I lied. I totally frickin' lied.
13 April 2009
Yes, yes I did. I am addicted to this shit and I know it. There’s no getting away from it. If I were a crack addict, there’d be no hope for me. None, zero. Just when you think you’ve pulled away, estranged yourself from your anime addicted self, they remake Fullmetal Alchemist. They REMAKE it. So, uh…yeah. I’m back. Hopefully for good.
The first episode was epic. The second episode not so much. There’s all this noise about the new series following the original manga plot line. Somehow, I find it both deeply attractive (they’ve imported all of the manga humor) and deeply exasperating at the same time (because the manga is just getting so good at chapter 94, seriously). It’s like watching a horror remake when you know all of the gore, shock and death.
I was pretty surprised when the first episoded opened up with this Isaac Ice Alchemist dude who is nowhere in the manga. The animation was superb, though. And Roy was fantastic. Lockon Stratos or not, Shinichiro Miki makes my day.
Moving along to the second episode, we’re back to good ol’ FMA territory. Two boys, one dead mother, one absent father, the whole nine yards minus the epic animation. I know, I know, I’m a BONES fan and I’m always eager to shine the spotlight on their flawless animation. Maybe it’s my imagination, but the second episode fell just a tad bit short of the usually BONES perfection animation standard. Or, I just pay too much attention to Roy Mustang’s face. In any case, I sure as hell am not complaining at the remake. Brotherhood or no brotherhood, I’m still head over heels for Arakawa’s work of genius.
Second, I am in love with Saki. I played mahjong twice, or maybe three times. Asian Fail. And for most of the two episodes that I’ve watched, I had no idea what the heck was going on, but man, did it look good. I’m not a real big fan of Gonzo. The last of their creative brilliance I’ve had the good mind to lay eyes on was Dragonaut and that didn’t turn out too well. So, I was skeptical. But the girls in the promo art were just too damn cute to turn down!
This isn’t exactly the type of show I watch either (see: FMA). Where does mahjong (a relic of Chinese grandmothers past) and yuri fit into hot guys, guns and mecha? It really just doesn’t. But the electronic mahjong table? The weird my-eyes-must-sparkle-when-I-pluck-mahjong-pieces thing? I fell for that hook, line and sinker.
And I have absolutely no idea where the show is going. I’m going to gaze into my non-existent crystal ball and guess that it’ll be about mahjong competitions and the much talked about National tournament and yuri and tits. Gonzo just couldn’t leave the tits thing alone. Just once, really, can I not have giant bouncing milk jugs shoved into my face in the first two seconds of the show?! In all honesty, I can’t really pin down by I like Saki so much. Maybe it’s Saki herself, the all too typical quiet protagonist with unfathomable, prodigy powers just waiting to be unleashed into the world of old Chinese ladies’ game mahjong.
There’s just something weird, or should I say quirky, about Saki. If FMA is the powerhouse show of the season, the big jock on the football team that cheerleaders flock to and nerds aspire to be, then Saki is the underdog, the weird one that sits in the corner and does his weird little thing but gets the girl in the end anyway. I love FMA, but there are only so many tricks you can teach an old dog, if any at all.