TitanXL said:Dark_Puddles said:
How is Avatar the Last Airbender a ‘dumbed’ down version of Dragonball or Naruto exactly? Yes it is aimed at younger audiences which is my main complaint of the show but that doesn't automatically make it ‘dumbed’ down.
Well, that would kind of be it I'd say. They can't really go in depth with the actual plot or characters much because that'd be either 'too dark' or 'too boring'. They pretty much kept it safe and predictable all the way through with silly jokes and tame fights where no one really gets hurt that often, if at all. The ending was pretty much filled with DEM-fest to get around the 'no death' rule.
I'd go as far as to say it's 'smarter' than the clichéd ridden and poorly characterised Naruto.
Howso? Naruto actually shows the governing nations political systems and their not-so-friendly relationship with one another. That's what the whole Kage-Summit was about, calling out each other country's shady dealings and how they don't trust each other and other gray areas. Avatar was very black and white and just had 'Fire Nation is evil, beat them then once their leader is down they all instantly turn good and filled with sunshine and rainbows. It pretty much talks down to kids when it comes to war and combat.
Then you got Zetsu right now in the manga going behind enemy lines and assassinating all the doctors and healers like an actual strategist would do in war, where the Fire Nation pretty much takes everyone prisoner and stuffs them in kid friendly prisons ready to be rescued by a group of kids rather than just simply killing enemy soldiers on the battlefield.
You have so much inter-workings with the characters and their back-stories compared to Avatar. I mean, look at Toph and Hinata; both have a similar 'sheltered upbringings' but Hinata's is expanded on so much more and gets into more political dealing with the Hyuuga clan and her relationship with Neji and how she inadvertantly caused his father's death when Cloudnin attempted to kidnap her for her Byakugan, which is why he hated her until post-Chuunin Exams. Toph, well, we get her introduction episode then we never see her family ever again and it's not brought up until a filler episode in season 3, then forgotten again for the rest of the series.
I'd say that's smarter than anything Avatar did, which is what I mean by US faux-anime shows tend to just be dumbed down and never really go into more mature territory or just address things in a more detailed manner, especially action shows.