In the twenty-sixth episode of The Pop Culture Lens podcast, Christopher Olson and I welcome friend of the podcast and return guest, Aaron Kashtan, to discuss the immensely popular hit from the early 21st century, Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008).

In this episode – which at times features poor audio due to issues with Skype, for which the co-hosts apologize – Aaron and I address the question of whether or not the series can be called an anime. This conversation focuses on the issues of being a transcultural and transnational media text, and if the series represents a form of cultural appropriation or just cultural appreciation. Overall, the series’ status as being a part of a transmedia storyworld becomes the final point, as it spawned comic books, a sequel, and a doomed film adaptation.

As always, you are encouraged to become a part of this conversation by replying to this post or visiting any of the podcast’s social media sites. You can also talk with Christopher Olson on Twitter (@chrstphrolson) and at his academic blog seemsobvioustome.wordpress.com. And you can talk to CarrieLynn Reinhard on Twitter (@mediaoracle).