Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Review

Recently, my husband Andrew and I began watching Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.  Though there are some similarities with the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Brotherhood follows the original manga plot and is very different than the first Fullmetal.  The new anime is much darker than the original one, even though the original was pretty dark to begin with.  In my opinion, Brotherhood is significantly better and explores the world of alchemy more in-depthly than the other anime.  You learn more about the history of alchemy, and the Brotherhood's story line is vastly different than the original.  The original Fullmetal and Brotherhood plots are similar in the beginning, but with the death of an important character the two plot split and create two very different stories.

Many of the characters have very different fates in Brotherhood, as well as a whole new cast of character not even in the original.  The first Fullmetal gets no where near as in depth into the world as a whole, and it is nice to learn more about the Fullmetal Alchemist world.  Though both animes are some of the best I have ever watched, I have to say Brotherhood is my favorite and I love the true to manga storyline much more.

I do understand why they changed so much of the plot, though.  Brotherhood, as I said in the beginning, is much darker than the original Fullmetal Alchemist, and not something I think would be appropriate for younger viewers.  The original is not something I would let younger children view, but Brotherhood takes it even further and can be, on occasion, a difficult to watch.  I recommend viewing both before letting young children watch as there are some disturbing concepts illustrated in Brotherhood, but for any anime fan or fans of dark, thought provoking shows this is a must.

9, A Review of the 2009 Animated Film

I recently watched the animated film 9, directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton. Like many of the films Burton has worked on, 9 has a dark plot. Shane Acker is not a director I am familiar with, but he does a wonderful job in creating a touching story of a time after humans and the continuation of intelligent life.

Humanity no longer holds any place on Earth, and has long ago perished in a war against technology.  The only life that remains are 9 creations that are artificially intelligent. The origin of these creations is unknown in the beginning of the story, which follows one of these creations, known only as 9, in his quest to better understand the world and his place in it.

This movie is dark, but also deals with very deep, serious issues and has many touching moments. The only problem is the movie lacks a target audience, and it is probably because of this that I hadn't heard of it until I picked it up in a Walmart $5.00 bin. Because of its dark themes, it is not really geared toward children, but the fact that it is animated may cause it to be passed over by adults, even thought it is actually an enjoyable watch. Its main audience is primarily Tim Burton fans or fans of Tim Burton-like films, such as Coraline.

All in all, this movie is worth a night's watch, and will leave you contemplating some of the many issues expressed in 9, whether or not you watch animation often or not.