Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

blasphtrejo This is just an excellent example of good writing. It has a plot full of drama and intrigue that keep building up till the very end. But, it also has a fair share of comedy and a couple of underlying love stories. Nevertheless, this shouldn't be treated as a dealbreaker, because the story manages to be mature and deep while maintaining a bright spirited feel. If you like amazing stories filled with rich details that provide an emotional rollercoaster, you should pick this one and binge watch it right now.

meredithglynne One of my favorite animes!!! Love it!! Made me laugh and cry

view_and_review There is a lot to like about the anime series Full Metal Alchemist. For starters: the alchemy and alchemists. They not only stay true to what alchemy really is per definition--a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life--but they expand a bit on it with the principal of "equivalent exchange". The simple explanation of "equivalent exchange" is that in order to create something you have to give up or sacrifice something of equal value. Basically, you can't create something out of nothing. It was a blast seeing alchemy and the alchemists at work. They were nearly wizards or superheroes even with their skills.Beyond the alchemy and the various alchemists was the quest of Edward and Alphonse Elric to reunite Alphonse's soul with his body. Their journey led them all over the place all the while they discovered more hidden truths and a major sinister plot. Then, separate from the Elric brothers' quest was a larger scheme involving the country of Amestris, immortality and god-like powers. The main story and all of the smaller stories within the series were great. And they didn't drag the series on too long. They made sure to actually conclude the saga instead of having the Elric's interminably roaming the earth looking for an answer. I love that the show's creators did that. A show such as this--one that has a definite goal--has to conclude. I've seen other shows in which they come up with dumber and dumber ways to keep the show going by denying the main character the completion of his quest. Shows like that get tired and old real quick.So, there is a lot to like about Full Metal Alchemist like I said--which leads me to the small bit that I didn't like. I became real annoyed with the morals of the Elrics and other "good guys". Were their morals bad? No, just juvenile and childlike in their simplicity. There were two things in particular. 1.) Their concept of all life being sacred regardless of who's or what life it is. They took it to such an extreme that they were willing to sacrifice themselves to save those who were clearly their enemies. There was even one scene in which one of the protagonists pulled a gun on her friend to save a homunculus (artificially created being). Quite literally it would be like a wife pulling a gun on her husband to prevent him from killing the creature that murdered their child. Really?! Would you kill your own friend to save some other creature just because it has life? That's a hypocritical and oxymoronic action if there ever was one. Let me kill this guy to prevent him from killing a killer!!!!??? Supposedly she did it because she wanted to prevent her good friend from going to the darkside (in a manner of speaking) by letting his anger control him in that moment. People get angry, especially with those who've killed their loved ones. Why deny him that outlet, even if it results in the killing of the killer? Do these moralistic pollyanas believe that somehow a person can control their anger if denied the opportunity to seek revenge? I think quite the opposite. If someone killed a loved one of mine and I could get the chance to end his life that would bring me a least some semblance of closure. Conversely, if I had the opportunity and was denied it because of someone's warped belief that it would "make me no better than him" then it would only cause me to be more angry. Because now, in this highly unjust scenario, I have a dead loved one and the killer still breathes. Yes, this is my opinion and I know not everyone would agree. But I feel strongly about not denying someone a chance at their vengeance. How often must victims be chided for wanting justice? It may be considered a human frailty by some but even still, let it be the choice of the wronged person to forgive or not.2.) I took exception with the belief of some of the characters that they could, or even had to, save everyone. To begin with, it is the utmost of arrogance to believe that you can save everyone. Secondly, it is a farce to even believe that everyone deserves to be saved. I don't mean this in an economic sense or a social sense, but in the sense of just good and bad. Of course everyone has a different gauge of good and bad but I'd consider murderers and would be murderers bad, yet some of the protagonists saw that they needed to save them as well.Even with those nauseating moments of saintly altruism that were rather sophomoric in practice I liked the show. It was heavy at times and light at times to keep a balance. The heavy moments, which were reserved for some sort of lesson, seemed after-school special like--like they were spoon feeding you what you should understand from this moment. There were other heavy moments that were done more properly where I didn't think the message was overly sappy. Overall it was a well done anime. It'd be nice if they could reboot it with another quest for the Elrics.

maximus-entheus Words cannot describe how good this show is. You have to watch it yourself to understand that. It doesn't matter if you are an anime fan or not, this is a must watch for everybody. This show will have you laughing your ass off one moment and having you cry like a baby the other and I MEAN IT, even if it doesn't make you cry, it will come very close to doing so. This is an emotional roller coaster you will never forget. It is truly one of the best shows ever created. NOW STOP READING THE REVIEWS AND GO WATCH IT!!!