Chronicles of P. A. Wilson
Aspiring Author, Board Gamer, Amateur Artist, and Genealogist
A Fiery Finale to My Favorite Childhood Show
December 29, 2020 January 1, 2021 P. A. Wilson
Show Review:
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 (Spoiler-Free)
Rating: 9.8 out of 10
Avatar: The Last Airbender is my favorite childhood show, and Season 3 has always been my favorite season. I recently re-watched this show with my roommate and she really enjoyed it as well.
It includes my favorite episode of the whole show, Chapter 17: The Ember Island Players, when Team Avatar gets to see a play based on their own adventure.
It also includes my least favorite episode, Chapter Eight: The Puppetmaster, which is super creepy for a kid's show. Nonetheless, it was a well-made episode that helped set up a concept that would later be important for The Legend of Korra.
Read on to find out why this is the best season yet.
(Quick warning–there are no spoilers for Season 3, but there are some minor spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2.)
Avatar: The Last Airbender was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The head writer was Aaron Ehasz. The genres it straddles include Fantasy, Action, Adventure, and Comedy. Season 3 was released in 2007.
The show won five Annie Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Genesis Award, a Peabody Award and a Kid's Choice Award.
It is a unique blend of anime style with the style of American cartoons. It draws from Inuit, Japanese, Chinese, and Tibetan culture.
The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is made up of four nations which each are focused around a different element: water, earth, fire, and air. Each of these nations is made up of those who can "bend" (control) one of the elements.
The Four Nations from Avatar: The Last Airbender
The current Avatar, Aang, must master all four elements in order to stop a war that has been going on for a hundred years. The war was launched by the Fire Nation, which is bent on world domination.
Katara and Sokka
With the help of his friends Katara and Sokka, in Season 1 Aang seeks to master waterbending by traveling to the North Pole to find a waterbending teacher. Along the way, Katara is able to teach him basic waterbending and the team goes on various adventures.
Toph Beifong
In Season 2, the earthbender Toph joins Team Avatar, the Fire Nation grows in power and influence, the heroes reach Ba Sing Se, and Zuko tries to establish his own identity.
Season 3 begins with Aang waking up in a Fire Nation ship confused–and with a full head of hair! The main point of Season 3 is Aang's attempts to find a firebending teacher and master all four elements in order to defeat Fire Lord Ozai and end the war.
Powerful character depth and development
Creative system of elements
Developed fictional cultures based on authentic cultures
Balance of humor and tension, comedy and tragedy
Smart musical choices to create humor and tension
Range of expressions of characters
Entertaining for child and adult audience
Explores themes rarely touched upon by children's shows
Intro orients the viewer to the story and is accessible to new viewers
Wonderful animation
Pacing is better than first season
Intense fight scenes
Lingering consequences/lasting wounds from last season
Chapter Nine: Nightmares and Daydreams is bizarre and over-the-top
Never learned how Hawky worked, but used him anyway
Zuko has the biggest identity crisis of all the characters, so it is natural he gets the most development. At this point, his uncle is imprisoned, so he has to decide on his own path without Iroh's help. He is at home with the life he has always wanted–will he finally be satisfied?
It is like this season is a reminder of who Iroh really is–a capable, wise man who is more than just a mentor to Zuko.
Azula is a truly terrifying character. Her callousness toward her own family and her intense ambition makes her especially frightening. This season also develops her as a person almost to the same degree as Zuko. We see her insecurities and her paranoia, ripples in the pool of her calm demeanor.
System of Elements
The elements of water, earth, fire, and air are controlled by movements mimicking Chinese martial arts. Because they are modeled off of different forms of martial arts, the bending looks authentic. Waterbending is graceful, earthbending is formidable, firebending is fierce, and airbending is elusive.
The variety of techniques that can be used within a single element mean that battles are never boring. Benders like Aang, Katara, and Toph continually find new and creative ways to use their bending.
Toph is unique as a bender, as her bending is based off the Southern praying Mantis Style.
Season 3 is definitely Azula and Zuko's time to shine with elaborate bending as well. Furthermore, fire as an element is reconsidered as representative of life, not just destruction.
This season of Avatar: The Last Airbender focuses on Fire Nation culture. This includes their mythology (The Painted Lady), their education system, their forms of entertainment, and their way of life more generally.
Small towns and larger cities are visited throughout the season. This one is a village on a polluted river. Most people wouldn't have thought a Fire Nation village would be situated on the water–that's kind of like an earth bending city high in the sky. But the creation of the elemental system does not categorize and simplify people. The cultures in this show are complex, just like cultures in the real world.
In the Fire Nation, education is propaganda, painting their own society as a heroic force of good in the world. The fierce patriotism of Fire Nation citizens is fueled by a powerful set of lies.
What's also interesting is the difference between what Aang remembers of Fire Nation culture, and what it is like now. His outdated slang and long-forgotten Fire Nation dances are a source of humor and an indication of how society changes over time, for better or for worse.
Avatar: The Last Airbender has cultures based on various real-life cultures. Unlike in some shows, it mimics these cultures while honoring them and without making caricatures of them.
Katara and Sokka have light brown skin, so there is some diversity in skin color as well.
In Season 2, the show introduced Toph, who is blind. She remains a critical character in Season 3.
The balance of humor in this show with mature themes (war, imperialism, colonialism, corruption, propaganda) makes this show appropriate for children yet entertaining for adults–the perfect balance.
Music adds to the humor at some times, and adds to the tension at others. It isn't like the show has phenomenal musical scores – it doesn't, not even in the intro. But it uses music that supports the story and does it well. Season 3 has more epic music for its fight scenes in the final episodes.
The range of expressions on the characters' faces also adds to the comedy.
Sometimes they are realistic, but occasionally they are way over the top.
The intro neatly explains the system of elements, explains about the war, and introduces the Avatar all in about thirty seconds. It is followed by a "Previously on Avatar" montage that concisely gives more background.
This is good for two reasons. Viewers who watch episodes with large spaces of time between get a reminder of what is going on and the stakes. And new viewers who may have missed the first few episodes get a sense for where the show has been and where it is going.
It's a smart choice on the part of the directors.
The animation is beautiful and attractive. I can definitely see both the influence of anime and of American cartoons in the art style.
The pacing, which I mentioned as a potential shortcoming in the first season, is not really a problem in the second season. Sure, there are filler episodes, but not as many.
Wow. Just wow. The fight scenes in this season blew me away. I can say literally nothing about them without spoiling something, so you'll have to take my word for it.
The biggest consequence of Team Avatar's failure in Season 2 is Aang's lasting injury. I like that this is not something Aang just recovers from and everything is better. He has a permanent scar on his back and foot from the lightning strike.
Bizarre Episode
Chapter Nine: Nightmares and Daydreams is basically about Aang trying to handle an immense amount of stress. It includes bizarre hallucinations and childish nightmares. It's weird and unnecessary and doesn't add much to the story.
Hawky
None of the characters has any idea how to use Hawky, but by the end of the episode Hawky is sent to a deliver a message. There is no indication how it will get to its destination, it's never shown how it's done, and all they did was send it off. Sloppy, in my opinion, but it was most likely due to time constraint. Not a big deal, just disappointing.
This is my favorite season of my favorite show for a reason. This is not just some kid's show. It's worth watching if you are an adult. If you want to learn good storytelling, watching high-quality shows will teach you. This show can teach you something.
If you are interested in how I rate shows, check out my rating system.
My review of Season 1
Tagged atla, avatar, avatar: the last airbender, show, show review, show reviews, showsLeave a comment
This Fairy Tale Retelling Shouldn't Be Rated PG
December 26, 2020 December 24, 2020 P. A. Wilson
Show Review: Once Upon A Time Season 1 (Spoiler-Free)
Rating: 9.8 out of 10 stars
I watched Once Upon A Time for the first time with my sisters, and it was so good I was happy to watch it a second time with my roommate and suitemate. Most fairy tale retellings don't impress me, but Once Upon A Time, especially Season 1, was able to tell the stories in a way that celebrated the old and emphasized the new.
After watching several episodes, I was shocked that anyone would rate this show PG. It is not appropriate for children–read on to find out why.
Season 1 of Once Upon A Time first aired in 2011 and concluded in 2012. It was created by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, and is an ABC television series now offered on Disney Plus.
Season 1 stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parilla, Josh Dallas, Jared S. Gilmore, Raphael Sbarge, Jamie Dornan, Robert Carlyle, and Eion Bailey.
On her 28th birthday, Emma Swan is unexpectedly reunited with the 10-year-old son she had given up for adoption. After driving him back to his adoptive mother in Storybrooke, Maine, Emma's concern for him makes her hesitant to leave.
Her son, Henry Mills, believes that the stories in his book of fairy tales are real. He thinks that the people of Storybrooke are fairy tale characters trapped by a curse and have lost their memories of their past lives.
Henry tells Emma that she is their only hope for breaking the curse, but Emma does not believe him.
Season 1 tells the stories of various characters, alternating between their pasts in a fairy tale world and their current lives in Storybrooke. It also follows the struggles of Emma and Henry against Regina, Henry's manipulative adoptive mother.
Clever foreshadowing
Consistent, well-crafted structure
Great acting
Subverting viewer expectations
Clever ways of connecting various fairy tales
Likeable, realistic characters
Impressive character development
In-depth backstories
Character names in Storybrooke chosen for meaning
Costume design reflects character personality
Occasionally overdramatic
The graphics in Wonderland were shoddy
The title sequences always has a different shadowy sneak peak of what the episode is going to be about. Look for dark woods in the title screen to see the foreshadowing.
The structure of each episode includes flashbacks to a character's past in the fairy tale world as well as glimpses of the character's present-day life in Storybrooke.
The story that has happened in the past is usually linked strongly to what is happening in the present in any given episode.
Viewer Expectations
Viewers have certain expectations based on their knowledge of the fairy tales. However, the creators of Once Upon A Time use this to their advantage by making stories seem familiar before repeatedly subverting viewer expectations.
These are not the bedtime stories kids everywhere grew up with. These are new, refurbished, refined and stunning.
The way that fairy tales intertwine is particularly clever, especially the way the Beauty and the Beast tale works.
Almost every single character has an in-depth back story, and many begin in Season 1. The story of Snow White and Prince Charming take center stage, but my personal favorite is the story of Red Riding Hood.
The characters develop both in the past and in the present. The most development is seen in Emma Swan, Mary Margaret Blanchard, and David Nolan.
The characters act realistically considering their personalities, and even though it is dramatic, the reactions of the characters are often reasonable considering their circumstances.
Character names in present-day Maine were chosen carefully for their meaning. For example, the name Mary Margaret Blanchard was chosen for Snow White because Blanchard is a French name meaning "white" and Mary and Margaret were names Snow used in her fairy tale past to conceal her identity.
The costume design fits the characters' personalities perfectly. For example, Regina's hair styles and costumes particularly reflect her flamboyant style and dark personality.
The drama is reasonable and understandable most of the time, but sometimes it is over-the-top. For example, when something terrible happens, the camera will often switch rapidly from shocked expression to expression in a way that seems overly contrived. People can be shocked, but not every character needs a close-up.
Overall, I really enjoyed Season 1 of Once Upon A Time. I would recommend this series for teens and adults.
Despite its PG rating, I would not recommend Once Upon A Time for children due to violence, suggestive content, and dark themes. Seriously. Hearts get ripped out and crushed, there is an affair, people get turned into animals and stepped on, a person is mauled and eaten, etc.
Tagged fairy tales, once upon a time, retellings, show, show review, show reviews, shows, spoiler-freeLeave a comment
Anime, Shows
A Quirky Anime Worth Watching
Anime Review: My Hero Academia Season 1 (Spoiler-Free)
I actually heard about this from one of those YouTube videos that show people's reactions to stuff. I learned that one of the characters has explosive sweat, and I was intrigued. There is nothing cliché about explosive sweat.
Even if it was this weird little fact that got me start watching the show, it was the amazing characters that hooked me. And it was the story that convinced me to watch it again, with my dad this time.
Read on to discover more about the first season of my favorite anime.
Season 1 was created by Bones and MBS and the director is Kenji Nagasaki. The series is based on the manga series of the same name by Kōhei Horikoshi.
The series can be watched on Funimation and CrunchyRoll.
In a world where almost everyone has superpowers called quirks, Izuku Midoriya is one of the few quirkless. In this superhuman society, the profession of the hero has emerged. Despite being quirkless, Midoriya strives to be accepted into UA, the top high school for budding heroes.
Superb worldbuilding
Likeable characters with diverse personalities
Intimidating villains
Creative quirks
Balanced plot with light-heartedness and darker aspects
Original art style
Intro and Outro well-constructed
Music fits the anime
Predictable at first
Some childhood scenes are poorly drawn
Once, the world in My Hero Academia was one of regular human beings. Then, one day in Qing Qing City, a child was born who glowed. After that, quirks began to become more and more common.
At first, this led to fear and protests. Regular humans attempted to segregate and put restrictions on those with quirks. Eventually, the situation stabilized and society adapted.
Their world, like ours, is inherently unfair. Those with weaker quirks or no quirks are helpless against those with stronger quirks. This is a world in which heroes are common, but so are villains.
Being a hero is an actual profession in this world, and it is illegal to harm anyone with your quirk unless you are a certified hero. Because to be a hero is just a job, it is not always synonymous with being a good person.
Police still exist in this world and do the work of cleaning up and making arrests after the heroes are done.
Izuku Midoriya is an underdog character who is easy to empathize with. He's definitely a fanboy, but his knowledge of pro heroes and villains come in handy. He is brave, kind, and selfless.
Katsuki Bakugo is pretty much a prideful jerk, but he makes a good rival for Midoriya. He actually wants to be a hero, but for all the wrong reasons. He has some depth to him, because even he is capable of doubting himself.
He also has the best expressions. Period.
See what I mean? Just watching him the whole show added to the comedy. And guess what? He's the explosive sweat guy.
Tenya Iida is a rule-following, order-loving guy with real skills. He has a lot of growing to do as a hero, but he is loyal to his friends and he's my favorite character. His quirk is that he has engines in his calves, and he uses them for speed and devastating kicks.
Ochaco Uraraka wants to be a hero for what most would see as a selfish reason, but she is a kind and caring person. She seems feeble, but has real guts and a tough side. Her quirk is Zero Gravity, the ability to make people and objects float.
There are many teenage characters with diverse powers and personalities, but there are also villains that are ridiculously strong.
The plot, while predicable at first, becomes less predicable near the end when tensions escalate beyond belief. The plot strikes a balance between light-hearted humor and a darker tone.
According to IMDb, the animation was done by Studio Bones, which also did the style of Fullmetal Alchemist, another of my favorite anime.
The style is different from Fullmetal Alchemist because it uses bold, bright colors and deep shadows for contrast. The pupils of characters are much smaller than in most anime.
Intro and Outro
The intro is the perfect sneak peak into the characters that will be introduced. It even gives a little insight into who Midoriya is as a character. The outro shows how Midoriya was as a kid. Both are well-made and I watched them the whole way through with each episode.
The theme and sound of the music is fits the anime so well. The songs became a permanent part of my Spotify playlist. My sister, who I permitted to become my "coach" makes me exercise during any part of the episode with music. Ugh…
But even high-speed exercise does not ruin the music for me.
Childhood Scenes
The childhood scenes appear to be chunkier in animation and less detailed. This does not take away much from the story, but it certainly could have been better.
My Hero Academia is one of those shows that gets better in time. Even if you aren't thrilled by the first season, hang in there. This anime is worth it.
I would recommend this show for teens and adults. due to violence, serious injuries, and a perverted character.
Tagged anime, anime review, anime reviews, my hero academia, review, show, showsLeave a comment
Anime Review: RWBY Volume 1 Trailers (Spoiler-Free)
December 5, 2020 December 23, 2020 P. A. Wilson
Let me start by saying that RWBY is one of my favorite anime. However, even I have to admit that the quality of the trailers and the first couple of volumes is lower than the quality of later volumes.
Basically,
Low Budget + Slow Start = Lackluster Beginning
That being said, if you delve into RWBY, you shouldn't skip the trailers or any of the episodes.
Why? Because unlike most trailers, the RWBY Volume 1 trailers are actually part of the story and provide character development and backstory. Sure, they offer a window into what Volume 1 will be like, but they are so much more than that.
RWBY is an American anime. Some people say anime has to come from Japan to be legit–I disagree. I share the opinion of many others that say anime is a style and not limited to the products of any one country.
The creator is Monty Oum, who developed the plot for the company Rooster Teeth.
The trailers were released in 2013 can be found on Crunchyroll and Youtube.
RWBY is about four young women who seek to become huntresses and defend the world of Remnant from shadowy creatures called Grimm.
The Red Trailer features the main character Ruby, who is visiting her mother's grave. On her way back home, she is attacked by Grimm.
The White Trailer features Weiss, who is performing for a large crowd by singing the song "Mirror, Mirror." The scene fades and is replaced by a fight scene between her and a mysterious knight.
The Black Trailer features Blake alongside Adam. They conduct a two-person raid on a train and fight through numerous robotic enemies.
The Yellow Trailer features Yang, who enters a club to interrogate a man named Junior. The situation escalates quickly and ends in a fight.
Functions as part of the storyline instead of just a sneak peak
Insight into characters
Creative weapons
Elaborate fight scenes
Poor animation
Off-putting, inappropriate attack (Yellow Trailer)
Awkward dialogue (Yellow Trailer)
These trailers are unique because they function as actual story components. Most of the time, trailers just show glimpses of what is to come, while these trailers provide backstory and context.
I have never seen a trailer that functioned in this way before–it is really quite creative.
The trailers begin the character development that will continue into future volumes.
Ruby Rose is established as a character with a deep care for family, revealed in the way that she visiting her mother's grave despite the great danger. The area is infested with Grimm.
She is also shown to be a highly skilled fighter, and even seems to enjoy the battle at times.
Weiss Schnee, from the song of her trailer, is shown to be an extremely lonely, potentially famous person.
She is a talented singer, and the only one who is shown to actually sing one of the songs of the series.
The way that she battles is calm and collected.
Blake Belladonna is introduced as a rebel engaging in an attack on a train in perhaps the most revealing trailer.
This is because the trailer associates her with Adam Taurus, shows her empathy compared to his idealism, and establishes her as a skilled fighter.
Yang Xiao Long is established as a prideful, powerful young woman who has no qualms about using violence to solve her problems.
She's the sort who gets things done and works hard to get what she wants.
Fight Scenes and Weapons
The fight scenes in the RWBY trailers are phenomenal. Even though movements seem awkward during other parts of the trailers, the fight scenes are graceful, true works of art.
In the Red Trailer, Ruby uses her weapon Crescent Rose to eliminate dozens of Beowolves, which are a type of Grimm. Crescent Rose is a scythe that doubles as a gun.
Crescent Rose
In the White Trailer, Weiss uses Myrtenaster, a Multi Action Dust Rapier, to fight a mysterious knight. Dust allows one to add elemental power to an attack.
Myrtenaster
Knight from White Trailer
In the Black Trailer, Blake fights through various droids using her weapon, Gambol Shroud, which has two different sword forms and a gun form. Even the sheath is used as a weapon.
In the Yellow Trailer, Yang uses Ember Celica, her Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets. She is a powerful melee and long range fighter. One of her attacks on Junior is likely to make people uncomfortable, but it does fit her character, so it's not exactly out of place.
Ember Celica
The 3D animation used in RWBY certainly improves over time, but in the trailers it is very rough and looks amateurish. The colors are bold to the point of looking completely unrealistic, and the simplistic animation on top of that makes it look badly made.
Movements outside of battle are awkward as well.
Unlike with many anime, the music in RWBY was created exclusively for RWBY, with foreshadowing built into the songs and songs that seem linked to specific characters.
The music was composed by Jeff Williams, and his daughter Casey Lee Williams does a lot of the vocals. According to Fandom, Jeff Williams does not regard the songs as canon and asserts that they should not be taken literally.
To me, that just seems like he is covering for himself and Rooster Teeth in case the story ends up veering too far from the lyrics, but I know that so far the songs fit the theme and story very well.
There is no dialogue in the Red Trailer or the White Trailer (unless you include singing).
The Black Trailer includes sparse dialogue that nonetheless provides some character development.
The Yellow Trailer has pretty natural dialogue at the start, which is very fitting for Yang's character. Yang's interaction with Ruby is awkward and unrealistic, however. The voice acting comes off as fake and the words themselves seem unnatural.
If you decide to watch the trailers and they don't peak your interest in RWBY, still give the first few seasons a chance. Most of the people I've talked to are more distracted by the animation than anything else. Once you get used to that, you can appreciate the rich storytelling and worldbuilding of RWBY.
Red Trailer
White Trailer
Black Trailer
Yellow Trailer
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