@alphang4
I wouldn't call the ball of death uninteresting. Aang invented the air scooter for fun and only really uses it for fun, maneuverability and sometimes to protect himself. The avatar state happens in response to being in danger or strong emotions and creates a stronger connection to the previous avatars in which they all thought it would be better to kill Ozai, so the air scooter turns into the ball of death. The ball of death also has compressed elements and compressing water breaks the laws of physics. The first half of the fight is mostly Aang running and defending, but once the avatar state comes out it is so overwhelming that we see Ozai afraid and running even during Sozen's comet.
@egalomon
Azula vs Aang in "The Drill" is such an underrated fight. It's pretty short, there's only a few beats but I think it brilliantly balances the blocking, the magic system, the different power levels, the humor of the show and telling a story thought the fight. Yet nobody ever seems to speak about it :(
@callmequaz9052
One thing I love about the bending is the very subtle details that, when you look for and notice them, make the bending feel almost real. Every movement feels like real and like it makes sense, motion with purpose. Some scenes show this much better than others, such as the Swamp benders using water bending to move their boats. It's very cool.
@rzuue
I wouldn’t put Zuko/Katara vs Azula up against Aang vs Ozai. Those two fights were put into the same episodes for a reason. They’re meant to complement each other. Each on there own might lack this or that, but together you have a perfectly balanced action finale.
@arrowheadstudio
We see Aang use the elements in a variety of ways in the finale while not in the avatar state. The avatar state is representation of the will of Aang’s’ most primal instincts and the will of his pasts lives. So it makes perfect sense as to why is what you call a death ball. The finale subverts this classic trope of the hero using his most powerful form to destroy the villian. Instead Aang rejected that style of fighting and beat Ozai on a spiritual level. Aang’s battle against TheFirelord is far more about the internal struggle of Aang than the actual physical fight. The fight even has a great metaphor as When he pulls himself out of the avatar state he is left only with air his native element. It was about Aang defeating the firelord as Aang the human not as the all powerful avatar. I’m sorry the finale is extremely memorable.
@rorykeefe8954
I’m pretty sure (just my guess though) the creators of Avatar wanted the fight with Zuko and Katara vs Azula to pick up where Aang vs Ozai fell short (because of canon reasons) to make the finale be interesting both as a story-ender and as a spectacle to look at
@hellofrominside8524
Aang vs Zuko in “Bato of the Water Tribe” is one of my favorite animated fights.
@stijnbarneveld3999
Thing to notice, the writers intended that bending was not considerd 'magic' in the world of avatar, it was mentioned by Aang twice in the first season
@515161
OH GOD IT BEEN ALMOST 20 YEARS
@chromesucks5299
I think the Aang final fight in his avatar form and the difference when he is out of it and uses echolocation WAS THE POINT. When he was in avatar state, he was just a force of nature, a brute force reacting, there wasnt intricacies in his movement and style because of it. But when he is back in control its back to using the swift connecting elegant movements again.
@majkeljan
so long story short: beauty of simplicity
@SlimeyZockt
What I love more about the Zuo and Azula fight was that both use fire. It is amazing in the sense of focus uko has earned. Azula has big and agressive attacks, showing her deperate mind falling apart at the seems, while zuko just does little but focused strikes to block or counter the attacks, since he learned that being strong does not mean you can beat everyone in the room. It shows how much uko has come and how far Azula is prepared to go in order to win to support her fragile ego
@95triforce
I really enjoyed the comparison of early shaky cam vs. proper blocking and choreography. Never thought about it before in animation. Great video!
@fwuuton
I rewatched the final fight and while I wasn't as engaged with it when I was younger, I think it was actually very clean and precise. The deadlier version of the air ball was not just there to be cool, Aang prepared it so he would have some elements ready after striking fear into Ozai who runs. Notice how Aang made those super condensed pieces of rock, only to fire them at Ozai like terrifying machine gun bullets. There's a lot of cool details like that littered throughout the fight but they pass by so quickly that many people miss it.
@thecluckster3908
Oh shoot it’s Pey! Didn’t know you had this channel but it’s really high quality, great stuff 👍
@locodude12
I disagree with the criticism on the final fight, Aang vs Ozai was more memorable than the Azula fight. Aang used all the elements well despite having less than a year to learn them. Controlling all elements at once was interesting, we never saw compressed rock being used as projectiles, or the ring of tightly controlled water, Aang used air to fly which is also unique. There was choreography before and after Aang went into the avatar state, but during we got to see the power a realized avatar is capable of. I think this showed just how crazy Ozai was to challenge the avatar, even a child avatar, it was illustrative not just shimmer and glam. The azula fight was mostly fire blasts, the music is what makes this fight on another level, not choreography or blocking. Shooting lightning is way more interesting than redirecting it imo.
@pathfinderlight
Shaky cam was pioneered by the Blair Witch Project, which is part of the "found footage" genre. It's sort of a reverse fourth-wall break where the cameraman is one of the characters in the story. At the time, it created a jarring, chaotic feel that audiences loved. In the next decade, cinematographers went on a shaky cam fad, where they'd apply it to everything they wanted to make feel chaotic, especially fight and chase scenes. Rarely did it ever work at all. The reason being, people with high sympathetic feeling for visuals ended up feeling queasy. Jump cuts are a technique that have been around a lot longer, but the fad in using them for fight scenes was definitely present in the Bourne Identity through all of the Bourne and Taken movies. The goal is to stitch together various shots to frankenstein a fight scene without having to go to the trouble of paying a fight choreographer. Would you make a dance movie without a dance choreographer? Would you make an action blockbuster without a stunt coordinator? Would you make a movie with guns without an armorer? The answer to these is no, and you'd be stupid to try. The only exception to this is John Wick, because the fight choreographer IS the director. In that case, you see long, fluid takes because they know what they are doing. Jump cuts in fight scenes should be taken as a sign of incompetent filmmaking.
@anonalienn
great video! i never thought about it this way, but i gotta agree: no matter how many times i rewatch the series, i never remember the intricacies of the aang/ozai fight because it was all (edit: thats unfair because there were some memorable moves, so *mostly*) a bunch of boom flash, but the final takedown and the katara+zuko/azula fight were burned into my brain from the first watch because they were so clever and well thought-out
@stonep11
The avatar form fighting always struck me as more magic than the normal magic laden martial art empowered fighting. Like using the Avatar state tapped into a more intense power, even if less technical. So the final fight made a lot of sense. It was Aang almost out of his mind using the full power of the Avatar to try and kill Osaka. It wasn’t a display of skill and technique like the first half of the fight, it was raw bending power, which I thought was very appropriate. Although I do admit the other fights are more interesting and strategic.
@dravguitao7265