Haruto's haters have virtually vanished, becoming rarer than a nesting crane. After all, haters don't like fighting losing battles, and no matter how much they might envy this "chosen child" of the anime and manga industry, they are forced to admit that Haruto is the legend of this era and this profession.
There is nothing to criticize. You truly cannot find a single flaw. Not in his works, and not in his personal history.
When Code Geass was airing last year, there were still a few trolls lurking in the shadows, waiting for his downfall.
But now, with the premiere of Fullmetal Alchemist, the conversation has shifted. No one is asking if the show will fail; they are debating whether the first episode will break a 6% viewership rating.
To put it another way, Fullmetal Alchemist is already the predetermined champion of the season. However, there are levels to being number one.
If the ratings only hover between 4% and 5%, while still technically crushing the competition, it would be considered a "flop" by Haruto's standards.
As night fell, Traffic and fan activity were more than double their usual levels.
"Six months. Six months! Do you have any idea what I've been through this past half-year? I've finally survived long enough for the Warrior of Love's new series to start."
"What, were you just at home playing video games every day?"
"How did you know?"
"I was doing the same thing. After Code Geass ended, I couldn't stomach any other anime. I just spent six months buried in games."
"I heard Haruto's Pokemon project is making moves. Word on the street is that Haru-Yuki Animation bought out a small game studio for hundreds of millions of yen to help develop a Pokemon title. Who knows, maybe one day we'll actually get to play a game designed by him."
"Don't get your hopes up. To this day, nobody in Japan understands what he's doing with that Blue Fatty or those weird Pocket Monsters. If he has the energy to court the children's market, he should use it to make more anime for us. That's the proper path."
"Who knows? Many of the world's biggest IPs started as children's properties. He might be playing the long game, planning for ten or twenty years down the line."
"Forget those two for now. I heard the Doraemon manga volume is coming out in a few months, but we aren't the target audience. Tonight is all about Fullmetal."
"Ever since Madoka Magica, we all know the Three Episode Rule. What if Fullmetal is a slow burn? What if the first episode is just setup?"
"As long as the setting isn't idiotic, I'm giving it a ten out of ten. I trust him."
"I'm so hyped."
"One hour left. This is agonizing."
"Let's see what the greatest genius in history has for us tonight."
"The odds are slim, but I hope this can actually top Code Geass!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
The sheer fervor of the fans pushed Tokyo TV1's ratings to 4% before the 8:00 PM broadcast even began.
Every professional in the industry, from animators to network executives, was glued to the data. Those who had access to the real-time numbers were feeling conflicted.
Is this the power of the Haruto name?
It seemed like half the anime fans in Japan had decided to cancel their dates, stop their games, and ignore their social lives just to sit in front of a television set. This kind of drawing power was bordering on the surreal.
Toji was one of those fans. His phone was cast aside and his computer was off. He had been stationed in front of the TV since 7:30 PM. Haruto didn't know him, but he had been a fan for five years.
Whenever a new Haruto project launched, it was a festival for him. Even if a friend asked him out, he wouldn't give them the time of day. His loyalty was absolute.
The clock finally struck 8:00.
Toji's heart skipped a beat. The screen flickered for a brief second, and then the scene opened inside a room. 'It's here.'
The production quality was staggering.
Although it was 2D animation, the level of detail was so fine that for a split second, Toji thought he was looking at a high-end live-action drama.
It wasn't until he saw the intricate, symmetrical alchemy circle on the floor and the young versions of Edward and Alphonse Elric that he remembered he was watching an anime.
The very first shot was enough to take his breath away. The art quality of Code Geass had been considered the gold standard just last year, but Fullmetal was clearly operating on another level entirely.
Before he could dwell on it, the two brothers, standing at opposite sides of the array, pressed their hands to the floor. A narrator's voice began to explain the principles of the world.
After thirty seconds of exposition, the audience was introduced to the concept of Alchemy and the Law of Equivalent Exchange.
As a science-minded person, Toji immediately grasped the mechanics. 'It's essentially treating the human body and matter as a chemical reaction vessel.'
In reality, electrolysis can break water into hydrogen and oxygen. In this world, alchemists don't need electricity, test tubes, or catalysts. They use their own internal energy to decompose water into its elements. If they were powerful enough, they could take those elements, combine them with the carbon in the air, and transmute water into methane. Or add some nitrogen and synthesize protein.
As for the principle of "to gain something, you must lose something," that was even easier to understand. This version of alchemy was grounded in a logic of conservation. Turning lead into gold was a fantasy; the best an alchemist could do was turn a rock into a computer chip, because the raw material for silicon is in the rock. You can't transmute silicon into gold unless you're doing human-scale nuclear fusion. The alchemy in this show seemed to operate on the level of chemical changes rather than nuclear physics.
Toji quickly accepted the logic of the world. Then, he witnessed the bloody beginning of the story.
The young brothers, Edward and Alphonse, attempted a forbidden experiment that failed spectacularly, causing horrific damage to their bodies.
A neighbor girl, Winry, heard Edward's screams and rushed in to save him. The animation didn't explicitly state what they were trying to create at that moment, but seeing the carnage left Toji breathless.
The high-definition quality meant the blood and trauma were incredibly visceral. Laboratory experiments are dangerous enough with safety gear and containers; seeing these children mess around with raw power and no protection was terrifying. Within the first two minutes, the show had already established a sense of weight and logic that Toji respected. In other anime, magic just appeared out of nowhere or turned water into oil. That was fine if you turned your brain off, but Toji felt magic should have its own science.
He kept watching.
Amidst Edward's agonizing screams, something rose from the center of the array. It was dark, massive, and twisted, a writhing, shadowed nightmare that made Toji's skin crawl.
Then, the opening theme began to play.
Toji took a deep breath, his eyes sparkling. He had entered the broadcast with full confidence in Haruto, but he hadn't expected to be this hooked before the story had even properly begun.
Fullmetal Alchemist was a show that filtered its audience.
Those who wanted depth, logic, and a protagonist who wasn't just an overpowered self-insert would find it to be a masterpiece. However, those looking for lighthearted comedy or a typical power fantasy might find it difficult to sit through. The tone was heavy, and it was only going to get darker. The story was prepared to challenge ethics, morality, and the very nature of humanity.
When the opening sequence ended, the scene shifted. The setting was now a vast desert, featuring the grown-up Edward and the massive, hollow suit of armor that housed his brother, Alphonse.
The first episode served as an introduction to the world, allowing the protagonist to show off his skills. It focused on a desert city, Reole, where the citizens were fanatically devoted to a religious leader, Father Cornello, who seemed to possess miraculous powers.
Haruto had modeled the early pacing of Fullmetal on a more detailed approach.
He couldn't sacrifice character depth and world-building just to get to the action scenes faster.
While a rushed version might jump to the main plot immediately, Haruto believed the emotional weight and character growth was superior for a fresh audience.
Of course, some impatient viewers who only wanted to see battles might find the beginning a bit slow, but Toji was already absorbed.
He watched as the foolish citizens of the desert oasis believed their leader had been granted divine power to save them.
Edward and Alphonse knew better. It was just alchemy.
The plot moved quickly to the core conflict: why had the brothers come to this desert town? They were looking for a legendary object called the Philosopher's Stone.
The absolute law of alchemy is Equivalent Exchange. Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed. But the legends of the Philosopher's Stone suggested it could bypass that law. It could ignore the most fundamental rule of the universe.
Toji's eyes widened. That stone is going to be a problem. The climax of the episode featured a battle between the brothers and the religious leader. The villain used the Stone to fuel endless alchemical attacks, while Edward and Alphonse used their skills to transmute the ground into weapons, cannons, and shields.
The action was fluid and spectacular, but the story remained grounded. The villain's scheme to use the Stone to manipulate the town for his own ambition was exposed. It was a standard enough plot, but it was executed perfectly.
What truly piqued Toji's curiosity was the ending. Edward's mechanical arm and leg were revealed, and the truth about Alphonse was laid bare: he had no body at all. He was a soul anchored to a suit of armor, a "living" alchemical construct.
Toji's mind immediately flashed back to the failed transmutation from the opening. The brother had lost his limbs, and the other had lost his entire body.
According to Equivalent Exchange, if they paid that price... what were they trying to make?
The realization hit him like a physical blow.
Humans.
These brothers had committed the ultimate taboo: human transmutation. They had been devoured by the very power they tried to wield. Now, they were searching for the Philosopher's Stone to bypass the law of exchange, to reach through the Gate they had opened as children and take back what was stolen.
This was the core of Fullmetal Alchemist
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