Moon Knight Weirdly Just Settled The Oldest Anime Debate
Warning: Contains spoilers for Moon Knight episode 1.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s status as an anime has long been debated—an argument that may have been settled by, of all things, Marvel Studios' Disney+ original series Moon Knight. Since the two shows have nothing to do with each other, anything Moon Knight has to say about Avatar isn’t automatically a conclusive statement. However, the nature of the statement, and the nature of Moon Knight itself still works to add a sense of legitimacy to it.
Since its conception, there has been heavy debate among fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender about whether or not it’s okay to call it an anime. The show has a lot of overlap with anime thanks to its art style, animation, and its use of Asian cultural themes and aesthetics. The biggest counterpoint to the idea has been that anime is typically viewed as a product of Japan, so Avatar, being made in America, may not count because of that. Not only that, but other acclaimed cartoons with anime-style art such as The Boondocks and Teen Titans aren’t usually grouped with anime, so there’s an idea that it doesn’t make sense for people to pick and choose what does and doesn’t count as anime.
Related: Moon Knight Episode 1 Easter Eggs & Marvel References Explained
That debate has been going on for years, and oddly enough, Moon Knight episode 1 might have settled it. When Arthur Harrow is telling Steven Grant about how the goddess Ammit was betrayed by her avatar, Steven jokes about James Cameron’s Avatar, and when Arthur tries to correct him, he then asks if he means the anime—which, given the context and general history, could only mean Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not only that, but by specifically calling it an anime, Moon Knight
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