With all the cartoons Nickelodeon has come out with in the past few years, I have to say Avatar: The Last Airbender definitely takes the cake. From the very first episode to the last, Avatar never failed to impress me. Even though I was never a huge anime fan, I applaud the good quality, Asian-style animation. The mature themes in Avatar also make it stand out from Nickelodeons other shows. The show addresses serious subjects like what is good or evil, the balance between man and nature, and spirituality. Being partly a comedy, there is plenty of humor that at times made me literally laugh out loud, but it also a drama, with the characters being very memorable and lifelike.

I find the fact that the people of this world can "bend" elements very original, and well executed. There are natural laws that the cartoonists set for this world, like how one can only bend the element of their respective Nation (water, fire, earth, or air). Only the Avatar, chosen to protect the balance of the world between the four Nations, can bend all four elements. In this show, the Avatar is an Airbender named Aang, who along Sokka and Katara from the Water Tribe, set off to stop the imperialistic Fire Nation from taking over the world. The characters are in constant life-or-death situations, which makes it part of the action/adventure genre. The fight scenes look cool, and watching the characters use psychic martial arts to manipulate their environment is awesome. Unlike most other children's shows, the main characters, the "good guys," don't always win against the "bad guys," or if they do it might be at a price. The characters, being flawed and human, sometimes find themselves questioning what is right or wrong, or even if what they are doing good or evil.

The creators of this show borrow elements of culture from the Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and Inuits. The world of Avatar is unique, complete with its own history and visually stunning natural landscapes and cities. Some people make fun of it by calling it a "fake anime," saying that it was a bunch of American animators who copied Japanese cartoons. But I fail to see how this is a bad thing. They are simply blurring the lines between Western and Eastern animation, and in the end making a product that takes the best of both worlds.

I can't say Nickelodeon has had any cartoons this good since this show has ended. They made a live action movie off of the first season directed by M. Night Shyamalan, which was absolutely terrible and nearly ruined the show for many fans. Hopefully they can redeem this franchise with the upcoming spin off series The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra, set to come out in mid-2012. If they keep the humor, great animation, and mature themes as they did in the first series, I will definitely watch Legend of Korra when it comes out.