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The story telling in Vexille is entirely unimaginative. Yes, that should be where this review begins; very little to no thought at all went into making the story line. Nearly everything is predictable far before it happens and the things that aren't you won't care about because there isn't any character depth to hold it together. This is not helped by the flashy animation style which accomplishes its shiny veneer at the cost of removing emotions from the faces of the characters. Seriously, it's not fair, the characters don't have that depth to lose. The fact that anime emotions are exaggerated beyond actual ... human expression limits is not actually always a bad thing. The premise of the story on the other hand is somewhat original, but still entirely implausible.

Sound was unimaginative too, didn't stand out in most scenes, and those scenes had a plus as a result. Which leaves the art itself which, as has been stated, is very shiny. But it's kind of a painting over the hole in the wall rather than fill it sort of effect. The flaws are still there and fully visible.

Fullmetal Alchemist is a series that actually comes together surprisingly well for it's 5/10 rating stamp. Where it finds issue is that nothing before the ending is all that surprising. At so many points during the series the absolute convenience of situations coming together was stunning.

As for the characters there is often a feeling that beyond one tick and a different voice actor, there is not much to seperate one from another. No one is really given depth. This becomes even worse at the end of the show where the plot is perhaps most innovative, it is accompanied by the point ... where the characters are most over the top in their depthless structures. One is somewhat forced to admit though that even characters with very few unique features can still be amusing, if done as best they can be done, just because of how over the top they are. This does not stop "'Well he's just a shrimp' 'What the hell did you say about me!?'" from getting really tiring.

Biggest complaints however were how many times one has to hear the phrase "Equivalent Exchange," how long some of the most simple plot points took to move forward making it feel sluggish at times, and the extreme excess of the phrase "Dogs of the Military" even in people that seemed to have no real reason for resentment. This included a good number of people with alchemic powers which seem to be the great trump card in this world, so it becomes a great wonder how the largely cult like military group came to power.

Overall, sometimes enjoyable, nothing really to set it apart from the efforts of other pieces, but nothing that absolutely drags it through the mud either.