Why watch Fullmetal Alchemist (starting Monday night)

[kate_nepveu]

I am rather late to this particular party, but since Adult Swim's come around to episode 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist starting this Monday night, I felt I ought to post with some whens and whys of the show. (This is going to be long but not still not as complete or polished as I'd like, because I have to drive to Massachusetts today.)

At the most basic level: Fullmetal Alchemist is an anime, complete at 51 half-hour episodes, which has been available for some time in Japan (there is also a movie that was recently released). While various fan groups have created their own subtitled versions of the series ("fansubs"), the licensed English dubbed versions are only now being aired on TV and released on DVD.

When: The U.S.'s Cartoon Network (which I believe is generally part of the basic cable package) has a late-night programming block called "Adult Swim." Right now, it's showing one new-to-TV episode each Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. Eastern (repeated at 2:30 a.m.), and repeating one older episode each night on Monday-Thursday at 1:00 a.m. (repeated at 4:00 a.m.). Here's Adult Swim's page for the show, but you can avoid the Flash and go straight to this schedule listing to check episode titles. (This general information page has a numbered list if you need to check which title goes with which episode.) The upshot is that Adult Swim's weeknight airings have cycled through the available episodes already this season, and so are starting all over again with episode 1 this Monday night, November 1, at 1:00 a.m. Eastern.

If you've been watching my many spoiler-cut posts go by and wondered what it was all about, or wanted to get into the show but couldn't afford to buy or rent the DVDs [*], now would be the perfect time to start watching (or recording, if it's on past your bedtime).

[*] Four episodes a disc, five discs out so far. The sixth is due out 11/15/05, following an every-eight-weeks pattern.

Why (the short version): Because I think that it has something to appeal to every kind of viewer—whether you want character development, plot consequences and surprises, worldbuilding, symbolism, philosophical and moral underpinnings, angst, humor, mystery . . . it's all there and it's all intertwined (with minor exceptions that I will note later). I love it for the characters, of course, because that's the kind of watcher I am, but I've also had a great deal of fun thinking about the moral universe that's being constructed and trying to figure out plot details as I watch.

(Caveat: I'm only through episode 26 at the moment. I trust the series to continue to make good storytelling choices, but take these comments with whatever amount of salt you deem appropriate.)

Unless the concept of anime is an absolute and immediate deal-breaker for you, give it a try—I need more people who are only watching it now to discuss things with. => (This was my first anime, and I'll talk a little about the ways that affected my viewing below the cut.)

Why (the long version)

One of the many cool things about Fullmetal Alchemist is the way it takes its premise and really runs with it, so I guess I should start with the premise (plagarizing from myself):

It's the early 1900s in a world somewhat analogous to our own, except with alchemy practiced as a science. Edward and Alphonse Elric are gifted young alchemists; at ages eleven and ten, they try to resurrect their dead mother through (forbidden) alchemy. They fail, spectacularly, at the cost of Ed's arm and leg, and Al's body (his soul is affixed to a suit of armor). After Ed is fitted with automail replacements for his limbs, Ed becomes a State Alchemist and they go on a quest to restore their bodies by finding the Philosopher's Stone—which is still forbidden human transmutation, and dangerous and uncertain to boot. But they're determined to try.

As Al says in voiceover just before the opening credits of each episode:

Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange.

In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth.

We see "those days" in the very first scenes of the series, which is a flashback to the resurrection attempt. It shows the brothers finishing their preparations and beginning the transmutation; their excitement when they think it's working; their realization that it's going wrong; Al's empty clothes and Ed's missing limbs; and then the thing that their attempt produced (the second picture on this page)—which is a very attention-grabbing thing to go to black on.

I was completely, irreversibly hooked right then. If you watch that sequence and aren't at least a little interested in what happens to the brothers after that—well, first, I'd be very surprised, and second, you might as well stop there, because the Elric brothers are, in my view, the heart of the series. (There's a reason that my default show icon (and the prior one) is of the two brothers together, despite having various alchemical symbols and cool pictures of Ed and such available.) Al's lack of a body, Ed's guilt and determination, their sibling relationship of affection and exasperation and support—it's what drew me in and what the series pivots around (though it's not all that's going on).

Going back to the series opening—after we go to black on the thing that the resurrection attempt produced, the next scene is . . . Ed and Al running around a desert four years later, Al sinking into the sand and Ed complaining about being hungry. It's very silly, and this is one of my minor caveats about the series and also an example of how being new to anime affected my watching. First, there's a reasonable quantity of humor in the show, which is good because there's also a lot of angst; however, sometimes I find the contrast between the angst and the humor jarring, especially combined with the anime convention of drawing angry/scared/excited characters with extremely simplified faces (the screenshots mentioned above have some examples on the same page). I don't know if this is a cultural thing or a personal preference; perhaps it's part and parcel of my tentative thesis, formed several episodes ago, that the show is often bad at emotional subtlety, but good at emotional truth.

Interestingly, this lack of subtlety is not matched in the plotting or the ethical and moral implications, which I'm finding fascinating—part of what I meant by the series taking the premise and running with it. I also find it difficult to talk about without hinting at too much, but I think I can say that Ed and Al's quest for the Philosopher's Stone brings them into contact with larger-scale happenings and raises a whole lot of questions for them. Which is probably so vague as to be useless, so I turn to the related question of structure—

The structure of season one (episodes 1-25, not episode 26) is as follows:

• Episodes 1 and 2, "To Challenge the Sun" and "Body of the Sanctioned," are a two-part premiere. They start with the aforementioned flashback to the resurrection attempt and then return to the present day, as Ed and Al investigate a rumor of the Philosopher's Stone in Lior.

  I was not as grabbed by the Lior plot the first time around, though I was intrigued by one aspect of it. On reflection, it's not a bad place to start because it does introduce the larger story, and Lior itself will appear again.

• Episodes 3-9 are sequential flashbacks of Ed and Al's life before Lior. Episode 3 is their childhood, their mother's death, and the resurrection attempt; the rest are how Ed became a State Alchemist and some things that happened along the way to Lior.

  It seems generally agreed that Episode 7, "Night of the Chimera's Cry," is one of the places where the series takes a noticeable step up in intensity and hooks a lot of people. Me, I was hooked from the beginning and also have a strong fondness for episode 3, but if you're liking the series somewhat in the first few episodes, see what you think of it after watching episode 7.

• Episodes 10, 11, and 12 are post-Lior transitions. Episodes 11 and 12 are a two-parter ("The Other Brothers Elric") about another rumored Stone.
• Episode 13 ("Flame vs. Fullmetal") starts a sequence that unfolds through the end of the season, episode 25, with consequences into season two (judging by episode 26, at least).

  Episode 15, "The Ishbal Massacre," is rather like episode 7 in its effects on people. I also put episodes 21 and 22 in that category, and definitely don't be spoiled for episode 25, and, well, this leads into the next thing I wanted to say—

You'll notice that unlike my Firefly post, I'm not saying which episodes are best or most important. That's because I can only think of one episode (10, "The Phantom Thief") that I would be comfortable suggesting that anyone skip. The series really builds on itself as it progresses: secondary characters come back, small revelations accumulate or foreshadow, theme and character are developed. Some episodes are certainly weaker than others, but it's not a show I would recommend watching piecemeal by any means. I really enjoy the way the show keeps surprising me and opening up new depths, and it would be a shame to disturb that structure. Watch it all, watch it in order.

A note on spoilers: don't be spoiled. One of the great things about the show is the way it keeps surprising me, and the one spoiler I've learned and then watched really affected my reaction. Unfortunately it's not so easy to avoid spoilers since the series has been available in fansubs for so long (and some people are less than considerate in the icons they make and use, grr), but do make the effort.

I have a list of episode-by-episode commentary resources that I compiled so that I could read along with other people; posts are only spoilery up to the last episode noted. If anyone else has other links to episode commentary, please do provide them.

(Also, because this was written in a hurry, please add your reasons why people should watch!)

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

This sort of reminds me of what happened when darkphonics hooked me on her tapes of Vision of Escaflowne. The anime conventions on display—the schoolgirl hero and bishounen-ish guys and people with angel wings—were initially really hard to wrap my mind around, but once it started to become clear what the backstory really was, it was pretty astonishing.

[kate_nepveu]

Ooh! Does this mean you haven't seen _Fullmetal Alchemist_ yet? Then you're a prime candidate! Especially since it isn't shoujo.

I don't know anything about _Escaflowne_, would you recommend it?

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen it, am getting fascinated by your posts.

I have no idea whether _Escaflowne_ is better or worse than average since I haven't seen that many anime series all the way through; about the only other one I followed was _Serial Experiments Lain_ which struck me as interesting but unnecessarily obscurantist. But _Escaflowne's_ story eventually ended up grabbing me even though on a superficial level it was something seemingly designed not to appeal to me, so I guess that's saying something.

[kate_nepveu]

Do you have cable? Because if so, hey, it's free--just set your VCR/TiVO/other recording device, and give it a try.

Come on, you have to try . . . *tempts*

[angelhedgie.livejournal.com]

Hmm...depends on if you're talking the series or the movie. The series is much more upbeat, and is very much like FMA moodwise. The movie, on the other hand, is much darker.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I never saw the movie... the trailer for it suggested that the story was very different.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

The movie is horrible. It takes a wonderfully long and well-laid out plot and careful character development of the series and crams it into the second-worst hour and a half viewing experience I ever had for anime. (the first worst being the movie X.) If you liked or loved the series, stay far from the movie.

[(Anonymous)]

Though, if you want to find out what happens after the series you should watch the movie because it continues on what happens. Especially since the ending really stunk and was sad.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Are you still talking about Escaflowne? Because Escaflowne movie was not a continuation, it was a rehash.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I gave up on it after about four episodes. It might get better later; plenty of anime does. A modern schoolgirl gets sucked into a fantasy land where people fight with giant robots. There's dragons and catgirls and a demented, sexually ambiguous villain. My problem with it was that it's a blend of Dungeons and Dragons and giant robots, and I don't like either of those genres. I like the chant, though. ("Es-ca-flow-ne, Es-ca-flow-ne!")

[kate_nepveu]

Thank you for telling me that it's four syllables not three, making it less likely that I will mispronounce it out loud. =>

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Coming here via Manija's journal, and saw this post, and had to read. I'd recommend Escaflowne if you like FmA -- that is, if taking traditional mysticism (alchemy, the tarot) and running with it is something that intrigues you. Escaflowne is, however, walking the edge of shojo (though several well-versed anime friends have called it "a little bit shonen, a little bit shojo, and a whole lotta we have no IDEA what it is, but it works" which does put it in a class of its own, though newer series are joining it). It does have mecha, but it's some of the best damn designs (and most sensible) that I've ever seen. And as a drawback, its character designs and styles aren't just borderline shojo but also quite dated at this point -- circa early 90s -- though not nearly as bad as the early Gundam series or Captain whatever-his-name-is.

I would not, however, recommend seeing the movie before you've seen the series. The movie is essentially an attempt to retell, in two hours, a story that didn't really even fit in a 40-something episode run. There are no filler episodes in Escaflowne; they didn't have time. It can get a bit rushed on the politics, in some places, since it's a lot of information at once.

But when it comes to female role models, it's a hard one to beat, especially since it's one of the forerunners (along with Utena) for a strong female lead, and it's the grandmammy of them all when it comes to "girl falls into another world". Hitomi is not a shrinking violet; she's a track star. A little confused about who she likes, but at fifteen, who isn't? But when her ire's up, she's determined, and she's not stupid, nor does she constantly need to be saved. (And she doesn't have big boobs or long swirly hair; she's almost tomboyish in that regard.)

As for FmA's humor, my first introduction to anime was watching Rurouni Kenshin, which does the same thing. I don't know how far you've seen of FmA, but the humorous (omake-based) episodes, like ep13, are in short supply as the series winds along, and having the bursts of humor are almost a cathartic release given how much of the series is dark and sometimes torturous to the poor brothers. Arakawa is a new mangaka, however, and it does show in that she sometimes has trouble mixing the humor and the angst as deftly as other mangaka, but as the series progressed (and as the manga continues), she does improve.

[kate_nepveu]

Thanks for the information about _Escaflowne_. And episode 13 is based off an omake?--that explains it, I was wondering where all that had come from (it must be in a volume after 2). I agree that as things get darker, it's nice to have some relief, and I look forward to it being better-integrated over the series (and the manga once I'm done with the anime).

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Ep13 is actually two omake: Dog of the Military and Flame Versus Fullmetal, I think. Both omake are completely for humor, no seriousness nor much connection to the main thread. In the anime, I think the producer taught Arakawa a thing or two (such as how to fit the omake into the ongoing storyline, and give it a reason, however roughly, for existing).

By the time you get to the only other significant omake-based humorous episodes (hm, ep28 or 29, I think, something like that), they're still humorous episodes but there are wistful, serious moments, in passing, that link back to the main storyline. It's as though the characters are having fun, but no one has entirely forgotten everything else. Makes it almost bittersweet, and that's what I mean by Arakawa was showing progress at bringing the two together.

Of course, by the time you hit the next set of omake made into an episode, you'll have been through so much that you'll probably find yourself laughing hysterically throughout the episode. I know I did, and a lot of other people reported the same. It's just such a relief when you make it to that point...

[kate_nepveu]

In reading the first two volumes of the manga, I've been impressed by the way the anime restructured the story to make it more compelling and to better support later developments. The manga's not bad, certainly, but the anime is better at least so far.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

FMA was siriaeve's first serious anime, and she also found the humor often left her cold--though overall she liked the series enough to watch the last 23 episodes in nearly one sitting. So that's definitely a fair warnng. It was actually my first anime series too, but I watched Cowboy Bebop and started reading manga between watching the first 12 episodes and the remainder of the series. I don't think it's a coincidence that the humor began to work better for me as things went along.

[kate_nepveu]

I mean, some things grew on me, like Major Armstrong, who I never would've guessed that I would laugh at. But the jarring is still a problem, and it's not jarring like _Firefly_'s "War Stories" either, where the characters know that it's jarring and are doing it on purpose; the lack of awareness, I guess, jolts me out of the story for a bit.

Obviously it's not a dealbreaker for me, but I would've liked to have been warned of it myself so I thought I should mention it. And it's really the main obstacle I could see for new viewers.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

the one spoiler I've learned and then watched really affected my reaction

Remind me (maybe in your previous FMA post, where it should be safe?) which spoiler that was?

[kate_nepveu]

Done.

[kintail.livejournal.com]

I've been a few eps behind you for your previous FMA posts, until late last night I also watched up to ep 26. (And I'd also been spoilered by icons, of all things -- grr.) So now I'm looking forward to looking back, because as you say it can be a bit difficult to find non-spoilery discussion of a series like this that has been so popular for so long that people assume that a fan already knows everything.

I'd have to second your recommendation about watching it if you appreciate excellent characterization. Every character who gets more than 5 minutes of screen time is complex. The Fuhrer has real obvious warmth, likeability, and leadership qualities so that it's obvious without being explained how he was able to rise to such a position (though there may be more to that I haven't picked up on yet), even if I can't decide how much he can actually be trusted. Armstrong is almost cracktastic with his flaming butchness and pink sparkles, and yet he's not just comic relief or a foil: he's also a gentleman, competent at what he does, someone who really cares and is conflicted about things.

I also appreciate all the strong female characters not meekly following traditional Japanese ideals of femininity and still being sympathetic, even the minor and one-time characters like the ones in ep 10 and 26 (at least, I don't expect them to return), plus major/secondary characters like Winry and Hawkeye and Maria Ross. In my previous anime watching, the "good" meek and feminine females often rubbed me the wrong way, not for being themselves, but from the whole context that seemed to say This Is What A Female Should Be, especially when contrasted with the "bad" female characters who rejected gender roles.

Thank you also to the links to screencaps and resources, I'll definitely be checking them out.

[kate_nepveu]

I regret very much that I didn't have the time to talk about characters other than Ed and Al, or even get into detail about what Ed and Al are like, really. Though watching Mustang's development in particular has been so interesting that I'd hate to say much about it.

I'd actually been grousing a bit about female characters as perfect mother figures, but you're right, even Ross in her mother-figure-ness (or Winry in her annoying bits in 26) is still tough and competent and admirable. I hadn't encountered good meek feminine characters before, but my anime so far consists of this and _Cowboy Bebop_, so it's not a big sample set. (Though I deliberately am not watching _Hellsing_, which a student loaned my husband, because it would drive me nuts on gender grounds.)

Thanks for underlining the characterizations as a reason to watch!

(Also, in honor of your pretty LJ header image, a non-FMA icon. => )

[angelhedgie.livejournal.com]

Why would it drive you nuts? The series has two very strong women (Integra and Seras Victoria) in it.

That said, perhaps I should figure out some things for you to watch.

[orzelc.livejournal.com]

(Re: Hellsing)
Why would it drive you nuts? The series has two very strong women (Integra and Seras Victoria) in it.

I gave up on it for a while after three episodes, in part because of the fact that the male Hellsing operatives get to wear sensible camo fatigues, which Victoria wears a light-blue miniskirt and thigh-high boots. It's shading toward "Scary Japanese id" territory.

I did watch the next five episodes last night (Kate's out of town, and I didn't want to watch Bebop without her, and I wasn't in the mood for any of the other things we had on hand). It did improve on the other annoying front (the "will-she-or-won't-she" angst about Victoria drinking blood), but calling her a "strong woman" still strikes me as a stretch. I don't think there's a single episode that doesn't feature at least a couple of shots of her trembling indecisively until one of the male characters makes a move.

It does look very cool, though (particularly once some actual plot gets going, around Episode 5), and edges Bebop for "Best Theme Music" out of the anime that I've watched. I wouldn't mind having that opening tune as an MP3.

[kate_nepveu]

Re: _Hellsing_: What Chad said.

I have a copy of _Fruits Basket_ on the theory why not, and was planning to ask people whether this is a case where manga is better than anime (in the reverse of FMA, I generally hear the manga discussed but not the anime. However, looking at the manga sends me into diabetic shock.). During college basketball season I may well NetFlix _Revolutionary Girl Utena_ and watch it on my laptop while Chad goes into junkie mode for hoops.

Other than that, I have so much reading backlog that I'm not really needing recommendations for anime. However, if anything leaps to mind, do feel free.

[angelhedgie.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Fruits Basket myself, but I've heard it described as a "reverse harem" series. As for Utena, if you have problems with gender roles in Hellsing, then you're REALLY not going to like it. It's just Very. Screwed. Up.

(Besides, I have little patience with a heroine who takes a full season to find the stupid ELEVATOR.)

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Utena is one of the most comprehensive critiques of general Gender Screwed-Upness I've ever seen. I don't know if Kate will like it, but I would expect the problems to be the unfamiliarity of anime conventions plus the series' general surreality, rather than the gender ideology.

The anime of FB is very faithful to the manga, somewhat better plotted, but without quite as much character depth. The protagonist is indeed sweet, feminine, forgiving, etc., although strangely plausible for such; I think the gender dynamic gets very interesting, ultimately, although mostly in parts of the manga not included in the anime. I think I might recommend you try the manga first, Kate, as I suspect some of the voices in the anime would drive you mad.

[kate_nepveu]

Thanks, Mely.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I'm going to jump in and totally contradict you here.

Watch the anime first. Then read the manga. The plotting is better in the anime, with certain events being put in more character-developmental order of chronology than was in the manga, a problem with the manga that is nicely improved by the time you get to the latter volumes. Although there are certain aspects of characters given more depth in the manga, I think the relationship between the three main characters Tohru/Yuki/Kyo is given a more rounded and balanced development in the anime, rather than the manga which is more about Tohru/Yuki and Tohru/Kyo than the complexities of the three. Whereas the depth of characters like Shigure might be less in the anime, the relationship between the main trio is given more smoothness and depth. It's a small difference, but one I noticed while reading the manga.

I'd also suggest the anime first because it covers only a limited amount of what the manga covers, and stops at one season. You can fall in love with the anime, and then when it stops open-ended, you can pick up the manga and go crazy with fifteen+ volumes of FB yumminess.

[angelhedgie.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you need to watch Read Or Die. Something tells me you'd connect with Yomiko.

[kate_nepveu]

I've heard mixed things about _Read or Die_--premise is charming but some people have said there's not much more to it than that.

My understanding of the other two series is not the same as yours, but perhaps I should save this for a general anime recs post.

[angelhedgie.livejournal.com]

Well, Read Or Die is an OAV (Original Animated Video) that's only about an hour and a half long, so no, there's not going to be a lot to it. but it's really, really fun - a good way to spend an afternoon.

And a general post would be good, as you probably could use a crash course in the terminology you'll hear some of us use.

[kate_nepveu]

There's also a series after the OAV. And thanks for the thought, but reading LJs of people who watch anime and pimp it give one a fairly good grasp of the landscape.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I've never watched the tv series, but I second the rec of ROD the OVA. It's wacky and over the top, but not in a stupid way, just a campy and geeky way. And like she said above: it's FUN. It's really, really entertaining. Most anime I rec because it moved me like FMA or I fell in love with the storyline like Princess Tutu, but Read Or Die is just shameless all-out entertainment. Grab popcorn and enjoy.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I've come to love the women in FMA. I'm not sure how far you've gotten since watching this post, but... there are some very key female characters in FMA that aren't mother figures, especially in season 2. A part of the reason some of the characters are seen as de facto mother or father figures (the latter being embodied by Roy and Hughes in the absense of their real father) to the Elrics is because of the overarching theme in FMA of family ties [by blood or by choice], and Ed's mild Oedipus complex. Even the association with mother roles, however, can't take away from the kick-assness of most of these women. And the fact that they're not all kick-ass... some like Sciezska, provide a much needed balance without being passive or meek.

Plus, you'll find this "ideal" mother figure characterization break down somewhat in season 2 as well. Nobody's allowed to be a perfect anything in FMA for long. (Except Hughes!)


I'd love to hear what you think about the various women portrayed in FMA after you've seen through the second season. In total, I found it to be one of the most balanced anime series I ever watched in terms of the various female figures introduced and how their were portrayed and their roles (some jumping from role to role.)

[kate_nepveu]

You're right that there's a strong, hmm, almost gravitation force pulling adult women into maternal roles in FMA because of the gaping hole that their lack of mother leaves, much like all brothers are a commentary on the Elrics because they can't *not* be. It's just that sometimes the mother-ness is a bit obvious and makes me twitch (as does the brothers stuff).

I think I should leave it at that for these purposes.

[rabidotter.livejournal.com]

Is the title a reference to Full Metal Jacket? I imagine not, but thought I'd ask as I didn't see a discussion in your quite detailed post, though maybe I spaced it out.

[kate_nepveu]

No--Ed's title as a State Alchemist is the Fullmetal Alchemist, because he has an automail (metal prosthesis) arm and leg (see icon). All the State Alchemists get titles--Flame Alchemist, Ironblood Alchemist, etc.

[(Anonymous)]

Damn, I watched 1 to 6 and then spoiled it for myself. Like, I way spoiled it for myself. I feel so bad now. Waahh.