The Avatar Returns

Episode 54 - The North / Legends (Netflix)

So that happened.

 

The first season is done. 

 

What ostensibly is supposed to be Book One: Water, though this version of the show never once refers to it that way, has reached its end. And it got there without Aang ever even TRYING to waterbend. Not one single time.

 

That was a choice. This show makes LOTS of choices. And we talk about them.

 

NEXT: we’ve been bumped and bruised by this experience, but we still love the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. So we will be back, hopefully soon, to discuss the other tie-in materials we’ve yet to cover, such as the comics which we never finished, and the novel series, which we never even started. Keep your eyes open, Monkey Yahtzee will return!

THE LINKS

• ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Renewed for Seasons 2 and 3 at Netflix by Selome Hailu, Variety

THE MUSIC

• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (Premiere Main Title)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)
• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (End Credits)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)

Episode 53 - Spirited Away / Masks (Netflix)

Studio Ghibli is undoubtedly meeting with lawyers even as we speak, given episode 105 of the Netflix live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is titled “Spirited Away,” and…boy howdy. This version of the Spirit World amounts to basically a color filter, and an admittedly pretty cool-looking Hei Bai, who is never actually resolved. Episode 106, “Masks” on the other hand pulls off what is arguably a GOOD translation of the source material, with possibly even an improvement or two? Play on to learn the truth, brave listener.

 

NEXT: all things, good or bad, must come to an end. Episodes 107, “The North” and 108, “Legends” wrap up this questionable experiment of a show. Or do they?

THE MUSIC

• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (Premiere Main Title)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)
• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (End Credits)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)

Episode 52 - Omashu / Into the Dark (Netflix)

Oh my cabbages, here we go again. We find ourselves once more confronted with some very confusing story structure choices made in the name of condensing material from six different animated episodes into two messy episodes of live action. 104, “Omashu” introduces us to this version of the great Earth Kingdom city of chutes and ladders, and crams in a lot, I mean A. LOT. of characters and plot elements from across the animated series’ first season, and even a bit from season two. Then 105, “Into the Dark” has the unenviable task of trying to weave all those frayed threads into something semi-coherent. Our individual levels of outrage at the results may vary.

 

(Not really, though. We’re all pretty outraged.)

 

NEXT: it keeps going, guys. We discuss the potentially controversially titled episode 105, “Spirited Away,” and the at least partially Konietzko/Di Martino written 106, “Masks.”

THE MUSIC

• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (Premiere Main Title)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)
• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (End Credits)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)

Episode 51 - Aang / Warriors (Netflix)

Well. They said they were gonna do it. And they made good on that threat. And WE said we’d be here for it. And we…have paid for our hubris. The time has come for your boys to discuss the first two episodes of the 2024 live-action Netflix series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. As you might expect, we have opinions. Episode 101, “Aang” opens on a literal genocide. Did we need to see that? Episode 102, “Warriors” sands the adolescent sexism off of Sokka. Does that have unintended consequences for Suki’s arc? Can a sophisticated, mature take on a beloved animated property actually come off as MORE cartoonish than its source material? Who could possibly know?!

 

We do, in fact, manage to find some positives in all of this. However, STRUCTURE and DIALOGUE are the watchwords of this review, so buckle up, benders!

 

NEXT: Oh lawd, he comin’! Live-action Bumi is about to happen, and we bear witness in episodes 103, “Omashu” and 104, “Into the Dark.”

THE MUSIC

• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (Premiere Main Title)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)
• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (End Credits)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)

Episode 50 - Don’t Call it a Reincarnation

Team The Avatar Returns has been missing, locked in an iceberg of our own making for the past four years. Before we vanished, Netflix had announced it’s then-still-distant live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and we had only just begun speculating on what might justify the existence of another adaptation, and how it could possibly top the 2010 Shyamalan film. Well that adaptation has arrived, like a comet of doom, and we have been pulled back into the world to discuss the consequences. In this episode we shake off the cobwebs, try to remember what it was like to make podcasts, talk about what we’re expecting from the new show, and set the stage for our upcoming deep dive into the 8-episode first season of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

 

By the end of the episode we’ve wandered into Star Wars and comic book discussions, and we uncover negative comments on our PAST podcast discussions, which always makes me feel good. We’re kind of a mess…which may turn out to be appropriate.

 

NEXT: let the genocide begin! We kick off our discussion of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender with episodes 101, “Aang” and 102, “Warriors.”

THE MUSIC

• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (Premiere Main Title)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)
• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (End Credits)” by Jeremy Zuckerman, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water (Music From The Animated Series (2023)

Episode 49 - The Avatar Returns Returns

Guess who’s back, back again…

 

A little flying lemur told us it was the 15th Anniversary of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and we thought, “Hey, we liked that show.” So here we are, Team TARP together again. We discuss our memories of the series, how it’s influenced pop culture, and whether or not that Netflix live-action series is ever gonna happen. We also talk about all the various ways this podcast could reincarnate in the future, be it for books, comics, or other animated series. 

 

Also, our resident boozebender Eric Sipple creates an Avater-themed cocktail. (See the recipe below.)

 

Next: TBD

 

THE BREAKDOWN

Total Run Time: 01:40:55

• 00:00:45  - Intro
• 00:09:45  - AtLA 15th Anniversary
• 00:43:33  - Netflix live-action update
• 01:05:16  - Books & Comics
• 01:10:30  - Animation
• 01:20:06  - Speculating about new podcast projects
• 01:37:20  - Outro / Next

THE MUSIC

• “Avatar: The Last Airbender (Intro)” by Jeremy Zuckerman (2005)
• “Airbending” by Mak11, Airbending (Single) (2019)

THE LINKS

• Wyrd Crafts Chit-Chat Episode 2 - Jessie Flower
• Hoopla - Streaming Audiobooks, Music, Video & eBooks
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Rise of Kyoshi (The Kyoshi Novels Book 1) by F. C. Yee

THE AVATAR STATE Recipe

• 1 oz London dry gin (Air)
• 1 oz Campari (Fire)
• 1 oz Punt e Mes (Earth)
• Fill an old fashioned glass with ice (Water). Add all ingredients to the glass and stir. Garnish with a thin slice of orange.

Episode 48 - The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, Part One

We’re back for a brand new year with a brand new comics series! Following on the successful heels of their Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels Dark Horse Comics introduces the official Legend of Korra continuation series. The first story arc is called “Turf Wars” and it’s written by original series co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino with art by Irene Koh. To go along with all the new we here at The Avatar Returns are trying a slightly new format in that we’ll be reviewing these books as they are initially released rather than waiting for the hardcover Library Edition collections. So in this episode we tackle Part One (of Three), and I confess that we struggle just a little bit. Picking up immediately where the animated series left off we follow Korra and Asami on their getaway into the spirit world, and while it’s wonderful to see these characters again the return isn’t quite as smooth as we may have hoped. Paul and Arlo are worried about a seeming return to Book One hotheaded impetuous Korra; Koh’s art is a significant change from Gurihiru in the ATLA books; there’s talk of the Dumbledoring of Kya; and Eric will not condone a course of action that will lead us to Turf War. (That’s a joke, he actually loves this book.)

 

The Breakdown

• Intro / Banter (00:00 - 04:00)
• Main Topic (04:00 - 1:11:23)
• Outro / Next (1:11:23 - 1:13:50)

Links

• The Ungrounded Turf Wars of Legend of Korra

Episode 47 - North and South

We’re baaaaack. But there’s no cause for celebration as we’re forced to bid a sad farewell to our beloved comics creative team. One last time writer Gene Luen Yang and art duo Gurihiru spin a tale of Team Avatar for the official tie-in graphic novel series from Dark Horse Comics. Vol. 5: North and South sees Sokka and Katara return home to the Southern Water Tribe for the first time since setting off with Aang to end the Hundred Years War. But what they find may not be the quaint, egalitarian village they remember. As each volume before it, North and South explores issues of modernization, nationalism, societal and technological development. But for the first time our hosts don’t all necessarily agree on the quality of the story and/or art. One of them may or may not spend much of the podcast talking about loving the book while consistently nitpicking practically everything about it. Which one of them is being an Arlo? Press play and find out!

 

Also, there’s talk of “therapybending,” David Lynch’s inevitable contribution to the World of Avatar, spoilers for Lion King(?!?), and Tattoo Watch is officially over as someone earns their ink.

 

Next: there’s a change coming as the boys talk about how to continue the podcast in light of the glacial pace of new comics being released. There’s quite a bit of discussion at the end of the episode about what to do about that, but I’ll go ahead and spoil some of it for you now and let you know the next thing we’ll be discussing will be the first individual volume of the Legend of Korra graphic novel series Turf War. Date TBD.

 

 

The Breakdown

• Intro / Banter (00:00 - 15:15)
• Main Topic (15:15 - 1:48:15)
• What Does the Podcast Become Now? (1:48:15 - 1:57:05)
• Outro / Next (1:57:05 - 2:00:12)

Episode 46 - Wrap Party

Goodbyes are hard. That’s why we drink. In this episode your sad hosts are sad. In the absence of new Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra chapters to discuss, we get slightly inebriated and try to make it a party. There’s trivia, “Who Said It” challenges, lists (because everyone loves lists), and lots of self-indulgence and time-wasting. We really do go out on the top of our game.

 

In all seriousness, we have had a tremendous time sharing this journey with each other and with all of our listeners. No one could have predicted how important this silly little project would become for all of us, and so reaching the end and having to step away is truly bittersweet. We’re all proud of what we’ve done, but we’re going to miss coming together every week to have these discussions. We will of course return from time to time with new episodes as the graphic novel series collected editions come out, so this isn’t goodbye forever.

 

Thanks to each and every one of you who has joined us along the way. It’s been an honor and a pleasure.

 

 

“The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation.”

 

Episode 45 - Day of the Colossus / The Last Stand

The secret is out! The truth about all of the crazy breaks and pauses and hiatuses The Avatar Returns has endured over the past year-and-a-half can finally be revealed. The truth is…we didn’t want this to end. But end it has, and we must fight our way through the heartache and the pain to discuss, one last time, these final chapters of The Legend of Korra. Chapter 412, “Day of the Colossus” sees all our gathered heroes marshaling what resistance they can against Kuvira’s Platinum Gundam of Spirity Death. There’s a marriage proposal; Hayao Miyazaki makes a surprise (if short) return; and Meelo bends with something other than his butt. And then in chapter 413, appropriately titled “The Last Stand,” Bolin throws a building at Kuvira; Mako bends his shirt off; and Korra and Kuvira have possibly the most viscerally satisfying battle in the history of the series. Plus that marriage proposal leads to an actual wedding, and our beloved Avatar indulges in some very significant hand-holding.

 

And now, at the end of all things, we finally, FINALLY try and give the extraordinary series composer Jeremy Zuckerman his due. (In case we don’t make it clear in the episode, he is one of the most amazing and criminally under appreciated composers working.)

 

Next: the shows are over but you still get one more podcast from us. Join us as we laugh, cry, and probably drink our way through a look back on the long, strange journey we’ve taken through these amazing shows. There could be games; we might try and stump each other with pop quizzes; it’s almost guaranteed we’ll argue over “Imprisoned” or “The Swamp” again. You’re all invited to The Great TARP Wrap Party!

 

 

The Breakdown

• Intro / Banter (00:00 - 07:00)
• Main Topic (07:00 - 1:40:35)
• Outro / Next (1:40:35 - 1:45:40)