Originally posted on the Anime Guidepost, May 15th, 2007.
Welcome
to Summer! I was able to survive finals week and still able to finish
one of the greatest anime saga's of all time while simultaneously
discovering a really awesome film! That can't happen that often.
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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