“Okay I watched episode 1 of FMA:B. The mom. The transmutation. The blood. I’m not okay but I also just laughed at the tiny armor boy panicking. What have you done to me.”

She scrolled back to the original poster, who had been silent for fifteen minutes. Then a new message appeared:

The forum post popped up on her screen at exactly 11:47 PM: “New to anime. Need something that will wreck me emotionally but also make me laugh. GO.”

“If we’re talking manga ,” she added, “you need to read . But I’m not recommending it. I’m warning you about it. It’s a coming-of-age story drawn as a cute little bird boy, and it will make you stare at your ceiling for three days. Read only if you’ve already scheduled a therapy appointment.”

Another user, SaltAndSorrow, disagreed entirely. “No. You don’t start with tragedy. You start with the lie. . Let them think Light Yagami is the hero for eight episodes. Let them cheer when he writes names. Then watch them question their own morality at 2 AM while eating cold ramen. That’s the real wreckage.”