Does anyone know about Full Metal Alchemist?

[jwirr]

I have been watching it with my grandson wonder what others think of it. He tells me it is a satire making fun of American corporations and bushie's government?

[TimeChaser]

1. Eheheh...

... I was talking about it the other day. It's very antiwar. It's a country under military rule, the military's courrupt... they've started wars for fake reasons...

And that's what my sig comes from :)

[TimeChaser]

2. Specifically...

Episode 16. Have you seen that one? An old soldier with a missing leg is talking about the horrors of war.

[paineinthearse]

3. Are there at least 10 FMA fans here?

With a mission statement and 10 paying member endorsements, you could have a group.

My son is a big fan, thought a group would be a good way to bring young people into DU.

[TimeChaser]

4. What about an anime group in general?

[shugah]

5. DU has such a group

well, it's the animation group, but anime is a hot topic there:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=286

[mikehiggins]

6. FMA a great series

I have three of the DVD's and spoke to some people at the NYC BOOK EXPO who said they beleived the entire series will be made available, as long as there is a demand for it, naturally.

I'm a longtime anime fan (my kid was named after the hero in the US version of the YAMATO series, STARBLAZERS' Derek Wildstar) but I think FMA is about the best I've seen in a long time. It is deceptive because it appears light and frothy until you start to really pay attention. Then you realise it is as dark and nightmarish as you could get. Really worth watching.

[Qibing Zero]

7. I love it.

It really tugs at morality in a healthy way (I say that based on my personal experience - the story is actually very disturbing at some points, but that's a good thing). A lot of the people in the storyline have preconcieved notions about alchemy, but after hearing the kids' story, how could you villify them? The progression into things like the personal trauma involved in the 'need' to use humans to further human alchemy, and the issues of transfering a person to a machine (whether or not you can just save what parts of the person you want to, or modify them) both move the show into interesting areas. I also like the touching on ego, and the hilarity that ensues with it.

As toward satire or allegory, I don't think it's attacking anything individual, but the concepts instead. Corruption of money and power plays a big part.