Hiromu Arakawa
Fullmetal Alchemist

I don't know about you, but even just the thought of trying to talk about something (anything) that has contributed, even in the slightest, to who I am today makes me feel bad. It makes me feel small in front of something enormous.

"Fullmetal Alchemist" is neither a manga nor an anime (even though, of course, it is both). FMA is first and foremost an experience. An experience that could change a life or a way of thinking. In the end, all you need to know is one simple thing. It's the Principle of Equivalent Exchange: "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost." Upon this statement, the author Arakawa decided to build this entire huge story/life lesson/adventure. Essentially, the principle of equivalent exchange is the storyline of FMA. In the end, it's true, and we all know it, that you don't receive anything unless you give something in return. Always.

Making a summary of the plot or telling you something about all the terminology hidden behind the world of the steel alchemist is impossible for me (besides, it would also be quite useless). But take a moment to check out my user profile. That "thing" (somewhat undefined) you see in the image is the antagonist of the work in question. Yes. That "thing" that smirks inside a flask; it doesn't even have a name. I mean, Arakawa called it (just to mock it) "Omuncolo" (The Little One). As you see it, it is completely useless. It serves no purpose. It is so desperately in need of humans that it hates them to the point of desiring total control over them. In no film, no novel, no anime is there a character who is SIMULTANEOUSLY so wicked, curious, ruthless, naive, desperate, pathetic, and powerful. Talk about the anti-hero. Such a ridiculous little creature has all those emotions together. Why must one be everything? FMA is a work that traverses all the emotions and all the 7 deadly sins that a man can experience throughout his life's journey. Because it is at the end that accounts are settled. Because we can be envious, bad, good, but in the end (well, some sooner and some later) we all have an appointment we cannot miss or avoid. In short, folks, you know it too, there's no escaping it. But then why sacrifice everything? Why not create something that lasts forever, in our place?

In the end, this is just a manga, don't expect to find "important answers" inside it (and it would be a shame if you did!), but it is highly likely that it will increase the number of unanswered questions you already have.