Feeling Out Shōnen With FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD (Ep. 1-38) (Patreon)

Huzzah! I’m almost 4/7ths of the way through Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which is only ONE of the shows that many of you have been clamoring for me to watch for the last two years! So let’s get to what might be your important concern first: don’t worry, I like it! In fact, some things I *REALLY* like. But I also think I’ve had to adjust my expectations a lot as I’ve been going through it. For one, when I started watching I hoped that it would result in some mega giant thematic article like what I did with the end of Evangelion, but it sort of doesn’t translate that way (at least not yet). Likewise, it doesn’t quite break down into episodic coverage the way that shows like Cowboy Bebop and Avatar: The Last Airbender did. But now that I’ve gone from the series terrific start to the somewhat wheel-spinny center, I realized what it does do is provide an interesting prism with which to talk about the merits and pitfalls of serialized storytelling, chiefly in terms of drama, plotting, character, and theme.

As always, in our discussion please do not spoil things that happen later in the show, even if you think you can just hint at it or be clever in your vague allusions, I’ll be able to get what you’re hinting at and develop expectations. So please let’s keep it covering what’s happened so far!

With that, let’s start with…

DRAMARAMA

This section is actually going to be short, but it provides the crucial framework for understanding my take on the show so far. Now, you know I talk endlessly about the power of drama! Because it’s the thing that makes you actually care about what’s happening on screen. Yes, character is the crucial anchoring point, but it’s drama that gets into the immediacy of conflict in the given moment. It asks of the narrative: who wants what? What happens if they don’t get it? Why now? And by dramatizing the answers to these questions, you pull the audience into the moment so succinctly. To take it one further, when it comes to understanding the foundation of drama, there is always a Hitchcock question that provides the best framework for understanding…

“What’s more dramatic, a surprise bomb that goes off out of nowhere? Or a bomb under the table that’s about to go off?”

The answer of course is the bomb under the table. Because it allows you to play up the tension of all the time in between. It creates a sense of stakes with the immediate threat. It gives a character an objective to disarm it. It allows you to throw obstacles and wrinkles at them as they try to achieve their goal. Or it allows you to play a sense of dramatic irony as a character chases some other goal while horribly unaware of the looming threat. This proverbial “bomb under the table” is what facilitates drama precisely because it creates baseline expectation of consequence. And you’ve probably heard me talk about about all this before in terms of JJ Abrams, who is always chasing “the surprise bomb” instead building tension. Don’t get me wrong, you always need a few surprises in your story to keep the audience on their toes. But when your method of storytelling is constant surprise, surprise, surprise, then there is no baseline expectation and thus nothing is actually surprising. It’s just constant noise that pushes the audience around willy nilly. But great storytellers know how to balance it all. They know how to pull the audience in, get them to dread a result, and then put them exactly where they want them to be. And to bring it back to above examples, it’s exactly why shows like Evangelion and Avatar are so dang good.

But what’s so interesting about FMA: Brotherhood is that I feel like it is hard to characterize within these terms. In some sequences, they execute the dramatic moment perfectly (perhaps tellingly, those moments often involve horror). At other times, its orchestration is messier. At other times, it seems to be utterly reactive and pick up or completely abandon an “intended dramatic moment” at a moment's notice. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t argue that after busting out of the gate with a great first 14 episodes, the dramatic construction has gotten a lot sloppier with time. Granted, I just finished episode 38 and I’m wagering that it will all come together by the end. But right now it just seems like they’re treading water.

However, what’s particularly fascinating about Brotherhood’s dramatic approach is that it always feels like they know the current moment should be dramatic. Because it knows that conflict should be the backbone of every scene. But after the first 14 episodes, which dealt with a lot of internal conflict, they’re new number one response to this need is to constantly put the characters in literal physical danger, often by having a bad guy surprise attack. Then they TRY to give clarity and stakes, but they are constantly trying to rearrange the dynamics or give a convoluted explanation in the moment or afterward. The effect of the viewer is palpable. Even though we know the endpoint of where this story is headed (it’s outright been told to us many times), you can’t help but get the feeling that they are furiously building the track as the train pumps at 99 mph right behind it. Which is exactly where the next discipline of writing helps you in navigating your dramatic course…

PLOTTING PLOTS

Sooooo I’ve spent a lot of the last twelve years trying to talk people out of harmful “top down” structure models. You know the ones I’m talking about. Whether it’s reductive three act structure or the hyper-convenient beat sheets that tell you that you HAVE to do X by Y page. These not only teach blind copying and keep most stories same-y and perfunctory, they teach you to misunderstand the core mechanisms of why those common beats tend to exist in the first place. But if you actually understand the full range of core mechanisms within storytelling? Then you can do anything you want and make it work. A movie like Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is a testament to this. Not because the film is full of absurd tangents, but because it knows how to take those seemingly absurd tangents and ground them in tried and true storytelling methods (there’s a reason the Racacoonie element WORKS). Again, you can do anything you want. The key to plotting them is not just understanding set-up / punchline, but understanding enough of how to look at time you are allotted / discerning how much story you actually have / understanding how much you WANT to tell / and the knowing how to turn that into a series of compelling sequences that bring the viewer through in the most entertaining and satisfying way, which often involves creating subgoals and telling complete stories within stories…

It’s just that’s really, really, really, really, really, really, really hard.

Still, it’s the writer’s job. And we have countless incredible stories that do such a good job of it. But rather than look in depth and come to understand the full range of core mechanisms out there, people of course would rather default to a “set format” that copies the loose shape of those other projects because, well, it’s easier. But this happens at every level mind you. For most of its history, television was dominated by the 22 episode season that was mostly designed for one-offs and people coming in and out of the show. But then The Sopranos / HBO / DVD / DVR changed everything and made it easier to enjoy serialized storytelling. But rather than look hard at the character / theme-based methods of storytelling in those new amazing shows, most series just copied the “13 Episode HBO plot model” that came to dominate the 2000’s landscape. For as much good that came from these more concentrated half-season orders, it also sometimes bred a kind of laziness. A lot of shows would just create a central conflict in the beginning of the season, spin their wheels or twiddle their thumbs for a whole bunch of episodes, then wait for it all to finally be resolved in a climactic fashion in the last few episodes. The point is not that this “format” is inherently bad, the point is that every format has challenges. Especially when a very common thing that happens with serialized shows is that they get trapped in a larger arc or mythology, so that even when knowing their endgame, they’re not really sure how to tell stories within it.

This is where a lot of them enter “the never-ending standoff.”

It shows up in a lot of storytelling, particularly within soap operas and comics (the latter of which have struggled so hard with the problem they’ve entered the constant recycle / reboot approach). So from the issue to issue standpoint, they often inch you along from beat to beat, offering plenty of action, but without much of a grander sense of “where” you are in a larger narrative. And to bring it all home to the point of column, it’s one of the main reasons I’ve historically bounced off of a lot of Shōnen. Because, after watching and absorbing a lot of cultural dialogue, I’ve sensed these are the chief dramatic tactics of shows like Dragonball Z or Naruto. They’re always trying to adhere to the logic of leveling up / new powers, often just leading to a game of static change. To be clear, there’s versions of the never-ending stand-off I really like, but they often involve witty outsmarting instead of power displays (I just realized I may have never divulged here that I’m a big Lone Wolf and Cub fan and have the omnibus volumes on my shelf). There are genuine ways to make these kinds of things interesting. But this is my first time in the Ani-Me project where I’m really diving into something that feels closer to that never-ending stand-off territory of Shōnen, versus the other story formats of Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. But what’s interesting about Brotherhood is that it sort of has fallen from one approach to the other.

It genuinely didn’t seem like that would happen at first, even if the pilot is a little fight heavy (perhaps a harbinger of things to come), but I think the first fourteen episodes of this show are pretty excellent. Especially in terms of its core goal of wanting to involve me on this adventure. I was like “fuck ya, I’m in!” But I think it’s no accident that this initial batch is more episodic in their focus. Each one is trying to bring us into a story that reflects on the two of them, get at the history of these characters, or even just take the time to show us the dire nature of this particular world with reckless abandon (good god, episode 4). These episodes are the foundation of everything that has followed. And to be frank with you, I think there’s a reason that even though I’m on episode 38, every time people meme something it often comes from those first 14 episodes. They really have been the most effective. Even as I write this and go back through my notes, I have all this insight and notes on what the character’s are struggling with internally in that initial run and then… a few notes per episode.

The feeling of storytelling stasis just really kicks in. I’m not talking about action, mind you. There’s plenty that’s happening. There’s just very little for me to dig into. There’s the famous saying, “when in doubt, have two people come in with guns in their hands” (which isn’t the actual quote but I don’t have time to get into all that) and so you get the feeling there’s just a lot of doubt. The show that started by taking its time to dive into the feelings of Edward, Alphonse, and Winry, but now has kind of turned into a series of endless altercations (often with Scar), fighting stand-offs where characters slink away, and a lot of establishing of conflicts where “we both know what’s going on now” but nothing actually changes. The most crushing example of which is when they finally confront their “father,” but it all just leads to this convoluted deal with Fuhrer Bradley to… let them go or whatever? Even though everything about the conflict was just BEGGING to come to a head, even though the story is literally telling you that THIS is where the climax of this particular conflict should be, there had to be more show.

In such a situation, storytellers can do two things. They either let the climax come to a head (usually the right option) and then come up with a new conflict about the aftermath (which is what most storytellers used to do in seasons of television). Or they need to find a genuine solution as to why the conflict can’t come to a head yet. Both paths have challenges, but the problem with this particular delay strategy should be obvious. For one, it takes the teeth out of the Elric Brothers’ journey. They had all this steam and now it’s like they have to slink off because the bad guys are just “waiting” for the time to use them later? There is no more frustrating kind of delay for a viewer. Moreover, Bradley’s convoluted deal makes no sense, nor sense for any of them, personally. Worse, without the clearly defined boundaries of what the bad guys want them to do, it mutes the stakes of everything happening (there’s a reason I went into detail about drama in part one). And there are even basic dramatic mechanisms that could have helped with this general decision. Like, I genuinely don’t understand why the bad guys didn’t try to keep them prisoner if they needed them and then just have the brothers do a daring escape, especially considering that’s what they’re doing with this plot-line now anyway in terms of trying to stay out of sight. There’s less stakes if they’re just “on parole or whatever.” And if this deal is just yet another convoluted move in the big “game” that the bad guys are playing, then it doesn’t help with the drama either. It’s just more convolution. And now the characters are stuck in this endlessly reactive state because it’s trying to cram in conflict without meaningful introspection.

If you’ve seen little kids play soccer you have heard the term “Magnet Ball” and it’s when everyone just runs toward the ball and tries to kick instead of spacing out the field and trying to have strategy in passing it. And everything in the show feels like Magnet Ball right now, often trying to juggle 30 characters with what feels like a lot of intrigue, but very little focus on any of them having a story at the given moment. Even with the change in locations, you never get a sense of emotional journey the way you were at first with the first part of this show (even then there were warning signs). Seriously, characters haven’t talked about their feelings in 12 episodes. And I’ll be honest about that, I really lost steam with this… And were it not for the sudden energy influx of the northern wall / Fort Briggs / the new characters coming into the fold, I may have even tapped out. But with the story discipline starting to come back I find myself now at episode 38 with enough footing to feel grounded about going forward. And like I said, I’m confident they know they want to be with their endgame.

But two caveats linger.

The first is that I fully understand the issue of adaptation. I’ve clearly never read the beloved manga and I understand the show is just going take the story as it exists and probably not fuck with it too hard. So when I say “the storytellers” I mean this in a collective sense that has more to do with the storytelling choices I see and the end effect on the viewer. But I recognize this grouping will be tricky for people who know both so well. But this also brings us to the second thing, which might have to do with the baseline appeal of the never-ending stand off…

Because someone tweeted me a while ago when I mentioned I was watching. And they “warned” me that the first 14 episodes were a rough slog and then it totally hits its stride and the action kicks in and look at that comment now I’m just, like… is this what people actually want? To wit, I just checked IMDB and all the ratings for episodes shoot down from 8’s to 6’s anytime there’s an introspective, non-fighting episode that I really liked and I’m just like… I know we all have different tastes, but when I think about action-driven shōnen, do people actually want the lack of introspection? Do they want the never ending standoff? Are all these feelings a vehicle for something else that’s more destructive? We’ll come back to that question, but for the next section, do we not realize those first 14 episodes are the reason we care in the first place? Which brings us to the reason I’m REALLY sticking with the show. The reason that all these storytelling hiccups don’t genuinely bother me in the end. And I’ll put it simply:

I fucking love the characters.

YA GOTTA HAVE CHARACTER!

Yeah, this is absolutely the best aspect of the show, which is good because it’s kind of the most important aspect of any television. Sometimes people say they like “living in a world” of a given property, but with television it’s really  about spending time with people. Not just with ones you like. Sometimes it’s about the fun way you resent or fear the characters on screen, particularly the Homunculi! Yeah, from a pure aesthetic prospective, the designs are pretty great. And even if the characters are a bit more attitudinal than my usual preference, they all have a core method of internal expression that really works. Because the show is often quite good at finding these little actions or moments that make me care, even if they might be disconnected from a larger story issue. But most of all, they have a sense of playful fun with every character that I think is pretty damn important for a show like this, especially when they go this dark.

In the spirit of that fun, I thought I’d do something I raaaaaaarely do and list MY PERSONAL CHARACTER RANKINGS (which will be revised at the end of the show). Please know that I am not ranking them on who cool they are or how much I like them, but instead their dramatic effectiveness!

31. Trisha Elric - I don’t know if there’s some kind of endgame dramatization with her (again, don’t spoil), but for a character so instrumental to the kids’ origin and motives, I feel like I still know nothing about her actual psychology. This is perhaps due to the fact that so much of her relationship with Daddy is obfuscated, but this only last place because it’s the ultimate “this should be better” slot.

30. Tim Marcoh - It’s probably a bad sign that I constantly forget what he actually did, but I just know it was bad? And that I also forget how he got re-involved? And that I also forget why they even need him now again? It’s like everything about him makes me go smooth-brained.

29. Kimblee, The Crimson Alchemist - I don’t know if it’s his design or his generic brand of evil war criminal madness, but nothing about this dude really grabbing me as of yet. He’s a constant fly in the ointment, but I am not getting a lot of drama out of their interactions (even his showdown with Scar felt lackluster). Though things may change.

28. Zampano / Jerso - Only just met these chimera buds, but they’re totally the Bebop and Rocksteady of this world, aren’t they?

27. Roy Mustang - Look, I can tell this guy is going to be important, but everything about him just feels MUDDY. I get that his selfishness / alliance games are kind of the point of his character, but he’s been involved since stage one and it’s always faking us out one way or another. But instead of feeling like a “third heat” that brings more conflict, his character is the one that helps the show get most trapped in convolution. I want to feel like he’s adding something to the drama instead of watering it down.

26. Sloth - Ah, the Homunculi. Never underestimate the appeal of a themed bad guy group! We only just met this member of the seven deadly sins, but while I really like his dialogue and voice, I don’t get the muscle choice in his design? I mean, I don’t know how they could have set him apart, it just feels less primal as the other ones do? … I think I’m realizing I want him to be a literal sloth.

25. Jean Havoc - I kind of wish they just let the character die because it would have been a really affecting moment? I imagine he might pop back at some point, but sometimes finality helps you progress your story (and create meaningful aftermath) instead of hurting it.

24. Scar - So. I kinda don’t know what to do with this guy? I like his backstory, I like his fighting style, but I absolutely feel like his role in this narrative has been so OVER centralized and yet… not a lot going on in the beat to beat? Like I would have ranked him much higher earlier, but he’s pretty much the key figure of the endless stand-off mentality and I really wish he was doing other things besides… whatever he’s doing now.

23. Envy - This particular homunculi didn’t really click for me until they got to the larger reveal of why he’s so heavy and you getting to see all the people he’s absorbed. It’s creepy as fuck! That’s all I have to say! Just fucking creepy! Well done, show!

22. Prince Ling Yao - He’s the likable, privileged jerk who grew on you and yeah, his making the deal to be the new Greed makes sense, I just… I don’t know. It feels like one of those things they did a lot of set-up for and now in the story it’s been abandoned and so I'm wondering why we spent all that time on it? We’ll see how it all comes together I guess?

21. Hohenheim / Father - So a few episodes ago we finally have a sense that his father was perhaps a bit more sensitive to what was happening to him and his changing body (tee hee). But the problem with the character is that he’s the most mystery boxed and we clearly won’t really know until end. But 69 episodes is a LOT of mystery box. I don’t know. There’s just a lot of things I really wish we got to sooner instead of the constant tease.

20. Greed - Freaky. Good design. His carbon form or whatever is really unnerving and it led to a bunch of interesting battles. Good job.

19. Riza Hawkeye - I’m perhaps bumping her up because I feel like she’s finally put in an interesting position of playing “spy” now, but as interesting as her new interactions with Pride are, it also sort of puts the show back into another dramatic stalemate where there’s no real place for them to go? I don’t know why the show always does that? … Yeah, they’re probably just trying to hit pause on every character actually doing good pro-active things, I realized that the moment I typed it.

18. Lust - Okay, I feel like a lot of people probably like this character more than I do? I mean, I’ve seen a lot of people talk about this character in terms of sexual / queer awakenings so that might be part of it, but looking at things from where I am now, I get the effect she supposed to have, but maybe it’s that I feel like the most interesting version of her character is way more rated R for obvious reasons? But I only feel that way because this show is perhaps the prime example of the cultural permissiveness for something that is dark and violent as hell, but treats sex like a no no scary topic.

17. Yoki - Probably ranking this guy high because I just got to the payoff with him. He’s been around Scar this whole time as this scared little servant pawn and now his big backstory moment with the Elric Brothers came and… was just ignored by them. Just fantastic.

16. Sheska - “There sure are some amazing people in the world, aren’t there, brother?” It’s just an amazing line (that says a lot about Alphonse), but also a lot about how a bit part character can have a meaningful impact. Yes, she falls into the long line of female side characters that are “defined by their one, singular interest,” but with this memorizing librarian they picked an adorable and entertaining one.

15. Selim Bradley / Pride - Hahahahahahah I started cackling at the recent reveal. It’s just one of the most expertly done things the show has done in these last ten chapters or so. Mostly because they start by showing his ability to create havoc and death, THEN the reveal of his beaming creepy face later with Lt. Hawkeye. I just really like it and am excited for more.

14. Wrath Fuhrer King Bradley - “I never would have thought someone named Furher could have been bad!” But no seriously when this show started and positioned him as this seemingly good general was called Fuhrer I was like “uhhhhhh, do I have to call the police on this show!?!?!” JK I would never call the police. Anyway, he’s really effective in terms of characterizing Wrath. It’s his poise. His stature. His unrelenting swiftness. He’s a genuine threat at all times. And it so effectively captures the way that so many of the most “polite” people I know had fathoms of searing rage below that they keep bottle up in a fit of self-splitting duality. But the fact his characterization all just builds up to that stalemate deal? Blurgh, it just undermines too much for me. I almost feel like he shoulda been killed by the Elric brothers as part of their escape and we could be telling the rest of the story, particularly as Pride is now more centrally involved? Could be talking out my butt, but feels like what the story was calling for it there.

13. Buccaneer - This show is good at big boys. And this gravel-voiced, chainsaw arm jerk is a new fave. I mean he’s practically designed to be all surface delight, but that’s the fun of show like this. You get to have characters like this!

12. Lan Fan - I talked about how much of this show is made by moments and she’s a perfect example. Because she’s one of those devoted singular characters (protector of the prince), but the moment that we reveal she cut off her dam arm, purely to make a blood trail that misdirected a villain? That’s hall of fame shit.

11. Winry Rockbell - It’s sort of hard to talk about right now because the show currently has a “how is Winry involved?” problem. Like she should be getting her own storylines, but it’s practically a running gag that they always had to call her to fix auto-mail. But now she’s captured and I’m like okay, at least she now knows what is going on and is in on the plan, so maybe she can just be part of the group? Oh what’s that? Episode 38 ends with her being captured again? So further damsel-ing it is? Cool cool cool. Look, she was set up so well and I hope it all comes together, but right now she’s a big part of how this show just keeps spinning wheels with reactive magnet ball objectives.

10. Edward Elric - Just 10!??! This is not to say I don’t like him! It’s just a lot of what I ultimately think about this character is probably going to depend on the ending. And for now, I’m going to talk about him later in the theme section, particularly how he’s used as the anchor of this show.

9. Implied Mama Armstrong - Ranking this high only because I think it’s just a good example of how the show can sometimes be really great at small details. You have this character helping out Mustang and you wonder why, then the reveal of a trademark Armstrong curl comes down and virtually everything makes sense. Great stuff.

8. Maes Hughes + Fam - “Can you come home early from work, daddy?” Me: UH OH. The thing about character deaths is that they should really hurt. Not in the sense that it’s trying to be dark or especially painful, but just in the way that you know the IMPACT of the loss. And thus you can feel what will be its effect right there in the moment. Of all that’s happened, there’s a reason this is one we remember. It’s not intensity, it’s impact.

7. Gluttony - Man, what a good characterization with this Homunculi. His seeming innocence just makes him so damn unnerving, along with his ability to eat, you know, anything. But then that later form with the eyeball and the cavernous dimension inside him? GAH. But the thing that I think also matters is he’s also the one most human relationship with the other homunculi. That kind of detail matters in creating complex villainy.

6. Olivia Mira Armstrong - She’s the new badass in town and on the surface, I think there’s a lot of reasons people like her. She’s tough. She’s purtty. She’s an unrelenting leader. But I think there’s two other important reasons. The first is her aforementioned impact on the narrative suddenly picking up steam. And the second is the show’s grounding of her morality. In a world where all the characters have this “wait and see” vague muddy take on everything, they make hers clear. Specifically the moment of her sitting there, listening to the bad guy’s fascist bullshit and seeing her inner monologue of wanting to scream? That’s everything. Because there’s a world of meaningful difference between a fighter and fascist.

5. Izumi Curtis And Her Himbo Husbo Sig Curtis - Everything about the two of them just rules. Specifically, I love that the Elric brothers are scared of her. But I also love her general demeanor. And I love the reveal that she too has seen the darkness of the universe. But there’s something so much more adult about the way she wears it, along with how she still struggles in its shadow, along with the peace she’s made with life in that pursuit, along with Husbo’s understanding. All the small details of this add up in a meaningful, cohesive way. Thus, everything about their plot line hit really well.

4. Mei-Chang and Xiao-Mei The Panda - These characters rule because they’re fun, funny, full of energy, and I love how often they dive into BOTH of their comedic psychologies. Seriously, Mei-Chang’s comedy is obvious, but the moment where they go inside the Panda’s brain and switch his hierarchy of respect to Alphonse is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Any time they are on screen I am happy. They’re both five stars. No notes.

3. Shou Tucker / Nina / Alexander The Dog - I said the list was based on DRAMATIC EFFECTIVENESS not likability. Because holy hell. Man, this show jumps out of the gate with one of the most disturbing storylines I’ve ever seen. But in a way, as I look back on it from episode 38, I’m also wondering where moments like this went? Not just because we’re getting trapped in endless stand-offs, but I miss when we were actually taking the time to tell these episodic stories that got to such effective (if dark) conclusions. Such moments can feel like all the action in the world.

2. Col. Armstrong - I said the show was good at big boys and look no further than Col. Armstrong. I get that the “big burly man is actual total softee” is basically an anime trope at this point, but Armstrong is still a really well done one. Moreover, I feel like his role in the show is really important because he’s the most grounded and sensitive character who is in the brothers’ orbit. They really need that in order for their development to work. But the truth is that everything I’m saying here could be said for the next character, too. Which could only leave…

1. Alphonse Elric - He’s the reason I give a shit. I realize that may sound a little reductive, but it’s pretty much true. And in a world of barbaric things happening, I think it highlights the power of having “an innocent,” at the center of your story. Because he’s the one genuinely reacting to all these things with the kind of moral clarity that sees this barbarism for what it is. But he’s so damn young. And you see him trying to process all these things he should never have to deal with. Maybe it’s that his “younger brother” energy hits me hard in terms of identification. Maybe it’s that the reveal of his sleepless nights are one of the most affecting moments in the entire show for me ( as someone who has sleep disorders and knows the struggle hard). But he’s the show’s empathy machine. The reason I’m watching everything. And he’s the one Edward is fighting for… But as we get into their brotherly dynamic, it’s also the very thing to unpack when it comes to the greater import of this show so far…

IT’S THEME TIME

One of the many questions I find myself asking when I watch anime is:

“I wonder what it would be like if I grew up with this?”

Because I’m coming to it all at a much later period of life than many of you have (though I’m just presuming) and this invariably has an effect. We’re told Shōnen is designed for young boys, much the way a lot of Western media is, but what does that really mean? Is it purely about having giant robots, space cowboys, or kids with superpowers in your stories? Or are these just surface-level signifiers? In reality, is it about a feeling the art is trying to evoke inside you? Is it trying to capture a feeling you have or want inside of you? So what’s the proverbial emotional “button” being pressed in a given story? And does that same button get hit at older ages too? Or does it hit differently? Do you find what a story is investigating just as interesting to you now?

I say this because I think there’s something timeless about many of the works I’ve covered so far in the Ani-Me series. Evangelion remains one of the most stark and unrelenting portraits of teenage depression imaginable. The noir trappings of Cowboy Bebop felt like moody fun until everything went the direction of how all noirs do and tragically spun apart. And so many of the films I’ve watched have tapped into the paralyzing fears of youth, whether sexual or about our changing role in society itself. I’ve watched all of these as an adult and could instantly draw the line of where I was and where I am now, often noting how far (or how short) I’ve come. But all of them struck at this emotional place within. And comparatively, I ask you: what is it about this particular show? What button is it hitting? Why has this show maybe struck you and become an important part of your growing up? Does it hit the same way then versus now? I ask because the show hits buttons for me in some interesting, varied, and odd places. Because so far my read is honestly that…

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is basically “Teenage Angst: The Show.”

I don’t say this disparagingly. It’s all right there in Elric himself. He reacts with a seeming “!” to everything that happens. His skin is paper thin. Every comment about his height cuts to the bone. He’s defined by defensiveness, both in temperament and literal protectiveness. Think of the initial quest to restore his dead mother. The new quest to get Alphonse his body back. The quest to protect who ever he involves in whatever else. And that word “protect” has been in the popular discourse a lot lately and perhaps for good reason. Because it taps into the young, defensive masculine urge, along with confused feelings that come with so much of the desire to be “a man” in a world that feels increasingly dangerous. In many ways, Brotherhood dives into this feeling with comic awareness - and yet, at least so far, it isn’t exactly the surgical treatment of this kind of thinking and what we (read: Elric) need to learn en route to maturity…

It’s more just an embodiment of it.

But that’s not necessarily a negative thing either. It allows for the most pure form of connection. And I don’t think there’s an ounce of ill intent in any of it. I also think it allows for that quick sense of humor in making fun of Elric, along with the complete willingness for the story to be messy in that regard. At times, it even reminds me of FLCL, which was like staring into the id of the young man and all the insanity that goes along with it. But when it comes to relating on a personal level? It’s interesting because I think I am more connected to Shinji-figures, i.e. those stuck in paralysis while experiencing out of body experiences of trying to adopt a “persona” that allows them to handle adult problems (which leads to all sorts of horrible places). This also falls more in line with the Alphonse connection, too. But I could imagine my older brother relating to Elric so damn hard. So much of this reminds me of him, so it's genuinely easy to imagine someone feeling so mirrored by his plight. Not just in terms of his short fuse temperament and all the crazy feelings that come along with puberty, especially that feeling so many young men have of having gone through something traumatic and desperately wanting to fix it, often making it worse, but never losing that instinct to fight, to look out for loved ones, and to change the world around you in that pursuit. It captures the FEELINGS of all this so damn succinctly, perhaps better than most shows I’ve seen… And yet I can’t help but wonder how much thematic sight it has beyond it?

To be fair, whenever I talk about “theme” I feel some folks start thinking in terms of 8th grade book reports (by some folks I mean the Game of Thrones main writers, who said that and well, we now see where that thinking goes). But we’re not really talking about theme in that sense. In fact, the most outward example of an episode of exploring themes is in episode 3 where it’s trying to take this weird swipe at religion in this very youthful “new atheist” way. But hey, it’s very easy to make art that treats religion as hollow and hypocritical, just as it's easy to make art that vacantly promotes it, when it should really just be context for a human story. But the way it feeds into this way where it just becomes this excuse for Elric to lord it over Rose and leave her in the dust feels kinda gross and petulant? Does the show want me to feel the same way? Or is it trying to say something about Elric here? Where does it land between? Which gets to the whole point: themes aren’t about general topics. It’s about behavior. It’s about the way we emote with and better navigate the world and relationships we hold dear. And a few similar moments just can’t help but stick out to me with feelings of concern.

But it’s not that I think this is what the show is about…

It’s that I’m worried this is what the show is ultimately going to be about.

For instance, in the fallout of Maes Hughes death the emotional repression instincts get kicked up to eleven. They’re seriously told not to cry because “it makes them sad in the next world, too” and it all taps so succinctly into the masculine urge not to burden other people with pain, let alone feelings in general. But the way certain elements of this get directed at Winry specifically feels all the more odd? But the truth is I don’t know how to talk about this in some ways because a lot of times when talking about anime, specifically repression / grief, people start talking to me about cultural differences and I’m not entirely sure how to best navigate that? Just as I don’t know enough about the manga creator, Hiromu Arakawa, who was a woman and how this affects or doesn’t affect everything about the story being told? I just know everything I’ve learned in therapy through the years and scenes like this set off my ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! siren when it comes to shows teaching things that uphold really repressive toxic masculinity, specifically because I know how much damage portrayals like this have done to me. And it’s just part of this weird feeling of how many supposedly-cathartic interactions of this make it feel like “the fantasy of people understanding you without actually having to be good at communication.”

Even when it comes to the exploration of horror in this show, I still wonder what it’s really grappling with so far. It knows such horror exists. It feels it acutely, and it can make you feel it acutely in turn. At its best, it takes this on with existential topics, whether showing you the dark eye of the universe or invoking it in terms of small character beats, like the lonely horror of Alphonse’s sleepless nights. But sometimes it takes it all into “grim-dark” territory, like with Envy shooting a kid in the head purely because the narrative knows it’s fucked up to so. But sometimes the fucked-up-for-fucked-up-sake stuff is actually really compelling in that visually-driven horror way, too. So it’s not about an overall instinct, it all just comes down to the intent of the moment.

To compare, where Brotherhood knows how to portray evil in a way that makes you want to kill them back, a show like Evangelion often puts the evil into your own crushing hand. In that way, its brutality and existential horror are not a reduced rooting interest, but the aching possibility within. Which really gets at the crux: for a show supposedly about the adult horrors of the world, the thing about Brotherhood so far is that there is no part of me that actually fears or even entertains Elric’s ability to be corrupted by such horror, nor is reflective of the endlessly difficult choices that many adults have to take part in. Instead, the horror all feels like more fuel for the angst zone, which makes me worry that in the end, for as much as much horror as we’re seeing, we’re going to end up in the power fantasy zone. But I don’t really know. Because right now it’s all something that’s currently getting punched and cajoled into different directions at this very moment. All to the point that I’m not quite sure where they’re actually going (thematically speaking) with all of this.

If all this makes it seem like I’m going hard on Brotherhood, especially in the plotting and theme sections, I know that I am. But I’m doing so in that way where I’m trying to bring up a bunch of pointed questions that seem appropriate while you’re still in this stage of the story’s journey. It’s not that I’m “hating” on it. It’s that, to borrow a phrase from the incredible film The Last Black Man in San Francisco, you can’t hate unless you love it. And I love what this show has created. Moreover, I know so much of this won’t be truly answered until the dust has settled. Just as I know I care about every one of the characters involved in that journey. Just as I know I’ve seen enough flashes of insight and emotional attunement to be hopeful that I will see more. Just as I know that, as much as I’m lamenting being made to wait, I know they have had a powerful endgame in mind for a long time now.

Which is all to say I’m excited to see it.

<3HULK

PS - OPENING SONG RANKINGS - 1, 3, 2

CLOSING SONG RANKINGS - 3, 2, 1