Avatar - The Last Airbender 1 & 2
To answer your first question: yes, this is an anime blog, and Avatar is obviously not anime, being of American origin. However, I'm not only an advocate for Japanese animation, but all types of animation. And you might be surprised at how much this show resembles your typical shounen anime, so don't just dismiss it. It closely resembles anime so it's within my sphere of coverage, so I'll do the usual; summarize a good bit for those who haven't watched, then give my thoughts. Let's go ;)
We've got a Naruto-ish setup in this world, with the four nations -- Earth, Water, Fire, Wind -- living in peace until the Fire Nation attacked, trying to take over the world. Only the Avatar, master of the four elements could save the world from being taken over by the Fire Nation.. but he was nowhere to be found..
We start 100 years after the war began, at the South Pole with two members of the Water Tribe, Sokka and Katara, who discover a boy frozen in ice after they have a little boat wreck. He breaks free somehow.. he's Aang, an airbender.. and he's been frozen there for quite a while along with Appa, his flying bison (yes, flying bison). But the Airbenders have been gone for 100 years...
A Fire warship is in the area, with Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation onboard, with a fittingly evil-looking environment and soldiers to match. He's searching for the Avatar and he's been training to be able to defeat him, thinking he must be over 100 years old now...
Sokka, Katara, and Aang go back to the Water Tribe village to meet everyone, and Aang shows off his airbending skills a bit, gliding around and such. After some penguin sledding, Aang and Katar explore a wrecked Fire warship that's off limits to everyone, and somehow set off a trap that sends a flare up, alerting Prince Zuko and the nearby Fire warship that something's up. Aang is sent away from the village after it's found out he was responsible for playing around inside the wrecked Fire warship.. After he leaves, the Fire warship crashes ashore at the village and Prince Zuko comes out, demanding that the villagers produce the Avatar. Aang sees it happening so comes back and fights, but he eventually gives himself up so that the village will be spared.
Katara and Sokka won't let things end like that, knowing they've found the Avatar that could save the world. Thankfully, Appa is around so they catch a ride and fly off to save Aang. But Aang's already made his escape, with both hands tied behind his back no less. He takes Prince Zuko down rather easily with his airbending, taking back his staff and glides away, but Zuko grabs on and pulls him down into the sea. If there was any doubt Aang was the Avatar it's gone soon, as he shoots out of the sea and back on deck, using some powerful waterbending to take out the Fire guards on deck as Sokka and Katara land on deck with Appa. They make their getaway, with Aang deflecting the last fire attack and causing the ship to wreck.
As they fly away on Appa, Katara asks why Aang didn't say he was the Avatar earlier. He didn't want to be the Avatar, he says. But he's the only hope the world has, and he needs to master the four elements. Sokka will get to beat some Firebenders up along the way so he's along, and Aang pulls out a map... to point out places where there are animals he'd like to ride ;)
That sound like shounen to y'all? ;) Aang's a pretty likeable hero without being too much as BluWacky's said. Sokka and Katara are likeable characters as well, with Sokka being the source of a good bit of comic relief (bison snot!), and Katara being the motivation and brains of the group. Excellent animation (if only Negima could be this good) and fighting choreography as BluWacky pointed out also.
I've already watched the next episode and like what I see. We've definitely got continuity between episodes, some character development, and some good ol' shounen fighting, so it's very similar to anime in a good bit of respects. It's still lacking an OP/ED... would've gotten some bonus points with me if it did have 'em ;) Does get some points for having a next episode preview, though it's while the credits go screaming by on the side. Staff really should get more time than that :P Anyways, I'm pleased Nickelodeon has woken up and smelled the coffee, bringing us some American-style anime, and making me feel good about American animation for the first time in a while. Avatar will be going under "Other" status and I'll blog it when I feel like it... not watching it when it actually comes on, but getting it like I get everything else, of course ;)
oh wow, this is American? no wonder you covered it -- it's so different from the rest of US cartoons todays (those that have thick outlines fro everything... looking like they've been drawn using a marker pen)
This show may not be Naruto, but it has a style on to itself. The fighting does have a nice twist to it, and gets even better in the later episodes. Unlike some of the american cartoons, where the plot later on doesn't match with the earlier episodes, this one does a lot of flashback and stays true to the storyline. A great show, I'm so proud it's actually AMERICAN, not Japanese. And did I mention the animation is the best I've seen so far in american cartoon.