characters hugging each other after one or both of them have been through hell
character cradling their significant other’s face while they kiss
character says something hurtful. later on in the movie they are in a similar situation and say something kind instead.
self sacrifice
griefstricken women (who under normal circumstances wouldn’t hurt a fly) lashing out and striking the person responsible for the loss of their loved one
ugly crying
characters struggling to talk because they’re about to cry
characters reuniting with someone whom they thought were dead
When Ed finds out that Winry is pregnant, he goes into shock for about five seconds before breaking down into tears. The emotions just hit him and he’s so overjoyed because he’s going to be a dad. Never in a million years did he think that he would have this. Being married to the most amazing woman on earth and starting a family with her. Being able to be this happy without there being any dire consequences like losing an arm. It’s his happiness and he clutches onto it so tightly.
“I’m fine,” Ed replies and doesn’t even bother to wipe his cheeks as he goes to immediately hold Winry’s face so delicately in the palms of his hands. “I’m going to be a dad. We’re going to be parents.”
Winry nods happily and the two of them burst into joyous laughter as they hold onto each other.
another big moment is realising that winry doesn’t get her earrings back from ed until the day he comes home with al. that’s so important to remember because that was their promise to each other. that ed will return winry’s earrings to her when they meet again. and yes they do meet again at the rockbell’s home but he still doesn’t give them back to her. a part of me thinks he kept holding on them because he wanted to believe that he’d come back to her after all of what happened. also being able to give them back to her after everything had been solved and settled. and there was no guarantee that things would end well but they did and it all worked out pretty GOOD.
“What? Like, a disabled protagonist? How would that even work? How could someone with a disability be the hero in an action show?” local anime trash boy wonders while sitting next to his box sets of Full Metal Alchemist, showing no hint of irony or self awareness.
but is Ed really disabled? sure I get he lost his arm and leg
but he’s still able to move and do things perfectly
He has prosthetics. Having prosthetic limbs (that more than once break amd need repair) doesnt make him not disabled
It should also be noted that Ed:
-had to undergo very painful and lengthy surgery to get automail
-had to relearn how to write because of his prosthesis (there’s a post going around showing he had to switch hands etc) and his handwriting is likely a lot worse due to that. This means automail isn’t super good for delicate work, unsurprising, considering what it’s made of.
-experiences phantom limb pain and therefore other associated stuff (this was only really shown in the manga)
-cannot go anywhere too cold without changing his automail or he’ll get really bad frost bite and it will stop working
-cannot go anywhere too hot, period, because the metal attached and under his skin will overheat and he will be badly burned
-Reattachment is painful, but needs to be done frequently if he breaks or outgrows his automail
– it’s HEAVY so much so that the strain has the potential to cause stress on his body, enough that it’s even theorized as possibly stunting his growth.
-it requires really frequent maintenance or it will break down, as shown by how when he first moved out he forgot to do that and it…broke down.
-when it does need to be repaired, it takes time to do that, during which Ed uses regular prosthetics (that usually don’t quite fit him).
-costs a lot of money (not a problem for Ed due to high state alchemist salary/having mechanics as surrogate family, but explicitly noted to being the reason why most people in the fmaverse stick to regular prosthetics along with the painful surgery)
So Ed can’t actually do everything perfectly and experiences a lot of extra hassle, problems and pain people without automail don’t have to deal with! And any advantages he does have are more suited to fighting than day to day life (being able to incorporate weapons/fake out people who want to blow up his arm).
Arakawa did her research and thought it through. Automail is by no means a magic cure that solves all problems associated with losing a limb.
1. The plot moves a million miles per hour and has like, a minimum of two plot twists an episode. It’s super serialized and feels like a novel.
2. Answers that most series would drag out until the end are answered super quickly to keep the story moving.
3. The protagonists’ plight is really sad/interesting and you actually feel invested in their story and how it ends right from the first episode.
4. The protagonists have lots of agency and drive the story forwards, and there are multiple protagonists with their own plotlines.
5. Multiple interesting antagonists with intriguing worldviews.
6. The antagonists are super intimidating, not just to the characters but to the audience. Every scene one of them is in is extremely tense.
7. Unique setting that isn’t exactly fantasy and isn’t sci-fi.
8. The world’s “magic” has all of it’s rules explained so characters can’t manifest abilities you’ve never seen before without it being logical or foreshadowed.
9. Lots of tragic backstories, but the story has a light tone, and doesn’t try to be dark for no reason.
10. Never afraid to kill off characters, no matter how important, but gives lots of importance to every death that does happen so none of them feel “cheap”.
12. Romantic plotlines that don’t feel forced or boring. No love triangle nonsense to be seen.
13. Side characters that are actually given importance to the overall plot and are given their own characterizations and motivations.
14. Multiple badass female characters.
15. Midwifery being presented as awesome.
16. Gender norms being subverted left and right. Giant, muscly men full of emotions and tears. Women with majestic, long hair that have killed before and will kill again.
17. Deals with race, genocide and the aftermath of war, showing both sides of the conflict.
18. Doesn’t take itself too seriously. Contains the most masterful humorous to emotional tone shifts I have ever seen. They feel seamless.
19. Well choreographed combat scenes with innovative tactics abound.
20. This is subjective, but there are many, many scenes that are sad, or thought provoking, or spine-chilling. It’s a series that constantly shocks and amazes, even on rewatches.
21. AMAZING ending. You’ve heard of 2 episode climaxes. You’ve heard of 4 episode climaxes (hello, Avatar the Last Airbender). Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has a 15 EPISODE CLIMAX. That’s 5 straight hours of finale that literally NEVER GETS BORING.
FMA appreciation life 