Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

*Slight Spoilers*

Fullmetal Feels

This anime is perfection! It has heart-stopping drama, political intrigue that will satisfy any conspiracy theorist, tear-jerking displays of brotherly love and side-splitting humor generously threaded through each episode.

One of the amazing things about this anime is how it handles its large cast of characters. Character developments for an ensemble cast can be difficult. This anime manages not only to pull it off, but makes you feel for each and every character. None of the characters were neglected, and it was hard to choose just one favorite because they were all so good!

At the core of the show are the two Elric brothers: Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist and Alphonse. The Elrics are on a quest to retrieve their original bodies that they lost after performing an ill-fated human transmutation to bring their mother back to life. As human transmutations are considered taboo amongst alchemists, the major theme of ethics in science emerges early on. In an early episode, crossing the ethical boundaries in alchemy is portrayed in the most gut-wrenching way possible, forcing our protagonists to face the product of alchemy that has gone too far.

One of the most captivating aspects of the anime is the struggle that various characters go through to maintain their humanity, either as alchemists, soldiers and even leaders. Despite all the awesome fight scenes and terrifyingly powerful villains, this anime is ultimately about family, redemption and overcoming long-held hatred.

On the more technical side, I absolutely loved the soundtrack composed by Akira Senju. The music was emotional, tense and action-packed in all the right places. Below is one of my favorite tracks.

I watched the dubbed version and loved the voice acting. Vic Mignogna was great as Ed, our vertically challenged hero who has a tendency to fly off the handle. Maxey Whitehead's soft, childish voice provided a great contrast for Al, our lovable armored giant. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see that J. Michael Tatum voiced Scar. The anime I have seen so far, Tatum usually voices rather sophisticated and articulate characters, so it was nice to hear him do Scar's gruff voice. Todd Haberkorn as Ling Yao was also great, in both the humorous scenes as well as the emotional ones.

Anyway, I can continue gushing about this show, but I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. I'm actually planning on watching the original Fullmetal Alchemist because I've heard though Brotherhood has a better story line, the original spends more time on character development. It'll be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison of the two.

Psycho-Pass

*Slight Spoilers*

In which I delve further into the Anime World

Okay, so I've binge watched several anime series over the last couple of weeks, and yeah I might be a little obsessed with the most recent anime I've watched. But it's just so awesome! I loved the premise, the dystopian world, and the characters. Let's move on.

So Psycho-Pass is set in a futuristic Japan where it is now possible to measure someone's criminal capabilities, even if they have yet to commit a crime. Society is virtually run by The Sibyl System, a system that calculates citizens' Psycho-Pass and Crime Coefficient. People are considered latent criminals based on how their high Crime Coefficient is. Psycho-Pass is quite dark and disturbing, and the atmosphere of the show reflects that. The show starts out like a procedural crime drama and evolves into pure awesomeness. Psycho-Pass follows the adventures of MWPSB's Division One. 

Division One comprises of two Inspectors that are in charge of four Enforcers. The hierarchy and dynamic between the Inspectors and Enforcers is especially interesting as the Enforcers are latent criminals tasked with doing the dirty work that comes with being a detective. The Enforcers take care of anything that could cause the Inspectors' Psycho-Pass to become clouded or raise their Crime Coefficient. I loved how there was such a precarious balance between being a detective and becoming a latent criminal. In most crime shows, you see that the detective has to think like the criminal to catch them; in Psycho-Pass that method is avoided like the plague lest the Inspectors become exactly what they are hunting down. 

The series focuses on mainly the rookie Inspector Akane Tsunemori and Inspector-turned-Enforcer Shinya Kogami. Though I loved all the characters, my favorite had to be Inspector Nobuchika Ginoza. He was an angry character who felt he'd been betrayed and left behind by both his father and his former partner who both became latent criminals. I wanted the series to explore more of Ginoza's background, especially with his father. 

Though this series is engaging from the first episode, it really grabbed me by the shirt and demanded my attention in Saint's Supper, episode 11.  I could NOT stop watching from that point on.

 If I disliked anything, it would be the couple of instances the anime had to supply info-dumps when a character made huge leaps to get to a certain conclusion. Overlooking that, Psycho-Pass is a perfect mixture of cyberpunk and crime drama with a good sprinkling of philosophical musings.