fullmetal alchemist - brotherhood: THE MOST AMAZING ANIME EVER!!!
So, yeah. I love Brotherhood so much. I love it so much I'm tearing up at the thought of no new material to watch. I'm regretting that I finished this in one week, but I couldn't help it. I just kept clicking episode after episode, and before I knew it, I was done.
I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the Fullmetal Alchemist and friends all over again.
I love the manga Fullmetal Alchemist. I read it when I was just first discovering the beauties of manga. It was my first shounen, and I read it right after Hana Yori Dango, which was my first manga.
It was one of the best damn stories I've ever read. It was funny and upbeat, it was sad and sentimental, it was triumphant, and it was tragic - sometimes all at the same time. The protagonists were flawed and dark, but they were also optimistic and filled with hope. The villains were evil and they didn't give a damn about killing willy-nilly, but I felt for them when they died. Within their own twisted morality, they cared and loved and suffered.
I glomped the first 90+ chapters in about a week - I just couldn't stop reading. I admit, it fell off my radar once the wait for the new chapters began. I'd started Bride of the Water God and Kuroshitsuji by then, both of which have extremely pretty art, and I was busy with school stuff. I checked back several months later, once it was done. I read the remaining chapters in one sitting.
And then I mourned the fact that this was it, this was the end. No more new adventures for the Elric brothers. No more cute panda moments with Mei Chang and Shao Mei. No more shippy moments with Roy and Riza (why the hell didn't they get together?).
Life moved on. I stayed away from the first anime because it deviated too far from the manga's story. I feared I wouldn't like it. I am now considering checking it out. Brotherhood is the second anime. I've heard that the latter is the better adaptation, not only for its plot, but also for its art and music, among other things. I can't really compare.
The Story
Fullmetal Alchemist is the story of two brothers roaming the country of Amestris, searching for a way to regain their bodies, which were lost/ruined as the result of a failed experiment to bring back their dead mother. It is the story of their father, who seeks to prevent from happening now the same apocalypse that destroyed his people. It is the story of a group of soldiers desperate to atone for the mass murder of an entire race that they were ordered to carry out. It is the story of amazing men and women who would do everything in their power to make their world a better, safer place. It is a story of redemption, of second chances, and of living life full of hope.
Like I said, it is one of the best stories I've ever read.
The plot of Brotherhood hews closely to that of the manga, and this is one of the instances where an adaptation is made better by its faithfulness to the source. The anime has captured the charm and energy of the original manga, but has a certain freshness to it. The plot, while familiar, doesn't seem like a mere repetition.
I noticed that there were some distillations done. Some side stories were removed, and some just given brief mentions. The whole coal mine thing, which took a few chapters (if I remember correctly) in the manga, is just a humorous flashback here. I don't mind. The story is leaner and tighter, and altogether more focused on the central storyline. Despite being 64 episodes long (longer than any other anime I've watched but shorter than most shounen), Brotherhood feels like one movie.
The Animation
... is pretty. The use of colors is particularly masterful - for example, the vibrant shades for the idyllic Risembool and other rural areas, and the sepia with glowing eye colors for the Ishvalan war. The art is amazing and the animation is smooth.
The Music
I love the music for this series. All the opening/ending credits songs are pretty epic. My current favorite is Tsunaide Te by Lil'B, which has a sort of traditional Asian music feel to it, but I love the others too. The background music is also epic. One track that stands out is Lapis Philosophorum, the creepy Latin chant.
I love how the opening and ending themes, specifically Shunkan Sentimental (the fourth ending theme) and Rain (the fifth and last) were used as part of the storytelling. The opening riffs of the former were used to accompany whatever coolness/epicness ended the episode (i.e., Roy Mustang reading a secret message from Riza; Riza and the rest of Roy's men gearing up for battle). The latter was conspicuously absent in certain episodes. In episode 61, Rain didn't play until about half-way into the episode, right after a baby cries, signalling the return of life to Amestris. In episode 63, it plays right after Hohenheim dies, accompanying a montage of his life.
Yeah, I cried during that montage.
The Voices
This is the English dub I watched, so I can't really judge the Japanese one, except that Ed and Al's very girly voices bothered me so much there that I decided to look for the dub.
I like the dubbing for Brotherhood. The voices fit the characters well, from the sultry and seductive Lust to the (presumably) pre-pubescent Al (played by a girl, but trust me the voice can pass for a young boy's). I think it really helps that the characters are meant to speak in English in the first place. The dubbing gives credibility to Amestris as an English-speaking nation.
But what I really want to talk about is the voice for the smexy, smexy Flame Alchemist. Which is all deep and manly and smexy
Actually, I just want to talk about the smexy, smexy Flame Alchemist in general.
This is where I fangirl over Roy Mustang
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That intense stare! That smooth, commanding air! That deep, sexy voice! OMG, that hawt, hawt voice!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can seriously watch a show called The Flame Alchemist for the next ten years, even if it consisted of nothing but him and Riza.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot call their relationship dysfunctional because they work so well together, even with the whole Ishval thing and all the guilt that came after. They can communicate with each other with just eye movements! They know and understand each other so well, and it's so obvious they're in love with each other.
And they didn't even kiss or declare love or anything onscreen. All we know from Word of Mangaka is that they would've been married by the epilogue if it weren't for some stupid anti-fraternization law.
WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME? I haven't shipped a couple this hard since Harry/Hermione during the Three-year Summer, and this time I do know that Roy and Riza are meant to be. I mean, there's all the hugging and cradling he does when her throat got slashed. And then the look he gives her when she awakes after being healed...
How is this not meant to be?
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Ed/Winry, and I think Al/Mei Chang is cute, but seriously, Arakawa, couldn't you have thrown us rabid Roy/Riza shippers a bone? Because really.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And so my supposed-to-be coherent attempt at explaining my love for FMA has devolved into incoherent fangirling over Roy Mustang and the unfulfilled love he shares with his subordinate Riza.
*sighs*
One of the things FMA has got going for it is that it has one main story arc, and it was finished as soon as that arc was done. There was no dragging to the point of boredom, no repetition of plot to the point of exhaustion. FMA avoids the major pitfall of a successful shounen manga (i.e. endless extensions) by having a contained storyline. The mangaka clearly knew the story she wanted to tell, and planned it so that the execution would take only as long as it needed to.
The sad thing is, no shounen manga I've read has ever matched up to the sheer brilliance of Fullmetal Alchemist. After watching Brotherhood, I don't think any anime can top it. I think FMA is like the manga/anime version of Harry Potter to me, to a lesser extent. It got me interested in manga, particularly in the shounen genre. *sighs* I wish all shounen were as good. I think I'll re-read FMA again some time soon, to relive the magic of reading that manga all over again.
I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the Fullmetal Alchemist and friends all over again.
I love the manga Fullmetal Alchemist. I read it when I was just first discovering the beauties of manga. It was my first shounen, and I read it right after Hana Yori Dango, which was my first manga.
It was one of the best damn stories I've ever read. It was funny and upbeat, it was sad and sentimental, it was triumphant, and it was tragic - sometimes all at the same time. The protagonists were flawed and dark, but they were also optimistic and filled with hope. The villains were evil and they didn't give a damn about killing willy-nilly, but I felt for them when they died. Within their own twisted morality, they cared and loved and suffered.
I glomped the first 90+ chapters in about a week - I just couldn't stop reading. I admit, it fell off my radar once the wait for the new chapters began. I'd started Bride of the Water God and Kuroshitsuji by then, both of which have extremely pretty art, and I was busy with school stuff. I checked back several months later, once it was done. I read the remaining chapters in one sitting.
And then I mourned the fact that this was it, this was the end. No more new adventures for the Elric brothers. No more cute panda moments with Mei Chang and Shao Mei. No more shippy moments with Roy and Riza (why the hell didn't they get together?).
Life moved on. I stayed away from the first anime because it deviated too far from the manga's story. I feared I wouldn't like it. I am now considering checking it out. Brotherhood is the second anime. I've heard that the latter is the better adaptation, not only for its plot, but also for its art and music, among other things. I can't really compare.
The Story
Fullmetal Alchemist is the story of two brothers roaming the country of Amestris, searching for a way to regain their bodies, which were lost/ruined as the result of a failed experiment to bring back their dead mother. It is the story of their father, who seeks to prevent from happening now the same apocalypse that destroyed his people. It is the story of a group of soldiers desperate to atone for the mass murder of an entire race that they were ordered to carry out. It is the story of amazing men and women who would do everything in their power to make their world a better, safer place. It is a story of redemption, of second chances, and of living life full of hope.
Like I said, it is one of the best stories I've ever read.
The plot of Brotherhood hews closely to that of the manga, and this is one of the instances where an adaptation is made better by its faithfulness to the source. The anime has captured the charm and energy of the original manga, but has a certain freshness to it. The plot, while familiar, doesn't seem like a mere repetition.
I noticed that there were some distillations done. Some side stories were removed, and some just given brief mentions. The whole coal mine thing, which took a few chapters (if I remember correctly) in the manga, is just a humorous flashback here. I don't mind. The story is leaner and tighter, and altogether more focused on the central storyline. Despite being 64 episodes long (longer than any other anime I've watched but shorter than most shounen), Brotherhood feels like one movie.
The Animation
... is pretty. The use of colors is particularly masterful - for example, the vibrant shades for the idyllic Risembool and other rural areas, and the sepia with glowing eye colors for the Ishvalan war. The art is amazing and the animation is smooth.
The Music
I love the music for this series. All the opening/ending credits songs are pretty epic. My current favorite is Tsunaide Te by Lil'B, which has a sort of traditional Asian music feel to it, but I love the others too. The background music is also epic. One track that stands out is Lapis Philosophorum, the creepy Latin chant.
I love how the opening and ending themes, specifically Shunkan Sentimental (the fourth ending theme) and Rain (the fifth and last) were used as part of the storytelling. The opening riffs of the former were used to accompany whatever coolness/epicness ended the episode (i.e., Roy Mustang reading a secret message from Riza; Riza and the rest of Roy's men gearing up for battle). The latter was conspicuously absent in certain episodes. In episode 61, Rain didn't play until about half-way into the episode, right after a baby cries, signalling the return of life to Amestris. In episode 63, it plays right after Hohenheim dies, accompanying a montage of his life.
Yeah, I cried during that montage.
The Voices
This is the English dub I watched, so I can't really judge the Japanese one, except that Ed and Al's very girly voices bothered me so much there that I decided to look for the dub.
I like the dubbing for Brotherhood. The voices fit the characters well, from the sultry and seductive Lust to the (presumably) pre-pubescent Al (played by a girl, but trust me the voice can pass for a young boy's). I think it really helps that the characters are meant to speak in English in the first place. The dubbing gives credibility to Amestris as an English-speaking nation.
But what I really want to talk about is the voice for the smexy, smexy Flame Alchemist. Which is all deep and manly and smexy
Actually, I just want to talk about the smexy, smexy Flame Alchemist in general.
This is where I fangirl over Roy Mustang
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That intense stare! That smooth, commanding air! That deep, sexy voice! OMG, that hawt, hawt voice!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can seriously watch a show called The Flame Alchemist for the next ten years, even if it consisted of nothing but him and Riza.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot call their relationship dysfunctional because they work so well together, even with the whole Ishval thing and all the guilt that came after. They can communicate with each other with just eye movements! They know and understand each other so well, and it's so obvious they're in love with each other.
And they didn't even kiss or declare love or anything onscreen. All we know from Word of Mangaka is that they would've been married by the epilogue if it weren't for some stupid anti-fraternization law.
WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME? I haven't shipped a couple this hard since Harry/Hermione during the Three-year Summer, and this time I do know that Roy and Riza are meant to be. I mean, there's all the hugging and cradling he does when her throat got slashed. And then the look he gives her when she awakes after being healed...
How is this not meant to be?
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Ed/Winry, and I think Al/Mei Chang is cute, but seriously, Arakawa, couldn't you have thrown us rabid Roy/Riza shippers a bone? Because really.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And so my supposed-to-be coherent attempt at explaining my love for FMA has devolved into incoherent fangirling over Roy Mustang and the unfulfilled love he shares with his subordinate Riza.
*sighs*
One of the things FMA has got going for it is that it has one main story arc, and it was finished as soon as that arc was done. There was no dragging to the point of boredom, no repetition of plot to the point of exhaustion. FMA avoids the major pitfall of a successful shounen manga (i.e. endless extensions) by having a contained storyline. The mangaka clearly knew the story she wanted to tell, and planned it so that the execution would take only as long as it needed to.
The sad thing is, no shounen manga I've read has ever matched up to the sheer brilliance of Fullmetal Alchemist. After watching Brotherhood, I don't think any anime can top it. I think FMA is like the manga/anime version of Harry Potter to me, to a lesser extent. It got me interested in manga, particularly in the shounen genre. *sighs* I wish all shounen were as good. I think I'll re-read FMA again some time soon, to relive the magic of reading that manga all over again.