• Anime Title: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Episodes: 64
• Where to watch: Crunchyroll
• Publisher: Aniplex of America

This anime is overhyped and overrated. Yes, I know this is an unpopular opinion. From my previous posts, I think you can deduce that for the most part, I think this anime is okay. It’s not the greatest thing I watched. And I had to stop watching it because it became a chore. Basically, it came to the point that I was watching it just to watch it because it was part of the anime list that we wanted to finish.

I do however understand why a lot of people chose this as their greatest anime of all time. I understand its popularity. I mean, this is one of the first anime that became mainstream for a lot of people. It became available to a wider set of audience. But I think that ultimately became its downfall for me. Since this anime is so popular and loved by many, I expected more. And I should not have.

What did I like? The subject matter. The premise was really good and interesting. Brothers involved in alchemy trying to retrieve their bodies back. The bodies that they lost because they tried to resurrect their dead mother through alchemy. There were definitely some political struggles going on. And the episodes can go dark so quickly. These were all positives in my book.

What else? Characters are likable. Aside from the homunculi, I think the MCs and the supporting characters were great. I personally like Roy Mustang and Captain Armstrong. The way Mustang killed that one thing lives rent-free in my head. It was visceral. And that puts Mustang as one of the darker characters in the anime regardless of how noble his fight was. My favorite character, despite his short-lived screen time, was Maes Hughes. Such a lovable character and I mourned with Mustang when that happened to Hughes.

What fell short for me? I think the plot was barely moving. Episode 35 and we were still talking about that one incident. Seriously? All I could think of was can we move on to the next topic? 35 episodes in, the plot barely revealed the whole larger concept, but still talking of that ONE INCIDENT. I know, they were connected, but that was also just one incident out of what? Five? I mean come on.

I am not new to watching slow plots – I’ve seen Naruto and Bleach where a conflict can drag on. But those anime had something going on per episode, even the filler episodes had something going on in them. To say that I was getting sleepy watching an episode of FMA was a huge understatement.

I know I should not be even talking about this anime since I did not finish it. But I think 35 episodes is enough for me to form opinions about it. This will not be the anime that I will recommend for a new anime watcher. I would definitely lean toward an anime that’s a bit more fast-paced and cover the plot in 12 episodes.

Will I ever give this one a chance and continue on? No idea yet. I am leaning a bit toward not continuing on. I would lie if I say I would not want to see Mustang kill another thing in the most visceral and satisfying manner (which he will because I saw a clip). My boyfriend said that he might continue watching at a later time. I told him to just let me know if he reaches that specific Mustang episode. I just really want to see that one.