I’m not usually a big fan of anime. I watch Avatar - if that even qualifies as real anime. And I do watch Ghost in the Shell, which is absolutely stunning. Despite this, I am not the type of guy that you would catch watching Mahou Sensei Negima, Love Hina, Chobits, Full Metal Panic, Samurai Champloo, and all those other anime that I have heard about people watching.

Yet, Fullmetal Alchemist captivated my interest and I watched the entire series in a span of two days. Sure, my eyes were nearly burned out from the experience, but it was entirely worth it. When my brother first picked up the PS2 game based on the franchise, I thought that it was incredibly lame and not worth looking into.

But I was off the mark. By several miles.

Not only is the show stunning visually, but it has a gripping storyline that establishes itself (without you being fully aware) from the prologue of the first episode and continues building upon that foundation until it all comes together at the end of the series. I watched it and I was captivated. I could not escape from the vice-like grip that had ensnared me. It was too much to overpower. Even when I should have been working on my PD2 report (which I continue to ignore as I write this), I was drawn in. Such amazing characters. Alphonse Elric - especially - is interesting. Despite the suit of armor that his soul is bound to, Al remains very much a child. And all the stuff that he is put through would drive a child his age into the clutches of madness. Yet, throughout the series he remains untainted by evil and - in the end - he shows that he has grown up through it all.

My favourite character was Lt. Col. Maes Hughes. He is hilarious, intelligent, and he has some awesome tiny throwing daggers that make him completely badass. Unfortunately, the series made me feel robbed of Lt. Col. Maes Hughes time, which I thought was unfair. Such is the price of not being a main character, I guess.

Scar was pretty cool too. Including his purpose in the final episodes. Fantastic how a character who seemed to be devoid of meaning upon his introduction in the sixth episode could go on to be the main focus of several major plot points.

Ultimately, the show was fantastic. Every step of the way, I was amazed. The show had some emotional moments too. There is a funeral scene in the middle of the series that was especially devestating, and one particularly heart-wrenching moment in the first season. Uh oh. Now you know they’re there. Guess you’ll be looking around every corner for something awful to happen. HA! And now you suffer for it.

But seriously…Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the best shows I have ever seen. It started out with full knowledge of where it was headed, and finished off with a resounding finale that will not soon be forgotten. The only disappointing feature is that they followed it with a movie, which I feel was wholly unnecessary.

Anyway, if you have the opportunity to download this show (from various share networks or torrent sites), I recommend that you do so. I got it off of an entirely legitimate television site…in a virtual torrent of tv shows, it sprang out of the void and came to me.

Watch it. I insist. It was truly excellent. If you’ve already seen it, throw a good word in the comments for the show. Yo.