Anime Discussion Thread - Page 4704

Story: The overarching story was great. The whole journey, learning things about the universe was very intriguing. However, the show needed a long time to set up. That alone wouldn't be a problem but I thought a lot of the sub plots were fairly boring. I caught myself being distracted by something else often times during episodes. It's sad because it could have been so much better if all of the sub plots would have been interesting. Gladly, the climax of the main story made up for it. Freaking 15 episodes or more for the climax. There were some boring moments and scenes that felt like they try to force drama but overall it was really really great. I also liked the ending and the way Al got his body back (was a bit of a Fairy Tail wasn't it? hue). The last wrap-up episode was ok but it left me with a lot of open questions about some characters.

Characters: Some great characters (such as Scar, Mustang, Riza, Ling, Greed, Lan Fan....), a lot of ok'ish side characters and some really annoying ones (Winry, May, Goldtooth Doctor, Joki....). I was ok with the cast overall but I wished some characters would have gotten more screen time. Sadly, I didn't like the main lead. Ed and Al were annoying most of the time. They had their moments but they were far and few in between. On a less serious note: Winry x Ed scene in the end but no Mustang x Riza or Ling x Lan Fan? What's wrong with the writer?

Music/Art: Music was great, however it was not always used very well. Some inserts were abrupt, some scenes had some over dramatic music etc. Art was well done imho, especially for the characters.

Comedy/Drama: I didn't like the comedy in this one. I thought it was rather repetitive as it was always the same in its core: Either a joke about a character trait or intentionally bad drawing/sudden screaming. I didn't laugh once I was past episode 10 or so. The drama was so-so. Some things were really touching, especially in the finale (for example, the scene where Fu and Buccaneer died, Ling looked for someone to heal them and they gave command to kill all those soldiers with the machine guns, that was powerful). On the other hand, a lot of drama in the sub plots only screamed "hey, I'm drama" but it wasn't touching (for example that whole blown up Nina thing).

Overall it was very good but the climax definitely safed this show because it was infinitely better than the rest. What I don't understand is the hype around it. I thought it must be rank 1 on MAL for a reason (although MAL rankings, I know...) but after watching it I don't think it's something really special that stands out.

In related news, anime fans with sticks up their butts still have not realized that giving a 10 to an anime does not necessarily mean that it has to be perfect and that not using the rating basically makes a 9 the equivalent of a 10.

*a hairband appears floating on the sea*

<Toad|> lol
<Toad|> knew it
<mnj> what was that
<Toad|> remember the dead ship?
<Toad|> from episode 3? [Kisaragi]
<mnj> ya
<mnj> so basically
<Toad|> that was what she had in her hair
<mnj> they killed their old comrade
<Toad|> yeah
<mnj> so grim
<mnj> was it the main chick that was her?
<mnj> the regening one
<Toad|> don't think so
<Toad|> the regenerating one is supposedly akagi