![]() Both have large deserts - the Si Wong Desert in “Avatar” and the Gobi Desert and Taklamakan Desert in East Asia - that separate the national central authority, the capital cities of Ba Sing Se and Beijing, respectively, from some of their holdings. Geographic similarities likewise abound between the Earth Kingdom’s and China’s political landscapes. Imperial Japan, however, mainly industrialized in response to the threats of Western countries. To sustain this naval force, mass-production - one of the main features of industrialization - was paramount. In a video essay, YouTube channel “Hello Future Me” states that the creation of a strong naval force was most likely needed to protect trade networks vital to nourish the Fire Nation’s growing population. The Fire Nation, like Japan, is a chain of islands with the central authority on the biggest island. The geographic features of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom are akin to that of their historical counterparts. In contrast, both the Earth Kingdom and 19th-century China failed to industrialize China attempted to do so but could not go far enough. Technologically, the Fire Kingdom is an industrialized nation, boasting powerful weaponry that could be only mass-produced - a historical parallel with the 1867 Meiji Restoration, which restored power to the emperor and led to a new Japanese government that aimed to build an Imperialist Japan in the image of Europe (McKay 816). In “Avatar,” the two main adversaries on a global scale are the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom: the battle between these two nations is similar to that between Imperial Japan and monarchical China in the late 19th to early 20th century.ĭimartino and Konietzko set a similar stage for the conflict between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom to that of Japan and China. Together, along with various characters along the journey, they must defeat the Fire Nation and save the world from its tyrannical rule.Įach of these four nations were inspired by cultures from the real world: the Water Tribe by Indigenous Arctic cultures like the Inuits and Yupiks the Earth Kingdom by monarchical China the Fire Nation by Imperial Japan and the Air Nomads by Tibetan Buddhist monks. Katara, a fledgling waterbender, and her older brother Sokka, discover the “avatar,” named Aang, in a block of ice. The only person who can stop the war is the “avatar,” who has not been seen for the past century. The show starts a hundred years after the Fire Nation declared war on the other three nations, thereby disrupting the natural balance of the four elements. ![]() Within these nations, there are a select number of “benders” that can manipulate the single natural element corresponding to their nation the only person who can bend multiple elements is the “avatar.” The world of “Avatar” features four elements - water, earth, fire and air - with four eponymous nations - the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. What makes both of these beloved, renowned features of “Avatar” work so well is Dimartino and Konietzko’s surgical attention to detail, which was especially evident in the fictional setting of the four nations of “Avatar.” Background elements, like technology and geography, and actual events mirror history to build a charming fictional world still rooted in reality. Perhaps one of its most impressive feats, though, is presenting a bright, captivating world for children while also maintaining an unparalleled degree of complexity, whether it be in the layered characters and their respective arcs or the fictional world that Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko created. “Avatar” was lighthearted and playful enough to make a child laugh while poignant enough to make an adult bawl their eyes out. It was a serialized show in a time when television shows - especially kids’ comedy cartoons like those on Nickelodeon - were mostly episodic. The greatness of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” lies in its ability to transcend boundaries.
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