Since I used to produce TV programs, I am always interested in finding out why a TV show or drama is so popular, especially when it is referred by people I know.
This time, the referrer was DD. M said DD found an interesting cartoon series and they love watching it. What kind of cartoon can attract both a baby and an adult? I was wondering.
One evening, when that cartoon was on the air, I sat together with them and watched one episode. Since then I was completely hooked. I have to admit that this is seriously the best cartoon series I have ever watched!!
It is named Avatar The Last Airbender
The show is set in an Asian-influenced world of Chinese martial arts and elemental manipulation, and drew on elements from East Asian (especially Chinese and Japanese) culture, blending the styles of anime and US domestic cartoons.
I was expressed by the extensive borrowing of Asian philosophy, martial art, calligraphy and mythology into the show.
For example, Avatar draws on the four classical elements common to most ancient philosophies (rather than the five classical Chinese elements) for its bending arts: Water, Earth, Fire and Air.
In the show’s opening, each element is accompanied by two Chinese characters: an ancient Chinese seal script character on the left, and a modern Chinese character on the right:
- Water is associated with benevolence and adaptivity;
- Earth is associated with strength and stability;
- Fire is associated with intensity and passion;
- Air is associated with peace and harmony.
The fighting choreography and weaponry are based on Chinese martial arts, with each bending art corresponding to a certain real-world style. Each fighting style was chosen to represent the element it projected:
- Tai Chi focuses on alignment, body structure, breath, and visualization. This technique is the foundation of “Waterbending” in the series.
- Hung Gar was chosen for its firmly rooted stances and powerful strikes to present the solid nature of earth. This martial art is the basis of “Earthbending” in the series.
- Northern Shaolin Kung Fu uses strong arm and leg movements. This technique is the foundation of “Firebending” in the series.
- Ba Gua uses dynamic circular movements and quick directional changes. This technique uses centripetal force to generate power, and uses nearly constant circular movement to create angles between the combatants. This martial art is the basis of “Airbending” in the series.
Furthermore, the show demonstrates a profound understanding of the essence of Chinese culture, which, as I discussed in Chinese philosophy of the movie Hero, is also the highest level for Chinese martial arts.
According to Chinese philosophers, when man has trained his body to reach such a level in which he can kill anything with a touch of his finger or just with his mind, killing has become meaningless to him (see Chinese philosophy of the movie Hero).
That is exactly what Aang does, when he completely masters the four elements and is able to kill the the evil Fire Lord Ozai. But Aang restrains himself and instead calls upon the lost art of Energybending to remove Ozai’s bending abilities altogether.
Besides, the storyline of the show is multi-layered and thoughtful yet adventurous and thrilling; the characters are complex, non-stereotypical, engaging and well-developed. Deep thoughts aside, the show contains the right amount of comic relief to make everybody laugh, and sometimes is surprisingly emotional. Last but not the least, the animation itself is top notch.
I would strongly recommend this cartoon series Avatar The Last Airbender to people of all ages, not strictly kids.
Related posts:
Chinese philosophy of the movie Hero
My thoughts after watching the movie 2012
From Lina, Second Year | Lina | 
March 18, 2010 3:14 pm | 
Comments (8)
Very truly written and described about the Last Air Bender series. Especially I came to know that the bending technique of each type of bender is taken from Chinese art of fighting and defending.
I myself am too hesitant to watch movies even of 1.5 hours, but when I saw the first episode of this series, it caught my nerves… And since then, I have seen the whole series 5 times in a month.
Completely breath-taking, adventurous, emotional, tactical, peaceful yet passionate cartoon series. You will fall in love with the AVATAR AANG.
Wonderful creation by the animators. Waiting for the second part to be aired on Nickelodeon from Nov 2011 named as AVATAR: The Legend of Korra.
@Vishal: Glad to find another fan of Last Air Bender series!! I heard The Last Air Bender the movie was quite disappointing…I really wish the movie can be a good booster of this fantastic cartoon series. And thank you for much for sharing the exciting news about the second part. I definitely will count the days and enjoy it with my family!
I haven’t seen the TV show but I have watched the movie and was impressed. It was beautifully made. The visual effects, how you see the elements was fantastic. The music was really emotive and suited the film. (I really want the soundtrack.) I’ve read that it didn’t do well but I can’t understand why. It’s a good film. I was really interested in the philosophy behind the elements. I hope they do another movie but with bad reviews I don’t think my hopes will be fulfilled.
@J: I haven’t seen the movie and was hesitant to watch it, because I read the critics that it was totally a disaster…I was attempted find the DVD after I read your comment. I would strongly suggest you to watch the TV shows. They are awesome and contain many many more details.
all i can say is after watching the 3 seasons in 5 days its ending left with a very strange of filling inside. 10 0utof 10 and the only anime after dbz i can say that about. hope they make more than 12 episodes for korra
@Andy: The ending left a lot of room for new series. I heard a new series will be on air in the fall of 2011. Hope it is true! I am really looking forward to it!
All i can say is that this cartoon is definitely the best cartoon i have seen