cloaks and castles
d&d
dnd
dungeon master
dungeons and dragons
elf
episode 1
fun
funny
one table
podcast
three guys
tiefling
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
I'm usually not a huge fan of
slice-of-life anime such as this. Cute girls doing cute things can
only hold its luster for so long before I begin to lose interest. At
the start of Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, however, I knew this one would
be different. Different in that, unlike some other anime of this
genre I've seen, this one takes its bizarre concept and stays fairly
grounded – for the most part. It definitely surprised me with how
clever it was, despite it only getting me to laugh aloud a few times. This isn't a gut-busting, heart-palpitating comedy. It's more
subtle than that but was able to keep me engaged throughout the
entire journey. And its setup, though strange, definitely hooked me.
Kobayashi is just an ordinary adult
woman living an ordinary adult life. She gets up, makes herself
breakfast, goes to work, comes home, has a few drinks, and goes to
bed. A very simple, yet boring, life. One night, however, she has a
few more than a few drinks and ends up wandering up onto the mountain
where she ends up saving a dragon named Tohru. The following morning,
Kobayashi having lost all memory of the events of the night prior, is
greeted by Tohru at the door of her small apartment. Apparently,
Tohru has agreed to be Kobayashi's maid as penance for saving her.
Then life with a dragon-maid starts!
Eventually new human and dragon
characters get added to the roster. A young wide-eyed dragon-girl
named Kanna; a video-game addict and recluse dragon named Fafnir; a
very, shall I say, well-endowed and wise dragon named Lucoa; and the
inconsequential-to-the-plot-but-still-best-girl dragon Elma. Along
with some other human characters they go about their days trying to
live among and adapt to humans.
As was
previously stated, Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is a slice-of-life anime
first and foremost. There is no grand narrative nor some epic evil to
overcome. Instead the episodes are dedicated to Tohru and Kobayashi
trying to prepare Kanna for school or Tohru attempting to prepare
dinner for Kobayashi. We're not dealing with serious stuff here. With
that being said, however, I did really end up feeling for these
characters. Slice-of-life shows in particular tend to be popular for
their love of the mundane but Kobayashi's Dragon Maid tends to take
the mundane and add some kind of twist. For example, there is a
running joke in the anime where Tohru tries to feed Kobayashi her
tail (spoiler, she never succeeds). Or a dodge-ball match with a
bunch of bullies getting out of hand when Tohru and her friends crush them
with their superior dragon-strength.
This
leads me to my first problem with the anime. It never follows through
to the end. I was hoping by the end of the show one of these running
jokes or “isms” that the characters have would get resolved and,
though we are left with an emotional final episode, it never broke
through to me like I thought it would. During the last episode I was
hoping that Kobayashi would finally take a bite of her dragon-maid's
tail or something to that effect. Don't get me wrong, the ending was
still satisfying but it didn't quite get me to where I would have
wanted.
One
other minor issue I had was with the critically underutilized Elma.
Obviously-best-girl Elma doesn't appear until episode eight and after
that she only gets a few scene transition jokes to herself. She never
becomes a truly vital part of the group which pains me to my very
core. Hopefully a second season will fix that. I'll just have to be
patient.
Truly,
I wasn't expecting much of the music from this show but it is a
delight through and through. Its opening is visually confusing and
off-the-wall but the song is bouncy and definitely got me pumped for
the upcoming episode and all of its music is able to keep a grin.
It's also very uncommon that I commend Japanese voice acting (simply
because I'm not too informed on the industry) but Kobayashi's Dragon
Maid's voice performances are consistently great. The animation is
also very good. The character designs are all very distinct and the
color choice is fantastic. What really amazed me was the actions
scenes, few and far between as they may be. Though it is just the dragons' way of 'playing' it is still astounding to look at.
Kobayashi's
Dragon Maid truly surprised me. Its characters are all very
well-developed (with exception of Elma) and, though the ending of
the series didn't quite do it for me, I will still look back on it fondly. Despite the problems, it still had a lot more heart than any other anime that I've seen in a long time.
Kobayashi's
Dragon Maid is a fantastic
time from start to finish.
When the first trailer aired for this film, I'll admit it, I was scared for the franchise. Star Wars had never had a big budget movie side story before and I wasn't sure how they would be able to weave this into the main story. But goddammit, they succeeded. Rogue One is amazing. In fact I would put it in my top three Star Wars movies. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The story of Rogue One is different than any other tale set in the Star Wars universe. If you've already seen Episode IV then you know the plot of this movie. "It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's secret weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet." That's all the major plot points to Rogue One but it isn't quite that simple. There are many more cogs working in this Rebel machine than it seems from that opening crawl that was written thirty years ago.
The first problem that I noticed with Rogue One was the lack of backstory for most of the characters. Jyn Erso is the only one who had a significant amount of story given to. All of the others just sort of showed up, which is fine to an extent. For example, Chirrut Imwe, a blind man who sees with the force, doesn't need much to get me to like hiim because that concept is just cool on its own. One character where this problem becomes especially noticeable is with Baze Malbus. He is just there and he has a fast-firing gun. That's boring. He's boring. He's not funny or interesting besides his big gun and he certainly doesn't have e any memorable lines. He isn't a nuisance to the plot, though, unlike a certain Gungan from the prequels. My favorite character has to be K-2SO. He's funny and quick-witted and can also be a badass when the situation calls for it. Overall, the characters themselves are good but do play off of each other well.
The second major problem I had with Rogue One was the pacing. It starts off very slow and only picks up after about twenty minutes in. That first twenty minutes isn't boring per se but isn't nearly as exciting as the rest of the film which is, might I add, a flooring experience.
To me, a Star Wars movie is only as good as its villains and Rogue One surprised me in this aspect. Orson Krennic, the captain of the Death Star, is technically the main villain of the film but he is frequently overshadowed by past villains that make appearances throughout the film. That brings me to Darth Vader who, though is only in the movie for about five minutes total, completely steals the show every time he is on screen. James Earl Jones comes back once again to reprise his role and the performance is once again fantastic. The main villain of Krennic isn't bad, though. He just doesn't get as much screen time as he should.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story looks fantastic from title card to ending credits. It's directed well and the CG is used sparingly enough where it isn't distracting, except for one character. One character from a past film is rendered completely in CG. At first it is very distracting but by the end of the film I barely even remembered that he was CG. Even after the movie finished I turned to my friend to comment on it and he didn't even realize that the character was completely faked. Uncanny Valley. Rogue One is the only Star Wars movie, to my knowledge, to not have John Williams on the soundtrack and it is, unfortunately, noticeable. The music is still great, don't get me wrong, but it has a lack of... whatever John Williams did to make his scores so fantastic.
Before my final analysis I must say one thing: Rogue One addressed and fixed a major problem that fans have had for many years with the original trilogy. That is all.
I really thought that this movie couldn't work. I was completely wrong. The film is a fun experience with great character dynamics and though it may warrant a yawn or two from the audience in the first act it will definitely be remembered for a long time.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a great experience.
This past week I've been catching up on
one of my favorite shows for a long time now. Adventure Time
started in 2010 on perhaps the best childrens' channel of date,
Cartoon Network. This show means so much to so many people, including
me. Why is that? Is it the diverse and interesting cast of
characters? Wonderful music? Its progressive tones? The utter refusal
to be condescending to young viewers? All of the above,
unsurprisingly.
Earlier in the year I wrote about the
progressive nature of a lot of childrens' cartoons nowadays. When
writing that I only briefly mentioned Adventure Time among
many others as being mature for their target audience. Nickelodeon's
The Legend of Korra,
Disney's Gravity Falls, and
Cartoon Network's Steven Universe.
It seems like it all started with Adventure Time.
It mentions past same-sex relationships and even seems to deal with
sexual identity if you analyze certain characters enough. What does
this all mean. Not just that new and upcoming creators are brighter
then ever but that they are fundamentally changing up the process in
which the audience takes in their creations.
For
this example I'm going to, obviously, use Finn from Adventure
Time. When the show first
started, in 2010, Finn was twelve. Now, 2016, he is 16. Okay, so the
aging between the show and the characters aren't entirely one-to-one
but that isn't exactly the point. Just think of the implications of
having the characters in a show age the same as the audience. First
of all, the show grows with its viewers. This means that the themes
presented in the show itself can mature with the audience – at
least that's the plan. At the start of the show, the plotlines were
relatively simple. The Ice King is bad and he steals princesses. Finn
and his magical dog Jake need to save them. Rinse and repeat. Right?
No. Later in the series they give some backstory to Finn. He was an
orphan, abandoned in the woods until Jake's parents saved him. Later
still, Marceline the Vampire Queen gets some interesting stories as
we learn about her complicated relationship with her father.
Somewhere in the between we get some hints at the setting of this
show. A post-apocalyptic Earth? Yes, really. The Land of Ooo is
actually the aftermath of 1000 years of nuclear fallout. How do we
know this for sure? In a Christmas episode where we learn of Ice
King's tragic backstory as he witnessed the downfall of civilization
and went mad (and immortal) in the process. That's only the
beginning. I haven't even gotten into the masterful story
craftsmanship that went into Finn's relationship with his
father. The minds behind Adventure Time knew
their audience and capitalized on the fact that they grow up and used
it as an opportunity to keep the show interesting for the same
audience that the show was originally crafted for, but older.
This show asks a lot from its audience. To the everyday viewer, every episode might just seem like a fun adventure for the whole family to enjoy. To a more inquisitive viewer, however, one can get a lot out of a single episode of adventure time. When talking about the deepness of this show I like to use the episode "All the Little People," one of my favorites. The episodes starts off with a surprisingly human conversation in which Finn asks whether it would be better to date someone who is exactly like you or your complete opposite and then goes on to ask if BMO and Ice King would make a good couple. Jake is perplexed by the latter but has an intriguing explanation for the former. He answers that love isn't about science and compatibility but that its really random of who will like who or the "pumps-'n'-bumps" as he so eloquently puts it. This sets up the entire theme for the episode. After this short exchange, Magic Man sneaks up and puts magic bag inside Finn's pocket. They discover that in the bag is miniature versions of a lot of citizens of Ooo. Back in the tree house, Finn starts interacting with them by putting them in various situations and spending days upon days just seeing what they will get up to. It turns out, Jake was right. Not only did the little people get into all kinds of strange relationships but the miniature version of Finn starts cheating on every girl that he goes out with. This causes the real Finn to step in and make everything right and, after a miniature dance party, the episode ends. This is a deep episode. It's funny and interesting to young kids but has a deep message that not many shows will dare to do.
Before Adventure Time not many shows tried to do anything as new as this. In the 80s most cartoons were mostly about selling toys and in the 90s, while a lot of these shows were extremely creative they rarely had any deep morals while being entertaining. The 00's were special to a lot of people for its unique comedy but I believe that right now is when we can truly get excited. This show almost
single-handedly changed the landscape of cartoons for years to come.
It's been six years since the premiere of the show and, though I
don't think anything can beat the Lich arc of a few years ago, it
still shows no sign of stopping. Though I'm usually against
television shows dragging themselves out until they become dry and
uninspired (al a Spongebob) if this show keeps pumping out content
like this then I might be okay with getting a few more years of it.
This spring season of anime was a little disappointing to me on the whole. I didn't get around to every show this season but the ones I did get to didn't really grab me. About four weeks in to the season I went on MyAnimeList to see what the most popular ones of the season were and I was surprised at just how much praise that My Hero Academia was getting. I didn't get on the band wagon right away because I've gotten really bored of super hero films and shows but I thought I would give this one a try. I was not disappointed. My Hero Academia is clever, fun, and really gripping right from the start but still not quite what I wanted from it.
The premise alone originally got me into the show. At first it may seem like a generic super hero romp but it is surprisingly more than that. In this world the superpowers are known as Quirks and, contrary to most other hero tales, the ones who don't have a power are the odd-ones-out. This is interesting. I've seen enough X-Men to be able to sympathize with the ones who are considered freaks with their powers. In this world the ones who don't have a power are considered outsiders. After the first episode I wanted to see where this story would take me considering the differences that it fundamentally has with other super hero stories of today. In that aspect, I was disappointed. I suppose it's my fault as the name of the show is My Hero Academia - with an emphasis on 'Academia.' If I had taken this in mind I could have predicted that it would have the generic "school of heroes" set up. That set up, though not special, appeared at first to be uninspired but dang I just love these characters so much.
I've always been a believer that the setting doesn't carry much weight as long as the characters are relatable. This brings me to our main character, Izuku Midoriya. Izuku is quirkless i.e. he doesn't have any powers but he still strives to be a hero and even idolizes the so-called 'Symbol of Piece,' All Might. Because of his powerless position the other students make fun of him and he even develops a rivalry with a bully with a fire-based quirk, Bakugo. Izuku wants to take the entrance exam to the highest ranking hero-training school available but he can't pass without a quirk. This all changes, however, when All Might himself saves Izuku from a villain which leads to the discovery of All Might's grand secret - he can only do hero work for three hours a day. All Might explains to Izuku that he is looking for someone to hand over the reigns of 'Symbol of Piece' to so, after some rigorous training, All Might gives Izuku his powers of super strength and sends him on his way to take the entrance exam. You could consider this entire paragraph as a spoiler but this all happens in the span of the first four episodes.
The animation of My Hero Academia isn't the best I've seen this season but it is still very good in its own stylistic way. Thick lines and varied character designs make for a very memorable art style that accentuates the themes that the show is going for. The designs of the different heroes are especially great. There is a certain hero that goes by the name of Mt. Lady who only shows up in a couple scenes in the very beginning but her character design is so memorable even all these weeks later after finishing the series. All of the students eventually get their own hero costumes that do a good job of making them look cool while also giving them a lot of personality, not that they didn't have any before. I especially loved Asui, a frog-girl with (you guessed it) frog powers; Momo, who's powers were never fully explained; and Ochako, who has the power to make any object she touches lighter. One character that I was really hoping had a great design was Bakugo. The suit that he ends up with does fit with his explosive personality but it looks stupid. He just put grenades on each of his hands and, at least to me, it looks uninspired.
The music... I can't say much for. I think I liked it but I couldn't pick out a certain track over the others. Such a shame considering how great both the OP and ED are. The OP, THE DAY, is an aw-inspiring anthem that pumps me up for the show every time. The ED, Heroes, is always a good ending for almost every episode. Overall the sound isn't great but it does what it needs to which I can appreciate.
My Hero Academia is probably my favorite anime of this season with its good action, great characters, and wonderful designs and art.
My Hero Academia is thrilling!
 |
| Art by DeviantArt user corphish2 |
I've always been a believer that the setting doesn't carry much weight as long as the characters are relatable. This brings me to our main character, Izuku Midoriya. Izuku is quirkless i.e. he doesn't have any powers but he still strives to be a hero and even idolizes the so-called 'Symbol of Piece,' All Might. Because of his powerless position the other students make fun of him and he even develops a rivalry with a bully with a fire-based quirk, Bakugo. Izuku wants to take the entrance exam to the highest ranking hero-training school available but he can't pass without a quirk. This all changes, however, when All Might himself saves Izuku from a villain which leads to the discovery of All Might's grand secret - he can only do hero work for three hours a day. All Might explains to Izuku that he is looking for someone to hand over the reigns of 'Symbol of Piece' to so, after some rigorous training, All Might gives Izuku his powers of super strength and sends him on his way to take the entrance exam. You could consider this entire paragraph as a spoiler but this all happens in the span of the first four episodes.
The animation of My Hero Academia isn't the best I've seen this season but it is still very good in its own stylistic way. Thick lines and varied character designs make for a very memorable art style that accentuates the themes that the show is going for. The designs of the different heroes are especially great. There is a certain hero that goes by the name of Mt. Lady who only shows up in a couple scenes in the very beginning but her character design is so memorable even all these weeks later after finishing the series. All of the students eventually get their own hero costumes that do a good job of making them look cool while also giving them a lot of personality, not that they didn't have any before. I especially loved Asui, a frog-girl with (you guessed it) frog powers; Momo, who's powers were never fully explained; and Ochako, who has the power to make any object she touches lighter. One character that I was really hoping had a great design was Bakugo. The suit that he ends up with does fit with his explosive personality but it looks stupid. He just put grenades on each of his hands and, at least to me, it looks uninspired.
The music... I can't say much for. I think I liked it but I couldn't pick out a certain track over the others. Such a shame considering how great both the OP and ED are. The OP, THE DAY, is an aw-inspiring anthem that pumps me up for the show every time. The ED, Heroes, is always a good ending for almost every episode. Overall the sound isn't great but it does what it needs to which I can appreciate.
My Hero Academia is probably my favorite anime of this season with its good action, great characters, and wonderful designs and art.
My Hero Academia is thrilling!
I freaking love Pixar. The company does churn out a few duds here and there I don't think that any of their films are bad. With that being said, however, their sequels worry me. Monsters University was pretty good but I couldn't even finish Cars 2. Needless to say, I was cautious coming into Finding Dory. They did not disappoint as this film might just be just as great as the original.
Finding Dory isn't about finding Dory. It's actually about Dory's quest to find her long lost family. I don't want to go into it too much in fear of spoilers but let's just say that this film hits you in the gut with the opening scene. Finding Nemo's first scene is sad but, because we've gotten to know Dory, this opener is just heartbreaking. Moving past that, Finding Dory really surprised me with the way it went with its story. I knew the basic outline because of the trailers: Dory gets the help of various new sea friends to find her parents. This film takes this scenario and rolls with it so hard. Frankly, that's what all movies should do with their given outline, but this one thoroughly surprised me with the locations that they go to and the adventures that they have. That is something that I've been missing from a Pixar movie. Is it just nostalgia? Maybe. I did enjoy Inside Out, despite its predictability and The Good Dinosaur... was... definitely a movie, but Finding Dory surprised me with every turn it took regarding its story.
Finding Nemo possesses possibly my favorite movie soundtrack of all time. At least, that's what I would've told you yesterday. Now I would tell you that Finding Dory might just be better... but I can't let go of the original. Is it nostalgia? Heck yes and I don't care. The Finding Nemo soundtrack will always be closer to my heart but Finding Dory just sounds new and improved in every way. Bigger instrument variety and a bigger emphasis on set pieces which is a nice change. I may be a minority by saying it's better but it is certainly a welcome change.
This film looks amazing. The animation is fluid and easy to keep track of and each character gives off so much emotion through their facial expressions. This does lead me, however, to my biggest gripe with the film. The set pieces were a little boring. That isn't the animators fault and I do like how this movie feels more contained than Finding Nemo but that doesn't let the animation really shine like it did in Finding Nemo. There isn't a vast and beautiful ocean that the characters explore in this one. It isn't really the movie itself but rather its relationship with its predecessor that makes this part really stand out while watching it. Maybe that is something that I can get over with more viewings? Whatever the case, good or bad, it is different and worth mentioning.
Finding Dory is a great movie and a great sequel. Is it better? I don't think so but I sure as hell don't think it's worse.
Finding Dory is gripping right to the end.
I absolutely love Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I has to be in my top three anime of all time if not my favorite. Naturally, when I saw that there was also a follow-up movie for this 2009 version of the tale I was skeptical. The Sacred Star of Milos did have a different director but it was still under the same studio so I didn't really know what to thing. I should have gone in with little expectation. This movie isn't very good. The style and setup is great but quickly becomes generic and predicable.
The story of The Sacred Star of Milos takes place during the Brotherhood storyline, oddly enough. The audience never knows specifically when but from what I could gather it takes place after Alphonse remembers "the truth" (thus he is able to transmute without a circle) but before the brothers know of Father's plans of sacrifice. This bugs me. Because of the pace that the anime has I just don't see anyway that anything other than their main mission could take place between the these two plot points. Before or after, sure, but it's just odd that they chose this scenario of events to play around with in the first place. After doing some research, however, I have found that most of the fanbase doesn't consider this story canon so I don't really know what to think.
Anyway, at the start of the film we are introdced to two siblings, Julia and Ashleigh (strange spelling) Crichton, whose parents are famous alchemists around these parts. Two wolf chimeras slip into their house while they are distracted and kill the father and mother while Ashleigh escapes leaving Julia to fend for herself. Years later, Ed and Al are celebrating the generic Amestris harvest festival when suddenly a powerful Alchemist escapes from Prison and, when the brothers try to confront him, they are unable to detain him because of his strange alchemy. After a short investigation run by Mustang, they discover that this mysterious man is after a girl from Creta named Julia who has been recently detained for illegally immigrating to Amestris. With this information, Edward and Alphonse Elric travel to Table City on the border between Creta and Amestris to learn about this strange alchemy and capture the man.
I do like the premise here. All of the above takes up the first fifteen minutes of the film and I was never disinterested. I truly wanted to see where this went. When the brothers actually get into Table City is when the problems start. On the ride there, the train gets attacked by a group of gliding militants and Ed and Al have to fight both them and a wolf chimera. This action scene doesn't just look amazing but it creates a sense that something isn't quite right because of the warring factions. Then after they find Julia everybody makes up and the story turns into every Fullmetal Alchemist plot ever with the bad guys trying to create a Philosopher's Stone by sacrificing the story. We've seen it a hundred times and it's getting boring now.
It makes me upset because the film started out so incredibly strong with motivations other than "get the stone." We could have had Ed and Al taking sides with the mysterious man or the faction of militants who call themselves the Black Bats. Or maybe the brothers had to try to get them to work together in order to fend off either the Amestrian or Cretan military. Or the plot could have been weaved into the Brotherhood plotline nicely with meaningful conversations about Chimeras or Humunculi. After the first half hour of the film it feels tedious because of how similar it is to everything else Fullmetal Alchemist. Just another story about douche-canoes wanting more power through the Philosopher's Stone.
Despite the story and theming problems, the movie isn't all bad. The animation is top notch but I am very torn on the style. It's hard to explain.
Take this:
The main thing that I notice is the line composition. The Sacred Star of Milos clip is hard and rough while the similar Brotherhood clip is soft and clean. The style is different but not necessarily bad. It just took me a long time to get used to. The music is also very good. The nation of Creta is based on real-world Spain so, fittingly, the music takes a lot of inspiration from that region and culture. It isn't anything to write home about but I do appreciate the fact that the creators of Fullmetal Alchemist do their research on everything from architecture to music.
If you've seen the plot of the 2003 FMA or Brotherhood than you've seen The Sacred Star of Milos. The animation and music is different and interesting in its own right and the film starts out strong but the entire experience is predictable and honestly boring.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: The Sacred Star of Milos is not interesting but any FMA fan should still give it a watch.
The story of The Sacred Star of Milos takes place during the Brotherhood storyline, oddly enough. The audience never knows specifically when but from what I could gather it takes place after Alphonse remembers "the truth" (thus he is able to transmute without a circle) but before the brothers know of Father's plans of sacrifice. This bugs me. Because of the pace that the anime has I just don't see anyway that anything other than their main mission could take place between the these two plot points. Before or after, sure, but it's just odd that they chose this scenario of events to play around with in the first place. After doing some research, however, I have found that most of the fanbase doesn't consider this story canon so I don't really know what to think.
Anyway, at the start of the film we are introdced to two siblings, Julia and Ashleigh (strange spelling) Crichton, whose parents are famous alchemists around these parts. Two wolf chimeras slip into their house while they are distracted and kill the father and mother while Ashleigh escapes leaving Julia to fend for herself. Years later, Ed and Al are celebrating the generic Amestris harvest festival when suddenly a powerful Alchemist escapes from Prison and, when the brothers try to confront him, they are unable to detain him because of his strange alchemy. After a short investigation run by Mustang, they discover that this mysterious man is after a girl from Creta named Julia who has been recently detained for illegally immigrating to Amestris. With this information, Edward and Alphonse Elric travel to Table City on the border between Creta and Amestris to learn about this strange alchemy and capture the man.
I do like the premise here. All of the above takes up the first fifteen minutes of the film and I was never disinterested. I truly wanted to see where this went. When the brothers actually get into Table City is when the problems start. On the ride there, the train gets attacked by a group of gliding militants and Ed and Al have to fight both them and a wolf chimera. This action scene doesn't just look amazing but it creates a sense that something isn't quite right because of the warring factions. Then after they find Julia everybody makes up and the story turns into every Fullmetal Alchemist plot ever with the bad guys trying to create a Philosopher's Stone by sacrificing the story. We've seen it a hundred times and it's getting boring now.
It makes me upset because the film started out so incredibly strong with motivations other than "get the stone." We could have had Ed and Al taking sides with the mysterious man or the faction of militants who call themselves the Black Bats. Or maybe the brothers had to try to get them to work together in order to fend off either the Amestrian or Cretan military. Or the plot could have been weaved into the Brotherhood plotline nicely with meaningful conversations about Chimeras or Humunculi. After the first half hour of the film it feels tedious because of how similar it is to everything else Fullmetal Alchemist. Just another story about douche-canoes wanting more power through the Philosopher's Stone.
Despite the story and theming problems, the movie isn't all bad. The animation is top notch but I am very torn on the style. It's hard to explain.
Take this:
Versus this:
The main thing that I notice is the line composition. The Sacred Star of Milos clip is hard and rough while the similar Brotherhood clip is soft and clean. The style is different but not necessarily bad. It just took me a long time to get used to. The music is also very good. The nation of Creta is based on real-world Spain so, fittingly, the music takes a lot of inspiration from that region and culture. It isn't anything to write home about but I do appreciate the fact that the creators of Fullmetal Alchemist do their research on everything from architecture to music.
If you've seen the plot of the 2003 FMA or Brotherhood than you've seen The Sacred Star of Milos. The animation and music is different and interesting in its own right and the film starts out strong but the entire experience is predictable and honestly boring.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: The Sacred Star of Milos is not interesting but any FMA fan should still give it a watch.
I'll be honest, it's not easy for me to pick favorites. It just might be tacky to say this, but my favorite anime of all time is Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. The original 2003 series showed me the possibilities of what anime could be but Brotherhood solidified the idea that anime, just like everything else in this world, could be art. With that in mind, I simply cannot review this piece of art without spoiling the original series and at least a little bit of this one. So let this be known: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is one of my all time favorite things that exists and very well may be the best anime of all time. With that out of the way, I can talk about what makes this show so special.
For my first paragraph I would usually run down the general setup of the world and the characters and their motivations. I don't feel that I need to do that here. If you truly do need this then I recommend you read my FMA 2003 review. For this post, however, I am mostly just going to go over the differences between the two series.
For starters, the humunculi have changed slightly from their 2003 counterparts. The biggest change is their creation. The 2003 series had the humunculi being created from the people that had tried the taboo of human transmutation. I did like this idea because it gave each humunculus a connection to the characters but it didn't capitalize on this fact like I hoped it would. Brotherhood gets rid of this problem completely by having each of the humunculus being created by Father, who is a way more sinister bad guy than Dantes from the original series. Some of the humunculi's names and forms have been changed as well. Instead of Sloth being a liquid version of Ed and Al's mother, he is now a gigantic monster who is actually quite sloth-like. Pride is no longer the Fuhrer. Instead, the Fuhrer takes the name of Wrath.
I feel like these changes, even though they existed first through the original manga, are welcome as their names correspond more to their individual desires. In the 2003 series, Pride wasn't very Prideful, Sloth wasn't slothful, and so on. With these new identities, they each have to deal with the fact that they are based on the seven deadly sins and it makes me even feel bad for them at times. Especially Pride, Wrath, and Greed who all get more screen time then I ever would have expected.
The first twelve episodes of Brotherhood are equivalent to the the first twenty-four episodes of 2003. I have heard this as a complaint as some characters like Hughes and Shao Tucker don't get enough screen time but, to be fair, they don't get a whole lot of time to develop in the manga either. After the first twelve episodes, Brotherhood takes off into a whole new never-before-seen arc and introduces two new Brotherhood-only characters: May Chang and Ling Yao. If you've seen 2003 as many times as I have, these new characters and new surroundings come as a breath of fresh air. Later in the series we get even more characters and even more buildup to the eventual epic battle with Father.
In my FMA 2003 review, I mentioned on how amazingly emotional the soundtrack was. I am very proud to say that Brotherhood does not disappoint as it breaths new life into the music that the series is known for. We don't have the same standout tracks like Bratja but we do get a lot of new and unique tracks to take their place. With that being said, I do like 2003's soundtrack more because of Bratja. That one song is enough to tip the scales for me personally and I do truly wish that Brotherhood had included it at least once in the series.
I didn't mention the English voice acting in my 2003 review, but dang is it impressive. Every single voice actor does their absolute best in Brotherhood. Most of the talents reprise their roles. Alphonse's voice actor was too old for the part so Funimation went for a female actress and Scar's voice actor was replaced for one reason for another. Honestly, though, it's hard to tell. Al's very first line of the show is very noticeably a girl's voice but by the fourth episode sounds exactly like the actor from 2003. Scar sounds exactly the same from top to bottom. And, of course, Vic Mignogna returns as the voice for Edward Elric in quite possibly my favorite performance in any animated show ever.
As for the animation of this new re-imagined series, it is leagues better than anything that 2003 had to offer and I already thought that show's animation was really good. There are just so many moments of pure sakuga in this show. Any battle that involves Ling and the entirety of both the fourth and fifth seasons are just astonishing to look at. The one thing that I do think the show lacks, however, is its color palette. It seems like 2003 knew exactly what it was doing one-hundred percent of the time regarding the lighting and palette of each of its scenes. Brotherhood, on the other hand, wasn't as good. It is still far better than most shows out there even today, though.
Go watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Just do it. It is my favorite anime of all time and I know that so many others feel the same.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is breathtakingly and believably beautiful.
For my first paragraph I would usually run down the general setup of the world and the characters and their motivations. I don't feel that I need to do that here. If you truly do need this then I recommend you read my FMA 2003 review. For this post, however, I am mostly just going to go over the differences between the two series.
For starters, the humunculi have changed slightly from their 2003 counterparts. The biggest change is their creation. The 2003 series had the humunculi being created from the people that had tried the taboo of human transmutation. I did like this idea because it gave each humunculus a connection to the characters but it didn't capitalize on this fact like I hoped it would. Brotherhood gets rid of this problem completely by having each of the humunculus being created by Father, who is a way more sinister bad guy than Dantes from the original series. Some of the humunculi's names and forms have been changed as well. Instead of Sloth being a liquid version of Ed and Al's mother, he is now a gigantic monster who is actually quite sloth-like. Pride is no longer the Fuhrer. Instead, the Fuhrer takes the name of Wrath.
I feel like these changes, even though they existed first through the original manga, are welcome as their names correspond more to their individual desires. In the 2003 series, Pride wasn't very Prideful, Sloth wasn't slothful, and so on. With these new identities, they each have to deal with the fact that they are based on the seven deadly sins and it makes me even feel bad for them at times. Especially Pride, Wrath, and Greed who all get more screen time then I ever would have expected.
The first twelve episodes of Brotherhood are equivalent to the the first twenty-four episodes of 2003. I have heard this as a complaint as some characters like Hughes and Shao Tucker don't get enough screen time but, to be fair, they don't get a whole lot of time to develop in the manga either. After the first twelve episodes, Brotherhood takes off into a whole new never-before-seen arc and introduces two new Brotherhood-only characters: May Chang and Ling Yao. If you've seen 2003 as many times as I have, these new characters and new surroundings come as a breath of fresh air. Later in the series we get even more characters and even more buildup to the eventual epic battle with Father.
In my FMA 2003 review, I mentioned on how amazingly emotional the soundtrack was. I am very proud to say that Brotherhood does not disappoint as it breaths new life into the music that the series is known for. We don't have the same standout tracks like Bratja but we do get a lot of new and unique tracks to take their place. With that being said, I do like 2003's soundtrack more because of Bratja. That one song is enough to tip the scales for me personally and I do truly wish that Brotherhood had included it at least once in the series.
I didn't mention the English voice acting in my 2003 review, but dang is it impressive. Every single voice actor does their absolute best in Brotherhood. Most of the talents reprise their roles. Alphonse's voice actor was too old for the part so Funimation went for a female actress and Scar's voice actor was replaced for one reason for another. Honestly, though, it's hard to tell. Al's very first line of the show is very noticeably a girl's voice but by the fourth episode sounds exactly like the actor from 2003. Scar sounds exactly the same from top to bottom. And, of course, Vic Mignogna returns as the voice for Edward Elric in quite possibly my favorite performance in any animated show ever.
As for the animation of this new re-imagined series, it is leagues better than anything that 2003 had to offer and I already thought that show's animation was really good. There are just so many moments of pure sakuga in this show. Any battle that involves Ling and the entirety of both the fourth and fifth seasons are just astonishing to look at. The one thing that I do think the show lacks, however, is its color palette. It seems like 2003 knew exactly what it was doing one-hundred percent of the time regarding the lighting and palette of each of its scenes. Brotherhood, on the other hand, wasn't as good. It is still far better than most shows out there even today, though.
Go watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Just do it. It is my favorite anime of all time and I know that so many others feel the same.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is breathtakingly and believably beautiful.
The original Fullmetal Alchemist anime adaption is one of my favorite anime and shows of all time. Despite the alterations from the manga it has still held a special place in my heart all this time. The story was great and the ending was a perfect bittersweet experience. This sequel film continues from the series and is surprisingly great, from its themes to its story.
At the end of the 2003 FMA series, Edward and Alphonse Elric are split from each other and Ed is now on our Earth. Back in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe, Al has been training to become a great alchemist and find his brother despite him losing all memory of the past three years of their adventure to find the Philosopher's Stone. Edward is in our universe in 1920s Germany right after WWI and while Hitler is rising to power. After having some run-ins with the Thule Society, he has to stop them from invading Al's universe and thus clinching the victory of the next war. What a great idea! The original series only touched on the time period of Ed's new existence but Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie takes that setting and has it intertwine with Ed's struggle with this new world.
It's not just the concept of this movie that is good. The film has a strong story of Ed trying to come to terms with this new world, Shamballa's version of Al inadvertently helping the Nazi's plan, and the original Al trying to find Ed. The only problem then? It is only one hour and forty-five minutes. Because of the short running time it doesn't have a whole lot of time to balance all the stories it is trying to tell. If the movie was longer or even a miniseries than there could've been plenty of time to flesh this world out, even though it is our own. Even though it could be better, The Conqueror of Shamballa does do a surprisingly good job of keeping itself in line.
The visuals and music are what you would expect: great. The animation is as top notch as the show ever got and the music by the same composer, Michiru Oshima, is different but still fantastic. The musical style takes an even more European approach with large chunks of the soundtrack being played by the Moscow Ochestra. I can't really compare it to the soundtrack of the show though as the style is just so different but I do love it. The only problem I have with the animation is its use of 3D. I'm sure it looked great in 2003 but now it just looks dated.
Despite all the praise I've given this show, there is just something that bothers me about it. Maybe because its the product of something so different than its original source material or maybe because I just feel anger that there are two versions of this great story. I can't quite explain it. Besides my personal beef with the film, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie is a really good finale to the original 2003 adaptation and, though the ending isn't to my liking, it does a whole lot right from the animation and music to the story itself.
The Conqueror of Shamballa is great!
