Full Metal Alchemist (REVIEW)

Full Metal Alchemist (51 Episodes + Movie) (2003-2004)

I had some preconceived notions about going into this series, as far as the plot is concerned. The first two episodes introduced basically all of the show's trademarks, and the origin story for the two boys. Then I thought that these two kids were going to journey through this mystical world for a LONG time trying to find the Philospher's Stone, but not finding it, which I guess is safe to say that happened.

MOVING ON,

I liked the origin story for the two kids, and I wanted to see where that was going with their plans to become State Alchemists. But then the plot would consistently get side-tracked for bunches of episodes at a time. But then the show would bounce back up again with interesting episodes like the one where that little girl gets turned into a Camera. That was a good episode.

I really liked the ending (the last ten episodes), because they did all the things that I thought should have happened over the course of the series, but they only happened right when I was getting bored. Those episodes had character development, betrayal, multiple plot-lines going, an end-goal finally in sight, plot twists, and a building momentum until the final episode. It was also in those episodes that the characters finally questioned the use of alchemy in a philosophic manner, the same way that Trigun confronted it's central theme, but Trigun did it during the middle of the series--it didn't wait for the end like FMA did. Another thing that the last bunch of episodes did was question Ed and Al's motives for bringing back their bodies, which should have happened at the beginning really. And I always thought it was kind of weird how these two kids are so upbeat even though one lost his entire body and the other lost his arm and a leg, but I guess you can't stay sulky forever about something that happened four years ago.

Also, continuing the show is the movie, which is really four more episodes in disguise, but that's A-Okay, because the show ended on an interesting note, with new concepts that were dying to be explored, which the movie did quite well and finished it on a sad, but complete ending.

In summary, I like FMA as a premise, world, and the overall story-arc. However, some of the stand-alone episodes in the middle were getting really boring as the show seemed to keep dragging on. I know those episodes were necessary to introduce plot elements and characters that would all eventually come together for the ending (which I thought was kind of cool, how they brought back some of the minor characters), but they still felt boring. I really think that the show could be condensed into ten less episodes, by having multiple stories going on in the middle. I also think that would make it more interesting, as large portions of the show are centered around one, linear plot about Ed and Al, and seems to progress really, really slowly.

I haven't seen a lot of Anime, but here are my current rankings:
Cowboy Bebop: (9.4)
FL-CL: (9.2)
Trigun: (8.7)
Robotech: (8.5)
Full Metal Alchemist: [(8.3) - Average] - Last Ten Episodes: (9.1)

Full Metal Alchemisms

For Episodes 1-40
1. If Ed has a goal to get to "City X," he will get side-tracked for about four episodes fighting newly introduced bad guys while subtly introducing vague plot elements.
2. If another character starts talking about the past for one second, prepare to be thrown into a flashback for about 2-8 minutes.
3. Most, if not all flashbacks are set in a heavy down pour of rain.
4. Ed basically has two moods: Vengefully Angry (75%), or light-heartedly comical (15%), and trace amounts of ten other moods.
5. Before explaining the previous villains, more villains are introduced without any background.

6. Characters will shout out the names of others as they enter the room like they never expected them to appear within 95 light years of their current location.

Example:

Alfonso: Winrey!

Ed: Teacher!

Alfonso: Brother!
Ed: Colonel!

Colonel: Furher!

Winrey: Ed!

And that constitutes about 20% of the dialog in an episode.
7. When the strong arm alchemist appears, there is a 33% chance that he will preform a feat handed down through his bloodline.
8. When Colonel Happy Father appears, there is a 45% chance that he will show a picture of his daughter to someone.
9. There is 42% chance of there being at least one, "ED IS SHORT LOL" joke in an episode.

Trigun

Beginning (1st 1/3 of episodes)
I came into Trigun expecting Cowboy Bebop, except in the old west. But Trigun is more off-the-wall, crazy, slap-stick, and ridiculous, but in kind of a good way.
The episodes started off slow, with no real main storyline, and it seemed like it was just about this guy who wanders from town to town acting ridiculous with his 10 personalities. Then he would eat donuts, and act dumb, and solve people's problems or something.
Not bad, but not really interesting.
7.2 / 10.00

Middle (2nd 1/3 of episodes)
The characters continued to wander from town to town doing crazy stuff, but then it actually started to get relevant. The story introduced new and interesting characters which spiced up the episodes. They got into the back story of the world in subtle ways, and the show became more interesting. The main storyline finally kicked in here, where Vash was being hunted down by a group of elite assassins.
9.2 / 10.00

End (Last 1/3 of episodes)
Now the episodes didn't have any filler and everything was about the main storyline. Vash's back story and the planet's back story was explained in an awesome episode which detailed the one real "theme" that the show has. That theme is about choices, risks, regret, morals, and decisions.
The only thing I didn't like was that they had to keep flashing back to the previous episode, every episode in the last bunch. It got annoying, though it was sometimes necessary.
The show didn't explain everything (like how come Knives has telepathy and uses it on other people, but decides to Gun-Fight Vash?).
The show had a good enough ending, but it wasn't mind-blowing.
9.0 / 10.00

The characters are what really make the show. Once you get in their footsteps, the show becomes much better.