Finished Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Two brothers lose their mother to an incurable disease. With the power of "alchemy", they use taboo knowledge to resurrect her. The process fails, and as a toll for using this type of alchemy, the older brother, Edward Elric loses his left leg while the younger brother, Alphonse Elric loses his entire body. To save his brother, Edward sacrifices his right arm and is able to affix his brother's soul to a suit of armor. With the help of a family friend, Edward receives metal limbs - "automail" - to replace his lost ones. With that, Edward vows to search for the Philosopher's Stone to return the brothers to their original bodies, even if it means becoming a "State Alchemist", one who uses his/her alchemy for the military.

Episodes: 64 | Aired: April 5, 2009 to July 4, 2010 | 

Genres: adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy, mystery, psychological | Main Cast: Rie Kugimiya (Edward Elric) and Romi Park (Alphonse Elric)

Director: Yashuro Irie | Original Creator: Hiromu Arakawa | Music: Akira Senju 

[PER EPISODE POST AT HYPER PARFAIT]

~* See All Posts Related About This Series *~

[OVERALL IMPRESSIONS]

What happened to the the 0.5 parfait?

I will definitely miss blogging about this anime. This has been the longest anime that I have followed ever since Hyper Parfait started. FMA has been one of the pioneer anime being blogged by me, so this ending is a little bit sentimental for me. I know there are episodes that I have been lagging behind but that is all because of my very hectic schedule in my real life. However, FMA is always on my priority list once I get permitted by time to watch and relax. 

I guess what you want to ask is why did I give such an epic anime an overall rating of 4.5 parfaits? It's all because of the ending. Ever since the first ever FMA anime, I am always against with the ending that Ed will loose his ability to use alchemy. For me, Ed has been known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, so I prefer an ending of him living up to his own title. Things would have been better, at least for me, if that is the case for the ending. 

Though the ending didn't really satisfy me to my heart's content, all other aspects of this anime are perfectly amazing! The anime also ended with closure with all of the characters (though I want to see Fuhrer President Roy Mustang to be in action. HAHAHA) and each episode have proven to be considered as the best. Bones didn't fail me with the quality of the anime and the effects that each episode incorporates. 

I also would want to commend the staff of the anime for beating the calendar of finishing the manga, and at the same time finishing the anime. Not all manga-turned-anime series can do that but FMA showed that it is really possible. I can just imagine how hectic their schedule is, maintaining the surprise element with the release of the final chapter and at the same time, the airing of the final episode. I bet it is not easy to juggle around the different tasks and activities that the staffs need to do just to deliver their work. 

As for my favorite character, it will always be Roy Mustang. May it be the first adaptation or the second, Roy's personality always captures my attention. He's a total crack but he is stamped with seriousness all over. He has ambition, he has a goal, he has a direction that he wants to take and that direction determined Bevery action that he took throughout the series. Though this goal also includes having all female military members wear mini skirts. HAHAHAHAHAHA. 

I also feel that I need to give a special mention to Greed, my most favorite homonculus. If there's one thing that I learned from him, small greediness might not be too bad. Sometimes, good Greed can take us to our dream, to our aspirations in life. But similar to Greed to wanted to have friends and comrades, it is still important to remember that you have people in your life who support and care for you. Definitely, Greed is one of the characters that I will surely miss. 

I think Brotherhood should be seen uniquely with the initial adaptation of the story. I do like the first one where a different flavor was added. More human emotions and human twist and turns were added like Lust and Dante (Scar's brother), Sloth as Ed and Al's homonculus' mom, Wrath as Izumi's son and etc. It will be a lot easier to sympathize with their own stories, if you base on the first version of the anime. But now that FMA Brotherhood came, a different twist was taken and this time, the badasses are areally badasses, no doubt about it! It gave the viewers contentment and excitement, especially to those who are non-manga readers.

Lastly, I wanted to thank Arakawa-sensei for creating FMA. Aside from its major shounen feel, FMA managed to touch other themes for its storyline which are all very compelling in nature. There's still the issue of Hoenheim which is also a good recurring problem throughout the story. I am glad Hoenheim died contented and happy and that he finally achieved what he is looking for: mortality. 

This will not be really a goodbye for FMA, yet. After the airing of Episode 64, it was announced that a movie is in the works and sooner or later, we get to see our characters back in action. But until then, Ja Mata, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi.