Fullmetal Alchemist. The show that for me, started it all.
It's been quite some time since I last watched FMA, even Brotherhood was a while back now, but I seemed to have forgotten just how much I adore that show. It's one of my all time favourite anime and that screening brought all the memories of it flowing back and I realised something: Fullmetal Alchemist can be held more dearly to me than I realised. All the knowledge of the show, the alchemy, the characters and the stories- I love it the way Maes Hughes loves his family, and that's a whole freakin' lot!
When I first started getting in to the show, I'm sure I'd probably seen other anime, or maybe even just little bits, but FMA was one that would leave a lasting impact. I discovered anime streaming and became obsessed with it. I was "absorbed in the science that made you feel like you were magic". The idea of a world centered around the existence of alchemy is fascinating, and what's cool about it is it doesn't get too distracted in the aesthetic of performing alchemy, it's more than a cool looking and sounding concept. There's a whole culture developed in this world of alchemy, rules and taboos all based around the idea of equivalent exchange. Alchemy works like an equation. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. I'll give a small example: using wood and water you can make a hydrogen paper blimp- same materials, same mass, input is equal to output.
There are so many things you could create in a world like this; how people use alchemy, ideologies, how society was shaped by it's existence- even the darker sides of the creation of homuculi and chimeras. There's so much to this world and the people within it, and both the first series and Brotherhood explore them in a way so you understand it all.
(Seriously, when you've seen the show, understanding being able to bind your brother's soul to a suit of armour using alchemy to bind the iron in your blood to the metal isn't rocket science...)
I'd get up early just to stream as many episodes as I could. I was pretty damn secretive about my love for anime, it might sound weird but I was worried about what my parents would think, I was convinced they'd be very judgemental. I even hid my love for anime from my friends. I did actually have a friend who was in to anime too, but she was in to more light hearted stuff. Considering the amount of emotional scenes in FMA, the show wasn't for her. A lot of people die in this show, guys...
What sucked was at the time I had no way of expressing my love for anime any other way than online, I was really alone in my little obsession. I'd never seen any anime in stores, I live near a place called Andover and no word of a lie, any time there was any kind of DVD/music store set up, they shut down weeks later. Plus the stores there are pretty small, they never had anime sections. I couldn't buy things online myself and asking my parents was out of the question, they pretty much didn't use the internet at the time, especially not for buying things.
So, eventually I started looking in to the voice actors and found out that Vic Mignogna
(pronounced min-yah-na), the English voice of protagonist Edward Elric, was going to LFCC in 2009. I planned on going with a couple of friends, but it didn't really work out. Again, I was by myself in my little fandom. My brothers (Alphonse voice: Brother!) went with me instead and I actually got to meet Vic. I hugged him for WAY TOO LONG... but hey, they guy's encountered a fan who licked his hand once, so I guess it's not so bad. I even gave him a poorly made cardboard Star Trek badge with his name on it (he likes Star Trek) and he asked me to sign it. Eee! I of course got his autograph too, a little piece of card that is currently placed on my notice board at home.
That same summer, we happened to go in to a HMV (Y'know, before they were dying) and I came across something I'd never seen before in anime-less Andover. This HMV actually had an anime section. I wondered over and found a box set of FMA, explaining to my parents that this was the show "that guy" was from. I don't remember if a set was bought there and then or if we decided to wait until my birthday... either way I have the whole first series now. Having met Vic and found that anime was actually obtainable in the UK (I was honestly convinced it wasn't) I was still determined to share my love of anime with my friends. That didn't really happen. I don't like to go in to too much detail, but the last few years of secondary school was a sad time for me. Nothing big and dramatic happened to me, but let's just say it's a lot of little things over a long time that built up to a larger mass of sadness... like equivalent exchange! PWAHAHAHA....hahaha...aww, I made myself sad...
(But oh look, a puppy! Puppies make everything better!)
So, I was already in quite a state of sadness, felt isolated due to no one sharing my love for this show and even more so for having less and less in common with my friends. It was a sad time for me indeed, and what I ended up doing was telling myself that I was going to get each day over with so I could get home and immerse myself in some good old fashioned escapism in Fullmetal alchemist.
How could I have not realised sooner that FMA had such a huge significance to me? I have no idea. I did other things too and watched other shows, but FMA was one I watched multiple times. I found refuge in this show, it's world, it's characters, even it's darkness. I still hid my love for anime. My parents knew about me liking anime, but I felt uncomfortable watching the show around them. When they'd come in the room I'd pause it, I managed once without pausing it, but I'd turned the volume all the way down. I really wanted them to like the show and not think of anime as just being "Weird". I was pretty used to being closed about... well, everything by the time I got to college. I wore, and still wear, a little L keyring from Deathnote that I bought at LFCC 2009 on my trousers like a little accessory (oh dear, i've reduced L to being an accessory...) I hoped he'd do a little more of the talking, like people would see him hanging from my belt and know that I was an anime fan... it sort of worked?...kinda. Sorta... Whatever, I eventually opened up a little more in college...Sorta...
FMA lead me to a lot of other anime, I'd even looked at other shows just because they had the same voice actors. There's a cool story about voice actor J. Micheal Tatum, he adored the show and auditioned to be in the FMA movie and got the role of a soldier who gets shot (all he had to do was scream) and eventually with the release of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, he auditioned and got the role of Scar, a alchemist hating serial killer and a massive part of the show. What a transition! I was quite obsessed with Vic for a while too, but by now I've seen so many recordings of convention panels I know a lot of the stories and crazy fan encounters. Maybe I'll meet him again some day.
(LFCC, it's like MCM Expo, but a little cheaper...)
I was glad to see that other members of the film society enjoyed the movie, even if they didn't get a lot of bits dues to not having seen the show. They seemed pretty in to the whole alchemy biz, even if they just saw it as a little anime craziness, they at least seemed to like it. Watching the film I remembered how much I adored the show. Maybe I haven't gone back and watched the show for so long because I watched it too many times, or maybe it was too soon after Brotherhood, but that doesn't mean my love for it has gone. I'm sure I'll watch it all again one day, and thanks to my brother (brother!) who bought me an issue for Christmas on year, I even started reading the manga.
Brotherhood may be the series that is more favoured and it's awesome too, but I don't like to look at them comparatively; they are two parts of the same kind of awesome. I can like and dislike parts of both, but it doesn't matter. I love FMA and the first series is the one i fell in love with. It had a huge impression on me in several ways. I have even taken inspiration from this show in my writing (wanna be a writer, shoulda mentioned that), even if it is just the presence of a large ominous stone gate.
I'm clearly now a little more open about anime as well as in general. I suppose it's debatable and there's room for a lot more improvement, but I'm at least more open in blog entries, right?
(Happy transmuting, kids!)
