Taking Notes from the Storytelling Genius of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is not a new anime. It's been out for a while - since 2009! In fact, it's the second anime adaptation of the original manga series. So I'm sure what I say here is nothing new to a lot of people, but I just can't stop thinking about this amazing story so I guess I'll rant about it here for a bit. 

Another note before I start. It took me a while to get into this anime. I actually started watching it and dropped it a couple of times. Even this time, it took me a few episodes to get invested/convinced as the story built up. I wasn't hooked as quickly as I am with some other anime/shows/fantasy works. But I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did. If you haven't watched it, you should definitely give it a chance. 

Moving on, let's talk about the genius of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which I will from now on refer to as FMAB: 

Everything Builds to a Well-Defined Ending 

The manga that this show was based on was already finished when the show as made, so there was no need to waste time with filler episodes or side-stories or nonsense. Everything in the show slowly, carefully, expertly builds towards the ending where all the plotlines come together beautifully. This is even more impressive when you realize just how many different characters, each with their own motivations and separate plotlines, this actually involves!

The beauty of this show having a predefined ending means that they were able to add in all kinds of relevant details right from the beginning that would come to play a bigger part in the ending. Once the final confrontation happens we already understand the world and magic system, as well as all the character motivations and capabilities, very well, making the ending so enjoyable to watch. 

It also means the pace of the storytelling is quick. Something big happens every episode - every single scene - that feels relevant or important. 

The Depth of the Storytelling 

FMAB is, in some ways, a shounen battle anime, but it has so much depth that makes it a class above most of the other anime I've watched. Yes, there are cool, flashy powers and characters who have amazing abilities and magic styles, but the story revolves around consequences. It revolves around the price that characters have to pay for using their Alchemy, the terrible price that must be paid to create the sought-after philosopher's stone, the toll that is paid by the victims AND the victors of a bloody genocide that the army waged on one of the provinces: the Ishvalan "War". 

It starts off as the story of two brothers (Ed and Al) who made the mistake of attempting human transmutation to try and bring back their dead mother - a mistake they paid for with the loss of their own bodies! But as the brothers go on a journey to get their bodies back to normal the story expands to become so much more. It forces them, and the viewer, to question the millitaristic state that they are part of. As they meet more characters and investigate the people and institutions around them, Ed and Al start to understand how deeply destructive greed is, how prejudices are used by greedy/evil characters to allow them to gain more control and power, and how the blind obedience to the military has led some of the "heroes" of the country to commit some pretty terrible acts. I could go on for a long time here, but instead of spoiling it, I'll just say that this story has more depth than many stories that are regarded as masterpieces. 

The Characters 

The reason it took me so long to get in to this show is that the main characters, much as I love them now, aren't really the most interesting characters in the show. I mean, they're great, but by themselves they're just two kids trying to get their bodies back. This is fine, and could make for an excellent adventure. It's when the cast expands to include all the other characters that it becomes a masterpiece. Our teenage protagonists have friends who care for them like their childhood friend Winry and some others they meet along the way, but they also meet many characters that have such complex and compelling storylines of their own. 

I don't want to spoil much, but the characters range from army officers who are investigating wrongdoing in the military to an Ishvalan survivor seeking revenge to foreign princes seeking the philosopher's stone for their own country's gain to doctors who have witnessed horrors... and the list goes on. It's a huge cast and everyone has their own life and their own story and their own quests. And did I mention how well all those separate threads are brought together in the end? It's amazing. 

The other amazing thing about this show is that there are so many female characters and all of them are REAL. PEOPLE. None of them are there to be objectified or just to support the main character or fall in love with the main character or whatever. Just like the male characters, these leading female characters have their own backstories and motivations, their own growth arcs, and man are they amazing. It's actually mind-blowing and everyone writing female characters for ANY MEDIUM should take notes here. 

Just to mention a few we have: 

Winry: Ed and Al's childhood friend. She makes and repairs automail and is so passionate about her job/calling that she goes to another city to learn how to improve her skill. She also has an interesting backstory involving her parents. She gets involved in some of Ed and Al's adventures, but she's never there just for them, she has her own contributions to make and even comes up with ideas to save everyone at several points. 

Hawkeye: General Roy Mustang's loyal bodyguard/underling. She's a sharpshooter, a competent army officer, has an interesting backstory and motivation connecting her to Mustang, and is an Ishvalan war veteran. She spies, makes plans, influences others for good, saves everyone several times, and I'm pretty sure most of the main characters would have been dead from the beginning without her. One of the best characters in any type of story. 

General Olivier Armstrong: She's the brutal leader of the army base in the north and runs an insanely disciplined force. Since she comes in later in the story talking too much about her would spoil a lot, but suffice it to say that this character has the strongest willpower of anyone on the show, is extremely intelligent, and is so much a natural leader that her men/armies follow her orders/will without her even being there. It doesn't get any stronger than this character. Oh - and did I mention she doesn't even have Alchemical powers, but somehow holds her own in a world ruled by Alchemy users. 

Izumi Curtis: Ed and Al's powerful Alchemy teacher. She also trained them in martial arts as she uses a style that combines martial arts and Alchemy. She keeps saying she's just a housewife, helping her husband run a butcher shop, but she's one of the most powerful Alchemy users in the country and plays a role in many of the key plotlines in this story (all while running around in her washroom slippers). 

Mei Chang: a princess from the distant land of Xing that meets the MCs while on a mission to find a philosopher's stone or the secret to immortality so she can take the throne in her country and save her clan. She's 12, I think, and has a tiny panda companion, but she's also a martial artist and powerful Alchemist! 

I keep thinking of more, three more literally just popped into my head now, but I'll stop here. This is only to mention some of the biggest female characters, but not only are there more, there are also more equally amazing male characters from various different races, sides of the war, classes, etc. I mean, there's even some random mine inspector dude that was a side character who was mostly there for laughs that somehow had his own growth arc and became one of my favs! 

The World-Building 

Normally, world-building is the first thing I look for in fantasy of any medium and FMAB has some excellent, consistent world building that's revealed slowly and expertly throughout the series. It's set in the early 1900s in a sort of European-ish country - Amestris - that is ruled by a militaristic system with a Fuhrer-King at the top. The clothing styles, the automail that many characters, including Ed, wear in place of lost limbs, the vaguely steampunk setting with trains and such in the background - it's all so well done and everything fits within that atmosphere quite well. All the characters are made unique and interesting while fitting into their setting really well. The Amestresians feel like they all come from the same country in the same era, but at the same time the northerners have unique clothing styles that fit their cold environment and the Ishvalans have their own unique way of dress and so on. Of course, the main characters Ed and Al are set apart in small ways - Al because of his armour and Ed by his ridiculously red coat that others comment on, but they still fit in with the rest. I can believe that Ed got his red coat at the same shop that made the trench coat another character wears and even the military uniforms. 

As the characters explore their country's history and past the setting expands wonderfully. We get ancient ruins from the lost/fallen country of Xerxes and we learn more about the Alchemy magic system and how it connect to the magic styles of other lands. Just like with the characters, we start small and expand as the story goes along and everything that is revealed is relevant and connected to the main plot, while still leaving us with hints of grandeur, hints that there's more out there to potentially explore. 

Conclusion

I would highly recommend this show to all fantasy lovers. And if, like me, you aren't pulled in immediately just hang in there - it's more than worth it. There were things that made it hard for me to get in to the story at first and pulled me out of it, but eventually, I grew to love even those things I didn't like in the beginning. For example, Ed has a tendency to get extremely mad when someone calls him short and so you might be in the middle of a super serious battle and suddenly become so unserious - the whole anime style shifting to make Ed some kind of caricature with only one lock of hair sticking up! By the end of the show I was laughing at these kinds of moments! 

I also think storytellers could learn a lot from this show. If you want to know how to do any of the above things right from plot to characterization to world-building, you really need to check out Fullemtal Alchemist: Brotherhood.