YouTube review: Fullmetal Awesome

Okay, I really have to confess that I almost passed over "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood." Anime News Network gave it a pretty hard review, for the simpler animation style and some goofy, super-deformed drawings.

However, Brotherhood is a big improvement over the original for its excellent story and pacing.

For anyone who doesn't know the plot of the series by now, the series follows Edward and Alphonse Elric in their quest to find the philosopher's stone. Alphonse lost his entire body and Ed lost an arm and a leg in exchange for attempting to ressurect their dead mother. Al and Ed are now hoping to find the stone to regenerate their bodies/body parts again.

I'm already salivating over the new version's change from pop culture phenomenon to an dramatic tale of redemption. Rather than focus on intense orchestral music and extremely fancy fight sequences, the director gave most of his attention to the pacing of the action and the acting tone of the characters.

The result is a true masterpiece: exactly what the original intended to be.

The best improvement takes place in episode three, Ed and Al's trip to Liore to find clues to the philosopher's stone. Instead, the brothers discover a fraudulent priest, Cornello, who uses a stone ring to revive the dead with alchemy. Ed and Al head to the temple to ask the priest how to use the stone.

Director Seiji Mizushima does a fantastic job. He never overextends the emotional outrage of the character. In fact, their tone of voice is compassionate and respectful.

The best example is a conversation between Ed and Rose, a believe in the religion of the sun god, Leto. Rose clearly states her religious beliefs in defiance to Ed's atheist beliefs. Thankfully, even Ed is willing to confess that he wishes to ask for forgiveness for his and his brother's sins.

The actors pull off an incredible job. They never overextend their emotional dialogue. Anyone would be shocked at how Father Cornello tears apart Rose's emotions, by asking her to shoot her newfound friends.

It's a polarizing scene of disgust towards villains who go to extreme ends to eradicate their enemies. This powerful episode took a second version to get the drama right on target, but it sold me over with its heroic characters.

This is just the beginning. The storyline can only get better from here. Stay tuned for more updates to "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood," also known as Fullmetal Awesome.

The series is available to watch on YouTube.

Image courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.net

A Second Look - Intro

I've decided to add a new category of stories to my blog: A Second Look. Sometimes I gloss over all the details of a series and I forget to make any thoughtful analysis of it. This is usually because I haven't finished it yet.

So in these situations, it's a good idea to take another look into this series, to clearly pick apart what makes each one unique in its message.

Probably the first one I'll take a second look at is "Fullmetal Alchemist." I've paid almost too much attention to the epic story, intense action and trendy punk rock opening and ending songs. Admittedly, the series almost feels like a power-pop entity within itself. However, I'll try to pay attention more to how the series uses the transformation of the body to explicitly show various forms of corruption and heartlessness.

It sounded weird at first. However, after a couple minutes pondering the series' arguments against "get-rich quickly" schemes and whatnot, I think I was actually getting somewhere.

Ha, imagine me trying to actually understand a cool phenomenon of transforming metal bodies and gothic homunculi. Hahaha. I'm such a geek...

Re-release madness: Paradise Kiss

One of the series I really missed out on reviewing last year was "Paradise Kiss." The series was picked up and re-released by Funimation.

"Paradise Kiss" portrays the excitement and danger of the fashion industry in Japan with striking, and sometimes depressing, realism.

It begins with a spiky-haired rock band guy catching a glimpse of Yukari, a beautiful high school girl. Scared off by his "pick-up lines," the girl runs into a transvestite and faints. Next thing she knows, she wakes up to find herself in Paradise Kiss, the bar turned into a fashion studio. The employees include the transvestite, the punk rocker, a cute pink-haired girl and a tall, gray-haired man named George.

They are all interested in keeping Yukari around to model their new clothing brand, ParaKiss. However, Yukari is more interested in George, the elusive ladie's man who wants to keep Yukari around for more than just modeling. Her best friend in school, Hiroyuki Tokumori, soon worries about her absence from school. Only time will tell when Yukari truly finds her own sense of happiness.

This romance story is clearly intended for more mature audiences. Right from the bat in episode two, viewers will catch a glimpse of a hot make-out session between two employees at the fashion studio. This is just a foreshadowing of some of the steamier moments to come in the series.

"Paradise Kiss" isn't just about sex. It encompasses a tedious romantic entanglement in Yukari's life, in probably one of her most stressful moments in the school year. George is clearly using the schoolgirl, but at the same time, he opens up a new world of possibilities for Yukari. Although the manga tends to portray him more as a jerk, the anime is more even-handed in its portrayal of this handsome prince with an obsession for young romance.

The complexity of romance in "Paradise Kiss" is what makes it unforgettable. Sure, there are moments when the characters are obnoxious. However, all these unique voice actors give complicated performances, making "Paradise Kiss" one of the best anime I've ever seen. The two lead characters especially expose the unnerving possessiveness of rich men in Japan, while at the same time revealing the seductiveness of the Japanese fashion world.

Some critics are bound to disagree with me. Yet, the unsettling drama portrayed in "Paradise Kiss" is a powerful glimpse of all the problems and new possibilities of a post-modern Japan.

Image courtesy of funimation.com

DVD Review: More relaxing in Neo-Venezia

It's especially hard to keep up the momentum for "Aria," an incredibly relaxing series with serene imagery and comforting character.

However, even "Aria" has some really unusual characters in Neo-Venezia to add some variety in season two.

The first part of season two brings back all the classic characters of "Aria" for a reunion at the Carnivale. All Akari's buddies from season one, including little Ai, return to Aria to see the mysterious Casanova.

This sets up Akari and Ai's new Totoro impersonation. The humongous, masked Casanova invites Akari and Ai to join in his dance. There's nothing cuter than watching Akari and Ai sing "Zutto, zutto, zutton, pon!" while they are following the Casanova, who may be related to Cait Sith, king of the cats.

There's plenty of new characters who arrive. Probably the best new addition, however, is the gnome Edward, who is also Aika's love interest. Their new romance is one of the most touching parts of season two. There's something charming when Aika says that Edward is so unfairly nice. She tries to look away, but the chemistry they have together is irresistable. Aika even comes up with a line to say to him whenever he gives weird elderly statements to Aika aloud.

The characters also take up more difficult changes to their attitudes in this series. Alice has a dramatic episode in which she turns down a warm invitation to have dinner with the other Pairs (gondola navigators) in her company, Orange Planet. She has a nervous fear that her coworkers are jealous of her and hate her. Thankfully, her teacher, Athena, is willing to help her open up.

Admittedly, the series makes me fall asleep, but not because it is boring. In fact, the beautiful images of water and the complex characters are just captivating. However, I often wondered just how long the anime director could keep this series of pure bliss intact. "Aria" ran for 39 episodes. It's difficult to keep the tone consistent, yet allow room for the characters to evolve.

However, there's plenty of things for the characters to say, because they always discover new things that are unique in Neo-Venezia. Whether they encounter the ruins of a neverending cat city, a bakery which serves bread made from buckwheat noodles, or a children's puppeteer, there's always something new in the city to find.

Most of all, Akari is friendlier than ever. The bubbly characters never lose their charm. I'm already itching to watch the second part of season two.

Image courtesy of aria.rightstuf.com