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[timepiececlock]

I was reading coffeee_and_ink's year in anime post, and she gave the following description for Full Metal Alchemist. It highlights one of the aspects of the show that I loved so much, that kept me enthralled:

What I love second-best about it is the unflinching examination of the consequences of misuse of power. Nothing will save any of the characters from the consequences of what they do, good or bad: not innocence, not ignorance, not good intentions, not intelligence, not strength. The farther the series goes, the clearer it becomes that consequences don't end: they just snowball. The rules of this world are: You get what you pay for, and you pay for everything you get.


WANRING: Very vague but significant spoilers now in the comments.

Comments

SPOILERS for FMA finale

[octopedingenue]

I friended coffee_and_ink for that post.

I love "Fullmetal Alchemist" so much. I say that to myself quietly on a daily basis and then feel a little embarrassed about it.

The rules of this world are: You get what you pay for, and you pay for everything you get.

It's true, and it's equivalent trade, and it sounds cynical and bleak until you look at it from the perspective that hard work doesn't go unrewarded--Ed and Al pay four years of their lives, and they get what they pay for. And in getting what they paid for, Al loses what they paid.

Re: SPOILERS for FMA finale

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

it sounds cynical and bleak until you look at it from the perspective that hard work doesn't go unrewarded

It is utterly cruel and utterly rewarding, both at the same time. They get what they paid for-- and eventually they must pay for everything they get.

Nothing will save any of the characters from the consequences of what they do, good or bad: not innocence, not ignorance, not good intentions, not intelligence, not strength.

This also hit me as hard as the pay-for part. Because I recognized this in the show, but I've never seen it put so neatly and concisely before. No one is safe in FMA, and from the consequences of their own actions LEAST of all. If you look at all the characters, there's intelligence, good intentions, strength, ignorance, and intelligence... and none of that saves any one of them from the consequences.

Except maybe Hawkeye. ;)

I love "Fullmetal Alchemist" so much. I say that to myself quietly on a daily basis and then feel a little embarrassed about it.

I do too. I'm not just saying that-- I really do. I just... love it. So much. The words "so much" don't cover how deeply I love it, but that's the only words I can find. So much.