2010-06-10, 07:53 PM
Fullmetal Alchemist 108 (ENDING): Bravo, Hiromu Arakawa. It's been a pleasure reading this series. I felt attached and emotionally invested to all of the characters throughout this ride, and the ending definitely payed off nicely. Arakawa flawlessly resolved all of the subplots and every character and their goals were addressed. The conclusion of the fight was incredibly well done, and I really had to applaud Ed's solution to defeating Truth. After that and seeing all of the plot points addressed and resolved, the ending left me very satisfied. It was a great ride to the finish, Fullmetal Alchemist. This was one of the first anime/manga I had ever gotten into when I started getting into anime/manga around the end of elementary school; and now that it's over, I feel very fulfilled and also quite a bit sad.
Was this better than the first anime? Actually, I'm still sort of debating that to myself. Despite the nonsensical choices that Bones chose to go with (for an example, Lust's death and her being incredibly out of character around the later half of the first anime), I felt that the experience was very good. Fullmetal Alchemist's first anime struck me as having stronger focus than the manga's storyline when it did get to the plot, and I'd say the mood was darker than that of the manga. Not to mention, the direction they took the plot was pretty nice: darker and a bit more mature; but also took the story in direction that felt less like a generic shonen. It's only a pity that the ending felt lacking, and the movie was a horrible ending. However, the manga's story was very strong too. Free of nasty plotholes and choices that the first anime had, and everything was pretty clear and explained well. And of course, Fullmetal Alchemist's last chapters were simply amazing- amazing plot twists left and right, and it was incredibly intense. The ending was perfect and well done, in contrast to the anime. After this, I'd have to say they were probably about equal.
My Balls 1-25: Goddamn, this is a hilarious series and I love it so far. When Spidey said that she felt that the series was dragging, she wasn't kidding. I've hit past the half-way mark, and there's 5 days left in the month I expect to see the hell story stretch out for a long deal of time, with one final arc tossed in there. I just hope that the quality doesn't dip despite the story dragging. 4chan translated the ending recently, so I'll try to finish it as soon as possible.
Was this better than the first anime? Actually, I'm still sort of debating that to myself. Despite the nonsensical choices that Bones chose to go with (for an example, Lust's death and her being incredibly out of character around the later half of the first anime), I felt that the experience was very good. Fullmetal Alchemist's first anime struck me as having stronger focus than the manga's storyline when it did get to the plot, and I'd say the mood was darker than that of the manga. Not to mention, the direction they took the plot was pretty nice: darker and a bit more mature; but also took the story in direction that felt less like a generic shonen. It's only a pity that the ending felt lacking, and the movie was a horrible ending. However, the manga's story was very strong too. Free of nasty plotholes and choices that the first anime had, and everything was pretty clear and explained well. And of course, Fullmetal Alchemist's last chapters were simply amazing- amazing plot twists left and right, and it was incredibly intense. The ending was perfect and well done, in contrast to the anime. After this, I'd have to say they were probably about equal.
My Balls 1-25: Goddamn, this is a hilarious series and I love it so far. When Spidey said that she felt that the series was dragging, she wasn't kidding. I've hit past the half-way mark, and there's 5 days left in the month I expect to see the hell story stretch out for a long deal of time, with one final arc tossed in there. I just hope that the quality doesn't dip despite the story dragging. 4chan translated the ending recently, so I'll try to finish it as soon as possible.