Anime Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Part One

Let me get one thing off my chest: I hated Fullmetal Alchemist the anime. It had nothing to do with the anime series itself - I've actually never seen it. I was just turned off from it when I found a Fullmetal Alchemist DVD instead of the Full Metal Panic that I paid rush shipping for. The experience left a bitter taste in my mouth for FMA that I did my best to hide while fellow anime fans constantly kept talking about each episode around me.

Now it looks like anime studio Bones decided to give me and other anime fans a second chance with the Elric brothers with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I could hear the KA-CHING of cash registers upon the news of this FMA remake. Why not? The re-release/remake tactic works well for Disney, George Lucas, and even Gainax.



Fullmetal Alchemist catalogs the adventures of Ed and Al Elric. Despite (or because of) their alchemy skills, the pair attempted a taboo experiment that expectantly went horribly wrong and literally cost Ed an arm and a leg while Al lost a lot more. Seeking to undo the damage done to them, Ed and Al travel as military sanctioned alchemists who will see first hand the imaginative possibilities and moral dilemmas of alchemy. Keeping them company during their journey are fellow military alchemist officers each with their own quirks, a few morally ambiguous foes, and even a monstrous homunculus or three.

Viewers who never watched the first FMA anime, or who are willing to suspend their knowledge of the series, will find that FMA: Brotherhood does pretty well as its own series. The Brotherhood reboot now has the story sticking closer to the FMA manga, which gives the anime tighter storytelling that takes fewer episodes to complete an arc. Each episode that takes the Elric brothers into a European town that seems like it just hit the Industrial Revolution actually feels like a long epic journey. It is almost free of detouring filler episodes, and the alchemy-themed fight scenes are imaginative as mundane backgrounds become lethal weaponry depending on the style of the alchemists. The mood is more focused on drama than action, though Brotherhood does occasionally revert to simplified cutesy art designs to occasionally lighten the mood either as a nod to the manga art or to cut some costs in animation.

Emotions and character interactions are heavily emphasized for a more enriching series in Brotherhood. Ed and Al's quest to restore their human bodies - and in conjunction their humanity - is a tough one. The bond between those two keeps them going despite uncovering military conspiracies, a vengeful war refugee on a killing spree, and the sin-themed homunculi out to cause hell. Each main and bit character that the Elrics meet is developed and becomes memorable no matter how brief the encounter is. The characters go well with the situations they find themselves in, which is pleasing whether as a new anime to watch or as a reinterpretation of something that already aired years ago.

Given that most of the first volume of Brotherhood almost mirrors the beginning episodes of the first FMA anime, veterans of the first series will feel a sense of déjà vu. The same towns are visited and situations are resolved in identical ways while preaching similar moral lessons. Some main characters get a few tweaks but all are still pretty much the same. Even most of the original voice actors in both the English and Japanese soundtracks reprise their roles for Brotherhood. With the exception of cracks about Ed's height, most of the recurring character gags are toned down. Probably the most noticeable change in Brotherhood is how certain important events occur sooner than expected.

The main selling point of Brotherhood is how different the story is from the first anime series. But the episodes of the first volume do not really deliver on that promise, which may let down those who were not completely sold on FMA but want to give it another chance. Die-hard fans of FMA will most likely appreciate any new version of the series and will have the patience to wait for the changes to come in future volumes. Viewers new to FMA can enjoy Brotherhood as it is without prior knowledge of the first anime and reinforce the notion that the best things come to those who wait.

Bottom Line: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a retelling of Ed and Al's adventures in alchemy that is so old it is new again thanks to its new storytelling meant to closely follow the original manga.

Recommendation: If you are new to FMA, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a wonderful anime with a rich story to get into. If you already know the FMA story and are waiting for something new in the series, you may be better off waiting for the second volume of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Before noticing the switched DVDs, Tom Tonthat thought that Alphonse was an obsolete Arm Slave that Sousuke Sagara piloted.

The first volume of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood contains 13 episodes on two DVDs and includes 4 postcards. If only one of those postcards were a photo of Maes Hughes' daughter.