- Last OnlineJun 4, 2022 3:10 AM
- GenderFemale
- JoinedOct 23, 2016
No friend yet.
Also Available at
RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Jul 22, 2017
This show made me laugh, cry and feel sick. Although it is very plot-driven, the characters were appealing enough, the fighting was well done, and several hard themes such as cival war, identity, humanity and the strong bond between two brothers were woven into this much appealing story. The Alchemy element really adds to the whole and could well serve as an example for the scientific progress, including its ethical side. The plot is complex, confusing at times, but well-told. Every time you think you get the story, it becomes more complicated and makes you wonder if there is an end to the revelations.
This
...
is the first anime that I have encountered where within a few episodes a child that you actually care about, dies. I do not like drama for the drama, but this occurence fits well within the story that the writers wanted to tell us: the human deficit when it comes to choices of life and death and all the trauma that it depicts, while on the other hand the question rises how to remain and act human.
Ed and Al are brothers who have committed a terrible sin. It hits back in their face multiple times during the series but also gives them a strong drive to do what they do: Ed being a State Alchemist, or rather, a dog of the military, and his younger brother Al supports him. Their main goal is to get their bodies back.
The result of their terrible sin, which they committed to bring their beloved mother back from the death, is that Ed misses his right arm and left leg, and Al is no more than a soul bound to a suit of armor. Ed's missing limbs were replaced by automail, granting him the name of Full Metal Alchemist.
The two brothers are supported by a range of people from the military and foreign countries. As the serires is mostly plot-driven, the characters seem to fit somewhere in this plot. I have to note here that although this may reduce the versatility of each character, I believe that in real life there is not much room for this versatility anyways, as the common goal or the greater good demands certain behaviour. Luckily, the writers included some great plot twists for us.
Another good part of this series is that the line between good guys and bad guys is basically non-existent. It fits very well with the shows` themes on the ethcial issues from life and death choices. The 'bad guys' here are no more than the rebels with a personal story that drives them to do what they do, no more than Ed and Al. There is Scar, from the adjacent country of Ishval where a massacre took place, the Homunculi that are named after the seven sins, and royalties from the adjacent country of Xing. They all have their own goals and are willing to fight for it.
Somehow I never like movies or series with a strong accent on the romance and I was happy to discover that FMA has some subtle, developing romances. The relationships between Ed and Winry (childhood friend of the brothers and automail expert), Al and Winry, Roy and Riza, and a few others are all exapmles of that. There's no obscenity, rather silence on the matter, but by showing their communiation (or lack of it) the relationships are naturally evolving. There is some stereotyping here (might be because it is still shounen) as both Winry and Rize are supporting their male counterpart in a similar way. It did however not disturb me and felt quite fitting with the whole of the show.
Though somehow, towards the end, the plot seemed to drown in abstract god-like schemes, throw-over the kingdom from the insde-plans. It was a little disapointing considering all the plot twists I had endured and fairly vague. I did like the "talking black furry ball in a glass jar" (no spoiler here) but I still wonder where it came from. I might have to rewatch the series to see if I maybe missed a crucial line or visual somehwere. It did however made me realise that the writers mostly wanted to tell a sad but true story and created characters to tell it for them. In that case, it was very well done.
In general, it was a good step to widen the story line with an attack on Amestris, that intertwined with the brothers` search for the Philospher's Stone, but the few last episodes felt a bit like: how on earth do we end this in a constructive way? And that kinda failed.
In all this was a very compelling show. I could identify with the characters and the story itself holds a lot of difficult yet unsolved issues that reflect good thinking of the writers.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
![]()
Jul 21, 2017
Lured in by the high rankings on both MyAnimeList and IMDB, and eager to discover original anime on Netflix, I started watching The Seven Deadly Sins. The title of this series was not too promising, though I must say this is one of the elements that I enjoyed most and gave a very human touch to the story.
The best part of this anime is the characters. They have original, sometimes heartbreaking backgrounds, interesting passions and flaws, and struggle with different problems. Best ones to me are Diane and Ban. Diane is a giant who wishes to be the size of a normal woman. She
...
gets envious every time something seems to be going on between "her" Melodias and other women.
Ban`s magical power enables him to snatch away other people's abilites, but although his greediness made him immomrtal, it was also the cause he lost the person dearest to him.
As for the main hero, Melodias, he seems just unrealistic to me. He is kind yet perverted, looks like 12-year old and most of the time behaves like one, too. Heroine Elizabeth reacts impossibly naive to all the perverted grabbing she receives from Melodias. She is also very kind and caring, but that's about it. In general, she is a boring character that hardly develops as a person and would be better fit as a side character.
For the rest of the aspects, I could say something about: story line, suspense arcs, fighting, world-building, it's all mediocre or even bad.
The story line feels rushed. There's hardly time to get to know the characters before we are confronted with problems and villains that pop up just like that, after which we are told there are some grounded reasons for all this to happen.
Suspense arcs (meaning the urge to watch on) are mostly low, despite well-placed cliff-hangers after each episode. The goal of the main hero and heroine are joined and their friends help out, but apparenty there is time for intermezzo's that feel forced and slow down the actual storyline. It could be me, but I count too many villains that all seem a bit alike. Their background is (mostly) missing, they all wear suits of armor, they all have a thing against the Seven Deadly Sins... The big WHY is missing to me though.
Most of the suspence comes however from the quarreling between Melodias and his gang of Sins. Just the human feelings that collide and cause conflict. Suspence from the fighting (see below) and the story line are weak.
The fighting is easy and flashy, there almost no thought given to it. Just some banging and clanging. Actually the quarrels between Melodias and Ban are more enjoyable.
Although it is a fantasy show, or may, especially because it's a fantasy show, the magic and such should not only play a rol but also feel justified. And in this show, it is not really. Why can they use magic? How did they learn this? What are the drawbacks? At one point it is mentioned magic is produced by mere will power, but to me that seems like a lazy way to explain such a core element of the show.
What's with Melodias` super strenght? It erects some excitement when the hero is beating another bad guy, but how did he become like that? It could be a good suspence trigger to postpone the explanation of the heroes` abilities, but obtaining these powers and learning to use them is a fairly interesting part of a character's development that is now completely missing.
Both Melodias` gang and the villains introduce new magic and tricks one afther the other without me knowing how it is all possible. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against fantasy, but as a writer of fantasy myself, there is nothing more important than the world-building to make any fantasy elements believable and constructive to the story.
To end with a positive note on this series, the art work is enjoyable, both the style of the characters and the background. Also the music is quite good, something that I expect from an anime series. Maybe because I had high hopes, this series was quite a disappointment to me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
