Mark's Reviews

    Ugh, "The Great Divide" is a terrible episode and probably the only bad one in this entire amazing series.     What I hate most is that the main characters all act unlike themselves and their established characters.      Sokka was already established in the previous episode "Jet" as intelligent with sharp instincts and great leadership skills. Now he is reduced to a comic relief character only who is stupid and petty. And Katara gets similar treatment. The usually thoughtful and kind girl is portrayed in similar ways to her brother as petty and bickering with Sokka for stupid reasons. This contradicts their established strong sibling bonds. They normally tease each other, this is true. But they are engaged in a senseless rivalry through this episode.      Aang is also misrepresented. Throughout the episode, he is mostly okay but at the end, he resolves a petty dispute between 2 equally unlikable tribes through an outright fabrication...

     "Jet" is a wonderful episode and I especially love Sokka, whose intelligence and leadership make him shine and show that he is more than a comic relief character.      Besides this, it also introduces a very charismatic, complex,  and dangerous antagonist in the character Jet and the charming and fun characters in his gang.     If the show has a flaw, it is that it somewhat hurts Katara's character as she seems blindly smitten by Jet's charms. I think the show might go a bit too far, but it's much less offensive to me than the frankly bad treatment she got in the previous episode, "The Waterbending Scroll," which actively made her act uncharacteristically selfish and reckless. After all, it's believable that a young teen like Katara might easily develop a crush as opposed to arbitrarily becoming immature and foolish for the sake of the plot.   Overall, it's a very solid S-tier episode in my opinion, and another 10 out of 10.   ...

     "Tourist Trapped" is a great first episode and I love it.       The visuals are great, especially the opening sequence, which is amazing, and the soundtrack is also great. Love the music in this one.     But it's the characters and humor in this show that shine even more and are so likable and funny. I especially love the twins, Dipper and Mabel, and their sweet sibling relationship, and Grunkle Stan is hilarious and oddly charming despite his rough-around-the-edges conman shtick.      The antagonists of this episode are the gnomes. On the surface, they seem more silly and comedic than truly scary but they are actually super sus and creepy little guys.     As far as family-friendly, I feel that it's more geared to a pre-teen audience, as it's largely an innocent series, as I recall, but it is pretty frightening in bits for a kids' show. Usually not too scary though.     I love this show and this first e...

    Episode 9, The Waterbending Scroll, is another great episode of Avatar. It's so funny and exciting.      The humor is especially great, and Iroh is especially hilarious, with Sokka also in top comedic form as he usually is.      And it has pirates! They are such fun and colorful antagonists and a great addition to this episode.      It's also neat to see Aang learns Waterbending which he does extremely quickly. This shows how gifted he is as the Avatar to almost instantly learn new bending techniques.     Despite all this, this episode has a pretty noticeable problem that bugs me. Katara has been portrayed as the most mature and thoughtful character of Team Avatar so far and I find it jarring to see her act petty, reckless, and selfish. It brings the episode down a bit in my eyes.     That said it is still very good and it is an A-tier episode with a score of 9 out of 10. My least favorite episode so far...

    This wonderful episode is called Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku. It's great, probably at least as good as the previous episode.     It's exciting, intense,  and informative,  moves the plot forward,  and does so with the heart and style you would expect for this series.    Love that Jhou is returning. This slimy, overly ambitious, and treacherous snake is a great villain. Zuko and Iroh are there too and are great as always. They are some of my favorite characters,  antagonists but not villains, they are nuanced and honorable compared to true bad guys like Jhou.    Love this show, it's amazing! Easily S+ Tier, a 10 out of 10.

    This amazing episode of Avatar is called The Winter Solstice: The Spirit World Part 1.     It's truly a great episode and my personal favorite since the Southern Air Temple. This episode introduces the Spirit World, and as Avatar is a bridge between the human and Spirit worlds, in this episode. It's mystical and fascinating and in the end, Aang learns the key information that furthers the plot.      But the highlight of this episode might be the scenes with Iroh. He is given a lot of good character development, and his background is revealed somewhat as it turns out he was a brilliant general for the Fire Nation. Most of all, it shows how he is much more than who he seems as his strength and cunning are revealed in exciting scenes.      I love it a lot. It's a S+ Tier episode and a 10 out of 10.      

    This episode Imprisoned continues this awesome animated series' trend of high-quality episodes, as it's very good.      Katara shines as a charismatic, compassionate,  and inspiring leader, while the villainous Warden is a sinister and threatening presence voiced by George Takei.     Love it! It's S Tier, 10 out of 10 in my opinion. 

    This episode, King of Omashu, is another excellent episode.     There is a more comedic tone for this one and I love it! Yet it's also very exciting.      I especially enjoy the new character King Bumi who is a delightfully fun and chaotic fellow. He has some pretty funny lines and is unhinged and dangerous in the best ways without being malevolent.       Love it! It's S tier, maybe S+ if only because og how great King Bumi is as a character.  10 out of 10.

     A3! is an anime, and the first episode,  To a Future in Full Bloom, is a very charming,  heartfelt,  and funny show, and I loved it.      The characters were great, especially Izumi Tachibana, the lead character. I liked many of the other characters but I am not sure about their names yet. They have Japanese names, of course, which as an American i have a bit of trouble learning unfortunately.  And the desire of the main cast to save a struggling theater is a sympathetic and easily understood plot. This makes it accessible to someone new to anime as many of them tend to have exciting yet complicated plots that might be harder for newcomers to the genre to relate to or follow.     It also helps that it is very beautiful in appearance and accompanied by an emotional soundtrack.      It's a family friendly anime, however, I recall it having mild language. It is probably good for most ages outside of very young ...

     Episode 4, The Warriors of Kyoshi is another great episode.      I especially enjoy the character development for Sokka, the introduction of the Kyoshi Warriors, particularly Suki who is very charming and cool, and the exciting fights.    It's fun, funny, and charming, with plenty of excitement as well, which makes it a very good representation of this series in general. I love it and give it S tier and a 10 out of 10.

    The 3rd episode of this fantastic series is called The Southern Air Temple and it's my favorite so far.      I love the development of the antagonist Zuko in this show a lot! It's great as it explains some of why Zuko is so determined to find the Avatar.     Another antagonist, Admiral Jhou, is introduced, and he oozes sinister and ambitious. A highlight of the episode is a duel between Zuko and Jhou that reveals Zuko's surprising skill,  determination, and honor as well as Admiral Jhou's treachery.      Additionally, I love the bonding between Aang, Katara, and Sokka in this episode.  Aang is deeply disturbed by the sad revelations of this episode regarding the people of his past as Katara is portrayed as caring and compassionate to Aang. I guess a very minor complaint might be Sokka complaining about being hungry. This happens several times so it might seem a bit much.    Overall,  I love this episode and c...

    The Avatar Returns is an exciting conclusion to the events of the first episode and while The Boy in the Iceberg introduces the characters and world, this second episode shows the characters in action.      There are multiple fight scenes, including bending fights, which are exciting and well-animated.      Zuko, despite his youth, is a surprisingly competent and menacing antagonist, and Aang showcases his Avatar state where the arrow on his head and his eyes glow with light, and he has greatly enhanced bending powers. It's very spectacular.      Another top-notch early episode and it's S tier, scored a 10 out of 10.