The show is set in a timeless place where four factions had existed in harmony for eons. This balance was upset generations ago when the ruthless Fire Nation waged war and destroyed the Air Nation, the home of the then powerful Avatar. Apparently, each faction could learn a type of magic based on the martial arts that allowed them to manipulate the elemental forces of nature (the Fire Nation folk could "bend" fire to their will, the Water Nation could do likewise with water, etc.) with the Avatar being the only one who could bend all four elements to his will at a given time. This being would reincarnate into a different faction in a rotating cycle and the world was at peace.

At the start of the initial volume, a couple of youthful water benders, Sokka and Katara, were fishing in the frozen wastelands near the South Pole. They came across a large iceberg that contained a small boy and a larger animal inside. One thing leads to another and the iceberg melts, revealing Aang, a boy that appears to be the lost Avatar (and person the Fire Nation pursued even as a myth to insure their dominance over the remaining two tribes). Inside the iceberg with him is his huge flying bison, Appa, and soon enough the group is flying around the world. When reports of the returning Avatar hit the Fire Nation, Aang gives himself up since his mere presence endangers those around him. He escapes after damaging the ship of his captors, including a disgraced Fire Nation Prince, Zuko who then begins a series long chase of the characters.

With the major characters already established, the second volume had the freedom to explore the past of Aang more freely as well as the general direction of the series. Told in soap opera format, the story evolves as well as the characters rather than simply devolve into a completely formulaic series. The episodes this time were 5) The King of Omashu, 6) Imprisoned, 7) Winter Solstice: Part 1: The Spirit World, and 8) Winter Solstice: Part 2: Avatar Roku. Aang and company started off by visiting a city from Aang's past, finding out the ruler was a bit demented but also a possible ally. This was followed by their visit to a community where a large group of Earthbenders were imprisoned to prevent their causing problems for the ruling firebenders in charge of them. The last two episodes were what truly started the show's quest properties in earnest when Aang makes a special visit to a temple where he was, in his previous life, a firebender named Roku. The bad guys still chased them but at the conclusion of the last episode, the series was provided a timeliness factor for their quest to restore the balance to the world or suffer the consequences.

The inevitable comparisons to Japanese anime aside, the show was pretty decent in many ways. The actual frame rate and detail might not have been all that great but as far as kids shows that adults won't tear their hair out over, I can see why so many people have appreciated the show now that a few more episodes have crossed my path. Still, as amusing as the show might be at times, the use of the formulaic approach was still so heavy handed that it came across strictly as a morality play, using a "by the numbers" approach instead of truly innovating. The lack of creative storylines that substantially differed from time tested material proved to limit the appeal for this seasoned anime/animation fan although the younger crowd may think my rating of Rent It is a bit harsh. Keep in mind that the rating is based at least partially on the lack of substantive extras and the general value of a mere four episodes of material that most people can watch/record for free off of cable television. Even if you love the show, the DVD presentation of it looks much like the free version (there were no apparent edits when I watched the show on cable to research my review) and the lack of a value set (typically in the form of a full season) is still a pain for me.

Picture: Avatar: The Last Air Bender: Book 1: Water V2 was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as it airs on the Nickelodeon cable television channel. The animation style showed all the limitations you'd expect of a lower end show (static backgrounds, panning of the characters to show movement, stock positions) but unless you pay more attention to the technical aspects than the story, you probably won't care a whole lot. The DVD itself had no compression artifacts or visual flaws that really stood out but there weren't a lot of extras to clutter up the disc and push the envelop in order to force any compromises either.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of a 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo signal in either English, French or Spanish. I spot checked the other two languages but the English language track was fairly pleasing with some separation between the channels and a decent dynamic range. The best effects came during the fighting sequences but the vocals were reasonably good (I liked hearing Mako as Prince Zuko's advisor) and the music pretty decent too. It was better than the show sounded when I checked it out on cable but not that much better if you catch my drift.

Extras: The extras on the disc this time were fairly limited though not bad either. The best of these was a feature called The Making of Avatar: From Real Life to Animation where writer/creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante Dimartino were shown acting out their scenes for the animators to draw the episodes from. This certainly added a new dimension to the usual storyboarding of such a show although it only lasted about four minutes in length. The DVD started with some trailers too but they weren't really the best I've seen. Inside the DVD case was a small set of collector cards and a CD ROM of Nickelodeon computer game trials (read: advertisements) too. I'd like to see a fleshed out version of extras in future volumes of the series to add more value though I understand that the DVD release is less about getting major sales than supporting the aired version of the show.

Final Thoughts: Avatar: The Last Air Bender: Book 1: Water V2 was closer in spirit to Japanese style anime mixed with the limitations of American Saturday morning cartoons than darker depictions of the format like Fire & Ice or Rock & Rule, but that is largely due to the type of audience it seeks to acquire. If I had a bunch of kids running around the house, I'd want to have full season sets of shows like this one (maybe that will happen in the future) to keep them occupied in between their corporate acquisitions and plans to rule the world but as a teaser, the DVD wasn't a bad start for someone to check out over jumping into the series on cable midway through whatever season happens to be airing. There was certainly enough quality to keep watching the series, but without a reason to buy the DVDs over watching it for free, renting it may prove to be a better solution to those just finding out about the show.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.