Overall, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood had the advantage when it comes to its medium. Unlike St. Leon that has antiquated language and has to be read, the anime can be watched and gut-wrenching scenes can be experience rather than read. An excellent example of the anime’s advantage is the scene in which Ed and Al’s human transmutation goes wrong and Ed is left alone momentarily with the aftermath: Aftermath of Failed Human Transmutation. [As a quick trigger warning, there is blood, a mutilated body, and the visual of an eleven-year-old boy missing a leg.]

What is shown in this clip is an example of what Gallacha suggests: ” . . . the pictures add something of their own to it, which cannot be adequately substituted in words” (464). With the idea that the visuals of the anime cannot be replaced or replicated with prose, the anime has an advantage that St. Leon simply does not have. The impact and effect that seeing a young Ed crawling while missing a leg and bleeding heavily is almost beyond words. Instead of the act being described with prose, the agony that Ed is in and the pain in his voice tugs at the heartstrings and is unforgettable. The image of the mutilated, failed transmutation haunts the mind, replaying the sound of the arm snapping and the gush of blood. This is what I mean when St. Leon is at a disadvantage in comparison to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. When Reginald loses his wife or experiences emotional turmoil, the effect is minimal at best because it is described rather than shown. Instead of having an emotional impact, Reginald’s loss is more barren in written prose of four hundred pages in comparison to eighty seconds of an anime.