Great characters fight for peace in enduring fantasy series.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
Though the Avatar always looks for peaceful, nonviolent resolutions first, fighting is often required in the form of martial arts-inspired "bending," which uses elements (water, fire, earth, and air) as weapons. Characters who don't have the magical bending ability use conventional martial arts, often with weapons including boomerangs, fans, and daggers. The goal of fighting is to incapacitate, not to kill, and fights are never bloody. But nations are at war for the entire series, and the effects of that war are explored. An early episode reveals that one nation committed genocide, and though the deaths aren't shown, the emotional aftereffects are.
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When characters mess up, they learn their lessons clearly and apologize. Aang initially struggles to accept his destiny to save the world, but grows into the role with the help of friends and mentors. Katara is the only "bender" (a superpowered individual) in her tribe. She's a strong moral compass for Aang and has the most willpower of the group by far. The few times she strays from her moral code, she learns her lesson and voices it. Her brother, Sokka, is a tad misogynistic at the start, but the many female warriors the trio run into cause him to change his views. Change, redemption, and acceptance are common themes among characters, including villains.
Positive Messages
a lot
Explores duty, courage, and integrity as characters work to reconcile the roles they were born into with their own sense of right and wrong. Peace and balance are most important to this world. The needs of the many often outweigh the needs of the few, but stopping to help someone is always rewarded.
Diverse Representations
some
The world is fictional but heavily references real-world cultures: Main character Aang and his Air Nomads draw from Tibetan Buddhist monks; Katara and Sokka's Water Tribe draws from Inuit culture; and East Asian and Southeast Asian influences permeate the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. (It should be noted that voice actors, directors, and writers are mostly White men.) Men and women are equal in this world, and the one sexist character is quickly shut down. The second season introduces a blind character who has become a model for portraying disability. Her character is three-dimensional, and while her disability holds her back in some areas, it gives her advantages in others thanks to how she has adapted to it.
Early episodes each have a social lesson or theme, but this structure diminishes as the story deepens and becomes more serialized.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Avatar: The Last Airbender is an action-adventure cartoon inspired by anime and East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Inuit cultures that has been remade into a live-action 2010 movie and a live-action 2024 TV seriesand spun off into The Legend of Korra. The action centers around supernatural martial arts-inspired "bending" of the four elements: air, water, earth, and fire. There's a spiritual aspect to much of the plot, which follows a trio of young teens as they take on an oppressive and genocidal regime. A significant character introduced in Season 2 has a disability that's portrayed well. The kids are great role models, showing courage and integrity as they reconcile with their situations and learn emotional lessons.
One of the best western pieces of anime.
Some of the greatest character development that kids and adults will relate to.
Heck every living soul should watch avatar!
There was a lot going on in the show only the adults will pick up on, my little brain could not comprehend when watching this as a kid.
Rewatching it again as an adult it became a very special show to me
It is one of those shows you should let your kid watch.
So they can watch it again as an adult and understand more and appreciate characters like Iroh/zuko.
My son was almost crying when he finished this series. He absolutely loved it. He said each character was unique and interesting. He is really disappointed it is over.
As the mom, I worried about the violence. However, it is not gratuitous - it is all about struggles, betrayals, etc. The plot seemed to be exceptionally strong.
What's the Story?
In AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, the Avatar, a master of all four elements—air, water, earth, and fire—keeps the world in balance. But his disappearance 100 years prior to the start of the series allowed the Fire Nation to emerge as an oppressive force over the other nations. The peaceful presence of the Avatar was believed lost forever until siblings Katara (voiced by Mae Whitman) and Sokka (Jack De Sena) find an 11-year-old boy named Aang(Zachary Tyler Eisen) frozen in an iceberg. Aang is the last of the airbenders, his people having been wiped out by the Fire Nation just after his disappearance. Katara and Sokka accompany Aang on his quest to stop Fire Lord Ozai (Mark Hamill) while evading his exiled son Zuko (Dante Basco) who hopes to capture the Avatar to restore his own lost honor. To succeed, Aang will need to master water, earth, and fire and come to terms with his past and his present place in the world.
This epic fantasy about people who can bend elements is among the best American animated series ever made. Avatar: The Last Airbender transcends the kids action-adventure cartoon genre with nuanced storytelling, exciting action sequences, and adorable animal sidekicks. The animation adds to both the action and the comedy in ways that aren't easily replicated in live-action adaptations. There's also an innocence to the visuals that grounds it even when the kids are facing overwhelming odds.
What really sets this show apart, though, is the characters. Aang is an approachable hero—he knows he has to save the world, but couldn't they go penguin sledding first? Katara and Sokka have their strengths and weaknesses and learn to work with both. Season 2 introduces Toph (Michaela Jill Murphy), an admirable character with a disability. Avatar: The Last Airbender also has one of the most rewarding villain redemption arcs across its three seasons. The only concern, especially when looking back on this series from a modern viewpoint, is how the wonderful on-screen diversity isn't supported by similar inclusiveness among artists and actors. It's a story inspired broadly by Asian cultures, but brought to life almost exclusively by White voices. Fortunately, later adaptations and spin-offs have worked to infuse the franchise with more authentic storytelling.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the fighting styles used in Avatar: The Last Airbender. How does Aang's airbending look different from Katara's waterbending and Zuko's firebending? Are these based on real-life martial arts? Can you recognize any specific stances or moves inspired by real-life styles?
What element would you want to bend? Why did you pick that element?
At the beginning of the show, who did you think would teach Aang how to bend the other three elements? Were you surprised at who he chose to be his teachers? Who was your favorite?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Diana Theobald
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
