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Plot Synopsis

"You can't gain something without sacrificing something else of the equal value. This is the principle of the equivalent trade."

The story takes place in an alternate world from ours in the early 1900's. Two young brothers, older Edward Elric and younger Alphonse Elric, live with their mother Trisha in the small village of Resembool. Their father left home when they were still very young, but Ed and Al inherited his passion for alchemy.

1909. On a fine day, Trisha dies of an unknown illness, leaving her two sons orphans. Ed blames his father for Trisha's death and wants to find a way to bring her back to life. At this time, Ed was 10, Al 9. When Edward finds out about flesh forging in an alchemy book that belonged to his father, he engages in an intense training with Al in order to be able to perform a human transmutation.

On February 1910, the Elric brothers cross the forbidden line trying to resurrect their mom. The attempt ends in a complete failure. In the process, Ed loses his left leg and Al his whole body. In a last try full of despair, Ed uses alchemy to restore his brother's spirit putting it in a suit of mail, at the further cost of his right arm. When Al wakes up in the armour, he suddenly realizes what happened and takes his unconscious injured brother to the neighbours, the Rockbells.

After that day, the two decide to embark on a journey to find the legendary Philosopher's Stone, rumoured to create anything from nothing, in hopes of getting back their original bodies.

Story & Characters

The story started off slow. The first couple of episodes were mostly used to introduce the characters and ideas that would later on become the "meat" of the story. Like many anime that finds its roots in drama, FMA has tragedy after tragedy that propels the character developement of all the characters but especially of the Elric brothers.

We see the story begin to pick up speed (time wise) somewhere in the second quarter of the series. The time frame that the story takes place begins to propel forward focusing more on the development of the ideas presented in the beginning of the series. The Elric brothers mature both physically and emotionally. Alphonse doesn't really change physically since he is basically a suit of armor. It was a little annoying to see a boy/man always crying when the world showed its ugly side buy Edward was crying at the end of most episodes.

The end of the series trys to tie up most of the loose ends that it has created with their deeply philisophical base. The end did seem a little rushed but not so much where you would feel that there were lots of things being left out. Once they start revealing certain details about their world and how it works, you begin to sit back and think about what is really trying to be said. It's a welcome curve ball from the writer/mangaka because we all like anime that forces up to think a little.

The finale was a little disappointing since it felt like a cliffhanger. This would be my only gripe with the series. You feel that there should be ONE more episode to finish it but alas there isn't. There is a movie coming out but we will have to wait till that comes out to see what they do. The series could be lighthearted one moment and moving the next. That is what made this series so interesting to watch. All in all, the series makes me want to see more adventures and philisophical thought from the FMA world. It made me sad to see it end since I looked forward to each episode.

Rating

7 (above average)

Art

The drawing style is very close to the manga which was nice for fans since many times the studios will take creative license with character designs. The modeling seemed OK until later on in the series when things became darker, at which point they got better. Then the light srouces and color of lighting played an even more important role. All of those things were executed well and the studio should be proud. One of the most memorable scenes would have to be in the beginning when the Elric brothers try to transmute their mother and some "thing" appears in her place. That mood, modeling, lighting and color all contributed to the horror felt at that moment.

Rating

7 (above average)

Sound

The voice acting (in Japanese) seemed to fit very well. From the commanding voice of Mustang which also had a soft touch at times to Alphonse prepubesent voice. The most diverse Seiyuu would have to be Paku Romi (Airmaster, Gakuen Alice, Samurai 7) who voices Edward Elric. She started off the playful boy (which Ed was) and then slowly progress to the more emotion monologues (about life, equivalent trade, etc...). The slightly high-pitched and cracking voice fit the adolescent voice of Ed, the older brother bearing the sins of the brothers on his shoulders.

I think the highlight, soundwise, would have to be the opening and ending themes. The music fit the theme and the animation within the OP and ED were very fluid and went well with the fast paced intros and slow endings. Bands such as COOL JOKE and Asian Kung-Fu Generation contributed j-pop/j-rock to the anime that really sounded like a soundtrack tailor made for the series.

Rating

8 (good)

Presentation

The story was pretty original in the fact that it starts out like any other anime but delves deep into the philosphy of life and its consequences. The humor, when presented, was a nice break from the heavier drama found later on in the series. The animation was detailed when needed and was fluid for the fight scenes (which I tend to be picky about too). The color scheme always matched whatever mood was trying to be set.

Having watched a few episodes of the US release, I would have to say that I feel somewhat disappointed. Everything is the same....except the voice actors. Perhaps it is because I've seen the Japanese version first but the voice the US used don't seem to fit the characters well. The inflection in their voices seem bland at best. That is probably why I choose the original over the dubbed version

Aside from this one point, it truly was an enjoyable series to watch. It felt like forever while waiting for the next episode to come out. Again, the ending felt somewhat disappointing to me because it was a little to open ended. We, as observers, had gone through everything with the Elric brothers and, on some level, wanted....no, NEEDED some kind of closure which I think wasn't given to us. Hopefully the movie answers some of those few, but annoying, lingering questions we fans have.

Rating

8 (good)

Final Verdict

7.50 (good)

Reviewed by artgeek12, 3y 34wk ago