Alchemy- An Unforgettable Science

Alphonse Elric:

Philosopher’s stone

Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return; To obtain, something of equal value must be lost; That is Alchemy’s first law of equivalent exchange; In those days, we really believed that to be the world’s one, and only, truth.

A few years back, when I started feeling an attraction towards animations (mainly the Japanese), I heard about the 'full metal alchemist'. But till a few months back I had never actually seen it. Sure, there were a few occasional drawings and pictures I had noticed while I was online, but that was it. A few months back though, I was watching one of the animations on animax and the commercials came up. Annoyed as usual at the interruption I decided to switch channels for a while. At that moment I don't know what came over me, but something made me stop myself. And bored as I was, I simply sat and gazed at the screen. As soon as one of the boring commercial’s got over I had a blast of music in my ears and new visuals flashed in front of my eyes. And then I saw the familiar figures and it would be an understatement to say my jaw dropped down. I think I was squealing by the time the commercials got over. And by the end of it, the banner came up with the commercial announcement in the background. ‘Full metal alchemist- coming soon’. My sister looked at me like crazy and asked how I had guessed it right. "I've seen pictures of it", I told her. And then I launched into an explanation about it, telling her whatever I knew (‘It’ mainly being voted as the best animation and 'it' being an award winner). The dubbing was known to be the best as well.

I couldn’t wait to see the first episode. It took some fifteen days after the first commercial was launched, I think. I was going crazy and each time I viewed the commercials it was something different- music videos and new scenes. And as each day went by the commercials got better and better. By the time the day of the first episode came up, I was jumping in anticipation. I got ready for it an hour before, making sure I could be comfortable enough in my seat where I would be watching it. 7:25… damn five more minutes… and I waited. My sister wasn’t near me. In fact no one was in the house other than me. She wanted to watch too, but where was she? Well she’d have to watch the repeat telecast in the night. 7:27… damn, too slow. The commercials had almost gotten over. Yeah, the last of the commercials got over, and the schedule banner was put up on TV. 7:29 OH MY GOD!!! And then it started… the first episode. The screen was dark and the picture was done in dark shades of grey and blue. And I saw the two characters… the younger version of the protagonists. Ok stop right there. I am not telling you what happens. Anyway, as I watched on, the introductory scene got over and the title banner came up with the sharp and dark background sound effect. ‘Full Metal Alchemist’. I think I was gaping. At that second, I knew… this was going to be unlike any other animation I’ve ever seen. And the day I watched the final episode of Full Metal, I realized that I was wrong. This animation was better than any other movie or series, animated or unanimated, I have ever watched.

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye:

Philosopher’s stone

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return.
Here at Central Headquarters there was a group of brave soldiers all willing to make that sacrifice in the name of peace.
This is a tale of love and courage, a tale of the Flame Alchemist Colonel Mustang and his loyal team."

I’ve been a crazy fan of Full Metal Alchemist for a long time now and my preaching on it started a while back too. But now I’ve stopped. I’ve stopped preaching that is… because I realized that what I felt for Full Metal Alchemist was something I have always felt for Harry Potter. I felt close to the soul of the series, like I felt towards the Harry Potter books. I felt offended and hurt when a few… very few(I was surprised at the few), didn’t like it as much as I did. And even more pissed off when I heard they haven’t even watched it in the first place to come to that conclusion. It’s not their fault and I am not blaming them… they are all my friends, (so I am sorry guys I don’t mean to blame you). Each person has individual opinions about everything after all. So I am not accusing anyone… just stating my own feeling that’s all. So anyway, I stopped preaching in short. It’s their loss for missing something so great.

Back to the point. All in all Full Metal Alchemist is amazing… The characters, the story… the dubbing, the male voice and the characterizations all make it perfect.
To name a few, Flame Alchemist Colonel Roy Mustang, the coolest character in FMA and his entire team, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, Major Armstrong, Ed, Al, Winry, Scar, Lust, Greed( Though he was there only for a short time), Wrath(The Poorest thing in the whole series. To be pitied.) , Envy, and many others all make the essence of Full Metal Alchemist.

It’s amazingly flawless! With so many twists, it keeps you guessing. But the most disappointing part of Full Metal Alchemist has got to be the movie. I don’t think anything has been more disappointing, especially because my sister and I had been expecting it to be as good as the series. But as it turned out, they had made the movie for more profit and nothing else. A total contradictory thing to the series; It was as opposite to the series as it could get. The animation quality was dull, the dubbing was bad…the ending sucked hard core. Honestly, even if they had done that movie for profit, for the sake of the series they could have at least tried doing a better job.

Recently, I transferred two of the songs in Full Metal Alchemist to my friend and I learnt the very day (actually the moment she heard both the songs :P) that she went totally ga-ga over them :D. One of the songs ‘brother’ was first introduced as the background music for the fourth episode I think… it made the whole of the last part of the episode. Trust me when I felt chills, as I viewed that episode. The ending sequence of the episode and the music as the background really is a haunting combination. Hats off to the creators, sigh! I think, it was after that episode that my sister got a call from her friend; that girl was squealing over the phone telling my sis, what a great animation Full Metal Alchemist was :D.

Episode 51


This is the only Full Metal Alchemist episode that doesn't end with music.

Alphonse Elric:

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return.
To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.
That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange.
In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth.
But the world isn't perfect, and the law is incomplete.
Equivalent Exchange does not encompass everything that goes on here, but I still chose to believe in its principle: that all things do come at a price, that there's an end and a way, that the pain we work through did have a reward, and that anyone who's determined and perseveres will get something of value in return, even if it's not what they're expecting.
I don't think of Equivalent Exchange as a law of the world any more.
I think of it as a promise between my brother and me.
A promise that someday we'll see each other again.”

Munich 1921

And, I think I sat there staring at the TV for a long time… even after the last episode was over. Then my sister and I broke into applause :D. No really, I am not meaning to be dramatic, but Full Metal really pulled that reaction out of us.

So, people who want to watch, never miss this. Or you’ll regret it… trust me. Perfection is the word… and Full Metal Alchemist is ‘Perfect’.

Edward Elric:

"The Philosophers' Stone:

A substance, no longer bound by the laws of Equalency,

a gain without sacrifice,

created without equal exchange.

We searched for it, and we found it."