Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005) (abbreviated as ATLA), is an animated show I watched at 7, and the only thing I gathered from it was the fact that it had some cool fight scenes, and was pretty slow paced compared to most cartoons I had seen. When I watched it again at 14, I was a lot more focused on the story, and I really enjoyed it. The plot was unique, and the main story arc lasted the entire 61 episode show. I found myself more attached to all the characters compared to cartoons that "reset" after most episodes. The antagonists aren't just an obstacle for the heroes to overcome, they had their own screen time and struggles, and I felt genuine sympathy for the villains. Coming back to it as an adult, I noticed that there were still a huge amount of subtle details that I had missed. The world is incredibly fleshed out, and the characters are dynamic and multi-faceted. I genuinely recommend this to everyone. Even my dad liked it, and he doesn't watch TV.
Below are some of the reasons I think the show deserves a watch, even for adults.
Spoilers ahead!
Caution:Spoilers inside
A good example for the depth of the show is the main antagonist at the start, Prince Zuko (from the fire nation, the aggressive and militaristic nation, and the main driving force for the main characters). As a kid, he seemed like a normal, edgy villain. However, he has possibly one of the best arcs I have seen, and has an epic redemption. As a kid, he grew up under his mother, and both kindness and honor were instilled in him at a young age. He was always a good person, but propaganda and a sense of duty to the empire skewed him into the villain we see at the beginning of the story. His sister Azula grew up with his dad, and ended up both more talanted and ruthless. His father (Ozai) is a horrible person. Azula mentions that Ozai wants to have Zuko killed for being subpar compared to his sister, and it's implied that Azula wants to be the one to execute him. When Zuko is allowed into a war meeting, he discovers that Firelord Ozai plans to have most of the new recruits killed in a suicidal charge, in order to serve as a distration for the more expierenced soldiers. Zuko is nieve, and his sense of honor causes him to speak up against his dad. Ozai responds by calling a duel against his 13 year old son in order to restor his "honor" from the fact his kid had an opinion not crafted by Ozai himself. Zuko refuses to fight his father, and Ozai responds by mutilating his son, disfiguring him for life. After he domestically abuses his son, he banashes him from the nation, with the requirement to capture the Avatar (effectively a demigod) before he can come back. It's effectivly a death sentance, as a kid will be instantly killed by the Avatar if he fights him As the viewer uncovers more of Zuko's backstory, we watch as he grows from a kind child into the spitting image of his father. All of this is simply backstory for someone who isn't even the main antagonist, as the story starts during the search for the Avatar. Not even mentioning his growth during the series itself!
Avatar is a kids show, but it tackles some pretty heavy topics, including: domestic violence, sexism, trauma and PTSD, racism, and even genocide. As a kid, it was just a cool show. These topics are shown, not told, so as a kid most of it flew over my head. This deserves a watch no matter your age, and maybe even two or three! All of the elemental nations have their own culture, history, and form of government. Characters die, and die for good. Both mental health and mental illness are tackled full on.
A good scene that displays the depth of this show is this one here:
As a kid, this is just the villian having a meltdown because she lost the battle.
But as an adult, you realize that she is suffering a complete and utter psychotic break. This is the final piece in the story of an abused child's unrecoverable descent into psychosis.
While a suprising number of kids shows get hour long Youtube deepdives into their characters psychology (including this one),
Not a lot of kid's shows get a breakdown of their characters by Dr. Carol Panetta, the President of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Is not just a kids show.
