Who are you calling a pipsqueak midget?!

So while I wait for my new Yosemite photos being uploaded to Facebook, I'll do another review on Fullmetal Alchemist.

Alchemy is the science of understanding matter, breaking it down, and then reconstructing it into something else. It can even turn lead into gold. However, it's not an all powerful science. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That's what the Elric brother, Edward and Alphonse, learned the night they attempted to bring their mother back from the dead.

Born in a small town of Resembool in the country Amestris, Edward and his younger brother, Alphonse, live with their mother and developed an aptitude for alchemy at a young age. Their father, Hohenheim, left home for an unknown reason when they were little and their mother, Trisha Elric, died years later of a terminal illness.

Distressed by their mother's death, Edward and Alphonse began researching human transmutation, an forbidden alchemy where one attempts to create or modify a human being. After a year of training alchemy, they attempt to bring their mother back, but this attempt failed. Not only what they created wasn't human, but Edward lost his left leg while Alphonse lost his entire body. Desperate to save the only family he had left, Edward sacrificed his right arm, putting Alphonse's soul into a suit of armor.

Some days later, a state alchemist named Roy Mustang visited the brothers, discovering their attempt at human transmutation. Impressed by how Edward was able to survive, he suggests to him to become a state alchemist to help him and Alphonse recover their bodies. The next day, close family friends Winry Rockbell and her grandmother Pinako replace Edward's arm and leg with automail, a type of prosthetic limb. After a year of therapy, Edward becomes the youngest state alchemist ever.

After becoming a state alchemist, Edward and Alphonse leave their home to search for the Philosopher's Stone(For Harry Potter fans, yes it's the same thing as the Sorcerer's Stone), a legendary substance that ignores the laws of alchemy, making the brothers able to bring their normal bodies back.

Another mainstream anime that's really great. A mix of comedy, action and some drama, this anime has broken another scale of anime rating.

Now, there are actually two Fullmetal Alchemist series: Fullmetal Alchemist and FMA: Brotherhood. Here's the difference of the two so you know which ones you're watching.

The original Fullmetal Alchemist series follows the manga until about halfway through the series where it begins to run on a totally different story and it ends with a movie called Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. In FMA: Brotherhood, it follows all of the manga and this summer there is going to be a release of a movie called Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos. I still have yet to finish Brotherhood but so far it's really good and the original anime series is really great to watch too.

~Liz~

I am God!

So my ongoing streak of posts continues with Death Note.

This series follows Light Yagami (Literally his name is Light), a very intelligent high school student who hates the world of crimes and corruptions he lives in. One day he discovers a mysterious notebook labeled "Death Note" lying in the grass on his school campus. Inside he finds instructions for it that say if he writes a person's name in it then that person will die and a few various other rules. Curious and bored, Light takes the Death Note home and experiments it on a couple criminals. Realizing it actually works he begins killing more criminals until he meets the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami (God of death[not to be confused with the soul reapers from Bleach]) named Ryuk, who purposely dropped the Death Note to Earth out of boredom. Light plans to become a hero to rid the world of criminals and anyone who gets in his way to create a clean utopia. He gains popular support throughout Japan under the name Kira as he continues killing criminals.

However, his plan backfires when the killings come to an excess and catch the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known as "L". With L's intelligence, they get closer and closer to Kira even to the extent where they put cameras in the suspect's home. Will Light be caught and arrested or is he just a step ahead of the police and L?

This is a pretty mainstream anime, so it's very popular among many anime fans. It's actually a really good series to watch with its many twists and turns. On my broken scale of awesomeness, this anime's around a sixteen. It's a great anime to watch if you have just begun watching it or you need something a little scary and thrilling to watch.

~Liz~

I hereby accept the terms of your contract!

For my next review, I've chosen the series Code Geass.

This series is set in an alternate universe where the world is split up by three empires, the Holy Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation, and the Euro Universe. It takes place after Britannia's conquest of Japan with their new weapons called Knightmare Frames (basically giant Transformers you can control). Britannia successfully took over Japan, taking away its citizen's rights, freedom, and their country's name, renaming it Area 11 and referring Japanese as Elevens.

Seven years later, the story focuses on its main character, Lelouch Lamperouge, or previously known as Lelouch vi Britania, who was exiled by his father, Charles zi Britania, after the murder of his mother that left his sister, Nunnally, blind and crippled. While ditching school and accidentally getting himself in a battle between anti-government terrorists and the Britannian Army in a ghetto, his life is saved by a mysterious girl named C.C (C2 in the English dub) and she makes a contract with him giving him a power called Geass, which allows him to make a person follow any order with eye contact.

With his new power and intellect, he becomes the leader of a resistance group called the Black Knights disguised as a man known as Zero. With the Black Knights, he sets out to get revenge for the murder of his mother and to create a world where Nunnally can live in safety and happiness.

Full of action, drama, and a hint of comedy, I rate this anime a fifteen out of ten. It's a bit bloody and scary at times, but the storyline's worth watching this anime. There may be some parts here and there for a mature audience but it's not that bad. Totally recommend it.

~Liz~

Get away from my ramen!

Let's see. Boring summer day, blistering hot outside, nothing to do.... Let's do another anime review!

In this anime called Air TV, it follows Yukito Kunisaki, a travelling puppeteer in search for the "girl in the sky", a story told to him by his late mother. As he goes into a small seaside town, he meets a young girl named Misuzu Kamio. Misuzu's sincere yet clumsy and is very eager to befriend Yukito. She constantly attempts to play with him until he eventually follows her home for a chance to eat. After persuading her aunt and foster mother, Haruko, Yukito is allowed to stay with them.

As he lives with them, he learns that Misuzu suffers a mysterious illness she has whenever she gets too close to someone. Is she the "girl in the sky" Yukito has been looking for and can he do something to save her?

A combination of funny, cute, sad, and just plain beautiful, it's a great anime that'll grab anyone's attention. There is also a movie, but I recommend the actual series before the movie because it explains some more details and introduces really fun characters such as Kano Kirishima and Minagi Tohno. This anime has to be at the top of my recommendation list of animes.

~Liz~

I have no time for ordinary humans!

For my next review (after a day), I chose The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Haruhi Suzumiya, the title character, has been an outcast ever since middle school. When she was in the 6th grade realizing she was just one person in a sea of people after going to a baseball game, she sets out to make her life as interesting as it can be including the want to befriend espers, aliens, and time travelers. Little does she know that she has the power to alter reality to her liking.

When she starts high school, she forms a club called the SOS Brigade and "recruits" Kyon(narrator of the anime), Yuki Nagato, Mikuru Asahina, and Itsuki Koizumi. The purpose of the SOS Brigade is to investigate mysterious phenomenon.

Told from Kyon's point of view, he's the only one that knows that Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki aren't exactly normal humans. It's revealed to him that Yuki is an alien, Mikuru is a time traveler, and Itsuki is an esper. They've been sent to join the SOS Brigade to observe Haruhi to maintain her ability to alter reality.

I've been told that there was a re-broadcast of this series and it's about 14 episodes longer than the original anime. I still have to check that out but I really recommend the original series first. It's very funny and humorous and of course a very popular anime seen just about everywhere on the Internet. If you haven't seen it yet, look for it now!

~Liz~

Timotei~

I haven't done a review in a while so I thought I'd do one. I saw this anime a long time ago but it's really good. It's called Lucky Star.

Lucky Star follows the lives of four Japanese girls and their lives as high schoolers. As the story progresses and they go through their second and third years, it also begins to follow the lives of their underclassmen friends. It's a very humorous anime just about normal teenagers going through life. While these teens have normal lives, they're great characters to like and laugh with.

The main cast includes Konata Izumi, Kagami Hiiragi, Tsukasa Hiiragi, and Miyuki Takara.

Konata is the representation of an otaku and is childish but a good-natured leader among her friends. Despite her laziness of being occupied with games, manga, and/or anime, she's very intelligent and athletic, but doesn't join any school clubs because then she'll "miss her prime time anime shows".

Kagami and Tsukasa are fraternal twins with obvious different looks and of course with different personalities.

Kagami is an intelligent girl who studies hard for her excellent grades. She is known as a stereotypical tsukkomi, so she's the smarter and more reasonable character and usually criticizes the others for their mistakes and exaggerations. However, she can be shy and emotional at times which makes her appear as a tsundere character as well.

Tsukasa is very different from her older sibling. She's depicted as loving, friendly, good-natured but clumsy person or an airhead. While she's good in cooking, she doesn't do well in studying or athletics. She often asks Kagami for help on homework though it doesn't help much.

Miyuki is a beautiful, smart and well-mannered girl from a wealthy family. She's shown as a stereotypical meganekko, or a glasses-wearing girl. Her classmates often look to her for help on their studies, and she's been known to give long and highly-detailed explanations on many matters.

On a scale of one to ten for this anime, I think I broke the scale on rating this anime. It's a very great anime to get attached to.

~Liz~

Weirdest Anime in the Universe

If someone were to ask me that, my answer would definently be FLCL (Fooly Cooly).

FLCL follows Naota Nandaba's coming of age. He's a 12-year-old boy who lives in the suburb of Mabase where "nothing amazing ever happens" and now has a new building called Medical Mechanica. That is until he's run over by a mysterious woman on her Vespa scooter and then hit in the head by an electric bass guitar. Later he's shocked to find that the same woman, Haruko Haruhara (who's also an alien), in his home and now a maid at his home. Since then, Naota's been having robots come out of his head and gets stuck in a three-way battle with Haruko, Medical Mechanica, and a commander believing Medical Mechanica is out to conquer the galaxy.

To be honest, this anime is really messed up filled with pure chaos but a lot of comedic moments that seem to drag people into watching this show. I've had three friends and my dad tell me to watch it and I honestly don't regret it. The only downside is the fact that the entire series is only six episodes long. But it's worth the two hours. It's a pretty good anime to get hooked on for its comedy. As weird as this anime may be, I recommend it.

~Liz~

A Rice Ball in a Fruits Basket

About a week ago I finished another shoujo anime series called Fruits Basket.

It focuses around orphaned high school student Tohru Honda who after being found living in a tent by classmate Yuki Sohma, is offered to stay with him and his cousin, Shigure in exchange for housekeeping. When Tohru begins living with them and meets another cousin named Kyo, she discovers that the Sohmas have a secret. Thirteen members of the Sohma family are cursed by animals of the Chinese zodiac and whenever they are hugged or under a great deal of stress they turn into whatever animal they're cursed by. When she finds out, Tohru promises not to tell and is allowed to keep living with them.

As the story progresses, she meets more members of the Sohma family with the curse and learn of their lives and what struggles they have to go through living with the curse. Her large positive influence will impact the lives of the Sohmas forever.

It's a great anime with really fun characters and a good story. Another great recommendation.

~Liz~

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a magical girl!

Because I have nothing better to do with myself from noon until my mom gets home I finished watching an anime series known as Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica in Japanese.

Anime plots with magical girls are super popular. Case in point: Sailor Moon or Tokyo Mew Mew. They're young girls with superhuman abilities that fight evil and protect the Earth from any kind of destruction. Simple but easily popular.

In this particular anime, magical girls fight witches which are evil creatures born from darkness and cause many murders and suicides. A creature known as an Incubator will grant a girl one wish of anything their heart desires and in exchange, the chosen girl becomes a magical girl and fights witches.

This anime revolves around 14-year-old Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki meet an Incubator named Kyubey who tries to make them magical girls, but another magical girl (and new transfer student) Homura Akemi tries to prevent Kyubey from doing so. Along the way, Madoka and Sayaka befriend a third year student named Mami Tomoe who is also a magical girl. While deciding what to wish for, Madoka and Sayaka slowly learn the pros and cons of becoming a magical girl and its consequences.

This is a fairly new anime just released this year, but it's very good. It may be a bit girly, but the characters are amazing along with the storyline. With great fight scenes and animation to go with it, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an anime I'd recommend to anyone who'll be interested.

~Liz~