Anime Lectio: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (FMAB)

                                                            1. Why do Anime Lectio? 

Anime Lectio is a time for us to stop and take a breath. Between work, activities, family life, and social media, our minds are always moving. We rarely take time to contemplate and ask, why am I watching this anime? What’s the point of all this? And, how is this making me feel? 

2. Put away all distractions 

(phones, work, etc.)

We are so enslaved to things that stimulate our minds. Let this be a moment for us to free our minds, look inside of ourselves, and be at peace. The only device you need is the one you use for this blog.

3. Deep Breathing - Open yourself to God’s Presence

Take several deep breaths. Let your mind relax. If you’ve had any questions, desires, or struggles that

you’ve been hiding or stuffing away, let them rise up to the surface. Remember God places all our

thoughts and desires inside of us, and He uses them to draw us closer to Himself. God gives us a

community to help us understand who we are and what He is calling us to do. The faces of people you

know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence. 

4. Think About What’s on Your Mind in Relation to the Anime

Think about what’s been on your mind in relation to the anime.  The following is an example of such thoughts written by me. 

What would, could, and/or should you do to get back what you lost?  I say it this way because what you would do to get back what you lost, what you could do to get back what you lost, and what you should do to get back what you lost are usually three different things.  These things also depend on what you lost, knowing and understanding what that means, and other important things.  An example of this can be seen in the series Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, or FMAB (this is a remake of the original Fullmetal Alchemist, but I like the remake better and will focus on it here). 

5. Brief and written explanation of the anime

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the anime seen on this blog, as well as seeing the anime for yourself since I think that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

In order to bring their dead mother back to life, two brothers think they can do that by simply getting her back with alchemy.  However, they don't realize that what they really needed to get her back was another life, not offering whatever they offered instead with some of their blood.  As a result of this, one brother loses one of his legs and also one of his arms when he sacrifices it to save his brother's soul since he loses his entire body (he also puts the soul in a suit of armor that acts as his body).  They also meet the character named Truth when they end up in his world because of what they do since he's the one who controls how alchemy works.  This is also why he keeps the one brother's body with him while his arm is the arm that the other brother lost (what Truth looks like is the outline of whoever he's talking with), so the brothers go on a journey to figure out how to restore themselves, which involves meeting other people.  This includes their dad, who wasn't around when his wife died since he was dealing with the evil he was tricked into creating, which his sons, as well as other people, help him deal with.  This journey also involves searching for a philosopher's stone, which can restore the two brothers, but at the cost of the life it takes to make it.  Since they don't want to use a philosopher's stone for this, they try figuring out another way to do this, which the one brother manages to do by sacrificing his ability to perform alchemy.

6.  Reflect on the anime

Has this brief and written explanation of the anime shed any light on what's been on your minds?  The following is an example of a reflection on the anime from me.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange." Besides the fact that I memorized this quote, it's also useful to keep in mind when thinking about the question I started the reflection before the description of the anime with, as well as what the question means. Trying to get a life back from the dead is a taboo because it requires using life in order to do that. However, one of the brothers was willing to sacrifice his ability to perform alchemy, which is what he was known for, for the sake of saving his brother from the world of truth since he realized that his friends and brother were more important than alchemy as a result of his journey to restore himself and his brother. What's also memorable about this sacrifice is that Truth, who is considered God in this series, congratulates this brother for his realization of knowing and understanding the truth and admits that he's defeated by him.

7. Final Prayer

Please voice any prayer intentions for friends, family, or people around the world that relate to this anime.  The following is an example written by me.

Let us pray that we can know and understand what we would, could, and/or should do to get back what you lost in order to know and understand the truth.