Always been my most favorite show of all time and the only anime I truly love and care about. For a series that explores warfare and genocide, the darker tone and realistic atmosphere fits the series very well. I'm so glad that the directors and writers of this show adapted the mediocre stereotypical manga into a more philosophical, religious, and coming-of-age tale that is the original 2003 anime. I enjoyed how much the protagonists - those two alchemist brothers named Edward and Alphonse Elric - had more screen time which allowed their relationship and love for each other to blossom. The backstories, origins, and identities of the villains and were well done. Really loved how secretive, competent, and thrilling they all really were. There were numerous morals and sheds of gray throughout the show overall, rather than the usual lame old thin line of black and white seen in many other shows. The State Military characters were great as well, such as Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes, Kimblee, Shou Tucker, Maria Ross, Sheska, etc. Had the anime been following the manga directly from start to finish instead of deviating from the norm, it would have never had been this great. All of the major death scenes were handled extremely well and the ending to the whole show was beautifully bittersweet. The ending was by no means depressing and neither did it made you want to cry or anything like that. It was just simply bittersweet. Despite endless tragedy, the characters still believed in hope and made the best of their situations.
Not only was the show depicting warfare, genocide, sin, redemption, and overall human nature maturely and realistically, but also a character-driven series as well as a coming-of-age tale for the Elric brothers. Unlike in the original manga series of the same name and its 2009 anime rebooted version, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, no character was a side character or a filler character. Each character played an important role, they moved the story on. The story felt neither too fast nor too slow. It was moving at a steadier pace, unlike many other anime shows, which allowed us to grow attached to the characters rather than the action. The show may have not had as much action, but when it did, it was so immersive and left a huge lasting impact, easily beating the several episode long fights featured in many anime, including Brotherhood. Each and every action caused by a character always came with a consequence in the end and tied up neatly, further proving how horrible the world really is. Each time there was an action scene, the characters were using their minds to think things through within the situation rather than just only their powers. The protagonists also often would lose against the antagonists, which made the show seem more realistic and believable. The show proved how much it didn't need conventional villains or fights being flashy/explosive or the characters being more bad-ass in order to be a good show.
The show also didn't constantly hammer every piece of information into your head in terms of character dialogue like you're a preteen; neither did the show overused those annoying chi-bi comedy faces during any of the serious moments because the directors and writers knew those things only work in manga format, so therefore they wouldn't translate well into screen because they wanted you to be heavily immersed into what's going on with the characters and their surroundings. It was very subtle and trusted you to get it on your own. It only needed to tell the most important information and that's it. It never over-clarified what you needed to know just so you don't forget. It's only a matter of paying clear attention so that you can get what you need to know while processing through the show. When you are watching the show, do not expect it to be a roller-coaster ride from start to finish. This show will always keep you at the edge of your seat, just to see what will happen next and hell, even by the end, it will leave you with wanting more. The first 34 episodes of this show are based more-or-less on the first seven volumes of the original manga, but numerous differences and foreshadowing clearly indicted that the directors and writers knew they were gonna overtake the manga as the show went on. So yes, the anime did caught up with the manga which led them to two choices: either jump to filler or make up their own original story, the latter was chosen. Anyway, I just wanted to tell the directors and writers of this anime that I give them a big thank you for producing this masterpiece. I don't even see anything majorly wrong with it at all, contrary to the popular belief. The show's second half seems perfectly fine...to me at least. Once again, thank you to the show's writers and directors for the wonderful story, characters, villains, and oh...can I just mention one last thing how awesome the somber background music in this show really is?! It really fits the show very well.
Not only was the show depicting warfare, genocide, sin, redemption, and overall human nature maturely and realistically, but also a character-driven series as well as a coming-of-age tale for the Elric brothers. Unlike in the original manga series of the same name and its 2009 anime rebooted version, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, no character was a side character or a filler character. Each character played an important role, they moved the story on. The story felt neither too fast nor too slow. It was moving at a steadier pace, unlike many other anime shows, which allowed us to grow attached to the characters rather than the action. The show may have not had as much action, but when it did, it was so immersive and left a huge lasting impact, easily beating the several episode long fights featured in many anime, including Brotherhood. Each and every action caused by a character always came with a consequence in the end and tied up neatly, further proving how horrible the world really is. Each time there was an action scene, the characters were using their minds to think things through within the situation rather than just only their powers. The protagonists also often would lose against the antagonists, which made the show seem more realistic and believable. The show proved how much it didn't need conventional villains or fights being flashy/explosive or the characters being more bad-ass in order to be a good show.
The show also didn't constantly hammer every piece of information into your head in terms of character dialogue like you're a preteen; neither did the show overused those annoying chi-bi comedy faces during any of the serious moments because the directors and writers knew those things only work in manga format, so therefore they wouldn't translate well into screen because they wanted you to be heavily immersed into what's going on with the characters and their surroundings. It was very subtle and trusted you to get it on your own. It only needed to tell the most important information and that's it. It never over-clarified what you needed to know just so you don't forget. It's only a matter of paying clear attention so that you can get what you need to know while processing through the show. When you are watching the show, do not expect it to be a roller-coaster ride from start to finish. This show will always keep you at the edge of your seat, just to see what will happen next and hell, even by the end, it will leave you with wanting more. The first 34 episodes of this show are based more-or-less on the first seven volumes of the original manga, but numerous differences and foreshadowing clearly indicted that the directors and writers knew they were gonna overtake the manga as the show went on. So yes, the anime did caught up with the manga which led them to two choices: either jump to filler or make up their own original story, the latter was chosen. Anyway, I just wanted to tell the directors and writers of this anime that I give them a big thank you for producing this masterpiece. I don't even see anything majorly wrong with it at all, contrary to the popular belief. The show's second half seems perfectly fine...to me at least. Once again, thank you to the show's writers and directors for the wonderful story, characters, villains, and oh...can I just mention one last thing how awesome the somber background music in this show really is?! It really fits the show very well.