Full Metal Alchemist is a recent Japanese animated cartoon series, now being broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
It is well-drawn, well-plotted, well-imagined, and has both its light and (extremely) dark moments.
The two main protagonist characters are the young brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric.
When quite young, their mother died.
They made the mistake of trying to bring her back through Alchemy.
It cost Alphonse his entire body and literally cost Edward an arm and a leg.
Thereafter, they have been on a quest to find the Philosopher's Stone, the mythical (perhaps) amplifier which will transcend the Alchemical principle of "equivalent exchange" and allow them to regain their bodies.
The series chronicles their adventures and often horrifically painful/costly learning experiences on this quest, set against (and interweaving with) a background "larger story" of sporadic civil war, government corruption, and the secret war of the Homunculi.
It is GOOD STUFF
walp...
I have profiled and installed the nock-blanks on the tips of the core.
I'll see about prebending the core this afternoon sometime... probably will soak the core briefly in order to soften up the poplar, then use my clothing iron (through a wet towel) to sorta use steam-assist a bit to ease the strain when I use those ratchet-straps.
by the way: this project has reached the "I'm [expletive] sick of this" point. of course, this might just be a mood thing, rather than actual project-fatigue. probably is mood.
FMA is VERY good stuff. :)
*and now, a small moment of silence for Greed... lol*