| Please think about it carefully and decide on your own. This poll will decide about either FMA will be kept on the list or not. |
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| I think FMA is dark ^_^...there are many motives in FMA which show us darkness aspect of anime |
| i would say that it has a pretty much dark atmosphere. with all the blood and some artificial humans (homonculus) So i think it Slightly fits into the dark characteristics |
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| i cannot truly say FMA and a dark anime.even with a the killing and tragic story it lacks a kind quality that true dark anime have |
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| voted no. too much bright colors and comedy. |
逃げちゃ駄目だ。 |
| I definitely think FMA is a dark anime, without a doubt. The beginning of the anime itself has the flashbacks of children going through something horrible and doing something totally insane in a desperate attempt and then besides the physical things that happened to them, the mental problems they developed were huge. Most every storyline that was within FMA had something psychological to it, ranging from poor little Chimera girl Nina to Lust and Scar to Dante, they were all psychological insane. In my opinion, most pschological and dark animes are rarely as long as FMA, so it was necessary to have comedy in there to relieve the tension of the show and to also show you how kind of insane they were because even though Edward was often laughing, he was actually extremely serious and obsessed with what he was doing, but with good reason. To me, FMA is extremely dark and insane and disturbing.. the whole storyline is messed up, and the fact that they actually had succeeded and the whole ending is totally messed up, the scenes with Sloth are crazy... Rose was totally insane, too.. It may have had a lot of comedy, but I really feel that it was necessary since the underlying message and storyline was so dark and serious. Anyway, yeah, that's my opinion... I love FMA and it's my boyfriend's favorite anime.. or one of the top of his, so I feel particularly close to it. <3 |
| Usotsuki. |
| FMA is dark in 2% of all events, and that is not enough. voted no. |
| O.O Eh? That is not true at all... people die in nearly all arcs of FMA, left and right, all the time.. |
| Usotsuki. |
| Well, as much as id like to vote.....ive never seen it....sad huh?....lol |
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| I voted no. FMA has its dark moments but they are not that dark compared to some dark anime. |
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| true..it needs more |
| |
| Okay! If these things aren't considered dark and psychological, seriously.. I don't know what is. |
YandereDec 7, 2007 11:09 AM
| Usotsuki. |
| Definitely not! It's a happy shounen series with some dramatic elements! |
| Overall, its definately -not- a dark series. It has far too many lighthearted moments to be considered dark. I'd definately call it dramatic, albeit overdramatic sometimes. |
lops-sama said: Definitely not! It's a happy shounen series with some dramatic elements! Quoted for truth. It does have some very dramatics elements, like the ones Tifa listed. But despite all those moments, it's still a quite happy and bright series that makes me laugh more often than cry/get scared/whatever a dark series usually maked me do. |
| @ JLS. having lighthearted moments is not a problem. it got tohse dark anime moments. well the whole story is based on such a dark event. and it sure got its dark atmosphere when ever something big happens. if we consider FMA is not DARK. why not death note? u think a shinigami and a death note makes the anime dark O_O? i dont think i have even seen any drop blood in the anime expect for the last episode ( seeing blood is crucial part of a dark anime in characteristic. well atleast i think so) |
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| I don't really like Death Note, but Light is totally insane and out of his mind, so I consider that dark because of how insane he is and the way he thinks.. But, yeah, FMA is far worse, to me. >.> Much more serious insane sick plot than someone writing names in a book. >.> |
| Usotsuki. |
| I should note that "comedy elements" do NOT make anime "Light" Half of dark anime in relation list has comedy or "funny" moments, so why it is considered Dark? Because comedy part is not main aspect of the show. The main aspect of the show is "dark" themes, sad moments and cruel storyline. FMA has all of these. Yes it does have light moments, but since the very first episode, FMA is about all the "forbidden" stuff in "Light" anime... Even the very first episode, as light-hearted as it was, touched a very deep subject - "using the religion to control masses". During its overall run FMA touched such a subjects as "experimenting on humans", "worth of one human", "any means possible", "morality", "what defines human", "psychological aspects of human mind", "depression", and the most important - "the line between sanity and insanity" - each character can be called insane, it depends on the storyline moment.. FMA has one of the most twisted and sick storylines to ever exist. I count FMA as one of these dark anime where light elements are mixed into the overall dark plot. SO i voted yes, its dark. |
AhenshihaelDec 7, 2007 11:33 AM
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| Elfen Lied is good 25% light and comedic... and is also very colorful... does that make it any less dark? NHK doesn't have any blood, and IS a comedy, but that doesnt stop it from being refered to as one of the darkest comedies in existence, same with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I personally think FMA has tons of DARK elements, or more so enough to keep me interested, I think it should stay on the list... but I'm unsure as to whether it is truly in the ranks of true darkness such as Mohiro Kitoh's work |
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| i truly hope other understand what we are trying to say. if the votes go on like this it wont be kept in the list for long |
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| Its kind of dark for a shounen anime. but in general, i dont think its so dark :X |
nihil said: voted no. too much bright colors and comedy. i agree just doesnt have that dark feel to it  |
| |
droesk said: FMA is dark in 2% of all events, and that is not enough. voted no. Yeah I agree, so its also a "no" from me. |
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| I'm kind of surprised to see this vote in all honesty. If FMA isn't considered a dark anime then I don't know why animes like Ayatsuri Sakon and Wolf's Rain are on the list. I can see why they were proposed and personally don't mind them being listed. But if there's going to be a line in the sand on this, then FMA definitely shouldn't be the first to go. In the thread where we talked about what makes an anime dark, some of the common themes were: 1) Character dislikes aspects of self 2) Character has negative or nihilistic world perspective 3) Character has self destructive behavior (any means to achieve ends mentality) 4) Tragic events 5) Violence, Brutality, Death 6) Dark environment (through background colors or through depiction of disturbing, bloody, violent environment) Just think back on the series with each of these things in mind and I'm sure everyone would agree FMA satisfies all of these criteria. If that still somehow isnt enough, then I think we are in desperate need of creating some sort of definitive dark anime criteria for future reference. |
| Not dark. Though I don't really see why this has to have an argument about it, everyone is going to have a different definition, so it should stay the way it is whether everyone agrees or not. I think enough people think it's dark anime that it should stay on the list and attract new members visting the FMA MAL page. |
| No way it's dark. Moitves exposed above for other members. |
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| Okay quick comparison. Compare FMA to something like Serial Experiments Lain.... Then Compare it to Boogiepop Phantom, then compare it to Shigurui... Now someone still say it is dark enough for the list? I'm voting that I didn't find it dark personally but perhaps others may have and would like some reason why it's dark Yes it is dramatic but nothing about it immediately screams dark. Sure there is the war but One Piece has that, and more people died in the One Piece wars than in Fullmetal Alchemist ones. The colours are bright, the characters are more comedic (although not comically dark) and it's typical shounen stuff. So the little girl got owned by her father in name of an experiment, big fucking whoop de doo. Other shounen series have a typical defining tragic moment (that I've seen). And to the person saying Death Note shouldn't be there. It has an adult theme, the mood and atmosphere is dramatic throughout and has various homicidal maniacs that are killing in the hundreds. Murder nice and present (although not glorified with excessive blood) and seems to follow Monster in mystery aspects. Then if Monster gets counted as dark therefore Death Note should too. |
OriginalNameDec 7, 2007 1:36 PM
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| i think only a couple of parts in FMA you would consider it dark, but wouldn't label it as a dark anime! |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| It's pretty dark but compared to some others anime like Higurashi, Gantz maybe even Ergo Proxy or Jigoku Shoujo FMA doesn't look dark at all. Still there are some really great and DARK scenes. I voted Yes |
| No offense but most of the people that vote no don't have very good arguments.... >.> The people that vote yes actually post reasons behind it besides one liners about .. it's not this enough or that enough.. Just saying, actual reasons should count as SOMETHING as opposed to .. empty reasons. |
YandereDec 7, 2007 1:55 PM
| Usotsuki. |
| A lot of us did post reasons. You just don't agree, so you think our arguments suck, which isn't fair. Even if you didn't mean to be rude, surely you must see how that was rather insulting. And seeing how you edited your post, now I must say that it does matter whether it is 'this enough' or 'that enough'; that's how genres are defined. |
MalyrushDec 7, 2007 1:58 PM
| I said 'most' not all, I do not think anyone's opinion sucks.. I just do not think that some of them are very solid reasons is all, they are welcome to them. I want just want them to support their reasons more and explain more. =) |
| Usotsuki. |
| I can try to sum up what I think most of them mean. I don't think we disagree that FMA has dark elements. It's just that its done in a typical shounen fashion, has a *lot* of comedic elements (more than most people are seemingly going to allow), and it still has some undertone of hope to it that most horror, psych, etc anime don't have. I think, like Omega touched on, it's a confusion of dark vs dramatic. |
| I am not going to try to convince everyone, up to them. ^_^ I just meant people were actually going around the really messed up things about FMA with the reasons that I considered not so solid, not all the reasons, but thank you anyway. I also agree that FMA is extremely cheerful, but... I think it has something to do with my age? Well, my age and more the fact that I am also a mother.. so I think I see it differently than someone that wouldn't.. I get really deeply touched by anime that has horrible things happen to children, or when the children are totally insane. I also had an extremely messed up childhood and teenage days (School Days basically reminds me of my life when I was in high school O.o) so I see deeper into messed up things. I don't mean that they mean more to me... I just mean that I think I probably look deeper into them than normal viewers of anime and shows and the like. I am also a writer and have been working on a book for over ten years.. so I think... too much. But, yeah, I have nothing else to add about the insanity of it, I think I said enough. lol. |
| Usotsuki. |
| The mother thing explains it enough for me. I can see how that can affect your viewpoint, but you must also consider that anime productions have already had a huge history of random schisms between age vs portrayal, ie. many animes portray characters that are young, but they neither act nor look it, which makes it hard to really draw any solid conclusions. We are looking at FMA vs the rest of anime, not FMA by itself, which would probably have yielded far different opinions. The writer thing, no. I've written for over ten years myself, and I know for a fact that simply being a writer doesn't make you prone to any certain thing, because all writers are different and trying to say that because you are *this*, you *this* is extremely incorrect. But yes, I've already commented on how everyone is going to think differently and see it differently, but whatever the majority rules is going to be what happens. Since the rest of us aren't parents, or are younger, or whatever, our opinion is of course, going to be different, but none of us are going to be comepletely *right*. I wish you had said you had children earlier, though, I would have understood better. :| Definitely! |
MalyrushDec 7, 2007 2:18 PM
OmegaJudgement said: Okay quick comparison. Compare FMA to something like Serial Experiments Lain.... Then Compare it to Boogiepop Phantom, then compare it to Shigurui... Now someone still say it is dark enough for the list? I'm voting that I didn't find it dark personally but perhaps others may have and would like some reason why it's dark Yes it is dramatic but nothing about it immediately screams dark. Sure there is the war but One Piece has that, and more people died in the One Piece wars than in Fullmetal Alchemist ones. The colours are bright, the characters are more comedic (although not comically dark) and it's typical shounen stuff. So the little girl got owned by her father in name of an experiment, big fucking whoop de doo. Other shounen series have a typical defining tragic moment (that I've seen). And to the person saying Death Note shouldn't be there. It has an adult theme, the mood and atmosphere is dramatic throughout and has various homicidal maniacs that are killing in the hundreds. Murder nice and present (although not glorified with excessive blood) and seems to follow Monster in mystery aspects. Then if Monster gets counted as dark therefore Death Note should too. I'm quoting this for reference as the comparison he makes, although valid, misses the point entirely, just like many of you seem to have missed the point entirely. You focus so much on silly things like colour pallete, comedy, light-heartedness, etc, that you forgot to actually pay attention to the most important thing - the story. I've heard it mentioned many times that this is a typical shounen anime, but I have to disagree. Naruto and Bleach are typical shounen animes - FMA is not. It's actually amusing to see so many people compare FMA to Death Note, and Lain, and the like. You all seem to think blood has to be involved, or insanity, or evil, or a really muted colour pallette, or ominous music. Should I go on? For some reason these have become the norm for an anime to be called "dark", and everyone's fixated on using these to define a show like FMA. FMA is unique in the anime world because there are numerous themes that are dealt with in the show that most people don't really understand the first time they watch it (unless you've been obsessed with something to the point it almost destroyed your life that is - people who are addicted to something suffer from this obsession), and it doesn't simply use these themes as plot devices. The main theme ofthe show was "Obsession", but there were two underlying themes in the show that I want to talk about in particular though - "For the greater good" and "Obligation". These two themes have led to many of the darkest chapters in recorded human history, and they've been responsible for more death, pain, suffering, anger, hatred, etc, than almost anything else. In FMA, the State Alchemists act "For the Greater Good" (this is actually stated in one episode). Edward, Alphonse and Scar on the other hand, act out of obligation. Edward feels obliged to fix things for his brother as he blames himself for everything that's happened (many of you seem to have missed the fact that Edward tends to brood a lot, tends to push himself too much, and tends to push everyone but his brother away - obligation leads to guilt, self loathing, obsession, etc). Alphonse, on the other hand, knows his brother is sacrificing his body and his power to save him, and that the longer it takes, the more Edward is torn up inside. That's why Alphonse feels obliged to cheer Edward up whenever he can, even if it means he becomes depressed and wants to die (again, something that seems to have been ignored by people). Scar is obligated to his brother for saving his life, and to his people, who were killed in the massacre of his town by state alchemists (For the greater good). How can you say a show where massacres happen on a scale that is only seen in the real world is not dark? If that scene had happened in Naruto or One Piece or Bleach, then the big hero would have charged in all guns blazing, removed all the bad guys in a puff of smoke, and saved everyone. FMA is one of the shows where the good guys don't win most of the time, or does Edward have to die and be ressurected x number of times before you call this dark? Want a real lesson in dark anime? Then watch Perfect Blue. Nothing has reminded me of that movie as much as FMA did, even though they're from completely different genres. Seriously though people, dark anime is not about colour pallette, music, comedy content, etc. It seems like many of you payed so much attention to these parts of the anime that you forgot it was all about the story. Okay, there's action and insanity and alchemical hi-jinks galore, but there's the serious side of the story (which is essentially a story about obsession more than anything else - one of the darkest themes that exists). The Philosopher's Stone is the ultimate prize, and even in the real world it's been likened to the Holy Grail or Alexander's Coffin. What would you do for the ultimate prize? How far would you go? How many would you kill? See my point yet. Seriously though, have another watch of it, and this time, pay attention to the story. You may find it to be darker than you believed. |
ArchaeonDec 7, 2007 2:32 PM
| What a day! What a lovely Day! |
| Well, if I had said it earlier, it would have made me sound old. =p I am only 24.. so that might help explaining the messed up part I meant, lol. She is 5, too, so yes. Mm, okay, I will specify the writer part, too. Not that I am just a writer, per se.. that I write fantasy, psychological-supernatural thrillers and my own auto-biography (which most people wouldn't believe anyway, so I don't share it or anything), but yeah, a writer in general is pretty vague. lol. The book I have been working on for ten years is my fantasy novel and I started it when I was basically 11.. the auto-biography I STARTED when I was like 15 .. but I have stopped and restarted it many times, and my regular suspense story that I can never decide on a solid storyline before because I think too many insane things. >.>; No, not one person is definitely going to be right, they are just opinions, but yeah, I am a young mom with one kid, which hopefully explains it even more. =p I look very deeply into.. psychological, traumatic things that happen to people in anime to children and young characters and just everyone.. the more, the better for me.. which sounds wrong, but I find it fascinating because I can usually relate to the insane characters? Okay. I am done ranting. >.>; See. I like writing. Whee, re-edited this and took out the me-part because I don't want anyone being weird. =p |
YandereDec 7, 2007 3:23 PM
| Usotsuki. |
| This has become a quite an interesting discussion lol. And some good reasons for inclusion and exclusion have been put forth. However, where do we draw the line for the anime to be considered dark.. That is something which is perhaps more difficult to achieve as everyone may have a different opinion. Its all well and good to have a set of things which make an anime dark. but unless everyone agrees on it we will always have problems defining dark anime XD. depending on who votes for what. I think FMA does have dark elements in it. but the overall style and definantly colour makes a huge impact on whether it is considered a dark anime. perhaps people are deciding more on looks and percentage of dark content? The "happy/bright" colours and style of the anime are the main reasons why I consider FMA not dark enough. But I am still undecided. Perhaps someone can shed some (darkness XD) or light on this subject and sway my vote off the fence. Apologies for my larger than 2 cents lol ^_^ |
| It's not dark in the sense that is our guild. |
 |
| No apology needed, but you've actually touched on a point I referred to earlier. With FMA, it's the story itself that is dark, yet many people are ignoring this as they're focusing so much on things like colour pallete, music, comedic content, etc. The other aspect is that everyone is assuming that dark has to mean an anime that looks like Death Note or similar. Unfortunately, even though Death Note had a nice look to it, I found it to be an average attempt at creating a dark story. Death Note, like many others, suffered from the stereotype, whereas FMA hasn't been afraid to challenge it. There is no rule that says an anime has to look like Death Note to be considered dark. As several people have said, it's opinion, or rather, perspective, that is the key thing here. In many ways FMA is one of the best "dark" animes I've seen in a long time, as it wasn't afraid to include themes which would normally be considered taboo in most forms of pop culture. The story itself is essentailly about obsession, and there isn't much that is darker than that. Tifa highlighted the episode with the state alchemist using his own daughter to create a chimaera that could talk - thus fulfilling his lifelong dream (obsession). Edward is obsessed with getting his brother's body back. Scar is obsessed with revenge. The Homunculi are obsessed with becoming human. There's a lot of obsessions in the show, but it doesn't simply shunt them to one side or use them as a plot device. The characters are put to the test because of their obsessive behaviours, and some of these test are horrific. There's more than simply this to support why it is definitely a dark anime. I added some more to my previous post so have a think about it. Btw, I thought I should add this. There's a lot of critics out there who slam FMA because they think dark is all about blood or death or pain or romance or some other stuff I can't be bothered to remember. In response to you all I would like to make a suggestion. If you're going to criticise something then do so with an open mind. Many of you have already decided that you don't consider FMA to be dark, but the arguments you put forward in support of your opinion do not actually hold water (NOTE: I said many of you, not all of you - some people have put forward considered arguments to support their opinion). In general the arguments against all seem to be based on colour pallete, etc, which I have highlighted above. Just because an anime does not follow the stereotypical format does not mean it is not dark. Take Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei for example. The darkest character in that show is actually Kafuka Fuura. This is specifically because she can't look at the negative side of things, and someone who is always positive can make any event seem so normal you wouldn't consider it's true horror. |
| What a day! What a lovely Day! |
| i think it is a dark anime. |
 92% of teens have moved on to rap. If you are part of the 8% who still listens to real music, copy and paste this into your signature.... |
| If you look past the goofing-around, you´ll see that FMA is a dark anime. At least, that´s what I think... :P |
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| I'd say it's not dark.. I like FMA |
| I voted no. Simply because the tone of the series wasn't dark. Yes there was some subject matter that was dark but the overall feel of the show was much lighter. And as I write this, I am wondering if Elfen Lied could be considered a dark anime with Lucy's two personalities. Both canceling out the mood set by the other. In-fact, the question of whether or not a series is actually 'dark' could be posed toward most series'. Perhaps we should just leave it alone as clearly we are arguing over another's opinion. |
| Whoever said nothing is impossible, never tried slamming a revolving door.... *BUTTON*!! |
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