Fullmetal Alchemist intro
Oct. 3rd, 2023 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tori_reviewsYou probably all thought I forgot to post on Monday this week. Whether I did or not, this was always meant to go out today: October 3rd. That felt like the right day to start this project.
It’s Fullmetal Alchemist time
So I basically woke up about a week ago (as I start pondering this in June (for having started that early I should really be farther along with this project)) and my brain had suddenly switched gears from all my Buffy creative impulses over to Fullmetal Alchemist. I almost opted to just do a rewatch, and I did start it, but then I thought maybe this was the time to do something I had been considering for a while.
Of course, what I really wanted to do was find two people who have never seen either version of FMA and have two parallel reaction blogs or podcasts, one that started with 2003 and one that starts with Brotherhood (with me doing a full spoiler thoughts section of each). In the interests of science, I would set out to document how each is affected by being the first and then second show that someone is introduced to. Maybe I could find a third newbie who wanted to watch them interwoven, though I’m not sure how that would have been handled in my aspirational podcast form (it would be fine in blog form though).
I myself came in by the Brotherhood then 2003 path. They were pretty close together, in the sense that once I finished racing through Brotherhood I figured I might as well also watch 2003.
I suppose, in all fairness, I was recommended 2003 back in about 2003 or so. I did have one friend who was watching it and spoke fondly of it, which was what stuck in my mind so that I decided to give it a go 10+ years later when I hadn’t heard much about it since. But by then I had to unravel the mystery of what to watch first, and I can’t quite remember why I opted for Brotherhood. I think it went along the lines of once I confirmed it was a remake rather than a sequel I…for some reason picked Brotherhood; maybe the artwork spoke to me more, maybe it was higher rated, maybe I already had the impression it was the more complete version, or maybe it was just what I clicked on. …or maybe…seeing as they did a remake (not sequel) so shortly after the old version I figured the new version must be the bettered version…that reasoning rings a bell in my head )but not as the definite answer).
Anyway, to back up further, my limited interest in anime is sort of strange to me. I’ve had friends who were into anime and manga for years, I’ve made an effort to get into anime several times over those years, and it’s not like I haven’t enjoyed things when I gave them a chance, I just don’t tend towards it (manga is another matter; I’ve tried, but my brain is too hardwired to read left to right – I tend to have issues with US comics that have dialog jump around – and I can’t seem to unlearn that the occasional time I try and read manga – it doesn’t help that since the words go left to right I can’t compute left to right words and right to left boxes).
Looking back, I think I would have gotten more into anime back in college if my friends/the anime club had been dub people rather than subs. I understood their reasons for preferring the authenticity of subs (especially at the time as some of the dubbing companies were still developing) so was pretty much convinced that I would end up disliking most dubs (throw in a bit of not so great dubbing exposure and the conviction stuck). I’ve only really realized in the last ten years or so that I can’t deal with subtitles; not just as a dumb American, but I just can’t do it. I always knew I struggled with them but I didn’t really think about why until more recently, and I realize that I have a hard enough time understanding people’s tone and inflection when it’s in my own language; trying to decipher what a tone is meant to be in a language I don’t understand then apply it to the dialog that I’m reading quickly becomes too much for my brain to manage. So while I still don’t tend toward anime for my entertainment, I’ve become a bit more versed in it since I just decided it was okay to watch things dubbed.
I am debating, at least with Brotherhood since I’ve seen it several times, that I might turn the subtitles on (though still watching dubbed) and see where the translations differ. For example, I know that the language is written with a lot more curse words in it when translating more directly from the Japanese instead of run through English/American suitable for broadcast filters, as well as a few lines that I want to investigate to see if it hits differently in the other version.
And, if the logic of that notion didn’t tip you off, I am definitely a Brotherhood greater than 2003 person. I have only moderate desire to go back to 2003, but I think taking the opportunity to really dig into why I was so much less compelled by 2003 could be a worthy effort.
Now, all of that has been pretty generic, without getting into any of my more specific biases and preferences that I have approaching this project. Since I am not bringing a newbie through this journey with me (to the best of my knowledge, feel free to let me know if you’re coming along for the ride) expect the reviews to be full of spoilers, and probably not even divided up into spoilery and non-spoilery sections. Maybe I’ll make more of an effort than usual to have my general thoughts at the beginning of each review before I take the spoiler gloves off and engage in my usual style of unrestrained rambling (but probably still not).
Also, I’m going to start off doing FMAB-ep1 – 2003-ep1 – FMAB-ep2 – etc. But I’m not actually sure that’s the best way to handle it as it might make some sense to put arcs together instead of jumping back and forth. On the other hand, it might make for a more accurate view of the difference in pacing if I keep them in line like that. Also, the knowledgeable among you would know that 2003 is a fair bit shorter than FMAB, and I’m not sure how I’ll want to handle things once 2003 is over. It’s about the time I may just want to focus on the remainder of Brotherhood, or I may do some of the OVAs, see if I can track down Shamballa (or the somewhat infamous live action versions, although as far as I know they still aren’t dubbed), and any other tie in content. Granted, it is pretty ambitious to think this project will even make it that far considering my track record, especially recently.
…you know, I don’t think I have a lot of specific biases I feel the need to own up front. In general I know I have a few opinions, interpretations, and priorities that aren’t going to jive with everyone else, but those will be more relevant to discuss when they come up in the show.
But there is one piece it might be good to declare from the start: I just want to watch the Roy Mustang show. I will occasionally get annoyed that the show’s main characters get so much screen time, because I want to follow what Roy is getting up to, it’s probably way more interesting. And the only characters I really concern myself with getting in the head of (by way of fanfic) are Roy and Riza (also known as far and away my OTP for this show). I probably should care more about Hughes simply for meaning so much to Roy, and it’s not like I don’t care, but I do wish I cared more.
(Oddly enough, I recall not long after watching this show for the first time seeing some discourse out in the ether about whether anime in general had too many fascist undertones. To which I had to laugh, because my new favorite character is literally the equivalent of a Nazi war criminal and active participant in genocide, and I wouldn’t have him any other way.)
It’s Fullmetal Alchemist time
So I basically woke up about a week ago (as I start pondering this in June (for having started that early I should really be farther along with this project)) and my brain had suddenly switched gears from all my Buffy creative impulses over to Fullmetal Alchemist. I almost opted to just do a rewatch, and I did start it, but then I thought maybe this was the time to do something I had been considering for a while.
Of course, what I really wanted to do was find two people who have never seen either version of FMA and have two parallel reaction blogs or podcasts, one that started with 2003 and one that starts with Brotherhood (with me doing a full spoiler thoughts section of each). In the interests of science, I would set out to document how each is affected by being the first and then second show that someone is introduced to. Maybe I could find a third newbie who wanted to watch them interwoven, though I’m not sure how that would have been handled in my aspirational podcast form (it would be fine in blog form though).
I myself came in by the Brotherhood then 2003 path. They were pretty close together, in the sense that once I finished racing through Brotherhood I figured I might as well also watch 2003.
I suppose, in all fairness, I was recommended 2003 back in about 2003 or so. I did have one friend who was watching it and spoke fondly of it, which was what stuck in my mind so that I decided to give it a go 10+ years later when I hadn’t heard much about it since. But by then I had to unravel the mystery of what to watch first, and I can’t quite remember why I opted for Brotherhood. I think it went along the lines of once I confirmed it was a remake rather than a sequel I…for some reason picked Brotherhood; maybe the artwork spoke to me more, maybe it was higher rated, maybe I already had the impression it was the more complete version, or maybe it was just what I clicked on. …or maybe…seeing as they did a remake (not sequel) so shortly after the old version I figured the new version must be the bettered version…that reasoning rings a bell in my head )but not as the definite answer).
Anyway, to back up further, my limited interest in anime is sort of strange to me. I’ve had friends who were into anime and manga for years, I’ve made an effort to get into anime several times over those years, and it’s not like I haven’t enjoyed things when I gave them a chance, I just don’t tend towards it (manga is another matter; I’ve tried, but my brain is too hardwired to read left to right – I tend to have issues with US comics that have dialog jump around – and I can’t seem to unlearn that the occasional time I try and read manga – it doesn’t help that since the words go left to right I can’t compute left to right words and right to left boxes).
Looking back, I think I would have gotten more into anime back in college if my friends/the anime club had been dub people rather than subs. I understood their reasons for preferring the authenticity of subs (especially at the time as some of the dubbing companies were still developing) so was pretty much convinced that I would end up disliking most dubs (throw in a bit of not so great dubbing exposure and the conviction stuck). I’ve only really realized in the last ten years or so that I can’t deal with subtitles; not just as a dumb American, but I just can’t do it. I always knew I struggled with them but I didn’t really think about why until more recently, and I realize that I have a hard enough time understanding people’s tone and inflection when it’s in my own language; trying to decipher what a tone is meant to be in a language I don’t understand then apply it to the dialog that I’m reading quickly becomes too much for my brain to manage. So while I still don’t tend toward anime for my entertainment, I’ve become a bit more versed in it since I just decided it was okay to watch things dubbed.
I am debating, at least with Brotherhood since I’ve seen it several times, that I might turn the subtitles on (though still watching dubbed) and see where the translations differ. For example, I know that the language is written with a lot more curse words in it when translating more directly from the Japanese instead of run through English/American suitable for broadcast filters, as well as a few lines that I want to investigate to see if it hits differently in the other version.
And, if the logic of that notion didn’t tip you off, I am definitely a Brotherhood greater than 2003 person. I have only moderate desire to go back to 2003, but I think taking the opportunity to really dig into why I was so much less compelled by 2003 could be a worthy effort.
Now, all of that has been pretty generic, without getting into any of my more specific biases and preferences that I have approaching this project. Since I am not bringing a newbie through this journey with me (to the best of my knowledge, feel free to let me know if you’re coming along for the ride) expect the reviews to be full of spoilers, and probably not even divided up into spoilery and non-spoilery sections. Maybe I’ll make more of an effort than usual to have my general thoughts at the beginning of each review before I take the spoiler gloves off and engage in my usual style of unrestrained rambling (but probably still not).
Also, I’m going to start off doing FMAB-ep1 – 2003-ep1 – FMAB-ep2 – etc. But I’m not actually sure that’s the best way to handle it as it might make some sense to put arcs together instead of jumping back and forth. On the other hand, it might make for a more accurate view of the difference in pacing if I keep them in line like that. Also, the knowledgeable among you would know that 2003 is a fair bit shorter than FMAB, and I’m not sure how I’ll want to handle things once 2003 is over. It’s about the time I may just want to focus on the remainder of Brotherhood, or I may do some of the OVAs, see if I can track down Shamballa (or the somewhat infamous live action versions, although as far as I know they still aren’t dubbed), and any other tie in content. Granted, it is pretty ambitious to think this project will even make it that far considering my track record, especially recently.
…you know, I don’t think I have a lot of specific biases I feel the need to own up front. In general I know I have a few opinions, interpretations, and priorities that aren’t going to jive with everyone else, but those will be more relevant to discuss when they come up in the show.
But there is one piece it might be good to declare from the start: I just want to watch the Roy Mustang show. I will occasionally get annoyed that the show’s main characters get so much screen time, because I want to follow what Roy is getting up to, it’s probably way more interesting. And the only characters I really concern myself with getting in the head of (by way of fanfic) are Roy and Riza (also known as far and away my OTP for this show). I probably should care more about Hughes simply for meaning so much to Roy, and it’s not like I don’t care, but I do wish I cared more.
(Oddly enough, I recall not long after watching this show for the first time seeing some discourse out in the ether about whether anime in general had too many fascist undertones. To which I had to laugh, because my new favorite character is literally the equivalent of a Nazi war criminal and active participant in genocide, and I wouldn’t have him any other way.)
