Fullmetal Alchemist, Brotherhood: Anime Review

I occasionally watch anime.

Over the past couple of months, I decided to pick up an anime that I abandoned long ago: Fullmetal Alchemist.

The REAL Full Metal Alchemist.

The reason for this was one of my friends told me that the Brotherhood storyline was much better than the original anime's (which draaaaags on forever); and boy, were they right. For the purposes of this review, whenever I mention FMA (Fullmetal Alchemist), I'm referring to Brotherhood.

SPOILER ALERT

FMA: Brotherhood follows the story of Edward and Alphonse Elric, two young alchemists whose father abandoned them early in their childhood and left them to fend for themselves. Their mother dies not long after, and in attempting to bring her back to life via a forbidden form of alchemy - known as 'human transmutation' - Edward loses his left leg and Alphonse loses his entire body. Edward manages to bind Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor at the cost of his right arm, and they go on to become some of the youngest State alchemists in the country.

I won't bother going into alchemy itself, because Film Theory on Youtube has an awesome video on it you can view here:

Mostly awesome. I do not approve of how he seemingly discards the notion that there can be no equivalent exchange for a human soul - because, well, there can't. But that's an issue of philosophy, and we don't need to discuss that here.

END SPOILERS

The overall plot to FMA is very well done. You'd think that since the anime itself is 60-some episodes long that it might get boring, but nope. FMA kept me on the edge of my seat almost all the time - sure, there were a few episodes that might have lagged a bit, but filler in this anime is minimal to nonexistent. It's practically all scrunchy, juicy plot.
Not only that, but the way it develops is smoothly orchestrated as well. One of the biggest climaxes in the series is near the middle, when a lot of mysteries are revealed. After seeing that happen I wondered how the anime would continue to hold on to me. It's normally quite hard to keep someone interested after you've revealed your trump card...yet FMA does just that, keeping the tension strung so tight you can't wait but see how it's all going to end.

The characters in FMA are also interestingly developed and well-rounded. Each has their own set of motivations and unique history. I was intrigued at how the horrors of the Ishbalan war united many characters like Hughes, Mustang, Marcoh, and others, while also providing motives and desires for people like Scar and Kimblee. They don't stay the same throughout the anime, either: they learn and change. FMA is an excellent showcase of good character development.

While having a serious core, FMA also splices in its humor quite well. While I didn't laugh out loud at anything, I did grin whenever Edward got ticked off about being short or when they showed a chibi version of Alphonse. It's a welcome relief to the tension that is present all throughout the series.

Got milk?

The action and visual art style of FMA are splendid, with a good blend of CGI (Envy being the biggest - literally - example) and other animation. The quirks that alchemy brings to the battlefield are intriguing to see unfold, and thankfully alchemy itself isn't truly OP in any sense (unless, of course, you have a philosopher's stone) because of the limitation of Equivalent Exchange. While not all the fight scenes are by-the-edge-of-your-seat battles, most are interesting and well done.

Well done, you say? Coming right up.

Now. While FMA has a lot going for it, there are a few things I don't care for.
Number one: the language. While I can't speak for the dubbed version, since I didn't like the voice acting (bite me), the subbed version had quite a bit of cussing in it - and seeing as how Japanese cuss words are so flexible (just one could have several different English ones associated with it), the language is quite varied. And while I can deal with regular cussing just fine, I cannot tolerate any sort of religious expletives (taking Jesus's or God's names in vain). And there were a few of those. Thankfully only a few, but still...

Secondly, there was a bit of innuendo that could have been done without. I have discussed in detail just how much I love fanservice, and how great it is, and how vital it is to the plot, and...please just get rid of it. Is that too much to ask?

Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and never will watch harem anime.

Lastly, FMA does kind of drag on just a teeny bit. I realize I praised it earlier for keeping me on the edge of my seat, but more than 60 episodes can get rather long. It could definitely have shortened the plot by a reasonable amount. But this is not really a fault so much as it is a personal preference. I'm sure people enjoyed the amount of content 60 episodes can bring.

In short, FMA gets almost full marks from me. The plot is interesting and well put together, the characters are deep and very developed, the action is intriguing and satisfying, and the whole thing looks great. Coulda done without some swearing and innuendo, but what can you do. Take the good and discard the bad.

8/10, should definitely watch. Peace out.

Your Lie In April: Anime Review

I occasionally watch anime.

Love is a strong word.

Yeah, okay, okay, maybe I watch it a little more than I let on. I'll be perfectly honest; the only reason I watched this anime was because a friend of mine whose opinion and intelligence I value highly suggested it to me, so I felt obligated to see it.

And I hate it.

Well, maybe hate is a strong word. I dislike it. And here's why.

SPOILER ALERT

Your Lie in April is about a fourteen year old boy called Kousei Arima, a pianist who has mommy issues.

It probably didn't help that his mom didn't have eyes for half the show.

No, but seriously, he has some bad mommy issues. Like his mom abuses him and makes him stay up late and/or go without eating so he practices piano. She dies of illness fairly early on, and Kousei is left to fend for himself because his father is out on business trips. Bad parenting, much?

It is revealed later in the anime that his mother was just extremely concerned about how Kousei would earn a living after she died, which is why she pressed him so hard. But that does not excuse the abuse she heaped on him. You are a terrible parent, madame.

Anyway. Kousei meets this girl called Kaori Miyazono, a violinist, who helps him get out of the trench of his depression and inability to play the piano (ever since his mom died, he apparently can't hear the sound of the piano). He learns to express his feelings through how he plays, and becomes one of the most successful pianists in the world.

I think. The anime cuts short right after (Major spoiler alert) Kaori dies of illness. Which you can, admittedly, see coming from miles away - but the anime does its absolute darnedest to keep you in denial until the very end.

END SPOILERS

Here's where I dislike Your Lie in April. I sat down with it for a nice cup of tea. I looked it in the eye and said "I dearly hope this is going to be worth it." Your Lie in April gave me a smug look and said, "GIVE ME YOUR FEELS."

I said, "No."

We then engaged in a furious tug-of-war, sometimes with me winning and sometimes with the anime ripping them feels right out of my hands and grinding them into the cold, hard ground, laughing while it did it.

KAMEHAMEFEELS!

That's reason #1 why I don't like it that much; Your Lie in April is so obviously tugging at your heartstrings it's painful. Admittedly, that's the point - it's a dramaish - but I do not like it when media begs for my emotional investment to my face.

Reason #2 I don't like Your Lie in April: teen drama. I hate teen drama. I used to be part of teen drama, and to some extent I still am, seeing as how I have a few teenage siblings. But what I especially don't like about teen drama is when 14 year olds get into relationships. Seriously? You're fourteen. This is not the time, nor the place, nor most definitely the person. Stay away. Stay far away.

You don't love him/her. You've fallen in love. That's emotional love, the kind of love that flickers and eventually fades. You need unconditional love, and you're far too young to understand how that works.

Reason #3 I don't like Your Lie in April: type of anime. I'm not into slice-of-life/musical/romantic dramas, which is why I hated Pride and Prejudice so much (just take away the 'musical' and add 'airheaded' in there). I'm more an action/adventure, thriller, mystery kind of guy. 

Ultimately, though, all those reasons come down to mostly personal preference. Your Lie in April is a great anime. The characters have great depth and development, the art style is amazing, the story enthralling (I watched all 22 episodes in one day - don't worry, I still had time for work) and the music enchanting. 

It's a solid, well put together show, and if you don't have the preferences I have, you should definitely watch it. Just because it's not my type doesn't mean it isn't an outstanding piece of media. Even if it isn't your type, you probably owe it a watch anyway. It's just one of those classic-genre works, like Pride and Prejudice or The Scarlet Letter. You may hate them, but they're still masterpieces, and they still deserve recognition.

10/10, give me my feels back.

Peace out.

K: Return of Kings - Why it's Not Worth Your Time

I occasionally watch anime.

By occasionally, I mean I have a watch list (most of which is suggested to me by friends and/or family) and I sometimes get around to watching some of what's on that.
So here's my thoughts on an anime that I watched only the first episode of - "K: Return of Kings". As you might guess by the title, I was not impressed. I was curious about this anime mostly because I'd seen it in several AMVs (Anime Music Videos - watching and collecting them is a favorite pastime) and thought it looked cool. So I put it down as a might-watch.

Well, let's start off with all the things I disliked about this anime from the first episode, and the first episode only.


1. Confusing plot
You don't generally want your viewers to have almost absolutely no idea about what's going on in the first episode of the series. That's when you want to explain things. And they do - but when I mean 'do', I mean they throw a couple darts in the plot's general direction and don't really care about where they land. You're left not really knowing what the deal is and where things are supposed to be going.

2. Confusing visuals
I am mostly referring here to the camera angles they choose. The first part of the episode is a big knock-down drag-out fight between two rival clans, and if you're motion sick I don't suggest watching it, as you may vomit. The cuts between scenes are also rapid and choppy.

3. Low-budget animation (it seems)
The animations for the characters are also seemingly choppy, as if the technology had gone back to those days in Disney where you had to hand-draw every movement. Heck, those days were probably smoother than the animation seen here. 0/10, get some CGI software or something.

4. Ridiculous fanservice
I've discussed how vital and important fanservice is to an anime, and how much I love it, and of course this anime has one female character that somehow manages to get shot (camerawise) in all the best angles for her...assets. Not to mention that her proportions are ridiculous past the point of insanity. Also chest physics, anime. Not going to lie, this character is the biggest reason I noped out after the first episode.


I will give credit to the anime for having a neat art style, and the concept (from what I could gather) was kind of interesting as well. There were too many problems, however, to overcome my urge to stop - and to be honest, I'm disappointed. It probably improves later on, but I doubt that some points (like 2 and 4) do.

So don't watch it.

You're welcome.