Avatar: The Last Airbender
A 2007 Japanese anime is the most popular series on Netflix. Adventure, Comedy, Drama.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in some regions, is an American animated fantasy action television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio.
Avatar is set in a largely Asiatic-inspired world in which some people can telekinetically manipulate one of the four elements—water, earth, fire or air—through practices known as "bending", inspired by Chinese martial arts. The only individual who can bend all four elements, the "Avatar", is responsible for maintaining harmony among the world's four nations, and serves as the link between the physical world and the spirit world. The series is centered around the journey of twelve-year-old Aang, the current Avatar and last survivor of his nation, the Air Nomads, along with his friends Katara, Sokka, and Toph, as they strive to end the Fire Nation's war against the other nations and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before he conquers the world. It also follows the story of Zuko—the exiled prince of the Fire Nation, seeking to restore his lost honor by capturing Aang, accompanied by his uncle Iroh—and later, his sister Azula. Avatar is presented in a style that combines anime with American cartoons and relies on the imagery of primarily Chinese culture,[2] with various other influences from different East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, North Asian, and Native American cultures.
Avatar: The Last Airbender was a ratings success and received acclaim from critics for its characters, cultural references, art direction, voice acting, soundtrack, humor, and themes. The series' themes include concepts rarely touched on in youth entertainment, including war, genocide, imperialism, totalitarianism, indoctrinationand free choice.[3] It won five Annie Awards, a Genesis Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Kids' Choice Award, and a Peabody Award. The show is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest animated television series of all time.
Avatar aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons, from February 2005 to July 2008.[4] The extended Avatar franchise includes an ongoing comics series, a prequel novel series, an animated sequel series, and a live-action film, as well as a live-action remake series produced for Netflix.[5] The complete series was released on Blu-ray in June 2018 in honor of the tenth anniversary of its finale[6] and was made available to stream on Netflix in the United States and Canada in May 2020,[7][8] on Paramount+ in June 2020,[9] and on Amazon Prime Video in January 2021.[10]
Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a world where human civilization consists of four nations, named after the four classical elements: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. In each nation, certain people, known as "benders" (waterbenders, earthbenders, firebenders, and airbenders), have the ability to telekinetically manipulate and control the element corresponding to their nation, using gestures based on Chinese martial arts. The "Avatar" is the only individual with the ability to bend all four elements.
The Avatar is an international arbiter whose duty is to maintain harmony among the four nations, and act as a mediator between humans and spirits. When the Avatar dies, their spirit is reincarnated in a new body, who will be born to parents in the next nation in a set order known as the Avatar cycle: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. By tradition, the new Avatar will travel the world to learn all four bending arts, after which they will begin in earnest their role as global peacekeeper. The Avatar can enter a condition known as the "Avatar State", in which they temporarily gain the skills and knowledge of all their past incarnations. Although this is when they are at their most powerful, if the Avatar was ever killed while in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle would be broken and the Avatar would cease to exist.
Preview:
A century ago, young Avatar Aang, afraid of his new responsibilities, fled from his home and was forced into the ocean by a storm. He encased himself and his sky bison Appa in suspended animation in an iceberg near the South Pole. Shortly afterward, Fire Lord Sozin, the ruler of the Fire Nation, launched a world war to expand his nation's empire. Knowing that the Avatar must be an Air Nomad, he carried out a genocide against the Air Nomads, which he timed with the arrival of a comet that gives firebenders tremendous power. A hundred years later, siblings Kataraand Sokka, teenagers of the Southern Water Tribe, accidentally discover Aang and revive him.
Where You Can Find It:
Netflix, Prime Video, Nickelodeon.
