Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Some of you out there may be wondering what I think of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the second television anime adaptation of one of my absolute favorite comics, given my unbridled and unabashed hatred of the first series (warning: spoilers.)

If you’re confused as to why FMA even needed a reboot then clearly you’ve never read the manga.
Which I suggest you do.
NOW. Right here.
Go on, I’ll wait….

Anyway, the first series was created when the manga only had a few volumes worth of material, and instead of concluding it at the finish of a known story arc and leaving it open-ended for future seasons studio BONES (who aren’t known for ending series’ well, if you’ve ever seen Wolf’s Rain or Eureka 7 you’ll know exactly what I mean) decided to cook up their own plot which involved alternate dimensions and Nazis and… oh god, I can’t go on. It’s just too painful. Just read my ridiculously long and nerdy rant about it linked above if you really want to know. This second series promises to actually follow the manga closely, and it has a new writer and director, thank god.

See this guy at the beginning? He’s not Ed.
You don’t know who he is cause you
never read the manga, ha ha ha ha!

First lets talk about the opening. When I saw the first episode I kind of hated the song, so used to the energic songs Aniplex gave the series. I thought it sounded like an emo pop ballad at first but watching it not very late at night I’ve recognized its more girl-rock and it’s grown on me. It’s actually quite beautiful and haunting and suits the material. But whatever one thinks of the music the opening animation is undeniably badass and manages to fit in every important character from the first 50 chapters or so.

Episodes 1 and 2 are pretty much exposition-fests catching up the audience on the brothers’ backstory. It comes off a little rushed, but all and all they’re solid episodes (even if the first one focuses on an anime-only character and event.) Episode 1 introduces the Elric brothers and the main military characters: Armstrong, Mustang, Hawkeye and H.. H.. Hughes. Oh Hughes!! WHYY!? Even if you don’t read the manga you know what happens to HIM! We all do! -sob–cry-

Erm… anyway… Episode 2 covers the brothers’ past, kind of glancing over their mother’s death a little but the manga flashes back to their childhoods more than once so I assume this new anime might as well. Focus lays more on their first meeting with Mustang, pretty much exactly how it goes down in the manga, and more on the emotional aftermath of the events than I think the first series touched on.

It’s nice to see some of my favorite
comic sequences reproduced in animation!

Episode 3 picks up where the manga starts in the event in Lior, and I have to give them credit for bravery for including this seeing as its ground already well-trodden in both the manga and the first anime series. But it is the start of the story, and introduces the homunculus, so its vital to the plot, and they at least change it up a bit (I know, I complained about deviations from the manga in the first series but here the spirit of things is the same so I can let alot slide.) However its suddenly more colorful and has more funny moments than the first two episodes which is just a tad jarring, but this series is, admittedly, a fanservice since apparently I wasn’t the only one out there begging for a reboot anime after the horrific ending to the first one and the embarassing movie tie-in.

I think this writer works well with the material, he’s had to bundle it differently for various reasons but you get dialog, scenes and images taken right out of the comic and that makes me very, very happy. I also like this new director alot when not taking from the manga directly the shots are cinematic and the characters more expressive. The art style is also closer to the original author Hiromu Arakawa’s (specifically that Ed isn’t prettied up so much), and Ed’s voice actor Paku Romi is making actual effort to sound like a boy this time (one of the many reasons I always preferred Vic Mignogna in the role, despite his voice being way too deep in the flashbacks), all things to be glad for.

Episode 4 is now out there, they introduce Scar pretty early (though if I recall he does come in pretty early in the manga too.) Things are plugging right along episode-release-wise owing largely to a surprisingly progressive move on FUNimation’s part: they’re actually subtitling episodes and releasing them online 4 days after they air in Japan. It’s incredible a company is now doing what fansubbers have been doing for years, they’ve probably finally recognized the advertising potential rather than becoming sue-happy about it. I’ve been catching them on ZOMGAnime.com, but there are other places. Watch and enjoy! Let’s hope this reboot lives up to its promises of manga plot adherence! Feel free to discuss in the comments but make sure to indicate if you’re spouting any spoilers.

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