Totally unlike anything on the silver screen at the time, amid serious westerns, dramas and crime movies, Star Wars is unabated, unabashed fantasy fun, it beguiles you. You fall in love with the movie and you want to share it with your friends. Only your friends don't give a crap. "Meh" or "I'll check it out someday" - likely never.

You've seen Star Wars but no one else has, your pent up frustation and disappointment wells inside you. It's depressing, no? That something so worthy of attention at the time goes unnoticed and ignored.

Let's imagine it was 1998 and you were the only person who played Ocarina of Time - the game that went on to become one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time. But no one at the time wanted any part of it. So your friends were playing good and decent games like Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid and Half Life, even Banjoo Kazooie. But they weren't playing a game that was on a whole other level, whose scope and execution still puts many modern games to shame. They weren't playing Ocarina of Time. You reminded your buddies of its existence, you begged, threatened and pleaded with them to try it, but not a single baited hook was taken.

I feel like this, I feel like holding a giant plate of delicious roast beef up to a bunch of dogs noses, only for them to turn away and munch on dried dogfood, instead.

When I wrote, in August 2013 (almost a year and a half ago) about: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: One of the Best TV series I have ever seen,

I said:

"I've seen a lot of movies, watched a lot of tv series, played a ton of amazing games. And across all of that, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood ends up as one of the best experiences I've had, across all media."

Did you think I was kidding? Did you think that this was some niche pursuit, a series "only an anime fan could like?" This is not the case. How many copies of your average blockbuster game sells these days? Would it surprise you to learn that FMA has sold over 64 million copies?

Re-treading old ground, I've already stated that:

"Brotherhood.... once it gets going it's like an unstoppable freight train of awesome that never stops. It builds and builds and builds to an ending so suprising, exciting and enjoyable that I literally forgot to breathe. I had to physically remind myself to intake air during the penultimate episode, was leaning up off my bed. I would equate the series to the epicness of Lost if you ever made it through that series to the end. The only difference with Brotherhood is that it's almost a perfect series. In most tv shows live action or animated there is some redundancy there, some episodes that are average or not worth bothering with, badly written etc. Brotherhood feels like everything is just.... perfect.

It's such a good series that I won't even recomend you rent it. I would say you should buy the whole series on Bluray stat, then sit back and have the ride of your life."

I wasn't kidding then and I'm not kidding now, you need to see this series. But let's be obstinate bastards for a second and don't take my word about it. Let's look at what other people have to say about it. Google search "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Reviews" and you'll get a very interesting statistic: 24'807 people have rated the series on imdb and the average meta score is 4.5 stars out of 5. But delve deeper and read the user reviews and you'll perhaps get a grasp of why this series is so highly regarded.

"Pretty much the best show made in the history of mankind" says one user "If i told myself 10 years ago or so that the best series i would ever see was an Anime i wouldn't have believed it. This series made me laugh out loud, cry and bring up pretty much every part of human emotion possible. The characters and story are pretty much flawless and there is little to none loose ends."

"Of all movies and shows I've seen in my lifetime - if i would have to recommend one single series to someone it would be this one without hesitation. If I had an enemy i hated in real life more than anything - even i wouldn't be so cruel as to deny that person to see this show. I could deny them food instead and it would be merciful. Thats how good this show is."

Another user says "If you are going to watch one anime in the entirety of your life time Choose Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood." An original FMA fan eventually recognised its greatness here: "As the episodes began to fly I realized that it wasn't good, it was great. After finishing the series I knew without a doubt in my mind that what I had witnessed was my favorite anime of all time""

Another user says "This is absolutely one of the greats. It has profound characters, an awesome and unpredictable story and has some of the best anime scenes I ever saw."




This isn't even a question of people who watch anime and people who don't. This series is good enough for any mainstream TV watcher from the likes of The Walking Dead to Game of Thrones will enjoy, indeed a user review said "I'm not a fan of anime and manga but Hiromu Arakawa's work is one of several which have to be seen. An amazing story, and a must-see."

So do yourself a favour, as this only benefits you, not me - get your head out of your backside and pick up this series for Christmas, it's that good and will likely stack up well against any AAA game you pick up too. I'll leave you with more user review quotes:

"No complaints, seriously. FANTASTIC."

"Probably the greatest animated entertainment ever made"

"If you only ever watch one anime make it this one. If you watch anime anyway and haven't seen FMAB, do so. It would be a complete waste of your life if you were hit by a meteorite before you saw it. Do yourself a favour, buy this. It's not a lot of money for the epic adventure you are about to experience. It may well be the best money you ever spent."

"FMA: Brotherhood is a great, massive series that is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end"

"When I first saw Brotherhood, I was kind of an anime hater for nonsensical reasons, mainly stemming from longstanding shame over an unhealthy obsession with Yu-Gi-Oh as a kid. Hey I was a Freshman, I was stupid like that. I give this example because I want to explain just what this show did. This show is simply a must see for any anime fan, and I would recommend them for just about anyone who isn't an anime fan too. I don't know how many times I've watched this show through, but it deserved every single rewatch. It is a cavalcade of heartwarming, tearjerking, and awesome wrapped up in an intelligent plot with probably the single most endearing cast I've ever seen. Watch it, you won't be disappointed."

"To put it simply, this anime is nearly perfect."

"I haven't seen a better series of anything ever i don't think"

"If you want to be amazed, addicted, emotionally lifted, press the start button on this show."

"A near Perfect Show and my favourite of them all. I don't watch many anime. But This has gotten me into anime, and none have beaten it. a ten out of ten."

"Masterpiece - When you watch 1 or 2 episode then you won,t resist to watch all the series not even a single episode in this series is boring. If you say it is the best show ever than you would not be wrong. This show is the masterpiece 10 out of 10"

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an absolute must watch for anyone, it has brilliant story, characters, animation"

"One of the masterpieces among TV series - I would rate this TV series as easily one of the best ever made."

"I have to say, as a beginner entering Anime world is pretty daunting task.The huge collection of Anime's in internet makes one wonder, where do I begin? As I Google'd some 15 anime websites claiming they have the best must watch list, every one of them evenhandedly had Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood ranked the 1st or 2nd in their respective must watch list. The series is either ranked 1st or 2nd,rarely 3rd."

"The only word to describe this anime is stupendous."

"Words can not fathom how incredible this anime is."

Posted by gamingeek Fri, 28 Nov 2014 15:18:28 (comments: 62)
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Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:14:09
Dvader said:

Yeah but FMA doesn't have the most anticipated movie ever coming out with some ties to the cartoon. So Star Wars comes first, cause it is Star Wars.

You mean ties to Rebels or ties to the Clone Wars series? Honestly there are 120 episodes of the Clone Wars and the last season was bizarrely made a Netflix exclusive so I haven't even seen the last few episodes yet. It will take a long while to get through them and not all the episodes are great.

It's a good series and expands the universe a lot in a good way. However, FMA Brotherhood is in another league of quality compared to it. It's something that can rival Lost or something like that.

FMA has been made into a few games, there's a PSP game and probably a PS2 game and mobile junk too. I think that is where my awareness of it stemmed from when I first started watching anime, which wasn't that long ago. Remember anime is something still relatatively new to me, although I have managed to watch a lot of series in a short amount of time.  

I started watching series I had heard of because of videogames like Bleach, FMA and lately One Piece. I'm still discovering new stuff and watching other peoples nods.

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:21:01

That chimera episode was seriously fucked up! This whole show is seriously fucked up! Love it! Grinning

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:56:19
Ravenprose said:

That chimera episode was seriously fucked up! This whole show is seriously fucked up! Love it! Grinning

You started it? Are you talking about the episode when the Fuhrer made his big appearance? That's when it starts getting good and different from the original FMA, the storylines diverged at that point.

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:28:38

I love poking at GG. Nyaa Now you know how I feel when I say you should play a game and you are like "eh to tired to pick up controller" Nyaa

Apparently from what I read that might be total BS and I hope it is, the new movie may tie in with something from Clone Wars. Rebels is pretty damn sweet. In general  dont do binge watching. I have had netflix for over a year and watched ONE show, that was Breaking Bad and that is like a top 3 TV show of all time. I dont like sitting in front of the TV passively for hours if it is not football. I watch a few shows a week as they air, I like to do it that way. To get me to watch TV it takes a lot, especially when it is something I have zero interest in, as you should notice every TV show I watch is from something I like. Batman, Marvel, zombies, vikings, Star Wars, Jack Bauer.

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:39:53

I have a bunch of Rebels recorded but haven't managed to watch any yet. How is it?

When is it set BTW? I thought it was after ROTJedi but it looks like Clone Wars to me?

I'm the opposite, when I get into a show I can watch episode after episode, at least 3 in a row. Anime is pretty insane though because of the way it's designed, they have 20 minutes to get you into it so it usually grabs you pretty fast, cuts out the fat. And because the episodes are so short you can really binge on it and not feel like you've watched a lot. A 2 hr movie can drag but watching 6 different episodes from an anime doesn't weigh you down.

They tend to be complete stories and less running time or episodes so it's easy to watch. There are some which literally have over 200 episodes though.

I tried Breaking Bad, the first episode, didn't really take but I hear it gets better? My bro says season 1 aint great, then it gets better?

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:53:20

Star Wars Rebels is set 5 years before "A New Hope."

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:56:44

Rebels had two really good episodes that really felt like the OT, I am still feeling it out though. Its still too disney at times, the kid just feels like generic cartoon kid hero rather than a SW character.

Yes breaking bad gets better, I dont think I ever saw a show with a near perfect linear relationship between seasons and quality. Most shows star great and end poorly or have some mix. BB builds and builds and builds and holy shit that whole final season.

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 19:01:47
Nintyfan17 said:

Star Wars Rebels is set 5 years before "A New Hope."

I thought it was going to be set after Jedi and have stylised versions of Han Luke and Leia. sad

Dvader said:

Rebels had two really good episodes that really felt like the OT, I am still feeling it out though. Its still too disney at times, the kid just feels like generic cartoon kid hero rather than a SW character.

I like that in Clone Wars they get the Kenobi/Skywalker relationship about right and Anakin isn't an angst ridden teenager. He's bordering on darker.

How many episodes of BB are there?

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 19:07:24
gamingeek said:

I like that in Clone Wars they get the Kenobi/Skywalker relationship about right and Anakin isn't an angst ridden teenager. He's bordering on darker.

How many episodes of BB are there?

60 or so.

 
Tue, 02 Dec 2014 19:26:29

I loved every single episode of Breaking Bad. I'd suggest watching the first three episodes. If you are not hooked by the end of the third episode, then it's probably not a show for you.

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