Fun fact, originally Aangs earth bending teacher was going to a buff guy until someone on the team suggested to turn them into a little girl instead because the contrast between appearance and personality would be fun. The creators of the show thought it was silly at first but slowly fell in love with the idea and now we have the incredible character that is Toph
@@ivanelugoactually no the buffy guy is the one we see during Rooku's flashback sud Who is theorized to be Toph's ancestor He is also the earth blender in the opening
I love how excited the earthbending master is when he sees Toph let loose. Not at all embarrassed to have been duped. Just utterly amazed, impressed, and happy to enjoy the show.
The Netflix live action will have the opportunity to cast the Rock as the Boulder, and they'd better 😤 And while I'm manifesting, the VAs as a certain theater troupe 🤞
I love how they wait until the end of the episode before making the first joke about Toph being blind. We get the whole episode to establish that she's a badass, that she's strong and reliable and she owns her condition rather than being a victim. So then when the jokes start it's clear that they're not at her expense. In fact the jokes are usually that she's so capable all the time and doesn't whine about her condition or let it hold her back that people keep forgetting she's blind entirely and then saying or doing something in the rare cases where it does make a difference. The perfect blend of respect and humor.
Toph VA, Michaela Jill Murfy, AKA Jessie Flower, has her own youtube channel where she does vlogs from cons, among other things, and she’s (re) reacted to all of ATLA, some episodes alone, some with guests, including a few with other ATLA VA’s, like Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, and she also cosplays as Toph every time at the cons, barefoot and all of cause. She definately Toph 3, along with Zuko and Korra, when it comes to avatar knowledge, and the most active on social media, which really shows at con panels, and she’s also just really nice and funny, and an amazing singer too.
10:56 a bit of both? ATLA is a deep show but not exactly complex. It’s simple enough for young kids to follow, and often miss the deeper meanings until they’re older.
HERE SHE IS probably one of if not the best character in the show imo Edit I forgot to mention the hilarious man that is the bolder one of the FUNNIEST characters
My favorite episode in all of Avatar. Fun facts about this episode: 1. The character "The Boulder" was actually based on The Rock (Dwayne Johnson). 2. The creators of this show were originally trying to get the Rock to voice The Boulder, but he wasn't available at the time. 3. The creators ended up getting Mick Foley to voice the Boulder.
Toph is the character I immediately connected with. We’re both disabled but have a fighting spirit and we don’t think of our disability as a weakness but a strength.
I don't remember Toph explicitly seeing her blindness as a strength, more like something she has overcome to the point where it's not more than a minor inconvenience, and that she has learned and grown from overcoming. Though I might be misremembering.
@@RasmusVJSif Toph wasn’t blind, I doubt she would have learned how to sense her surroundings using other senses and become the worlds greatest earth bender. In that way, she did turn her blindness into a strength.
@@chainsawboy2388 Aang can also use it to some degree, but I doubt any of them are on the same level as Toph. But the point remains that if Toph wasn’t blind, she likely never would have mastered neutral jing because she wouldn’t have needed to stop and listen. Her blindness did become one of her greatest strengths as an earth bender. It’s the same reason she has Aang practice with a blindfold and she likely had her daughters practice blindfolded too. In essence, blindness is the key to her abilities as an earth bender.
And her VA is just as next level, doing vlogs and ATLA reactions on her youtube channel, even with some other ATLA VA guests, she’s top 3 ATLA/Korra VA’s when it comes to ATLA knowledge, along with Zuko and Korra, those 2 do an avatar podcast together, and she’s also an amazing singer, really nice and funny, and always cosplays Toph at cons, of course barefoot, wig, and everything.
It was kind of obvious, basically because the episodes are designed to lead into information like that. Part of writing is foreshadowing future plot details so that you can accept what is often an extraordinary circumstance more easily. And sometimes it's is done for the sake of contrast, and is supposed to be simple and easy to understand.
Also have to consider the fact that when this was released, cartoons weren't pop media, this released when we were kids, and as adults, it's so much easier to see how extremely formulaic everything is across all media which is why when someone does something unique it's the craziest thing ever
toph is the best character in all avatar beside iroh, she is the "powerhouse" archetype but they made sure to give her clear limitations, her being blind working to her favor is amazing and she is so capable that everyone forgets that she is (like sokka throwing the belt at her which she cant see)
No, it's definitely a trope that Toph's family hides her but she is actually really strong. But they use the trope well. Using tropes isn't bad, it's why they exist in the first place. What's bad is when the trope isn't used to it's greatest effect. Here it is.
Fun Fact: The Beifong's are richer and have a longer history than the existence of the Earth Kingdom's Royalty. Fun Fact 2: The Boulder = The Rock Fun Fact 3: This and the next couple episodes are some of the best back to back episodes
On the topic of calling things: the “previously on Avatar” sections will prime you to expect something to happen, because why else would they be reminding you of it. But an interesting thing about them is that during the original run they didn’t start doing the recaps until the second half of book 2, and then they retroactively added them to earlier episodes later on.
10:53 The use of foreshadowing earlier makes this an easy reveal to see coming. One of the great things about doing it this way is that later it only takes a couple of lines of dialog for her to explain it to Aang. Foreshadowing is an entertaining way to give the audience information without having to do a boring exposition dump. If anything I would say it points to the high quality of storytelling the showrunners had.
Toph is of the strongest earthbenders, paired with Bummy, they actually had a match in the comics, but it was cut short. She sees through earthbending with something named seismic sense, which she invented and she uses a unique pose for earthbending.
Toph is one of the greatest characters in the series she hilarious tough relatable & an incredible bender. I also love the way they show her powers with seismic sense she really used who disability as an advantage.
For the discussion point at around 11:25-ish, I would say it's a mixture of watching a bunch of things and just good writing by a show. The problem with good writing is that sometimes it tends to be predictable. When writing, everything is supposed to have a purpose. A good writer will make use of whatever elements the story affords them. It's clean, efficient, and neat... except when perceptive viewers/readers/whatever media sees those elements and thinks "huh, that might be a good plot device later", that's when the "good writing" can actually hinder. Especially when it comes to tropes and implied meanings. When you see a blind character, your first thought might be "okay, they might be coddled", and that's an element to be utilized within the character for storytelling. Every element, word, attribute, characteristic, setting, etc. will have connotations (the covert) and denotations (the overt). Even without saying it or even before showing the parents, the implication is there. Not to mention that certain elements and genres can have, for lack of a better term, cliches. Superhero movies will have uplifting music with strings, a character with a "hidden power" in the beginning of a show will learn to tap into it (like Gohan), the carrot pen recorder in Zootopia introduced early to be used later on in a pivotal plot moment, the way in Wall-E how usually weird dystopian futuristic settings with an AI tend to have the AI go bananas through logical extremeties, etc., etc., etc. Between tropes and macguffins, the genre savvy will find it very hard to be surprised by anything, unfortunately.. and to try to avoid those elements will make the storytelling disjointed as heck. :/ It's... a weird catch-22 in story-writing and why trope subversions/inversions need to exist. If an element exists, a good writer should use it... but by using it, it makes things predictable to the observant consumer. Otherwise, if there's no foreshadowing, no matter how heavy or light it is, it will feel like the writing turns into a bunch of deus ex machinas, and then you have a whole other problem on your hands. (Sorry, usually I just chill and vibe with videos, but I felt the need to come out of my lurker status to put my two cents in on that! Granted, I'm just a fanfiction writer so take it for whatever you think it's worth. :D)
When you call what happens. Dont worry, we all did it. Apart from them simplifying the fuck out of Toph’s life, the creators are amazing at giving you the answer to your hypothetical directly after you ask it. Something i truly admire about this show
This was a legitamate children's show. The plots for this series can be surprising MANY times, but are not overly complicated. However season 2 and 3 storytelly is top notch for a "kids" show.
Fun fact: Toph's voice-actor also did Meng in the Fortuneteller episode, Jessie Flower. I assume Nickelodeon was impressed with her enough to make her a core cast-member
Finally, I have been patiently waiting for this specific episode. Tops is such a unit, the best earthbender there is because she trusts her instincts and listens to her surroundings. ❤❤
The Boulder is actually based on The Rock, not Macho Man or Hulk Hogan even though he has some of their mannerisms. They tried to get Dwayne to voice him in fact, but there was some struggle with WWE at the time lol
The strongest earth/metal bender has arrived! Gonna be fun to watch the amount of times she’s saved the crew. Fun fact she was originally going to be male.
@@akdrzllol1698 I know but the people watching this video are not all caught up with the show many people watch an episode then watch a reaction to that episode next
Fun Fact: "The Boulder" is a parody of "The Rock", the character and the "Third person speak", and they actually wanted The Rock to voice the character, to make it complete. But, The Rock declined or was busy at the time, so instead they gotten another WWE Legend; Mick Foley to voice him which was perfect. Considering in The Rock and Mick Foley were tag team partners (briefly) in WWE in the 90's IRL.
Fun fact: The production team tried to get Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock to voice The Boulder, but they were unable to do so, and the character was eventually voiced by pro-wrestler Mick Foley, a good friend of The Rock.
I think with ATLA there's very much cues and hints for you to connect the dots. It's predictable enough for you to figure out the theme during the episodes, but not predictable enough for you to know exactly whats going to happen in the next episode. Eg. I wasnt expecting leaving the cave of two lovers and finding Omashu under the fire nation. Or falling into a weird spiritual swamp the next episode
This is by far my favorite episode of the series. Not only does it introduce my favorite character, but my favorite Bending style has always been Earth Bending, and this episode really focuses on how cool it is
I don’t remember my initial reaction to this episode when it first came out because I was very little at the time (I was probably too excited to care to speculate) but I think part of it is definitely knowing and being familiar with tropes. Toph, and I love her, has a lot of common tropes built into the basis of her story so seeing one can lead to seeing another and it snowball. So ya y’all just watch a load of shows and using your knowledge of media literacy. Huge W
SS: Literally throws out any theory/prediction that comes to mind in any given moment Also SS when any prediction comes slightly true: “Are we psychic?”
11:06 I think it does have a lot to do with it being your job. I'm studying playwriting/screenwriting at university and we literally study the patterns. And because it's been my interest, I already sorta could predict things because I watched a ton of things and focused on the plot/patterns
The Boulder is based off The Rock and was even going to be played by him but due to scheduling he couldnt do it so they got his former tag team partner: Mick Foley
Enter our Earthbender: Toph Beifong. The Blind Bandit is a master earthbender thanks partly to her heightened senses from the vibrations in the earth, despite the overprotectiveness of her rich parents. Unlike most Earthbenders her movements use a different martial arts style, opting for Southern Praying Mantis style rather than Hun Gar, offering more snappy strikes. Initially though she wasn't the design for the Earthbender of the group, as you may've noticed from the intro, initially they were gonna go with a guy, but they changed the character to a girl since they liked the idea of a small girl beating up the typecast big burly earthbenders. Toph may emit 'Aang energy' but she is much the opposite of Aang in that she's headstrong, smack talking and ready to fight, but because of that she balances the group perfectly alongside her expectation subversion as the shortest and blindest of the group, the former minusing Momo of course. The Boulder is more The Rock, but he does have Macho Man-isms. The show wanted The Rock to voice him but his schedule was too busy, so legendary wrestler and former teammate of The Rock, Mick Foley (aka Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack), voiced him instead.
I just came home from a Festival. My throat is sore and my blisters are killing me. And now I get to enjoy some soup along with your reaction to the best character in ATLA, today is gonna be good💜
Fun Fact the production team tried to get Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to voice The Boulder, but they were unable to do so, and he was eventually voiced by pro-wrestler Mick Foley
To answer your question on if it was obvious, it's both. When your channel is reacting to 30 years of entertainment in the span of less than 5, you'll start to see the tricks and tropes they use. But at the same time, any series could be someone's first exposure to a concept, especially when it's meant for families.
I will never, ever, understand how so many zoomers don't get the blatant references the the Rock. He's the biggest moviestar in the world, yet they don't recognize the persona that 1st brought him fame.
The Boulder is based on The Rock. They werent able to get him to voice the character, but they did get Mick Foley (Mankind/Cactus Jack/Dude Love) to voice him instead
FINALLY!!!, in my experience the 3 characters the fandom unanimously agrees are good are iroh, zuko and toph and I absolutely can't wait to see their thoughts on her
Fun fact Toph is the only character in the series with a last name (excluding legend of Korra). Which is funny Because some of the characters we meet are actual royalty!
The fighters of Eart Rumble 6 are really based on WWE wrestlers, The Boulder being the most evident. They even tried to get The Rock to make the voice, but they couldn't.
Avatar was written in a very simple yet catchy manner. You get invested in the world right away and the characters are well develop as well. Its not about being predictable, its about how they handle world building and character progession. Which is the reason why majority of people loved this series
Just some context for all the ppl: Aang: 12 Katara: 14 Sokka: 15 Toph: 12 Zuko: 16 Uncle Iroh: never really clarified, but prob. in his 50s Azula: 14 Mai: 15 Ty Lee: 14
I think good cartoons/shows do make the path feel ,, possible to figure out if you’re paying attention, so it’s really not so weird that you can predict certain parts of a show. That’s also testament to the good writing
The Boulder is a parody of The Rock and was meant to be voiced by him but his acting schedule was too busy so they got Mick Foley to do the voice instead.
WOOOOOO 13:33 lol my head hurts cause every time a reaction comes around to this I can't help dramatically mouthing the words with overly aggressive head shakes for emphasis 18:50 and here we goooo Maybe first thing to not match 17:39 before he changes his mind~
There is a well known book, and the writer says, humans only have 6 stories (boy meets girl, adventure, etc...) you can mix and match, but we only have six stories, so over time, we understand what is happening or about to happen.
Whenever people talk about aspects of a great character in ficiton, more often than not, characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender are brought up, and Toph is no exception. I’ve commented this before in another reaction to this episode, but Toph has proven and will continue proving throughout the course of the show that she is not your typical princess; people like her parents take her blindness as something making her helpless in society, when in reality, she is a powerful and capable combatant who uses that blindness in such a creative way. (Plus, she’s hilarious almost all the time, just as much as - if not, more than - Sokka) It's genuinely tragic how she was secluded from virtually everyone against her own wishes.
Toph is actually one of the most powerful earthbenders to exist. There are only two characters that can match her, which are King Bumi and a fully realized Avatar. In fact, she once battled Bumi to a draw in the comics.
So the thing is. This show is written phenomenally well. To the point where it does a lot of showing instead of telling in a way where its still easy to figure out what was meant to be seen. This is why it feels like yall keep calling things, because the show is setting everything up for you to come to these conclusions on your own. It's one of the reasons I love that I see avatar but myself first and just got to understand the entirety of it through the masterful storytelling.
All members of the Avatar team is valuable to it, but Toph is exactly that one strength that whole team needed. She one of the my favourite characters in the series.
This is considered to be a turning point in the show. From this episode onwards, the show shifts into high gear with banger episode after banger episode. And as if the show isn't enough of a banger already! Things are going to get really good
I still can't get over the fact this man sent the SAME two guys who just got beat Senseless by toph alone, after her AND the Avatar and damn near master water bender. We're we all not watching the same fight a second ago? 😆
idk how you guys can predict so many details about the show but needed so many episodes to figure out other things about the show wich i could figure out in few episodes as a kid
About calling the predictions, I know I was around 8 years old when I watched this show so I didn’t quite catch the all the dots until the show connected them for me. As adults who watch alot of shows, it’s understandable that y’all have ideas about what could happen so I wouldn’t worry lol
Boom's literally the only reactor I've seen catch onto this On Toph's parents I can offer some insight as a disabled person. It's shame. They're ashamed of having a disabled daughter which is why they hide her from the world. They don't even say she exists and after seeing her fight not only do they have to tackle their ableism and infantilization of their daughter, but also the fact that she's doing something so "improper" like fighting. It would bring a lot of shame amongst nobles if that got out. Also her dad realises she could very easily fight back again st her parents if she wanted to. I love Toph so much and I wish more people talked about the ableism she faces from her own family because it's unfortunately a very relatable experience for a lot of disabled people.
So, which ever one of you said that the boulder is literally Randy Savage. Thank you for saying that, the Boulder is actually voice by Mick Foley who is paying tribute to his tag partner, Dwayne Johnson.
Fun fact, originally Aangs earth bending teacher was going to a buff guy until someone on the team suggested to turn them into a little girl instead because the contrast between appearance and personality would be fun. The creators of the show thought it was silly at first but slowly fell in love with the idea and now we have the incredible character that is Toph
And the buffy guy can see with his screaming waves
@@ivanelugoactually no the buffy guy is the one we see during Rooku's flashback sud
Who is theorized to be Toph's ancestor
He is also the earth blender in the opening
@@painvillegaming4119 it was a joke from the play episode
@@ivanelugo ah you mean that reference
@@painvillegaming4119 reference and a joke
Introducing the best earthbender in this show,top tier character, the legendary blind bandit,Toph Beifong
My 3rd fav behind Iroh and Sokka
For me it's like introducing the best character of the show🔥
The show introduced her fine, bro 😂
No need for the cringe
@@TuskyBaby what?
Correction, best earth bender in the entire world, and don't you forget it!
I love how excited the earthbending master is when he sees Toph let loose. Not at all embarrassed to have been duped. Just utterly amazed, impressed, and happy to enjoy the show.
Yes! Like someone who genuinely likes earthbending as a martial art, and gets giddy when he sees talent!!
@@b_w_j but then...........well iykyk😭
too bad the dad wasn't of the same mind
Toph is hands down one of the best characters of the show.
Introducing the best character after iroh
She is my favorite!
Fun Fact: The Boulder was originally going to be voiced by Dwayne Johnson
I guess the boulder lost too many fights
I need this now
The Netflix live action will have the opportunity to cast the Rock as the Boulder, and they'd better 😤 And while I'm manifesting, the VAs as a certain theater troupe 🤞
@@Merith89 that’s actually brilliant, unfortunately I don’t think they would need the recap
Instead we got another wrestling great! Mick Foley(Mankind, Cactus Jack, Dude Love)!
I love how they wait until the end of the episode before making the first joke about Toph being blind. We get the whole episode to establish that she's a badass, that she's strong and reliable and she owns her condition rather than being a victim. So then when the jokes start it's clear that they're not at her expense. In fact the jokes are usually that she's so capable all the time and doesn't whine about her condition or let it hold her back that people keep forgetting she's blind entirely and then saying or doing something in the rare cases where it does make a difference. The perfect blend of respect and humor.
Toph VA, Michaela Jill Murfy, AKA Jessie Flower, has her own youtube channel where she does vlogs from cons, among other things, and she’s (re) reacted to all of ATLA, some episodes alone, some with guests, including a few with other ATLA VA’s, like Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, and she also cosplays as Toph every time at the cons, barefoot and all of cause. She definately Toph 3, along with Zuko and Korra, when it comes to avatar knowledge, and the most active on social media, which really shows at con panels, and she’s also just really nice and funny, and an amazing singer too.
10:56 a bit of both? ATLA is a deep show but not exactly complex. It’s simple enough for young kids to follow, and often miss the deeper meanings until they’re older.
It’s subversive but still follows a formula. Esp since it was written for children, so adults can easily pick up the set ups.
i love that it proves that depth is also not exclusive to complexity, like sometimes shit just works lol
Exactly
HERE SHE IS probably one of if not the best character in the show imo
Edit I forgot to mention the hilarious man that is the bolder one of the FUNNIEST characters
My favorite episode in all of Avatar. Fun facts about this episode:
1. The character "The Boulder" was actually based on The Rock (Dwayne Johnson).
2. The creators of this show were originally trying to get the Rock to voice The Boulder, but he wasn't available at the time.
3. The creators ended up getting Mick Foley to voice the Boulder.
Toph is the character I immediately connected with. We’re both disabled but have a fighting spirit and we don’t think of our disability as a weakness but a strength.
I don't remember Toph explicitly seeing her blindness as a strength, more like something she has overcome to the point where it's not more than a minor inconvenience, and that she has learned and grown from overcoming. Though I might be misremembering.
@@RasmusVJSif Toph wasn’t blind, I doubt she would have learned how to sense her surroundings using other senses and become the worlds greatest earth bender. In that way, she did turn her blindness into a strength.
@@nicolev990true but he daughter who isn’t blind can use it too so it’s not just unique to her and being blind.
@@chainsawboy2388 Aang can also use it to some degree, but I doubt any of them are on the same level as Toph. But the point remains that if Toph wasn’t blind, she likely never would have mastered neutral jing because she wouldn’t have needed to stop and listen. Her blindness did become one of her greatest strengths as an earth bender. It’s the same reason she has Aang practice with a blindfold and she likely had her daughters practice blindfolded too. In essence, blindness is the key to her abilities as an earth bender.
@@chainsawboy2388she's very creative though instead of just: move boulder lift boulder shoot boulder.
Toph is by far one of the best characters in any show ever. All of the characters in ATLA are good, but Toph is next level.
And her VA is just as next level, doing vlogs and ATLA reactions on her youtube channel, even with some other ATLA VA guests, she’s top 3 ATLA/Korra VA’s when it comes to ATLA knowledge, along with Zuko and Korra, those 2 do an avatar podcast together, and she’s also an amazing singer, really nice and funny, and always cosplays Toph at cons, of course barefoot, wig, and everything.
I love how Toph's Earthbending form is different than other earthbenders because she learned intuitively.
It's like other earthbenders are more brute forcing the earth to their will while toph naturally moving it
And had wild animals for teachers.
It was kind of obvious, basically because the episodes are designed to lead into information like that. Part of writing is foreshadowing future plot details so that you can accept what is often an extraordinary circumstance more easily. And sometimes it's is done for the sake of contrast, and is supposed to be simple and easy to understand.
Also have to consider the fact that when this was released, cartoons weren't pop media, this released when we were kids, and as adults, it's so much easier to see how extremely formulaic everything is across all media which is why when someone does something unique it's the craziest thing ever
Toph is voiced by Jessie Flower who also voiced Meng, the girl who had a crush on Aang during the Fortune Teller episode.
toph is the best character in all avatar beside iroh, she is the "powerhouse" archetype but they made sure to give her clear limitations, her being blind working to her favor is amazing and she is so capable that everyone forgets that she is (like sokka throwing the belt at her which she cant see)
Finally we get to the secound best (After Iroh) charactor in the show.
I can't elevate one above the other. They are both sitting on the throne sharing some tea
No, it's definitely a trope that Toph's family hides her but she is actually really strong. But they use the trope well. Using tropes isn't bad, it's why they exist in the first place. What's bad is when the trope isn't used to it's greatest effect. Here it is.
This is one of my favorite episodes in this series.
Fun fact!!! The bolder is voiced by mick foley
JESUS FOR REAL 🤣
@@painvillegaming4119 yep lol
Ah yes! The introduction episode for my favorite character in the whole series!! Toph is an absolute goat I swear to god
Fun fact about "The Boulder" is that he is heavily inspired to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and he was voiced by a WWE wrestling legend Mick Foley.
11:00 lol I don't think the creators were trying to hide this, it's common story Troupes but it's who you do with them
Fun Fact: The Beifong's are richer and have a longer history than the existence of the Earth Kingdom's Royalty.
Fun Fact 2: The Boulder = The Rock
Fun Fact 3: This and the next couple episodes are some of the best back to back episodes
The Boulder was inspired by The Rock but ended up being voiced by Mick Foley, btw, which is pretty much perfect ^_^
On the topic of calling things: the “previously on Avatar” sections will prime you to expect something to happen, because why else would they be reminding you of it. But an interesting thing about them is that during the original run they didn’t start doing the recaps until the second half of book 2, and then they retroactively added them to earlier episodes later on.
10:53 The use of foreshadowing earlier makes this an easy reveal to see coming. One of the great things about doing it this way is that later it only takes a couple of lines of dialog for her to explain it to Aang. Foreshadowing is an entertaining way to give the audience information without having to do a boring exposition dump. If anything I would say it points to the high quality of storytelling the showrunners had.
Toph is of the strongest earthbenders, paired with Bummy, they actually had a match in the comics, but it was cut short. She sees through earthbending with something named seismic sense, which she invented and she uses a unique pose for earthbending.
Toph is one of the greatest characters in the series she hilarious tough relatable & an incredible bender. I also love the way they show her powers with seismic sense she really used who disability as an advantage.
For the discussion point at around 11:25-ish, I would say it's a mixture of watching a bunch of things and just good writing by a show. The problem with good writing is that sometimes it tends to be predictable. When writing, everything is supposed to have a purpose. A good writer will make use of whatever elements the story affords them. It's clean, efficient, and neat... except when perceptive viewers/readers/whatever media sees those elements and thinks "huh, that might be a good plot device later", that's when the "good writing" can actually hinder.
Especially when it comes to tropes and implied meanings. When you see a blind character, your first thought might be "okay, they might be coddled", and that's an element to be utilized within the character for storytelling. Every element, word, attribute, characteristic, setting, etc. will have connotations (the covert) and denotations (the overt). Even without saying it or even before showing the parents, the implication is there. Not to mention that certain elements and genres can have, for lack of a better term, cliches. Superhero movies will have uplifting music with strings, a character with a "hidden power" in the beginning of a show will learn to tap into it (like Gohan), the carrot pen recorder in Zootopia introduced early to be used later on in a pivotal plot moment, the way in Wall-E how usually weird dystopian futuristic settings with an AI tend to have the AI go bananas through logical extremeties, etc., etc., etc. Between tropes and macguffins, the genre savvy will find it very hard to be surprised by anything, unfortunately.. and to try to avoid those elements will make the storytelling disjointed as heck. :/
It's... a weird catch-22 in story-writing and why trope subversions/inversions need to exist. If an element exists, a good writer should use it... but by using it, it makes things predictable to the observant consumer. Otherwise, if there's no foreshadowing, no matter how heavy or light it is, it will feel like the writing turns into a bunch of deus ex machinas, and then you have a whole other problem on your hands.
(Sorry, usually I just chill and vibe with videos, but I felt the need to come out of my lurker status to put my two cents in on that! Granted, I'm just a fanfiction writer so take it for whatever you think it's worth. :D)
fun fact: in the comics toph's father finally apologize to her
When you call what happens. Dont worry, we all did it. Apart from them simplifying the fuck out of Toph’s life, the creators are amazing at giving you the answer to your hypothetical directly after you ask it.
Something i truly admire about this show
Fun fact the Rock was supposed to play the Boulder cuz it was based off him but Mick Foley(Mankind) took the role cuz Dwayne was filming
Originally they wanted the boulder to be voices by the Rock but his schedule was too busy
They got his tag team partner mick foley tho
It also would have cost a shit-ton of money
This was a legitamate children's show. The plots for this series can be surprising MANY times, but are not overly complicated. However season 2 and 3 storytelly is top notch for a "kids" show.
Fun fact: Toph's voice-actor also did Meng in the Fortuneteller episode, Jessie Flower. I assume Nickelodeon was impressed with her enough to make her a core cast-member
Finally, I have been patiently waiting for this specific episode. Tops is such a unit, the best earthbender there is because she trusts her instincts and listens to her surroundings. ❤❤
The Boulder is actually based on The Rock, not Macho Man or Hulk Hogan even though he has some of their mannerisms. They tried to get Dwayne to voice him in fact, but there was some struggle with WWE at the time lol
At 12:20, I legit heard Erik ask "Do people ship YOU two?" not "Do people ship THESE two?" 😄
14:18 it’s like those videos where professional drivers pretend to be amateur drivers and scare their driving instructors by racing 😂
I love toph as a character so much
Toph is one of the greatest cartoon characters period. This whole show's energy changes from her inclusion
The strongest earth/metal bender has arrived! Gonna be fun to watch the amount of times she’s saved the crew. Fun fact she was originally going to be male.
Bro at least put some some spoiler notice in the beginning of the comment
@@Bonfire18 they are like 4 episodes from the finale on patreon…
@@akdrzllol1698 I know but the people watching this video are not all caught up with the show many people watch an episode then watch a reaction to that episode next
Fun Fact: "The Boulder" is a parody of "The Rock", the character and the "Third person speak", and they actually wanted The Rock to voice the character, to make it complete. But, The Rock declined or was busy at the time, so instead they gotten another WWE Legend; Mick Foley to voice him which was perfect. Considering in The Rock and Mick Foley were tag team partners (briefly) in WWE in the 90's IRL.
Fun fact: The production team tried to get Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock to voice The Boulder, but they were unable to do so, and the character was eventually voiced by pro-wrestler Mick Foley, a good friend of The Rock.
I think with ATLA there's very much cues and hints for you to connect the dots. It's predictable enough for you to figure out the theme during the episodes, but not predictable enough for you to know exactly whats going to happen in the next episode. Eg. I wasnt expecting leaving the cave of two lovers and finding Omashu under the fire nation. Or falling into a weird spiritual swamp the next episode
This is by far my favorite episode of the series. Not only does it introduce my favorite character, but my favorite Bending style has always been Earth Bending, and this episode really focuses on how cool it is
I don’t remember my initial reaction to this episode when it first came out because I was very little at the time (I was probably too excited to care to speculate) but I think part of it is definitely knowing and being familiar with tropes. Toph, and I love her, has a lot of common tropes built into the basis of her story so seeing one can lead to seeing another and it snowball. So ya y’all just watch a load of shows and using your knowledge of media literacy. Huge W
Fun fact: The Boulder was based on Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but he wasn't available to voice the character, so he's voiced by Mick Foley.
12:33 "You sir are heading down a road of comments you do not want to read." Wisdom for the 21st century. 😆
can never watch this episode too many times, the introduction to Toph is always amazing
SS: Literally throws out any theory/prediction that comes to mind in any given moment
Also SS when any prediction comes slightly true: “Are we psychic?”
11:06 I think it does have a lot to do with it being your job. I'm studying playwriting/screenwriting at university and we literally study the patterns. And because it's been my interest, I already sorta could predict things because I watched a ton of things and focused on the plot/patterns
In my opinion this is when Avatar truly gets good
11:24 I guess I know how they feel cuz that's what I see on the shows now. Every show I've watched kind of made me aware of moments and plots.
The Boulder is based off The Rock and was even going to be played by him but due to scheduling he couldnt do it so they got his former tag team partner: Mick Foley
Enter our Earthbender: Toph Beifong.
The Blind Bandit is a master earthbender thanks partly to her heightened senses from the vibrations in the earth, despite the overprotectiveness of her rich parents. Unlike most Earthbenders her movements use a different martial arts style, opting for Southern Praying Mantis style rather than Hun Gar, offering more snappy strikes. Initially though she wasn't the design for the Earthbender of the group, as you may've noticed from the intro, initially they were gonna go with a guy, but they changed the character to a girl since they liked the idea of a small girl beating up the typecast big burly earthbenders.
Toph may emit 'Aang energy' but she is much the opposite of Aang in that she's headstrong, smack talking and ready to fight, but because of that she balances the group perfectly alongside her expectation subversion as the shortest and blindest of the group, the former minusing Momo of course.
The Boulder is more The Rock, but he does have Macho Man-isms. The show wanted The Rock to voice him but his schedule was too busy, so legendary wrestler and former teammate of The Rock, Mick Foley (aka Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack), voiced him instead.
I just came home from a Festival. My throat is sore and my blisters are killing me.
And now I get to enjoy some soup along with your reaction to the best character in ATLA, today is gonna be good💜
Fun fact, the Boulder was voiced by Mic Foley, just ripping on the Rock.
Fun Fact the production team tried to get Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to voice The Boulder, but they were unable to do so, and he was eventually voiced by pro-wrestler Mick Foley
Fun fact, the boulder is actually voiced by Mick Foley, aka Mankind in this show
Thanks!
To answer your question on if it was obvious, it's both. When your channel is reacting to 30 years of entertainment in the span of less than 5, you'll start to see the tricks and tropes they use. But at the same time, any series could be someone's first exposure to a concept, especially when it's meant for families.
I will never, ever, understand how so many zoomers don't get the blatant references the the Rock. He's the biggest moviestar in the world, yet they don't recognize the persona that 1st brought him fame.
The Boulder is based on The Rock. They werent able to get him to voice the character, but they did get Mick Foley (Mankind/Cactus Jack/Dude Love) to voice him instead
FINALLY!!!, in my experience the 3 characters the fandom unanimously agrees are good are iroh, zuko and toph and I absolutely can't wait to see their thoughts on her
if you can read the pattern of events that will occur in the anime/cartoon, it means that your observation haki is at a high level 😅
Earthbending is my favorite of the four disciplines and Toph is a big part of why.
Fun fact Toph is the only character in the series with a last name (excluding legend of Korra). Which is funny Because some of the characters we meet are actual royalty!
The fighters of Eart Rumble 6 are really based on WWE wrestlers, The Boulder being the most evident. They even tried to get The Rock to make the voice, but they couldn't.
Avatar was written in a very simple yet catchy manner. You get invested in the world right away and the characters are well develop as well. Its not about being predictable, its about how they handle world building and character progession. Which is the reason why majority of people loved this series
Just some context for all the ppl:
Aang: 12
Katara: 14
Sokka: 15
Toph: 12
Zuko: 16
Uncle Iroh: never really clarified, but prob. in his 50s
Azula: 14
Mai: 15
Ty Lee: 14
let's go, the most iconic scene in the show introducing the best character in the show
Toph's family is so rich they have a last name
"The Boulder got ABSOLUTELY FOLDED by the Blind Bandit and shall now go home in shame."
I think good cartoons/shows do make the path feel ,, possible to figure out if you’re paying attention, so it’s really not so weird that you can predict certain parts of a show. That’s also testament to the good writing
I mean the helpless blind trope is common in all forms of media and life in general
The Boulder is a parody of The Rock and was meant to be voiced by him but his acting schedule was too busy so they got Mick Foley to do the voice instead.
WOOOOOO
13:33 lol my head hurts cause every time a reaction comes around to this I can't help dramatically mouthing the words with overly aggressive head shakes for emphasis
18:50 and here we goooo
Maybe first thing to not match
17:39 before he changes his mind~
For a show aimed at 9-14 years, guessing plot points shouldn't be too hard.
There is a well known book, and the writer says, humans only have 6 stories (boy meets girl, adventure, etc...) you can mix and match, but we only have six stories, so over time, we understand what is happening or about to happen.
10:39 nah they just spend time setting up things so you’re not confused.
Whenever people talk about aspects of a great character in ficiton, more often than not, characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender are brought up, and Toph is no exception. I’ve commented this before in another reaction to this episode, but Toph has proven and will continue proving throughout the course of the show that she is not your typical princess; people like her parents take her blindness as something making her helpless in society, when in reality, she is a powerful and capable combatant who uses that blindness in such a creative way. (Plus, she’s hilarious almost all the time, just as much as - if not, more than - Sokka) It's genuinely tragic how she was secluded from virtually everyone against her own wishes.
Im actually surprised they didnt see that the boulder is the dwayne “the rock” johnson lmaoo
Toph is actually one of the most powerful earthbenders to exist. There are only two characters that can match her, which are King Bumi and a fully realized Avatar. In fact, she once battled Bumi to a draw in the comics.
So the thing is. This show is written phenomenally well. To the point where it does a lot of showing instead of telling in a way where its still easy to figure out what was meant to be seen. This is why it feels like yall keep calling things, because the show is setting everything up for you to come to these conclusions on your own. It's one of the reasons I love that I see avatar but myself first and just got to understand the entirety of it through the masterful storytelling.
Fun fact: the boulder is voiced by wwf/wwe Mick Foley. "Have a nice day" 👍🏽 🙂
Fun fact: The Boulder is voiced by actual pro wrestler Mick Foley who is channeling Macho Man Randy Savage vibes lmao.
This show is top tier and is what got me into anime and it helped my find my group of friends for 3 years
I love how that last scene shows Toph isn't invincible.
11:00 it's the curse of One Piece. You watch it, you tend to look for deeper meanings and explanation in everything.
All members of the Avatar team is valuable to it, but Toph is exactly that one strength that whole team needed. She one of the my favourite characters in the series.
This is considered to be a turning point in the show. From this episode onwards, the show shifts into high gear with banger episode after banger episode. And as if the show isn't enough of a banger already! Things are going to get really good
I still can't get over the fact this man sent the SAME two guys who just got beat Senseless by toph alone, after her AND the Avatar and damn near master water bender. We're we all not watching the same fight a second ago? 😆
idk how you guys can predict so many details about the show but needed so many episodes to figure out other things about the show wich i could figure out in few episodes as a kid
About calling the predictions, I know I was around 8 years old when I watched this show so I didn’t quite catch the all the dots until the show connected them for me. As adults who watch alot of shows, it’s understandable that y’all have ideas about what could happen so I wouldn’t worry lol
"GOT ME IN THE BOULDERS, BROTHER!" had me ded
Boom's literally the only reactor I've seen catch onto this
On Toph's parents I can offer some insight as a disabled person. It's shame. They're ashamed of having a disabled daughter which is why they hide her from the world. They don't even say she exists and after seeing her fight not only do they have to tackle their ableism and infantilization of their daughter, but also the fact that she's doing something so "improper" like fighting. It would bring a lot of shame amongst nobles if that got out. Also her dad realises she could very easily fight back again st her parents if she wanted to. I love Toph so much and I wish more people talked about the ableism she faces from her own family because it's unfortunately a very relatable experience for a lot of disabled people.
So have we already established that the voice of The Boulder is wrestling legend Mick Foley(Mankind, Cactus Jack, Dude Love). Lol 😆
So, which ever one of you said that the boulder is literally Randy Savage. Thank you for saying that, the Boulder is actually voice by Mick Foley who is paying tribute to his tag partner, Dwayne Johnson.