Fullmetal Alchemist & The Conqueror of Shamballa & Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

A while ago I wrote a 2 part review, this one will be a 3 part.

All of them are based on the Elric Brothers. Edward is a State Alchemist. Edward is the youngest recorded State Alchemist. He is also one of the only Alchemists that can use Alchemy without a transmutation circle. Edward's brother is Alphonse Elric. The two make a fairly good team when it comes to research and study as well as fighting in various situations. There was an alchemical accident (though you may have to choose for yourself on the  definition of accident). In this accident Alphonse lost his entire body, and Edward lost an arm and a leg. Edward managed to save his brother by sealing his soul to a body of armor. Luckily for Edward their neighbor is one of the best automail mechanics Pinako Rockbell and her granddaughter Winry who then fit him with a prosthetic arm and leg. The biggest part of both shows is the mythical idea of the Philosopher's Stone. In the world of alchemy everything requires equivalent exchange. If you want to make a wooden horse you must provide the necessary wood. If you wish to make fire you will need to separate the oxygen in the air then create a spark to ignite the oxygen. All of this will of course require an intimate knowledge of the elements and of the world around you. Which brings us to why the Philosopher's Stone is so desirable. Using the Philosopher's Stone allows a person to bypass the need for equivalent exchange. With a Philosopher's Stone a person could perform the taboo, could create from nothing, could even breach into another world full of just alchemical power. 

The Elric Brothers travel across the country of Amestris in search of the Philosopher's Stone or information on it. As they do so they make friends as well as enemies. To be honest the enemy list is probably a bit longer. One of the biggest enemies (other than the homoculi) is known as Scar who is so named for the large X shaped scar that runs across his face. Scar has a tattoo sleeve on his right arm which is a transmutation circle that uses only the first stage of alchemy which is destruction (or breakdown). The second stage being reconstruction. Scar holds a specific hatred toward all state alchemists (though I would like to point out that this hatred is highly justified, though possibly a bit over the top seeing as he murders a lot of them).

The first is Fullmetal Alchemist. This television series was loosely based on the original manga but then took its own more original path. This first series revolves around the concept that a person who commits the taboo (attempts human transmutation) creates a homonculus. These homonculi are humanoid creatures from the realm of Alchemy. They each bare a name from one of the 7 deadly sins; Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, and Pride. Each of these beings are filled with powers that coincide with their name. For example Gluttony's tongue and mouth can eat through and dissolve anything. Or Envy who is able to change his appearance at will to copy anyone else's. The homonculi are in both series, but how they are created is different. 

In both series the big overarching story involves the brother's father Von Hohenheim. In the first series he was once with another woman (other than their mother) and together they learned a secret to immortality. They split and the woman grew to hate and target Hohenheim (I'm not going to mention her name to avoid certain possible spoilers). She is also the main villain of the series. In the end Hohenheim and Edward are lost to the power of alchemy due to the woman. This series has 51 episodes each being about 22 minutes.

All of that leads to the movie for the original series. This movie finishes the story off from it. The movie takes place in 2 worlds; the world of alchemy where the show takes place, and our world in the time period of World War II in England. Edward is in our world while Alphonse in in his. Alphonse is spending his time trying to find and save his lost brother, while Edward is trying to live his new life without alchemy. The big thing is that all the people in the alchemy world are also in our world, just with different roles or things like that (this will happen again, but generally to more extremes when it comes to Brotherhood). Edward has to fight with the rising Nazi party and the Thule society. Through the Thule society he sees the possibilities of getting home and they use him to open a gateway into the alchemical world which they call Shamballa. Lots of fighting using guns and alchemy occurs and the story is pretty intense. The movie is 1 hour and 45 minutes.

 Finally we have Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Much of the back story for this is the same as the original anime, but the end is significantly different. Though the entire series is a lot more based on the original manga that came out. In this the homoculi can die, though it still takes a lot to do so. You will find that a few episodes and fights are mostly if not completely identical to the original series, especially in the beginning few episodes. This series is based more on the destruction of an entire nation known as Xing which occurred many years ago. Eventually it all comes down to Our Father which is the father of the homoculi. 

In this series Ed and Al make more friends than in the first, but pretty much just as many enemies. Though some enemies become friends eventually, and some friends end up becoming enemies. This second series is more violent and aggressive in many of its fights. The series also ends in a way that wraps up some of the smaller stories that occur on the side such as relationships, or other people's skills in their trades. This series had a total of 64 episodes with each being about 22 minutes. This series also had a movie along with it The Sacred Star of Milos. This movie is only a side story from the rest of the Brotherhood series. The reason I am not going to be analyzing that movie because it is its own story, it neither adds or removes to the rest of its series. 

Now for the rating. I enjoyed all of these especially small parts of each. Fullmetal Alchemist I give an 8.5 out of 11, while it was very entertaining there were a few areas that I thought it could have improved on itself. The Conqueror of Shamballa I give the higher score of 10 out of 11. The music was fantastic, the fight scenes were enjoyable, but one of the things I liked the most was the sacrificial nature of many of the characters. Finally I give Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood a 10.5 out of 11. The fights are exciting and clever. The entire show was very cleverly done I thought in fact which is why I gave it such a high score.

NCIS

This is personally the best crime drama television show that is still on the air today. This should not be confused with one of the worst crime drama television shows that is also on the air called NCIS: Los Angeles. The show NCIS is originally a spin-off from the TV show JAG, but is far superior. The show is on its 11th season, has over 200 episodes, and is still going. Each episode is about 43 minutes long.
NCIS by the way stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Pretty much investigate any and all crimes involving naval personnel the marine corps.

The image above is for the first season, these are our main characters. Later characters will be added or removed as the story goes eventually leading to the second image.

This is not even the final cast or current cast. But it was the longest standing cast if I remember correctly. Anyways, back to the review.

I believe I have mentioned before in my reviews that in my adult life I can readily identify 5 instances that have made me cry. NCIS has caused 2 of them. This show is exciting, dramatic, and occasionally devastating. While watching you will laugh at and with characters, you will be angry at and with characters, you will be shocked and surprised, and as I previously stated you will most likely cry at certain moments in the series that I still to this day find devastating even though it happened 9 years ago. The characters will eventually start to look and feel like a family. Gibbs is the slightly abusive, and yet highly protective father. DiNozzo is the teenage son who is always getting into trouble, and always looking for daddy's approval. Kate and Ziva fill the same role at different times of the story, but they are daughter that also wish for dads approval, but don't need to try as hard to acquire it. Mcgee is the son the dad was never able to understand because he is always using language and technology far too advanced for his own good. Ducky is the weird Uncle that always has something to say, but is rarely understood. And Abby, oh how you will love Abby. She is the adopted daughter who is loved far more than all the others combined, but she needs and deserves that love. There are a few other characters that fit familiar-like roles, like Palmer could be the dutiful, but odd duckling nephew.(That little rant got away from me for a bit, but it totally worked out because I called Palmer a duckling and he works for Ducky. I could not have planned that better).

Each season tends to have an overarching theme. Season 1 is introduction and get to know yous, Season 4 is all about the individual characters and their backgrounds. You learn of Gibbs' wife and daughter, multiple characters start relationships, we meet McGee's sister, etc. All of this leads to you the audience member falling more and more in love with the show and characters.

The show is relatively realistic however. I say this as a warning, some characters may die. And please if you plan to watch the show please don't look up those spoilers. And also just because a character or actor leaves the show does not mean they die.

I love this show, I could find some flaws with it, but there isn't a point. So please enjoy this rated 11 out of 11 show.

Vandread

So today's review is of an Anime that has literally haunted my life for over a decade. When I was around 10 years old one of my brother's friends brought over a DVD of the show Vandread. We only watched like the first 4 episodes or something. But that was enough to cause me random memories and fantasies throughout my teens and now adulthood. Luckily about a week ago I had one of these random memories and rediscovered it. I then found all the episodes online and I just finished watching it all. Now to explain a little about why it haunted me so.

Vandread is an Ecchi. Which if you don't know is a Japanese slang term for Erotic Fantasy, which by some could be called the Softcore Porn of Anime. This is additionally Borderline-Harem Anime. Which if you don't know what that is; a Harem Anime is one where there is a guy who is sought after by 3 or more females. I call this a borderline-harem because there is more than 3 but it depends on the time of the show, and everyone kinda likes him eventually and everyone kinda wants in his pants but because one of the girls has kinda already claimed him from the beginning none of them go for it. So those are the main reasons I was haunted. The Ecchi part had them animate boobs in a rather pleasant way, as well as asses. And the fantasy of being on a ship with hundreds of women who all want me. Now to put my own stuff aside and go into an actual review of the show.

Vandread is, as I previously stated, an Ecchi, Borderline-Harem, Mech Anime. Oh wait did I not mention it was also a Mech show. Well it is. The show starts out with our hero Hibiki. He is a downtrodden menial worker on Tarak(wikipedia says Taraak, but if you watch the show with subtitles it always says Tarak). He apparently made some sort of bet that said he would steal the Vanguard Mech unit that he accidentally damaged during the building process. He sneaks onto the ship its on when it takes off into space. Stuff ensues when suddenly the fire nation attacked. Okay so not really the fire nation, but pirates. Which I now realize I am missing some back story that I should tell you about. So Men and Women are completely separate. In fact Men hate Women and Women hate Men. Apparently Men mix their genes or something and get a test tube baby which is then bred in a factory or something like that. With this both genders are so segregated that they are on 2 completely different planets. They are constantly at war and trying to kill each other. Mad rumors fill Tarak about these Women being vicious monsters who love to eat the Man intestines. So back to the pirate thing. So pirates attack, except their female pirates. Short scene made even shorter, the women win and take over the ship and kick all the men off except for 3. Duelo because he is a doctor and he offered to help their wounded, Bart because he hid in a place that they didn't discover, and Hibiki because well...he is the protagonist. The pirate ship and the mans ship end up fusing together and all kinds of crazy shit happens. Lies are told, lies are discovered, etc. But in the end the pirate women figure out that they need these men if they are going to succeed. Bart is the only person able to fully pilot the ship that will eventually be named the Nirvana. Another big thing is that Hibiki piloting his Vanguard and any one of the 3 main female pilots (Dita, Meia, and Jura) fuse their dreads with his Vanguard to create a Vandread. Each one is different in ability and strength. 

Like many Animes, this show consists of 26 episodes. Luckily though there is no recap episode in the middle. Each episode is about 24 minutes.

So some interesting things. First is the animation style. When animating characters and normal show stuff it is your basic 2D Anime. But when they animate space and the fighting and what not they did it is a 3D format. This can be a bit jarring at first, but eventually you get used to the shifts. I must say it gives an interesting feel to the battle scenes and I truly cant say one way or the other if it worked for me. Next is some of the ideals within the show. The whole premise of the genders being separate is fascinating. And seeing the interpretation they have in response to that is interesting to see unfold. They meet many cultures and groups of humans on various planets along their travels and all of them have men and women together. So this group evolves with each step. The show also deals with death of loved ones. As well as one of the women turns out to be a man in disguise who has been spying for Tarak for years. I wont say who, and I wont say when he reveals himself. But let me just tell you hearing the mans voice come out of the attractive womans body was slightly disturbing.

So I really liked this show. But it was rather redundant at times. They did the same gag repeatedly. The same innuendo joke, the same annoying character doing the same annoying thing. And the battles were rather predictable. Plus these people were overly good at piloting their ships. Especially Hibiki, he somehow knows exactly what each Vandread is capable of. Even when it is the first time he has ever turned into that specific one. So it all comes down to my score of 9 out of 11. A good show.

Sword Art Online

This is an interesting show. Sword Art Online deals with a lot of real world situations. Many of which are intense and uncomfortable to talk about within civilized company. One of those that I am going to split in half to describe and analyze. Season 1 and 2. The show had a total of 25 episodes. Each episode being the anime norm of being about 22 minutes long. Lets get right into it shall we?

Season 1:
The show is about a virtual reality MMO called Sword Art Online(SAO). Our hero Kirito is a teenager who was a part of the Beta Testing for SAO and as such started the game with a slight advantage over the others. That first day of SAO coming out everyone logged on, but soon realized they couldn't log out. The creator of the game shows up and tells everyone about the world he created. He wanted to play a real game with the players. Their virtual reality helmets would kill them if they died in the game. If someone in the real world attempted to remove the helmets that would also kill them. The only way to leave the game would be to beat it. Thus starts us off. Clans are created, relationships are formed, people start into various roles within the world. Some people develop their fighting skills to advance level by level to attempt to beat the game. Some people develop other skills such as smithing, cooking, fishing, etc. People start to settle into the new world, some resent it, others relish in it. Kirito decides to remain as a loner. He joins up with some people here and there, but all of his experiences teach him the dangers of working with others. I don't want to talk too much about Kirito's specific experiences because I don't think I could talk about them without giving away spoilers. Characters die here and there in the show. At one point Kirito even has to solve a murder mystery which was rather interesting. 2 years pass throughout all of season 1. But the main theme in it all is Loss. Loss of life, loss of love, loss of friendship, loss of family, etc. Kirito eventually falls in love and they get married within the game perimeters, but additionally pledge love out of game as well. Season 1 ends with the end of the game and everyone being released.

Season 2:
But wait, not everyone got out after all. Kirito's love is one of 300 who for whatever reason didn't get out of the game. We learn of Kirito's family life and what happened over the last few years while he was in a game coma. Kirito learns that his love is trapped within a new VRMMO called Alfheim. So he joins the game. (He can log out from this one. So it is constantly his quest to find her, and his home life). He learns he has to pretty much beat this new game to get to her. So he starts off on that quest. This season talks a lot about rape and sex. His love is betrothed in real life to this man who constantly talks about how is planning on taking advantage of her while she is in the coma. Kirito is also rushed on time to save her because the wedding will be soon. He meets up with a character who is unbeknownst to him and her, his sister. She falls in love with him, not knowing he is her brother. They travel to find his love. He never specifies exactly why he is trying to beat the game and doesn't reveal his loves name till much later. Stuff happens, Kirito gets shanked in real life. More stuff happens. Happy ending.

I absolutely loved season 1. I didn't like season 2 very much at all. As such I cannot give 1 score for the show as a whole. But Season 1 gets to receive a 10.5 out of 11. And Season 2 gets the unfortunate score of 3 out of 11.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

This is an American Anime that started back in 2005 on Nickelodeon and did quite well. So well in fact that later in 2010 a live action movie of season 1 would be created and directed by M. Night Shyamalan (this of course was a mistake, but we will get into that in a bit). The show had 3 seasons or as the show calls them, "books." Each season is 20 episodes with the exception of the 3rd season which had 21. Each episode is about 22 minutes long. It should be noted that this show won multiple awards throughout its run. The show also has a sequel that started last year in 2012 called The Legend of Korra. But seeing as this is a separate show and The Legend of Korra is currently still going I will focus only on Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Every episode starts with a short explanation of the show. (The first episodes is slightly different but all the rest are like this) It goes as follows.
    "Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."

Book 1: Water- is set mostly within the remaining Water Nations.
Book 2: Earth- is set mostly within the still fairly strong Earth Nation.
Book 3: Fire- is set (yep you guessed correctly) mostly within the dominating Fire Nation.


Many characters are met throughout the series but the main ones are: Kitara, a waterbender, age 14, she is the narrator for the opening sequence; Sokka, Kitara's awkward 15 year old brother who aspires to be fighter despite his lack of bending abilities; Aang, he is the hero of the story, (he is the last airbender...kinda) he is 12 and yet has mastered air-bending. The story talks about how some people can bend the various elements, however they can only bend one. That is why the Avatar is special, he can control and bend all 4 elements. Unfortunately for Aang and possibly the world, he only knows airbending. The book titles also correspond to the element that Aang primarily starts learning/practicing at that time. Kitara, while only an adept herself takes on the role of Aang's water-bending teacher and the two develop their skills together. In book two they meet a blind, yet master skilled earthbender named Toph. She becomes his earthbending teacher. And I won't ruin the story by revealing anything about his fire-bending lessons. There are also 2 animals/characters that travel alongside the heros. Momo is a winged lemur who is used as a comical device in many episodes. And Appa the flying bison which fly the heros along their journey.

Those are the heros, now for the villains and "villains." Zuko a young firebender has been tasked by his father Firelord Ozai to find and capture the Avatar to restore his honor. Alongside him is his uncle Iroh who used to be a legend of a general for the Fire Nation. But he has since grown contemplative and lazy seeming. But Iroh throughout the show reveals his wisdom in most cases, explaining things like honor, love, and the truth behind the universe. My favorite episode deals with Iroh, but I will get into that later. Firelord Ozai of course is one of the main bad guys, and spoiler he is the "Final Boss." And the bat-shit crazy Azula, Zuko's extremely volatile and powerful firebending sister.

Throughout the show they reveal many things about bending. Like how the purest form of firebending is lightning-bending. Earthbenders could learn to metal-bend. And waterbenders can plant-bend and more insanely is the blood-bending where you literally control and force a living being's body to move to your will.

Now when I was a kid we had an Xbox and we had the game Azurik: Rise of Perathia. Now this game didn't do terribly well. But my brothers and myself really enjoyed it. It is a good game. The game came out in 2002. Azurik has some similarities that i noticed immediately when watching the show. Because Azurik like Aang can control the 4 elements. Azurik like Aang had to travel to the various elemenal realms and learn how to fully access his abilities.

So the show Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fantastic show. I would and generally do recommend it to people a lot. Its good a good American Anime that shows cultural differences and prejudice along with ideals of friendship and the power a single person could hold. The 3rd season is my overall least favorite, but the last 4 episodes make up the big ending and it is absolutely fantastic ending. I give the whole show a 10 out of 11. I give the last 4 episodes (which were aired all at once as a movie like ending, of which I still consider it to be like a single long episode) a solid 11 out of 11.

Now for the unfortunate live action movie. The movie is artistic. M. Night Shyamalan definitely took  his artistic rights and went with them. But in all he failed. I really wanted the movie to be good. I was so excited to see it when I first found out it was going to come out. But boy was I let down. Firstly they changed the pronunciation of the character names to bring them closer to their Japanese originality. The problem with this is that the show was not Japanese. It was an American Anime, so there was no translation that changed them. This was also the time when 3D was hitting us full on in the face. This being mostly due to Avatar having come out only a few months previous(Avatar with the blue aliens and the planet Pandora). The Last Airbender was not filmed in 3D, so it didn't translate terribly well into 3D. But that is what he chose to do. There are a whole bunch of other issues I had with the movie but rather than bore you with details I will just leave you with my verdict. A measly 4 out of 11.

Oh I almost forgot to talk about my favorite episode of the series. Book 2 Episode 15, Tales of Ba Sing Se. This episode separates the various characters into their own individual stories of their relaxation time. But its Iroh's story that I love. I should preface this with the fact that Iroh gets me to cry every time I watch it. I am even getting a little choked up just thinking of the episode. I should also say Spoiler Alert. This episode shows the sincerity of the man. This man who was once General of the Fire Nation armies. He was a warrior, he probably killed hundreds of people. But he teaches a mugger a valuable lesson, cheers up a crying child, then finally has a memorial for his dead son. He sings a beautiful song in memorial. The song was also a memorial to Mako Iwamatsu, who had died. Mako was the original voice actor for Iroh. I have yet to this day seen an episode that touches the heart like this episode. I am not a person who tears come easily to. I can literally count the number of occasions and things that have ever made me cry on 1 hand(childhood not including, with 4 older brothers things happen) And Iroh singing "Leaves From the Vine" gets me to tears every time.

Dollhouse

Dollhouse is one of many Fox network's unfortunate cancellations. Joss Whedon created the show and it first came out early 2009 and was canceled near the end of that same year. The series was allowed 2 seasons with a total of 27 episodes if you count the unaired pilot. Each episode is about 45 minutes.

Dollhouse is about a secret business known as the Dollhouse which caters to the rich and powerful. The Dollhouse uses its dolls to fulfill the fantasies that these rich people have. The dolls are people who have signed their lives away for 5 years. After that time they will be returned to normal with more money then they could even dream for. During those 5 years their minds are wiped and they are turned into living dolls. These dolls can be programmed like a computer with memories, skills, abilities, and personality traits. For example, you want a beautiful woman who knows how to fence, likes to dance, and knows some amazing sexual techniques. They can do that. It should be noted that one of the things most people have a problem with is the fact the dolls main purpose is to essentially be million dollar prostitutes. The rich pay for a fantasy that usually involves some sort of sexual experience whether it is a straight up dominatrix you want, or the seduction of a student. People didn't like the idea of a show about prostitution which is unfortunately one of the reasons it was ultimately cancelled. But while it does have prostitution as a recurring theme within the show it is not what it is actually about. The main point the show portrays is the dangers of technology and how easy it can be to abuse it. As well as the threat it can pose to a society if used for ill gains.

The story revolves mostly around one specific doll named Echo (Eliza Dushka). Echo is an anomaly and continues to become more and more odd as the show continues. Eventually she compounds all of the uploads she has been given to become a single entity with over 40 minds in her head. Each with their own thoughts and abilities. Echo wants to free all the dolls and eventually bring down the Rossum Corporation which is controlling the whole Dollhouse and its technologies.

The show has plot twists, fight scenes, intrigue, sabotage, and much more. The show also casts some amazing actors such as Alan Tudyk, and Summer Glau, both of which also starred on another Fox Network cancellation which was also created by Joss Whedon called Firefly. (review will eventually come). However I would like to make special mention of 2 of the shows actors in particular. First is Fran Kranz who played the role of Topher Brink. Topher is a highly intelligent man who is the mastermind behind programming the dolls in this house. He is a highly playful person who in a way considers the dolls as his toys. He eventually does start to feel some moral problems and the actor does quite well at portraying that emotional struggle because while Topher is the most intelligent person in most rooms, he is also the most childlike. The other special mention goes to actor Enver Gjokaj who plays another doll named Victor. Victor gets to play the largest range of characters. He is a mob informant, Miss Lonely-Hearts sex doll, a brilliant and yet childlike scientist(yes he plays Topher) a soldier, and more. And each role I keep forgetting that its all the same actor. He is extremely good at his craft and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him in episodes.

I really enjoyed this show. It was clever, the acting was top notch, the plot was fascinating and kept me interested in what would happen next. It also had some sexy parts when we would see Eliza Dushka dressed up for her next engagement. I am also curious what would have changed for the show if it hadn't been cancelled even though they did finish the show. I give Dollhouse a 10.5 out of 11.

PG Porn

Now don't knock this just cause Porn is in the Title. This is by far one of the funniest series I have ever watched. Brought to us by James Gunn on the Spike TV network. Each episode is about 4 minutes long, with a total of 8 episodes.

No, this is not actual porn. Not softcore or hardcore. This is essentially a porn parody. As each episode actually says at the end. "For people who love everything about porn...except the sex."

First off this show is about taking a relatively mainstream actor like Firefly's Nathan Fillion, Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum, Firefly's Alan Tudyk, Gilmore Girl's Sean Gunn, and The Office's Craig Robinson. Then paring them with a popular porn star like Aria Giovanni, Belladonna, Sasha Grey, Jenna Haze and Bree Olson. Each episode has these characters who are based in various scenarios such as a construction worker, Charlie Brown, a mechanic, etc. The sexual innuendo is fairly high, however it is tastefully done. No tits, to cooch, no penis. Some implied touching and a single drawn penis.

I found this series to be absolutely hilarious. The acting was bad, however that was bad acting on purpose to further the joke. The scenarios were comical, the resolutions even better. I give this show an 11 out of 11. Short, to the point, funny, a must see.