Books vs. Movies: The Epic Battle of the Ages (Or, At Least, This Age)

I've decided to start a new feature, loosely entitled "Book vs. Movie." Ever since the birth of cinema, in the good old silent, black and white days, movies have taken inspiration from books that have been around for centuries. Even today, if a popular book comes out (Harry Potter, The Hunger Games), you can expect a movie to follow shortly after. The two mediums of story-telling, in our age of technology and screens, seem to go hand in hand. Therefore, as both a movie and book nerd, I thought it would be cool to compare different movie and book combinations to see how they were different, how the medium of storytelling affected the way in which the stories were told, and, perhaps, which one was the better medium. I'm really not an expert, but I've been watching movies and reading books practically my whole life, and quite avidly in recent years; so I'll do my best, and have a little fun along the way! Expect to see this feature soon!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

       Well, as you can see, I have finished another show during mid-terms; and this time, it was one of my favorite anime of all time. Not that I've watched that many I can choose from; I think I've only completed Fruits Basket, Ouran, Digimon (not sure that counts haha), and I'm working my way through Trigun. Oh, and the first series of Fullmetal Alchemist, but I'm mostly blocking that from my memory. No offense to people to loved it, but I really thought it was strange and very non-cohesive after a certain point. So, now to stop rambling and actually talk about this amazing show...

       For those who have never watched/read/heard of Fullmetal Alchemist in any form, it first appeared in the early 2000s as a manga written by Hiromu Arawaka. While it was still being written, it was turned into an anime, which became the well-beloved original Fullmetal Alchemist. Several years later, after the complete manga was written, a second series came out, entitled Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which follows the manga more closely. After watching both, the second one is the version I prefer, which is why I chose to review only that one.

The basic premise of the manga and the show is this: two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, attempt to resurrect their mother through human transmutation, and lose an arm and leg, and their body, respectively. They spend the show attempting to get their bodies back to normal. For about the first seven episodes, they are in pursuit of the elusive Philosopher's Stone, a powerful alchemy enhancer which they are sure will aid them in returning their bodies back to normal; but when they learn a shocking secret about the Stone, the brothers are pulled into a terrible conspiracy that extends far beyond anything they ever thought possible. Along the way, they make mistakes and friends, face incredible loss, and come face-to-face with what really matters in this life.

And really, that's all the summary I can give without delving into extremely deep explanations of alchemy and the world of Fullmetal Alchemist and other related subjects. Honestly, I started to do so and got like two paragraphs into an explanation of alchemy before I decided to just tell you to go watch the show for yourself! I think that this is one of those shows that if you try to explain it to somebody who has never seen it, you sound like a maniac. Either that, or you would have to give a forty-minute lecture on alchemy and its inner workings and a bunch of boring stuff, which, actually, isn't boring as you're learning it in the show! It's really amazing how the show gets into the depths of humanity during the 64 episodes. It seriously made me think like almost no other show I've seen. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is basically the opposite of all the mindless garbage that comes on TV nowadays.

And really, I think that one of the most compelling things about the show is its characters. Let me tell you, this show has a ton of characters. You really start out with just Ed and Al, and they definitely keep their status as the main protagonist/ditagonist throughout the series, but little by little they add in more allies, more friends, more enemies, more ambiguous characters, until you have this absolute slew of characters who are all handled with grace and purpose. I read somewhere that a good supporting cast of characters need to feel like the story is their own, and the writers definitely kept this rule in mind. The characters are given enough back story and explanation so that they are totally believable. Also, each one serves a huge purpose. There are really no throw-away characters. They all change and work and grow in the hearts of the readers/watchers. 

I really enjoyed the voice actors for both the sub and the dub. The first time I watched it, I saw the first two series on Netflix in English dub, and then I had to watch the last third in Japanese with English sub on Hulu, which honestly wasn't all that bad. Vic Mignogna does a very enjoyable Edward Elric in the dub, though. He's got the right amount of humor and seriousness to pull it off. And the animation - now, the animation may be my favorite animation in any animated thing ever. Probably only second to OHSHC. It's dark, it's pristine, it's fluid, and the action scenes are absolutely, mind-blowingly (not a word!) amazing. And yet, they aren't afraid to pull this every once in a while:

 So, that ought to wrap things up. The basic summary of this review is that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is perfect and without flaw as far as shows go. Well, I'm sure it's not perfect, seeing as nothing is perfect... But if there are any flaws, I haven't seen them yet!! Now, there is some questionable content for younger viewers, but it's mostly just blood and destruction, with one small instant of partial nudity, and some incredibly heart-wrenching scenes that will break your heart into a million little pieces. There's some seriously thought-provoking stuff in here, and thought-provoking doesn't exactly means it's safe for sensitive viewers. So, be prepared for some emotional decimation if you choose to step into the world of FMAB. But it is very much worth it for those who can handle it. They took the Brotherhood version off of Netflix, but you can watch the subbed version it with commercials on Hulu for free (http://www.hulu.com/fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood). Also, for those interested in reading the manga, it can be found in its entirety here: (http://mangafox.me/manga/fullmetal_alchemist/). Enjoy!
 

The brothers who started it all... And Winry, of course :)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

       Well, I was on Youtube the other evening after I had finished reading the first two acts of Hamlet, reading half of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and expositing Robert Frost's "Design." I have no idea how I got there, but suddenly I stumbled across the full anime movie The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I had never heard of it before, but I assumed it was about time travel, which is one of my favorite things, so I decided to give it a go. If it was horrible, I thought, could always just turn it off and go to sleep like I should have been doing.
        But when the movie opened up, I decided that I wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon. The opening was beautiful and so simple - just a few friends playing baseball. It really contrasted with the idea I had in my head of time travel, which was complicated and fast-paced. A lot of other time-travel movies do tend to start out this way, with the calm before the chaos (Field of Dreams, Back to the Future, etc.), but it may have shocked me due to watching too much Doctor Who recently.
      In the beginning of the film, you very quickly get a sense of the nature of the protagonist, Makoto Konno, as she stumbles along through the first few minutes of the movie. She is unfocused, unsure, and just plain clumsy. She freaks out very easily and has a bit of a short temper, especially with her prim and organized little sister. Her two best friends, Kōsuke Tsuda and Chiaki Mamiya, unfold more as the story goes on, though at first you get the sense that Kōsuke is the more mature, strong, and level-headed of the trio, and Chiaki is the fun-loving, sort-of rebel with a good heart. The secondary characters of the movie - the other students at the school, Makoto's family, even strangers in the park are all believable and enjoyable to watch.

Some of the gorgeous animation

     The animation in this movie is just gorgeous. Mamoru Hosoda, the director of this film, was also involved in the Digimon Movie and Summer Wars, another animation project that came out in 2009, three years after The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. It definitely shows, as the animation in all three is very similar, especially as far as the characters go. Their expressions and movements are very fluid, and the backgrounds are amazing.
     The plot of the movie is another one of its high points, if not its highest point. The movie plays off of a well-known Japanese story called, not surprisingly, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, or, The Time Traveler, whose protagonist is a young girl named Kazuko Yoshiyama. Through mysterious circumstances, Kazuko gains the power of time travel, and is able to make small leaps back in time. In the end, however, she is forced to part with her love, who happens to be a time traveler from the distant future. In the 2006 version, Kazuko is demoted to being the aunt of the protagonist, but her story is given some spotlight over the course of the movie.
     Very much like the original story, the plot follows Makoto as she mysteriously gains the power to travel backwards in time one day while in the science lab, and the mess of serious frivolity that ensues. While the plot could very easily get tangled up in itself, as is possible with all time-travel stories, it manages to keep the charm and simplicity it opened up with. It was a sort of organized, peaceful chaos, if that is even possible.

"Time waits for no one," the mantra of the film

     Throughout the course of the movie, I found myself getting more and more involved emotionally. I kept worrying about what was going to happen to the characters, and I really did feel like berating Makoto for her useless jumps back in time; because as everyone knows, time travel just isn't something you mess with! There were a few somewhat ridiculous and draw-out scenes involving running and sobbing, but they were few and far-between and did add to the emotion of the piece. And in the end, all I could think was that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time may be one of the best movies, anime or not, which I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Not too bad for a random YouTube find! If you would like to enjoy this piece of movie magic, as I recommend that you do when you get the time, you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/FMM-M4t2PNQ

Ouran High School Host Club

(Top left to bottom right): Mori, Huni, Tamaki, Kyouya, Kaoru,
Haruhi, and Hikaru
in all of their Host Club glory!

  So, I just finished re-watching/reading the entirety of Ouran High School Host Club. I'm telling you, when I get into something, I get into it! But anyways, I actually ended up enjoying this anime and manga far more than I anticipated at first; and I loved watching it way more the second time than the first time. Honestly, at first, the characters sort of shocked me a little bit and I didn't know how to take them, because they're all just so flamboyant and insanely funny; but then, as I kept watching and reading, I found the heart of the characters and the story, and might have fallen a little bit in love with it.

       Here's a run-down for those who know nothing about it: OHSHC is basically a shojo manga/anime story about a girl named Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at the elite prep school, Ouran Academy in Japan. One day, while trying to find a place to study quietly, Haruhi stumbles into Music Room #3, the meeting-room of the Ouran High School Host Club! The members are 6 extremely handsome, rich, and well-mannered young men whose job it is to entertain and flatter the young women who visit the club; sort of like reverse-gender geishas. When she breaks a valuable vase that belonged to the Club, Haruhi is forced to work for the Host Club in order to repay her debt, first as an errand-boy, and then as a host. Ah, and did I mention that everyone in school thinks that she is a boy? However, the Host Club realizes her true identity rather quickly, and from there everything gets highly interesting.

       The show gets most of its energy, at least in the beginning, from the antics of the Host Club 

"I will drink this coffee!!!!"

members and Haruhi's reaction to them. Haruhi is practical and has a rather apathetic attitude; Tamaki Suou, the leader (or "King") of the Club, is a narcissistic idiot; Kyouya Ootori is an extremely business-minded, serious person who secretly runs the show; the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, are mischievous to the point of being almost evil, and have a rather twisted way of viewing themselves and the world outside of their two-person "unit"; and Takashi Morinozuka (Mori) is a strong and silent figure who always accompanies his cousin, Mitsukuni Haninozuka, a tiny "Lolita" who carries around a bunny and always eats cake. The group grows together, fights some tough battles together, and before the end, they become a true "family."

The Host Club boys in Wonderland...

       The animation in the show is beautiful and pristine, and perfectly matches the rich setting of the show and characters. The characters are beautiful (of course), but the animators aren't afraid to draw their faces in hilarious ways, and their movements are graceful and smooth. I think the voice actors for both the sub and dub did wonderful jobs as well, and for this show I don't really have a preference; I love the English version, though, because of the twins' voices; and Vic Mignogna as Tamaki Suou is great, very different from his performance as Edward Elric, but he pulls it off splendidly!

       And of what have I been reminded/ learned from this anime/manga? That friends are there to help us through the toughest and most confusing of times. That revealing your feelings and thoughts about a situation makes things about 100% less complicated and easier on everyone involved. That if you turn your back on the world, the world will turn its back on you (a loose reference to the Lion King, I think?) - that is, a life lived in the safety of being shut up within itself may be safe, but it is lonely beyond measure. Certainly, with opening yourself up even a little to others is terrifying and comes with an almost guaranteed risk of being hurt, but the benefits vastly outweigh the risks. That any friendship worth your salt will not break easily. That every day is an experience, and should be made the best of, even if it is hard. And, most importantly, that all people are idiots - but they are worth getting to know and reaching out to anyways. We all have a story and a lesson to tell others.

The "Family" :)

      
       Quite surprising lessons from a simple soujo reverse-harem manga, eh?

       So, to conclude, I would recommend this anime and manga to anybody who is looking for a light, fun story with hilarious characters who are far deeper than they seem - mostly girls, as I don't see guys being all that into this story. There are some issues with cross-dressing (such as Haruhi hiding her gender and her father being a transvestite) and homosexuality (a.k.a. "twincest," although they are only putting on an act, and the Host Club guests fangirling over the supposed "love quadrangle" in the Club), but if you can get past those elements then you can find a story with a lot of heart, and an adorable love story to boot.

*** Spoiler Alert:









I just had to... They're so cute!!!