After watching The Last Airbender, be sure to check out the cartoon

[Taufiq2u]

I have to tell everyone who watches that horrible movie to check out the cartoon, Avatar the Last Airbender

It's pretty much one of the best cartoons to come out in the 2000s.

It's possibly America's competitor to Japan's Big Three Animes (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece) and Avatar the Last Airbender has great characters, good writing, beautiful art design and Jason Isaacs.

So yeah, after watching TLA with Rifftrax, get yourself Avatar the Last Airbender on Netflix or DVD. You'll love it and i hope you enjoy the first season. Infact, me and fellow Avatar the Last Airbender fans managed to get Angry Joe enjoy the first series of ATLA after his angry review of the Last Airbender.
 So, be sure to check it out!

[Thrashalla]

I'm a couple of episodes into the first season, and honestly...it's not doing anything for me. I'll keep going based on all of the anger and devotion I'm seeing, but I really hope it improves.

[David]

It gets way better in season 2, especially when they meet Toph.

[CJones]

Like I said in the other topic, I tried it once after having seen this movie, but only got a few episodes in. It had promise, much like this movie, but the silliness and faux-anime style really put me off it. I'll try it again, but comparing it to Bleach certainly doesn't inspire confidence. I can't stand that show. I liked this movie more than I like Bleach. (I never attempted to watch Naruto or One Note)

[Thrashalla]

the silliness and faux-anime style really put me off it.

These are the key factors keeping me from enjoying it. I'm not getting anything special from the plot/writing either.

The world building isn't bad, though. For what is, essentially, YA.

[Taufiq2u]

Like I said in the other topic, I tried it once after having seen this movie, but only got a few episodes in. It had promise, much like this movie, but the silliness and faux-anime style really put me off it. I'll try it again, but comparing it to Bleach certainly doesn't inspire confidence. I can't stand that show. I liked this movie more than I like Bleach. (I never attempted to watch Naruto or One Note)

Well i think you'll enjioy one Piece. Despite the European painting animation, it's quite a solid show, and it deals with the debate of Pirates vs. Ninjas, merman and the Somalis.

Plus, the Straw Hat pirate crew consists of a Rubber Man, a Samurai Swordsman, a Hot Female Cat Burglar, a James Dean-esque Chef, Pinnochio, and later in the series you'll get a Hot Geography expert and an awesome teddy bear. And the story arcs are amazing, especially the Baratie arc and the Arlong arc.

[Invader_quirk]

I watched the first season as research for the QuipTrack of the movie, and I hated it for the first disc or so. It wasn't funny and the writing was bad. IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER THOUGH. I definitely recommend finishing the season and seeing what you think about it. It beats the hell out of the movie.

And I don't like Bleach or One Piece, so use that to compare my tastes to your own.

[TTYT]

It gets way better in season 2, especially when they meet Toph.

This is definitely true. Seriously, stick with it. It gets stupendous in Season 3.

Should I mention Season 3 is where the WANG FIRE meme originated?

EDIT: And don't forget they're doing that sequel miniseries The Legend of Korra (Fall 2011.)  I still say that got greenlit because this movie sucked balls.

[Thrashalla]

Ok, I'm warming to it. Still on season one, but it gets considerably different after the first couple of episodes.

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

I'm sorry....I still think anime is a state of mind.  With very few exceptions, if this same level of storytelling and acting was animated by Americans, no one would care.

I'll never forget going into a film room at a convention in the early 80's where an anime title straight from Japan (no dubbing, no subtitles) was playing.  A bunch of guys sitting there transfixed at a scene of just characters around a table discussing something - and not one of these guys spoke a word of Japanese.  I know because I asked.

It was just new/different and that's all they cared about (or they'd heard of "Rapeman" comics and were hoping).

[Invader_quirk]

Well, Avatar is actually made in America and a lot of people care, so I'm not sure your assessment is accurate. Perhaps I don't understand what you're saying?

[CJones]

I'm sorry....I still think anime is a state of mind.  With very few exceptions, if this same level of storytelling and acting was animated by Americans, no one would care.

I'll never forget going into a film room at a convention in the early 80's where an anime title straight from Japan (no dubbing, no subtitles) was playing.  A bunch of guys sitting there transfixed at a scene of just characters around a table discussing something - and not one of these guys spoke a word of Japanese.

Truth.

I know, because I used to be one of those guys. When I was in college (13 years ago) I attended an anime club that frequently showed unsubbed anime. Collectively we knew a little Japanese, and we had great fun discussing our theories as to what the hell was going on. But if it hadn't been Japanese, none of us would have cared what was going on. My Junior and Senior years though I actually took Japanese. What I learned was that the more actual Japanese you know, the more you realize that most anime is no better than any other type of animation.

Getting older probably played a part too. I used to love anime. Now I find the vast majority of it so insipid and cliche ridden I can't stand it. And the fact that almost all the characters are half my age or less makes it hard to relate to or take seriously (same goes for JRPGs).

As long as we're on the subject of anime, I thought I'd mention my favorite anime series of the last few years: Planetes.

I've tried a bit more of Avatar. Like Thrashalla, I will admit that it does get better once you get past the first few episodes. I am, and always have been, a big fan of animation, so I'll probably stick with it.

[Invader_quirk]

What's stupid is saying that you love or hate anime. It's like saying you love or hate live action. Of course there's crappy anime. Most of it, like most of all things, is crap. Good anime, though, has the potential to be very very good. The aforementioned "Planetes" is a true work of art. In Japan, animation is more respected than in America, where it's either for comedy or little kids. This allows great series like Planetes or Paranoia agent to exist (because they do need to be animated) and so anime does offer things that you won't often find in America. This is what draws many to it, although there's obviously a large faction of otakus that love all anime just to be part of that "crowd". These people are tools.

[TTYT]

Adding to Quirk's argument, good anime can be REALLY, REALLY good. Case in point: Grave of the Fireflies. Not only is this a stupendous anime, it's also the most powerfully emotional movie I've EVER seen.

So yes - a LOT of anime out there is crap. But a lot of movies out there are crap. A lot of games out there are crap. A lot of music out there is crap.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - which technically is anime-inspired, if you go by the definition of anime meaning "animation from Japan" - despite it taking some time to find its footing in Season 1, is not crap. They didn't snag their head writer (Aaron Ehasz) away from Futurama for it to be crap. They didn't get the voice director (Andrea Romano) from Batman: The Animated Series and all the other Bruce Timm-led DC Animated Universe shows for it to be crap.

Trust me, stick with it. Some of the goofy Aang and Sokka may be hard to endure, but both characters have toned the goofy sides down and mature quite well by the end of the series (hell, it's Princess Yue's death in the first season that starts that maturing process in Sokka.)

And honestly, once Toph and Azula show up in Season 2, the show just gets incredibly awesome.

Should I also mention how much this show got past the censors? I should. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Radar/AvatarTheLastAirbender

[stansimpson]

Adding to Quirk's argument, good anime can be REALLY, REALLY good. Case in point: Grave of the Fireflies. Not only is this a stupendous anime, it's also the most powerfully emotional movie I've EVER seen.

So yes - a LOT of anime out there is crap. But a lot of movies out there are crap. A lot of games out there are crap. A lot of music out there is crap.

Good call.  But it's kind of a weird scenario.  I've never loved anime and I've really tried to get into it.  But the ratio of what's out there to what's good has been disappointingly low (or, that is to say, when anime is bad, it's really bad).  I have a better averaging with documentaries because at least a bad one I can still take something from.  The pillars like Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, the aforementioned "Grave of the Fireflies", etc. are certainly worth tracking down and shouted from rooftops.  But if we're talking about the anime referred to in "Hey, do you like anime?" (you know, generalities), then, as a whole, I totally get someone giving a flat-out "no".

If that made any sense.