Avatar: The Last Airbender (titled Avatar: The Legend Of Aang in UK) is an animated television series airing on Nickelodeon since February 21, 2005. The artwork of the series mimics and is often mistaken for "anime," or Japanese animation, but in reality the show is animated in South Korea and was created by two Americans. Avatar is considered darker and more serious than other Nicktoons, but it does have a sense of humor. Set in a fantastic world of martial arts and elemental magic. The martial arts featured in the show are traditional Chinese kung fu based on movements from Pakua/ Bagua, Tai Chi, Hung Gar, Chu Gar, Hsing Yi and Northern Shaolin . Co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino went as far as to study two years with a Northern Shaolin teacher. Sifu Don Hamby of the Hung Gar will be modeled as a Earth Kingdom General second season. Sifu Manuel Rodriguez of the Chu Gar consulted for a special Earth bending style for the new character Tof who also will appear second season. Martial Arts consultant Sifu Kisu pulled out all the stops with amazing “Bendings” and fight scenes! Avatar follows the journeys of Aang, the successor to a long line of Avatars, his friends Katara and Sokka, and Prince Zuko who is attempting to capture Aang. At this point I've only seen a few episodes, but I was drawn in immediately. I usually cringe at anything anime, as there has been an influx of regurgitated garbage from Japan in recent years. However, the production values of Avatar become apparent immediately, from the quality art and animation, to the professional quality voice acting I've come to expect from American studios like Disney and Dreamworks. The show provides a nice combination of action and storytelling, and adds an edge that makes it seem an odd fit for Nickelodeon. Not since Gargoyles have I seen a cartoon that can appeal to viewers across the age spectrum. It has everything I usually turn to anime for, only now without the static characters, hackneyed plots, and awful localizations. I just saw the one hour season finally (YES A DAY EARLY, YEA!!!!) and was completely blown away! I laughed, I cried and I was thrilled to the marrow. If you love martial arts and have not seen this show you are missing out! Great show!!!!!

The show also airs in Canada on the YTV channel at 11:30 am in the Vortex show block. New episodes air Friday nights at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time in Nickelodeon's Friday Night Slimetime block of programming. Due to this, start times may be changed up to 10 minutes, making the actual starting time around 7:50 pm Eastern Standard Time.

The one-hour season one finale is scheduled for December 2nd, and has been described by co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino as being "epic for an animation series."



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