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Summary: Dark, atmospheric and complemented by fitting soundtracks, Death note, built upon the dynamics of two polar opposite geniuses playing mind-games as they try to out-maneuver each other at every step, takes the over-the-top nature of anime and combines it with a certain degree of realism, making the perfect formula for a powerful thriller involving tense, complex situations which aren't entirely nonsensical or cheesy. Unfortunately it is good only for the first half of the show which is a completely self-contained story by the way. The second part fails in multiple ways as it tries to imitate the first half but lacking its heart, only ... manages to extend it unnecessarily and taint its reputation.

The shows consists of 37 episodes, 25 of which make the fabulous first half.

Premise: It has unique premise involving a supernatural item called Death note, a notebook which can kill anyone whose name is written on it and whose working is described in a pretty detained manner. It falls into the possession of a genius teenager who wants to use it to 'cleanse the world from criminal filth' by killing them off and becoming a symbol of fear and justice but before that he must deal with a certain 'world's greatest detective' who is set to stop this arrogant abuse of power.


First I'll discuss the first half of the show; how it keeps the viewers interested, what are its good points and what are the aspects that felt underwhelming.

How does it keep the audience from getting bored and how interesting it manages to be?

A large chunk of the show involves:

1. A spirit of rivalry between the main character Light Yagami and the antagonist detective L. Both share moments with each other as suspect and detective. Both are very interesting characters and have some qualities completely opposite to each other, so its interesting to see them juxtaposed. For eg: Light is a liar and a narcissist. He can be charming whenever he wants to be. He deals with problems in a clever but straightforward way. L on the other is honest, doesn't care about how others see him, is quirky and awkward and unorthodox and unpredictable in his way of dealing with things. At the same time both the characters are similar to some extent. Both are very intelligent and are represented as a symbol of justice, when in truth neither care about justice so much as they do about being right and satisfying their ego . L just wants to be right about his conclusions and Light uses his twisted sense of justice to satisfy his God complex.

2. L coming up with clever ways to catch the mysterious, 'supernatural'  killer of criminals, that surprises the audience, a feeling shared by the side characters who work with him as well. I find it somewhat amusing when side characters analyse, appreciate and act surprised at the main characters doing extraordinary stuff because of how over-the-top and overused it is. Since L is dealing with a supernatural enemy he knows nothing about, he looks for patterns and tries to figure out, how the killer works.

3. Light also exploring and experimenting with the working of the death note. The notebook which kills anyone whose name is written on it. What if two or more people share the same name? What will be the cause of their death? Can the cause be altered? To what degree? Its interesting to learn about such an elaborate system.

4. Light coming up with an equally clever way to deal with L's plans. This is the most important aspect of the show. You can even hear Light's monolgues about his thought process which makes everything more intense and interesting to follow. Light finds himself in situations that can ruin everything he has worked for, yet he thinks of something clever and works up to get the desired result which is difficult to achieve. This creates a strong sense of thrill. In the beginning episodes, Light goes to many different places to deal with different kinds of situations on the spot. This kind of traveling, change of environment always feels great. The side character that reacts to Light's plan is a death-reaper, the one who dropped the death-note, who follows him around just for observation because he is bored. So his reactions to his plans aren't as expressive as L's team's to L's plans are.

5. Light showing the kind of person he is. Its interesting because Light is one heck of a character. To the death-reaper who follows him around, or just for the sake of saying it because its an anime afterall or in the form of unsaid monolgues, Light expresses himself a lot. Although usually stoic, nonchalant and reserved, Light is very expressive when it comes to his secret life of 'bringer of justice'. His reactions to whenever he outwit anyone, is a sight to behold. The sly smile followed by crazy maniacal laughter if the place allows it, the desperate obsession to 'defeat' L is really interesting to watch.


The good points:

1. It has one of the most intriguing beginning. It will get you hooked instantly.

2. A very interesting main character. His traits complement each other. These include stoic personality, a detachment from life because its boring, a disgust for filthy criminals, sociopathic personality, narcissism, asexual orientation, high intelligence, ability to socialize and act charmingly whenever required etc. His monolgues and thinking process are interesting to hear, plans are clever and the sheer amount of chaotic aura he emits whenever someone innocent who dared to challenge him falls a victim to his scheming, is beautifully depicted. He is a true villain main character.

3. A perfect antagonist, who as mentioned before shares many similarities and differences with the protagonist. His cleverness combined with quirkiness is charming in its own way.

4. The show doesn't take sides. It doesn't put L on a pedestal and treats Light as a villain destined to lose. You can root for either. One can't predict who will win the battle of wits.

5. Its very thrilling, intense and clever. One genius trying to manipulate the other. One with supernatural aid, other with the aid of the law system and organization. Both finding themselves in tense situations and trying to outwit their rival. The things that lead to the situations and the characters' way of handling it is sufficiently believable. What makes a situation thrilling? There are many factors like the viewers must care about the characters, the stakes must be high, the outcome unpredictable, the actions believable, the directing, silence, music, it can even involve complex situations i.e involving many characters with different or conflicting motivations, their ability to interact with the environment or their options should varied but known to audience or unpredictable but clever etc. Based on these criterias, Death note is indeed a great thriller.

6. Elaborated rules about the working of the supernatural elements i.e. death note. As mentioned before, its interesting to learn about along with light. The reason why Death note works as a supernatural show.

7. The last two episodes and the ending is really good.

8. The visuals. Dark, atmospheric, beautiful, unique. Can't be described in just words. There is a strong 2000s feel in the show. There are also elements of old western Christian art i.e. to say it has a gothic feel in 2000s setting. Sometimes everything becomes sepia, while only L and Light's hair remain blue and red colored respectively which looks really cool. The tall glass buildings at night or dusk is something you'll get to see frequently and its beautiful. Visuals also include character designs and they are perfectly fitting to each character. Light's stoicism, charm and villanous aura and L's calmness and quirkiness are perfectly encapsulated by their respective designs. The artstyle is one of the most beautiful in all of fiction. However the animation while good, could've been better or clearer.

9. The music. Again, one of the best ost set in all of fiction. Perfectly fits the visual style and the feeling the anime wants to evoke. The music has a Christian feel to it. Infact, some of the music is inspired from Gregorian chant. It has lots of ominous music that Light would love to hear while celebrating his victory with a smug smile after crushing innocent lives for the 'bigger good'. It also has the music that can be described as the sound of high functioning sociopaths thinking. The intro and outro are also perfect. The second opening in particular which is a metal music evoking the feeling of sheer insanity.


The bad/underwhelming points:

1. Death note isn't exactly rational fiction. The individuals and organizations must act in a believable manner with as little plot convenience as possible. Sometimes the characters may not take the best or safest decision, or may come up with a plan involving too much convenience or luck.

2. Even the first half of the show isn't perfect in terms of enjoyment. There are certain plot points which undermine aspects that made the show good. For example the rivalry between Light and L as well as the villanous nature of Light is temporarily thrown out of the window in the middle of the series for reasons I can't reveal without spoiling. At the beginning of the show, in the first 10 or 11 episodes, Light used to go to different places and deal with various kinds of problems or situations on the spot. This outgoing nature of Light and thus the plot becomes less relevant as the show progresses. As I have already mentioned before countless times, the rivalry between L and Light and the villanous nature of Light drives the show. Without it, there isn't a lot to keep the audience interested. As a result, the quality shakes slightly during the middle of the first part of the show. Anyway the dip in quality isn't too big and the last 2 episodes of the first part and its ending makes up for it.

3. A female character named Misa Amane, a young goth girl with blonde hair plays a very important role in the anime. Unfortunately she is an obsessive simp for Light, who behaves in a dumb manner and is treated as a comic relief. Her character is obviously exaggerated and obsession with the leader or idol of a cult (as Light's action become more and more noticeable, people start supporting the mysterious bringer of justice) isn't entirely impossible but Misa is not a very interesting character and is somewhat incongruous to the tone of the series.

4. Sometimes, the show can become too over the top/silly/animeish/weird etc. For eg: the tennis match scene.


Now coming to the 2nd part of the show. I'll keep it short.

Good points:
The last two episodes and the ending. It was very intense. There were some problems with the ending but it was as good as the ending of the first half of the show if not better, especially in terms of raw emotion.
The animation and music was still good ofcourse.

Bad points:
Everything else. Tries to imitate the first half but lacks everything that made it good. The new characters weren't very interesting. The cleverness of the show was gone. The pacing was too fast and I felt nothing watching it.

Summary:
A unique supernatural slice of life anime with a comedic tone and occasional bursts of mild horror. Apart from the unusual blend of horror and comedy, what sets it apart from other anime is that it has an elaborate mechanism of the supernatural or rules governing their behavior.

Story:
Its about a girl named Miko who suddenly starts seeing supernatural entities everywhere. These supernatural entities cling on to people without their knowledge. Miko does her best to stay away from them pretending she can't see them, afraid of what their reaction to her unique powers might be but whenever one of them gets too close to ... her, she gets really scared yet continues her act with a poker face. She tries to lead a normal life but fears that these ghosts can harm the people they cling to and sees it as an act of haunting, so she must look for ways to protect herself and those close to her. This premise is perfect to blend of slice of life with horror.

Slice of life, comedy and characters:
Its a very unique kind of slice of life which those who aren't very interested in the genre like myself might enjoy because it combines it with an interesting premise involving elements of supernatural, horror and comedy.
The characters always find a reason to go on everyday adventures to lots of different places. These include a sight-seeing trip for which they must go through a dark tunnel beneath a bridge, search for a scared dog in a gloomy abandoned building, a visit to a shrine free from human activities to get blessing against evil spirits, shopping at an occult shop, a visit to a horror house etc. All these places I mentioned and even regular places like a dark store-room in school's gym or the hall where Miko is watching TV with her brother or an empty street at night where Miko once went to get a drink from the vending machine, they all look really good, peaceful and evoke a very cozy feeling as if you are present there with the characters. These qualities nail major aspects of a slice of life series involving cute girls doing cute things in a world of terrifying spirits doing weird things.

There are three major characters:
Miko, a usually quiet girl who can see supernatural stuff most of which scares her so she pretends not to see them. She helps people around her and puts on a poker face even when she is scared out of her wits from ghosts a hair's breadth away.
Hana, a kind, cheerful, plump, airhead girl with a huge appetite who is oblivious to the supernatural stuff around her. She is Miko's best friend whom she must protect.
Yulia, a short, slightly awkward girl who too can see the supernatural but only the weak ones. Due to some misunderstandings she is scared of Miko and considers her a rival.
As you would expect from the description above, the characters with their traits and dynamics add to the comedic-tone to the slice of life aspect of the anime. Its no top-tier character writing but it never intended to be. The characters are cute, quirky and wholesome and their design compliment their personalities.

Another character I liked is an old lady who has a lot of experience in occultism. She had a shop where she sold supernatural stuff to repel spirits. I love it when world-building involves a town or city having small locations like parks, houses, shops etc. where you can find an interesting or eccentric character who plays a certain role or gets involved in events of the story, some of which occur at that very location. This is a type of world-building very common in video-games. I hope this series does more of this thing.

There are several scenes in which we can hear Miko's monolgues. However I would've really appreciated if there was more of Miko's monolgues of her thinking about obvious questions like why she has such unique powers? Did supernatural entities exist even before she got her powers or did she get those powers after they started showing up? If they were always present and everything went normally for her, then maybe ghosts clinging to her friends isn't something to worry about etc.

Spirits, good or bad have longing for something they did not get when they were alive. As she is the only one who can see them, it is only Miko who can deal with them. This, as one would expect, creates opportunities to come up with story arcs about the spirit forementioned and those related to them and finally putting an end to their story in a meaningful way. Mieruko-chan did have a few stories like this to tell especially one at the end of season 1. However these stories felt fairly simple, had somewhat bland characters about which the audience did not know much about or cared about. Despite all this, the show presented those stories in an emotional manner and expectedly failed to invoke any real emotion in the audience. Also not all spirits need to have a short arc. Some spirit can stick around as a fun side character and get their story completed at the end of the series.

Supernatural elements:
The entire world is filled with supernatural entities of various types. Their concentration varies from place to place depending upon the amount of negative energy i guess. Their behavior and interaction also vary with people, other supernatural entities and the place where they are. There are supernatural objects to repel them as well. The supernatural elements are coherent/sensible/inter-related unlike many other series. I like portable or small fantasy/supernatural elements and it even has those. The sheer quantity and variety of supernatural entities is another strong point of the show.
As mentioned earlier it also explores the mechanics of the supernatural which is really interesting to learn about along with the main character. It is slightly similar to Light learning about the rules of Death note. This is one of the strongest aspects of the show and I fear that as more of the rules are revealed, the show will either have to come up with new ones up until the end or create interesting situations based on those concepts or mechanisms.

Horror:
Miko avoids ghosts but sometimes she finds herself in unfortunate situations where she must pretend that she can't see them or sometimes do something else about it. Horror anime avoid jumpscares and this is no exception. Mieruko chan does not intend to be scary so it may not be entirely appropriate to call it horror. It wants the viewer the feel the uneasiness of Miko. Sometimes it even intends to be somewhat thrilling. However, the show is very light-hearted and grim consequences aren't something you can find here. The outcome of supposedly thrilling situations never involve permanent effects, as expected. As a result there is a lack of any sense of thrill and suspense. Miko doesn't even have any clever ways to deal with dangerous spirits as of now. So her dealing with scary stuff, when she is mostly useless frankly speaking, despite her bravery and efforts, can be criticized as repetitive. However for some reason I still like those scenes in which Miko pretends that she can't see ghost even if they are repetitive.

Animation:
The animation is great. As mentioned before, most places look good. Their choice of colors is absolutely perfect. Everything looks cute, vibrant and colorful. Nothing to complain about here.

Sound:
Pretty good. The soundtracks suit the series. The opening and ending are great. The voice actors did a flawless job. Again nothing to complain here. Highly recommend sub even though I usually watch dub but maybe thats because I grew too used to the subbed version.

Tldr; Mieruko chan absolutely nails it as a slice-of-life show with peaceful and immersive environment explored or inhabited by cute and fun characters. It has an interesting premise that blends SoL, comedy and horror. It won't scare you or make you laugh but has ghosts and a comedic tone instead. It has an elaborate mechanism and wide variety of coherent supernatural elements. Its light-heartedness, lack of danger and lack of clever means to deal with supernatural entities implies lack of tension and repetitiveness in situations that were meant to be high on tension. Despite the repetitiveness of same type of situation, it still fun to watch. Its emotional story arcs are too simple in story and characters and couldn't evoke strong emotions. The animation, character design and sound is great.

Summary:
A psychological movie that combines realism and surrealism to 'disturb' the audience and deals with certain themes related to people involved in idol and acting industry like doubting career choice and what one really wants, insanity, idol worship and actresses having to indulge in lewd activities despite their discomfort.
Its about a young idol who decides to switch her career from a pop star to an actress, but isn't sure if thats what she really wants especially after she has to taint her pure reputation by getting involved in sex scenes and nude photography. She is also being stalked by a creepy fan who loathes ... the idea of losing his favorite idol and will cross any line to get her back on the track.
It has a bleak, faded and realistic atmosphere and slightly slow pacing which suits the movie. It involves many scenes based on simple situations (lacking complex character dynamics and variety of events) both realistic as well as surreal ones (while still retaining realism in some aspects) which involve the main character hallucinating and interacting with a version of herself that is true to herself and losing the grip of reality. Most of the scenes try really hard to come across as creepy but are often cliché. The movie subverts the expectations it developed in its audience, blurs the line between reality and delusion and requires rewatching certain scenes to grasp everything entirely.

The main appeal of this movies lies in its realism, disturbing or creepy nature, its surreal nature, its plot-twists, its atmosphere and its themes. Most of these aspects of the film however, were pretty underwhelming. If anyone were to like this movie for being thrilling, it would be hard to believe because it utterly fails in that regard. Its scenes that are meant to stimulate strong emotions feel cliché, lack intensity and are based on very simple events.

Story and its themes:
The primary theme is about how having to give up one one's passion due to various reasons can badly influence a person's mental health It involves a young girl who decides to switch her career from a pop star to an actress but has to sell her sexual appeal through stuff like doing dirty scenes or nude photography which drives her to insanity in a subtle manner.
The other theme is about how some mentally ill, creepy, obsessive fans would go to any lengths to preserve the image of the idols they worship.
Some people might complain that the movie tries to incorporate too many themes for its own good and turns out to be a mess but its themes are highly related to each other and only feel like a mess because of some coincidences the story requires to move its plot and how it intentionally tries to confuse or mislead the audience.
Another problem with the story or the themes is that even though the movie is somewhat confusing but it still involves extremely simple events or scenes to convey them.
It did manage to show somewhat intense scenes about the theme of having to do dirty sex work in the acting industry even if the actress is uncomfortable about doing so.
The scenes that are supposed to show the mental state of the main character mostly involve the MC zoning out, the MC seeing an illusion of herself in her idol star dress who is true to her desires ,talking to herself sometimes through her mirror's reflection and sometimes from outside the mirror (hallucinations). There isn't anything that great about seeing a character zone out if you can't feel their pain or relate to them or like them, which wouldn't be the case here since the MC is portrayed as a very simple and naive character without much complexity or interesting personality traits. The scenes involving hallucinations are only there to create false sense of thrill and instead create cliché representation of a person's psychology.
Coming to the theme of creepy obsessive stalker, there aren't many scenes involving complex events related to this theme. Just some gore involving characters about which the audience isn't supposed to care about, some scenes emphasizing on how the stalker keeps staring at the MC and keeps track of her and acts slightly creepy. These things would be extremely disturbing in real life but while watching a movie, extra effort need to be put if you want to recreate realistic emotions to the events that play out which this movie fails to do. Heck, the stalker is made to look so hideous just so that the audience would feel disturbed but again its not enough. There was only one major scene involving an interesting situation or event involving the stalker, which was (I hope this doesn't come across as spoiler since its predictable considering the theme), the stalker trying to assault the MC but that too was cliché.
Maybe if the movie had more complex and interesting events related to its themes that actually feel intense or thrilling (like in death note or Fight Club), the movie would've been much better even if it required some more plot conveniences. The events and characters are too simple.
To make up for this simplicity the movie tries to confuse and mislead. An example of how it does that are scenes when it cutts off to the part where MC wakes up on her bed after something bizarre happens, so that the line between dream and reality blurs. A simple way to keep track of whether something happened or not is to think about the consequences. No consequences mean it did not happen. Speaking of consequences, there should've been horde of police or investigators at the front door of the MC asking questions related to criminal activities that she got herself involved in, adversly affecting her acting career. Another thing which might've caused some confusion is the fact that the condition of the role the MC is playing as an actress in a movie is similar to her real life conditions which might confuse some. The rest of it are just some cheap and misleading tricks to create confusion.

The disturbing part:
There is very little human warmth in this movie. Whatever there is, is very formal and is for the sake of character study. It involves gore and the female MC having to sell her sexual appeal for the sake of her career. There are (almost) rape scenes shown in a disturbing and realistic manner which can make some audience uncomfortable. The MC also gets creepy hallucinations because of her problems making the movie surreal. The creepy, hideous looking stalker who is obssesed with the MC, also adds to the disturbing nature of the movie. There are some other factor as well, adding to this aspect but I didn't find any of it intense enough. There is a scene in which the MC spots the creepy MC near the place where the film shooting is occurring but the moment she turns away and then looks for him again, he vanishes like Batman which is a really cliché scene. While I don't get disturbed by fiction but I can still feel the intensity of its supposedly disturbing or creepy scenes like in surreal fiction like Fight Club or Berserk or realistic fiction like Schindler's list.

The psychological and surreal part:
Since the characters are delusional and the MC hallucinates a lot, she imagines a version of herself who is true to her heart lot.
It has lots of those cliché scenes in which a person's subconsciousness talk to them through their mirror's reflection. Anime is guilty of not being subtle enough and this movie is no exception in certain aspects. I say this particularly because of those mirror scenes. Black Swan is very similar to this movie yet it keeps the hallucination scenes to a minimum and involves very small but intense interactions between the MC and her hallucinatory self.
There are scenes in this movie in which the MC runs from and after her hallucinatory image. After the twist is revealed, you'll realise that there is a great difference between the the nature of the said image in the two scenes. Some will say that the former is some kind of foreshadowing but its really no big deal if you think about it since it doesn't take a lot to come up with foreshadowing in one and a half hour movie. That scene, frankly speaking, sucks. Its not thrilling, not beautiful, not deep. It tries to be those things but fails and is simply meaningless. It only manages to confuse the audience slightly as it cutts of to the MC waking up on her bed. As for the latter, I can't say much without spoiling but it requires two characters to have mutually consolidating mental diseases which is highly unlikely but an entertainment piece of fiction usually requires such improbable stuff to happen. That chase scene is shown from a mentally ill person's POV who hallucinates a lot but also in a manner that doesn't make sense as if she is only seeing stuff that would make the scene look more surreal for the audience. She should've seen her hallucinatory self running directly after her like a person would logically speaking but was seeing her flying and jumping as she chased her. Another weird thing is that no one tried to stop the MC since during the chase they should be seeing the real PoV but lets assume that no one saw her even though its unlikely and dismiss it as a minor issue. Neither of the two chase scenes are particularly beautiful or intense.
Surreal scenes must look good, have some meaning and feel intense but the budget of this movie is too low and the surreal scenes aren't up to the mark.
All these scenes which attempt to show the psychology of the MC like whenever the MC is zoning off, talking to her hallucination, running because of it, throwing away her stuff in anger, they feel cheap, clichés and lack any kind of intensity.

The Plot-twist:
The plot twist is heavily foreshadowed. It is good. It requires some plot convenience or coincidences but nothing too unbelievable. The reveal isn't mind-blowing like in Fight Club or The sixth sense but its still decent nonetheless. Once the twist is revealed, the viewer will be able to understand the movie much better on rewatching since it would be possible to finally determine what the characters actually want and whether something is really happening or is all made up by a crazy mind. There would still be some ambiguity though. There are also scenes which remind me of Alfred Hitchcock in which in the movie the MC is playing a part, a psychiatrist explains the mental state of some ill person whose circumstances are in some ways similar to that of the MC of the movie. The movie managed to be slightly clever in this regard.

The atmosphere:
I highly recommend to watch this movie in dark. While the atmosphere is bleak and slightly stylised, the animation budget is slightly low. It is fluid but colors are faded and it doesn't look good enough although some people might consider it to be a part of its style. Still surreal scenes that lack thrill, have simple meaning must atleast look beautiful and mesmerizing which they did not.

Based on my review it may seem like this movie is really bad its really just average and has some good qualities.

What if you asked an AI system to write a manga after feeding it data like a classical story about the fall of a ruler after becoming paranoid and insane, nazism, cultism, "machines have feelings too", ultraviolence etc. Litchi hikari club is what you get.

Story: Its a 'story' about a 'ruler' going crazy and paranoid because of possible betrayal, which eventually leads to his own downfall. It also involves a bodyguard robot that thinks it is human and is only devoted to hikari club's nonsensical motivations and who is 'turned into a human' by an innocent girl. The story consists of many such themes/ideas/situations that ... have already been done many times. These themes are conveyed by a story that doesn't make sense purposefully and its pretentious. If those themes were new and though provoking, and had the author managed to invoke feelings of mystery, thrill, sadness, creativity etc through an utterly nonsensical story proving that story isn't relevant after all, I would've like this a lot more.

Character: Themes of loyalty, jealousy, paranoia, lust, scientific achievements etc. were associated with various characters or members of the cult. Almost every character had their arc concluded meaningfully. The characters however weren't particularly interesting. Just a bunch of crazy cultists teenagers for whom i didn't care about in the slightest. They remind me of A clockwork orange's immoral teenage characters but the latter were more interesting. The interaction between the innocent girl and the robot was more interesting than that between lychee club members.

Art: The art is really good looking portraying a bleak industrial world and some of the scenes are drawn perfectly especially the climax panel.

Enjoyment: Reading this manga was almost a drag. It does not have anything that can be considered enjoyable.

Overall: The manga just wants to shows how scenes can be powerful and how themes can be conveyed despite how nonsensical the story is. Although the themes were pretty simple and have been done many times before, I did like some of the scenes and the atmosphere thanks to the art but that just isn't enough. Also it can be an uncomfortable read since it involves lots of violence and sex and there is not a shred of decency in this manga.

Summary; It balances between all the aspects that make a good show (animation, osts, story, themes, characters etc.) perfectly and has very little flaws. Decent story, likeable characters, adventure in a beautiful atmospheric world, interesting fantasy elements/concepts, philosophical themes, mysteries/conspiracies/plot twists, cool action scenes and epic moments, its has everything. As a result this anime has a very broad appeal.

The good points:
It does almost everything right (story, characters, themes etc.)
Really shines out in terms of:
Consistency of quality
Crazy pay offs for build-ups or shocking scenes that come out of nowhere (epic moments)
Diverse atmospheric steampunk world
Exploring fantasy elements through a scientific or research based manner
Plot-twist/mystery ... reveals/conspiracies
Melodious osts perfect for various types of scenes
A long adrenaline fueled final arc involving a massive showdown between the good guys and the bad guys, which converges (and terminates) numerous character arcs as well.

The bad points:
A few of the fantasy elements feel random or don't make much sense.
One fantasy element which is a rule of this show's magic system (alchemy) is inconsistent with a military law and something that happens in the beginning of the show.
The pilot and a few episodes at the beginning aren't as good as the rest of the show and are somewhat rushed compared to the source material.
It gets slightly slow or loses momentum at one point in the middle of the series.
The main villain is slightly underwhelming.



Story: The story is fine.
An atmospheric steampunk fantasy involving lots of lively and likeable characters with different but understandable motivations, all of which are in some way or the other related to a nation's government with many dark secrets.
The story also involves a little bit of lore like a little bit of mythology, a war that happened in recent history, an abrupt fall of a civilization etc. All this adds more depth to the story.

The use of interesting concepts that require detailed explanation which drive the story (like those based on country relations, economy, fantasy, sci-fi elements etc.), themes of the story depicted in a natural manner, multiple subplots involving fleshed out characters with conflicting and understandable motivations interwoven with each other, interesting situations created naturally involving high tension etc. makes a story interesting and complex. FMAB handles these things pretty good.

Themes: After giving much thought, I can say that the themes are handled perfectly. All the themes it raises like 'flying too close to the sun', 'the value of a human soul' or 'to gain something, something of equal value must be sacrificed' are integrated very naturally in the story and are depicted through various events. The arrogant desires of human to bend the laws of nature for their gain irrespective of how much sacrifice it requires is what starts and further drives the story. The bitter consequences of it (flying too close to the sun) and the sacrifice for the sake of something truly invaluable for us as humans is how it ends. I can't elaborate on it without spoiling so I'll leave it at that but just from reading this much one can tell, how thematically consistent and well planned the story is. Nothing is forced. Furthermore all the character have a certain central idea or theme associated with them as explained in characters section.


Characters: Characters are fine.
The characters are sufficiently fleshed out i.e. they show different emotions that you would expect them to in a given situation so they don't come across as one dimensional. Their relationship/behavior with each other also varies depending upon the pair. No character sticks too unrealistically closely to a single trait. All characters have a unique personality with respect to each other.

Their personality is complimented by their respective character design i.e. most characters look how you would expect them to based on their personality.

The characters have understandable motivations and their actions are consistent with those motivations.

No character is obnoxious and many of them from the good side can even be likeable including the MC duo.

Many character have certain main ideas associated with them like duty vs humanity, guilt, vengeance, handling of power of evil origin etc. The ideas or traits to be more precise associated with the secondary villains are the seven sins they are named after but they aren't one dimensional by any means. The termination of their arcs with respect to the idea they represent is done perfectly and involve a great sense of irony for almost all of them except lust. These characters explore these ideas throughout their story.

All character arcs converge in an epic finale very smoothly. No character is ignored. Even the relatively minor characters aren't ignored. MC grows in maturity (and height) gradually that you wouldn't even notice. Everyone gets some lesson related to the ideas associated with them or what you call development till the end.

The main villain however while not bad by any means may feel somewhat underwhelming when compared to other villains which is to say that he doesn't strike as particularly interesting or menacing for all the hype created. The theme associated with him however is explored perfectly.



Fantasy: The fantasy elements are pretty sensible and interrelated by anime standard

The fantasy elements mainly consists of alchemy and a small mythology.
Alchemy is of 2 types: normal and soul alchemy
Normal alchemy can be used to change shape and volume of substances by making a transmutation circle. When used in fights it can be pretty creative.
Soul alchemy is slightly more complex. It is a pretty interesting concept that has been used multiple times in the show.

There are many research related to alchemy involving alchemy to produce interesting results like secret to immortality, philosohper's stone, human transmutation, giagantic transmutation circle, flame alchemy, alkahistory, scar's (one of the character) alchemy, body armor, chimeras etc. These research related things are pretty sensible and add more intrigue to the show. Its one of the best aspects of the show.

The fantasy elements have a certain look to them which distinguish them from other series. Red lightning, the way matter disintegrates, magical eyes that we see many times in the show, tangible shadows etc. look very unique, iconic that just by looking at them you can tell that they are from fmab. I really like it when a series has a unique set of fantasy elements similar to how light sabers from star wars look iconic.

However a law of alchemy says that the nature of substances can't be changed using alchemy. However the MC in one episode converted coal to gold. Plus there's a military law that prohibits such activities. If it was possible to change nature of matter, the MCs could've found easier alternatives to certain situations. The author made a mistake here.
Another minor thing i find weird is that flame alchemy can't be used when its source that is spark creating gloves with transmutation circle drawn on them is wet. Sparks can be created even in rain so it doesn't make much sense.

Coming to the mythology part. It isn't very elaborated. The main villain's origins isn't explained but thats one of the things that he himself was looking for so its ok.

The thing that i find somewhat weird is that using soul alchemy the villain splits his personality into 7 sins of Christianity and imbues them in a human body's soul to take control over that body, and also imbues it with philosopher stone (a fantasy object of power in the show) to give them random powers and regenerative abilities after lots of experimenting. The result is called homunculus. That means in the world of fma, the soul comprises of 7 vices and virtues of Christianity. I am not fond of this concept because i feel that it might not be an entirely comprehensive classification with mutually exclusive classes/groups and is probably outdated. For example, i think greed and gluttony (excess greed for food) aren't mutually exclusive and gluttony is a form of greed. Also we don't get to see how separation of these sins from his body changed the main villain. He clearly has lots of greed and pride even after he separated them from his body. We have to assume that he didn't remove all of it but it isn't explicitly mentioned. Infact one character once said that removing these sins from one's soul means removing one's humanity if I remember correctly. Did his pride and greed reduce after the separation? Also after seeing the origin story of the villain you can't help but wonder did he really have lust in him? One thing i do like about the separation of sins concept is that, in Christianity, in order to get closer to the God which is equivalent to truth in a symbolic way in fma and is related to the villain's motivations, one must separate themselves from the seven vices or sins which means separation of sins is a part of the process that leads the villain to his goals but he also used it to get some homunculi goons to help in the process. This is also related to one of the main themes of the show that is introduced in very early parts of the show 'flying too close to the sun' where sun can be a metaphor for God. Also I feel that the powers are too random. Their powers should be based on alchemy. However one of them has the power to control shadows and turn them into a sharp and strong weapons. It might be a cool technique but shadow is not even an object in the first place so how can he use alchemy on it? Another of the homunculus have access to another dimension which is contained in a small space but is way larger when inside. How is dimension creation related to alchemy? Two of the homunculi have access to super speed. Again how is this related to alchemy?

Its not explained why only a few individuals have access to the doors (fantasy object that look like doors; source of alchemy) of alchemy.


Enjoyment: Its a very enjoyable and consistent series. I'll discuss the various categories that makes it enjoyable.

Epic scenes: The epic scenes are absolutely amazing. t has lots of highly energetic epic moments (pay off for build-up or abrupt shocking scenes). These epic moments mostly involve amazing fight scenes which the audience waits for but there are many other types of epic scenes as well (like mystery reveals or involving large scale destruction in important places).


Action: The action scenes are amazing.

Its fight scenes are brief but absolutely amazing. Well choreographed, strategic and involving lots of destruction.

Alchemy makes the fight scenes somewhat diverse and unique since each alchemist has a unique power that must be used in a unique way. It doesn't involve ass-pulls or bizarre logic or strategies. Fights can involve lots of simple but clever tricks instead of some bizzare strategy that conveniently ignores physics and fantasy rules of the series with a narrator or character going on and on to justify it.

The power levels are consistent. Some characters are op (like their single touch can kill, or a snap of their fingers can burn anything or they move too fast) but thats the best part because its interesting to see how these fights will go and some massacres (one sided fights) are incredibly satisfying.



World building:
It doesn't have a detailed map.

There aren't many iconic locations that appear frequently and become of great importance. None that i remember of.

However its world is very diverse and beautiful. Its has places like a military base covered in snow, beautiful windy european countryside, tunnels with rail-tracks, beautiful old civilization etc.

The world design is detailed, atmospheric and diverse.


Adventure: Pretty good.
Beautiful world design brimming with energy with lively characters especially the MC who are looking for answers in various places makes it a good adventure series.



Comedy:
The comedy is ok. The character interactions are comical in normal situations. Sometimes it can become philosophical. In serious moments it is suitably dark.



Mystery:
A very important aspect of the show. The MCs set out on a journey to learn about how to regain their biological body (which is replaced by metallic parts). This leads them to learn about various dark secrets related to the world they live in. We learn along with them and its really interesting to see things gradually starting to make sense. Natirally there are many plot-twists as well.
It has mystery surrounding the country the characters live in, the father of the MC duo, a war that happened recently, a major event that happened in the past that ended an entire civilization and all the research areas related to alchemy. All of these secrets are related to each other.



Music:
It has music for all kinds of situation which suit the scenes perfectly. Most of its music is orchestral and very melodious. It elevates all the scenes to greater heights and complements the beautiful artstyle. Its osts are easily among the best in a show. Also the openings and endings are very visually immersive. The voice acting is great and the dub is very good.


Animation:
Good looking and consistent.



Among very few shows that end satisfactorily. The last arc is insanely good. It may not have the best start and may lose some momentum in the middle but it still pretty good during those parts. Its 60+ episodes long but its very consistent and ends amazingly.