Why You NEED to Watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

[Music] the title of this video alone probably has some of you raising your eyebrows Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood has reigned for years as the top-rated anime of all time on mal it's seen by many as a staple of the Western otaku diet and as one of the greatest anime of the modern era but Brotherhood's not so modern anymore last month the series hit its 10-year anniversary meaning it's as old now as Digimon Adventure was when it first came out and given how many new fans have gotten into anime in the decades since it only makes sense that many of them even hardcore otaku who've been watching anime since they were kids just haven't gotten around to it yet and while it's tempting to shake our withered old fists at these whippersnappers who have no idea what good anime even is that nabbit that's not true and that kind of gatekeeping snobbery will do very little to convince them to actually watch it so in light of the discussion we've been having recently about old anime and how the communities changed over the years I think it's high time I made a spoiler light case for this classic show as the second entry after initial D in a new series I'm calling anime essentials and while that title will be a little hyperbolic for most of the show's I talk about in this series there are a few that fit it better than this one if you enjoy watching anime of any kind even if fantasy isn't your bag and shown an action bores you to tears I all but guaranteed that you'll find something to love about Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood as the subtitle suggests the series follows two young brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who are prodigious students of alchemy a miraculous science that allows matter to be broken down to its base molecular components and reconstructed into another shape of equal mass alchemy can be used to do many things but it cannot create life and as the Elric brothers discover when they try to resurrect their dead mother the consequences for attempting to do so are dire the blowback from their failed transmutation destroys Ed's left leg and right arm which have to be replaced with armored prosthetics called automail but he gets off easy compared to Al who's left a disembodied soul bound to a suit of armor in exchange for what they've lost edie gains the ability to perform transmutations with a clap of his hands instead of having to draw an alchemic circle which he uses to earn a spot in the military as a state Alchemist in doing so he turns himself into a living weapon for the vaguely fascist government but in exchange he and his brother gain access to military resources which they can use to pursue the philosopher's stone a legendary object that lets alchemist transmute without restriction and that the brothers hope is the key to getting their original bodies back the brothers pursuit of that goal will see them travel far and wide across the nation of a mistress pitting them against terrorists serial killers and actual literal monsters and more secrets than just those of the stone lay along their path but their determination is ironclad Fullmetal if you will and they won't stop until they achieve their goal even if they have to turn their entire badass steampunk world on its head to do it that's about all I can say without spoiling things one of the major themes of the anime is that everything in its world no matter how small and isolated it may seem is connected to everything else and that's reflected brilliantly in its narrative structure Brotherhood's narrative is a tightly woven web of Secrets conspiracies and twists that's a delight to watch unravel and that I really don't want to spoil some twists you'll see coming with ease others will catch you completely off-guard but if you've managed to make it this long as an anime fan without having them ruin for you it's worth experiencing them all blind speaking as a writer I sit in awe of what manga Chi Hiromu Arakawa accomplished here it's thrilling thought-provoking and moving all at once and it goes by at a breakneck pace moving from one stunning revelation to the next without stumbling or slowing down well ok there is one caveat to that statement the first 13 episodes do feel a bit clumsy and rushed relative to the rest of the show but there's a good reason for that this was boned second go at adapting the FMA manga their first effort came out in 2003 two years into the mangas run and consisted of 37 filler episodes interspersed with 14 semi faithful adaptations of the manga chapters that were out when it started airing about a fifth of the total story that anime deserves its own video is the two series mostly stand apart from each other as their own distinctive stories but because it exists bones decided to sort of glaze over those first few arcs to get to the new stuff the resulting episodes are still good entertaining television better than most other shown in action joints but they don't quite represent the incredible heights of storytelling that the series reaches and somehow sustains as it goes on this isn't really a point against FMA Brotherhood just something to keep in mind if you start watching and don't immediately see what all the hype is about Brotherhood rightly gets a lot of praise for its tight clever plot but that's far from the only thing the series has going for it that narrative is built on a bedrock of interesting and poignant ideas about science religion war nationalism and the very nature of truth itself if you're so inclined you can spend days digging down to uncover the philosophical roots of the show story and world as some other great youtubers have already done link in the doobly-doo but if you don't feel like engaging with those ideas you'll have no trouble simply enjoying the ride all of the concepts that the show juggles are presented in a very accessible manner and they remain coherent because it ties them to one simple and fundamental core message that the world is not purely transactional and that our connection to and mutual support of one another makes it possible for us to achieve things far beyond the scope of conventional knowledge in keeping with that theme the show's script also contains a wealth of phenomenal character writing as you'd expect the bond and banter between ed and Al forms the series backbone Ed's snarky attitude and short temper contrasts nicely with Al's sweet earnest demeanor they bicker as siblings often do but they also support each other unerringly and watching them both grow up without ever losing their faith in each other is profoundly heartwarming they cross paths with a wide variety of colorful characters throughout their journey even the bit players from minor side plots feel three-dimensional and have a way of sticking in your mind and popping back up when you least expect them and beyond all the great extras the recurring characters rank among my favorites in anime the brother's cute childhood friend slash tough-as-nails automail McCann when we Rock Bell is a great foil to both the hard-headed ed in the soft-spoken Al she often serves to remind them of the things that really matter in life and help them connect with other people you can tell she gets her Stern demeanor from her pint-sized grandmother pânico while Ed's abrasive attitude mirrors that of his and Al's no-nonsense alchemy teacher easily Curtis whose relationship with her doting husband is hashtag goals in spite of losing their mother the boys build themselves a strong found family before the series even begins and it only grows as their journey continues this show's cast is massive and packed with lovable personalities well beyond the scope of what I can cover today though the Elric's do have a few key allies in the military that you should know about before we move on most prominent are the gruff but lovable Roy Mustang his sharp witted partner and series best girl Risa Hawkeye best dad Mays Hughes and your favorite character major-general Alex Louis Armstrong these soldiers have vibrant personalities underscored by a certain serious grimness grimmer for some than others as though they're all smiling or aggressively flexing through some kind of pain and as the series goes on it becomes clear why they've all seen some [ __ ] Brotherhood has an overall cheery demeanor but it's not afraid to shine a light on the darker side of humanity in the horrors of war or to hurt the characters it's so good at making you care for even if you've seen the obvious examples of that which I won't spoil here if you haven't there's a lot of moments in the show that will still catch you off guard as unambiguously kick-ass and hype as the series can be you'd be surprised at just how often it'll have you pretending that you're not crying Brotherhood also has some of the absolute best villains in anime period which is all the more impressive considering the limitations that Hiromi Arakawa set for herself in writing them the series primary antagonists are a group of seven inhuman monsters called the homunculus of whom represents a pure distillation of one of the seven vices that rule the human heart gluttony lust Envy greed that whole bit now you'd think that characters whose entire mindset is defined by a single all-encompassing desire or emotion would be fairly one note but Arakawa manages to make these villains feel calm and interesting by really digging into how these emotions motivate us gluttony for instance isn't inherently evil or cruel just endlessly self-indulgent arakawa portrays him as a dim homicidal winnie-the-pooh bumbles his way through life thinking of nothing but his next meal and the things that he's been ordered to do before he can eat it often that meal is more likely to be a person than honey but there's rarely malice behind his actions and cannibalism even if he does throw the occasional petulant temper tantrum lust is a great deal more malicious and cunning though no less self-indulgent this being a pg-13 anime they obviously can't go all the way in exploring her particular vice but they get around that by simply having her take an immense amount of pleasure in every sick and twisted thing she does and these the meanest of the bunch and also just the worst in general true to his name he has literally no positive qualities whatsoever as it's his fate to envy them in others he's Petty irritable impatient socially inept and above all else phenomenally stupid but he's also pathologically incapable of acknowledging his own faults which makes it a ton of fun to see him bounce off the rest of the cast and constantly get owned at every turn in contrast especially with envy it's only natural that greed who wants everything for himself would drift away from the other homunculus pursuit of his own goals and it's equally natural that he'd be a lot nicer than all of them as he's naturally inclined to want everything that he lays eyes on it only makes sense that he's naturally inclined to like everything as well including all of the people he meets so while he'll go to extreme lengths to achieve his ends he's also genuinely unambiguously friendly toward everyone who doesn't stand in his way the remaining three sins and other villains beyond them are similarly complex and compelling but I'll leave you to discover them for yourself now the fights against these villains are really something else after all this is a studio bones joint one of the few anime studio names that actually mean something and one of fewer that means something good and moreover Brotherhood is arguably the show that cemented their reputation for incredible action scenes thanks to a star-studded staff role the show's animation credits are a whose two of Industry legends from one punch man director Shingo Natsume to the man behind like half the best shots in my hero academia you taka Nakamura click any random name on the show staff list and you'll find yourself bombarded with a page full of standout shows these varied and impressive talents were used to their fullest under the brilliant guidance of chief animation director yo Shinichi comida who you might also know as the animation director of mob psycho 100 season 2 yeah unsurprisingly FMA is one of the most gorgeous animated series in existence every action scene pops off the screen with a level of polish and energy that most series would be lucky to achieve in a single shot the impossible magic of transmutations is rendered fully believable thanks to meticulous attention to detail that ensures each one adheres to the laws of equivalent exchange while the characters fighting around those crazy transforming weapons and environments move with real weight and purpose in every battle you get a sense of each character's unique fighting styles and way of thinking combatants make clever use of their surroundings and exploit each other's foibles to gain the upper hand and when the alchemists especially the Elric brothers and major Armstrong are able to fight with their full potential the show becomes an animators playground fights in this show can be elegant and inspiring or dirty and brutal but at all times they are immensely fun the show's final run of episodes in particular presents a cavalcade of non-stop action scenes each somehow more impressive than the last culminating in a glorious final brawl that pushes the series cast and concepts to their absolute limits without showing or describing any spoilers I'm sure that a lot of this sounds like I purply but I promise you it's not the show delivers one of the best most legendary fights in all of anime in episode 19 and it just keeps getting better in the 45 after that not every scene is that visually impressive mind you in keeping with its story the show's style sticks very close to the original manga with many shots being one-to-one translation of the manga panels especially early in the series these manga style shots by their nature tend to be kind of static which can lead to some dialogue scenes feeling stiff and unnatural the style works for comedic moments but it undercuts some of the drama especially again in those early episodes still that's a minor issue overall the show delivers great animation where it needs to even outside of its fight scenes and other aspects of the production more than make up for its rare shortcomings the voice acting is phenomenal in English and Japanese the score composed by Akira send you is packed end to end with powerful and memorable compositions and sound design genius Masafumi Mima who you might remember from the initial D video ensures that everything from subtle character movements to physics defying transmutations sounds believable its easiest for me to gush about the animation but the work done in every one of these fields deserves its own hour-long video essay Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is more than just a great story well told in a sakuga smorgasbord it's a showcase of immense artistic talent leaders and legends in every field of anime production working in concert at the top of their game for a straight run of 64 episodes 63 if you don't count the recap though I think you should because it still manages to pack some phenomenal animation and direction into it's original segments this show shouldn't exist not in the form that it does anyway when you look at how it was made at the beyond ambitious schedule that saw over a year of constant production ending less than a month after the manga they were adapting was slated to finish it seems inconceivable that they could make it to the end zone without fumbling at least once but aside from a slightly rushed first arc the team working on it just hit home run after home run even though as I just established they were playing football Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is a thing of beauty and the closer you look at it no matter what angle you're looking at it from be it analysing the themes and strive sure of the story breaking down the characters are diving into its production values the more beautiful it reveals itself to be so when I say you need to watch this anime obviously that's hyperbole only slightly though FMA Brotherhood is not for everyone but only insofar as nothing really is few anime offer such polished presentation and fewer still back it up with such a rich deep and accessible narrative if you're interested enough in anime to have stumbled on this video and you haven't seen it yet for whatever reason you owe it to yourself to give Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood a shot as soon as you have time for it for all the words I've spent on it today I could still go on for hours finding new things to praise an FM a brotherhood like I love how every alchemists attacks represent their own gaudy sense of style from Armstrong sculptures of his own rippling muscles to the edgy teenage goth sensibilities of EDS creations and it's awesome to see a big-budget mainstream anime deal seriously with the physical and emotional challenges of being or becoming disabled also know I really have to stop myself before this gets too long if you're interested enough in anime to have stumbled on this video and you haven't seen it yet you owe it to yourself and nobody else to give Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood a shot not every classic anime fully lives up to the hype especially when the hype is this high but Brotherhood really does I promise you it is worth making the time to see it if you'd like to watch it right now you can click the link in the doobly-doo to catch the whole series dubbed and subbed on this video sponsor crunchyroll crunchyroll if you somehow don't know already is an anime streaming platform where you can watch hundreds of great shows stretching back through the decades as well as new series broadcast with English subtitles right as they air in Japan from just this current season they've got a ton of great shows like attack on Titan JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Demon Slayer boku ban hitori Bochy and fruits basket and they're constantly adding new classics to their backlog as well just recently they picked up keema gory orange road honey and clover and Kaiba among others and they've got a treasure trove of other great shows waiting for you to explore or if you're so inclined and no matter how you want to watch your anime be it on your favorite game console your phone your Smart TV or your computer crunchyroll has you covered you can head to crunchyroll.com slash basement to get a 14-day free trial today which is plenty of time to bend your way through Brotherhood and see for yourself why they're the industry leader in anime streaming before you click that link let me know in the comments below what other classic anime you'd like to see me shine a spotlight on and which of the many great characters in FMA Brotherhood is your favorite and while you're down there you see the buttons you know what to do I'm Jeff through professional shitbags signing out from my mother's basement

Channel: Mother's Basement

Views: 750,038

Rating: 4.9554229 out of 5

Keywords: Mother's Basement, Anime, Anime Analysis, Classic Anime, anime recommendations, fullmetal alchemist, brotherhood, Bones, fullmetal alchemist brotherhood, edward elric, alphonse elric, fma brotherhood, fullmetal alchemist review, anime review, my hero academia, one punch man, attack on titan, the promised neverland, mob psycho 100, Best Anime, Again Yui, top anime, anime zone gigguk, Glass reflection, You should watch, should you watch

Id: gJOE2ddno6A

Length: 18min 23sec (1103 seconds)

Published: Sat May 25 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Artifice_Purple]

Obligatory fuck Shou Tucker.

[u/TheAttaxicOne]

We really need to be told to watch FMA:B in 2019? Lmao

[u/Hornswabber]

Mother's Basement

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