There is something about the cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, almost twenty years old now, that was always unusual. Aside from being coined the first American Anime, it was nothing like any other cartoon on Nickelodeon or any other station for that matter. Taking place in a completely fictional world made up of societies and lands corresponding to the four main elements: Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, the story was a continuous adventure full of growth that built to a huge climax at the end of three seasons. But the most startling aspect of this story, for something supposedly targeted at kids, was that it was rampant with extremely adult themes, such as war, genocide, loss, and conflict. But at no point was the plot relegated to hopelessness. There was an idea of balance woven into the fabric of the story’s DNA. Countering all the negative hardships the characters have to live through, there was a cornucopia of warm moments popping up and bursting in the episodes, full of love, hope, friendship, laughter, caring for your fellow person, and fighting for what is right.
But the most interesting thing about this show lives in its fans. These folks don’t entertain a faint fancy. It’s a warm, subsuming love that encompasses all this world offers. And I am no exception. I absolutely love this show and the world that creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko put years of research and thoughtfulness into making. The show fills a special place in my heart, and I know many others who feel the same way.
Just so you aren’t lost, here is a brief synopsis of the story: 4 groups make up the world: The Earth Nation, Fire Nation, Water Tribes, and Air Nomads. There are people born into each group that have the ability to “bend” or manipulate its element. However, there is one person, called the Avatar, who has the ability to bend all four of the elements and is meant to bring balance, peace, and stability to the world. The last Avatar was born into the Fire Nation and passed. The next Avatar would be born into the Air Nomads; however, no one has seen the Avatar in one hundred years. During this period, the Firelord has taken it upon themselves to try to take over the world. The story begins with a sister and brother (Katara and Sokka) in the South Pole Water Tribe finding a young Airbender frozen underwater in a bubble with an air bison (if you watch this, you will love the air bison to no end, trust me), who they free. This boy, Ang, is the Avatar. Now the story begins, and they must figure out how to stop Firelord Ozai (voiced by Mark Hamill!) before a comet arrives, which he will use to become ultra-powerful and complete the task of taking over the world. Mind you, the Avatar is a boy and can only bend air. He must learn the other elements, and they all must evolve immensely, including helping others in their travels before they can even think about taking on the Firelord.
Now we get to the podcast. In the past few years, Nickelodeon started a podcast about the show, hosted by Janet Varney (Who is not part of this show but is the voice of the next Avatar in the sequel to this series, The Legend of Korra), and Dante Bosco, the voice of Prince Zuko. (Zuko is the outcast son of the Firelord whose goal is to catch the Avatar and bring him to his father to regain his honor). If you listened to any of the Nickelodeon Avatar: Braving The Elements podcast, there are three types of episodes.
- Episode recap and discussion, most often with a guest who was a voice in the episode
- Interview with someone who has worked on the show, with a long discussion about what they did and about the show
- Interview/debate/discussion with fans
The best part of the podcast series shows how much the hosts and the guests are fans themselves. They truly get giddy about every aspect of this fictional universe and all the complexities of the relationships and characters. They are truly superfans. Every episode is a giant love fest that really digs in deep with a lot of emotion and comedic banter. Each guest after all the in-depth analysis, receives two last famous questions.
- What element bender would you be? (Earth, Fire, Air, Water)
- Which ship (Romantic relationship) in the story is your favorite?
*For the record, I would be an Airbender, and it’s a toughy, but I might have to go with Sokka and Suki
The cast on stage comprised of the following:
Janet Varney – Voice of Korra from the Legend of Korra (The sequel to The Last Airbender)
Dante Bosco – Voice of Prince Zuko
Jack De Sena – Voice of Sokka
Michaela Jill Murphy – Toff
FC Yee – The author of the first four Chronicles of the Avatar novels The Rise of Kyoshi, its sequel titled The Shadow of Kyoshi, The Dawn of Yangchen, and The Legacy of Yangchen.
When we last left the podcast in the summer of 2023, they had finished Season 2. After a hiatus, Season 3 started in January 2024, so I had no idea what to expect with a live version of the podcast. Coming out to much fanfare, filled with a crowd wearing Airbender shirts or Appa socks like myself, and excited to absorb anything they could from the franchise, the 5 person team led by Janet and Dante, started, not really on the show, but by talking about what they had been doing the past year, and about voice acting in general.
As it’s just about time for Chinese New Year, Janet then thought it would be interesting to look up the Chinese zodiac and see where the entire crew falls. They proceeded to go through each member’s sign plus element. Not often cited, but there is a portion of the Chinese zodiac that assigns one of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. This additional tidbit was added for a fun segment where they went in-depth, joking about whether they agreed with the assessment or not, gathering a bunch of laughs at how close or how far they were from the truth. Janet was the only dragon of the bunch, which garnered maybe just a smidge of jealousy. Naturally, the next step led to discussing what their own characters and others would have been.
Based on superlatives from the zodiac synopsis, they jumped to a discussion about what character in the show would garner the title of most evolved. Each member picked a different character. (Spoiler alert) Zuko was the most popular pick for good reason. Jack De Sena (original All That Cast member) selected his own character, Sokka, for good self-serving reasons. Michaela picked Appa (Ang’s air bison) as a sentimental favorite. It’s hard not to love any discussion of Appa because EVERY SINGLE fan of the show loves Appa! It received a huge “awwww” from the crowd. FC selected Katara. While not the obvious choice, her growth and evolution were paramount not only to the aid of the team, but also to learning about the immense power that is possible with bending.
Another fun topic intertwined the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender with the city of San Francisco. Janet asked the crew what someone could do in SF to remind them of the fictitious world. There were some clever responses:
- One could windsurf in the bay to replicate Ang’s air bend windsurfing
- Ride to the cable cars matching the transit system in Republic City
- A Chinatown food tour to match the fabulous food of Earth Kingdom city Ba Sing Se
- Climb the Lyon St. steps to replicate the stairs of Sun Warriors Fire Temple
- Simply walk around SF as the 7 hills match the topography of the city of Omashu
At that point, the Q&A began. A huge line of fans formed with questions, and to the crew’s credit, well past the allotted time, they tried to go through each question with a reasonable answer but did have to go rapid-fire as the clock grew weary.
Some good questions/answers:
How do you feel about the new live-action version of the show?
- It looks good. We weren’t a part of it, and we hope for the best!
If you could allow a random side character their own story, who would you pick?
- June, the bounty hunter
- Mouth-foaming man on Kyoshi Island
- Combustion man
- Happy Birthday, Fire Nation guy
If you could have two random characters spend a day together, who would you pick, and what would they do?
- Zuko/Toff adventure where they go to therapy together and talk about how their high-class families wronged them
Favorite Episodes:
- “The Beach” (Dante)
- “Tales from Ba Sing Se” (Janet)
- “The Library” (Michaela)
The adoration of the show really shines through those who worked on it. You could tell how proud they were to have been a part of it, and there was a true sense of how much the crew on stage really valued the fans who have given their love and devotion to helping continue and grow this franchise beyond what anyone thought it could have been. This true love on both sides of the room was prevalent throughout the night. It’s just too bad we didn’t have a time-bender to make it longer!
