Why We Love Fullmetal Alchemist
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- The hallowed halls of shonen storytelling have hosted many a masterwork, but none shine quite so brightly as Hiromu Arakawa's magnum opus. Let's talk about what made it so special, and why it still towers over many of its contemporaries decades after its original debut.
Catch Me On Twitter: / nezumiva
My Tumblr: / nezumiva
My Patreon: / nezumiva
P.O. Box: jointhrone.com...
My Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/nezu...
Official Subreddit: / nezumiva
Thumbnail Art: / kringle_c
Channel Mascot Art: / milk_addicc
#NezumiVA #FullmetalAlchemist #FMA
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. This video is protected under this clause.
Pinned comment question: *FOR WHAT COULD EQUAL THE VALUE OF A HUMAN SOUL?*
1 chicken nugget
sincerely curious what would happen in the FMA universe if somebody answered this question with "a different human soul"
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
The value of anything is so absolutely subjective that the law of equivalent exchange cannot function. For some, a human life is the paramount of worth, while to others it may be a dog's life. Some might value materialism over the vague concept of a human soul; why worry about what you can't touch or feel? Even those things with monetary value, decided by people sitting in chairs worth more than a year's worth of groceries for a large family, do not truly hold any value. Thus I ask the question, would human transmutation be doable by someone who has no value for life? And I mean in any way whatsoever, whether that value be motivated by love, usefulness or to manipulate the person they create. And then if so, why would they do it with nothing to motivate them to do so?
@@Meidoification I think most of the time the law is just referring to how Alchemy can’t make a thing in the absence of the materials from which to build that thing. I’d be curious to know how “low-level” that gets, like if an Alchemist could perform atomic- or subatomic-level transmutation to create things that wouldn’t be possible working only on, like, a molecular level, but that’s not really the point here.
Interestingly, you never hear about the people who made human chimeras suffering the effects of performing human transmutation, even though it’s later shown that transmutation of living human beings absolutely DOES “count”, and it doesn’t have to be an attempt to revive a dead person. Medical alchemy is also sometimes performed without that consequence, so I’m curious to know what the actual boundary is there… if it’s consent-based or what.
that "the first anime adaptation is almost 20 years old by now" comment is so strange because I was born in the same year that it came out and nothing. absolutely nothing has shaken me and made me feel quite so old as that line
Lol Same
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the only other animated show aside from Avatar: the Last Airbender that I have loved and praised so intensely, and that has had a major impact on how I view the world and try to live my life.
“… uniquely timeless. It’s fantastical world mixed the history of our own bringing mind both the familiar, and the outlandish. It TRANSMUTES the very best…”
I see what ya did there.
My sister actually had me switch from the original to the 2009 after the Barry the butcher introduction, as she realized that the character was introduced differently in each, and weirdly enough that point was really effective in my positive viewing experience.
I feel that's a tad too early to switch, though not the worst place to switch since you still get Hughes', Mustang's, and Yoki's proper manga introductions.
While technically episode 28 is the last major episode with significant manga material, it's probably safer to do the switch at episode 25.
I promised myself I wouldn’t cry but DAMN IT FULL METAL LOVES TO ATTACK MY HEART!!! Only two, technically 3 series has made my bawl my eyes out FMA/FMAB and Umineko. I watch interlude episode every time I’m close to the edge of giving up. Being Human is a terrifyingly beautiful experience
Your essays really are unmatched Marcie
In essaytube you are, without a doubt, best girl
Oddly enough, I got into FMA when CoS played on toonami one night and I was obsessed. I watched 03 but didn't quite feel the same pull as I did when I first watched CoS. When FMAB was released, that was like a light was lit within me and to this day it's been my favorite. A recent rewatch gave me such nostalgia and a further understanding of the show that I ever could have thought of at 14 when I first watched it. It truly does get better with age. Maybe a rewatch of 03 will do the same.
2003 is definitely a bit of a slower burn, episode 1 and 2 are fine but episode 3 is where it finally had a hold on me. I recommend skipping episode 4 though, it's written by a guest writer and unfortunately sours the good faith the previous episode had on me. Up to you, though.
I think you're the first person I see online who first got into FMA through CoS
Guess I gotta make time to check out the 2003 FMA sometime, I always fell into the camp of "Brotherhood is more accurate, so that's the best one!" but I'd never actually given the first adaptation a chance. Feels like I'm doing myself and the series a disservice by skipping it ;P
You are. It's a great series well worth watching even if it doesn't line up with the Manga
Did you watch it?
Well, saying that it's more accurate... Idk... I'm pretty sure that even the mangaka learn from 03 and either change something or created something, but I'm pretty sure 03 is as accurate as brotherhood, since it's an OVA.
As a narrative work, it's way better, more consistent and more mature than Brotherhood. It doesn't matter which one sticks the most to the original source... or it shouln't, at least.
@@zosochan21 It isn't, 03 was finished before the manga was so it ends up making up a lot of stuff.
FMA 2003 was my introduction to anime beyond what was shown on Toonami. I watched bits and pieces of it on TV, maybe only half of the full series. But it definitely has a lasting impact that hits me harder than anything else I've seen in my life so far
This channel is such a god damn hidden gem
Hoping to get less hidden over time ;P
Frankly speaking, I didn't know if I wanted to stick around to watch an hour-long video about FMA but seeing "Why We Love FMA" in Sonic Mania's title card style sold me.
I always interpret father's conclusion as a parallel to Edward's last transmutation.
in father's confrontation with the truth at the end of the series, we are shown the true nature of what father really is, being someone childish and arrogant. Someone who never grew up in his days when he was in the jar. Manipulating and stealing from others in order to gain power and knowledge, in the end the truth calls him a hypocrite for denying his human origins and believing himself superior because everything he achieved was thanks to them. Since the only thing he had to do to be free is to see the answer with his own eyes instead of being blinded by achieving and becoming something he really isn't, so he is condemned to obtain what he really wanted, to return to the door from where he originated. "returning To nothing " (you can notice how father's door is empty compared to edward and alphonse's)
While Edward sacrifices the only thing that separated him from a conventional human in order to save his brother. His "alchemy". In order to recover the body of his brother, managing to be the only human who was capable of defeating God (the truth), by ironically embracing his humanity and understanding that power and knowledge are useless if they are being used altruistic rather than for a greater good and that in the end what really matters are the relationships that one forms as they live and the experiences we make along the way. (which is the opposite with father's resolution)
Proving that we should not aspire to be something that we are not but rather we should aspire to be the best version of ourselves, and we can only become that... by committing some mistakes and learning from them, because we can always have more than we have, because we can always be more than we are. This makes really meaningful the journey that edward took from episode one and overall its thanks to father that we have some of the most reflexive and philosophical themes in the show, so i find father's resolution as something that is quite thoughtful and overall i found father to be a really good villain because of that.
( and yes i prefer it over dante)
The "Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Fullmetal Alchemist" reminds me of DmC: Devil May Cry.
I never understood preferring one over the other. After finishing the 2003 I was just super excited to have new content from one of my favorite series to watch
THANK YOU. I also love this tory most of all... maybe because it's OUR story. All of humanity's story, concentrated in the most artistically pleasing way possible. It's full of heart, and is at once escapist and also a mirror of our society/individual selves. It's a paradox in the best way. Your review was so thoughtful and well-put! Out of curiosity, do you have a background in literature in film studies? The video and your voiceover was fantastic!!!
Thank you so much! That's very flattering, haha. I actually don't have any real professional background to speak of, though! At least in that area of expertise. I've done some commercial voiceover work and written a webcomic! But aside from a few minor writing credits for friend projects I helped with, not much else. Although I'd obviously be interested in exploring related opportunities more in the future, however I can! I've been editing and writing videos amateurly for a few years now, though, and I tend to watch a _lot_ of other creators who produce similar content, so I'm always trying to sharpen my skills. c:
FMA is so great I can't even put it into words. It's cool though cuz this video just did it for me.
Brilliant video, I’m glad that I watched it
oh my god your channel is incredibly underrated.. this video is so so good i really love it and im glad i found your channel!
I like to think in the 03 anime dante and the others name themselves after the sins list as just for sounding cool or to make their journey more cultish.
As much as I admire story of the manga and same goes for Brotherhood, i will never forget the 2003 adaptation. It was first anime i've ever watched (pokemon and digimon not counting) and the first i've ever watched from bennnig till the bitter end. I even like Conqueror of shamballa (but that may be my nostalgia speaking).
I can still repeat the opening monolog from memory.
43:52 so Dante would basically need to choose to bring one to life since they need to consume incomplete stones in order to properly form (with the exception of wrath who was in the gate which funneled souls to him as an alternative process for this), which is something Dante doesn’t seem likely to do seeing as how much her hands were full trying to manipulate just seven of them. That said to humor your idea, they would probably run down the list of the older ones that got condensed together Acitia and Tristitia (which were combined into sloth) or they would start getting named after the 7 heavenly virtues.
This is such a great look at FMA as a whole! Made me want to rewatch it so badly, I need to finally get round to introducing it to my partner
Great video...
At Least for me, the best thing about fmab and the manga, is its thematic exploration; since topics such as the very meaning of life, the teaching that entails a sacrifice, the need to find a conclusion to life,the importance of human connection, accepting barriers and imperfections of the human being and the earth, not being a prisoner of your own feelings much less becoming captive of your own hatred, the value of life and the understating of the cycle of hatred that exists in different cultures and how we must continue to move forward and not get bogged down in our own hatred.
The series gives multiple perspectives to each theme and makes each topic connected in a spider web thread, making everything converge and close simultaneously and homogeneously. (since every element, from the philosophy of the series to the tiniest thing is linked and that to me makes it an extremely round work).
In short: I think that FMA has one of the best thematic explorations that I have seen in fiction.
And it also has some of the most endearing moments i have ever watch, for example: the death of van hohenheim.
It moves me a lot, because; it is not only seeing a father dying in front of the grave of his own wife, but also seeing a man who has lived through various tragedies throughout his life, accepting that he had a life full of happiness. And that it was thanks to his family that made his life have a real purpose and meaning. Being able to see value in his life even knowing that he was going to lose what he loved the most and giving thanks for having had the blessing of having lived such a fulfilling life, dying with the "biggest smile he had in his life".
I absolutely love Full Metal Alchemist, it’s my favorite anime series of all time
Pretty pog analysis, FMA still solid af
If I am asked, my top 3 verions of FMA always are: the manga, 03, then 09, (the live action movies? what live action movies?) so usually I'm very defensive when people say you should either skip 03 entirely or just use it as a crutch to skip the weaker parts of 09. The three verions deliver a remarkably similar message, but the nuances of each just informs the overall point of the story.
There's a lot of misinformation surrounding the creation of both shows that most people aren't really aware of, namely 03 was planned from going off-canon from the begining, and the begining of 09 is not like that because 03 wasn't far behind, apparently the show was made without taking 03 into account at all.
ive yet to watch FMA but this video is kinda driving me to watch it.
Absolutely _highly_ recommend it. It's a wonderful experience from start to finish.
thank you for another great video
"So the English title of it would end up being Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Alchemist." So THAT'S why the midroll title cards are the way they are!
Another beautiful essay and deep one!! Thank you for this. This was really good!! And FMA:Brotherhood, is one of my favourite story ever told. Last summer, I only watched FMA: Brotherhood. But whenever I do get time, I will for sure watch The 2003 version of FMA!! I can't wait. And thank you. Keep it up!!
Father and Dante are very similar characters in certain ways.
They both seek to use the philosopher's stone to transcend their limitations, at the cost of countless lives.
They both take advantage of the homunculi and never think of the possibility that their motives and emotions will conflict with the plan. This ultimately leads to their downfall when they are destroyed by a homunculus.
They both have a certain pride in themselves (despite one trying to remove it) and think that they are above humans. They see life as a resource.
They both create a philosopher's stone with Hohenheim.
The both take a form that isn't their own.
I love this story so much, and your review bre,as it down so well omg
Seriously appreciate the spoiler warning in the way you did. It's a true real warning of what you'll lose if you just dive in without reading or watching for yourself
New subscriber but I’m loving your channel so far :D :D keep it up!!!!
Thank you!
19:12 Fma Envy in a nutshell
2003 VS 2009 (My Take)
2009: Better as a story, though it does sacrifice some of the artistry that was utilized for 2003. This comes with its own ups and downs but makes it feel more or less coherent.
2003: Better as a work of art but sacrifices a bit of its narrative consistency. This allows it to be, in my opinion, more fun; however, I understand why it isn't everyone's cup of tea.
The war over which is better (2003 or 2009) is stupid. Both are better in different ways. There was never a reason to fight over this. And the gap between them when it comes to which is better in what way is so narrow that there's no reason to fight so militantly over it. Some people truly just need to chill.
I gotta kind of disagree with ur stance on the ending of the fma03 series i didn't find it distracting at all because it was foreshadowed since the beginning I mean no hate and ik I'm a year late and I apologize for the long paragraph and I hope u have a good day
plot twist was planned out throughout the series if you see it thematically it makes complete sense the main complaints is how early the twist was played out or foreshadowed in the show and they usually forget the virtues that the gate plot twist has 03 didn't only give hints right before the twist itself happened the audience sees images of our world's history in ed's memories of the gate all the way back in episode 29 which is just after the halfway point of the show now that tiny hints sure isnt enough but then u remember me sayin that if u few the whole series as a thematic character study then it all fits in placebecause what the gate twist lacks in dramatic buildup it more than makes up for it in thematic buildup theres a reason ed travels to our world and not to some metaphysical realm sealed within the gate or to some other fantasy sci-fi setting the writers could have conjured up for the finale 03 is about the conflict between fantasy and reality between childhood and adulthood between the ideal and the concrete between our personal dreams and the needs of the flesh and blood people around us huge examples of this are littered throughout the series but episode 16 is a big example heres a quote from that "A dream to get everything back the way it was but once you have it what will you do with your life?" the pleasure of a dream is that is a fantasy if it happens its not a dream "the anime explores these conflicts primarily ed's stubborn belief in equivalent exchange and through his refusal to accept its possible falsehoods when you keep all of this in mind it makes thematic sense that at the climax of ed and dante's argument about equivalent exchange in episode 49 which is really an argument about the fairness of the "real world" Ed through the gate to our world the actual real world not only is he stranded in the middle of ww1 often being the embodiment of bleak disillusionment but he's also literally stranded in reality itself this is the thematic justification for the suddenness of this twist its a sudden, brutal reality check ed is out of the dream world , his childhood and into the literal real world out of the realm of his dreams, ideals, beliefs, and his ambitions and in the realm of the ugly price of all of those things he discovers that the deaths that take place in our world fuel the transmutations of his world the dream world this is the dark foundational truth of all truths their is no fairness now i know its dark i love it but there is more than that I'm so sorry for the long paragraph again I mean no hate but yeah If u still confused I hope this helps a lil
FMA is the Dark Souls of anime.
Wouldn’t the dark souls of anime/manga be berserk? Not sure what the most apt game equivalent to FMA would be, but it certainly must exist (especially seeing Arakawa made it because the publisher was most known for JRPGs so she thought she would have better luck being published if she built it with JRPG tropings in mind. Literally the reason she got the idea for alchemy was after doing research into the philosopher’s stone due to it being a common macguffin in JRPGs.)
Great analysis! Loved it! It’s just such an amazingly wild ride xD I do have a question tho, do you have sources for the instrumentals and stuff in the background? They aren’t quite the original and I wanna listen to them more ^^
Which in particular are you referring to? :0
@@NezumiVA well, I thought in general, is there like a list of the soundtracks you used? the ones I’m particularly interested in tho are towards the end of the video ^^
@@V1G4M1 Each time the track changes, the title is shown in top lefthand corner of the video, yep! Under the text that reads "Now Playing".
@@NezumiVA oooooh! Thank you so much! I didn’t notice xD
I was wondering if you would consider making another Umineko essay/analysis
Like an essay about Umineko and gender or Umineko and patriarchy? That would be super interesting!
Seeing that initial pic of the original manga.i am like, "Now, give me those..."
For me?
2003 up to greed since Brotherhood tends to rush through the stuff 2003 had done.
It is fun to take what you like of both series and take it from there.
Ehh, I kinda disagree. I think 2003 plants enough of its seeds for its original content too early on to make that an entirely consistent watch, if you hop between them. Inevitably you’ll get timeline changes or additional content which get either contradicted or entirely dropped in Brotherhood, bc they’re not in the manga.
@@NezumiVA Maybe it is because I have seen them before and other anime around this time... but Filler and plot points that lead no where was very common back then.
I just view the other parts under that same catagory... in much the same way everyone tends to ignore the LONG ANIME ARC of Naruto after Sasuke is lost or Bleach with the vampire arc and sword revolt arc (yes the big bad was the cool dude and the white hollow version of the MC was actually the sword. Yet they used big bad as the sword revolt)
It is only recent that straight 1-1 translations of anime is becoming more common without anime made filler to... fill gaps or make their own endings regardless of the original end.
Like Black Butler making their own ending... then their own season 2... then season 3 going back to manga and pretending the anime stuff in season 1,2 didn't happen.
Nice suit of armor must have cost an arm and a leg.
52:10 Love the Umineko reference
When it comes to FMA I've only watched 2009 anime. The 2003 one I've seen some clips of.
I recommend giving it a shot! It's certainly very different, but I think it still has a lot of its own charm despite what I think are some hiccups along the road.
FMA is my go to all time absolute favorite manga in the world right next to One Piece, I daresay that it even sits on the throne, with One Piece as the loyal knight
Also Fun Fact that I don't think you mentioned was that Arakawa herself coordinated the changes made to the original anime to help them make the series good on its own terms while she continued to finish her story
Bookmarking this for the next time I have an hour to kill. Thank you for your work
Una pregunta, volverás hablar del slenderverse?
See I have one very distinct criticism of FMA2003 that I will never give up on.
Barry the Chopper. If they didn't make Barry the Chopper into a Crossdressing Serial Killer Trope when in the Manga and FMA2009 he's just a dude that chopped people up, I would be able to enjoy it for its own merits and its own narrative.
yeah i agree
as a trans person that really creeped me out
love you wish ya the best
But first
We have to talk about parallel universes
Do you watch super eyepatch wolf?
I do indeed!
@@NezumiVA me too
PLEASE do a Bloodborne video. Thank you. :)
it's not magic, it's atom bending
You can't talk about this series anymore without bringing up a certain voice actor. And yet you did just that for nearly an hour.
Very deliberately, yes, lol.
FMAB should've been called Fullmetal² + 2FullmetalAlchemist + Alchemist² in English
I saw brotherhood first, but to be fair it was always too optimistic. So first one seems like more grounded, but not as well constructed.
I’ve never understood what was so great about this anime, but i guess I’ll watch the vid and see
I love FMA with all my heart, but I still deeply disagree with its obsession with "the natural order" and "playing god." Seeking transcendence is part of being human, and no god has the right to deny that.
There are some things i really love about the 2003 anime but at the end of the day brother hood is better to me. But i can say that i really really really h a t e the 2003 anime movie that takes place after the show like for what reason??? Lol. Tbh the things i like about the 2003 anime the most are the lil filler episodes
I also think the people who get so in their feels about the 2003 anime so much as existing are annoying af. When i recommend fma to people i tend to tell them to watch the 2003 anime but keep in mind a lot of it is different and noncanon to the manga but is good regardless and people throw a bitch fit abt it lol
When I watched Full metal alchemist. I felt cheated by the ending. It was just one long commercial for a movie. Then I was told to watch brothershood instead. So I went to the library and watched brotherhood. Thank god thay didn't do the same swindle twice. Thay broke a storytelling rule and I was cheated.