Anime Hajime Review: Fullmetal Alchemist (300th Review Special Part 1 of 2)

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fullmetal Alchemist. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

To obtain something, one must be willing to give up something of equal worth. This equivalent exchange is the fundamental principle of alchemy. A skilled alchemist can perform feats of miraculous proportions. Yet there are some things where the costs are unimaginable. A reality that becomes all too apparent for brothers, Edward “Ed” (voiced by Romi Park) and Alphonse “Al” (voiced by Rie Kugimiya) Elric.

After losing their mother, the boys decide to perform alchemy’s most forbidden technique. They try to bring their mom back from the dead. However, this act is forbidden for a reason.

The brothers fail in their attempt. In the process, Ed loses his left leg and his right arm. Al loses his entire body. Ed manages to tether his brother’s soul to an empty suit of armor, thus saving his life. Burdened with sin, the two dedicate themselves to restoring their bodies.

Their task appears insurmountable. That is until they learn of an object with the power to circumvent equivalent exchange; the Philosopher’s Stone. Yet, the stone’s mere existence is debatable. Information regarding it is scarce. Few even have access to what clues there are. That is with the exception of a select group; the State Alchemist.

The brothers know this is their only chance. Against the odds, Ed manages to become the youngest State Alchemist in history.

On his journey to restore his and Al’s form selves, Ed earns quite the reputation. Across the land, he becomes known as the one and only Fullmetal Alchemist.

Series Positives

There are two things I want to say.

The first, it’s hard for me to grasp 300. To think, there have now been that many reviews on this site. This includes multiple Top Tens, Out and About’s, and Impressions. When posting my first review, Anime Hajime Review: Seitokai Yakuindomo, this milestone was unimaginable.

As it was happening, the journey to this point never felt long. It never felt like time was passing. I have just been doing something I have enjoyed. Something to pass the time. To have my hobby turn into what it has become, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t proud.

For fun, I did some math. If we assume there are twelve twenty-four minute episodes a series, that’s 288 minutes per show. Multiply that by three hundred and the result is a little mind-boggling. We get a grand total of 86, 000 minutes. Or if you’d prefer, 1, 400 hours. If we don't account for sleep, we’re talking sixty days’ worth of anime viewing. 

Granted, there have been plenty of series which didn’t come close to our assumption. Yamishibai, Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken, and Space Patrol Luluco to name a few. Plus, the movie reviews are their own story. Ghibli Month alone has a considerable effect. Also, there were the posts that didn’t require watching much of anything. Anime Hajime Impressions: Shelter covered a five-minute song. And Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was a video game, the only post of its kind for me.

However, there have been several series that double our working runtime. Not to mention the beast that was Sailor Moon which capped in at two hundred episodes. Fullmetal Alchemist itself was fifty-one.

I bet the actual total is even higher.

The point is, it feels like we have only gotten started. In reality, though, we’ve traveled far. And it will only get bigger from here. For those who’ve been around since the beginning, those who are new, and everyone in between, thank you.

The second thing I want to talk about has to do with the topic at hand. This is more a disclaimer than anything. This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen Fullmetal Alchemist. I've never sat through the whole series before. But I do recall enjoying this show when it first aired on Adult Swim back in 2004.

This was a viewing mixed with the unknown and nostalgia. It was interesting to realize how much of this show I had watched. It was also humbling to realize how much I had remembered wrong.

In case you’re asking yourself, the answer is no. This is a situation unique to this version of Fullmetal Alchemist. I’ve not seen a single minute of Brotherhood. Wondering how the two series compare is a bit maddening. What if the next one's worse? Or more exciting, what if it’s better? The latter possibility will make for a particularly hard task. This one was pretty damn good.

Right off the bat, Fullmetal Alchemist never felt long. I can’t stress enough how impressive that is. Don’t get me wrong, it took me three days to get through the whole thing. Yet, the only reason my mind was on the clock was to ensure I went to bed at a decent hour. It was easy to lose track of time. Credit to the show, that was a concern I disregarded the closer I got to the end.

It wasn't a challenge to engross myself into this series. The pacing of Fullmetal was amazing. If you let yourself get lost in the story, you won't realize when ten episodes go by.

It was rare when it felt like something had little importance. And never did anything have zero importance. Everything had a role. Events from episode one impacted the events of the concluding episodes.

Airing in an era before online streaming, Fullmetal Alchemist is a series to marathon. There are a ton of details you need to keep track of. Although, that's not a bad thing. This series’ continuity was a sight to behold. Despite knowing a few things, this show overpowered my expectations.

This series was fun. Comedy and silliness had a place. Don’t let that fool you though. This show got dark. I wouldn’t say graphic, but there was blood. There was violence. People died and death was never that far away. There was nothing that was safe.

For example, there was a development I had pushed out of my mind since my original viewing. Once I saw a certain character again, it was like a punch to the gut. The events that played out were horrifying, sad, and downright sickening. But holy hell did it make for some fine storytelling.

Fullmetal Alchemist had a point. It had something it wanted to tell. Because of that, where the story chose to focus made this series a different kind of beast.

Characterization

There was action in this show, but this was not an action-oriented plot. This series didn't jump from fight to fight. Battles and faceoffs weren’t as common as you would think. Fullmetal Alchemist is proof a story doesn’t need physical conflict to remain fascinating.

Not once was this show boring. Never did it drag. Even the episodes that came off as filler were fun. The reason for that had to do with the absurd amount of personality given to each character. 

This series’ soul was its cast. Rather than giving us a lot of flash, this story gave us a lot of heart. We learned who everyone was. I can’t remember the last time there were so many characters whose safety I cared about. On the reverse, I don’t know the last instance when there were so many characters I thought needed to be stopped.

When there are casts, especially big ones, filled with people I like, I try to focus only on the best of the best. I often give the reasoning of “we’ll be here all day” to avoid detailing every single person I found enjoyable. That’s not going to work here. It would be wrong not to mention these people. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll make it as brief as I can, but here are, in no given order, some of my favorite characters of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Winry Rockbell (voiced by Megumi Toyoguchi) was better in the second half of this series. By that I mean she played more of a role. While I’ll admit she was out of place traveling with the brothers, I get why she was around. Ed and Al were her family. She cared about them. Though the boys may not have acknowledged it, Winry was the strongest connection to a home they had.

Scar (voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu) was frustrating. Not in a bad way. For one, he was dangerous. I wouldn’t call him a villain in the sense of evil. He was an antagonist no doubt. But he was more misguided than anything.

Scar's reasoning for his actions wasn't  complicated. It wasn't hard to understand why he did the things he did. His frustrating nature came from was how unmovable he was. What he wanted to do was as bad as what happened to him and his people, the Ishbalan’s.

This series dealt with persecution in an important way. The State military’s treatment of the Ishbalan people was genocide. Yet even while hunted, the Ishbalan’s devotion to their religion did a lot of damage. They would ostracize their own should anyone break from the group mindset. Scar embodied this. The blatant hypocrisy was depressing because it's not a concept fiction made up.

Second Lieutenant Maria Ross (voiced by Mitsuki Saiga) shocked me by how fast I grew to care about her. She became like an older sister to brothers. She didn’t have to go as far as she did. But the fact that she did, made her words of encouragement more genuine. Ed was quick to go off on people. Lieutenant Ross was one of the few who could calm him down.

The other person who could do that was First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye (voiced by Michiko Neya). Although “calmed down” may be the wrong phrase. She wasn’t the kind of person you disrespected. Not to say she was mean or hard-nosed. More like she was invaluable. She was such a source of clarity. Her presence and quick thinking de-escalated problems before they got out of hand.

Lust (voiced by Yuko Sato) was by far the most compelling of the villains. She did not care about the welfare of others. She had no qualms about killing out of necessity, enjoyment, or both. At least Scar had a few things that held him back. If Lust didn't kill someone, it was because she could still get some use out of them. Over the course of the series, her situation became clearer. It didn’t excuse what she did. It only put it in perspective.

Wrath (voiced by Nana Mizuki) had the most heartbreaking of circumstances. There were people willing to help him. Yet like his namesake implies, there was a lot of anger inside him. The type of anger that kept him on the path of least resistance. Of the villains, he was the one I felt the sorriest for.

Captain Maes Hughes (voiced by Keiji Fujiwara) is a character I’ve remembered since I saw Fullmetal over a decade ago. Having at last seen his full story, I appreciate him much more. He was the kind of person you would want as your friend. He would have your back. Despite his lacks attitude, he was a good soldier.

I’ll also admit, Captain Hughes' unapologetic love for his daughter got obnoxious. However, there was no way anyone could say otherwise. He was an excellent father and husband. I respect that.

We’re getting to the end and I’ve saved the two best for last. They are Izumi Curtis (voiced by Shoko Tsuda) and Colonel Roy Mustang (voiced by Toru Okawa).

Izumi was the only type of person who could have instructed the Elric brothers. She was a hard ass and not someone you crossed. Yet she was kind. She had a big heart and would go out of her way to help people. The only thing bigger than her compassion was her skill as an alchemist. She was one of the most powerful characters of the series.

Not to mention, Izumi was integral to my absolute favorite scene of the entire series. It proved one critical point. Though rough, violent, and demanding, she loved her boys very much.

Colonel Mustang should have been in this show more. Situations operated under his plan. Given all the behind-the-scenes shadiness that was going on, he was the wild card. It was a mistake to underestimate what he was capable of.

You could tell the Colonel was working with experience. He carried quite a bit of weight on his shoulders. Had it not been for people like Lieutenant Hawkeye and Captain Hughes, Colonel Mustang would never have gotten to his position. But when he got there, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Would you believe I’m not done? These were the secondary characters. How can talk about Fullmetal Alchemist with bringing up the mains?

The Elric Brothers

Ed and Al share the title of lead. This was their story. Nothing happened that involved only one of the brothers. Their link was their greatest power. They supported each other in battle and when their journey turned not so pleasant. They were two parts of a whole. Each had strengths and weaknesses that complemented the other.

Ed was more proactive. He was the first to jump in and help. His adaptability and resourcefulness made him difficult to read in a fight. Yet it was his “punch first, ask questions later” attitude that got him into trouble.

Ed’s biggest flaw was his tendency to overinflate his maturity. Quick to anger, his foresight didn’t reach that far. In combat, this gave him an advantage. Too bad it wasn’t hard to trick him into a situation he should avoid. His hot headedness made him manipulatable.

Al, on the other hand, was much more level-headed. He sought diplomacy rather than conflict. Tending to see the good in everything, he brought a lot of compassion. Ed may have wanted to do the right thing, but Al’s methods were more palatable.

Unfortunately, this made Al the more gullible and naive of the two. He was sometimes too trusting. Also, given his situation, he had to deal with a lot of inner doubt Ed could begin to imagine. Enemies could get into Al's head.

All this made the brothers that much better as a team. Together they could match and beat more experienced foes. Where others tried bearing heavy burdens on their own, Ed and Al had each other. And if you threaten one, you called down the might of both.

Series Negatives

This section will be shorter. Part of that has to do with the overall solidness of this series. That and this show's problems had more to do with specific issues and not general themes.

I mentioned this was not an action show. Characters were the priority. That said, the action that was here was my least favorite part of Fullmetal Alchemist. Why, because of alchemy. Magic based in science is still magic. The possibilities are limitless.

Why then did the fights feel so limited? Ed was able to use alchemy without a transmutation circle. Not many people could do that. The entire world was his to change. To have his fights be a straight up slugfest was a bit of a waste.

Of the things to remember about this series, the action is not one of them. The saving grace, this wasn't the point of the story. Except there was no reason for this show to be so reserved in this aspect.

Next problem, Fullmetal Alchemist was too silly towards the end. This was when everything was starting to come to ahead. Making jokes and having fun is fine. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m saying silliness. If you’ve seen any slice-of-life anime that’s the kind of thing that was uncalled for. It didn’t feel right.

Then there was another joke that, in retrospect, was a little insensitive. There were times when Izumi would cough up blood. The first few instances were used for comedic effect. I’m not going to say I didn’t laugh. Once the story revealed why this was happening to Izumi, it left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn’t a joking matter. It was heartbreaking. Why would you think making this funny was a good idea?

Credit where it’s due, once this got revealed, it was no longer used as a joke. Yet it should never have been one, to begin with.

The third problem, the ending was weak. It dealt with the true nature of alchemy. A neat concept. Too bad once explanations got involved, things became more confusing. Certain details explained things that were apparently issues. Except I didn’t know they were things that existed. They just showed up. For how compelling this show was, this ending relied a lot on the goodwill that it built up.

The final problem, the main villain. This person was underwhelming. When compared to the homunculi, their leader was the one thing this series failed to deliver on. This character had nothing. It made no sense why this person was the big threat. They felt shoehorned in and I don’t know why.

The good thing was, this character wasn’t in the series that much. That might explain why they were so forgettable. But their lack of existence gave us Fullmetal Alchemist. That’s a decent trade off if you ask me.

Final Thoughts

It feels nice to have finally watched this series. It’s been over a decade in the making. It also makes it a little more special that this would be my 300th review.

Well, there’s that and the fact this series was great.

A handful of issues aside, this story is phenomenal. It takes the time to flesh out its characters and make them into people worth caring about. The struggle of the Elric brother has solidified itself in anime as a high point of the medium.

If you haven’t already, you should absolutely check this one out. Fullmetal Alchemist is one of those series that is a much watch.

So, while this review may be over, the celebration isn’t. Come back Friday for the second part of this 300th Review Special. Join me as we take a look at Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

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