>“Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy’s First Law of Equivalent Exchange.”– ALPHONSE ELRIC

This is how Fullmetal Alchemist starts. At every opening sequence, it keeps reminding us of this and only truth. But our young protagonists are in search of a philosopher stone which will allow them to bypass this law. Why are they so determined to break this one true law and what do they hope to gain out of it? You have to watch a serious, gritty, dark take of Edward and Alphonse Elric.

Fullmetal Alchemist is my second anime. After Death Note, I had not seen one in a while. This was a good refresher and a trip down the memory lane. Like the former, Fullmetal Alchemist is also governed by a set of rules. I guess this is a trademark of anime as a genre. There are a few concrete rules and the characters do all in their power to accomplish goals by skirting past the edges. The robustness such a setting offers is brilliant, for it puts up constraints on the plot, the stories and the audience’s minds. There are no sudden plot devices to help along, and that feels sincere. The attention given to chemistry shows the seriousness of the material.

The characters are strong and well chiselled. You exactly know the motivations and at times some of them are black as they come without any shades of grey. The story doesn’t shy away from the usual self-imposed boundaries of fiction, like not harming children. The characters here will take all the steps to advance their agenda. This results in some darker themes, including what is existence? What are you, your body or your soul? Also the role of military and pros and cons of following orders.

Anime is that branch of the cartoon which takes itself quite seriously. The content and themes are not usual for a very young age, which we usually associate cartoons with. Anime has unlocked the potential of fluid storytelling without the fuss of real actors. The drama can be over the top, and so can be the action.

As a side note, with the advent of things like Death Stranding, making a character truly timeless is now possible and anime has shown that a lot of seriousness can be brought even in the medium of cartoons. But I digress.

Fullmetal Alchemist the original aired in 2003 and I’d recommend it to start your anime journey. With just 51 episodes, it’s much more approachable compared to the likes of Dragonball Z. I’d definitely recommend it for the contents and voice acting. I watched the dubbed version.

Special shoutout to Aaron Dismuke who voiced over Alphonse in English. Aaron was 12 years old when he did the voice over, making it spot on and very relatable.