Gushing About Shows You Like (Sugar Wiki)/Full Metal Alchemist


 * Fullmetal Alchemist is so good it's almost unbelievable. It combines an epic setting with fantastic characters, incredible fight scenes, and a genuinely intelligent plot. It sets the standard for all shonen manga, and few things come close, except what separates it is the fact that the battles tell a story, and are usually multiple fighters joining forces. Most shonen fights just have one guy duking it out while his friends commentate while he's dying. The comedy balance is brilliant, and the tear jerker moments are incredible. It's also got the best portrayal of women in manga or anime, they are badass with a feminine touch. They show that women are not just there to settle differences between the Hero and Lancer. Volume 15 is one of the best-written volumes ever written. Arakawa took a massacre and made both sides sympathetic; you are shocked by the brutality of war, but you also feel sad for the Amerstrians as most of them clearly don't want to be there. The looks on the faces of Mustang, Hughes, Hawkeye, Armstrong, Marcoh, and Knox are incredible. Furthermore, it avoids the heavy-handed Fan Service and moralizing that can plague manga. This is the series to introduce your friends to manga, confident in the knowledge that there won't be an inappropriate Panty Shot or saccharine Golden Moment to put them off. In term of moralizing, it's also deals with forgiveness. The scene with Scar and Winry basically tells us, yes, sometimes something is unforgivable, but that doesn't meant that you can just have your revenge easily. Sometimes,even if you can't forgive, you should endure. Yet another thing that makes it great is that it humanizes the extras. It shows civilians going about their lives and presents soldiers as realistic characters. In this way, we see the world the heroes are working to save and want them to succeed.
 * Let's just say Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the best Shonen manga ever and leave it at that.
 * This troper does not believe there has yet been enough gushing about FMA. Not only does it include some far-reaching, deep themes and avoid many inane aspects of manga in general, but the premise is very creative, the plot is fantastic, and the characters are believable and likable. They even mature and change throughout the series, which is the mark of a truly talented author. Not to mention, when the Big Bad's master plan was unveiled, this troper's mind was blown completely. It's a shounen series, so it's very unlikely that it'll have a Downer Ending, but... when this troper realized the magnitude of the villians' influence and intentions, for a while there, he wondered, just like the characters did: "How can the good guys win? How can they possibly overcome that?" The fact that  makes the series even better.
 * The first anime was good, but the manga is one of my favourite pieces of fiction that I have ever read). Consistant magic, great mythology, amazing continuity, sweet romances, hilarious when need be, believable, layered, sympathetic, human characters, badasses up the wazoo, has been upping the Holy Shit Quotient for TWO DAMN YEARS on a consistant, damn near exponential basis, protagonists that are intelligent and antagonists that force them to use every ounce of their merits, wonderful foreshadowing, great lore, subtly expansive and well-detailed world; Hiromu Arakawa, on the off chance you have suddenly learned perfect english and are visiting this site; well done, you are one of my favourite writers of all damn time.
 * Love, Love, Love FMA. Definitely one of my all time faves and in my opinion deserving all of the praise it gets. So many awesome, fantastic characters, great story, great art, filled to the brim with badassery, unique concept; I could go on but I think I (and my fellow FMA-lovers) have said enough.
 * The Fullmetal Alchemist anime is my all-time favorite anime. I just love it so much that I sometimes think it's a little unhealthy. I've watched it no less than four times, both dubbed and subbed, and I've bawled like a baby every single time. I love how it emphasizes personal repsonsibility, and how it has this sentimentality that seeps into every episode. I love how they dealt with the Homunculus, because it ties into the running theme of how one's actions have resounding consequences. I also adore how they explained the origin of alchemy's power, and I get warm fuzzies thinking about Edward Elric running around kicking Nazi ass. It just makes me so happy and sad and GAH. It's awesome.
 * I had kind of avoided the series for a long while (only saw a few minutes of about three episodes, played two of the games which were straight-up average at best), but it's now that I'm finally sitting down and watching the full anime series with a friend. I'm actually quite shocked at how good it is--I want to give both Elric brothers a big hug, they're quite endearing and adorable protagonists.
 * Seconded. I really appreciate that the writers for the show created such an original concept while still staying within the feel of the manga! What I appreciate the most though is how NEARLY EVERY SINGLE EPISODE MATTERED TO THE STORYLINE and that even the filler episodes were more entertaining than most anime series can pull off. I love both series and the manga, but the first anime will always have a special place in my heart.