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.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-10-29 07:35 pm (UTC)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.