How were you introduced to FMA?

[piedpiperpluto]

Exactly what it says in the title-- how did you find FMA?

I was first exposed to it during a sleepover at a friend's house when I was 11. We'd left the TV on when we went to sleep, and I was woken up by Kimblee making things explode.

[helle is a SLYTHERIN <3]

That one. Above me. She introduced me to FMA by talking about it incessantly during theatre class and lunch. She brought in volume one one day and let me borrow it. And then the so-called "Snowpocalypse" came along and gave me a week off school and the opportunity to read the rest of the manga online.

Though I swear that I saw it on Adult Swim when I was twelve-to-fourteen and used to stay up until two AM. I dunno; I didn't really like anime all that much at that point, so if I did see it, I promptly forgot it. It's mainly the sense of déjà vu that I had when I went to watch the first anime this summer that gives me that idea. *shrug*

[PuzzleChick]

First exposure? I was at a Yugioh tournament and this guy wearing an FMA shirt comes up to me and says, "so do you like FMA? =D"
Me: "Um, I haven't seen it but it looks interesting."
Him: "Ohh..." *wanders off*

I'd heard about it being popular for quite awhild, and finally picked up the first two volumes from the library a couple years ago. (The scene where Ed illegally transmuted coal into gold and he's all, "I'm going to do something illegal so look the other way okay?" was the scene that got me hooked. xD WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT ME.) I ended up buying the first nine volumes or so, stopped reading it for awhile since I couldn't afford more (I already had five or six series I was reading) and the library didn't have them, and then only got back into it after I randomly decided to pop in on the old FMA thread back on TSv.1. Talking with the people there made me want to start reading it again.

I eventually watched the first anime online.

[amythista]

I have such a lame reason for getting into it. xD;

Basically, the first anime I got hooked on was Ouran High School Host Club, which, if you don't know, stars Vic Mignogna and Caitlin Glass, who are the English VA's for Ed and Winry. I had heard of FMA on fanfiction and whatnot beforehand. Anyway, I was searching for Vic and Caitlin on YouTube one day out of sheer boredom, and the first thing that pops up is a little vid called 'Ed Proposes to Winry,' done as a request at a convention a while ago. In any case, out of boredom I watched it, feeling completely confused (I remember having such thoughts as 'the heck is automail' and 'who's Al?') and eventually decided to watch it.

Except for some reason I didn't. A couple weeks later, a girl on another forum mentioned it in conversation and another girl at a party I went to said she heard it was good, so I would up watching 1-3 of the first anime online. Aaand...well, yeah. :3 I bought the first anime over a period of three months at my local second-hand bookstore, and while I finished the manga pretty recently, I started reading it pretty soon after I watched the first three episodes of the anime. And, well...yeah. xD

I watched the movie before I finished the first anime, by the way. /shot

[Rainbow-Lord Crowmunculus]

Thista, ur reason is not lame, it is lolarious :B

The short version of my story is that I heard good stuff about FMA through Internet Culture Osmosis and it languished on my reclist for several years, until one day I decided to slack off on my geometry and loaded up the first episode. I WAS NEVER THE SAME.


The long version of my story is, well, long. And boring, but I'MMA SAY IT ANYWAY. I learned the basics of the FMA anime in 2003/2004ish through Internet Culture Osmosis: Ed is short, Elrics tried to revive their mom and failed and Al is a soul sealed to a tin can and Ed has a shiny arm, Ed (and Al, I thought wrongly) was a State Alchemist lookin' for the Philosopher's Stone so they could get their bodies back, Armstrong is a big muscle-y dude, Roy Mustang sets stuff on fire, homunculi are artificial humans with special powers and they want to become human, Scar is a bad guy. Also, RoyEd, Elricest, and EdWin. That's right, I knew about the ships before I knew much of anything else orz

2004 still had me in the InuYasha fandom. I'd stay up late to watch it on Adult Swim, and with this basic FMA knowledge I caught a good chunk of episode 22 (kill these prisoners lalala wtfno and then I didn't see how that scene turned out) and most of episode 24 (lol ur mom was blind u dumbass) a few nights later. It caught my interest, but I'm easily distracted and forgot to really look into it.

There was actually a time in 2005 when I went to San Francisco's Japantown mall. FMA was suuuper popular in the U.S. and there was merch friggin' everywhere. Oh how I hated myself years later, for not buying any of it...

2006ish, I was looking up music on YouTube and ran into FMA a few times there. Once, I watched some of the AMVs, because I am a dumbshit, and was spoilerized for Sloth evaporating and Wrath screaming at Ed "She was your own mother!" and Ed with a hole in his chest on a ballroom floor. 2007ish, I ran into a Stairway to Heaven AMV and also watched some of that, because I was still a dumbshit, and was spoilerized for Izumi giving Wrathy up at the Gate, Al all covered in glowy tattoos, and Ed offing Greed. That second AMV, which no longer exists sob sob, was fucking epic and really piqued my interest in FMA. It moved to the top of my soul-eating reclist.

Early October 2007, I'd recently finished the epicsad Wolf's Rain. I ran into this gawgeous AMV (That's a lie, actually - that AMV is what prompted me to watch WR in the first place, meaning I was epicspoiled for EVERYTHING. Don't watch the AMV if you don't wanna be spoiled, you might really regret it - I sure did) and one of the commenters said something like "Wolf's Rain is the saddest anime ever." Someone else countered, "Close, but not as sad as FMA."

I took this as a dare.

At that moment, I was slacking off on geometry, and decided to slack off more productively. I searched FMA episodes on YT - because this was when you could still find SOME whole episodes - and loaded up the first part of the first episode of the first anime. Now, all of you dubbies don't kill me, but the first two thirds I watched were the subs. I couldn't find the third third in subs on YouTube. I tried watching the dub, got about five seconds in, and turned around and never looked back. I found the third third in subs elsewhere ^^;

I was hooked by the Fullmetal Striptease at the end of the first episode, but what REALLY killed me was the ending of the third episode, when they burned their house. The first episode got me interested and excited enough to keep watching. The third episode made me fall in love XD;;;

I found FMA subs all over the place, jumping from site to site. The one I finished the series on was this crappy piece-of-shit anime/whatever the hell else aggregate that doesn't exist anymore. Each episode took about a half hour to load, was shit in sound and video quality, and the site had talking porno popup ads, but it was the only place I consistently found subs so I weathered it through.

Christmas 2007 and my birthday in March 2008 got me the DVDs for the first anime and the soundtracks. I got off my lazy ass and checked out the manga from the library (and eventually degraded into reading it on onemanga) in May/June of 2008. I will do my whole manga shtick (why I thought Ed was Pride, how thoroughly I was spoiled, all that worthless good stuff) ANOTHER TIME. In November/December 2008, I encountered the original FMA thread on TS v1.

THEN A BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF HAPPENED AND NOW I AM HERE.


HOW DO I REMEMBER ALL THIS? Really obnoxious selective memory. I still forget to use the bathroom before leaving work (it's about the only one for twenty miles...) :B

NO1CURR

[taranova]

Was depressed. New house. No air conditioning. Was too hot in the daytime to do anything, so I slept during the day and stayed up all night eating Ramen noodles and drinking sweet iced tea. I was in the Teen Titans fandom and I'd heard about FMA in passing; I saw the title sequence come on during an Adult Swim run one night and was like, "Huh, guess I should see what the hell the fuss is about."

Then...I became a madwoman. The first episode happened to be "Mother" and it ran in a consistent sequence since then. For the rest of the summer I watched the series on AS (this was when they showed anime nightly) and it was all I could think about.

Namely because a) I was depressed and a few episodes made me feel better about it, b) there was nothing to do but watch TV or play Kingdom Hearts at mom's, c) it kind of became "my" thing. Just a habit. The AS anime block was the only thing that I had to look forward to for a while. I was trippy and suicidal. XD

[taranova]

Oh - did you think he was Pride because of BBI? XD

I thought Roy and Izumi were homunculi the first time I saw FMA. I think it's because they had dark hair, and I assumed that anyone with dark hair would turn out to be a homunculus. XD I thought it was why Roy was so depressed all the time and why Izumi always coughed up blood.

[Rainbow-Lord Crowmunculus]

@tara: I was at the tail end of recovering from my own depression and related mental Issues when I first got into FMA. Freshman year of high school was the first year of my life not completely controlled by my Issues, and FMA jumped me at the beginning of sophomore year. I mean, before FMA I was so terrified of rejection that I was afraid to tell anyone about my fandoms, even my closest friends and family. Fuggin' ridiculous.

I still think FMA had a significant positive effect on my recovery. FMA got me writing and drawing more actively, which helped with confidence, and my involvement in the fandom ala TS helped me with my social Issues. I owe a lot of who I am now, post-depressive years, to FMA explains a fucking lot :B

So Yeah. Cheesy, but whatever, it's true. FMA means a lot to me. FMA, and all the friends I've made through it <3


ANYWAY. Yeah, BBI...I ran into it all over the place when I first jumped into the fandom, and because I didn't recognize it from the anime, I just assumed it was from the manga orz I was completely fucking taken aback when Selim was revealed as Pride, but thought lololol maybe Ed is too? Or something. When I got to the end of the updated chapters (84) I did some research and then felt really fucking stupid. OH WELL, makes a good story XD

That's...actually a really cool theory. Heh, if you'd started with the manga, you woulda been right on Selim's account, and eventually Ling...

My earliest fan-theory, from anime flavor 1, was that Roy was the one controlling the homunculi. I also wondered if he was Ed's daddy, because I was under the impression that Hoho was the homunculus ringleader, but I couldn't figure out how that was genetically possible or how he'd hide it with alchemy or anything :B I was never entirely serious about it, but it's a cool thought. Write it. You know you want to. Also Roy has been trying to protect Ed and Al the whole time, cos he still loves them even if he is an evil bastard, and Ed, not knowing the family connection, has a crush on Roy. And HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN \:D/

[taranova]

YOU WANT ME TO WRITE A FIC WHERE ED WANTS TO SCREW DADDY!ROY!? FUCKING EPIC. I WILL DO IT, BECAUSE I AM A PERVERTED FREAKY BITCH.

[neoeevee]

INTERNET: FMA IS AWESOME, YOU SHOULD WATCH.
Me: Lol k *watches first episode of 2005 anime* *leaves it alone for months*

*LATER*
Me: LIBRARY MANGA, LOL. What should I check out? Ohey, I never did finish that FMA series... *gets first 14 volumes because she is kind of OCD like that*

*14 volumes later*

Me: HOLY CRAP THIS IS AWESOME.

And here I am. :B

EDIT: OHEY Puzzle the "I'm going to do something slightly illegal" line hooked you too? Yeah, Ed was a huge nerd crush of mine after that. o3o

[Rainbow-Lord Crowmunculus]

Dec 1, 2010 15:26:38 GMT -5 taranova said:

YOU WANT ME TO WRITE A FIC WHERE ED WANTS TO SCREW DADDY!ROY!? FUCKING EPIC. I WILL DO IT, BECAUSE I AM A PERVERTED FREAKY BITCH.

HE ONLY FINDS OUT AFTERWARDS TOO AND ROY IS LIKE "LOL I JUST WANTED TO PROTECT U" AND THEN ED'S HEAD EXPLODES

[taranova]

LOL CAN THEY BE IN BED AND ALL OF A SUDDEN ROY GOES, "YOU DON'T KNOW THE POWA OF THE DARK SIDE, AND BY THE WAY, I AM YOUR FATHER."
KERSPLOSION!!

[Rainbow-Lord Crowmunculus]

WHY AM I NOW SEEING DARTH VADER (WITH HIS MASK ON AND EVERYTHING) AND LUKE IN BED TOGETHER BOTH SMOKING CIGARETTES, AND THEN VADER IS LIKE "OH BY THE WAY, I AM YOUR FATHER" AND LUKE IS LIKE "WELL GODDAMMIT"

WHAT HAVE WE DONE

[PuzzleChick]

Dec 1, 2010 19:54:28 GMT -5 neoeevee said:

EDIT: OHEY Puzzle the "I'm going to do something slightly illegal" line hooked you too? Yeah, Ed was a huge nerd crush of mine after that. o3o

AWESOME. I'm not the only person amused by criminal acts for a good cause. =D

[maddalena]

So uh. I was at a friends house in like 2007 I think, and there was yaoi EVERYWHERE. Like, she drew yaoi religiously. At that time I was bit of a manga/anime virgin, but I'd watched Yugioh a couple of times with my little brother thats a lie I watched it like it was my life source so I was kind of creeped out by her obsession with it. (I'm not homophobic or anything, but like, she was a 13 year old girl with gay men making out all over her wall. I was allowed to be slightly worried.) (and for the record none of that was relevant, I just thought you should know hurrr.) And so she's all like "omg watch this lol" and showed me the scene with Barry the Chopper in the first anime and I was like SAD TIEMZ. I didn't watch it again after that for a looooooong time.

I'm so behind on everything, because I started watching FMA when I remembered it randomly for some reason in 2009 and I was just hooked after the first episode. Although I think for some reason I think I watched the film first and I got totally confused and thought Al was Ed like, in the past and then he went to Germany and I was like WHAT IS GOING ON and then I watched the anime. Yeah.

AND THEN. I came across TS and then the FMA clubhouse and I was like hurrr I'm new lol. AND NOW IM HERE.