melonmocchi

[melonmocchi]

contrasting philosophies of FMA (2003) & FMA: Brotherhood

once again loving the contrast of 03 and fmab’s core messages. they’re two sides of the same coin. 

in 03, ed and al getting their bodies back is a selfish and foolish pursuit that they can’t possibly succeed in. you can never truly restore what you’ve lost, and with every loss, you gain something. so by restoring what you lose, you’re still losing by giving up what you gained. and in every pursuit of a selfish dream, you’re turning yourself away from the world around you. from reality. and by doing so, you hurt people around you by contributing to a world of human ignorance and greed. al and ed get confronted with people who have lost things, but who wouldn’t change their situations due to the hard won lessons they’ve learned. they get confronted with the reality that getting back what they’ve lost comes at the expense of others and their relationship with each other. you have to accept your reality, but that doesn’t mean giving up. it just means making every choice in life count. “you don’t always get what you deserve, but you reap what you sow.” (and also, the idea of there not truly being a clean loss and gain, not a true equivalent exchange because everything is random and YOU assign the meaning behind what you lose and gain.)

in fmab, ed and al are going to get their bodies back. they get confronted with people who are resigned to their situations. who to the brothers, “have given up.” and in the perspective of fmab as opposed to how 03 tackles this same issue of the brothers perceiving someone “giving up” on reclaiming what they deserve, these people HAVE given up. and that’s bad. because resigning yourself to your unfortunate situation isn’t how you make things better for yourself. the brothers are right to hold onto a dream. to do everything in their power to get back what they’ve lost. and by never giving up, they succeed. they lose, but they gain it back and more through relationships with others. “you may suffer, but in the end you’ll get what you deserve if you’re willing to fight for what you believe and your dreams.” (and also, the idea of every loss leading to a net gain.)

both of these messages i agree with whole heartedly and find them both incredibly beautiful in their own ways. i think they can coexist and should. and it’s another reason i like to look at both animes as two halves of a whole. they supplement and enrich each other by showing their different philosophies. 

03 is more grounded and thus bittersweet, presenting a rather painful reality but providing hope. here’s how things are, and here’s how you make the most of how they are. fmab is more idealistic and thus inspiring. you don’t have to just accept it. you can have everything you truly need by making the most of every opportunity for growth.

in 03, mustang and edward stand in isolation as they process how they contribute to an unjust world by being blinded by their dreams. they ultimately both admit to each other that they can’t be complacent or apathetic to the world around them

another contrast is the theme of affecting the world. in 03, the brothers’ actions have consequences, and acting like they’re separate from the world and can defy it hurts the world by turning away from how it is. ive already explained how the main thesis of 03 is “there will never be a war that isn’t in some part caused by all of us. a whole world exists outside of us and our dreams.” 

in fmab, mustang and edward stand as one of many who can work together to create change in an unjust world and envision a brighter future

meanwhile fmab says that your actions inspire and connect people around you. your dreams inspire people. the contrasting thesis of fmab is “do everything you can to protect those you love, and they’ll do what they can to protect who they love. that’s the most us tiny humans can do.”

both series follow the prospect of Optimistic Nihilism. nothing matters and we’re all small, but we give ourselves and each other purpose, we have effects on the world around us, positive and negative. we do not operate separate from the world. we need to see and accept the world as it is so we can enact change starting with ourselves, and we need to see how the world could be so that we can enact change by sharing that vision with others. we can follow our dreams and inspire others with them, but we also need to be careful on what aspects of reality you’re ignoring or sacrificing to bring a dream to life.

[melonmocchi]

every time i re-watch FMAB i wanna SCREAM ABOUT IT WITH SOMEONE

i need to talk about the complexity of this show, how the heroes goals change as they gain information about the world, how they make HUGE mistakes and we the viewers learn that we made the mistake of thinking that the main characters were important, that this story was about them, when they are simply the vehicle to deliver the story of a war, a conspiracy, MULTIPLE tragedies including genocides. the show shifts halfway through to broaden the viewpoints, we get flashbacks from the genocide that MOST OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS PARTICIPATED IN (yes the fandom favorites), and its horrific. it's disgustingly realistic even in a world where people casually use magic powers. Can we talk abotu Riza? how she learned that the entire "civil war" was orchestrated by one person who wanted to consume god, and the main characters were like "so it wasnt your fault! it was the conspirators!" and Riza said "No, it doesnt matter who started the fighting, we soldiers still pulled those triggers"

there's SO MUCH more to say i have so many emotions and thoughts about this. About how even if shit was mostly going down in one country, other countries were involved. royals from other countries trying to steal taboo magic, conflicts along boarders that arent resolved, and that if somehow this one country didnt get its shit together its founder and secret leader would consume god and wouldnt stop until it consumed the world.

oh and how that monster who wanted to consume god was created? that history and that tragedy? holy shit i have SO MANY THOUGHTS i cannot say more.

i watched the 2003 FMA, in which the conflict was... smaller, between individuals. it was good but it wasn't as impactful, and it's ending soured it for me. (i did like the lore for creation of homunculi better in 2003 though! and I maintain that position)

[melonmocchi]

The thing about being an athlete is that my family took that as the signal to designate me the hard-jar-opening, heavy-furniture-moving and "oh-no-we-forgot-something-go-run-and-get-it" tasks

[melonmocchi]

This trashcan of a blog is depressing, but somehow its less depressing that life one year ago. Like it went from sucking in a 20 level to suck in a 10 level. It gets better.

[melonmocchi]

Gonna sound stupid, but life sucks and limiting yourself to just exist in the sofa in the corner of the hall at the public library makes life suck a little less

[melonmocchi]

MomI'mtiredofplayingofbeingaSTEMmajor

[melonmocchi]

Wonder how my friends would react if I told them that I have a blog ranting random shit in english

[melonmocchi]

My mom is getting tired of hearing me talk about enzymes.

[melonmocchi]

Look at my alpaca

[melonmocchi]

I love the human impulse of starting a fire and dancing with drums and chants

[melonmocchi]

Just saying, that Zeus being some kind of a villain in Thor: Love and Thunder makes a lot of sense. And now we have to see him being his own damn self (cuz of that sneak peek ya know)

#ZeusIsADick

[melonmocchi]

Damn I love science but I hate academia

[melonmocchi]

Everything hurts a little right now.

[melonmocchi]

"I think you have a problem" thanks maam I've known since 2016

[melonmocchi]

Ended up brinking beer at a random alley, 12 pm, because I feel lonely and like shit and damn its been 6 years and it seems running away from your problems its the answer

[melonmocchi]

Today is election day. . . . Damn it, here we go again

[melonmocchi]

Living the life