So, here is my fiftieth review . I didn’t think I would live to see this number. Honestly, when I started writing reviews, I expected that I would give up somewhere in the top ten. But time passed, and the desire to write reviews did not disappear. And I hope that it won’t disappear soon. For this special occasion, I decided to choose a special anime. I seriously consider it the best anime that has ever appeared , and in this review I will try to fully substantiate my point of view. Anime has gained an army of fans all over the world, and this is definitely not an accident. It can be recommended for viewing by absolutely everyone: both experienced anime fans and people who have not watched anime at all. Of course, I'm talking about Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (“Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood”, “Fullmetal Alchemist [ TV -2]”) .
Brief information (not brief this time)
I’ll start, perhaps, with the chronology of the release of works in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe, since this point can cause confusion. If you are interested in knowing everything in great detail, you can read the huge article on Wikipedia. I will touch on the most interesting and important points:
1). It all started with a manga authored by Hiromu Arakawa . The first volume of the manga was published in 2001 in the Shonen Gangan magazine, owned by the famous company Square Enix (which, for example, released the Final Fantasy series of games). The manga was published monthly for almost ten (!) years, the last volume appeared in June 2010. A total of 27 volumes were released. At first, the manga did not sell the best, so it was decided to release an anime based on the manga, which usually helps to increase sales.
The plot of the manga (like the anime) tells us about the Elric brothers - Alphonse and Edward . The action takes place in a fictional country called Amestris , in which alchemy is a very real science, widely used by skilled wizards. However, greater power can easily lead to serious consequences. The Elric brothers violated the main prohibition of alchemy : they tried to resurrect their dead mother. As a result of the failed experiment, Alphonse lost his entire body, and Edward lost one leg. By sacrificing his right arm, Edward was able to attach his brother's soul to a huge metal suit of armor. Since then, the brothers' main goal has been the search for the philosopher's stone, which, according to legend, has incredible magical power, sufficient to return Edward's lost limbs and Alphonse's body. To achieve their goal, the brothers join the ranks of state alchemists.
2). In October 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime began airing . The anime was produced by studio Bones . The anime consists of 51 episodes, which is why it was broadcast for an entire year, with the last episode airing in October 2004 . The peculiarity of the anime is that only its first half corresponds to the plot of the manga . This is primarily due to Hiromu Arakawa's desire: she allowed the anime writers to work on the plot independently of her, and even asked them to come up with a different ending for the anime that did not correspond to the manga. Arakawa was satisfied with the film adaptation . In addition to the ending, there are other minor differences between the anime and the manga, but I won’t dwell on them. Fullmetal Alchemist has been repeatedly recognized as an extremely successful anime by many reputable publications. The desired effect was fully achieved, because manga sales increased tenfold . As of 2013, 61 million manga volumes have been sold worldwide. Crazy number.
3). In 2004 based on Fullmetal Alchemist began to be published , the plot of which is a branch of the manga plot. The main characters remain the Elric brothers, who go in search of the philosopher's stone. A total of 10 light novel volumes have been released, the last of which was published in 2010 . Some chapters of the light novel were filmed in anime.
4). In 2005 , Studio Bones created the full-length animated film “Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa,” which is a direct continuation of the events of the anime series. The author of the original story was the same Hiromu Arakawa (an amazing person after all). The film takes place in our world in post-war Germany. Most of the characters from the series appear in the film, plus a couple of new ones appear.
5). Finally we come to the goal of my review. In 2009 , Studio Bones attempted to re-film the manga, and the anime Full M etal Alchemist: Brotherhood was born. It was broadcast from April 2009 to July 2010, and consists of 64 (!) episodes. The main difference from the first film adaptation is that the new anime follows the plot of the manga in almost everything . The actions of the characters differ from the 2003 film adaptation, and most of the storyline is also different, and, most importantly, the ending. If Fullmetal Alchemist was often criticized for its crumpled ending, then the ending of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is almost unanimously called ideal. And, of course, the 2009 film adaptation features many new characters not shown in the first film adaptation. The anime was extremely successful, and once again increased manga sales.
6). Among other things, a huge number of computer and console games have been released based on the Fullmetal Alchemist universe, most of which are representatives of the RPG (Role-playing game) or fighting genre. It’s not surprising, since these genres are the most popular in Japan, and the studios that produce the games (including Square Enix) focused mainly on the Japanese audience.
The author of the manga deserves special mention, because he is truly an unusual person. Hiromu Arakawa is a mangaka whose real name is Hiromi Arakawa. This is a woman who took a man's pseudonym to draw manga, which is a very common practice. She was born in a rural area and raised with five sisters. This is why Fullmetal Alchemist has so many rural scenes and so much emphasis on the importance of family and caring for orphans. Hiromu began creating Fullmetal Alchemist at the age of 28. Despite her fairly young age, she took up her work with all possible seriousness. Before starting work on the manga, Hiromu read medieval alchemical treatises, talked with refugees, war veterans and yakuza, and also watched many documentaries on various topics. Thanks to this, she was able to very accurately depict many global problems, such as genocide, dictatorship, cruelty and the futility of any wars. In general, the mangaka did a tremendous amount of preparatory work.
With this, I propose to complete the introduction to the Fullmetal Alchemist universe. It's time to move on to the review itself.
Family
Edward Elric is a young alchemist. A guy of average height, with blond hair braided and yellow eyes. Very talented and smart. He dislikes his father for leaving his family. Having lost his right arm and left leg during an attempt to resurrect his mother, he was forced to master auto-prosthetics. He loves his younger brother immensely and is ready to do anything to return his lost body to him. He reacts extremely violently to humorous remarks about his height. He has difficulty restraining his emotions, which is why he often gets into rash skirmishes. Devoted to close people, values life. Became the youngest State Alchemist.
Alphonse Elric is Edward's younger brother. A blond-haired and light-eyed youth, but taller than his closest relative. Because of this, Al was often perceived as older. Being attached to the huge knight's armor, the guy's soul became even more closed. Alphonse's gentle character is manifested in his love for his brother, friends, and animals. Especially for cats. He is also a master of alchemy, and develops his skills as events progress. Excellent in hand-to-hand combat. The Elrics are inseparable in all adventures.
Van Hohenheim is an ancient alchemist and the father of Ed and Al. From his blood, the first homunculus was created, called Father (the character is present in the manga and anime produced in 2009). The latter taught Hohenheim literacy and alchemy. Their bodies are filled with the souls of the inhabitants of the ancient state of Xerxes, sacrificed to create the philosopher's stone.
Characters
From the very first minutes, a treasury opens before you, sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow. I have never seen such a number of high-quality, diverse and well-developed characters anywhere else , and I’m unlikely to see them soon. What struck me most was not even the fact that there are really a lot of characters. This is hard to surprise anyone today, especially after watching Naruto and Bleach. The most striking thing is that there is not a single passable character . Even minor, even any tertiary hero carries a piece of meaning that Hiromu Arakawa wanted to convey to us. And that's really cool.
It is difficult to single out anyone in particular, since each character deserves special mention, but in this case the review will increase in volume tenfold. Therefore, we will go over only the most important ones.
First of all, these are, of course, the Elric brothers. The anime correctly maintains the balance of screen time: on the one hand, they really act as the main characters, they are given a lot of time and their characters are gradually revealed, and on the other hand, at the right moments the emphasis is transferred from the Elric brothers to other, less important characters. Due to this, the effect of full disclosure of the main characters is achieved without oversaturation. They just don't have time to get bored. If we talk about Edward Elric, then his character allowed us to insert a large number of funny situations into the anime. Alphonse receives a little less attention, but it is his character that adds variety to the anime due to the contrast with Edward's character.
The main character is Winry Rockbell . Childhood friend of the Elric brothers, they were raised together. After a failed attempt at human transformation, Granny Rockbell took the Elric brothers into her care. Seeing that Edward had lost an arm and a leg, Winry began intensively learning the craft of creating auto armor - functional prosthetics that could well replace lost limbs. She devotes her whole soul to her favorite work, and as a result reaches the heights of excellence. A very likable character: a fair, kind, and beautiful girl who combines a number of other positive qualities.
The secondary characters are in no way inferior in their thoughtfulness to the main characters. Moreover, some minor characters play almost a greater role in the development of the plot than the Elric brothers. Offhand I can name a couple, Roy Mustang and his assistant Riza Hawkeye , or a tough mulatto who takes revenge on the alchemists, nicknamed Scar . According to many fans, Riza Hawkeye is the best female character in the series, which is not surprising. It’s simply impossible not to fall in love with her.
Of course, one cannot fail to note the excellent, original villains whom Fullmetal Alchemist was nicknamed “ homunculi .” The Japanese love to use in their works, including anime, the story of the Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony , Wrath , Pride , Sloth , Lust , Greed . , Envy . In the case of Fullmetal Alchemist, such a concept of villains fit very harmoniously into the main storyline; the scriptwriters even came up with a plausible and interesting story for the appearance of the homunculi. In addition, not all villains in anime represent unambiguous and irrevocable evil. Sometimes the main characters, for one reason or another, team up with homunculi, thereby further enlivening the already cheerful narrative.
Close
Winry Rockbell is the same age as Edward. Tall, cheerful blonde. Since childhood, she has been a close friend of the brothers who lived next door. Both were in love with her, however, she sympathizes with the older one. The girl is the hereditary creator of auto armor - mechanical prostheses that have been manufactured by her family for several generations. Winry is quite strong physically. Has a sympathetic heart and willingly helps those in need. He is very kind to his metal offspring and does not tolerate damage to them. He is well versed in anatomy and often helps out heroes.
Izumi Curtis is a very talented alchemist and an incredibly beautiful woman - strong and formidable. She was a strict teacher of the Elric brothers and taught them a lot. Once she tried to resurrect her dead child, but lost many internal organs. He experiences deep mental and physical pain, but tries not to show it.
Plot
Before watching Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood , I was sure that it was impossible to create a rich, interesting anime consisting of more than 20-30 episodes. After watching such long-term projects as Naruto and Bleach, my confidence in the correctness of the previous statement only strengthened. However, Fullmetal Alchemist proves the opposite by his example: among the 64 episodes you will not find a single passable one, not a single one that is drawn out or boring. The most important thing is that the anime hooks you from the very first minutes , so you don’t have to endure several hours of plot development before interesting events begin. First of all, this is the merit of the manga - it provided an exceptional script for the anime, take it and shoot it. And we must pay tribute to the screenwriters: they did not spoil the quality material, and even embellished it in their own way, and this is worth a lot considering modern realities, when studios over and over again spoil promising scripts with their mediocre implementation.
The plot is made as balanced as possible: funny moments alternate with dramatic ones, the problems raised are presented in such a way as to make the viewer think about them, but not overwhelm them with their scale. And their scale is truly enormous: starting with issues of genocide, and ending with the immortality and futility of any wars. What can we say about problems of a smaller scale, such as corruption of officials or hunger among the poor population, of which there are hidden in bulk in each episode. Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood is intended not only to entertain or squeeze out tears, but also to make the viewer think with their lazy heads about problems that are usually afraid to mention.
Happy ending and living characters
The creators of the anime “Fullmetal Alchemist” pleased their viewers well. If we analyze the second season (“brotherhood”), then of the positive characters only Edward’s mother, father, friend Roy, the Rockbell family and Nina died. Almost all the positive characters remained alive, and even after the plot ended, their happy lives were shown.
For some, a happy ending may seem banal and canonical, but as practice shows, most viewers expect just such an ending, because it’s nice to believe, even as an adult, that good will definitely defeat evil.
Panache
Even in the 2003 version of Fullmetal Alchemist, the art was at a fairly high level, let alone the 2009 version. In Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood, the image quality does not cause any complaints: everything that could be improved was improved by the artists, without losing the style used in the manga. The character design is especially admirable: each character looks original and is easily distinguishable from any other. Clothes and faces are drawn with great attention to small details. The animation of the fights is done carefully and dynamically.
State Alchemists
Roy Mustang is a fire alchemist. In the army of the state of Amestris, where the main events take place, he has the rank of colonel. He is a stately, dark-haired young man with an intense gaze. Extremely reserved, tries not to show emotions. At the same time, he deeply experiences the events during the war in the state of Ishvar, in particular, his own crimes against humanity. Only his closest friend and secret lover Riza Hawkeye knows about his true feelings. Edward Elric serves under him.
Riza Hawkeye is Roy Mustang's assistant and personal bodyguard. A young woman with blond hair and dark eyes, she is athletic and very collected. Excellent handling of any type of firearm. Worried about the horrors of the civil war in Ishvara. However, he does not leave the army to prevent such a nightmare from happening again. She deeply empathizes with Colonel Mustang, with whom she is also secretly in love.
King Bradley - Fuhrer of Amestris. One of the oldest homunculi (Pride - in the 2003 series, Wrath - in the 2009 version), created on the basis of a human being. A handsome, dark-haired man, he wears a mustache and an eye patch covering his left eye. The body succumbs to aging. The Hidden Eye has the gift of absolute vision. Skillfully wields sabers. Dreams of giving real life to all homunculi. Has a wife and adopted son. Quite humane, with a sense of humor.
Alex Louis Armstrong is a major in the alchemist army with incredible physical strength. At the same time, the giant is extremely sentimental and kind-hearted, he loves to capture people he likes in a steel embrace and expose his torso, demonstrating the power of his muscles. The Armstrong family is very ancient, and the strong alchemist is proud of it. Very attached to the Elric brothers.
Music
The music is definitely awesome. First of all, this can be seen in the openings and endings. Each individual opening and ending is a small masterpiece with excellent synchronization of melody and picture. The background music is in no way inferior to them, and enhances the overall effect of the already strong plot. More than two and a half hours of symphonic, guitar, piano and violin music is a real gift for anyone, even the most fastidious ears.
Flaws
No matter how hard you try, it will be difficult to find significant flaws in Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood . Yes, some may not like some specific episodes, some will complain about the large amount of humor, which prevails over the number of dramatic and serious moments, but all these comments are nothing more than nit-picking. In addition, in terms of humor, the anime is entirely guided by the manga, because according to Hiromu Arakawa’s idea, her manga should first of all entertain people, and secondly, make the reader think about the problems raised. Therefore, in my opinion, it would not be wrong to call Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood an anime devoid of any shortcomings.
Ratings
Characters – 10.0. You will meet such a number of beautifully written, deep and unconventional characters very, very rarely. Great supporting characters, especially the villains.
Plot – 10.0. The manga behind the anime is exceptional, and the writers managed to use the material given to them to the fullest.
Drawing – 10.0. Seven years have passed, but the art is not outdated at all, and still pleases the eye with bright backgrounds, beautiful characters and animation of battle scenes.
Music – 10.0. I've already run out of epithets to describe the soundtrack. You just need to hear it, then any questions will disappear by themselves.
Issues – 10.0. I've never seen an anime that even comes close to Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood . Anime raises simply a huge number of pressing problems of human society.
Humor – 10.0. Unobtrusive, but truly funny. And absolutely not vulgar. Exactly what you need to dilute the serious atmosphere.
There is a choice between endings
This is exactly what is so often missing from many viewers. It seems that the plot is interesting, the characters are unusual, but the end is approaching, and there is an unpleasant aftertaste in the soul, “something is not right.” Naturally, it is difficult for the creators of anime, or any other work, to please absolutely every viewer so that he is 100% satisfied with the ending. But there are 2 types of film adaptations, the Fullmetal Alchemist himself and the “brotherhood”. The plot is 50% similar in both versions, the main characters are the same, alchemy, homunculi, Edward Elric's goal is still the same, the denouement and the end itself are completely different.
Screenshot of the first adaptation of the manga "Fullmetal Alchemist"
Therefore, there is an opportunity to watch both seasons and decide for yourself which one you liked more. As audience reviews show, the majority were happy with the ending of the “brotherhood”.
Screenshot of the second adaptation of the manga "Fullmetal Alchemist"
