Within the world of animation we can find endless examples that have marked a whole generation of children who have enjoyed multiple series, and one of them is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not all animated stories are Japanese, but also some produced outside this country, and this popular American animated series has made history internationally, including movies, such as video games, and today has become a topic among fans debating whether or not it is an anime.
Is Avatar: The Last Airbender an anime or a cartoon?
The franchise is undoubtedly one of the most popular and although it has a good animation that gives it an oriental touch. It is for this reason that many have questioned whether or not it is an anime, and before answering that there are many points to consider why it could or could not be properly classified as one. To begin with, we must ask ourselves what we mean by anime.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a creation of the North Americans Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartinoand produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, taking into account these two important points, and if we consider that when we refer toanime we understand that it is an animation of Japanese production then the answer is easy, it is not an anime.
On the other hand, we must emphasize that in the country of the rising sun, they consider anime as all animated production not only of their nation, but also what is produced outside it, movies and series, therefore, for the Japanese it would be considered ananime. However, not everyone agrees with this, as they think that Avatar: The Last Airbender being called anime is just another example of cultural appropriation.
A few years after Avatar: The Last Airbender premiered in 2007, IGN conducted an interview with the creatorsDiMartino and Konietzko where they were asked if they themselves consider the series as an anime, to which they answered that it is definitely not, that has never been the intention of the series. But that they were really inspired by the anime for its creation and that they hope to attract the attention of fans of Japanese productions.
Recently, the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender have been a little more open to the possibility of calling it an anime and that even the Japanese would think more about it when categorizing it as such; however, they do not lose sight of the fact that this was not their initial intention, but that they only wanted and have managed to capture the essence of animation, which was and has been their focus.
In conclusion, trying to define whether or not it is anime is something complicated and as we have seen, this differs from one’s perspective, while for the Japanese anime encompasses all animation, both produced in their country and what is made abroad, for others it is something completely and uniquely exclusive to Japan. Regardless of all this, what we cannot deny is that it has achieved its goal, to be inspired by the anime style and do a good job with the animation, in addition to capturing a wide audience interested in global animation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the adventures of the enigmatic Aang, who must learn to master the four natural elements: air, water, earth and fire to defeat the evil Fire Nation with his friends Katara, Sokka and Toph. The Avatar is a master who is able to maintain peace in the world and serves as a bridge between the world of the living and the dead. But one day he disappeared without a trace, which meant that the four nations went to war, so the appearance of the new Avatar is expected to restore peace.