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Avatar The Last Airbender:
Book 2
Anime DVD Review
It takes a lot to get me to review another DVD in the same series. But Avatar is different. It is EPIC. Like, Lord of the Rings "epic", like Battlestar Galactica "epic". For a series that isn't really anime, it's the best anime series I've seen in a long time. Chock-full of action, character development, plot twists, and some of the best and most awesome animation you'll probably ever see in your lifetime, Avatar the Last Airbender makes most anime look like it's standing still.
I admit that Book One was episodic and a little hard to get through. But hold on. Books Two and Three really amp up the plotline, concentrate on the core of the overall story arc, and the look of the series improves more than you can imagine. The addition of Toph to the protagonist's side and Azula to the antagonists adds immeasurably to the series. As each episode ends, you really get an "oh crap!" moment as you realize just how screwed the heroes are (very BSG!).
 By the time we reach Sozin's comet, the animation takes on movie quality with some of the most intense sequences ever crafted. It's stunning to think that this series comes from the same network that brings up Spongebob.
But most of all, we appreciate the elegant and meticulously crafted world, where the design and writing were given star treatment, where the proper amount of money was spent up-front to produce something where you learn more about the series after multiple viewings.
And we're not alone in our love for this show: it has garnered a bevy of awards from a multitude of groups and remains one of Nickelodeonís highest rated programs. What's scary is how often I find myself racing home from work to catch it on the air, even though I've seen the episodes multiple times. You can't get enough of it, and that's why it *needs* to be here, on anime.com, more than once.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, February 2009
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Anime DVD Review
It was the time of the great unbalance. The world of man had divided into four nations representing the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water). Each nation fought the other for total domination of the world.
Only the Avatar can save the world now. Regrettably, he is a twelve-year-old boy. An Airbender of great power named Aang who has been locked in ice for a century. Now, he's out and not quite ready for the challenge he must face in this bleak, desolate realm.
 Fortunately, Aang has found some new friends in a waterbender named Katara and her warrior brother Sokka. He's going to need all the friends he can get as he confronts the great armies of the four nations. Can the Last Avatar reunite humanity and save his world?
Avatar The Last Airbender is the surprise hit series from Nickelodeon. It's probably the best-animated series they've come up with since The Mysterious Cities of Gold (a show it resembles in some ways). It is an intelligently written epic with all the impact of Lord of the Rings. Leave it to a childrens' network not to talk down to children. The scripts here are more mature than most of the shows running on ABC-TV during prime time.
To describe the characters and the complex web of schemes and counter-schemes that permeate this saga would make you believe that it would be all too much for the little kiddies. Do not worry; they'll appreciate the fact that they're not being talked down to. Besides, if you raise them on good stuff, they'll want good stuff when they're adults. I applaud the show's success. Perhaps there is hope for American television after all.
Reviewed by Lawrence Sufrin, December 2006
Below: Promotional art from Avatar: The Last Airbender
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