it doesn't get any better than that I can feel it deep in my bones like a
part of me I never noticed before that sound is an extension of my being on
this land this land that's governed by death I will paint it red with this
shard of destruction I couldn't dream of a more fulfilling fill Metal Alchemist
Brotherhood is a story full of characters fixated on breaking through
the bonds that the world has seemingly placed upon them whether you look at the
brothers improbable quest for restoring their bodies Ling's desire for kingship
breeds underlying need for human connection or even father's endeavor to
defy and overtake God these characters are overcome with an ambition that seems
to supersede what is actually possible given the hands that they have been
dealt in life and while there is no shortage of characters that are willing
to remain and not reach higher than their stations the narrative is lacking
in the type of person that is able to address some important themes by cutting
through idealism and blind ambition to see the world for exactly what it is
until we properly meet Sol J Kindley note that this video will be about the
kimbley of the original manga and Brotherhood not the one from the 2003
adaptation while there are some parallels between the two Kimberley's
they do diverge in several big ways and I just happened to find the Brotherhood
version far more appealing the crimson alchemist is actually one of the first
characters in the series that were introduced to but we aren't really
allowed into his world until further down the road and what a cold twisted
world that proves to be above all things Kindley is a bona fide psychopath. he
relishes in pain suffering and destruction and describes the sounds of
agony and bloodshed like absolute music to his ears he seems to have a sort of
almost erotic fixation on extreme auditory stimuli in general with the
sounds of the explosions that he creates being particularly pleasurable to him
but as prominent as his psychotic traits are they're surprisingly not the
characteristics that define him in an interesting move when it comes to
his characterization kimbley contrasts his love for violence with a great
amount of pragmatic realism he is part sadistic agent of destruction and part
eloquent a moral realist he dismisses morality as a nuisance that only serves
to distract people from their true goals and his ability to see things from a
cold and neutral standpoint makes him one of the most insightful characters in
the series using his cut-and-dry philosophy to see situations as they are
without getting led astray by fanciful notions
you're insane kimbley my standards do tend to differ from society's however if
I survive this battle then the world will have chosen my sanity over yours
there's a bit of playful wickedness and the idea that one of the most amoral
individuals in this setting is the one that seems to see things that clearest
seeing us everyone in the story acknowledges that kimbley sees things
far differently from society from a certain point of view it could be
construed that his brand of immorality is one that has its benefits from a
logical standpoint that maybe this allows him to see things clearer than
anybody not that I'd ever be one to advocate moral decay and the series
conclusion is one that contradicts some of Kimberly's ideas but it's hard not to
concede that his philosophy has its practical advantages now while his lack
of morals helped make him the textbook psychopath
kimly is not only self aware of this but able to reel it in when he needs to he
was able to pass his state Alchemist certification test by hiding his
psychopathic traits further displaying how pragmatic and logical he is Kim
Lee's philosophy in life is one tinged with nihilistic aspects but while most
nihilists are defined by a concrete disinterest in all things Kim Lee is far
from apathetic and detached from the joys and extremes of life he has never
went astray from the action he has been shown to let his rage get the better of
him and his hedonism dictates his behavior at times upon being at the
brink of death he is overcome by excitement because he is reminded that
his choice to live on the edge is truly what makes him feel alive since he is
always operating so close to death
death its closing in one who spreads death and destruction must accept their
pursuits he will never be far from either but what could be more beautiful
than doing work that puts your soul at risk because that's what it means to be
alive at least on this battlefield
this tendency of his to live life on the edge ensures that he always remains
honest while he isn't adverse to using deception if he needs to Kim Lee never
act in a way that would be traitorous to his convictions and true self and being
someone who operates in such radical truths he can immediately sense
dishonesty because of his ability to eliminate bias and analyze situations
without the burden of a moral compass or a side to truly belong to Kim Lee is the
character most capable of calling people out on their foolishness or hypocrisy
for the majority of the series the brothers fight against the tide
constantly looking for ways to defy their fate and bypass equivalent
exchange which is made doubly difficult when the two resolved to not harm any
innocence in the process but when Alphonse tells Kimberly that he wishes
to both save people and get his body back Kim Lee dismisses this as foolish
idealism he says that life follows equivalent exchange and as such things
probably won't ever work out perfectly for them
the world doesn't allow for anyone to have their cake and eat it too
and he tells al that if he hesitates on his original goal due to this
meaningless morality he may end up not accomplishing either of his goals and
this is quite a resounding statement that not only adds an element of
cynicism to the narrative but is a sentiment that the audience may have
shared at that point in the story he constantly mocks the paradox and EDD in
Al's unwillingness to kill despite their desperate yearning to get their bodies
back he says that this is a naive and unrealistic way to go about life given
their goals but what's important is that he is not malicious when he debates
ethics with them Kim Lee speaks legitimate truths based on what is known
in this situation he is a bit of a mediator laying the facts out there and
allowing the brothers to do with his words what they will all the while being
entertained by their journeys in one of the flashbacks to the ishbalan slaughter
this type of reasoning is shown again upon seeing Hawkeye and Mustang agonized
at the fact that they're killing innocents
Kimberly reminds them that this is their job they were not told that this would
be glamorous or that they were going to be righteous upstanding soldiers they
joined the military by choice knowing that things may come to the
they were told that their job was to follow orders and now it's time to
follow through with their oath essentially he tells them to man up
because this is what they signed up for it was meant to be used to help people
so why is it being used to kill them instead because that's the job we state
alchemists have been given to do you ask why we're here killing these people
instead of protecting them because this is a war and that's what soldiers do
isn't that right you think this is our job to cause tragedy well that's how it
seems that's enough Kimberly I'll tell you
what I don't get did you people expect something different you act like you're
surprised like you didn't choose this did you put on that uniform thinking you
wouldn't be asked to kill the one thing worse than death is to avert your eyes
from it look straight at the people you kill don't take your eyes off them for a
second I don't ever forget them because I
promise that they won't forget you Kimberly finds quite a bit of
entertainment in pointing out the stupidity of morals while he never
really says much about his views on power from what we see in the story I'd
imagine that his thoughts on it are similar to that of Kings Bradley but
contrasting Bradley he concerns himself much more with people because they
fascinate him and when it comes to the military he wants to point out the
blatant hypocrisy and those who ironically champion righteous morality
as if they're the better people for feeling some remorse Kimberly is fine
with bloodshed on a grand scale but he has absolutely zero tolerance for
naivete and others seeing themselves as righteous when they contradict this with
their actions he does enjoy fighting quite a bit but Kimberly usually only
battles someone when he has a point to prove or a job to carry out his true
fights tend to be ideological ones where he wants to prove the flaws in his
opponents and the views he champions tend to be
ones that are quite damning on humanity as we see in the very same scene Kindley
says something that alludes to another important trait of his personality his
belief that humans are inherently violent in nature tell me miss you're
not very happy to be here are you well you don't appear to be but can you
honestly tell me in that split-second when you take down an enemy you don't
allow yourself to feel the slightest tinge of satisfaction and pride in your
skills well miss marks and what's interesting here is that while horrified
Hawkeye doesn't actually deny this or tell Kimberly that he's wrong this is
one of the few times that he actually ends up the idea that mankind is full of
posturing hypocrites acting as if they're on some moral high ground when
deep down everyone is the same and just hide it to varying degrees
although he doesn't verbalize this that much it is an idea that defines him he
knows of the inner darkness in people because he is possessed by that darkness
kimbley really has no true allegiance in the grand fight of the story and when he
isn't killing the masses because he needs his fix he legitimately doesn't
display any malice to anyone unless they show a lack of consistency or conviction
he does not value himself as someone who is above taking orders because he sees
and acknowledges the truth of hierarchy and his place in it
however he does not let this hierarchy define him
kimly is distinct and that while everyone has grand goals to take down
homunculus humans alchemy or even God his ultimate goal is to be an observer
of the war to come all the while engaging in his explosive and violent
urges along the way though he is on the homonculus side he is only there because
of the powers they bestow upon him he has no stake in this fight he just wants
to see what happens when humans and homunculus clash he's interested in
seeing what the world's fate will be and believes that the battles outcome will
be a cosmic endorsement of that size philosophy do you have any idea what
they're doing what you're helping them to achieve I'm curious to see how the
world will change both sides clashing will against will life vs. life humans
are the homunculi which one will triumph which side does
the world prefer they'll monk you'll I like to see themselves as the next step
in the evolution of humanity but that's for history to decide in his final
contribution to the story kimbley remains as consistent as ever he's able
to remain individualistic within the huge amount of souls in prides body
thinking of their nightmarish screams as a lullaby he points out the shameful
irony of a homunculus named pride wanting to jump ship into a human a
lower life-form in order to escape mortal peril pride has no pride as a
monk ulis and lives its life in direct opposition to what it stands for and as
such kimbley deems it unworthy of existence logical until the end doing
what he sees as the natural order in the world Kindley boughs out from the story
with satisfaction and the tip of a hat kyndley is very similar to hunter
hunters Hisoka he has hedonistic tendencies he's a bit
of an agent of chaos he doesn't take sides and he simply takes part in the
things that interest him the most notable similarity between the two for
me however is that like Hisoka kimbley is a great narrative tool for balancing
the story though while Hisoka is a counterweight when it comes to tone
kimbley balances things more thematically and ideologically the
writer of the series he modo Arakawa goes through great lengths to ensure
that the flaws of her characters are laid bare to the world Full Metal
Alchemist Brotherhood is not a story about idealized people flawless in every
way and righteous in their path to victory it's a story about simple flawed
humans struggling within themselves as they walk the path that they hope with
all their might is the right one no character in this story is without their
hypocrisy Zoar personal faults and kimbley is the narrative tool used to
great effect to ensure this without his constant questioning of our protagonists
and antagonists viewpoints we would have a story lacking in believability when it
came to the nature of its characters his interactions with the main characters
really accentuate exactly what ed and Al were standing for and why they were
actually a bit foolish to do so and yet one could
argue that this foolishness is admirable as all hell for what it represents
we never might have viewed Mustang Hawkeye and Armstrong as truly flawed
people if he didn't call them out we would never have known about prides
tragic flaw if Kimberly hadn't actively demonstrated it himself and one of the
most impressive things about this is not just that Kimberly does all of it but
that he does it without feeling forced and while being totally in character
with his need to cut through morality and his ability to challenge character
philosophy using the known rules of the world's being a byproduct of his
characterization Kimberly is quite an exceptional character for someone who
has a relatively minor role in terms of plot impact he leaves his mark on the
narrative as a whole through his contribution to its themes and
philosophy through his interactions he brings to light some things that the
audience may not have thought about regarding the world and setting and
emphasized and strengthened the ideals of the characters and message of the
narrative through his direct questioning of pre-established ideas Kimberly also
just adds a bit of chaos factor to the series while remaining completely
consistent to his ideals and personality and though his state was short-lived the
crimson alchemist is a great example of how to use secondary characters to add
balance reveal insight present character flaws and emphasize the ideals shown by
characters through confrontation he can be quite an undervalued character and I
feel like the narrative would have a very distinct something missing if he
was absent thanks so much for taking the time to watch this video
Kimberly is a character that a few of you have wanted to know my thoughts on
so I hope that I didn't disappoint and many many thanks to the patrons who
stuck with me this past month despite a lack of content one last thing I just
like to thank displayed for sponsoring this video displayed is a company that
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anyways with all that said thanks very much again for checking out the video
I wish everyone the best and I'll see you in the next one
you