Story - The story is great, with brilliant scenes and emotional moments that would make anyone cry. There's one moment which I remember very clearly when Winry is holding a gun up to kill someone and Ed talks her down. Watching this was the first time I truly realised how amazing and inspiring an animated series could be. The plot is driven by the struggles that the characters must go through to achieve their goals, and how they suffer their way to the end. It's storytelling at its best and, while there are some cliches, you feel like you're going on an adventure with the main characters!
Art - The animation is top notch and the character designs are stunning and realistic to their situations. There are characters from all kinds of origins and backgrounds- and their character designs reflect that in the best way. The animation is also so clean and smooth that I actually had to rewind every once in a while just because I wanted to see the scenes again and marvel at the production quality.
Sound- The opening and closing themes are honestly some of the most beautiful I've ever heard and fit perfectly with the mood and tone of the series. And, oh, the soundtrack! The soundtrack was a shining example of everything a soundtrack could be- blending perfectly into the scenes and giving them that extra 'oomph'.
Character - The characters were absolutely the best characters I'd ever seen in an anime. Most shounen anime has a problem with characterisation, but FMA:B does it excellently! Ed and Al are very realistically brothers and are very realistically people, with their faults and their strengths. And the female characters? I haven't seen many anime that treat female characters so well and give them the same level of development as their male counterparts.
Enjoyment - I was never bored watching this series and even the quieter moments in the story were entertaining, with the characters really carrying the plot (not that the plot needed carrying).
This is the best darn anime I've seen in a very long time, and it's an excellent first anime because it's set in a fantasy world, with no prior knowledge of Japanese customs needed to enjoy it and understand it!
