Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

yeah i mean its legit fs but just didnt rise to the highs of a lot of my fav anime while the episodes draggged in the back half.

i do love a lot about it tho. the humunculi in general were just ripe for character analysis, and their designs went crazy which also led to some of the best animation sequences, including: the endless pit of Pride's shadowy blades & the varying in stature, yet consistently grotesque, forms of Envy (esp when they're in Gluttony's stomach omg i was all-in on this show during that episode lol).

also just like the vast majority of the characters literally work for the secret police of a fascist genocidal state, including the "good guys", which instantly throws a wrench in our relationships with the primary figures in the story. i really appreciated this bc it put me in an unsettling (to say the least) perspective and forced me to materially analyze characters in order to determine my feelings about them throughout.

and who could forget Father's consumption of god... pretty fucking wild i cant believe that happened, but my primary issue was that it was the only thing that i didnt really see coming in the later half. *insert alphonse having literal plot armour joke here*

i dont want to undersell the high that i had when this show was really cooking for me, but it pretty much just played prevent defense during the culminating conflict (aside from the whole go up to heaven and eat god situation which, again, was dope asf visually and conceptually). in conclusion, this kinda just made me wanna watch the Hunter x Hunter chimera ant arc now? oh and ling yao is a dog i love that guy