeating almost everything that's gotten in their way so far (the Pirates being an exception. I don't count the Yu Yan Archers or Jet, as Aang was being stupid in those fights). We end this Episode with a...charming phrase of Meng's... Katara: Goodbye everyone! It was so nice to meet you! Take care, Meng. Meng:Take care!...Floozy......hmmm....seeing how this is a board for a childrens show...should I take the knowledge gained from Dictionary.com and share it here? ...no, I can't. That'd be just criminal. Still, you've grown up entirely too fast young lady! Hmph, here's to when you're 8 years older kid, maybe you'll have learned some manners by then!! Anyways, as to the actual review itself...to be honest, I'm have mixed feelings about the Episode. On it's own merits, it's a good Episode, but it still felt like it was full of plot elements that were either wasted, or didn't come through so well. Turning Aunt Wu's big prediction of Aang into a throwaway gag was a big no-no to me, and Aang's feelings for Katara, while sweet and interesting to watch, were turned into gags too often for it to really have any weighty effect. In addition, I thought the climax was underwhelming in it's execution, and even though this Episodes message seemed to be to take things into you're own hands, even that's downplayed when the Calm Warrior Man pointed out that Aunt Wu was right. I mean really, I was even going to make a joke about that, but no, you just had the steal the punchline, you old coot... On the other hand I did really like the characters and the writing. All of the new ones were really awesome, the script was, I think, even better than usual, and the gags, as much as I complain about them interfering too much, actually were really funny. I just thought that the Episode was too full of them, even at the 16 minute mark where something actually started happening. So...I give it a B-, just for some poor pacing, and some wasted opportunity. It's pretty much Kyoshi Warriors, except without the absurd amounts of suspension of disbelief needed, and with jokes that are actually funny, and a script that's actually good. Still though, this waiting is getting to be really hard. I want Zhao to finally hand the reigns over to that ol' girl who's apparently so popular, that Nicktoons advertisements and fansites of this show will plaster her everywhere while not even giving a passing glance at Zhao or Ozai. I want Aang to meet up with that little ball of spunk and toughness that we all know and love. I want to see Season 2, in which I've heard that the show really[/] hits it's stride.
But, I can wait! I've got patience of steel! So, without further ado, see you all later!
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dirtyyasuki
Iroh
Take it to the limit... then break it.
Posts: 199
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Post by dirtyyasuki on Oct 15, 2010 22:30:40 GMT -5
If it helps... the Fortuneteller episode may have been more filler than relevant to advancing the plot, but I found some significant foreshadowing in this episode for future stories of later series.
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Post by fionordequester on Oct 30, 2010 18:06:24 GMT -5
The game has been set, the tides have been turned in his favor. Will Zuko finally prove once and for all his dominance over Zhao? Will Zuko finally be able to fight against Aang without embarrasing himself? And just how much longer can Iroh and the other men possibly last without having had any women around to spend time with for three whole years? Find out all this and more on... Avatar: The Last Airbender! Seriously though, is it just me, or is Iroh just in love with that bounty hunter chick, June? Seriously, the guys practically all over her. The guy must be in a really sexy mood today. Then again, now that I think of it...Zuko's crew is basically a bunch of middle aged, adult men who have been away from home for three years with no female company. Considering that, I guess it's no wonder that they're starting to feel the burn. I mean really, just imagine how Zuko must've been feeling for all those long years. He's pretty much spent his whole, hormone filled puberty doing nothing but chasing Aang. Now that's dedication. Then again, maybe Iroh's been helping him with that. And I mean, actual help in that area, not that stupid drivel Sokka spat out in Episode 14. One thing's for sure, it sure was nice seeing Zuko get some peace and quiet for once. I was actually a little sad when it got interrupted so prematurely. Speaking of helping though, what was up with Aang this Episode? The guy was so fricken rude, I swear. I know he's nervous about the two leaving him, but the way the Episode was written, it seems more like he was pouting over not being the center of attention every time. I mean c,mon man, this is the very first time in a long while that they've talked to anyone with recent contact, of course they're gonna have all of their focus on him for the moment. I'm not even sure why exactly Aang's so panicked about Sokka and Katara wanting to see their father. I mean, am I missing something here? I don't see how he just automatically assumed that they were going to be leaving him, especially after forcing him to take them along in Episode 8. I don't know about Aang, but any doubts I had about their loyalty probably would've been quenched the instant they asked me to take them into Fire Nation territory. But, again, Aang's young. Still doesn't make him any less of a thief (seriously, stop doing that Aang, you're making the inevitable feel even worse...) I liked the Fire Nation gangs interactions with all the previous Episode characters by the way, although it seems that Zuko's gotten pretty far off track before finding June. My favorite line was this conversation between Wu and Iroh... Aunt Wu: Care to hear your fortune, handsome? Iroh: At my age there is really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery.hm, seems that he's talking about his death. But c,mon Iroh, you can deflect lightning bolts, you can send people flying through the air, you can school three Earthbenders at once, I'd say you're a long ways from the stewing pot. Don't be so worried! Anyways, after that, we get a little backstory on that Ice Dodging thing that Bato was talking about... Bato: Ice-dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery and trust. In our village it was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs. ...So basically, it's just the same exact thing Sokka and Katara did in Episode 1...I don't really see what's so special about it. Is this something they're doing just for fun, or just because it's a custom? Because otherwise, I don't see the point of it. And why is Sokka getting the mark of wisdom while Katara's getting the mark of bravery? Shouldn't the exact opposite be true? I mean, Sokka is a lot of things, but wise has definetly not been one of them. I mean lets see...so far... 1) We've got his chauvinistic attitude that lasted four whole Episodes... 2) Immediately trying to charge Zuko from 20 feet away, with a melee weapon, despite knowing that Zuko and his two buddies could've easily blasted him before he even got close in Episode 2... 3) Tossing away a perfectly good set of Kyoshi Warrior armor, presumably just because it looked too girly after Episode 4... 4) Just rushing out to try to help Aang beat Heibai with absolutely no planning whatsoever, and ended up with Aang having to rescue him in Episode 7... 5) Going out into the ocean to fish when he should've known there was probably a storm coming in Episode 12... 6) Being a rude, arrogant jerk to Aunt Wu and the general populace in Episode 14... 7) Bragging about his sexual prowess and giving advice about a subject he has almost no knowledge or experience in, again in Episode 14... 8) Completely ignoring Bato when he said that he had already proven himself, and instead, taking a foolish and unnecessary risk in this very Episode... I mean, don't get me wrong, Katara and Aang have had their brain fart moments to, and Sokka has been the most logical one of the group so far, but WISE?! HECK NO! He's certainly been the bravest though, and if you ask me, that's what he should've been rewarded with. Speaking of wise, it really perplexes me how he's so incredibly enraged at Aang for his transgression, despite the fact that Aang's duplicity literally lasted for only an evening. I mean, it was dishonest, sure, but there wasn't any real harm done as far as I can tell, and Aang was very quick to admit it. Of course, it probably didn't help Aang's case that he's been shown to be perfectly willing to steal Sokka's stuff before.... Actually, you know what? I think I just answered my own question. Seriously Aang, you have to stop this trend, it's going to put you, and your whole group in a world of hurt someday....I guarantee it. June: So this is your girlfriend. No wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you. Zuko: Where is he? Where's the Avatar? Sokka: We split up! He's long gone. Zuko: How stupid do you think I am? Sokka: Pretty stupid. Run! Yeah, that sounds about right. But hey, think of it this way Zuko, you beat everyone to the punch yet again! And all of this time, you were so frightened, when you've got all this great stuff going for you. You've got a will of iron, a never say die attitude, mad ninja skills, apparently the most loyal crew members in the world, and a butt kicking Uncle. And look what you've accomplished! You don't need to be so constantly stretched and upset! And all this time, you were so worried about that BIG SCARY ZHAO! Well, worry no more big guy. I don't care whether the guy gets promoted to President of the World or something, when it comes right down to it, my moneys on you any day. Go on Zuko! Put those mad ninja skills to use, and show Aang what a real firebender can do! Oh, and can you please get June to shut up about Katara being your girlfriend? I don't know why you haven't correct that yet...I mean...I'dve thought that that'd be...kind of an important detail...right? So anyways, here it is, the long awaited rematch between Aang and Zuko! Yeah, Zuko could've easily used Sokka and Katara as hostages, but as wel all know, he's above that sort of thing, so bonus points to him for being a man about this whole thing. Anyways, it's simply amazing just how much Zuko has stepped up his game in just 14 short Episodes. I mean really, despite Aang actually taking my advice, being as agressive as Zuko was, and generally improving upon everything that was flawed about his fighting earlier in the series, Zuko still manages to do a great job of going pound for pound with him, And you know how Aang pwnstomped him with just two simple swipes of his staff the first time they met? Well not only does Zuko counter that when Aang tries to do it again, but he actually manages to send the staff flying out of his hands. Wow. And to top it all of, not only does Zuko manage to send Aang flying into a building (though not without suffering that same fate himself), he actually recovers from that so quickly, that he had to jump off the building, run across the town, and jump onto Aang's building before Aang even manages to get on his feet. This guy...is this guy made out of iron or something?! Or is his armor just that good? But, it doesn't last, as by the end, it's back to the typical formula of Aang dancing circles around Zuko as he's unable to land a hit on him. Still, you have to give him props for basically going from one of the most pathetic antagonists ever, to being the Shego to Aang's Kim Possible. Not up to the hero's level, but good enough to fight a protracted battle with him without looking totally out of his league. As it ends though...is it just me, or was Iroh aiming a little high when he caught June in her fall? I mean, it didn't look like he was grabbing right on her breasts, but his hands were definetly right below them... Iroh, I've got my eye on you...if she doesn't show up for another Episode because of something you did... Oh, by the way, I absolutely loved Katara in this scene. The whole scene in general was really sweet and heartwarming, but I found Katara to be a great combination of wit, charm, and sweetness. The whole interaction between her and Aang about her necklace really made me wish that Ian had signed on for more Episodes, because despite my complaints about Aang's behavior in the beginning, I really think this was a pretty cleverly written Episode...well, in its best moments anyways. I guess there was a few times where it was kind of hokey (I think it tried a little too hard with the symbolism of that Ice Dodging ritual and how it connected to Aang), but it was a good Episode. Plus, I can't tell you how relieved I was that the show has finally, finally taken the time to remind us that they do in fact have a destination, they're not just aimlessly wandering around. Take my comments, mix in a little bit of good action in them, and you got yourself a B episode. Yeah, that sounds about right, doesn't it?
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Post by fionordequester on Dec 16, 2010 12:05:28 GMT -5
You know, it's a funny thing really. Whether your a fan of the Bible, whether you're a fan of say Harry Potter, or just a fan of any other written work (fictional or not), there seems to be a phenomena that may or may not stick. See, no matter how awesome and likeable the heroes are, unless they happen to be a total Mary Sue, or a Jesus Archetype, there are just some times when you have to wonder "Man, where's a gong when you need one?!" It's even worse when you're reading a story from the past, like the famous Asian novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", in which the main hero goes to a villagers house, only for the villager to fail to catch any fish for him to eat for dinner. How does he respond? The villager then proceeds to MURDER HIS WIFE, cut her up, cook her meat, and serve it to the hero. And when the hero, Liu Bei, finds out, what does he do? Not only is he NOT angry in anyway, he actually bows to the man, and tearfully THANKS him for his "sacrifice". Not only that, but when the mans lord finds out about that, he's awarded 100 ounces of silver for his action! Thankfully, instances that extreme are fairly rare, but, it's still a nasty surprise laden in some works of fiction. Milder cases may just be a character exhibiting personality traits in full blast that were not present before. And, whether you consider it unfortunate, or good characterization, this is exactly what happens to both Aang and Zhao. Question is, which one of them made a bigger fool of themselves? Which one of them resulted in the bigger wall banger? Find out today, on... Avatar: The Last Airbender! Anyways, getting to the Episode itself, some trippy details in the opening scene here that are pretty amusing. First of all, what's with that weird gold filter, those odd blotches of black, and those odd color distortions and shades? The whole thing looks more like a watercolor picture rather than anything resembling real life. It just doesn't look natural, and it makes me wonder if this scene is supposed to be symbolic. Secondly, Aang is getting all of this precise, specific info from this poster board on where is where, what he wants to visit, and all of that. One thing bugs me though... How the heck is Aang getting all of this from a symbol of a house in a plain blue background? How is he able to point to specific places and say things like "ah, here it is!" and all that stuff? By the way... Aang: I bet we'll find something to eat here! The Fire Days Festival. Fire Nation cultural exhibits...jugglers, benders, magicians...Really? There's a difference between the two? I mean, so far, we've had "benders" blasting fire, levitating inanimate objects, reshaping the earth itself, healing wounds, and even flying on this show, all through sheer force of willpower...sounds an awful lot like magic to me. Heck, take away all their martial arts, and that's basically all the "benders" are...really, really lame magicians. But enough about that, it's time to go incognitoooooo... 8) Oh hooo!! That's a good one Aang! You're such a little kidder XD! You lookin' to get a little laugh out of your girl Katara? Ah yeah...ok, seriously though, lets see the real disguise... Ugggghhh.... ....Are...you...kidding me? That's...seriously what you're going with...Aang? DO YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVE NOBODIES GONNA SEE THROUGH THAT?! I mean, look, it may not make a whole lot of sense, but everywhere you go, everyone in a specific nation wears the same clothes. Water benders wear those blue one piece dresses with the slits on the sides and some pants, Earth benders have some more variety but generally wear a green version of that, Fire benders always wear some combination of black and red with armor, and Air benders wear those yellow jumpsuits with red pouches. You're all Power Rangers that way. So why in sweet Mary's name do you believe that nobody there is gonna immediately pick you out?! Not that anybody does...somehow, despite the Gaang looking about as inconspicious as Mike Tyson at a beauty pageant. Speaking of ugly, it's here that for the very first time, we see what Ozai is supposed to look like, and man does he look hilarious! The guy looks like Aku from Samurai Jack! It just seems funny to me that they go to the effort of hiding his face in Episode 12, trying to make him seem all intimidating, only to reveal him four Episodes as being this shabby, Santa Claus + Kaepora Gaebora looking guy. Still, despite that, there's some rather creepy subtext in this whole scene. Basically, the children are being taught to cheer whenever their Fire Lord or leader does something horrendously violent to someone they're probably being taught is less than human. The whole thing reminded me of Nazi Germany for a brief instant, and I'm just stunned that the Gaang didn't have any reaction to this. It seems to me like a rather ominous case of foreshadowing, in that even though it seems like a brief 20-30 second throwaway show that has no relevance to the Episode itself, you just know that there's a good reason why the show creators decided to put that there. Hmm....by the way... Puppet Ozai: Don't worry loyal citizens! No one can surprise the Fire Lord!Ah, see how society's emphasizing loyalty here? It seems that Ozai is no fool after all! It seems NeeNee was correct after all. Good, cuz that'd kind of suck if he WAS as much of a doofus as he seemed. Back on topic, it seems that Sokka and Katara being raised in huts and villages, and Aang being raised in a Martial Arts temple has done nothing to teach them that there's no real danger to Katara, which unfortunately, has disastorous consequences. That's alright though, because some guy called Chey rescues them, and introduces them to The Deserter, some guy called Jeong Jeong... Chey: He was a Fire Nation general, or wait, was he an admiral?Well, Captain is below Admiral I believe, so I guess General is the next rank after Admiral? Hmph, let me guess, Zhao's going to become a General by the time the season finale rolls around, right? Chey: He's the first person ever to leave the army - and live.Ohhh...ssssss. So it's not just societal expectations, you don't even get much of a say in the matter it sounds like. Well, whatever, that's basically what America used to do to soldiers who tried to get out of the army, right? Shoot them or something? Or was that only when they ran away during a fight? I can't quite remember. Sokka: Look, thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the north pole in the morning.Wait a minute...there's actually going to be plot progression now?! We're FINALLY nearing the end of this long voyage?! We're FINALLY done exploring the world?! Well hot diggity dog! I mean, I know that exploring the world and taking things slow is kind of key when this show is just starting off the way it is, but I still think it's too much when more than half of your Episodes don't really advance it in anyway, in character development or in plot. But, that's alright. What's not alright however is Aang's behavior here. It was simply incredible to me how petulant and childish he acted towards his mentor. I mean, seriously, you're telling me that Aang's spent his entire life growing up in a Martial Arts temple, and he STILL hasn't learned much about respect or discipline?! Seems like a pretty serious hole in his teachings, don't you think?! As much as I like the fact that Gyatso wanted to treat Aang as a person, I'm sorry to say this, but he did a horrible job at teaching Aang discipline. As a matter of fact, pretty much every friend Aang seems to have had up until meeting Sokka has been someone who seems to encourage his bad behavior. I mean, lets just look at all the people he's described as his best friends so far... 1) Bumi in Episode 5. A slightly screwy nutjob, who even after 100 years, is STILL doing stupid things like using his cities mailing system as a roller coaster ride, knowing the risks and potential damage it could have... 2) That one Fire Nation friend Aang mentioned in Episode 13, the one that "got into so much trouble together" with Aang. 3) Monk Gyatso himself, who apparently sees nothing wrong with pulling pranks on, and even throwing cakes at, the other monks in the temple. It's just...I think having those friends, although it helped Aang have fun and enjoy himself, screwed him up as far as being able to take responsibility goes. It's kind of a bummer really, as I think that the way that you're raised plays a big part in the kind of person you turn out to be. I mean, even when I was like, 10 years old, I still had more confidence and faith in my instructor then Aang had in Jeong, and I had never even been in any sort of Martial Arts setting till then. I dunno, I mean, I just think I would've had more confidence in a fricken General of the Fire Nation army than that, but whatever. One thing I will say about this Episode though is that the scene where Aang accidently burns Katara is very effective and very chilling. I got such a heavy feeling in my heart the moment Sokka actually tackled Aang to the ground in rage. I also got a real feeling of sorrow when Jeong started taking the blame. It's just so unfair, I mean, Roku basically forced him into the deal, so Jeong literally got screwed by the powers that be. But hey, it's not like Katara could've been hurt THAT bad, I mean, this is a kids show right? Even if it was, I'm sure it's not going to actually... YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSHHHHH!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!! Man, this show can get pretty edgy, can't it?! Whoever did the editing and censoring for this show, I really wish that had been the guy censoring the Nicktoons version of Dragon Ball Z Kai. I mean...JEEZ!! But, at least this confirms my theory about Fire Benders, and perhaps even Aang, having a natural resistance to fire. I mean, Zhao pretty much took a head on blast from Zuko that sent him flying through the air, yet there wasn't so much as a scorch mark on him. Katara on the other hand got this just from what was just a glancing blow. Anyways... Jeong Jeong: Water brings healing and life. But fire brings only destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart.Now that hardly seems accurate or fair. I mean, there's lots of great, beneficial stuff you can do with fire! I mean, you can cook food, you can purify water with fire (boiling water is enough to get rid of germs, right?), you can build iron and ore and anything else you'd need to build cities, you could use your ability to warm up people suffering from hypothermia or something (I'm assuming that Firebenders have enough control to simply warm up their bodies), I mean, the shows treating fire like it's some awful, evil thing. It's not. It can be USED for evil, but so can just about everything else that isn't God himself. Aang: I'm never going to firebend again.Well...actually, that doesn't seem like that big of an inconvenience. I mean, why WOULD Aang need to master fire? We've already proven that the Firebenders have a natural immunity to fire, so I don't see how Firebending is going to do jack squat against Ozai, the Fire Lord himself, especially when Aang's going to have at best only a years worth of experience with it. Still, how bout something like "I'm not going to be a rash, spoiled idiot again" Aang? Can't have something like that? Seems like THAT would be infinitely more helpful. I hope you're happy Roku, I'd say you just royally screwed the pooch on this one... But, enough about that for the moment. Zhao's trying to make himself look all big and strong here, and shooting him down? That's always pretty fun... Zhao: I think I can handle a child.Right, because you've been doing such a great job of that right? I mean, we're talking about a guy who couldn't beat Zuko back when he was still Aang's whipping boy. And being bested by Zuko at almost every turn in trying to find the Avatar? Brilliant Zhao, you've definetly shown those young whippersnappers a thing or two. Aang: YOU were Jeong Jeong's student? Zhao: Until I got bored.THIS GUY, IS A WALKING, TALKING MOCKERY OF THE VERY FIRE NATION ITSELF!! Basically, he never even completed his Fire Bending training simply because he got bored! No wonder this man sucks so bad! I'm amazed that this guy can even dress himself in the morning let alone get as many promotions as he did! Actually, you know what it's like? It's like Ozai intentionally chose the very most inept high ranking officer he could find to go after the Avatar and eventually promote to General. Then, as Aang stomps him as Ozai knows he will, he'll use the news to spread fear and paranoia throughout the Fire Nation, then, USING that fear, he'll finally unleash the Mistress of Pain herself on Aang, running a propaganda campaign as he does so to promote him and her as the Nations savior, using their fear to get them to look past all of the atrocities he wants to commit. Then, once said Mistress of Pain has gutted Aang like a trout, Ozai'll use the fact that she succeeded where even a General could not in order to make her, and by extension himself, look good and make it easier for her to seize power for herself, further cementing his grasp on the Fire Nation. That's about the only explanation I can come up with, besides something stupid, like Ozai just bieng really gay for Zhao.. I mean JEEZ, I never thought I'd say this, but TEAM....FRICKEN....ROCKET were better villains than this guy! At least those guys had tenacity! Aang: Whoa! Wild shot! Zhao: I'll show you wild! Aang: No self control... Zhao: Stand and fight, Avatar! Aang: Oh, were we fighting? I thought you were just getting warmed up. Zhao: I was! Aang: Is that all you got? Man, they'll make anyone an admiral these days!Oh, this is just ridiculous. You know, I thought that, since revealing that Zhao was the student of the great Jeong Jeong, that the writer would at least try to pretend that Zhao was an actual threat, but I guess he wasn't particularly impressed with Zhao either. Yet, Aang's not only not taking Zhao seriously at all, he's practically having the time of his life just making a Jack Russell Terrier of Zhao... Aang: Ahoy! I'm Admiral Zhao!Speaking of butts... Aang: I don't know why, but I thought you'd be better than Zuko.I think we all thought that when Zhao first showed up so many long months ago...wow, to think there was a time where Zhao actually seemed intimidating... So, Zhao, being the sorry stupid pill snorting sucker that this sad sap is, burns his entire fleet just trying to get to the Avatar. Congratulations Tim Hedrick, you just pretty much took whatever was left of Zhao's dignity, and flushed it down the drain. I'm surprised you didn't just have Aang put a "Kick Me" sign on Zhao's back during the fight. You may as well have considering how much of a circus that fight was. That's it. I don't care if Zhao inexplicably becomes a better villain in the Endgame, I've completely lost faith in him. If he actually does come up with a plan of any merit, it's probably just gonna be him stealing someone elses good idea. Read my lips... You.....suck....Zhao. The end. Still, nice job on the overall Episode Tim Hedrick. Even though the beginning was pretty weird (a quality a lot of this shows best Episodes seem to share actually), I thought this was a, chilling Episode with some nice foreshadowing into how destructive Fire is going to be in future Episodes. It was also nice getting an explanation as to why going out of order in learning the elements was a bad idea (although, I still don't understand why Aang didn't try to learn Earthbending before he knew any better). I'm gonna have to give it a A-, just for some of the stupidity of the first few minutes (basically Aang's idiotic disguise) and because it just didn't seem right that the show make such a mockery of the guy who's supposed to be the main antagonist of the Season...even if it did make writing this log a lot more entertaining 8). And don't worry Aang lovers, I don't have it in for the little guy. Yeah, he was annoying, but in the end, he's still made of better, more entertaining stuff than a lot of protraginists in other kids show. I'm just extremely blunt and brutally honest in my critiques, no matter who it is. Or, so I try to be, when it's appropriate. And, as I said, I think a lot of Aang's early screw ups in the series are at least partially due simply to the people who raised and influenced him, so I don't think it's entirely his fault. Still, this isn't even so much a nitpick as it is a difference in taste for me, but had I been composing music, I think I would've taken a slightly different approach to the music in the scene where Aang first burned Katara. First the music sounds slightly panicked, then it switches to sad as Aang's eyes start to sparkle. Personally, I think I would've used something a little more ghoulish, perhaps not for the first part, but definetly after Sokka tackles Aang to the ground, just to get across the fear and terror Aang's probably feeling before the commercial break. Something like this music right here... www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyooOnNLxngThe part from 0:24-25 would be used right as Katara's hands are burned, then some panicked music would play before Sokka's tackle, then the theme would start playing at around 6:49 as Aang's eyes open after getting tackled. Either that, or I would just find that 0:24-25 spot, then skip to somewhere between 6:00-7:14 where that creepy tune plays for the whole scene. I can't really decide. Either way, I would've kept the sad music for after the commercial break, and would've used the pre-commercial break to emphasize the reality that Aang had just unleashed a deadly, destructive force upon his own friend, and is seeing the consequences unfold before his eyes. Actually, the way this music would really work is if it started at around 0:10 while Jeong was lecturing Aang on how destructive fire was, the part at 0:24-25 would play right as Jeong said "EVERYTHING", until finally, the tune at 0:36 would start right as Roku starts appearing in front of Jeong. That way, the music would've served as both foreshadowing and scary music in the same Episode.
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Post by fionordequester on Jan 22, 2011 14:18:03 GMT -5
It seems that I have now stumbled upon one of the more controversial episodes to be found in this series. And quite frankly, I'm amazed at how much hate this Episode gets. See, even though I personally thought this was a great Episode, it seems there is also a faction of fans who did not enjoy this so much, to the point where they seem to imply that it's actually worse than Episode 4. I am strongly opposed to that view, but why is it that I say that? Why is it that people seem to look down on this Episode so much? Well, find out, today, on... Avatar: The Last Airbender! Anyways, we come across the Gaang (jeez, no matter how many times I say it, it still sounds like a disgusting foot fungus to me...) listening to a guy telling stories to peddle for money...and he sure sounds like it. It's like he's trying to be this mystical storyteller, but keeps tripping over his lines (It might not be a talking parrot, but a flying..............man) and hasn't figured out how to emphasize words (and LAUGH at those boundtotheEarth by it). But oh well, he does decently enough I guess. It's not like he's horrible, just...mediocre. But whatever, it's time to move on. And for the next two minutes or two, after Aang starts flying again, I am absolutely amazed by the soundtrack here. Ever since the very beginning, the music accompanying the Gaang flying on Appa has always borne an uncanny resemblance to two of the World Map themes from 7th Saga. But besides that, both this music, and the next one with Aang trying to outdo Teo, just sounds so intune with what's happening on the show while at the same time, sounding superbly awesome. As for the contest between Aang and Teo, it is just amazing. It fits this scene PERFECTLY! And it's so well composed to! Seriously, it sounds like the composer took all of the best beats and melodies from these songs... www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSAjNWypykQ&p=77D98F68F6DBB35D&playnext=1&index=12www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsj5xjoLXtEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=LjObRm9e81Y&feature=related ...and threw them all into one big blender, and created something new and cool from it! In terms of what was done with a scene musically, I'd say both scenes from 2:00-4:20 of this Episode, and the scene in Episode 13 with Iroh's Sumki Horn music are my favorites in my show so far, bar none! This soundtrack really can get pretty exceptional at times. Anyways, here's where one of the common complaints of this Episode come in, The Mechanic, who I'm going to call Reno for the Episode. This man gets a lot of hate, to the point where many people who comment on this Episode actually wished that the guy was KILLED by Aang...JEEZ! Why?! Why does this guy get so much hate?! I mean, ok, he did go a bit too far in restructuring the Temple. Fine. But you know what? He's also a kind, compassionate man who did his very best to make life as wonderful for the refugees and his son as he possibly could. And quite honestly, it was a temple of a dead race, what use was it going to be to anybody? Your top priority as a human being, as far as I'm concerned, is making the lives of others as pleasant as you possibly can, and always being willing to admit your flaws. Sure, he may have gone a little far, but as a rather kooky man, it seems to me that whatever harm he did, it was out of lack in certain social areas that a lot of geniuses seem to have rather than any kind of malice. I mean, the guy's no Zhao, that's for sure. Anybody who takes as much delight as he does in the prospect of torturing a 12 year old for the rest of his life cannot be entirely right in the head, I'll tell you that much. As for Aang's rebuttal... Aang: Nature knows where to stop.Um, news flash Aang...no it doesn't. I mean, we ARE talking about the same "Nature" that spawned stuff like disease, Hurrican Katrena, the Meteorite that killed the dinosaurs, causes floods, earthquakes, the Ice Age, and eruptions, all of which was both/either destructive or completely changed the land, right? Nature has a lot of talents, but "knowing when to stop" has never been one of them. Another common complaint I see a lot in this Episode is that the pacing was a little off. I suppose I can kind of see it if I looked carefully, but honestly, I never noticed on my first viewing. Sure, some of the Sokka and Reno segments were a little dull, but they weren't very long, and the Aang + Katara and Teo segments more than made up for it. Mainly, I thought it was really touching how Teo tried to show Aang how what happened isn't as bad as it seemed while showing that he understood at the same time. That being said, one thing I can't quite as easily whitewash was how Reno has been making weapons for the Fire Nation for all this time, but even then, I can at least understand why he did it. And besides, for all we know, Reno was probably purposely making weapons that were inferior and less efficient than what he was capable of. At the very least, he sure didn't do this willingly. Speaking of the Fire Nation, one thing I find interesting to note is that for the very first time, the Fire Nation has shown how evil it can be. Up till now, I thought the Fire Nation was actually relatively...well, maybe not nice, but not nearly as bad as they could've been, especially considering what atrocities many nations in our world have committed over the years. Episode 6 for example. Even though all of the Earthbenders were slaves, all of them seemed properly nourished, none of them seemed to have dirty, unclean clothes, and most impressively, when faced with the problem of not enough blankets to go around, what was Tryo's solution? Prisoner: Tyro, the prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around. Tyro: I'll talk to the guards.I mean, wow. So basically, if they needed more blankets, all they needed to do was ask? That...actually shows a surprising amount of humanity on behalf of the Fire Nation soldiers if you ask me, more than you'd think they'd have. You have to admit, for a Prison Warden that was described as "a ruthless man", he actually treated them pretty well, all things considered. I mean, that's about as well as I could've hoped for them to be treated considering that they were part of an army that probably killed a lot of Fire Nation soldiers in their fights. As for the Warden being oppressive, well, of course he's going to be. He probably wanted to make it absolutely clear that no mutiny would be tolerated. That's more being smart than being evil, to me at least. Don't our prisons do something like that? Another example that comes to mind is Episode 3. Despite razing the Southern Air Temple and killing all it's inhabitants, you have to admit, it was pretty awesome how the Fire Nation soldiers left everything intact. They could've easily raided and destroyed the Temple itself, yet, aside from the deaths of the Airbenders, it seemed pretty much unmolested. But no, in stark, STARK contrast to both of these examples, these Fire Nation douches are not only willing to burn the whole temple to the ground, but don't have any qualms about murdering helpless civilians who have no way of defending themselves (bonus points to this show for never shying around the topic of murder by the way).... Hmm...WAIT A MINUTE!! SOMETHING JUST OCCURRED TO ME! I mean, lets think back to Jeong Jeong for a moment. The guy was a highly talented General in the army right? But he was a decent man, who finally forsook his ways after the destruction he was causing was starting to get to him right? I just realized, do you think Jeong Jeong might've been responsible for the destruction of the Airbenders in the Southern Temple? Do you think THAT might've been the final straw for him, the bloodshed of the peaceful, nonviolent Airbenders and their young students? And THAT'S why the Temple was left unharmed, because of his reverance for Avatar Roku? He seems about old enough... Just thinking about this theory reminds me of Final Fantasy IV, in which Cecil, Commander of his Kingdoms Airforce, pulled his Heel Face Turn because of the guilt he suffered for slaughtering the innocent Mysidians for their Crystals. If you think about it, if I'm correct, the two share a lot of similarities, and it makes me wonder if the writer wasn't at least partially inspired by either Final Fantasy IV, or a game similar to it. So, after Aang lets the Fire Nation Emissary go, like an idiot, we come to this Episodes climax. And I swear, this whole battle, despite what a lot of fans say otherwise, is without a doubt the darkest few minutes of the entire series so far. I mean sure, Zuko's scarring in Episode 12 is probably a close runner up, but even then, nobody DIED. Not like they did here. I mean, can you imagine just how many Fire Nation soldiers must've died in this battle? I mean, the Gaang has buried them under avalanches, tackled them off cliffs, and, in one particularly shocking moment, ended it BY DROPPING A FRICKEN BOMB ON THEM!! A bomb blast so powerful in fact, that it ended up blowing up the cliff in front of them... Aang: Look! They're completely annihlated retreating!Honestly, screw Aang coming to grips with what happened to his temple "too soon", what I want to know is why he wasn't more upset about was how many Fire Nation soldiers must've gotten killed in this fight. I mean, I know Aang's been steadily coming to terms with his need to be violent when the situation calls for it, but this still seems like way too large of a leap for him. Then again, he IS 12, so he probably too impressionable to really hold strong standards the way a lot of adults do. Also, before ending this Episode, I've got four things left to cover.... One, yet another complaint levied at this Episode. Apparently, many saw this battle as too "kid friendly", or something dumb like that. Why? Just because they used Sludge and Stink Bombs instead of conventional weapons? Well, first of all, as Sokka said, they didn't have any conventional bombs other than the fuel tank for the air balloon, and secondly, the people are woefully outclassed in terms of pure militiary might. How else were they possibly going to win outside of resorting to unconventional methods that the Fire Nation probably wasn't trained to deal with? And as I've said, this battle was anything BUT kid friendly, if the death toll is anything to go by. Two, many complain that Aang's acceptance of Reno's remodeling didn't seem realistic. Personally, I thought it was totally realistic. I mean, we saw in Aang's talks with Teo that Teo was helping him come to terms with what happened, so Aang probably worked out a lot of those issues off screen with Teo. In addition, Reno and all of the refugees have all proven themselves to be extremely brave and kind individuals who were willing to risk their lives to oppose the Fire Nation, and that's something that Aang, and I think a lot of us, can really aspire to. He no doubt has a lot of fear about his responsibilities, so for him, the way the people were willing to defend the Temple probably not only proved him wrong about their lack of respect for it, but probably him with a sense of hope, that maybe HE can be just as brave as them despite how much fear he's no doubt going through. Thirdly, is it just me, or were those mechanical tanks the most hardcore things on this show yet? It was just incredible to me how invincible they seemed. It was like watching a Dragon Ball Z fight all over again, the way that no matter how much power, or how many new methods the heroes found, the villains would just keep getting up, or find ways around it, or render the attack worthless. Only something like 7 tanks, and it still forced Reno and Sokka to almost give up their lives simply to stop those monsters. Screw Zhao, these things are where it's at in terms of creative exciting fights. It certainly didn't hurt that, again, the soundtrack delivers, with an intimidating theme that makes it's introduction in Episode, that serves to emphasize how unstoppable the tanks are, and how hopeless the situation seems for the woefully unprepared refugees. I hope they use it in the future sometime. Finally, just a nitpick I have with something Sokka says... Sokka: Aang, you were right about air power. As long as we've got the skies we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!Um, Sokka, I hate to break it to you, but the Fire Nation has already been proven to have to skies as well, LONG before this Episode and it's war balloon ever came. Again, I refer to Episode 3, in which Aang explains how the Fire Nation couldn't possibly have touched the Southern Air Temple... Aang: You don't understand, Katara. The only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison. Right, Appa?Aang of course was incorrect about this Temple, and of course he would be, since he didn't live here. But, the point is, the Southern Air Temple is inaccessable by anything but flight, so if the Fire Nation was able to get to it, they probably did it by using flight somehow, whether through animal or machine. That is all... Anyways, for the Episodes rating, I'm sorry guys, but I don't care how many detractors it has, I'm giving it an A-. I personally thought it was a highly entertaining Episode, with some very important messages. First of all, not getting too attached to material possessions if it becomes an obstacle to providing for your loved ones, secondly, it shows the value of understanding and forgiveness, and thirdly, I think it's a great moral in not automatically assuming the worst in people just because of one or two horrible things that they did, or just because they did something you don't agree with. We shouldn't immediately judge people before we really get to know them (although we also shouldn't let that stop us from killing any random mugger or enemy soldier that attacks our loved ones of course).
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