I obviously need to focus more on blogging once a week again. Things have been pretty hectic, but I won't bore you with my life. Onto what's important!
Fullmetal Alchemist (51 Episodes)
Story: *****
Animation: *****
Music: ***
Overall: *****
This saga is one of my favorites, and having just finished it again, I remember why this show is so awesome!
If you don't know already, Edward and Alphonse Elric are two brothers that are prodigies of alchemy. However, in an effort to trasmute their dead mother, Ed loses a leg and Al loses his entire body. Ed then sacrifices his right arm to get Al's soul into a suit of armor. From there, they realize what is dead is dead, so they go on a quest to regain their lost body parts. This, of course, involves the legendary Philosopher's stone, capable of creating matter outside the laws of alchemy, something these brothers desperately want.
Enter the conspiracies, as the dark past of the Philosopher's stone is revealed to the Elric brothers. The story takes them all over, and as things develop, motivations shift and change, leaving only the brothers' desire to stay together. While it may be a bit annoying that you have to watch the following movie to get the rest of the story, it is worth going through it all. By the time you finish the 51st episode. You can hardly wait for the movie. This really is a well written story!
The animation is also very spectacular. Bones really outdid themselves this time. The action and alchemy flows together perfectly, the goofiness is consistent, and not out of place at all. And their whole world seems so real. Bones for Bones!
The music is a bit of a low point. It's decent, but nothing to go find the soundtrack for. Yes, the opening themes are good, but the rest of the soundtrack succeeds in supporting the show, and really doesn't stand on its own very well.
Overall, this is one of my favorite series. The characters and story are everything in this show, and that really makes the difference for me. It is shows like this that make me say anime is awesome, capable of create a story that isn't just special effects or goofy nonsense, but it still has a lot of those things as well. This isn't a saga easily forgotten.
Spriggan
Story: ****
Animation: ****
Music: ****
Overall: ****
A spriggan is a guardian, protecting humanity from ancient technology too powerful to be discovered. Enter Noah's Ark. As people learn more about it, they begin to discover its true powers. Through some attacks on his friends, the spriggan Yu Ominae gets involved and travels to Turkey on an adventure to find out what's going on and to stop those who would exploit the ultimate power of Noah's Ark.
When I saw this title around, I thought it would be fun and I did discover it was all that and more. Seriously, this is a show worth seeing. The whole James Bond/Indiana Jones feeling is perfect for such a movie. While Yu does seem like Son Goku at times, the story still is very engaging, proposing some pretty neat things.
The animation is also really neat, capable of just as much action as any James Bond movie. The sweeping landscapes and detailed enviorments really throw you into Turkey and deep within the Ark. Great stuff.
The music was fun, giving a bit of an ethnic feel to the whole show, just as any other adventure film should. This is a soundtrack worth picking up!
Overall, it's just good fun, like Indiana Jones or anything similar. The dub by ADV is done really well. The thing is, while I may not have any major criticisms, this isn't spectacular on any level. Awesome, neat, but nothing really ground-breaking. However, it is definetly worth seeing, so go see it!
Well, I hope to post more often during the summer. I don't have a job yet, so I've got the free time to watch anime and review it! I plan to review at least the FMA movie, and maybe the Silent Mobius manga that I've just barely gotten to. We'll have to see.
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