FULL METAL ALCHEMIST Review

It's done! I've finished watching "Full Metal Alchemist" (it's an anime by the way..) and thought I would not do justice to it if I didn't got around to writing about it. This is not gonna be a formal review but more specific, my thoughts after watching it.

You pay for what you get. To gain something. you have to give up something in return. This is also known as alchemistical equilibrium. It is a principle we believe in. These are the opening sequences of every episode of the anime. Not sure if "alchemistical" is a proper word, I don't really trust the english subtitles in japanese anime sometimes.

A pair of brothers, Edward and Alphonse, influenced by their father, decide to take up alchemy for fun, seeing as how cool it seems. Their father left the family for research purposes and never came back, even on their mother's deathbed. Saddened, the brothers decided to turn to alchemy for comfort. While dabbling in alchemy, they heard about forbidden ways of human alchemy. Even it is forbidden due to horrific results in the past, they went down that path. They studied under a teacher and decided to try reviving their mother using alchemy.
Alas, the result was disastrous. Under the rule of equivalent exchange, Alphonse was taken away in return for their mother. In a bid to save his brother from death, Edward gave up his right arm and left leg to save Alphonse's soul and attached it to a suit of armour. Though without a flesh body, he was still "alive". But their mother did not return, instead... a monster came back in her place. A failed human alchemy experiment.
Edward had automail attached to his lost limbs. While recuperating, they heard about national alchemists, people who serve the military and in exchange, their alchemy powers would by amplified via a silver watch presented to every national alchemist. He thought of using the military powers to research further into alchemy and probably find a way to restore their bodies back to normal.
On the way, they hear about something called the philosopher's stone. An item that allows the user to break away from normal alchemy boundaries. Equilibrium no longer applies. Anyone could get anything without paying anything in return. This poses a great amount of hope for the brothers and thus began their quest for the stone and to find the answer of forgiveness to their sins in committing human alchemy...

That's the gist of the story. About half of the story deals with politics in the govenment and the military, the things they do in the open and well, some other things which they have done and swept under the rug. Along the way, there will be a vigilante seeking revenge against the military for a crime they did to his hometown some years ago; and a group of artificial humans who possess special powers while also on their search for the philosopher's stone. The artificial humans were created due to failed human alchemy. They lack a soul which would make them a whole human. They believe the philosopher's stone would allow them to acquire it. The climax of the story reaches when the philosopher's stone isn't quite as simple as it is thought to be.

On the surface, it would seem like a pure action, adventure anime, that is if you shut your mind and hart and simply open your eyes to absorb in the moving animation. The reasons for each characters action delves quite deep where once again, the areas have been grayed out, leaving you to sympathize with them. There are definitely some episodes which were very touching, as always, sacrifices are hard. Anyone would probably enjoy this more if they undestand Japanese or if there is a english dub version somewhere. It's abit hard to understand the military actions given the bad english subtitles, leaving abit confused sometimes. But no problem, it's still an enjoyable experience watching the brothers slowly grow, mature in their thinking and overcoming the dangers of Life and Death out in the world.

Personally, the later episodes grew to be a food for thought for me. Even though the brothers fought so hard for their believe in the principle of equlibrium, paying for what you get, one of the artificial humans brought up this principle in her viewpoint - "You don't always get for what you pay for in the real world." Instance, everyone works hard to succeed in Life, only a few do... how many do actually get what they pay for..? A baby born with a terminal disease, even though the baby is struggling hard to live on, the baby will still die eventually... should the baby get Death after trying so hard...?

I'll bring up something closer, in schools, everyone tries hard to score well, yet not everyone gets the grades they desire or should deserve. Did they get what they pay for? You may say that our grades could be based on a cumulative curve to distribute out the points, but it doesn't defeat the idea not everyone get what they pay for. When a someone falls in love and tries hard to impress and win his/her hart, but in the end, rejection was the word of the day... Did that someone receive what he/she should deserve...???

Is this really the reality we are living in? Such a cruel one??

Sigh... I was pretty stumped when I saw that scene and the principle behind this thinking. I... just cannot deny it. Probably 'cos I'm actually more of someone belonging to this logic and it hits me right at the hart. But even so, I'm sure everyone have had this experience before. We don't usually get what we deserve. This is also one of the factors that score points on my side.

Gee... what a cruel world this is... oh well, I still don't know which principle I should believe in. Choose..? or both...??