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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

This story is about a pair of brothers, namely the Elric brothers. The older Edward elric, while the younger Alphonse elric. When they were young they live in a peaceful and small town of Rizenbool. Their father had left them when Alphonse was born. And from then they lived with their mother till a few years later when both brothers left the village to follow their teacher to learn the art of alchemy. When they completed their training, the returned to the village only shortly after that, their mum passed away due to a serious sickness. Edward held a grudge to their father, as he knows that his mother has been waiting for him from the day he disappeared mysteriously. Then, both brothers tried to resurrect their mother with the forbidden part of alchemy, human alchemy. The experiment failed. Not only did they create a monster, they paid the price of equivalent trade. In the laws of alchemy, you only receive if you have sacrificed the very something of the same value. Thus as a price for practicing the forbidden art, Edward lost a leg while Alphonse was pulled into another dimension. In order to not lose his brother, Edward attached his brother’s soul to nearby armour using the blood seal. With that, Edward paid the price of losing an arm. Alphonse awakens in his Armour and bring his brother to their childhood friend, Winry. Winry is an automail mechanic and attaches a mechanic arm and leg to Edward. Thus from there, the brothers set off on their journey to regain what they had lost, their original bodies. Edward decides to become the state alchemist, as serving the state enables him access to official information and he can thus carry out individual studies. From there, he travels with his brothers and get caught up in many problems. They face the Ishbal riots, meet homunculus (the soulless yet human like form that evolves from people who experiment with human alchemy.), and then discover the truth of the philosopher’s stone…watch the anime for more information!!! Its funny, mysterious, exciting, interesting and sometimes even touching...

Rating

10 (excellent)

Art

The art of this anime is visibly different from regular well known anime like Saiyuki, rurouni kenshin or even inuyasha. It may be different, but it is nonetheless very appealing. The characters just sort of grow one you. There are time in the anime whereby the background takes up a darker tone. The setting of the anime is kinda like a semi modern civilization. And the details are very well taken care of. The state building located in the central is very impressive and shows the dominance of the military over the country. When the Elric brothers travel to poorer parts, the tones get darker and darker. Not onli that, the Ishbal citizens-the ones that area discriminated- are very well drawn. It becomes very obvious to viewer why they were discriminated. With their blood red eyes and slightly darker coloured skin, this become the most recognizable trait of the Ishbal people. Therefore the verdict…well done!!

Rating

8 (good)

Sound

I think the voices of the character match them very well...although i think alphonse's was a little too girlie for my liking. I totally enjoyed the part whereby edward defends his height...haha...Very very enjoyable music. My personal favourite would be the song that plays at sad moments which is called Brothers. It is sumg in foreign language. The first set of opening and closing themes of the anime-Melissa and Kasenai Tsumi- has become a favourite among the viewers. The series has a total of about 4 sets of different op and closing. However, if you ever get a chance to d/l or buy the cds...do pay attention to roy's image songs...i thorough enjoyed them. They were sung by the seiyuu himself and there is even one done as a duet btw roy and hawkeye...very funny!

Rating

9 (very good)

Presentation

Boy...the humour is there!! It is more obvious in the beginning of the anime before things start to get more complicated. I think the story is quite original and I especially like that the homunculus was named after the seven deadly sins. Lust, sloth, greed, gluttony, wrath, pride, envy. Very sleek indeed. Alchemy itself is by far a very intriguing subject for me. Not only that, I agree about the rules of alchemy. Especially the part about equivalent trade. In the anime, we get to look at science versus religion, racial discrimination, fights between authority for power and many many more issues. The show is very enjoyable as the revelations come one by one. It is at a rate whereby the audience can digest it slowly. Plenty of killing is involved thus it is clearly not very suitable for a younger crowd. The alchemy is divided into different kinds for different individual. All alchemists share the same basics and skills. But as the explore deeper, they soon find their niche. Roy is known as the flame alchemist. He is able to control fire. Edward handles with metal. He is able to change the shape of metal into any weapon of his choice. There are also many other kinds shown in the anime. Such as, the bomb alshemist, biological alchemist, strength alchemist (Mr. Louis Armstrong for that matter…am I right?), plant alchemist and many more. Very interesting.

Rating

9 (very good)

Final Verdict

9.17 (very good)

Reviewed by animefreakzzz, 2y 47wk ago