Nivenus at the Desk IX: Fullmetal Alchemist and A Wizard of Earthsea

[nivenus]

Ah, sweet rest at last! As summer did, winter vacation kept me more than busy between buying presents, starting my novel, writing my 4e D&D campaign, and dealing with financial issues. But you know all about that, from my last post. Now that school’s started again (in the optional Winter semester) I, ironically, have time to do these reviews I’ve

Comments

[prisoner__24601]

I'm not a fan of anime. I'm not sure if I'm just too western, or too old, or if the art just throws me off - but usually when I watch it, I get the feeling that I'm just not it's target audience, and that 90% of what people find cool about anime just goes completely over my head.

For instance, I watched part of Cowboy Bebop, and I just didn't get why people thought it was so awesome when I found it kind of annoying and boring (especially the character of Spike - who I think was supposed to be the epitome of cool, but seemed kind of like a lame douchebag to me).

I mean, I occasionally watch movies like Howl's Moving Castle or Spirited Away and enjoy them, but usually, I just run like hell.

But out of sheer curiosity, I checked out the first few episodes of Full Metal Alchemist from the library a few weeks ago, and I was totally shocked at how good it was and how much I enjoyed it (although I maintain that the opening song is pure wtf crackyness). I've only watched like five episodes, but the potential for a really good story arc

Glad to hear you like it

[nivenus]

Like I said about the opening music - it's an acquired taste. Since about three years ago when we had a Japanese exchange student living in my house I've been exposed to a ton of anime (though what I've been exposed to is still a miniscule fraction of what's actually out there) so I've sort of developed an attachment to the wacky style common to anime music. That said, some music is better than others and I'd easily take Bebop or GitS:SAC's soundtrack over Fullmetal's any day - it's not the main reason I like the show.

Miyazaki's also unusually talented, though I don't like all of his stuff (I wasn't a big fan of Howl's for instance), so it's not a surprise that anyone who normally avoids anime like the plague would enjoy his work. He's rightfully the giant of the industry.

Anyhow... back to Fullmetal. The sibling relationship, as I said in my review, is one of the best parts of the show, as well as how the characters develop. While I can say there are hints of romance it doesn't develop any further than... let's say... the romances

[joysweeper]

Hey, Nivenus.

Have you seen the FMA movie, Conqueror of Shamballa? It takes place a bit after the series and resolves a few things. Sort of.

The TVTropes Wiki calls what happened a Gecko Ending, when the anime overtakes the manga and ends there instead of taking several filler arcs.

I've heard that a new TV series is starting in April. Ought to be interesting.