Favorite Anime

I watched The Tale of the Princess Kaguya back home right before I left for Minnesota.

Is that anime?

I liked it. So if that's anime I guess that would be my favourite anime. The ending was

Spoiler:

Princess Kaguya is definitely anime. It's the swan song for Isao Takahata, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, who is one of the longest-working anime directors in the business. He's been directing films since the 1960s, albeit increasingly infrequently. I haven't gotten to see it yet since I missed it during the limited theatrical release, but I'm really looking forward to it (and also When Marnie Was There to a lesser degree). Have heard nothing but good things so far.

Yeah it was a great film. A classic story told classically.

I decided to include comments on each episode of my ATLA ranking, but that's made it several times longer, so I'm gonna post it in chunks.  Here's the first half.  Note that while the show has 61 episodes, I combined several multi-parters for the purposes of ranking, which is where the number 53 comes from.

53. The Great Divide (S1E11)
Everyone agrees it’s the worst, and they’re right. The only episode that I don’t see anything salvageable in.

52. The King of Omashu (S1E5)
The ATLA artbook describes this episode as an example of the show’s “growing pains”. That’s accurate, but regardless, it’s not a fun watch for me.

51. Imprisoned (S1E6)
George Takei as the warden is fun but not enough to salvage this episode. I feel bad putting three season 1 episodes in a row at the bottom, but these are rough.

50. Avatar Day (S2E5)
The Zuko/Iroh B-plot is genuinely really good, but it’s a pretty small part of this episode and I was unable to overlook my reservations with the main story.

49. The Painted Lady (S3E3)
Preachy, dull, childish, and contrived. I have no desire to say anything more about this episode.

48. The Beach (S3E5)
It’s not without its redeeming elements (including some fanservice that was really memorable when I was 13), but I find the humor hit or miss and the heart to heart at the end too clunky.

47. The Spirit World (S1E7)
This has all the pieces of a really good episode in it but they don’t quite come together. The shortcomings are highlighted by the second half of “The Winter Solstice”, although the two episodes are distinct enough that I don’t consider them a two-parter for this ranking.

46. The Swamp (S2E4)
It’s kind of a weird one, and definitely the weakest of the subculture-of-the-week episodes from the start of Book Two, but it’s fun enough in its own way.

45. The Deserter (S1E16)
I’m not entirely sure why this episode tends to fade into the background in my recollections. There’s a lot to like here, but it just doesn’t quite grab me the way a lot of others do.

44. The Firebending Masters (S3E13)
The sub-Indiana Jones setting never really felt like an organic piece of the Avatar world to me, and Aang is a little grating in this one, but it’s not a bad episode by any means.

43. The Avatar State (S2E1)
I’m not sure it’s fair of me to rank this episode so low, since it fills a necessary role in the plot and has some memorable bits (especially General Fong), but it feels kinda unexceptional compared to a lot of others.

42. Bato of the Water Tribe (S1E15)
I know I just complained about Aang being grating but here it’s a necessary part of his character development. Not great per se, but there’s little to criticize here. The fight at the end is a lot of fun.

41. The Northern Air Temple (S1E17)
Too corny for its own good, but I like Teo and the Mechanist, and there’s some good character stuff in here. I’ll admit that the actual episode and the Abridged Series parody of this one sometimes blend together in my memory.

40. The Awakening (S3E1)
Suffers from the same weakness in ranking terms as “The Avatar State”, but it’s an effective prologue to Book Three. Hakoda shines in his brief appearance. I always enjoy the brief return of the “seedy merchants pier” from “The Waterbending Scroll”.

39. The Western Air Temple (S3E12)
This episode suffers from being surrounded by really big, memorable episodes. The characters are still recovering from the trauma of the failed invasion and it’s not one I often return to as a stand-alone rewatch, but its important in the grand scheme of things.

38. The Chase (S2E8)
I’m probably gonna repeat myself a lot in the middle section of this list, but: I like this episode, just not enough to put it above certain others. It’s nice to see Zuko/Iroh and the Gaang finally intersecting again.

37. Appa’s Lost Days (S2E16)
It’s got its weaknesses so I understand why some people dislike it, but I find it to be a really effective if atypical episode. I enjoy the glimpses of the wider world, though at the end of the day it’s Appa’s show here {{{}}}.

36. The Fortuneteller (S1E14)
I tend to remember this episode more fondly the longer I’ve been since I’ve seen it. There’s a lot of lines that crack me up and the basic set-up is good, but it suffers from a few unresolved Book One-isms, and the attempt at splitting the difference between science and superstition is unsatisfying to me.

35. The Boy in the Iceberg/The Avatar Returns (S1E1-2)
Trying to rank the premiere is almost as hard as trying to rank the finale. It’s essential to the show, of course, and there’s a lot done well, but after watching stuff from later in the show it can be awkward how juvenile Book 1 can be in places, and the premiere is not the best example of them finding a balance.

34. The Southern Raiders (S3E16)
Part of me thinks this episode should be ranked signficantly higher, but it’s another one that fades from my memory a lot. Someone on another forum suggested it would have been better as a two-parter and I having seen it again recently I do think that it tries to cram too much into 22 minutes.

33. Avatar Roku (S1E8)
This was sort of a surprise in my just-ended rewatch, but the tension here is quite effective, in addition to setting off the series-spanning myth arc and giving us (I think) our first glimpse of moral ambiguity in the Fire Nation other than Iroh.

32. The Waterbending Scroll (S1E9)
I gotta admit: I really, really like this episode. Yes, it’s goofy, and yes, it’s just as susceptible to Book One-isms as other episodes I’ve criticized more. So it does end up in the middle of the pack. But it’s just so much fun to watch, especially Iroh’s one-liners.

31. Return to Omashu (S2E3)
More memorable for the characters it introduces (Mai, Ty Lee) and re-introduces (Bumi) than what actually happens in it, this is still a good episode. The fight scenes deliver on the promise of Omashu’s design from the unfortunate first episode set there.

30. The Serpent’s Pass (S1E12)
Imma be straight with you, a big part of my enjoy of this episode comes from it being Suki’s first appearance in a season and a half. It’s got some other stuff going for it too. Bryan singles this episode out as a maturation point for the background art and it does kick into really high gear here.

29. The Southern Air Temple (S1E3)
I know some people who call this the first great episode of Avatar. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but it is really good in its own right. It’s also kinda the genesis of the Gaang and thus, while by definition feeling different from the later group dynamic, it’s an important foundation episode.

28. The Runaway (S3E7)
A really enjoyable episode from the oft-maligned (at least, when it was airing) first half of Book 3. I wish I could rank it higher, but the competition is too stiff. Probably Combustion Man’s best appearance, though I’m not a huge fan of him. A great episode for Toph and Katara. Hawky is cool too.

27. Sokka’s Master (S3E4)
I’ve always had a soft spot for this episode for addressing Sokka’s internal doubts, which underlie so much of his humor throughout the show. A little too rushed, but it benefits from some nice callbacks later in Book 3.

26. The Earth King (S2E18)
I often have a hard time thinking of the last four episodes of Book 2 as individual episodes since they sometimes blur together, but most of the best fits are found in the other three. The fight with the Earthbender guards probably shouldn’t have been so one-sided but it’s still a great episode.

That's pretty impressive. I'm not sure I could rank how I feel about the different episodes like that myself. At least not to that minutae. Partly because it always felt more like a whole story to me, and the single installments as such meant less. Although, I could probably sort them into about four five categories based on how much I've enjoyed them.

Agreed on The Great Divide though.

Eldorion wrote:49. The Painted Lady (S3E3)
Preachy, dull, childish, and contrived. I have no desire to say anything more about this episode.

It does have this though.

That isn't my favorite Kataang moment, but then again, that was never my ship.

Bluebottle wrote:That's pretty impressive. I'm not sure I could rank how I feel about the different episodes like that myself. At least not to that minutae. Partly because it always felt more like a whole story to me, and the single installments as such meant less. Although, I could probably sort them into about four five categories based on how much I've enjoyed them.

I began by ranking each episode of each season as I went, then tried to split them into five tiers based on how much I liked them, and then went about the business of collating and re-arranging the episodes into a master list.  I did a bit of revising to the ranking as I was writing blurbs about each episode.  I've tried to do rankings before, though not in such a systematic manner and not just after finishing a rewatch, and my order changes noticeably each time.  So relative position on the list is more important than the exact numbering, though I am pretty confident about the #1 and #53 choices at least.  I do enjoy the vast majority of the episodes on this list though, and sometimes I have to focus on relatively minor issues just because ranking forces tough choices.

I do like the over-arching story of Avatar, but I think that a lot of its strengths come from having self-contained stories in each episode.  Compared to a lot of anime (or, in the case of Western media, something like The Wire) where episodes blend almost seamlessly into each other and missing one will throw you off for the rest of the series, Avatar gives a lot of leeway to people watching out of order (which used to be me) and tells a lot of self-contained stories.  That's why I feel able to do an episode ranking.

Agreed on The Great Divide though.

25. Nightmares and Daydreams (S3E9)
I’ve complained a couple times about things feeling out of place in the Avatar world, but this episode finds a way to fit those elements in without disrupting the worldbuilding. Hilarious basically from start to finish. The highlights are “baby, you’re my forever girl” and the Appa/Momo duel.

24. The Warriors of Kyoshi (S1E4)
Another episode that I might be over-valuing because of Suki, but I do think it’s one of the best from the first part of Book 1. Comes together in a lot of ways that came undone again (temporarily) in the episodes to follow.

23. The Desert (S2E11)
Sometimes a draining episode to watch because of how emotionally heavy it is … until  you get to the cactus juice part. That never fails to crack me up. But the episode’s hidden strength is its treatment of grief and especially Katara’s quiet strength in the face of her grief for Aang. I also have to mention the appearance of the Order of the White Lotus in the excellent B-plot.

22. Jet (S1E10)
I might not rank this episode so highly if Jet and the freedom fighters hadn’t become recurring characters later on, but on the other hand, I only liked those later appearances because I already cared about those characters. The background art for the forest here is breathtaking.

21. The Library (S2E10)
The episode that kicks off the Ba Sing Se arc, which is probably the highlight of the show for me, or at least the part that stands out most in my memory. That makes it hard to be objective, but I like the library itself and there are lots of little things that work here too.

20. Bitter Work (S2E9)
A vitally important lore episode that doesn’t really feel like a lore episode. The first episode where Toph gets to settle in as part of the Gaang. One of the best examples of Aang and Zuko’s plots mirroring each other without intersecting. Sokka shines in comedy bit. Just a really solid episode through and through.

19. The Headband (S3E2)
Sometimes derided as “Avatar does Footloose”, and other times celebrated as “Avatar does Footloose”. I’m in the second camp. A funny episode with some great music and a surprisingly sensual dance scene for Aang and Katara. More depth here than meets the eye, particularly in terms of continuing to humanize the Fire Nation, and in a much less hamfisted way than “The Painted Lady”.

18. The Avatar and the Firelord (S3E6)
Sometimes I think I should like this episode more than I do, but when I rewatch it it’s hard not to be impressed with both its execution and its ambition. If I hadn’t just seen it recently it might not be quite this high up, but it’s undeniably excellent. I always wished that the crown prince’s headpiece had back though, even in a small way.

17. The Waterbending Master (S1E18)
Overshadowed by the two-parter that follows it, this is still a great episode in its own right. The writing really hit its stride in this episode and most of the stuff that plagued much of Book 1 would resurface only once or twice later in the show. Highlight: the first view of the Northern Water Tribe, which is absolutely worth the season-long wait.

16. The Day of Black Sun (S3E10-11)
Before seeing it again my main memory of the invasion episodes was my not being that impressed by the large-scale fight scenes (“Siege of the North” blows it out of the water for that IMO). But there’s a ton of other stuff going on here, and it’s done really well. One of Azula’s finest moments.

15. Sozin’s Comet (S3E18-21)
I might get an earful about this, and I’m kinda conflicted about not putting the finale in the Top 10, but I do have my reservations about it. In short: lion turtle, energybending, the geography totally breaking down (though it was never that consistent). The stuff I liked: basically everything else. We’ve talked before about how hard finales are to do, and this one is a very worthy send-off to a fantastic show.

14. The Drill (S2E13)
A very simple set-up, but top-notch execution from every department. Great action scenes, memorable moments for almost every character who appears, and our exposure to what is ultimately my favorite setting in the show. I can always play this one and enjoy it.

13. The Storm (S1E12)
It’s easy to forget in retrospect how long the show took to establish some of the basics of its backstory, but I think it was worth it to do so in a way that felt true to the characters. Aang and Zuko are both great and the parallels between them are perfectly established here. The framing device is a little ehh but that’s kinda nitpicking. Gotta give a shout out to my man Lt Jee, who brings a lot to Book 1 with his minor appearances in several episodes.

12. Lake Laogai (S2E17)
As I said before it sometimes blends into the subsequent episodes, but this one fully delivers on the promise of Ba Sing Se established in “City of Walls and Secrets” and then postponed by a couple of less forward-momentum-driven episodes. Excellent stuff; the final appearance of the Blue Spirit is haunting and the reunion with Appa is touching.

11. The Puppetmaster (S3E8)
One of the best stand-alone episodes of the show. A horror story is not necessarily a direction anyone was expecting, but it’s done really well, and Hama’s backstory is genuinely horrific. Not to mention the technique of bloodbending. Gorgeous art and animation as well. A very impressive episode.

10. The Cave of Two Lovers (S2E2)
Throughout this ranking there have been the episodes I really admire for their achievements and the episodes I unabashedly love for how they make me feel. This one is in the top tier for both. An excellent little story by all technical measures, but just thinking about it puts a huge smile on my face. I love the nomads and their music. Plus a great Kataang moment and some excellent Sokka stuff. The B-plot is a highlight among several excellent Zuko/Iroh B-plots in a row. I wish I could rank this even higher.

9. The Boiling Rock (S3E14-15)
My favorite of the Zuko field trip episodes by a large margin. I’m really glad this one was made a two-parter as it really benefits from the space. A largely self-contained story with big implications for the overall plot, especially Mai and Ty Lee’s betrayal. Plus the return of Suki! *And* it’s filled with comedy, fight scenes, and Fire Nation cultural minutiae. It’s really great.

8. City of Walls and Secrets (S2E14)
Our first look inside the walls of Ba Sing Se. Possibly the most efficient use of 22 minutes the show ever pulled off, and that’s saying a lot. It manages to convey the scale of the entire city, and the intercutting between the palace party and the Zuko/Jet fight in the lower ring is really great. Also: “just … bear”. I could go on and on but let it suffice to say that I love this episode.

7. The Blue Spirit (S1E13)
Avatar’s initial order was only for 13 episodes so there was a chance during writing that this would be the last episode of the show. Thank god it wasn’t, but if it had been, it’d be a helluva way to go out. Great concept, very well executed, and elevated by the amazing music (“Yuyan” and “Tsungi Horn” are two of my favorite tracks). A haunting end with the parting between Aang and Zuko. But damn, there are a lot of eyebrow twitches.

6. Zuko Alone (S2E7)
There was a time when I considered putting this at #1, but the fact that it isn’t is only because other episodes benefited more from the rewatch, not because this one fell in my estimation. It’s fantastic. The only episode of the series in which Aang does not appear at all, it tells a great story in a memorable Western-inspired setting. The flashbacks to the Fire Nation tell an essential part of Zuko’s story, but I wouldn’t want to sell the A-plot short.

5. The Blind Bandit (S2E6)
I liked this even more when I rewatched it than I had remembered. It would be a fantastic “Gaang visits a random town” episode even if Toph had been a one-off character, but it benefits from being the introduction of one of the best of the main characters. I love the professional wrestling references (Bryke are fans, and the Boulder was voiced by Mick Foley). The set-up is similar to a lot of other episodes, but it’s definitely the best in its category.

4. The Ember Island Players (S3E17)
Is it right to have a self-parody recap episode ranked this high? When it’s as funny, oft-referenced, and character-driven as this, I think it is. Of course, most of its qualities come from it consisting entirely of new animation and only bearing a resemblance to clip show episodes by design, not financial necessity. Also a pre-emptive response to the live-action movie. It fits in great as a look back at the whole show before the finale, but I can also watch it whenever just on its own and it always entertains.

3. The Siege of the North (S1E19-20)
If the writing went into high gear in “The Waterbending Master”, then the whole show was elevated by “The Siege of the North”. Like “Sozin’s Comet”, it builds seamlessly from a casual beginning to a battle with world-shaking consequences, following the characters every step of the way. Unlike other “event” episodes, it also has the best large-scale combat (ie, between armies) of the whole show. Despite being only 45 minutes long, everything fits together perfectly. I could have done without Aang sticking his tongue out at the Fire Nation mercs in the first part, but when you have to reach that far to find something to criticize, you know you’re dealing with a top-notch episode.

2. The Guru/The Crossroads of Destiny (S2E19-20)
This is one that I think overfamiliarity might have dulled me on for a while, but watching it again, it demands to be recognized for how fucking good it is. The Ba Sing Se arc is the most tightly integrated part of Avatar, I think, and everything comes together really well here. All the characters shine, the balance of humor and drama is spot-on, there’s a ton of development for both plot and characters, and so many memorable moments. To focus on just one: when Azula shoots Aang, the combination of music and direction totally sells the significance of what Aang has done, and then suddenness and the massive import of Azula’s strike. Something only she could have done, when everyone else was in awe of the Avatar’s power, and the sound and visuals heighten the effect. What a way to wrap up probably the best arc in the series. That said, it’s definitely not a series-ender, and while Book 3 isn’t quite as consistent, it’s just as essential a part of the series.

1. The Tales of Ba Sing Se (S2E15)
Is it fair to have two Book 2 episodes in a row at the top of the ranking? Is such an unusual episode really the best or most representative example of Avatar to put out there was The Best One? Well … I’m not 100% sure, but I do know that I adore this episode and it’s the one I enjoy returning to most, so I kinda have to put it up here. Because of it’s structure, it gets its own mini-ranking of each tale:

• The Tale of Aang: it’s alright. Nothing bad to say really, but it’s definitely the weakest part.
  
• The Tale of Toph and Katara: a good character story for the two, but a little unexceptional next to the others.
  
• The Tale of Momo: an unusual idea, but I really like the execution on the nonverbal story. Funny, emotional, and a great lead-in to the next episode that keeps even this one-off grounded in overall series.
  
• The Tale of Sokka: it’s a haiku rap battle. A really well-written and funny haiku rap battle. And somehow the soundtrack starts to resemble a hip hop beat at the end while still sounding of a piece with the rest of the music in the show. I love it.
  
• The Tale of Zuko: Jin is my favorite one-off character in the whole series so I’m not exactly objective here, but it’s a great story on its own for Zuko and Iroh as well.
  
• The Tale of Iroh: I don’t think I have to explain this one.
  

Why do I like this episode so much? I’ve talked before about the strengths I think the episodic elements bring to Avatar’s story, and this is a great showcase for that. Worldbuilding plays a role, and it helps cement Ba Sing Se’s position as my favorite setting. But it’s very much character-focused and I think that’s ultimately Avatar’s greatest strength as well. Lots of people set out to tell epic fantasy stories about kids saving the world. But very, very few make it work like Avatar does. This episode in particular is all the more impressive since each of the tales were written by members of the crew who did not work primarily as writers.

My Book 2 bias, which I've had for a long time, is definitely on display here. But this rewatch also definitively elevated Book 3 into a comfortable second place for me, something it probably always deserved. In my defense, watching it week-to-week back in 2007 was not the best showcase of its qualities. I do still think that Book 1 has a lot of really great episodes in it and doesn't deserve all the grief it is sometimes given, but it is definitely the weakest and least consistent, although it does go out on a phenomenally high note.

Ultimately, ranking episodes like this is an arbitrary and kinda pointless task. I don't want anyone to think that my appreciation of Avatar is really about numbers of trying to find reasons to put one episode above or below another one. This isn't too serious of an endeavor and I'm sure my feelings will evolve more as time goes on. But watching the episodes all in order and then thinking about them all together like this was fun for me, and I think the whole experience has deepened my appreciation for Avatar even more. Thanks for reading!

!Too much anime!
I'm out of here!

http://xelartworks.tumblr.com/post/131922549225

Good thinking.

I started watching Avatar again.

It's been.. too long..

Are you watching from the beginning or a la carte?

I have other shows I want to see (stuff I'd be watching for the first time) but I always enjoy revisiting ATLA and am happy to do so on a somewhat regular basis, although complete rewatches are less frequent.

I just started watching from the Fortuneteller, since we talked about it the other day.

I think I'll try to keep it chronological, although perhaps not strictly as in watching every episode, but if I started watching more sporadically I think I'd get thrown by getting out of the flow of the story.

It's interesting to be able to go back to your list while going through the show again, Eldo.

We don't agree on everything. (Avatar Day being a prominent example. (The goofiness alleviates any other inadequacies the episode might have for me.)) But we do agree on a lot.

Currently watching The Library, which I'm in bit of two minds about.

The Wind Rises looks really gorgeous.

I wasn't a huge fan of the story but you can't fault Miyazaki's visuals.

Really? I just watched it, and I adored it.

I'll not say I cried (but I did).

That might have been partly down to lack of sleep and emotional exhaustion though.

I know a lot of people who loved everything about the film so you're not alone in that.

Part of the problem was that I was somewhat familiar with the real events/life behind the film and it kinda irrationally annoyed me that Miyazaki's own story was passed off as an actual person's.  The Jiro of the film bears more resemblance to Miyazaki himself than to the historical figure.

I was pleasantly surprised with Hideaki Anno's performance (the arthouse theatre I saw it at showed the subtitled version), considering he's not usually a voice actor.

I just recently watched The Wind Rises too. I loved it. Though I doubt it will ever be my favorite Miyazaki film, it's certainly one of his richest and most finely crafted. Every scene was a pleasure.

The mangled history didn't bother me so much, probably because I'd heard from somebody (maybe Eldo?) when it first came out that it was based on a private manga that Miyazaki had drawn for his own pleasure just for the fun of doodling with airplane drawings, and that he'd had his arm twisted to convert it to into anime. So for me it wasn't so much about the story. It was more like getting the privilege to look over the shoulder of the master as he doodles.

To me it stood out, even in the context of his other movies. Because, for all of my love for something like Princess Monokone, it has such a strong message about conservation and the exploitation of nature that it almost hits you over the head with it. The Wind Rises though is different. There's certainly a message there, but it's almost reflective.. contemplative.. It had a serenity about it, all the while expressing so much. I can't help but see it as quite the accomplishment. And it's probably not a movie he could have made in his younger days, which I find interesting to contemplate.