The alchemy in this show essentially just entails a failed attempt at a resurrection and some magical explosions from our protagonist’s small palms here and there, occasional manipulation of objects/concrete, not very different from Drago Ball Z if you ask me. Basically, don’t expect any interesting, nuanced deep dive into the world of alchemy, creative possibilities in which it can be used or their implications, there’s nothing of the sort.
You can’t convince me that the action scenes were ever actually interesting when both the villains & the protagonists are absurdly & uncreatively overpowered, with the antagonists being very stereotypical and predictable. The fights became tedious, there was no genuine high stakes for Ed or his brother most of the time.
None of the villains, or any characters for that matter, were actually morally grey. Our protagonist is a happy-go-lucky, pure, kind teenager and the antagonists are just evil for the sake of being evil. Each of the seven deadly sins are powerfully corrupting yes, but ultimately they are weaknesses. However their misery, due to the ultimately negative/destructive attributes of each, is barely ever explored to allow the viewers to sympathise or empathise with them at any given point.
The only way to beat them was to perpetually & agonizingly engage in combat till they “ran out of lives” or until the plot decides its time to move on to the next overpowered character, very boring. The concept that these monsters are a personification of the main villain’s seven deadly sins was never addressed on a deeper level, it didn’t feel like they actually shared a bond with this comical “father figure”, because ultimately they were all cardboard cutouts and nothing beyond that. Everything is expanded to a degree where it becomes too convoluted and eventually meaningless.
This show only ever obnoxiously preached the most basic, cut-throat moral concepts to its audience, nothing thought-provoking or worthy of interesting discussions. And that is exactly why it appeals to so many people, its a simple, childish piece of media that ultimately stays sappy, cheesy and idealistic in a cringe-worthy manner, especially since none of the negative themes/characters are explored maturely.
I would have probably given this a 5/10 if my subconscious wasn't so viciously gaslighted by crazed fanboy culture to want to like it at the time of watching.
