Writing a review of Avatar: the Last Airbender is extremely easy for me. I’ll go ahead and tell you now, I give it 6 stars out of 5, an A++, 110%, and whatever other ways would allow me to express my love for ATLA. Growing up, it was one of my favorite shows, and even over 10 years later, it still remains one of the best shows I’ve seen (I’ve actually seen it about 5 or 6 times now). In today’s post, I’ll be reviewing and explaining why Avatar the Last Airbender is an amazing show, and why I think everyone should watch it!

Criteria

My criteria for evaluating the show includes how likable the characters are and their development/character arcs, how original, entertaining, and cohesive the overall plot and story are, the quality of dialogue, including emotional or humorous moments in the show, and the overall pacing of each episode, season, and the series as whole.

Below, I have my ratings on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest) for each individual category, as well as for the show as a whole.

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Story and Plot

With an imaginative and expansive world, well-developed lore, and a unique concept, the story of Avatar: the Last Airbender is truly one of the best. Rather than explaining the story to you myself, I’ve instead decided to let the show itself tell you. The intro perfectly sets up the show and gives an insight into the world and characters as an added bonus.

While the show’s story and concept as a whole are amazing, the plot of each season and each individual episode are just as strong. Each season builds upon the one before, with evolving character arcs and relationships, an increasingly mature tone, and an exciting overarching plot that drives the plot of each episode. However, some individual episodes are perhaps not as strong as the others, either by not advancing the plot or characters much, or by generally lacking the same level of emotional punch packed into the other episodes. That being said, every episode is thoroughly enjoyable and still worth watching.

Characters

The characters in ATLA are easily the highlight for me. Each one is funny, endearing, and entirely lovable, while also each being entirely unique. The characters grow and mature over the course of the three seasons, with truly some of the best written character arcs in any show. Each of the characters have well-developed and changing relationships with the other characters they interact with, making the characters and the show as a whole feel authentic and believable.

As the seasons go on, the characters and their relationships evolve with the plot. Avatar is a children’s show (and the first season especially reflects this), but as the characters grow up over the course of the show, so too does the overall tone of the story. While the main characters are very young and certainly appeal to a younger audience, they usually come off as endearing rather than annoying, a rare thing for many kid’s shows. If I had to pick a favorite character, I honestly would have trouble deciding between them.

Dialogue

Avatar’s dialogue is generally fantastic, perfectly complementing the amazing characters. The writing is funny, energetic, thoughtful, introspective, witty, and at times deeply moving and inspiring. However, when deciding what to say about the dialogue, I struggled to be objective and put my personal feelings towards the show aside.

Even though I do truly feel like the dialogue is great, I do feel it is necessary to point out the fact that it is ultimately a kid’s show. While not afraid to explore deep topics such as the loss of loved ones, some of the jokes are definitely geared towards kids. I personally still find it funny and enjoyable, but some people may find some of the dialogue to be tedious or juvenile.

Overall, the dialogue is still a large part of what makes the show so great. Each character has their own unique voice and sense of humor, and the different personalities perfectly play off each other. Click here to see just a few of the most iconic lines from the show!

Pacing

The pacing of Avatar is overall fantastic (are you sensing a common theme yet?), with plenty of great exciting moments, action sequences, and emotional scenes. However, there are some aspects that do lower my overall score for pacing.

First, while I appreciate that the show grows and matures over the three seasons, this means that the first season seems a lot slower and less exciting in comparison to the others. Also, there are some filler episodes that don’t do too much to advance the plot or characters. While those filler episodes are often still entertaining, they do slow down the overall pacing a bit.

Avatar Review – Final Thoughts

I’m not gonna lie, I do feel a little biased towards this show. I mean, the nostalgia alone is enough to make me want to rate Avatar a 10 out of 10. But even putting my bias aside and looking at the show objectively, it still holds up as an amazing show. If you weren’t already convinced, it even has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 9.2/10 rating on IMDb.

Avatar is funny, heartwarming, exciting, beautiful, and so much more. It is probably my favorite show ever, and I know a lot of other people who feel the same. I cannot recommend this show highly enough.

Have you seen Avatar? What would you rate it? If you haven’t seen it yet, do you plan on watching it? Let me know in the comments below! And make sure to subscribe to Sweet and Petite to be notified of my new blog posts!