After watching Avatar: The Last Airbender I decided to watch the follow up sequel.

I was instantly surprised at how different this series is in terms of the style, tone and characters.

The world has moved forward 70 years and the creators did a tremendous job of showing the advancement and development of new technologies and systems within the universe, it made for a fascinating new set up.

Whilst ATLA had an incredibly strong 3 season set up with characters all of an age that had that charm and innocence, LOK has characters that are slightly older and more closer to adulthood and a driving force of older adult characters as well, and the complexity of the characters, their desires, resentments and inner conflict is remarkable. This tied in with the very complex array of villains makes me wonder how specifically this series was targeted for children. Themes within the series cover fascism, anarchy, political ideology, spirituality and identity. It may be by far the most adult animation series I have ever seen, with a few moments of violence that due to take the viewer by surprise. The sense of humour and charm is still there in plenty of supply.

The animation is absolutely stunning, with cities and spiritual worlds that are hugely imaginative and what also made me adore the series was Jeremy Zuckerman’s score which uses a wonderful blend of eastern and western instruments.

I ended up watching ATLA twice in quick succession because the world and characters have so much quality and depth, I would say it is the same case for LOK.

I admire how the creators went for something completely different and the critical praise is warranted. The way the final season ends is a beautiful, powerful and important moment for animation as well.

I am so glad I decided to watch these series during lockdown. The art of animation is wonderful world when done right and Michael Dante Di Martino and Bryan Konietzko did just that.