love

Author Topic: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...  (Read 6073 times)

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« on: October 15, 2016, 11:23:28 PM »


Everyone in my immediate family has Avatar: The Last Airbender in their top five of TV shows.  So when Ideathy and I decided that we were going to re-watch the whole series, we had volunteers... kind of.  Mrs. oldkid is busy with her games, but she'll listen in and DeathImpacto (my oldest daughter) will chime in when she can.  But Ideathy and I are committed. (In more ways than one...)

We don't promise to do anything formal, but after each episode, we'll post our thoughts.  Perhaps we'll just post our favorite Sokka moments.  Who knows?
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Sam the Cinema Snob

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26795
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2016, 11:24:30 PM »
This should be a blast.

smirnoff

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26251
    • smirnoff's Top 100
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2016, 11:27:58 PM »
I should find out what the series is about. It seems to have quite a following!

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2016, 11:30:21 PM »
I'll be following along with your commentary, oldkid family!

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2016, 11:40:56 PM »
Episode 1.1: The Boy in the Iceberg

Oldkid: It is amazing to me how much they already had planned out in this series.  Every character already has their main characteristics set, even Iroh, who is sometimes a side character. 

Ideathy:  I'd not call Iroh a side character, more of a mentor character.

Oldkid: Until he gets serious near the end.  But they have his wise, but funny, but interested in the finer things of life character down perfect, and it's the first episode.  That's amazing to me.  It's easy for Zuko-- always angry, all the time.  But Sokka, Katara, Aang... all their main characteristics are spot on.  Also, the animation is amazing.

Ideathy: I think Aangs personality is pretty basic.  He's a 12 year old boy.  Nice, but pretty easy.

Oldkid: But they got his charm down, too.  THAT's not normal 12-year-old boy, that's for sure.   

Ideathy: That's very true.  Not a normal 12 year old.  Some are charming like that, though.

Oldkid: Yeah, if they're a psychopath.  You mentioned that you thought the animation was really good for 2006, right?

Ideathy: Yes.  For one, most American companies take a simple approach to the animation style.  This series took the Asian style and they smoothed it out that anime didn't have at the time.

Oldkid: I didn't think it was so special, but perhaps I'm just so used to watching a lot of animation made in the last ten years.

Ideathy: Maybe the last seven years, when they started getting it smoothed out.

Oldkid: I don't know.  I've been watching animation for an awful long time, you know.  I'm old.

Ideathy: I know that.  You're terribly old.  But in 2004, the animation was horrible.  The lipsynching in this is great.  I did notice one of my pet peeves, though.  One of the objects a character is about to pick up is made very clear.  Too obvious.

Oldkid: I know what you're talking about, but it doesn't bug me, so I didn't notice it.   I did want to mention that I didn't notice that in the flashback Aang was in the avatar state when he formed the iceberg around himself, which is why he didn't remember that time.   

Ideathy: He was in the avatar state when he woke up, too.

Oldkid: Right, which is why the puny knocks Katara did on the iceberg was useless.  I'd rate Sokka's comedy level to be a 2 out of 5.  He was fine, but not in excellent form. 

Ideathy: Not yet.  We both know he'll get there.  Boomerang, man, boomerang. 

Oldkid: Yeah.  Good times.  Okay, ready for the next episode?

Ideathy: (Nods)
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2016, 12:20:06 AM »
Episode 1.2-- The Avatar Returns

Oldkid: Appa has a voice actor.  Why does he need a voice actor?  All he says is "urgh".

Ideathy:  Someone has to make those sounds and then they have to put them though editing so they can sound animalistic.  I know because I question this kind of deal a lot.

Oldkid: Okay, decent episode.  Still introducing.  But the key to this episode is the Aang comedy, I think.  We get to see how impressive he is in his airbending, and his creativity in new situations.  Even though Zuko is better trained, Aang's different way of thinking overcomes every obstacle.

Ideathy: Yes, him and his mattress.  I will admit, Aang is very creative.  I've taught kids his age before and they are really into creativity.

Oldkid: But the way he defeated the soldiers.  I mean, he never fought before, not in an actual war.  I'm sure he trained with the monks, but not like this.  If anything, he seemed TOO good.

Ideathy: I feel like his ability to do that is because he knows his own limits.  He knows how far he can jump to cut the ropes and he knows that his sneeze launches him more than ten feet in the air.

Oldkid: Pretty good trick.  I wish I could do that.  But I'm not an airbender, more's the pity.  I feel sorry for Sokka.  He gets beat up by Zuko and Aang is funnier than he is in this episode.  He really needs to step up his game. 

Ideathy: It's the beginning.  I think we can cut him a little bit of slack.  This is his first fight.

Oldkid: He's got the warrior make up down pat, though.  He'd be a great make up artist. Good color scheme, too.

Ideathy: "Sokka's Boutique: starting at fifty dollars."

Oldkid:  And that's just for a manicure.  Oh, he did figure out the 'yip yip' trick for Appa, though.  Even though he didn't believe Appa could fly.  Pretty smart.   See, he is good for something other than falling in love with girls.

Ideathy: He isn't Brock, you know.

Oldkid: You noticed that Zuko especially uses some martial arts moves.  We'll see more of that later.  I wonder if they used real martial arts as a basis for the fighting?

Ideathy: I believe they did.  It's probably karate, tai kwan do... I forget the name of it.

Oldkid: I think I heard that each bending has it's own martial art associated with it.  We'll have to look into it.

Ideathy: Yeah, I heard that too.

Oldkid: Last thing: the opening is perfect with Aang hitting himself in the face.

Ideathy: It's good every time.

Oldkid: Okay, next one?

Ideathy: (claps with a thumbs up)

Oldkid: Sad.  I can't do thumbs up anymore.  *sad face at his crippled thumb*

Ideathy: No you can't.  But that's your choice.

Oldkid: Whatever.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2016, 01:07:19 AM »
Episode 1.3: The Southern Air Temple

Oldkid: Okay, we have some major background points in this episode.

Ideathy: Kinda shapes the rest of the series.

Oldkid:  First, we find out that the Fire Nation took down all the Air Temples and so destroyed all the Air Nation.  Aang is the last airbender.  Which we knew, because it's the name of the program.  But still, important info. 

Ideathy: Also, this is where they start to develop Zuko a little bit.

Oldkid: Right.  We find out the major motivation to Zuko's character-- that he was banished by his own father, the Fire Lord. 

Ideathy: Which, let's be honest, the Fire Lord sucks.

Oldkid: Not at firebending.  He's pretty good at that.

Ideathy: And thinks that his ten year old boy should be as well.

Oldkid: Ten? He's a teenager.

Ideathy: But when they did the duel.

Mrs oldkid: How do you spell "agni kai"  "D-U-E-L"

DeathImpacto: The only problem I'm having is that "agni" had five characters.  I'm not a hundred percent.

Mrs. Oldkid: I would try "Agnei"

DeathImpacto: I could look it up

Oldkid: DeathImpacto is our local Japanese expert.

Ideathy: Both me and her.  But whatever.

Oldkid: Which reminds me that you taught me that Momo means "peach" in Japanese, and that makes sense because he stole a peach from Sokka right as Aang is naming him.  But that isn't the other major background in this episode, although Momo is an essential... "pet"  I guess.

The other background is more information on the avatar state.  Aang can't control it and he needs Katara to calm him down and bring him back to his normal state.  This is good because the avatar state is dangerous to anyone who happens to be around him because he has no control over himself.  And, as we saw in the last episode, when he is in the avatar state he can do waterbending as well as airbending.

Ideathy: I think it's very interesting that Katara said "It's his avatar spirit"

Mrs. Oldkid: She knew that so we could find it out.

Oldkid: Because when he went into the avatar state, she was looking at the statues of all the past avatars and their eyes lit up.

Ideathy: But she wasn't looking at Aang.  How did she know it was affecting him?  She saw the statue lit up and said "Aang."  That's a gaping plot hole.

Oldkid: I suppose so.  One last thing I wanted to say.  I didn't like what they did with Iroh in this episode. 

Ideathy: You know which characters we like.  We love all of Team Avatar.  Just such a colorful cast of characters.

Oldkid: The first half of the episode, Iroh was a fool, knocking down things and saying stupid things.  By the end, they came back to his real character-- wise and a powerful fighter.  But I didn't like him looking like a fool.

Ideathy: I feel like it was purposeful, though.  He does act like a fool.  He's always going on about tea and the finer things of life, but while he has these great life lessons, he's always the comic relief for Zuko.

DeathImpacto: I like uncle.

Oldkid: It's always possible that he is acting the fool, in order to hide intentions or to protect Zuko.

DeathImpacto: I think the old guys in Avatar are the best characters.

Mrs. Oldkid: I mean, Boomy.

Ideathy: Aang.

Oldkid: Aang?

Ideathy: He's an old guy.  112 years old, remember?

Oldkid: Not answering that. 

Mrs. Oldkid: We haven't been told all the hidden parts of these characters.  We don't know yet the depth of Iroh's self-sacrificial love.

Oldkid: True.  Yeah, I love this show.

Ideathy: Not related to the show, but I do like how it took them to the third episode for those two to jump in (pointing at the other women).

Oldkid: Some folks it takes a minute to warm up.   Should we do one more tonight?

Ideathy: Let us press on.

Oldkid: These aren't artificial fingernails...
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2016, 01:50:37 AM »
Episode 1.4-- The Warriors of Kyoshi

Ideathy: This one dealt with Sokka's sexism issue.

Oldkid: Yeah, he's super patriarchal in this episode.  But he learned his lesson... and possibly found love!

Ideathy: Like it'd be that easy for that idiot.

Oldkid: That easy to learn the lesson that men and women are equal?

Ideathy: No.  Finding love.

Oldkid: And he learned some Tai Chi... I mean, Kyoshi martial arts.   Clearly, what we heard was correct.  This warrior group is clearly using Tai Chi.

Ideathy: Yeah.  And I think Zuko is using... tai kwan do?  I'm not sure.

Oldkid: Let's look it up.  "Northern Shaolin" is what it says here. 

Ideathy: Which is a style of kung fu.

Oldkid: Yes, I knew that because of the old series, Kung Fu, where the main character grew up in a Shaolin temple.  Also, the Avatar Wiki says that three other martial arts are used as well. 

Ideathy: I feel that there's a lot in this episode about Sokka and about Aang and Katara's relationship.  But it doesn't really advance the plot.

Oldkid: I agree that it isn't an essential episode.  But we do get to meet Sokka's girlfriend and the warriors, and they are important later in the series.

Ideathy: I'm pretty sure Sokka would say, "She isn't my girlfriend."

Oldkid: All the more reason to say that she is.  :)  So the sea monster is basically a giant pokemon, right?

Ideathy: It's too attractive to be a pokemon.  It's based more like Leviathan in the Bible, right?

Oldkid: Or a Godzilla movie.   I can't remember the monster, but they had a sea monster, too.  By the way, I will never, NEVER, get used to Aang just jumping off of high places.

Ideathy: I'm used to it because in every anime they all like to jump off of high places.

Oldkid: Well, I hates it.   One other thing, I see that Aang gets the Hard Day's Night treatment-- such a celebrity that he has masses of girls chasing after him. 

Ideathy: They probably based these scenes off of that film.  Because this is an American show.

Oldkid: Beatles are British.

Ideathy: They're famous in America.  Everyone knows who the Beatles are.

Oldkid: Except you.  Hater.

Ideathy: I know who they are.  Doesn't mean I like them.

Oldkid: Anyway, embarrassing subject.  That someone IN MY FAMILY doesn't like the Beatles.  Wrong.

Ideathy: Speaking of embarrassing, Sokka got really embarrassed in this episode.

Oldkid: And well he deserved it.  But I prefer it when he is cracking the jokes, not being the butt of them.

Ideathy: He has to be the butt of them sometimes in order to crack an efficient one.

Oldkid: I'm not sure what you said made any sense.  Anyway, I need to stop.  My typing is stupid.

Ideathy: That's all for tonight.  Th-th-that's all folks!
 
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

saltine

  • Administrator
  • Godfather
  • ******
  • Posts: 9800
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2016, 04:19:28 AM »
Fun!
Texan Down Under

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Everything Changed when the Kimes Family Attacked...
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2016, 05:49:59 AM »
I should find out what the series is about. It seems to have quite a following!

How have you not watched it ? It is such a smirnoff series!
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/