I watched most of it as a kid, and loved it. As a kid all I cared about was this samurai in a post apocalyptic wasteland who fought this weird dude with unclear powers, and occasionally martial-danced. Might have to give it another go.
Katana Magic and Gen(justu)
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Gyakuto
Senior Master
If it’s a cartoon, I will not watch it!
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
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Gyakuto
Senior Master
Oooo, new avatar!
I’ll give it a go, but I have a low tolerance for cheesy things!
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
What if I told you Mako did the intro, just like he did in Conan the Barbarian.
There are few martial arts shows like this one. It's personally very special to me and all the other grown man children.
Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape shifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me.
Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future where my evil is law. Now the fool seeks to return to the past and undo the future that is Aku!
O'Malley
2nd Black Belt
The one anime intro that really stuck with me was this one:
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth. We were wrong, but to learn this we had to give something in return..."
Full metal alchemist? Guessing just based on the alchemy. I should go and watch that at some point.
O'Malley
2nd Black Belt
Correct. It's a masterpiece that starts from questions such as "what are the limits of humankind?", "are there things that Man should not be able to do, limits imposed upon him by God?", "would you violate those natural laws for those you care about? And what price would you be willing to pay?". Then it addresses themes that include trauma; guilt; love; hate; revenge; racism; atrocities; humanity; transcendence; totalitarianism; joining a warped system for personal reasons; war; God's privilege as creator, and whether science should let Man take up that role; ambition; etc.
The newer anime, FMA: Brotherhood, is closer to Arakawa's manga so it's the default recommendation to make to people who want to watch the show. However, I'm quite fond of the first anime adaptation that took liberties and made changes - including major ones - but mixed in some really cool ideas that offered a grittier take (and I like its color palette better). And of course I saw that one as a kid and it resulted in some of the most iconic moments of my childhood. But the first adaptation botched the ending.
In the end, both provide different but IMO equally valid takes on FMA.
Do both anime follow the same general plot and one's just a newer version, or is it two different stories completely?
O'Malley
2nd Black Belt
They follow the same general plot for the first half, then the older one (2003) goes in a different direction, with original characters and ending, probably because the manga was not finished at the time. Brotherhood (2009) strictly follows the manga.
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
Never seen it myself either. I like manga and anime but man, there are just too many to keep up with.
I only watched SJ during it's original run on Cartoon Network because a roomie of mine told me I'd love it. Waiting for season 5 took almost half my lifetime.
Fast forward to my current love of all things jujutsu and kung fu, now you know me front to back.
Has it really been 20 years???
Do you have a link to where we could sign up for the competitions, or look into it more?
Gyakuto
Senior Master
7-10 years?
O'Malley
2nd Black Belt
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