*hearts in eyes*

[lizbee]

I finished the first season of Avatar last night, and since melengro recently asked what I thought of it, I thought it deserved a whole post of its own.

I love it thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!

I mean, firstly, the whole setting and universe is interesting and fun. All these little communities and cultures quietly trying to get by while the Fire Nation spreads their brand of toasty oppression throughout the world.

Secondly, there is not a single character I don't love. Aang is how I imagine a twelve-year-old Doctor, with l33t skills and amazing potential, and an awareness of his responsibilities coupled with a bone-deep fear of failure. And he's the last of his kind, in a way that is totally well-written and only emo in a legitimate way.

Also:



And then there are Katara and Sokka, who are my new favourite brother-sister world-saving team. I love Katara's strength and self-confidence and snark, and I love that Sokka is just a regular guy with no magic powers, only a passion for meat and sarcasm and saving the day.



And poking Aang with a stick.

But weirdly, and I was totally not expecting this, my favourites are Zuko and Iroh. In fact, from everything I've read about Azula, I have a feeling I'm just a sucker for the crazy Fire Nation royal family.

This is a bit unexpected, because Zuko is basically Draco Malfoy. Only competent, and he knows kung fu, and has legitimate sources of emo to inspire Epic Brooding. And doves fly when he takes his shirt off. Importantly, he also has his Uncle Iroh, without whom he would be completely insufferable.

"EXCUSE ME, I HAVE TO BE ALONE WITH MY PAIN NOW."

"But, Zuko! It's music night on the HMS Banished Princeling!"

"NO. MY PAIN."

IROH IS MY KING. Especially in "The Spirit World", where he spends half the episode being all, "YEP, TOTALLY NAKED HERE!" and Zuko is like, "OH GOD OH GOD PUT SOME CLOTHES ON." I'm just saying, for a middle-aged, stout cartoon man, Iroh's got it going on. I was only half-joking when I told weaverandom that I wanted to draw sexy Iroh pin-up art. Sadly, this was the closest I could find on DevArt.

Comments

[longtimegone]

I recently finished mainlining Avatar myself, and I was totally in love. Every character is great, and I loved all the cultural distinctions they drew between the four nations, and the different groups within those nations. Rarely is someone a 2-D stereotype...there's always something to make them special and 3-D and memorable in some small way.

And yes, Zuko is totally Draco Malfoy. :)) I'm not a massive Draco fan, but Zuko = what Draco Malfoy should have been. The royals of the Fire Nation totally brings the crazy, and they are rather awesome for it.

[musesfool]

there is not a single character I don't love.

I KNOW! IT'S TOTALLY AWESOME! ♥

[selvage]

YAYYYY OMG I <3 this show so much. Seeing other people watch it for the first time is almost as good as watching it myself. I'm thrilled you're enjoying it :D :D :D

[aria]

Oh man, I get pretty capslocky about Avatar. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

The Fire Nation royal family are, basically, my favourite people ever (I am still a bit weirded out at how much I came to love Zuko -- but, oh my god, the stuff he does in third season!!) and this is saying a lot, because I adore the entire cast.

Also, if you thought s1 was good? It only gets better.

[neotoma]

Uncle Iroh is a wonderful character, and very much in the Retired Badass mode. He only gets better in the second and third seasons.

[sabra_n]

"EXCUSE ME, I HAVE TO BE ALONE WITH MY PAIN NOW."

"But, Zuko! It's music night on the HMS Banished Princeling!"

"NO. MY PAIN."

HAHAHAHAHA. ZOMGILU. Seriously, you've given me the strongest urge to rewatch the whole first season now, if not the whole series. Let me tell you, Zuko and Iroh only get more awesome with time. Zuko's emotional throughline is the strongest of the series; it's truly great stuff.

AAlso, I want an Appa plushie so bad.

[skipthedemon]

I Agree with every word of this post!!!

Aang really is the Oncoming Storm. The parallel with the Doctor only continue to be more apparent.

I'm with you though, Zuko and Iroh are my favorite. If only I could half as awesome and wise as Iroh when I grow up.

[amaresu]

It's been quite awhile since I've watched S1 of Avatar. It is so very fantastic though. And now you get to watch S2 which gives you Toph! Toph is my favorite.

But yes, Zuko and Iroh and so amazing. Iroh is all, "Zuko let us have tea!" and Zuko is all, "No, I must come up with more plans to capture the avatar with no escape route!" Bless.

[wolfy_writing]

My two favorite characters in the whole, entire thing are Toph and Uncle Iroh. I love everyone, but those two top the list for me.

[amaresu]

Toph is who I want to be when I grow up. She is just so amazing and sarcastic and brilliant. I love her. Uncle Iroh is the best uncle in the world. I wish I had an uncle like him.

[sianmink]

It's all trrruuuueeeeeee

ENORMOUS<3

[sianmink]

Oh, Liz, just wait till you hit season 2 and 3. JUST YOU WAIT.

[jennaw]

PS It never stops being awesome. It just, in fact, gets awesomer. WAY more awesomer ;)

[lizzieladie]

It's pretty much a good thing that Uncle Iroh is not a real person, because if he were I would be making with the sketchy stalking. Wait until you see what he does in the next seasons!

[wolfy_writing]

Zuko is so much more likable than I'd expect. That type of character generally drives me up the wall, but with Zuko, I like him, I feel for him, and I want him to be happy.

Partly, it helps because I avoid the fandom, so I don't have to see people twist "Zuko is a messed-up kid who is doing bad things largely because of family pressure, and has a lot of potential to be a better person" into "Zuko is the real victim here, and a perfectly innocent woobie who must be adored by everyone, and also everyone who gets into conflict with him/everyone who resents him for what he's done and who he's sided with/everyone female (except possibly the woman they ship him with) is EVIL!" crap. (I try not to let myself get poisoned against a character by the more obnoxious fandom defenders, but sometimes that doesn't work.) Also, though, the show hits a good balance of the stuff that's so often done badly (particularly in fanfic); they give him real pain with actual reasons but don't take go over the top or get all "RESPECT HIS PAIN!" hyper-serious about it, and they actual hit sensible levels of complexity when it comes to him having some responsibility he needs to deal with for what he did even if it's not all his fault. It's a nicely complicated portrayal in a situation where too many writers veer to simple, nuance-free extremes.

[alienist]

Staying away from the fandom is a Very Good Plan.

[sqbr]

Yay, another convert!

I can't speak for the quality since I tend not to look at such posts and am new to the comm, but any time someone types in lowercase on capslock_atla they're supposed to post a picture of naked Iroh. Click at your own risk :D

[faith_less_one]

The Fire Nation Royal Family are total awesomesauce. Just wait until you meet Mai and Ty Lee - my favourite characters!

Zuko is basically Draco Malfoy

Totally. I just wish he had a sister as brilliant/nuts as Azula.

[alienist]

I'm so glad you're watching Avatar! Oh, this makes me want to rewatch season one, in all of its EPIC ADORABLE SHENANIGANS. And Zuko and Iroh just get more awesome. I definitely think you'll love Azula, too, and what we see of Ursa, plus Mai and Ty Lee. (All the awesome women in this show, it is AMAZING.) Now if only Ozai was interesting.

[azdaja_dafema]

Truly I hear you on the Draco thing! I've just mainlined the first series and am loving it, and throughout have basically been saying to my friend who got me into it lines like "Oh Draco's pouting. But fighting epically and I love him" and "IROOOOOOH <3<3<3" along with various other chara love. Which is pretty snazzy, for an ensemble show, I think.

[deralte]

Erikonil draws tons of Iroh art with him at all ages, though usually younger. Something like this is probably the closest to what you're looking for.

I <3 Avatar so much. It pisses me off that I have to tell people I'm not talking about that stupid movie whenever I squee about it. *sigh*