Update 3/15/15

IGuys! It's been another week and what a great week it was! This coming week will be even more amazing but let's save that for next week. For now, let's get this blog out of the way. I have been planning this blog for a really long time. But first, I want to share something that I was thinking about recently.

My Top 25 Japanese Songs to Rock Out To

These are the songs that I really love just dancing to and singing at the top of my lungs whenever they come on. 

1. "MASAYUME CHASING" by BoA (from Fairy Tail) 

2. "again" by YUI (from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

3. "The Rock City Boy" by JAMIL (from Fairy Tail) 

4. "unravel" by TK from Ling tosite sigure (from Tokyo Ghoul) 

5. "Ignite" by Eir Aoi (from Sword Art Online) 

6. "Gekko Symphonia" by AKINO & AIKI from bless4 (from Aquarion EVOL)

7. "FANTASTIC TUNE" by Kensho Ono (from Kuroko no Basuke)

8. "aLIEz" by Sawano Hiroyuki [nZk]:Mizuki (from Aldnoah.Zero)

9. "Mighty Long Fall" by ONE OK ROCK 

10. "Attitude to Life" by Galneryus (from Laughing Under the Clouds) 

11. "Goyanomachiawase" by Hello Sleepwalkers (from Noragami) 

12. "Liar Mask" by Rika Mayama (from Akame ga Kill) 

13. "This game" by Suzuki Konomi (from No Game, No Life)

14. "Rising Hope" by LiSA (from The Irregular at Magic High School) 

15. "Lovers" by 7!! Seven Oops (from Naruto Shippuden) 

16. "X-encounter" by Maon Kurosaki (from Tokyo Ravens)

17. "Sign" by FLOW (from Naruto Shippuden)

18. "Baptize" by Yousei Teikoku (from Seikon no Qwaser) 

19. "Black Bullet" by Fripside (from Black Bullet)

20. "Diver" by NICO Touches the Walls (from Naruto Shippuden)

21. "Senbonzakura (feat. Hatsune Miku)" by WhiteFlame 

22. "Go!!!" by FLOW (from Naruto)

23. "MOON PRIDE" by Momoiro CloverZ

24. "If" by Nishio Kana (from Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower)

25. "Rondo" by On/Off (from Vampire Knight: Guilty)

What songs do you have on your playlist that you have no shame with rocking out to? 

Anime Review: Fullmetal Alchemist

Guys as of September 10th, 2014 at 12:16 am, I had decided that this series took the number 6 spot on my Top 10 Anime Series List. So here today, I bring you the review I worked my ass off on. By this I mean, I worked hard by watching and reading the entire series including the movies. This is going to be a full breakdown of my favorite parts of the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise. In all honesty, I prefer Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood to the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist. 

Would I recommend watching one or the other? 

I would recommend starting with Fullmetal Alchemist then watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood however both are fairly stand alone anime. Brotherhood tries to cover a lot of the material that is skipped (which had been shown in FMA) through flashbacks or stories. 

My personal opinion is that you should watch both. 

Yeah, FMA changes to a weird storyline halfway through but it is a good basis to get a feel for the world. Plus if you watch Fullmetal Alchemist first then Brotherhood you will be able to catch some inside jokes. Like when Al picks up Shao Mei and Ed then says “First kittens, now baby pandas.” This is in reference to the FMA episode Flame vs Fullmetal where Al picks up a stray cat and tries to take it home with him. Of course a cool thing is that both the Japanese and the English dub are pretty similar for both series despite the six year difference between the making of both. There are some notable differences particularly in the English dub from FMA to Brotherhood. The first being Alphonse Elric’s voice actor. When FUNimation originally dubbed Fullmetal Alchemist in 2003 they weren’t aware that Japan had any idea that they would be rebooting the series in 2009. So without this information, they cast young Aaron Dismuke to play the younger Elric brother. He was on 12 at the time. When it was announced the Brotherhood would be released they were at a loss. No longer the twelve-year-old boy, the now nearly adult Aaron was no longer fit to play the part of Al. That is what led to the subsequent cast change to Maxey Whitehead. Fair warning it takes some getting used to if you are going to switch from FMA to Brotherhood fairly quickly. Despite her amazing performance, it sounds very different from one show to the next. In the Japanese dub, Al is still played by Rie in both dubs, so no hassle there. You also have the addition of several new characters to the story so that required the casting of even more new voice actors. However, one voice actor got to play the part of a different character even though he was once a part of the original story. Yes, Aaron Dismuke was awarded the role of the young version of Van Hohenheim. It was really nice of FUNimation to find a role that fit perfectly. What better way to bring Aaron’s Fullmetal career full circle than to cast the famed Al voice actor as the young version of the Elric brothers’ father.

The cast is the best part. They did so good in both Japanese and English. 

Edward Elric - Romi Park & Vic Mignogna

Alphonse Elric - Rie Kugimiya & Aaron Dismuke/Maxey Whitehead

Winry Rockbell - Megumi Toyoguchi/Megumi Takamoto & Caitlin Glass

Izumi Curtis - Shoko Tsuda & Christine Auten

Van Hohenheim - Masashi Ebara/Unshou Ishizuka & Scott McNeil/John Swasey

Roy Mustang - Toru Okawa/Shinichiro Miki & Travis Willingham

Riza Hawkeye - Michiko Neya/Fumiko Orikasa & Colleen Clinkenbeard

Jean Havoc - Yasunori Matsumoto/Yuji Ueda & Mike McFarland

Heymans Breda - Tomoyuki Shimura/Biichi Satou & Josh Berry/Jeremy Inman

Vato Falman - Takehiro Murozono/Kenji Hamada & Kyle Hebert

Kain Fuery - Tetsu Shiratori/Tetsuya Kakihara & Kevin M. Connolly

Maes Hughes - Keiji Fujiwara & Sonny Strait

Alex Louis Armstrong - Kenji Utsumi & Christopher Sabat

Olivier Mira Armstrong - Yoko Somi & Stephanie Young

Denny Brosh - Masao Harada/Yuki Hayashi & Jim Foronda

Maria Ross - Mitsuki Saiga/Kaori Nazuka & Meredith McCoy

Sheska - Naomi Wakabayashi/Chika Fujimura & Gwendolyn Lau

Solf J. Kimblee - Yuji Ueda/Hiroyuki Yoshino & Eric Vale

Shou Tucker - Makoto Nagai & Chuck Huber

Scar - Ryotaro Okiayu/Kenta Miyake & Dameon Clarke/J. Michael Tatum

And many more! (It's really hard to list EVERYONE, so I listed a few)

Setting aside the story and the characters...a favorite part of mine and my favorite part in almost all shows is the music. This series is without a doubt a favorite. The openings and endings are so beautiful and fitting. Plus there are so many great bands who put forth music for this amazing series. 

Fullmetal Alchemist OP

- Melissa by Porno Graffiti

- READY STEADY GO by L `Arc-en-Ciel

- UNDO by COOL JOKE

- Rewrite by Asian Kung-Fu Generation 

Fullmetal Alchemist ED

- Kesenai Tsumi by Nana Kitade

- Tobira no Mukou He by YeLLOW Generation

- Motherland by Crystal Kay

- I Will by Sowelu 

- Kanashimi no Kizu by Nana Kitade

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa

- Link by L `Arc-en-Ciel

- LOST HEAVEN by L `Arc-en-Ciel

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OP

- again by YUI

- Hologram by NICO Touches the Walls

- Golden Time Lover by Sukima Switch

- Period by CHEMISTRY

- Rain by SID

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ED 

- Uso by SID

- LET IT OUT by Miho Fukuhara

- Tsunaida Te by Lil'B

- Shunkan Sentimental by SCANDAL

- RAY OF LIGHT by Shoko Nakagawa

- Drama by SID

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos

- Chasing hearts by miwa

- GOOD LUCK MY WAY by L `Arc-en-Ciel

As a whole I rate the series a perfect 10/10. Now as for individual scores. 

Fullmetal Alchemist - 7.5/10

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa - 8/10

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 9.5/10

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos - 8/10

What are your thoughts on this series? Do you agree that it is a great series? Let me know. 

That's it for this week, I'll see you all soon. 

Until then, 

Source

Ja ne!

xx Kat

=^.^=