It's no secret that I dislike anime humour in general, but I took an immediate liking to "Fullmetal Alchemist" despite it containing an abundance of exactly the kind of over the top humour that I hate. It caught my attention straight from the word go with its powerful statement about equivalent trade in the opening credits: "People cannot gain anything without sacrificing something. You must present something of equal value in order to gain something". It's the kind of statement that strongly suggests that interesting things lies in store and it's going to be an emotional rollercoaster of a show where sacrifices often has to me made.
I found the first couple of episodes to be very promising, with the chemistry between the Elric brothers and their admirable determination to reach their goal especially inspiring. One of the defining moments is when Edward Elric (who is the main character) tells a girl who is wallowing in self pity and despair to get up and walk forwards, pointing out that she still has her legs at least. This may not sound like much, but when you consider that it's advice from someone who doesn't have all of his own limbs but who is still moving forward without complaint, then it suddenly gains a considerable amount of potency.
However, after this intriguing opening, "Fullmetal Alchemist" made me wait quite a few episodes before showing me something special. And that special something is episode 7: "The Night the Chimera Cried". It's a shockingly dark episode, and despite the lack of extreme graphical violence or anything like that, it manages to be one of the most vividly disturbing episodes I can remember seeing. It's an episode that gives a brief glimpse of the vast ambitions of the show, and I honestly think it's up there as one of the best single episodes of anime ever.
However, this fantastic episode is followed by a few more fairly ordinary episodes (these episodes are good, they just ain't special) before things starts to pick up again, and luckily this time it doesn't stop. Twists and turns seem to appear in every episode, and it really is gripping, edge of the seat stuff throughout. I think some of the twists would have surprised me more if I didn't have this friend (who'd already seen it) who kept dropping spoilers at me. My point is that even though I enjoyed it immensely, I probably could have enjoyed it even more, which is a huge achievement in itself.
As much as I was drawn in by the plot, I have to say that it's not as tight as it could have been. Allegedly, the anime went on its own track in the second half of the series, but it often "borrowed" explanations from the source manga, so the story ended up as a weird hybrid of the two. Not surprisingly, this resulted in some cracks in the plot that aren't filled in. Googling for answers after I'd watched it didn't help as I mostly found more questions that hadn't even occurred to me before. The plot development towards the end of the series regarding the other side of the gate also feels a bit weird, like it doesn't mix very well with the rest of the plot. That said, the good parts are so good that it's still one of the most awesome storylines around even taking into account the flaws. Most of the story execution is simply sublime, and it also contains some extremely powerful death moments, so I recommend you prepare some tissues beforehand in case of waterworks.
I feel the need to comment on the jpop/jrock opening and ending themes used in "Fullmetal Alchemist", because despite having like a trillion different ones, most of them are pretty bad, and comes with awful WTF-worthy lyrics such as "Ready Steady give me good luck! Ready Steady never look back!" With these crap OP/ED themes marring the music credentials of this series, it's a good job that the rest of the sound department is actually pretty solid. The voice acting is of a very high standard, with the performances really shining through in the climatic scenes. The OST may have very few stella tracks, but the they way they are utilised for the background music is really effective. There is one track that does stand out, and it's a song called "Brothers" (it's sung in Russian I think, but it's worth googling for the lyrics because they're so poignant and so closely related to the series). In many ways this song can be regarded as the theme representative of the series. Not only is it played in various forms throughout (often during the most emotional moments), but it's also a song that highlights the central aspect of the show - the relationship between the two protagonists, the Elric brothers. Seeing the two of them argue, seeing them fight side by side, and seeing them willing to sacrifice so much for each... it's a truly beautiful, touching sibling relationship.
"Fullmetal Alchemist" has a wonderful set of supporting characters too. Maes Hughes is a prime example. Though most of the time he acts like a jackass, when things gets serious, he's as sharp as knives and reliable as a rock, and he's a character who is really easy to warm to. Even the villains of "Fullmetal Alchemist" are memorable and many are even likeable. The pick of the bunch is Lust, who undergoes tons of character development and through this becomes the kind of villain who can really hijack your sympathies. The Character designs themselves are simplistic but very distinctive in style and therefore very recognisable. The artwork looks nice and clean in general and the special effects used for alchemy is great to watch.
Like I said before, I'm not a fan of anime comedy in general. Although I was little put off by the comedy at the start of "Fullmetal Alchemist", as the series got more and more dark and intense, I can't help but feel the comedy works quite well as comic relief. Having said that, it isn't always appropriately timed. I tend to find that the comedy situations that leads into a serious one work out quite well, but the reverse isn't so good, with the comedy often end up ruining the mood of the serious situation that came before.
Ultimately, there's a lot more to "Fullmetal Alchemist" than what meets the eye. The escalating chaos in brought about by the Elric brothers through their good intentions and the oppression of Ishbal paints up some surprisingly bleak and complex political dilemmas. And also, the core values at the heart of the equivalence trade principle are thought provoking and are morals that can be easily be applied beyond the scope of the anime. These are just some of the things that gives "Fullmetal Alchemist" a layer of depth and maturity that transcends its shounen label. And this is why, even though its extraordinary success owes a lot to the weight of the huge marketing campaign thrown behind it, I think the hype is completely justified. It's a show that has deservedly earned its place amongst the all time greats.
