Legend of Korra: Series Finale Review

Well, it's over.  And god, what an amazing journey it has been.  I'm all sorts of happy and sad and emotional at the same time.  It's been two days since I've watched (and rewatched, and rewatched) the finale, and I am still thinking about it, and still boiling over with love and passion for this amazing show. 

Overall, I thought it was a very strong season and series finale.  Why?  SPOILERS ABOUND. 

The Action!

The action scenes in this finale were incredibly well done.  Seven seasons in this universe, and I am still blown away by the inventiveness of the action sequences.  I enjoyed the teamwork required to slow down and take down the Colossus, including sibling teamwork from Mako/Bolin and Lin/Suyin (and Wing/Wei channeling their inner Luke Skywalker on Hoth fighting imperial walkers), which provided a nice contrast to the Zuko vs. Azula sibling battle from the ATLA finale.  I also enjoyed that Kuvira's henchmen were, as far as henchmen go, pretty darn competent fighters.  Good job, anonymous metalbenders!

The highlight, of course, was Korra v. Kuvira.  I am pretty sure I screamed, "Don't fuck with the Avatar!" during Korra's fight with Kuvira inside the mecha.  I quite appreciated that Korra didn't go into the Avatar state all that often:  we got enough of that in the Book 2 and 3 finales.  It actually made Korra and Kuvira's fight much more fluid and tense -- much like Kuvira's fight against Suyin in Operation Beifong.  The bending was incredible, as were the martial arts take-down moves. Just a pleasure to watch. 

The Music!

The music in this show can wring tears from a rock.  And melt my stone cold heart.  Thanks for everything, Jeremy Zuckerman.  The score itself was a storyteller.

Voice Acting

I really started to appreciate the voice actors this last season, particularly after I rewatched the earlier Books of Korra and realized how the voice actors had aged up their characters' voices.  The voice actors sometimes go a little under-appreciated, so I'm recognizing here that in many cases, the delivery of lines in this finale made the scenes for me. Examples:

• Hiroshi's sacrifice didn't really impact me emotionally when I first watched the scene -- mostly because we had not spent enough time with him and Asami this season.  But when I watched the scene again subsequent times, I found myself crying -- not because Hiroshi had redeemed himself or had any emotional hold on me -- but because of the pain we see on Asami's face and the deep anguish we hear in her voice as she is ejected from the hummingbird to watch her father die.  Actress Seychell Gabriel's delivery of the single word, "DAD!" was just gut-wrenching.
• In the scene where Baatar Jr. finally apologizes to his mother, Suyin's line, "She's a complicated woman" was delivered to perfection by Anne Heche.  It had all of the love of a mother for her son, while hiding the bitterness of a surrogate mother re her surrogate daughter and the shame that Suyin herself had also been led astray in her youth.  And it was all tempered by the weariness of a matriarch.  Just excellent.
• Janet Varney's quiet and firm delivery of her lines by Korra to Kuvira in the spirit world completely sold to me four-seasons' worth of spiritual and character growth.  This was a woman brimming with compassion, and the voice acting emoted that with every intonation and syllable. 

Characters Got Their Chance to Shine!

Of course, our main characters all got a chance to shine in the finale.

Asami (and Varrick and Zhu Li) demonstrated their tech prowess by getting incredible-looking hummingbird suits -- along with their plasma saws -- ready to go.

Bolin building-bent.  And lovingly officiated a wedding!  (PJ Byrne's delivery of "You may now ::pause:: do the thing" was very nicely done.) 

Mako had a noble almost-sacrificing moment (accompanied by amazing music from Jeremy Zuckerman) where he single-handedly lightning-bended-down the spirit core of the Colossus mecha giant.  Although the payoff for the scene would have been much more had the character done more growing over the course of the series, overall I was still happy with the courage he demonstrated in this battle.  And his fakeout-swansong-goodbye moment with Bolin had me at the edge of my seat fearing for his life.  ("You ARE awesome, Mako!"  I shrieked.  "Don't die!")

And, of course, Korra frickin' STOPPED A SPIRIT RAY CANNON with her bare hands and created a new spirit portal.  BOOM.  

What I really enjoyed was that even smaller characters had their moments in the finale.

• Pema tenaciously kept the crowd calm with adorable airbender songs.  
• Wu showed inventiveness by badger-mole-whispering his way out of a pickle, and great maturity by recognizing his own limitations as a leader and stepping down from the monarchy.
• Perpetually ignored middle child Ikki got to save Jinora.
• Meelo got some of his battle ideas implemented and saved Tenzin.
• Zhu Li / Varrick!  Adorable.  And Zhu Li dipped Varrick for the kiss.  Just sayin'.

Thematically Fitting

Given that technology has played such a big role in this series, it was fitting that the final battle wasn't just one really good bender vs. another really good bender (although there was that too).  Instead, much of Day of the Colossus was spent trying to take down all of these instruments of technology . . . with any means necessary, including other technology.  Very thematically fitting for the Korra universe, where Amon started out by trying to even the playing field for non-benders using technology. 

It was so fitting that Korra's final exercise of the Avatar state was to spirit-bend massive spirit weapon rays and defend her enemy's life.  It truly showed Korra's tremendous growth and development from the beginning of Book 2, where she used it as a booster rocket.  Korra really came full circle from the brash, hotheaded young woman we first met in "Welcome to Republic City," who knew how to solve her problems only through her fists.  Her conversation in the spirit world with Kuvira was all sorts of fulfilling from the perspective of Korra's character development.  (Though less so from the perspective of Kuvira's character, or narrative cohesion.  I really felt Kuvira needed more screen time and humanizing earlier in the season for that scene to make sense for her character.  As it was, the orphan sob story felt conveniently dropped in, and didn't feel like something that had been motivating and driving her this whole time.)


Feminist and Progressive

Avatar the Last Airbender had so many amazing female characters and characters of color.  Legend of Korra is no different, and this finale really pushed a wonderful message of the power of Korra as a heroine.  It wasn't Korra's physical strength that ended the conflict -- even though Korra has plenty of physical strength to go around and can kick ass and take names any day.  It was her understanding of and compassion for Kuvira.  And talking with her.  "I needed to understand what true suffering was so I could become more compassionate to others, even to people like Kuvira."  Such a beautiful, beautiful line, with incredible delivery by Janet Varney.  Sure, the whole idea of talking to end a war seems idealistic, but . . . it was really well done here.

And, of course, the Fandom cannot stop buzzing about and debating the last scene of the finale, which ended with what I thought was a completely unambiguous** beginning to a Korra-Asami same-sex relationship (dubbed #Korrasami by fandom shippers).  I was not a shipper (of this or any other ship), but this scene was just incredibly beautiful and well done and genuinely moving.  Their healthy female friendship, which had been strengthening over the course of the series (particularly in Book 3), organically grew into the beginning of romantic exploration.  In the Spirit World!  The staging, the music . . . god, everything was just perfect.  I loved it.  (And it is so nice for the LGBT community to finally get some representation on screen!)

        **Mike and Bryan have now both confirmed that Korrasami was their intention.

IN SUM

This finale wasn't perfect.  No series finale is.  But for me, it was deeply personal, thematically fitting, and immensely satisfying.  It did not reduce me to an ocean of tears like the Book 2 Finale (where the link to the past avatars was severed), or have the incredible display of Korra god-power on offense like the Book 3 Finale, but . . . it was beautifully done.  And I loved it.

Was it better than Avatar the Last Airbender's "Sozin's Comet" as a series finale?  What a Sophie's Choice.  I can't decide right now; I'm too emotional.  For now, I will just say . . . both were incredible in their own way.  Thank you, Mike and Bryan, and the entire cast and crew for these 2 amazing shows.  I will cherish them forever, and hope to share them one day with any progeny I am lucky enough to have.

But guys, guys . . . what about closure?  What about all of my unanswered questions, including regarding characters from the first series?

I think I might be the only fan of Avatar the Last Airbender who never once wondered what happened to Zuko's mom. For me, Zuko's story in A:TLA was complete without knowing that answer, although it was certainly fun to imagine that he went on a quest to find her later (and, eventually, to read The Search comic book).   

So it genuinely baffles me when some Legend of Korra fans criticize the finale either for not giving them closure on things that have already been given closure, or for not giving them answers on questions that don't need answering.  Prominent examples:

• "We never got closure on her past lives."  This one really confuses me.  Korra told us after reuniting with Raava in Book 2 that the link was gone forever.  What more is there to get closure on?  Sure, for a moment in the finale, I thought the spirit weapon blast had blasted Korra back in touch with all of the past avatars, but it didn't.  And, well, that's that.  What more could the show have said?  "Hey guys, the link is STILL gone forever!"?  
• What happened to Sokka?  We needed more Toph/Katara/Zuko, or some variation of wish/question about characters from Avatar the Last Airbender.  The Old GAang got their own send off, their own denouement, in their own series.  What in the world needed closure in this series about those old characters...?  As Toph said, it's time to leave it to the kids.  
• Who is Lin's Dad?  Who is Suyin's Dad?  Who is Izumi's Mom?  etc.  This one drives me crazy too.  I loved that "Kanto" was Lin's dad. Just some random guy Toph met later on in life. That made perfect sense to me. (How many friends from when you were 12 are you still friends with -- let alone have reproduced with and/or married? I'm 30, and I think I'm still in touch with 1 friend from that age group. Though I guess my friends and I didn't go through a crucible like saving the world together.)  I like the idea that the characters we loved from the old series had full lives, filled with people and experiences that expanded beyond the characters we met in ATLA. Would I like to find out about those lives one day? Sure, I buy the comics, same as everyone else. But do I need those questions to be answered in a show about Korra? No, not really. Not unless the characters themselves needed those answers. Kanto's reveal was important only insofar as it was important to Lin, and her relationship with her mother. Su didn't seem to have the same daddy issues as Lin -- particularly not in the finale -- so . . . I'm fine with never knowing.
• Closure on Kai/Jinora, Bolin/Opal, etc.  I guess I have a different sense of what "closure" is than others.  For me, Kai/Jinora did reach closure.  Their story ended at the end of Book 3 / beginning of Book 4.  After a season of young flirtation, the two are in a healthy, cute long-distance relationship with no drama worth any screen time.  The creators didn't have much more to say about it.  That story was complete.  And Jinora herself got closure in a big way in the form of airbending master tattoos.  Similarly, Bolin/Opal reached closure in "Operation Beifong," when Opal forgave Bolin.  Closure.  What more needed closing . . . ? 

There are other questions that the fandom wanted answered.  The above are just the ones that I've seen the most (and that have driven me the most crazy).  For me, I can honestly say . . . this finale gave me closure -- and satisfying closure at that -- on every single thing that mattered to Korra's story.  So I loved it.  And god, I will miss this show.

Fairy Tail Seasons 1-3 Review

Fairy Tail came at the recommendation of Curtis, a security guard I befriended at work.  He was so obsessed with the show that he got a tattoo of the Fairy Tail stamp, so I thought I would give it a try despite the series' length.

Well, I've been through about 3 seasons of the anime so far, and my verdict is:  it is enjoyable.  Just to be clear, that does not mean it is good by any means.  In fact, I can't count how many times I have said, "Wow, this is terrible" while watching.  But I recognize that despite the show's many failings, it is good entertainment.  And I like it!

Here are some thoughts on why the show is so awful:

1. Formulaic / no consequences / low stakes.  This is an arc-based show.  In each arc, new baddies/villains appear.  Each one has to get hyped up more than the previous one.  The bad guys initially get the upper hand and beat down the good guys.  (But, of course, none of the good guys ever truly gets hurt.  They are drawn with scuff marks and bandages, but no one ever dies.)  Then the good guys draw on the Power of Friendship, What It Means To Be A Fairy Tail Wizard, and Other Such Platitudes and somehow defeat the baddies.  Everyone goes home and parties and drinks and gets into Fairy Tail hijinks.  There are no consequences, there is no tension, and even the headlined "big fights" are pretty much lame because the result is preordained.  The only difference from arc to arc is that sometimes the baddies -- usually the good-looking ones -- have a mini-redemption.  And because the stakes are so low, any Grand Gestures of Sacrifice by the good guys are meaningless because even if they are "hurt," they get a new set of clothes, some bandages, and then they go on their way.  It's extremely formulaic and dumb.  
2. It makes no sense whatsoever.  This is self-explanatory, but the show makes no sense.  It is a magical world, I know, but the way the world operates seems to be completely random/boundless.  There are no rules.  Magic can seemingly do whatever The Plot requires it to do.  And what magical attack beats the other also seems to follow only what The Plot requires.  And Dragon Slayers?  So far I have no idea why Dragon Slayers have so much more magical power than anybody else, other than that they 'learned from a dragon' -- whatever that means.  Nor do I get why they all have cats/exedes.  But whatever.  The cats are cute!  



We're Dragon Slayers!  We're super overpowered!  And we each have an adorable cat!  Not sure why!  Whatever, who cares?!

3. Fan service.  The show has some strong female characters (e.g., Erza, Lucy . . . occasionally, Juvia), but it can't resist giving them enormous breasts and degrading them by putting them in skimpy outfits.  Sigh.

And here is why I enjoy Fairy Tail despite the above and am continuing to binge-watch it:

Fire v. Ice

1. The cast is likable.  The characters are not particularly original.  Nor do they really develop in any significant way.  But both the main and minor characters are likeable and really fun to watch.  With anime, I am usually immediately aggravated by a Simpering Anime Woman, but luckily, the Fairy Tail women do not fall into that mold.  The show does a good job of showing the long history between some of the characters, and excels when it is drawing connections between the guild members.  Because the characters are so likeable, you kind of just want to keep watching them do stuff and kick ass (after getting beat down initially, of course, see supra No. 1) and interact with each other.  Even the stupid running character gags (e.g., Natsu's motion sickness, Gray's penchant to take off his shirt) grew on me over time.  

   

   One of my favorite characters:  the besotted Juvia.

2. Humor.  The show definitely does not take itself too seriously, which I think may be the show's saving grace.  From the over-the-top narration to seriously bizarre/weird characters to sight gags in the middle of big fights, the show executes everything with a big tongue in its cheek.  It knows what it is, and never tries to be anything else.  That self-aware humor keeps the mood/tone light and fun, allowing the audience to enjoy the show for what it is.  

   

   I iz so happy I finally have a cat!!  Lulz.

3. Equal opportunity fan service.  As much as the male-oriented fan service drives me crazy, I appreciate that the show also doses out female-oriented fan service for the XXs among us.   There are some good-lookin' [animated] guys on this show (my personal favorites are Gray and Loke/Leo)!  :-) 

   

   Leo getting ready to kick some ass.

4. Opening/Ending Music.  The opening and ending musical sequences of this show are really fun to listen to.  I particularly enjoyed "The Rock City Boy" from the Edolas arc.  The music during the show is also fun, if very repetitive.  (The show always plays the same overwrought dramatic music whenever a Good Guy is drawing power from What It Means To Be A Fairy Tail Wizard and Other Such Platitudes.)

Erza and . . . Jellal?  Or Mystogan?  Whatever.  Someone good-looking.

BOTTOM LINE:  So basically, the show is pretty bad (though the animation is decent).  But it's so fun that it doesn't matter.  I kind of just want to keep watching these hooligans hang out and kick badguy butt.

The Legend of Korra: Book 3: Change Review

Wow, what a season.  Book 3 of Legend of Korra really blew me away.  It's the best Korra season to date, and may be on par with (or even have surpassed?) some seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender as well.  It's hard to put my finger on exactly what made it such good television, but here are a few thoughts.  FULL SPOILERS FOR KORRA BOOK 3 TO FOLLOW.
 

Great Villains

 
Book 2 suffered for lack of a compelling, balanced villain.  Unalaq was cartoonish and had no depth.  Book 3 gave us what Book 2 was missing by delivering in the villain department, four-fold.  The Red Lotus was a dynamic team of villains whose powers were unique and hella scary, and whose mission to overthrow tyrannical kings and queens captured the audience's sympathy just enough to clothe them in shades of gray. The writers showed how incompetent President Raiko and awful the Earth Queen were (and how dire the inequality was in Ba Sing Se), which gave the villain's anarchic goal just enough credence to make the goal noble, in a way, if misguided.

What's more, the writers managed to make the Red Lotus . . . likable, and surprisingly human.  Their relationships with each other were surprisingly tender and often-times funny (such as . . . all of Ghazan's lines, pretty much -- "Guess he doesn't need a ride!").  The first time we see the four villains together, P'Li and Zaheer kiss, and Ghazan says something like, "Really, guys?  Here?"  And the last scene that P'Li and Zaheer have alone in the finale hints at a backstory filled with tragedy, and love forged therein.  I would have loved to see more scenes like that.  However crazy Zaheer's anarchic goals were, the audience still felt his pain when P'Li went to her death -- and immediately understood that she had been his sole "earthly tether."  These great villains -- and the initial mystery behind their motives -- anchored the entire season.

Character Development . . . Finally

I thought Book 2 did a good job developing its adult characters.  Some of my favorite Book 2 scenes explored the dynamic between Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi.  But in many ways, the New Team Avatar was left behind in the character development department.

In Book 3, the New Team Avatar got moments in the spotlight:

• Mako reconnected with family, and showed maturity in giving Grandma Yin his red scarf.  He also showed his detective skills in figuring out that something was up with Aiwei and deducing that scuff marks in his apartment meant that the bookcase could move.  Oh, and he straight up killed someone.  (Shocking! . . . get it?)
• Bolin continued serving as the series' comic relief -- mostly effectively, although occasionally it felt forced and tonally jarring (e.g., the bird calls in the Finale).  But the show also explored Bolin's insecurities:  (1) first, in his approach to women (although this seems at odds with Book 1 Bolin, who was a confident ladies man), and (2) second, regarding his bending abilities -- which culminated in his discovery that he can lavabend.  He also had a powerfully emotional (if corny) line in "The Ultimatum" about how home is where your family is -- very well delivered by P.J. Byrne.  I wish Bolin had more of those quiet moments.
• Asami revealed that she is actually MacGyver:  she busted out of her restraints on the Cheap-O Cabbage Corp. airship and built a sandsailer out of scrap metal[, a rubber band, and a swiss army knife].  She also got a chance to show how cool and caring she is through her friendship with Korra, which has been really nice to watch.  Asami's ability to move on from the Mako love triangle -- and even bond with Korra over how awkward Mako was acting -- was refreshing to see from a female character.  The show put in the work through the season to build the Asami-Korra relationship, such that the payoff in the finale was big: "I want you to know that I'm here for you.  If you ever want to talk, or anything . . . " 
• Korra got some nice character moments with Tenzin, showing the evolution of their relationship:  she actually sat down to meditate and listened to Tenzin's advice; she later returned the favor by counseling him on training the airbenders.  Otherwise, Korra was largely out of the action this season until the endgame, when she demonstrated her selflessness with her willingness to lay down her life for the fledgling air nation.  But the most interesting part of where they took Korra this season was in the Finale.  First, Korra's hallucinations in the cave while being poisoned were fascinating, and at least attempted to tie Books 1-3 together thematically.  And second, the finale ended not with triumph, but uncertainty . . . and depression.  The show left Korra in a really interesting emotional place, and I can't wait to see where they take her in Book 4.

The show managed to not forget about its adult characters either:

• Tenzin and Bumi got some good brotherly screentime in "The Original Airbenders" -- although I do think Tenzin regressed somewhat from Book 1 Tenzin (i.e., Tenzin already have learned patience from having to teach Korra airbending).  
• Kya and Tonraq got some good fight scenes, though not much else beyond that.  
• And as if Lin Beifong weren't cool enough from Book 1, we got a great sub-plot featuring Lin and her half-sister Su that developed them both (and got us another peek at Adult Toph!), explored the Beifong family history and dynamics, and revealed how Lin got her scars.  

Finally, Jinora.  I love her.  She is awesome.  Her spirit powers are awesome.  She has grown from a little girl into a young woman -- and now an airbending master -- over the course of three books.  Her finale line "We have power together" gave me chills, and the scene where she got her tattoos (and looked like Aang) was incredibly moving.  The show has done a great job exploring her relationship with Tenzin.  Bravo.

Despite Book 3's admirable efforts at developing its characters, though, the Legend of Korra as a series still suffers from having too many characters.  As a result, I doubt the show will ever reach the heights of character development that the original series did because of limited screentime and heightened competition.  (Alas, we'll never get a character arc as epic as Zuko's!)  But Book 3's efforts to give the characters room to grow and interact did not go unnoticed!

Animation and Music

The animation on both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra has always been top-notch.  But the animation this season was simply off the charts.  The backgrounds were rendered beautifully (e.g., the cityscape of Zaofu).  The bending battles were better -- and more innovative -- than anything we'd seen on the show previously (e.g., Tenzin v. Zaheer, Lin v. Su, that fight in Zaofu when the Red Lotus tried to kidnap Korra).  And the character designs -- particularly of the season's villains -- were unique and memorable.  Paired with Jeremy Zuckerman and TheTrackTeam's amazing soundtrack?  And the show is a visual and aural feast.

Pacing and Plotting

Certain Korra reviewers (::cough:: Doug Walker ::cough::) complained that the pace of Book 3 was too slow, that not enough was happening.  I completely disagree.

The season started beautifully (and fittingly):  with the return of airbenders to the world, and the quest to locate more airbenders.  One Red Lotus member was introduced with each prison escape, and even though they were far away and their motives were unknown, the danger was palpable given their uniquely awesome bending skills and dazzling prison escapes.  We met the unpleasant Earth Queen and discovered that a plot was afoot and that her city was even more socially unequal than before. 

And then, somehow, most of the storylines introduced in the Book got connected together by the end:  the Earth Queen, the return of the airbenders, the Red Lotus, Jinora's tattoo request, even Mako's suspicion of Kai.  Each seemingly disparate plotline dovetailed into the other.

Ultimately, the sloooow reveal of the Red Lotus's purpose and the extent of their menace allowed the characters room to develop, which in turn raised the stakes (and our fear for their safety) when shit finally got real.  In fact, I thought the pacing and plotting in this season was the best of the three Korra books.  Book 1 unfolded at breakneck pace; Book 2 tried to do too much with too little time.  This Book let the tension slowly build while giving the characters time to interact and just be . . . themselves.

Finale

Oddly enough, the finale to this amazing season did not quite hit the same emotional note for me that the Book 2 finale did.  When Korra's connection to the past avatars was destroyed in Book 2: Spirits, I was in tears, and completely emotionally shattered.  And when Korra got into the Tree of Time and connected with Cosmic Korra to the soaring tunes of Jeremy Zuckerman's soundtrack, thus showing how far she'd come in her spiritual journey, I was bawling.

But in Book 3, I felt somewhat distant from the finale.  While I liked the concept they were going for -- that Korra was willing to lay down her life for the fledgling air nation, newly reborn, for the sake of balance in the world -- I didn't buy the whole premise of Korra being forced into a "choice" of either turn herself over or have the air nation destroyed.  (Like, really?  It's only four bad guys.  They are hella scary and really skilled, but really?  It's only four guys.  How many masterful benders are there amongst the good guys?)

I also think Korra's showdown with Superman Zaheer had a very different (and much darker) feel than Aang's showdown with Ozai in the Avatar series finale.  The latter grew out of the work of three seasons of Aang learning each element, and the audience couldn't help but burst with pride at seeing him go.  Korra busting out of her chains was a force of nature -- a combination of pure animalism and survival instinct.  Her fight with Zaheer came out of a place of deep pain and rage, and left her broken.  It was hard to watch, and also hard to connect to that place of darkness. 

That's not to say I have to be moved to tears to enjoy an episode; I did enjoy the finale a lot -- I'm just saying it didn't personally resonate with me and my feels the way Book 2's finale did.  Still, the Book 3 finale was technically brilliant, and extremely well executed:

• The action sequences were hands-down the best that either Avatar or Korra had ever delivered:  Tonraq/Chained Korra v. Zaheer; Korra v. Superman Zaheer somersaulting through the air; Mako vs. Ming-hua and the latter's electrifying end, Bolin v. Ghazan lava on lava, Lin/Su taking down P'Li, and Jinora leading the airbenders in generating that thematically-fitting massive tornado thing.  
• The scene where Korra hallucinated Amon, Unalaq, and Vaatu was deliciously creepy, and an interesting window into Korra's mind. 
• Jinora getting her airbending tattoos to the sound of wind chimes (with Tenzin's narration!) was an incredibly moving and beautiful scene. 
• And the way the season ended with Korra weary and broken emotionally was intriguing and left me wanting Book 4 to arrive already.

Overall 
 
IMHO, between the character growth for Korra and the rest of New Team Avatar, the compelling villains, and the comfortable plotting, Book 3 was the best Korra season to date.  Still not better than ATLA Book 2: Earth or ATLA Book 3: Fire, but . . . up there.  Good job, Bryke.

So . . . when's Book 4 coming out?  And can I stomach watching anything else until then . . . ?

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Series Review

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the first anime I have completed since November 2011, when I finished Naoki Urasawa's Monster -- and not for lack of trying, but because nothing else I watched compared in quality to Monster and, inevitably, my interest would wane.

To be honest, my interest nearly waned with FMA:B as well.  I have neither read the manga nor seen the original 2003 anime.  I also didn't know anything about the show, other than that it is generally highly regarded.  Nevertheless, the first handful of FMA:B episodes did not immediately grab me for 2 main reasons:

• Edward Elric, one of the main protagonists, was -- initially -- the classic hot-tempered, brash hero-brat -- not a character trope I generally enjoy watching.  I found his Napoleonic Height Complex to be both tonally jarring and not funny.  (I continued to find the Napoleon Complex jarring until the end despite very much growing to love Ed's character.) 
• Along those lines, I found the early episodes to be tonally odd.  We'd be going through a serious fight, heavy plotting, or important dialogue, when suddenly the show would interrupt itself with a sight gag -- e.g., Ed's Napoleonic Height Complex, or Major Armstrong's gleaming obsession with his own muscles.  The humor felt . . . "off." 

In fact, a while ago, I started watching the original 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist and dropped the show for similar reasons.

But once I pushed past those initial episodes, I got hooked.  And now that I have rewatched the show again, I am only beginning to appreciate just how masterfully -- and subtly -- the show developed its protagonists and dropped hints everywhere of story lines to come.  

Story

FMA:B is a highly serialized show about the Elric brothers' journey to find a Philosopher's Stone to restore their bodies to normal after an alchemy experiment gone wrong -- and the conspiracy that the brothers uncover along the way.  What I appreciated about the narrative was that the brothers' quest was essentially a personal and selfish one, born of tragedy:  their quest for the Stone stems from a failed attempt to bring their mother back from the dead, which resulted in the loss of Ed's arm and leg and Alfonse's entire body.  The brothers stumbled across (and embarked on) a Save the Nation quest along the way, but their journey was ultimately a personal one of self-discovery and sacrifice.

On the whole, the show was very well paced.  Nearly every episode is critical to the development of the plot.  The plot unfolds slowly but deliberately, and later episodes add layers of meaning to (and change your view of events in) earlier ones.  The show does drag a bit at the end -- nearly an entire season is devoted to the endgame, which means several battles or conversations last way too long.  But overall, FMA:B has a strong story that covers a broad range of themes and develops the characters in interesting and thematically fitting ways.

Animation

The show is beautifully animated, complete with gorgeous backgrounds, well-drawn characters, and fluid action sequences.  The characters could have used some more interesting facial expressions -- too many characters react to emotion with Stereotypical Shaking Limbs or Quaking Eyes.  I also would have preferred if the character designs of the villains weren't so . . . obviously villainous (e.g., Envy's dastardly grin, Kimblee's evil eyes).  But for the most part the show is very pleasant to look at.  

Sound

I found the FMA:B soundtrack to be somewhat . . . lackluster after a while -- not because the music itself was uninteresting, but because there wasn't enough variety.  The themes were good, but suffered from overuse.  Whenever something dramatic happened, we'd hear the same overwrought dramatic choral theme; during action scenes, we'd hear that action theme with the heavy beats, etc. etc.  Having been spoiled by the phenomenal soundtrack in Avatar: the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, I was a little underwhelmed by the FMA:B music. 

As for the voice acting, I usually watch anime in Japanese dub, but this time, I found myself drawn to the English dub voice actors.  The voice acting for the leads were all excellent, for the most part.  I particularly enjoyed the voices for the Elric brothers, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and the Armstrong siblings.  My only complaint was about the kid voices -- Young Ed, Young Al, and especially May Chang -- which sounded too shrill and definitely-a-fake-kid for my tastes.

Characters

The series did a fantastic job developing its two main characters, brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric.  Having watched the entire series twice now, I realize just how far these characters have come over the course of the series.  Edward, in particular, starts out as a selfish, cocky brat who declares in the first episode that he "doesn't care" whether his country's leader does bad things, seems narrowly focused on his and his brother's own problems, and arrogantly believes that alchemy can solve all things.  But throughout the series, Edward learns humility, the limits and horrors of alchemy, and the true meaning of sacrifice.  And by the end, Edward has demonstrated -- repeatedly -- through action that he cares deeply about his countrymen and, indeed, about humanity, and that he is willing to sacrifice everything to protect those he loves.  His is a fantastic character transformation that forms the heart of the show.    

Many of the secondary characters were also well developed.  I enjoyed the way the show handled the relationship between Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye -- one of mutual dependence and great respect, with undertones of a deep love that never physically manifested in the show.  Theirs was a perfect demonstration of showing, not telling, that two characters care deeply for one another, and I wish shows would follow FMA:B's example in that regard (and eschew wild but unearned declarations of love) more often.

The rest of the cast is huge.  While not everyone gets fully developed, there are quite a few interesting characters with their own motivations, philosophies, and quirks. And, for the most part, the show moves deftly between the characters and gives them space to breathe.  Even some of the "villains" -- e.g., Scar, Greed, Envy, Pride -- get character development.  Best of all, there were no Annoying Anime Women.

To be sure, a few of the periphery characters (e.g., the chimeras, the Briggs characters other than Olivier Armstrong, some of Roy Mustang's underlings) could probably have been eliminated to make the show more tightly written.  But overall, FMA:B gets very high marks in my book for how it handled its large cast and, in particular, for how it handled Ed, Al, Mustang, and Hawkeye.

 

Overall

I got off to a slow start with FMA:B, but ultimately enjoyed it a lot (especially the second time around, when I realized just how far the characters had come).  Although I never quite got past the somewhat odd gag humor, I greatly appreciated the character development and the epic, thematically-satisfying story.  I don't intend on watching the 2003 series, but FMA:B is now definitely among my favorite series that I have seen.