The best part about Toph destroying all those earthbenders is that them sequentially landing on top of each other, normally used in other shows as a comedic happenstance, would actually be her purposefully doing that because she knows exactly where they all are due to her seismic sense. That's meta and calculated humiliation and destruction only possible because Toph is just that awesome.
Yeah, that's the best part about the fight. She specifically fights them in the order she does, in the place she does, so that she can stack them on top of each other for a cheap laugh
The best part was the transition of her dad saying that she was helpless and and a child and it cuts to her threatening all the wrestlers and the proceeding to kick their asses. 🤣
@@siragon756 in the comics, they do duel when they meet up in the White Lotus camp. It ends in a draw because the noise they are making might draw attention.
And no place shows that better than the ember island players. Everyone else is ashamed of characatures of their past selves, while Toph is barely able to hold back her excitement in hearing a giant buff man talk about how tough she is.
if I was going to pick a pure spectacle fight scene I'd go for Team Avatar ascending the steps to the Earth Palace to meet the Earth King, it was just like 2 and a half minutes of the animators and sound team flexing
Was going to comment this fight as well. It is so beautiful and everyone highlights their skills. When Ang just rage smashes the flying rocks without even batting an eye. And then the scene with the steps, and Toph turning them into a slide. Sooo good. I need to go watch that scene right now!
I think you undersell the "bit of lightning bending" during the Day of Black Sun. You have to keep in mind that apart from the horrific child abuse, we've never seen Ozai do any firebending. Our idea of firebending mastery at this stage is Azula and Iroh, and for both of them, their lightning bending takes a bit of time to charge their shots. So when Ozai, the very instant the eclipse _begins_ to end, can immediately fire off a double lightning shot, it's an immediate confirmation that he's every bit as dangerous as his reputation implies. All in about a second the stakes have been set, and the only thing that makes that moment even better is Zuko's ability to redirect it, confirmation that he's taking his Uncle's influence to heart.
And that's *just* talking about the literal fighting in that scene. It's even better when listening to the actual dialogue happening as well. Zuko's speech to Ozai is my single favorite moment of the whole show. It's his final step on his long, difficult journey of correcting his wrongs and becoming a better person, and it is *SO* cathartic hearing him speak openly to his father about how he truly feels about him.
Man, writing that comment made me want to go rewatch that scene, and I have since learned that that full scene is literally nowhere on UA-cam. There are plenty of videos that have small portions of the scene, or cut up the scene to make Zuko's speech shorter, but none of them have it in full.
For all the Avatar fight analysis I've seen and read, how is this the first time I'm having this brought to my attention. Heck, why didn't I notice this? I've rewatched it enough time.
It also shows that Zuko has learned to stay calm and focused and not just blindly attack. He didn't let his father catch him off guard like Azula has done to him.
Something you missed on Hama and Katara's fight is that on her "deflection" of one of Hama's attack, Katara used a move by earth benders or at least in their style. Instead of using the flow of water to evade and return she stood her ground and took the hit head on. Which gives us some more insight into what Iroh spoke about learning from other kind of vending to improve your own.
That was also the move that made a deceisive hit on Hamma. The unusual nature of the attack probably suprised Hamma which is why she couldn't counter it.
That attack could also give us a glimpse into Katara and Toph's friendship; how they've come to understand and respect each other after their tiffs. That move alone shows that Katara might've been taking notes when Toph taught Aang how to Earthbend. This is why I'm a bit surprised that the Katara V Hama fight didn't make it higher on this list.
Can we add how during the Agni Kai between Zuko and Zhao, Zuko only turned the tide when he switched to Airbending and Earthbending? When Iron says to break his root, that’s Earthbender 101. That spinning flip to turn the battle, that screams Airbender. And what was Toph’s opening bending, used against the Boulder? Aim for the feet using a side kick to the ground; exactly Zuko’s winning tactic. Iroh has not only learned the other bending to tech Zuko, he even learned the style from the BadgerMoles.
12:20 Can we just appreciate the fact that Azula knew how to disperse Aang’s airbending? She knew how to fight against airbenders, who have long been extinct. She did her research and training, boys.
As someone else mentioned, it's also shown that even at a young age, she chose non-firebenders as friends (or at least, "friends"), which allowed her to shore up weaknesses in her firebending by learning techniques and strategies from non-bending martial styles. She's absolutely terrifying as a fighter because during the part of her life where she believes she's in control, she's even able to take control of her weaknesses. She doesn't deny them, she overrides them; learning basically everything she can about firebending, only having true weakness due to her reliance on firebending above all else. That said, she does still take non-bending less to heart than Zuko does with his mastery of dual swords due to her whole familial thing where her father prioritizes firebending skill and ignores all other types of skill. The only way her firebending could be stronger is if she'd been able to learn from Iroh about taking other bending styles into account rather than pure firebending (although she never had a chance at this, due to her father's insistence on firebender superiority, Iroh's distaste for his brother and their nation by that point, and so many other factors). I especially like though that all of this still relates to her core character trait of seeing the world through a control-centric viewpoint; I phrased my first few sentences intentionally. She's only able to account for things going wrong for her by her forceful ego believing that she is still in control even when things are out of her control, or rather that she is always capable of regaining control. She's able to accept weakness in herself as a means to eradicate it, she's able to fight through her enemies having the upper hand because preparing for a lack of control allows her to always be ready to regain it. It's really genius writing keeping that as such a core part of her character, and how she only truly breaks down leading into and through the finale because her ego is beaten down to the point where she has no choice but to accept that she's losing the iron-fisted control that she'd maintained since her introduction. Her ego allowed the idea of her being a failure so as to not become one, but it means that she's unable to deny when it's happening as opposed to real life egotists who see their empires crumble at their feet and refuse to admit reality.
Kinda of refreshing that zuko vs azula isn’t first but I can’t deny it’s a master class in western animation. I love how it is the polar opposite to their first fight. In that azula used her taunts to cave into zuko’s instability. She was even besting him in hand to hand while he used firebending. In there zuko is now matching her blow for blow using his new diverse style. His stone cold facade is throwing her off her game as azula’s instablity is far more impactful.
It was literally animated in Korea, it is not western animation sure its a western art style but even then its hard to say its western animation overall
Rem While I don’t want to start a “what constitutes an anime” argument, I’d consider Avatar western animation. While it wasn’t animated by westerners, so was Teen Titans, and I wouldn’t consider it an anime. It displays a lot more western tropes, western storytelling, and western characters.
@@rem8771 it's kinda hard to say, because it seems like every single western show nowadays is animated in Korea. Even a lot of "Japanese" anime have some degree of animation done in Korea.
In my opinion. I understood why so many people placed it first, but at the same time, the final episode had the boundaries pushed which set such a high bar for the whole series. It did so many different and crazy things that can’t be compared to the rest of the series.
I’d watch a road trip comedy featuring Megumin, SSBM, and Bakugo. Maybe they have to return a baby to it’s parents, so they have to be strategic about their explosions so as to not wake the child up.
Love how the A plot of The Beach is our villain squad living out their best anime beach episode lives, going out to parties and getting therapy, while the B plot of the ep is our heroes trying their damndest to not get blown up
I will never forget reading somebody say that Toph will, guaranteed, live, through sheer willpower, to the invention of rocketry, just so she can go to the moon and shape it into her own face, as she knows nobody will ever be able to undo it. Sounds stupid, but then you remember it's Toph and 100% plausible.
@@gpearce11 She's the greatest goddamn earthbender in the world! She can feel its presence every day! Or something like that. Worst case scenario, she doesn't even need to know where it is. The rocket will do that.
Me, while watching: "Where's Toph on this list? These are great picks and all, but you've got to fit her in somewhere." Me, seeing the #1 pick: "...Nevermind, carry on."
Hot take incoming: The very best battle in Avatar period hands down is the haiku battle in Tales of Ba Sing Se: The Tale of Sokka. That shit has something for everyone and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The Blind Bandit really has some of the best jokes in the entire series: "Hey, I got my eye on you." "~Water tribe~" "The Boulder is conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl" "Sounds to me like you're scared Boulder." "...the Boulder is over his conflicted feelings" "What are you doing here Twinkle Toes?" "How did you know it was me?" "Don't answer to Twinkle Toes! It's not manly" "Oh my poor Toph. She must be so scared." "You think you're so tough? Why don't you come up here so I can smack that grin off your face." "I'm not smiling"
The way Avatar handled the “no-killing villain rule” trope in the finale is probably one of the best instances I’ve ever seen. Instead of having the hero just decide to spare the villain last-minute or just have them decide not to kill at all at the very beginning because “we’re the good guys raised by good people” and never touch on that issue for a long time, we see Aang having to grapple with that decision, and he nearly loses his life twice in the process. Edit: Man, I sure sparked a ton of debate here.
I felt like it was a cheap cop-out that came out of nowhere. The characters had been killing fire nation soldiers by the score for plenty of episodes with no mention of that moral qualm. Then suddenly we can’t kill the actual dictator because “killing is evil”? So they pull out the energy bending as a Deus Ex Machina from nowhere so they can take a third option.
@@generalescort9306 But... they weren't. In what instance was it shown that they actually killed any fire nation soldiers? Plus, only Aang is a pacifist - everyone else were totally ok with him killing Ozai
Mon Oliz We see Aang blowing soldiers off mountaintops at the northern air temple and ships into the water while they’re wearing full armor at various points. We see him destroy massive amounts of ships full of people in the avatar state. And the battle of ba sing se. Granted they are not on-screen deaths and it’s a kid show so they don’t draw attention to it, but there’s plenty of that going on in a way that made the final moral dilemma incongruous to me.
@@generalescort9306 First, in the uncontrollable Avatar state it's not Aang that does the killing, it's the vengeful sea spirit. Second, we are shown on multiple occasions that the soldiers Aang blows away are alive in the water or in the snow - even if that wouldn't make sense irl.
@@generalescort9306 You have to look at through Aangs perspective. And again, look through out the show. name me 1 person HE killed while being in control (siege of the north doesn't count. He wasn't in control there and he was even having Nightmares of when he wasn't in control, showing he feared it. So even in that instance he didn't want to lose control because of the harm he could do to people, good or bad). Hell, name me a character the group has killed (even if you could the group killing people and Aang killing people are different because they would be okay with murdering fire nation).
If you really break it down, The Boulder's name and look are a parody of The Rock, being voiced by Mick Foley, doing a Macho Man Randy Savage impression
one of the individual fights i really enjoyed was Aang vs Zuko on that perfume place back on season one. the footwork and strategy used on that fight is splendid. another big fight that i really like and wasn't there is the gAang's infiltration on the Earth Kings Castle. The way Toph and Aang utilize their environment is amazing, and you can see Aang applying his waterbending teachings while he earthbends his enemy's attacks against them. i love this show way too much
Unfortunately the rest of that episode kind of sucks, so the fight gets dragged down by that. The fight IS cool, but it's stuck sharing airtime with the only episode of the series I can actually call kind of bad.
@@serenitysilvermoon Jun is the other good thing that came out of that episode. Even at Avatar's worst, it's still getting some stuff right, but the A-plot for the episode is just terrible.
Part of what I love about the Ozai v Aang fight is that, once it reaches the point where Aang is in the Avatar state, it almost becomes a horror film. Ozai, who only minutes ago was this undefeatable combatant, is now running for his life from a being with no match on their planet and no mercy for him.
I was hoping he would mention that Katara also learned from Toph and instead of shifting the enemies attack and redirecting it, when Hama hits her with the big attack Katara pushes through it instead.
Honestly even if you compare it with any other shonen that exist (that had ended) avatar still has the best build up, climax, and pay offs in the entire history of shonnen
3:42 And personal revenge. By the time Zuko is begging to stop, even telling him he will pay him double to stop, Combustion Man, basically says "This is no longer about money. this is about vengueance"
I got/always had the impression it was more about Honor/Duty, as, ostensibly, Combustion Man is a Fire Nation citizen, rather than a bounty-hunting outlaw, but you saying it was Vengeance got me thinking a bit: At that point, the Gaang had escaped him, so it maybe had grown into an issue of Honor/Reputation (for getting the job done/closing out jobs for which he's been contracted)/Vengeance.
16:05 I've always seen this particular part of the fight as Katara drawing from Earthbender teachings, standing your ground being almost antithetical to how you typically waterbend. Cause you see even when she fight Master Paku and roots herself to the ground, she still has the water flow AROUND her.
There's been a post on FB that keeps popping up which attests to what you said, but up until rewatching the scene again in this video, I had basically written that interpretation off and, like Geoff, thought of just a particularly strong deflection. Thank you for your additional analysis, comparing it to her deflections while fighting Master Pakku has opened my eyes to this better reading of the Hama fight.
I really like how the fights in Puppet Master and Sokka's Master are right next to eachother, as both show off what waterbenders greatest strengths are, being adaptability and resourcefulness. Even if Sokka isn't a water bender, you can see both him and his sister have the same fighting sensabilities.
Pointing out Aang's continued use of the "Face it head-on" mentality and neutral jing after he begins earthbending is really interesting. His evasive tactics that kept Zuko at bay in Book 1 just didn't work against Azula in Omashu or in The Chase and...fuck, I love this series
@@tiarezavaleta8850 Ty Lee isn't a goody goody, though. Yes, she's nice and doesn't go out of her way to attack people, but she's more of a neutral party in regards to the war.
It really says something when you haven't seen the Blind Bandit fights in years and yet still almost instinctively does all of Toph's hand motions while watching this.
One thing not mentioned with regard to the Combustion Man fight is that a good chunk of it is completely devoid of score. The lack of music adds a layer of dread. It feels like you're holding your breath the whole time. It also separates the level of danger the gaang is in from that of their usual fights. There's an indominable force. And, it wants to kill you.
I never noticed that before but thats probably why iirc that was the first and maybe only fight where I actually thought someone might die or be permanently injured.
One favourite fight of mine is Aang vs The Yu-Yan Archers, I always love when Aang is in near-full Airbender mode, thinking on his feet and dodging left and right... AND THEY STILL CAPTURE HIM FAIR AND SQAURE, matching him agility for agility, using sheer arching competence. God, I wish they'd returned at some point, hell imagine what kind of sharpshooting madness they're pulling in the Korra era!
Point about #4: It's interesting that even at an early age, Azula (a prodigy firebender) did not choose other firebenders as friends. Instead she chose Mei and Ty Lee, and learned from them all these years so she could shore up all her weaknesses. That's why majority of the fight, her style is very reminiscent of Ty Lee. And at the end, she pulls out a shuriken, like Mei.
As someone else mentioned, she's also shown very early on to be adept at countering airbending attacks from Aang, styles of fighting that've been extinct for near 100 years. She's absolutely terrifying as a fighter because during the part of her life where she believes she's in control, she's even able to take control of her weaknesses. She doesn't deny them, she overrides them; learning basically everything she can about firebending, only having true weakness due to her reliance on firebending above all else. She takes some knowledge from her non-bender "friends", but takes non-bending less to heart than Zuko does with his mastery of dual swords due to her whole familial thing where her father prioritizes firebending skill and ignores all other types of skill. The only way her firebending could be stronger is if she'd been able to learn from Iroh about taking other bending styles into account rather than pure firebending (although she never had a chance at this, due to her father's insistence on firebender superiority, Iroh's distaste for his brother and their nation by that point, and so many other factors). I especially like though that all of this still relates to her core character trait of seeing the world through a control-centric viewpoint; I phrased my first few sentences intentionally. She's only able to account for things going wrong for her by her forceful ego believing that she is still in control even when things are out of her control, or rather that she is always capable of regaining control. She's able to accept weakness in herself as a means to eradicate it, she's able to fight through her enemies having the upper hand because preparing for a lack of control allows her to always be ready to regain it. It's really genius writing keeping that as such a core part of her character, and how she only truly breaks down leading into and through the finale because her ego is beaten down to the point where she has no choice but to accept that she's losing the iron-fisted control that she'd maintained since her introduction. Her ego allowed the idea of her being a failure so as to not become one, but it means that she's unable to deny when it's happening as opposed to real life egotists who see their empires crumble at their feet and refuse to admit reality.
I cheat and say that the best fight scene isn't even a scene, it's Iroh's offscreen prison break. I don't care if that would be a cop out, what Iroh did on his way out of that prison in someone's imagination, is way more badass than what anyone could have animated. "You've been kind to me ever since I've been here...I think it would be for the best if you *took the rest of the day off."*
The fight on top of the gondola is probably my favorite Azula fight because its also a team fight with amazing choreography that really paid attention to its unique environment. Flipping in through the windows to dodge and attack was fantastic and that kind of spacial awareness just felt so natural and good.
When Azula gets restrained by Katara and fully breaks down into screaming and sobbing really highlighted to me how young the main cast is. Azula is a cunning genius and a prodigy in fire bending, but still a kid, and all of this pressure to be perfect in every way got to her in the end because she never let herself have the support that people need in their youth, and it's tragic
Dude, from the moment you talked about Sozen's Comet onword, I became just an emotional mess. The finale is so emotionally fantastic and the animation almost has me in tears every time because it makes me think about how far are the characters have come, and how fantastic this world building and just everything is!
Agreed. I mean, definitely a jerk. But I love how the show uses him. Most of the young characters are deeply shaped by the parental figures in their lives. It makes sense that someone who's still essentially a kid but hasn't had a parental figure around (and is trying to be one himself) so very badly needs some guidance. He's what basically any of these characters could have become if, after the impact of the fire nation tearing their life apart, they didn't get a support system to help them. (And it was some nice setup for what happens when you let paranoia push away the best efforts of the people who DO want to help you)
He may have been wrong in his first appearance but he does have a reason for it, even if he is a bit misguided. He was even trying to be better in Ba Sing Se (until he figured out who Zuko and Iroh were). I honestly think he could have turned out great if he lasted a bit longer.
My favorite part of zuko vs azula is that moment of realization when you learn that zuko incorporates all four forms of bending into the final fight, showing that him and aang are two sides of the same coin
My favorite thing about the fights in TLA is the use of terrain. They really know how to use their surroundings to make the fights unique and interesting.
16:00 I also really liked how Katara clearly states that she simply is a stronger bender that Hana is and that also proves to be true. It is so rare during an action scene where the good guys are actually the dominant ones.
YES. this is the correct no.1. you know a series has done a great job establishing it's rules and how things function when a character can just use a strategy, and you GET IT, without any additional explanation needed, Such is the case here with Toph's dust storm, you know she doesn't use her eyes, you know others do, they didn't need to devote additional explanation to it like for instance Shonen series tend to. (Yes Shikamaru, I can see the wall where Kin just bashed her head in, I don't need a play-by-play) also the action animation here is fucking gorgeous.
It's a solid pick for no.1 I don't think I'd have chosen it, but honestly it's a toss up between a dozen different fights --- I'm glad I'm not the one who has to choose
When you said, "a character can just use a strategy, and you GET IT, without any additional explanation needed," I instantly flashed back to oh so many Bleach fights, some of which felt paaaaarticularly convoluted, what with one-up-man-ship swinging back and forth overly liberally some of the time. You went on to chastise Naruto, and one of their earlier-ish fights, and, I must concede, that's fair, too.
Personally I wouldn't have put it as a number 1 for the entries in this list, cause this list literally consists of entire episodes of amazing fights. Toph's performance was absolutely amazing and got the technical points across perfectly, but as was mentioned at the beginning of the video, I too am more impacted by fights that also have a lot of internal stakes on the line. Toph vs the earthbenders is pretty much representative of Toph's entire character in the show. Pretty much perfect, apart from one particular internal weakness that doesn't get nearly as much attention as everyone else's. In fact, forget internal character motivations and conflicts; that fight didn't even have any real suspense to it as to who'd be the victor, as the vibe you get from the onset is that she's simply going to own them, and the vibe never shifts from that. I personally cannot give higher ranks to fights that are just character flexes.
@@vindifference That's fair. From a choreography and world-building perspective -- Toph's fights are top tier. But if we're looking for character motivations, internal conflict, and suspense it has to be one of Azula's fights. Maybe the Agni Kai, maybe the Crossroads of Destiny. Or maybe the Chase and ghosttown showdown, or the Day of Black Sun invasion. Oh, who am I kidding. It's got to be the final Agni Kai.
I'm surprised there wasn't at least a mention of the fight to invade the Earth King's Palace The blind bandit is one of my favorite episodes, but I still think the last agni kai was a better fight. I love both Toph and Katara, but considering it was Katara who beat Azula, that gives it her an edge
The Invasion on the Earth King Palace is one of my favorite fights. Every once in a while a watch either that scene or Sozin's Comet 3/4 again. I was surprised by its omission as well
I agree, it's an amazing showcase of the gaang's power; and at that point they are SO done with Long Feng's BS, and they don't pull any punches. I think it's maybe due to the episode's pacing that the fight is underappreciated, the ep starts strong and then it kind of slows down, still a great ep though
Jeff: Toph is that character who joins your party after you've already cleared 5 dungeons and still has 20 levels on your strongest dude *You mean Persona 5*
@@geraldgrenier8132 it's anime and if you disagree you'll have to fight all of Japan since they disagree with you. The same applies to RWBY (Edit was adding "with you" for clarification so I can avoid the people who try to throw people's arguments because they edited)
@@geraldgrenier8132 I was waiting for this, in fact I'm looking for the comments counting up the numger of answers like this. Mother's Basement's take is that Anime is a movement, a style, not "a cartoon made in Japan" which seems to be the way you define it.
Yeah Jet and Zuko using their surroundings creatively as master swordsmen is really good and foreshadows Sokka's own training in swordsmanship when he's told to also use his surroundings to fight for him
The final Agni Kai is heads above the rest imo. Azula's breakdown, Zuko's final redemption, Katara's final face-off with the fire nation, the pure fucking sakuga. All of that brought to life in a spine chilling sequence of terrifyingly powerful, silent fire-blows. I can't stress enough how brilliant the chilling silence is in this scene, first time a show made me feel anything that powerful.
Yeah, it's definitely the emotional highpoint in a show and a season and a finale full of real feels-punches, and really serves as the climax of the whole series. It's the kind of fight that is so much more than the choreography and the action, that even if the choreography and action were bad which by golly they're everything but, it would still probably be the most memorable moment in the series. But, y'know... Toph. Toph is Toph. She's just Toph. Can't beat Toph, I don't make the rules.
Yes! Toph vs everyone is number 1 no doubt! The way they take away sound puts you Toph’s shoes. It makes you personally feel the bending attacks and the Toph’s reversals. Most earth bending scenes in the show aren’t as visually pleasing as water or fire. Then you get the Toph fight. Between the choreography, the vicarious response, and animation it’s second to none!
The final Agni Kai is my personal favorite fight. Everything about it is great, the little character build up with Azula just beforehand, the somber music, the deafening of all sound except for the blasts of fire Zuko and Azula let off...it really is a masterpiece. Dammit watching this video has made me want to go watch that particular fight again
The best thing about it is how clearly it shows that a) Azula still outpowers Zuko to a ludicrous degree and b) that *doesn't matter* because he's not fighting her power on power.
I love the siege on the Earth King's palace. The team just got Oppa back and they force their way through the front door. The moves they pull are so great. It's a really awesome "The band is back together" moment.
One of my favorite things about Azula vs Zuko and Katara is that Katara doesn’t actually get involved until Azula cheats by attacking Katara who is at that time a spectator. If Azula had thrown her lightning at Zuko he would have channeled it back at her and won the fight which Azula at least sort of understood since she did decide to try to hamper him by throwing her lightning at Katara instead, it’s also possible she did that in order to try and faze the then unflappable Zuko but either way it was a desperate ploy that goes against the honor of the Agni Kai. So she lost the Agni Kai to Zuko and then was ultimately taken down by Katara allowing both of them to have their own personally important victories against Azula. Unrelated but I just realized their aren’t any March comes in like a lion videos on this channel which I find hard to believe because it is an amazing anime. So did I just miss it or have you for some reason not made any? Which is of course understandable, I’m sure your very busy, it just seemed like the kind of show you’d make a video about.
Joly shit the way you cite techniques and styles that are mentioned across the series in many different episodes to describe one battle is insane. "Using your environments creatively" got me to type this out less than ten minutes in.
The creator commentaries on the dvds mention that they watched a lot of hong kong action movies and bruce lee stuff and always thought the way those movies use the enviornment is what made it fun to them so they wanted to incorperate that. They being series creators Mike and Bryan.
Very damn cool, and a fine list (the cheating was also perfectly acceptable). I know it's not a popular opinion but I'd love to see this done with Legend of Korra (I'd even take just a top five). The series doesn't really get as much emotional stakes, but that's because the seasons were so much shorter. But it gets to make up for that with GORGEOUS animation.
Don't really get the hate towards Korra. Yea, I didn't like it nearly as much and I genuinely think the backstory for who and what the avatar is is horrible and is not in my headcanon. Still, it is a very solid show on it's own that occasionally breaks into greatnes, almost on par with the original series.
Korra isn't as cohesive a story, nor as consistent, but it goes to so many more mature places that atla never touched and for that I feel like it carries a sort of weight that the original couldn't. I love the world building and the advancement of bending and ideaologies. It might not have instant appeal like atla but watching the series as a whole, it's absolutely incredible, and if atla never existed people would be praising Korra as a master class in animation.
@@ChillinWithTheCapuchins Its season 2 forward and when they werent cut by uncertain cancelling, its one, if a bit hindered by virtue of season 1 being already bringing her so far. And the adults in korra are just great, as is he arc inthe end coming to a close her healing and maturing. The last fight her againstzaheer is great, lin and her sister against boom bang women, the one of mako and bolin vs the octopus waterbender and lava guy. Lin vs her sister is good too. It has really good character moment fights. And tenzin vs the red lotus.Even tenzins sister against zaheer.
@@Emily-bp6qz lol, I enjoy a series that asks some hard question and isn't afraid to go deep. Which both series definitely do but I guess that's my point BOTH series were really great just different.
Let me just say. My favorite fight in atla is when they duel against the MY CABBAGES man. If you dont remember the scene, then you arent a true alta fan obviously.
I actually really love the "borderline DEM moment" that was Ozai reopening Aang's seventh chakra, because it feels like the Eastern philosophy of karma at its purest. Azula blocked that chakra while trying to destroy the Avatar spirit completely on Ozai's orders, and Ozai reopened it which led to his humiliating defeat.
I'm really surprised to not see the attack on the earth palace make the list! Watching the gaang dismantle the palace defences was amazing, and having them apologize the entire time was great.
Personally, I like Fairy Tail. Yes, I will agree that it is not amazing and jaw-dropping like Avatar, but like Nux Taku says in his multiple videos on the subject, deep down it has some really good things going for it. Like TheBfutgreg said above me, the soundtrack is amazing, mixing Japanese with Celtic of all things and the show really does well at building up all its fights in it's arcs so that you feel really good when the good guy, even the side characters, are able to put their opponents in the ground. For reference, see any fight Mirajane is involved in, or one of my personal favorites, Erza v. Kagura v. Minerva.
@@XivioOfTheGreen the fights aren't especially deep though, and usually rely on very slapdash conclusions akin to TFS Goku's "Hit him even harder" the thing that kills Fairy Tail for me though, is that, I could forgive it's less than stellar characterisation, tonally jarring fanservice (getting good shots of Erza's naked tits in when she's being TORTURED is clearly vital shit right?!) and story-telling if the action was great. but it's not... while the mean average quality of the animation isn't that bad. the show is utterly BEREFT of genuinely impressive action animation... unless you count movies and OPs... it's a firm "NO SAKUGA" zone. If I were to rank up a top TWO-HUNDRED countdown of the most impressively animated fights in Shonen. I think I could LEGITIMATELY justifiably get that count without a single Fairy Tail fight from an actual episode (not OVA, not movie, not OP) showing up... and... that's pretty freaking embarassing considering the thing ran for over 300 episodes... for example, just off the top of my head, I can name 26 canonical battles from Naruto alone that have better animation than any fight sequence in Fairy Tail. Zabuza vs Gato's men, Sasuke vs Orochimaru, Anko vs Orochimaru, Hinata vs Neji, Rock Lee vs Gaara, Naruto vs Neji, Sasuke vs Gaara, Third Hokage vs Orochimaru and Kages, Sannin showdown, Naruto vs Sasuke on hospital rooftop, Sasuke vs Naruto in Valley, Gaara vs Deidara, Sakura vs Sasori, Naruto vs Orochimaru, Shikamaru and Team vs Hidan and Kakuzu, Sasuke vs Deidara, Sasuke vs Itachi, Jiraiya vs Pain, Naruto vs Pain, (yeah it's weird looking at points, but some cuts are stunning), Sasuke vs Killer Bee, Sasuke vs Danzo, Minato vs Kyuubi and Tobi, Madara vs Shinobi Alliance, Naruto vs Biju, Kakashi vs Obito, Naruto vs Sasuke rematch. 26... from ONE series.... for me, Fairy Tail is a switch-your-brain-off-action series that sucks at action...
Fairy Tail has great characters. People like Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Mira, Laxus, etc... are all some of the coolest anime characters I’ve seen personally. Fairy Tail even has an amazing concept. The story is often lacking though sadly. I still love it
More great Avatar fights not mentioned because there are so many good ones: Zuko and Zhao's Agni Kai (The Southern Air Temple) Aang without his glider vs. Jet (Jet) Aang and Appa vs. Zuko, June and Nyla (thats the bounty hunter lady and her big scent-tracking animal) (Bato of the Water Tribe) The Fire Nation attack on the Northen Air Temple (The Northern Air Temple) Zuko vs. Earth Kingdom army thugs (Zuko Alone) Azula, Mai & Ty Lee vs. the Kyoshi Warriors (Appa's Lost Days) The Gaang storm the Earth King's palace (The Earth King) Azula and Zuko's duel on the back of an airship (The Southern Raiders) God this show is so good
To me, this show represents so much of myself and my own struggles, despite only seeing small clips of these fights I was feeling goosebumps all the way through, and tearing up for a good half of them. This show may be considered to be for children, but I think anyone can watch it and take away a lot of valuable and emotionally charged lessons.
Zuko and Zhao's first Agni Kai coulda got an honorable mention. Dynamic fight choreography and framing, GREAT music, and kind of a mission statement for what the more serious fights in the series could and would be. There is also the Shearshrew temple fight, where I noticed on rewatch that Aang has already started to adopt certain elements of Zuko's fighting style, almost forshadowing their more earnest student-teacher relationship. I never noticed before this video that even the nonbending watertribe folks fight like waterbenders. Bet fair enough, Toph is the GOAT.
Best parts of any fight is the part where the protagonist unlocks a greater power than they thought they had after pushing themselves to the limit because friendship.
The Hama fight is such a psychologically brilliant fight and episode. She doesn't just get Katara to eventually use bloodbending , she gets her to use every single technique she taught her during the episode. She perfectly manipulated Katara into learning every techniques she taught her
The best part about Toph destroying all those earthbenders is that them sequentially landing on top of each other, normally used in other shows as a comedic happenstance, would actually be her purposefully doing that because she knows exactly where they all are due to her seismic sense. That's meta and calculated humiliation and destruction only possible because Toph is just that awesome.
Yeah, that's the best part about the fight. She specifically fights them in the order she does, in the place she does, so that she can stack them on top of each other for a cheap laugh
Half way I was thinking dam I hope tophs fight in here... Smh. She is the GOAT!
TOOOOPH CEEENAAAA!!!
The best part was the transition of her dad saying that she was helpless and and a child and it cuts to her threatening all the wrestlers and the proceeding to kick their asses. 🤣
I think that was her making a statement in front of her father. She literally aimed the last guy beside her father.
tophs character arc is literally "man im good, huh" to *"ohohoh MAN im GOOD"*
I thought she went from "everyone but me sucks" to "it's ok that everyone but me sucks".
I'm really curious what a duel between her and Boomy would have ended up look like
@@siragon756 in the comics, they do duel when they meet up in the White Lotus camp. It ends in a draw because the noise they are making might draw attention.
And no place shows that better than the ember island players. Everyone else is ashamed of characatures of their past selves, while Toph is barely able to hold back her excitement in hearing a giant buff man talk about how tough she is.
Don't forget to train for fighting the goddam firelord they put Toph on a hill and tried to take down the Melon lord
if I was going to pick a pure spectacle fight scene I'd go for Team Avatar ascending the steps to the Earth Palace to meet the Earth King, it was just like 2 and a half minutes of the animators and sound team flexing
Thats not a fight, its a group of highly trained soldiers crumbling like a house of cards!
That's honestly my favorite fight of the entire series.
Yeah I was honestly expecting that to be number one, but I can't argue with the Blind Bandit at all
Was going to comment this fight as well. It is so beautiful and everyone highlights their skills. When Ang just rage smashes the flying rocks without even batting an eye. And then the scene with the steps, and Toph turning them into a slide. Sooo good. I need to go watch that scene right now!
That battle was my favourite
I think you undersell the "bit of lightning bending" during the Day of Black Sun. You have to keep in mind that apart from the horrific child abuse, we've never seen Ozai do any firebending. Our idea of firebending mastery at this stage is Azula and Iroh, and for both of them, their lightning bending takes a bit of time to charge their shots. So when Ozai, the very instant the eclipse _begins_ to end, can immediately fire off a double lightning shot, it's an immediate confirmation that he's every bit as dangerous as his reputation implies. All in about a second the stakes have been set, and the only thing that makes that moment even better is Zuko's ability to redirect it, confirmation that he's taking his Uncle's influence to heart.
Yeah, a demonstration of Ozai's power and skill, and also confirming that he deserves a Gendo Ikari Memorial Parent of the Year Award
And that's *just* talking about the literal fighting in that scene. It's even better when listening to the actual dialogue happening as well. Zuko's speech to Ozai is my single favorite moment of the whole show. It's his final step on his long, difficult journey of correcting his wrongs and becoming a better person, and it is *SO* cathartic hearing him speak openly to his father about how he truly feels about him.
Man, writing that comment made me want to go rewatch that scene, and I have since learned that that full scene is literally nowhere on UA-cam. There are plenty of videos that have small portions of the scene, or cut up the scene to make Zuko's speech shorter, but none of them have it in full.
For all the Avatar fight analysis I've seen and read, how is this the first time I'm having this brought to my attention.
Heck, why didn't I notice this? I've rewatched it enough time.
It also shows that Zuko has learned to stay calm and focused and not just blindly attack. He didn't let his father catch him off guard like Azula has done to him.
_ZUKO VS HONOR WAS THE BEST FIGHT_
Definitely, and it took place over the course of the entire series
His honor kept on blowing on his face
And the longest
Honor is dead.
I think we're all glad that's a fight he lost.
Toph's so badass she's the only character with a last name
You forgot about WANG FIRE
@@mothersbasement Sapphire Fire is a personal favorite alias
… pippinpaddleopsicopolis
@@Scimitars-in-sandstone That's Bonzo the Third!
Most royal families have a surname. The Fire Nation's doesn't, because Toph beat them up and stole it.
"Once the Moon stops making out with Sokka" had to have been a fun line to write.
Avatar x Majora’s Mask fanfiction did it first (probably).
And “the tides turned with the moon.”
Just TO WRITE?
HE ACTUALLY SAID IT!
XD
That's rough buddy!
Solid list-but I am a bit upset that the Appa Vs. Momo samurai duel only got an honorable mention
That battle inspired sucker punch studios to create ghost of Tsushima ,don't research that
Yo, it's anthpo! Funny seeing you here.
Right? Thank god it wasn't destroyed by that dumb stinky youtube adaptation I've seen going around 🙄
Hell nah, waifu Cabbage Merchant had the best one for sure
I'm sorry but the real heat was sokka's rap battle against the haiku society
Something you missed on Hama and Katara's fight is that on her "deflection" of one of Hama's attack, Katara used a move by earth benders or at least in their style. Instead of using the flow of water to evade and return she stood her ground and took the hit head on. Which gives us some more insight into what Iroh spoke about learning from other kind of vending to improve your own.
That was also the move that made a deceisive hit on Hamma. The unusual nature of the attack probably suprised Hamma which is why she couldn't counter it.
That attack could also give us a glimpse into Katara and Toph's friendship; how they've come to understand and respect each other after their tiffs. That move alone shows that Katara might've been taking notes when Toph taught Aang how to Earthbend. This is why I'm a bit surprised that the Katara V Hama fight didn't make it higher on this list.
Its likely after the episode where its shown the quarreled a bit and has those temper sparring matches with toph, where she must have picked that up.
Can we add how during the Agni Kai between Zuko and Zhao, Zuko only turned the tide when he switched to Airbending and Earthbending?
When Iron says to break his root, that’s Earthbender 101. That spinning flip to turn the battle, that screams Airbender. And what was Toph’s opening bending, used against the Boulder? Aim for the feet using a side kick to the ground; exactly Zuko’s winning tactic.
Iroh has not only learned the other bending to tech Zuko, he even learned the style from the BadgerMoles.
Oh yeah!!! I never realized that!
12:20 Can we just appreciate the fact that Azula knew how to disperse Aang’s airbending? She knew how to fight against airbenders, who have long been extinct. She did her research and training, boys.
As someone else mentioned, it's also shown that even at a young age, she chose non-firebenders as friends (or at least, "friends"), which allowed her to shore up weaknesses in her firebending by learning techniques and strategies from non-bending martial styles. She's absolutely terrifying as a fighter because during the part of her life where she believes she's in control, she's even able to take control of her weaknesses. She doesn't deny them, she overrides them; learning basically everything she can about firebending, only having true weakness due to her reliance on firebending above all else. That said, she does still take non-bending less to heart than Zuko does with his mastery of dual swords due to her whole familial thing where her father prioritizes firebending skill and ignores all other types of skill.
The only way her firebending could be stronger is if she'd been able to learn from Iroh about taking other bending styles into account rather than pure firebending (although she never had a chance at this, due to her father's insistence on firebender superiority, Iroh's distaste for his brother and their nation by that point, and so many other factors). I especially like though that all of this still relates to her core character trait of seeing the world through a control-centric viewpoint; I phrased my first few sentences intentionally. She's only able to account for things going wrong for her by her forceful ego believing that she is still in control even when things are out of her control, or rather that she is always capable of regaining control. She's able to accept weakness in herself as a means to eradicate it, she's able to fight through her enemies having the upper hand because preparing for a lack of control allows her to always be ready to regain it.
It's really genius writing keeping that as such a core part of her character, and how she only truly breaks down leading into and through the finale because her ego is beaten down to the point where she has no choice but to accept that she's losing the iron-fisted control that she'd maintained since her introduction. Her ego allowed the idea of her being a failure so as to not become one, but it means that she's unable to deny when it's happening as opposed to real life egotists who see their empires crumble at their feet and refuse to admit reality.
Kinda of refreshing that zuko vs azula isn’t first but I can’t deny it’s a master class in western animation.
I love how it is the polar opposite to their first fight. In that azula used her taunts to cave into zuko’s instability. She was even besting him in hand to hand while he used firebending. In there zuko is now matching her blow for blow using his new diverse style. His stone cold facade is throwing her off her game as azula’s instablity is far more impactful.
It was literally animated in Korea, it is not western animation
sure its a western art style but even then its hard to say its western animation overall
Rem
While I don’t want to start a “what constitutes an anime” argument, I’d consider Avatar western animation. While it wasn’t animated by westerners, so was Teen Titans, and I wouldn’t consider it an anime. It displays a lot more western tropes, western storytelling, and western characters.
@@rem8771 it's kinda hard to say, because it seems like every single western show nowadays is animated in Korea. Even a lot of "Japanese" anime have some degree of animation done in Korea.
In my opinion. I understood why so many people placed it first, but at the same time, the final episode had the boundaries pushed which set such a high bar for the whole series.
It did so many different and crazy things that can’t be compared to the rest of the series.
@@rem8771 most western cartoons are animated in Korea because the cost is way cheaper
I had to pause at "gaslight bending" I was just laughing too hard
The only gaslighting I find acceptable lol
@@audreym3908 🤣🤣🤣
"You're confused! You don't know what you're doing!"
don't forget the "Mexican bend-off" :D
@@TheExecutorr oh I can't forget that lmao
Ah, Sparky Sparky Boom Man, Megumin's father.
Lmao I can’t 😂😂
More like an Uncle
@@uberdueler2990 definitely the "bad influence" uncle
I’d watch a road trip comedy featuring Megumin, SSBM, and Bakugo. Maybe they have to return a baby to it’s parents, so they have to be strategic about their explosions so as to not wake the child up.
So who makes Kazuma's, Aqua's, and Darkness' parents? These are questions we need answers for
Love how the A plot of The Beach is our villain squad living out their best anime beach episode lives, going out to parties and getting therapy, while the B plot of the ep is our heroes trying their damndest to not get blown up
Despite not being an anime
I will never forget reading somebody say that Toph will, guaranteed, live, through sheer willpower, to the invention of rocketry, just so she can go to the moon and shape it into her own face, as she knows nobody will ever be able to undo it. Sounds stupid, but then you remember it's Toph and 100% plausible.
Poor yue...
That is now added to my head canon.
But how would Toph know where the moon even is?
@@gpearce11 She's the greatest goddamn earthbender in the world! She can feel its presence every day!
Or something like that. Worst case scenario, she doesn't even need to know where it is. The rocket will do that.
@@brendanrisney2449 Touché
Me, while watching: "Where's Toph on this list? These are great picks and all, but you've got to fit her in somewhere."
Me, seeing the #1 pick: "...Nevermind, carry on."
What else do you expect from the greatest earthbender of all time?
I was ready to strangle to the narrator when we reached Sozin's comet, with out Toph
And then the #1 came 😂😂😂😂
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
The only thing I love more than Avatar: the Last Airbender is hearing how much other people love A:TLA. More of this, please.
My thoughts EXACTLY!!!!!!
Exactly man
EEEEEXXACTLY!
i quench my own love for Avatar, by seeing how much _other people_ love Avatar.
And smile like a dork
Hot take incoming: The very best battle in Avatar period hands down is the haiku battle in Tales of Ba Sing Se: The Tale of Sokka. That shit has something for everyone and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
Instead of it being "oops all Azula" I was more "I can't believe it's not all Azula"
The Blind Bandit really has some of the best jokes in the entire series:
"Hey, I got my eye on you."
"~Water tribe~"
"The Boulder is conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl"
"Sounds to me like you're scared Boulder."
"...the Boulder is over his conflicted feelings"
"What are you doing here Twinkle Toes?"
"How did you know it was me?"
"Don't answer to Twinkle Toes! It's not manly"
"Oh my poor Toph. She must be so scared."
"You think you're so tough? Why don't you come up here so I can smack that grin off your face."
"I'm not smiling"
The way Avatar handled the “no-killing villain rule” trope in the finale is probably one of the best instances I’ve ever seen. Instead of having the hero just decide to spare the villain last-minute or just have them decide not to kill at all at the very beginning because “we’re the good guys raised by good people” and never touch on that issue for a long time, we see Aang having to grapple with that decision, and he nearly loses his life twice in the process.
Edit: Man, I sure sparked a ton of debate here.
I felt like it was a cheap cop-out that came out of nowhere. The characters had been killing fire nation soldiers by the score for plenty of episodes with no mention of that moral qualm. Then suddenly we can’t kill the actual dictator because “killing is evil”? So they pull out the energy bending as a Deus Ex Machina from nowhere so they can take a third option.
@@generalescort9306 But... they weren't. In what instance was it shown that they actually killed any fire nation soldiers? Plus, only Aang is a pacifist - everyone else were totally ok with him killing Ozai
Mon Oliz We see Aang blowing soldiers off mountaintops at the northern air temple and ships into the water while they’re wearing full armor at various points. We see him destroy massive amounts of ships full of people in the avatar state. And the battle of ba sing se. Granted they are not on-screen deaths and it’s a kid show so they don’t draw attention to it, but there’s plenty of that going on in a way that made the final moral dilemma incongruous to me.
@@generalescort9306 First, in the uncontrollable Avatar state it's not Aang that does the killing, it's the vengeful sea spirit. Second, we are shown on multiple occasions that the soldiers Aang blows away are alive in the water or in the snow - even if that wouldn't make sense irl.
@@generalescort9306 You have to look at through Aangs perspective. And again, look through out the show. name me 1 person HE killed while being in control (siege of the north doesn't count. He wasn't in control there and he was even having Nightmares of when he wasn't in control, showing he feared it. So even in that instance he didn't want to lose control because of the harm he could do to people, good or bad). Hell, name me a character the group has killed (even if you could the group killing people and Aang killing people are different because they would be okay with murdering fire nation).
It just occurred to me that The Boulder is The Rock, but animated.
It's even better when you realize he was voiced by professional wrestling legend Mick Foley
Originally, he was going to be voiced by the Rock before he went big.
So, if The Boulder is The Rock, that must make Toph, Stone Cold Steve Austin. That is legitimately perfect.
The Boulder was made as a mix of Hulk Hogan and The Rock since the beginning
If you really break it down, The Boulder's name and look are a parody of The Rock, being voiced by Mick Foley, doing a Macho Man Randy Savage impression
I love that The Boulder, an homage to Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, is voiced by his friend and long time tag team partner Mick Foley.
Wait..seriously? That's actually pretty freakin cool.
I love how avatar is still relevant even after so many years :D
Truly a masterpiece
Though god bless Netflix for spurring its resurgence.
Age has made it better.
Literally man
Avatar ages like fine wine my man
one of the individual fights i really enjoyed was Aang vs Zuko on that perfume place back on season one. the footwork and strategy used on that fight is splendid. another big fight that i really like and wasn't there is the gAang's infiltration on the Earth Kings Castle. The way Toph and Aang utilize their environment is amazing, and you can see Aang applying his waterbending teachings while he earthbends his enemy's attacks against them. i love this show way too much
I literally JUST commented about the first fight you mention, in Bato of the Water Tribe
Unfortunately the rest of that episode kind of sucks, so the fight gets dragged down by that. The fight IS cool, but it's stuck sharing airtime with the only episode of the series I can actually call kind of bad.
You love avatar too much? No such thing my dude. I'm 100% certain you could stand to love it even more, before the obsession becomes unhealthy.
@@Firehawk376 That fight is 100% the best part of the episode...well, that and Jun's design
@@serenitysilvermoon Jun is the other good thing that came out of that episode. Even at Avatar's worst, it's still getting some stuff right, but the A-plot for the episode is just terrible.
Surprised that the Earth Palace raid to speak with the Earth King isn't here.
Since this comment is so lonely, just came by and say that I love your content. Back to scrolling
Yeah def my puck for second or third best . Was hoping it would be their as well
Yep, was gonna put a comment about it but you got it covered!
surprised he put zuko vs jet instead of zuko vs the earthbender in zuko alone
It was so so.
Part of what I love about the Ozai v Aang fight is that, once it reaches the point where Aang is in the Avatar state, it almost becomes a horror film. Ozai, who only minutes ago was this undefeatable combatant, is now running for his life from a being with no match on their planet and no mercy for him.
I was hoping he would mention that Katara also learned from Toph and instead of shifting the enemies attack and redirecting it, when Hama hits her with the big attack Katara pushes through it instead.
Avatar is a masterpiece
That’s it, that’s the comment
Yes it is
That's it, that's the reply
True
Thats it, thats the second reply
Water is wet.
That's it, that's the third reply
the blue avatar or the blue tattoo avatar ?
It's better than legend of korra
That's it that's the fifth reply
I like to think the creators when they made sozin comet are like " hey guys why don't we end the show with a bang, like go full shonnen"
Honestly even if you compare it with any other shonen that exist (that had ended) avatar still has the best build up, climax, and pay offs in the entire history of shonnen
@@kiggerst Avatar was not in Shonen Jump magazine
@@kiggerst I prefer hxh,Aot and fmba. Didn’t really like Aangs plot armor at the end.
@@kiggerst It isn't much of a competition since most shonen endings suck.
@@trackuniverse9121 So? They didn't mention Jump. Shonen is a genre/demographic that exists outside of Jump.
3:42 And personal revenge. By the time Zuko is begging to stop, even telling him he will pay him double to stop, Combustion Man, basically says "This is no longer about money. this is about vengueance"
I got/always had the impression it was more about Honor/Duty, as, ostensibly, Combustion Man is a Fire Nation citizen, rather than a bounty-hunting outlaw, but you saying it was Vengeance got me thinking a bit: At that point, the Gaang had escaped him, so it maybe had grown into an issue of Honor/Reputation (for getting the job done/closing out jobs for which he's been contracted)/Vengeance.
That’s dope as hell.
@Yolo Swaggins OMG that's incredible!!!! I love that idea! It makes A TOOOON of sense! You were pretty smart as a kid lol!
16:05 I've always seen this particular part of the fight as Katara drawing from Earthbender teachings, standing your ground being almost antithetical to how you typically waterbend. Cause you see even when she fight Master Paku and roots herself to the ground, she still has the water flow AROUND her.
There's been a post on FB that keeps popping up which attests to what you said, but up until rewatching the scene again in this video, I had basically written that interpretation off and, like Geoff, thought of just a particularly strong deflection. Thank you for your additional analysis, comparing it to her deflections while fighting Master Pakku has opened my eyes to this better reading of the Hama fight.
Wow I never even realized that aang utilizes neutral jing after he learns it from boomie. That's so cool.
Bumi. Although, probably can call that autocorrect
I really like how the fights in Puppet Master and Sokka's Master are right next to eachother, as both show off what waterbenders greatest strengths are, being adaptability and resourcefulness. Even if Sokka isn't a water bender, you can see both him and his sister have the same fighting sensabilities.
Pointing out Aang's continued use of the "Face it head-on" mentality and neutral jing after he begins earthbending is really interesting. His evasive tactics that kept Zuko at bay in Book 1 just didn't work against Azula in Omashu or in The Chase and...fuck, I love this series
Everyone casts shade on Mai. Meanwhile, I've always kind of liked her.
It's cool. She loves the shade!
I'll show myself out. I do like her too, even if I'm way more of a tai lee girl
I like her, because she is morally gray but loves Suko. No everyone has to be evil like Azula o goody goody like Ty Lee.
@@tiarezavaleta8850 Ty lee is the definition of neutrality. She's uninvited in the conflict on the whole and literally has to be threatened to join.
Yeah know she and Ty Lee took on Azula. For non-benders that is super impressive by itself.
@@tiarezavaleta8850 Ty Lee isn't a goody goody, though. Yes, she's nice and doesn't go out of her way to attack people, but she's more of a neutral party in regards to the war.
Ngl my favorite thing about ATLA is that even though it came out years ago new vids are made about it everyday
The scene were hama is training katara is horriffic when you realize the flowers rocks and trees are stand-ins for people.......
We all know what the last one is, and the best part is that the music is half the fight. JESUS I LOVE THE FIGHTS
Aluza vs Zuko and Katara
Ya. About that
Ah, the clairvoyance afforded to use who rush to the end of the video.
about that
The boulder!
It really says something when you haven't seen the Blind Bandit fights in years and yet still almost instinctively does all of Toph's hand motions while watching this.
One thing not mentioned with regard to the Combustion Man fight is that a good chunk of it is completely devoid of score. The lack of music adds a layer of dread. It feels like you're holding your breath the whole time. It also separates the level of danger the gaang is in from that of their usual fights. There's an indominable force. And, it wants to kill you.
I never noticed that before but thats probably why iirc that was the first and maybe only fight where I actually thought someone might die or be permanently injured.
One favourite fight of mine is Aang vs The Yu-Yan Archers, I always love when Aang is in near-full Airbender mode, thinking on his feet and dodging left and right...
AND THEY STILL CAPTURE HIM FAIR AND SQAURE, matching him agility for agility, using sheer arching competence. God, I wish they'd returned at some point, hell imagine what kind of sharpshooting madness they're pulling in the Korra era!
Point about #4: It's interesting that even at an early age, Azula (a prodigy firebender) did not choose other firebenders as friends. Instead she chose Mei and Ty Lee, and learned from them all these years so she could shore up all her weaknesses.
That's why majority of the fight, her style is very reminiscent of Ty Lee. And at the end, she pulls out a shuriken, like Mei.
As someone else mentioned, she's also shown very early on to be adept at countering airbending attacks from Aang, styles of fighting that've been extinct for near 100 years. She's absolutely terrifying as a fighter because during the part of her life where she believes she's in control, she's even able to take control of her weaknesses. She doesn't deny them, she overrides them; learning basically everything she can about firebending, only having true weakness due to her reliance on firebending above all else. She takes some knowledge from her non-bender "friends", but takes non-bending less to heart than Zuko does with his mastery of dual swords due to her whole familial thing where her father prioritizes firebending skill and ignores all other types of skill.
The only way her firebending could be stronger is if she'd been able to learn from Iroh about taking other bending styles into account rather than pure firebending (although she never had a chance at this, due to her father's insistence on firebender superiority, Iroh's distaste for his brother and their nation by that point, and so many other factors). I especially like though that all of this still relates to her core character trait of seeing the world through a control-centric viewpoint; I phrased my first few sentences intentionally. She's only able to account for things going wrong for her by her forceful ego believing that she is still in control even when things are out of her control, or rather that she is always capable of regaining control. She's able to accept weakness in herself as a means to eradicate it, she's able to fight through her enemies having the upper hand because preparing for a lack of control allows her to always be ready to regain it.
It's really genius writing keeping that as such a core part of her character, and how she only truly breaks down leading into and through the finale because her ego is beaten down to the point where she has no choice but to accept that she's losing the iron-fisted control that she'd maintained since her introduction. Her ego allowed the idea of her being a failure so as to not become one, but it means that she's unable to deny when it's happening as opposed to real life egotists who see their empires crumble at their feet and refuse to admit reality.
I just think that it's a pleasant surprise to see Avatar content on your channel
I cheat and say that the best fight scene isn't even a scene, it's Iroh's offscreen prison break.
I don't care if that would be a cop out, what Iroh did on his way out of that prison in someone's imagination, is way more badass than what anyone could have animated.
"You've been kind to me ever since I've been here...I think it would be for the best if you *took the rest of the day off."*
The fight on top of the gondola is probably my favorite Azula fight because its also a team fight with amazing choreography that really paid attention to its unique environment. Flipping in through the windows to dodge and attack was fantastic and that kind of spacial awareness just felt so natural and good.
When Azula gets restrained by Katara and fully breaks down into screaming and sobbing really highlighted to me how young the main cast is. Azula is a cunning genius and a prodigy in fire bending, but still a kid, and all of this pressure to be perfect in every way got to her in the end because she never let herself have the support that people need in their youth, and it's tragic
Dude, from the moment you talked about Sozen's Comet onword, I became just an emotional mess. The finale is so emotionally fantastic and the animation almost has me in tears every time because it makes me think about how far are the characters have come, and how fantastic this world building and just everything is!
ironic that you say zuko has "taken his uncles lessons to heart" when it's about lightning bending and that's exactly where you don't want it to go.
“2nd best joke”? What’s the first? “That’s rough, buddy”?
Absolutely. That or Toph's blind jokes.
Or maybe,
"Did Jet just die??"
"You know it was really unclear."
obviously the cabbage man.
I don't really get said second best joke.
@@CourtOfWinter I’ve forgotten which one he talked about so if you can find the time stamp for me I’ll explain it to you.
I forgot just how awesome Toph's introduction and her fights in that episode were. Damn. ATLA is just too amazing.
"Jet kinda sucks."
Hey...
"If he didn't drag down most episodes he's in by existing[...]"
*HEEYY!*
YES THANK YOU!!!! Jet is a fantastic character!!!!
He was wasted potential tbh
@@PeruvianPotato agreed
Agreed. I mean, definitely a jerk. But I love how the show uses him. Most of the young characters are deeply shaped by the parental figures in their lives. It makes sense that someone who's still essentially a kid but hasn't had a parental figure around (and is trying to be one himself) so very badly needs some guidance. He's what basically any of these characters could have become if, after the impact of the fire nation tearing their life apart, they didn't get a support system to help them. (And it was some nice setup for what happens when you let paranoia push away the best efforts of the people who DO want to help you)
He may have been wrong in his first appearance but he does have a reason for it, even if he is a bit misguided. He was even trying to be better in Ba Sing Se (until he figured out who Zuko and Iroh were). I honestly think he could have turned out great if he lasted a bit longer.
My favorite part of zuko vs azula is that moment of realization when you learn that zuko incorporates all four forms of bending into the final fight, showing that him and aang are two sides of the same coin
The last fight in Zuko Alone deserves a spot for sure, or at least an honorable mention
My favorite thing about the fights in TLA is the use of terrain. They really know how to use their surroundings to make the fights unique and interesting.
16:00
I also really liked how Katara clearly states that she simply is a stronger bender that Hana is and that also proves to be true. It is so rare during an action scene where the good guys are actually the dominant ones.
Make a part two, Stew. That way we can see all the fights you couldn’t cover. This show deserves it.
And has enough material for it!
plus there’s so many great fights from korra
yes
Toph's character arc being "I am, and always was, that b*---"
I'm dead.
YES. this is the correct no.1.
you know a series has done a great job establishing it's rules and how things function when a character can just use a strategy, and you GET IT, without any additional explanation needed, Such is the case here with Toph's dust storm, you know she doesn't use her eyes, you know others do, they didn't need to devote additional explanation to it like for instance Shonen series tend to.
(Yes Shikamaru, I can see the wall where Kin just bashed her head in, I don't need a play-by-play)
also the action animation here is fucking gorgeous.
It's a solid pick for no.1
I don't think I'd have chosen it, but honestly it's a toss up between a dozen different fights --- I'm glad I'm not the one who has to choose
When you said, "a character can just use a strategy, and you GET IT, without any additional explanation needed," I instantly flashed back to oh so many Bleach fights, some of which felt paaaaarticularly convoluted, what with one-up-man-ship swinging back and forth overly liberally some of the time. You went on to chastise Naruto, and one of their earlier-ish fights, and, I must concede, that's fair, too.
Personally I wouldn't have put it as a number 1 for the entries in this list, cause this list literally consists of entire episodes of amazing fights. Toph's performance was absolutely amazing and got the technical points across perfectly, but as was mentioned at the beginning of the video, I too am more impacted by fights that also have a lot of internal stakes on the line. Toph vs the earthbenders is pretty much representative of Toph's entire character in the show. Pretty much perfect, apart from one particular internal weakness that doesn't get nearly as much attention as everyone else's. In fact, forget internal character motivations and conflicts; that fight didn't even have any real suspense to it as to who'd be the victor, as the vibe you get from the onset is that she's simply going to own them, and the vibe never shifts from that. I personally cannot give higher ranks to fights that are just character flexes.
@@vindifference That's fair. From a choreography and world-building perspective -- Toph's fights are top tier.
But if we're looking for character motivations, internal conflict, and suspense it has to be one of Azula's fights. Maybe the Agni Kai, maybe the Crossroads of Destiny. Or maybe the Chase and ghosttown showdown, or the Day of Black Sun invasion.
Oh, who am I kidding. It's got to be the final Agni Kai.
imagine if Brock was there during Toph's fight Sokka would have had to incapacitate him for talking too much.
I'm surprised there wasn't at least a mention of the fight to invade the Earth King's Palace
The blind bandit is one of my favorite episodes, but I still think the last agni kai was a better fight. I love both Toph and Katara, but considering it was Katara who beat Azula, that gives it her an edge
That fight against an army Was Genius! This style of bending is what i missed in korra!
The agni Kai was absolutely the best and most emotionally moving fight of the whole series.
It feel good becaue katara and azula have a lot in common. And showas katara grew while azuila, didnt.
The Invasion on the Earth King Palace is one of my favorite fights. Every once in a while a watch either that scene or Sozin's Comet 3/4 again. I was surprised by its omission as well
I agree, it's an amazing showcase of the gaang's power; and at that point they are SO done with Long Feng's BS, and they don't pull any punches.
I think it's maybe due to the episode's pacing that the fight is underappreciated, the ep starts strong and then it kind of slows down, still a great ep though
Jeff: Toph is that character who joins your party after you've already cleared 5 dungeons and still has 20 levels on your strongest dude
*You mean Persona 5*
I'll do you one better
Remember KIRITO😂
She's the Ryoma (from Fire Emblem Fates) of the group
@@majorknight859 but his the leader of group.
The blind bandit is at last 20% more violent than normalll IM DYING
Before anyone starts saying Avatar isn't anime, don't forget we live in a timeline where Conception exists.
It inspired and influenced by anime, the key factor the stops from being so, it made by westers for a western audience
@@geraldgrenier8132 yeah ok weeb
No, we live in a society
@@geraldgrenier8132 it's anime and if you disagree you'll have to fight all of Japan since they disagree with you. The same applies to RWBY
(Edit was adding "with you" for clarification so I can avoid the people who try to throw people's arguments because they edited)
@@geraldgrenier8132 I was waiting for this, in fact I'm looking for the comments counting up the numger of answers like this.
Mother's Basement's take is that Anime is a movement, a style, not "a cartoon made in Japan" which seems to be the way you define it.
Yeah Jet and Zuko using their surroundings creatively as master swordsmen is really good and foreshadows Sokka's own training in swordsmanship when he's told to also use his surroundings to fight for him
The fact that atla's fights are emotionally thrilling (mostly the later ones) is what tops it off for me
The final Agni Kai is heads above the rest imo. Azula's breakdown, Zuko's final redemption, Katara's final face-off with the fire nation, the pure fucking sakuga. All of that brought to life in a spine chilling sequence of terrifyingly powerful, silent fire-blows. I can't stress enough how brilliant the chilling silence is in this scene, first time a show made me feel anything that powerful.
The subdued audio ALWAYS completely ups it too. Its bittersweet and awesome and somewhat sad
Yeah, it's definitely the emotional highpoint in a show and a season and a finale full of real feels-punches, and really serves as the climax of the whole series. It's the kind of fight that is so much more than the choreography and the action, that even if the choreography and action were bad which by golly they're everything but, it would still probably be the most memorable moment in the series.
But, y'know...
Toph. Toph is Toph. She's just Toph. Can't beat Toph, I don't make the rules.
Yes! Toph vs everyone is number 1 no doubt! The way they take away sound puts you Toph’s shoes. It makes you personally feel the bending attacks and the Toph’s reversals. Most earth bending scenes in the show aren’t as visually pleasing as water or fire. Then you get the Toph fight. Between the choreography, the vicarious response, and animation it’s second to none!
Man I hadn't watched your content in a couple of years and wow did you deliver. Thank you for your incredible work, I have a series to rewatch.
Never clicked on something so fast in my life.
same
I love you u r good
Word!
good for you?
@@krlllx thanks.
Sees that the finale isn't the number one spot
"How can you say something so controversial yet so brave!?"
The final Agni Kai is my personal favorite fight. Everything about it is great, the little character build up with Azula just beforehand, the somber music, the deafening of all sound except for the blasts of fire Zuko and Azula let off...it really is a masterpiece. Dammit watching this video has made me want to go watch that particular fight again
The best thing about it is how clearly it shows that a) Azula still outpowers Zuko to a ludicrous degree and b) that *doesn't matter* because he's not fighting her power on power.
It has been well over a decade since this show ended, yet here we are, still getting new videos about it. This makes me happy 😊
Boi The Last Agni Kai better be in the top three AT LEAST!
Edit: it is
Still should've been number 1
@@catlover0000 I feel that. I think Aang vs Ozai beats it by just a bit. But yeah The Last Agni Kai is one of the best moments in TV history.
I love the siege on the Earth King's palace. The team just got Oppa back and they force their way through the front door. The moves they pull are so great. It's a really awesome "The band is back together" moment.
"Oops, all Azula" best quote of 2020
And her character arc is learning that she IS actually the best earth bender, ever!
One of my favorite things about Azula vs Zuko and Katara is that Katara doesn’t actually get involved until Azula cheats by attacking Katara who is at that time a spectator. If Azula had thrown her lightning at Zuko he would have channeled it back at her and won the fight which Azula at least sort of understood since she did decide to try to hamper him by throwing her lightning at Katara instead, it’s also possible she did that in order to try and faze the then unflappable Zuko but either way it was a desperate ploy that goes against the honor of the Agni Kai. So she lost the Agni Kai to Zuko and then was ultimately taken down by Katara allowing both of them to have their own personally important victories against Azula.
Unrelated but I just realized their aren’t any March comes in like a lion videos on this channel which I find hard to believe because it is an amazing anime. So did I just miss it or have you for some reason not made any? Which is of course understandable, I’m sure your very busy, it just seemed like the kind of show you’d make a video about.
12:45 "Hot on his heels"
*shows a shot of Aang's heels with Azula's fire heading towards him*
I love this channel's visual puns. :P
"Wait Toph is the greatest earth-bender ?"
"Always has been."
One of my favorite bits in this entire show is Ozai's face when Aang grabs him by the beard. Simultaneously awesome, terrifying, and hilarious!
Toph stays on top 😤
Joly shit the way you cite techniques and styles that are mentioned across the series in many different episodes to describe one battle is insane. "Using your environments creatively" got me to type this out less than ten minutes in.
The creator commentaries on the dvds mention that they watched a lot of hong kong action movies and bruce lee stuff and always thought the way those movies use the enviornment is what made it fun to them so they wanted to incorperate that. They being series creators Mike and Bryan.
"This fight is just straight up badass animation martial arts porn" best thing I've heard in a while
The siege of the earth kingdom palace is usually overlooked, but showcases how much mastery and teamwork team avatar has
YES
this fight is beautiful, some of the coolest and most creative uses of earthbending and its all animated SO well
Very damn cool, and a fine list (the cheating was also perfectly acceptable).
I know it's not a popular opinion but I'd love to see this done with Legend of Korra (I'd even take just a top five). The series doesn't really get as much emotional stakes, but that's because the seasons were so much shorter. But it gets to make up for that with GORGEOUS animation.
Don't really get the hate towards Korra.
Yea, I didn't like it nearly as much and I genuinely think the backstory for who and what the avatar is is horrible and is not in my headcanon.
Still, it is a very solid show on it's own that occasionally breaks into greatnes, almost on par with the original series.
Korra isn't as cohesive a story, nor as consistent, but it goes to so many more mature places that atla never touched and for that I feel like it carries a sort of weight that the original couldn't. I love the world building and the advancement of bending and ideaologies. It might not have instant appeal like atla but watching the series as a whole, it's absolutely incredible, and if atla never existed people would be praising Korra as a master class in animation.
@@ChillinWithTheCapuchins Its season 2 forward and when they werent cut by uncertain cancelling, its one, if a bit hindered by virtue of season 1 being already bringing her so far.
And the adults in korra are just great, as is he arc inthe end coming to a close her healing and maturing. The last fight her againstzaheer is great, lin and her sister against boom bang women, the one of mako and bolin vs the octopus waterbender and lava guy. Lin vs her sister is good too. It has really good character moment fights. And tenzin vs the red lotus.Even tenzins sister against zaheer.
@@ChillinWithTheCapuchins Ah, I see you are a man of taste
@@Emily-bp6qz lol, I enjoy a series that asks some hard question and isn't afraid to go deep. Which both series definitely do but I guess that's my point BOTH series were really great just different.
Let me just say. My favorite fight in atla is when they duel against the MY CABBAGES man. If you dont remember the scene, then you arent a true alta fan obviously.
"Sparky Sparky Boom Man beats back all 3 world class benders"
Sure just leave out the guy who actually took him down later
I actually really love the "borderline DEM moment" that was Ozai reopening Aang's seventh chakra, because it feels like the Eastern philosophy of karma at its purest. Azula blocked that chakra while trying to destroy the Avatar spirit completely on Ozai's orders, and Ozai reopened it which led to his humiliating defeat.
I'm really surprised to not see the attack on the earth palace make the list! Watching the gaang dismantle the palace defences was amazing, and having them apologize the entire time was great.
I love how Avatar follows the same friendship themes that define Fairy Tail, but isn’t... y’know, hot garbage in every other aspect.
At least Fairy Tail's soundtrack was awesome, at least to a guitar aficionado like myself
Personally, I like Fairy Tail. Yes, I will agree that it is not amazing and jaw-dropping like Avatar, but like Nux Taku says in his multiple videos on the subject, deep down it has some really good things going for it. Like TheBfutgreg said above me, the soundtrack is amazing, mixing Japanese with Celtic of all things and the show really does well at building up all its fights in it's arcs so that you feel really good when the good guy, even the side characters, are able to put their opponents in the ground. For reference, see any fight Mirajane is involved in, or one of my personal favorites, Erza v. Kagura v. Minerva.
@@XivioOfTheGreen the fights aren't especially deep though, and usually rely on very slapdash conclusions akin to TFS Goku's "Hit him even harder"
the thing that kills Fairy Tail for me though, is that, I could forgive it's less than stellar characterisation, tonally jarring fanservice (getting good shots of Erza's naked tits in when she's being TORTURED is clearly vital shit right?!) and story-telling if the action was great. but it's not... while the mean average quality of the animation isn't that bad. the show is utterly BEREFT of genuinely impressive action animation... unless you count movies and OPs... it's a firm "NO SAKUGA" zone.
If I were to rank up a top TWO-HUNDRED countdown of the most impressively animated fights in Shonen. I think I could LEGITIMATELY justifiably get that count without a single Fairy Tail fight from an actual episode (not OVA, not movie, not OP) showing up... and... that's pretty freaking embarassing considering the thing ran for over 300 episodes...
for example, just off the top of my head, I can name 26 canonical battles from Naruto alone that have better animation than any fight sequence in Fairy Tail.
Zabuza vs Gato's men, Sasuke vs Orochimaru, Anko vs Orochimaru, Hinata vs Neji, Rock Lee vs Gaara, Naruto vs Neji, Sasuke vs Gaara, Third Hokage vs Orochimaru and Kages, Sannin showdown, Naruto vs Sasuke on hospital rooftop, Sasuke vs Naruto in Valley, Gaara vs Deidara, Sakura vs Sasori, Naruto vs Orochimaru, Shikamaru and Team vs Hidan and Kakuzu, Sasuke vs Deidara, Sasuke vs Itachi, Jiraiya vs Pain, Naruto vs Pain, (yeah it's weird looking at points, but some cuts are stunning), Sasuke vs Killer Bee, Sasuke vs Danzo, Minato vs Kyuubi and Tobi, Madara vs Shinobi Alliance, Naruto vs Biju, Kakashi vs Obito, Naruto vs Sasuke rematch.
26... from ONE series....
for me, Fairy Tail is a switch-your-brain-off-action series that sucks at action...
Fairy Tail has great characters. People like Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Mira, Laxus, etc... are all some of the coolest anime characters I’ve seen personally. Fairy Tail even has an amazing concept. The story is often lacking though sadly. I still love it
Same with my two other fav shows, MLP FIM and Naruto.
"the 5 bending masters + sokka" ah yes, I see you're recognizing Sokka as thee *greatest bender*
More great Avatar fights not mentioned because there are so many good ones:
Zuko and Zhao's Agni Kai (The Southern Air Temple)
Aang without his glider vs. Jet (Jet)
Aang and Appa vs. Zuko, June and Nyla (thats the bounty hunter lady and her big scent-tracking animal) (Bato of the Water Tribe)
The Fire Nation attack on the Northen Air Temple (The Northern Air Temple)
Zuko vs. Earth Kingdom army thugs (Zuko Alone)
Azula, Mai & Ty Lee vs. the Kyoshi Warriors (Appa's Lost Days)
The Gaang storm the Earth King's palace (The Earth King)
Azula and Zuko's duel on the back of an airship (The Southern Raiders)
God this show is so good
this is essentially "ten episodes of avatar that had fights in them but I'm counting multi-parters as one".
To me, this show represents so much of myself and my own struggles, despite only seeing small clips of these fights I was feeling goosebumps all the way through, and tearing up for a good half of them.
This show may be considered to be for children, but I think anyone can watch it and take away a lot of valuable and emotionally charged lessons.
Can we just appreciate that Ozai has the crazy god emperor equivalent of break-away-pants
Zuko and Zhao's first Agni Kai coulda got an honorable mention. Dynamic fight choreography and framing, GREAT music, and kind of a mission statement for what the more serious fights in the series could and would be. There is also the Shearshrew temple fight, where I noticed on rewatch that Aang has already started to adopt certain elements of Zuko's fighting style, almost forshadowing their more earnest student-teacher relationship. I never noticed before this video that even the nonbending watertribe folks fight like waterbenders. Bet fair enough, Toph is the GOAT.
Best parts of any fight is the part where the protagonist unlocks a greater power than they thought they had after pushing themselves to the limit because friendship.
The buildup to the and Katara vs Hama is low key one of the scariest things/fights I’ve seen
At least someone else agreed yahtzee was right in dubbing them "spectacle fighters"
The Hama fight is such a psychologically brilliant fight and episode. She doesn't just get Katara to eventually use bloodbending , she gets her to use every single technique she taught her during the episode. She perfectly manipulated Katara into learning every techniques she taught her