Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Reviews

I rarely get emotional over anime because im still fairly new to it. I've only watched anime for about 6-5 years or so. 

but holy shit.

no other anime has put me in the spiral of emotions, no, no MEDIA has ever made me feel the way i felt watching this with my friends on discord.

if you want to watch an anime thats lives up to its fame. watch FMA. its popular for a reason.

My fiance and I finished this anime this week and I'm still trying to get my emotions together on how I feel. Relief? Happiness? Comfort? Sadness? Point is, this show takes you on a roller coaster of emotions the entire time. Most of the time you're feeling the same angst as our loveable brothers but there are moments where we burst out laughing for the random comical scenes. 

There are some anime that are predictable, a little too cutesy or just repetitive but FMA: Brotherhood is not one of those. It takes you on a trip that you're reluctant to go on at first, but then you find yourself craving the new adventure. You want to discover the new things at every turn-whether it be a new character or a dark plot twist. Just when you think things are starting to work out, you discover a darker plot twist. It keeps you at the edge if your seat and keeps you wanting more.

I will say this anime is not for the faint-hearted. Within the first 5 episodes, they've already tested your limits and haunted your dreams with characters so demented they're dancing on the same waters as Hitler. If you're looking for something light-hearted, treat yourself to Fruits Basket because you'll want to avoid this with all costs. However, if you like the dark side with edgy themes, give this a chance. You won't regret it.

Characters are relatable and loveable. You hate the bad guys and love the good guys. You also hate that you secretly love the bad guys for how evil they are but that's what make it such a great casting. We watched the dubbed version and each voice matched their characters' personality and made them their own. Of course you can't like all the characters but even the most annoying are tolerable unlike in other anime.

The story/plot was spot on. Immediately it pulls you into this futuristic 1900s setting and just reels you along until the final credit has rolled past. There were moments of utter shock between me and my fiance, never a dull moment for sure. There are deaths that will upset you and jokes you will laugh hard at. It's so different it works. In the very first episode you find yourself rooting for these two boys you barely know and just want them to complete their mission successfully. It was dark and twisted in all the right ways. We constantly said 'no they wouldn't do that would they?' And then they did. It missed no opportunities to push the boundaries. I will say you need to devote time to really watch it and pay attention. It helps that this is only 64 episodes so the story doesn't drag on and on forever, but it's easy to miss things if you get distracted or are trying to multi-task.

I enjoyed the animation style but I'm newer to the anime crowd so I could be off the mark. I thought the character styles-especially the bad characters were done well enough to haunt my dreams a little and the small Chibi moments were in good taste. 

The soundtrack....don't get me started. They, again, hit it on the mark. I find myself listening to the opening themes on my Pandora station every day. Very well done.

In conclusion, it's not my favorite anime out there but I would rate it a solid 10/10. I would recommend to someone who has been watching anime longer than a quick minute. Newbies probably shouldn't start with it because if you set the bar too high they won't want to watch more! I'm excited to see the differences between this and the original. 

The law of equivalent exchange

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the remake of the critically acclaimed 2003 adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's work. First thing you may be asking now is why would the 2003 adaptation even need a remake if it was so well recieved? One word: filler. 

At the time the 2003 series was airing the manga still wasn't finished so they needed to go full filler for the second half of the series. Did it turn out well? Well they kept the gothic atmosphere but story-wise it really seemed like a badly written fan fiction. And this was only one of the many "BONES original endings" which would doom many anime in the future. 

Now you may be wondering how Brotherhood holds up as an adaptation considering it's a remake made by the same studio. Well right off the bat they start with a filler episode which I find a desperate way of telling the audience that this is new stuff and they don't want to rehash the same things they did in the 2003 one. While I respect that decision, I also find that first episode to be very confusing to new comers to the series as it explains nothing about the world or the characters and introduces an original character which gives away most of the plot twists right away. 

Aside from that first episode there is no other filler in the series as it tries to stay as close to the source material as possible. From episode 2 onward they really pick up the pace, maybe too much for my taste but that's really subjective. While the 2003 one had a slow pacing, letting you get familiarized with all the characters and the setting, this one really tries to rush through the first 10 episodes for some reason. It's like the show assumes that you've watched the other one and treats those episodes just like a big recap. 

My issue with the pacing may seem really nitpicky but it comes to bite them back later because when the really impactful moments and deaths finally happen, you will find it really hard to actually get invested in them. But don't worry, after episode 10 the pace slows down and the show becomes a rollercoaster full of good times and emotions.

I mentioned the law of equivalent exchange in the beginning of my review, that's because the show is centered around it. The premise is that in a world ruled by alchemy, two young brothers comit a taboo by trying to bring their mother back from the dead and they fail so now they have to give something in return which just so happen to be body parts (or the whole body in one of the brothers' case). So the show pretty much centers around the two brothers' adventures as they try to get their bodies back with the help of the philosopher's stone. 

Animation-wise it looks similar to the 2003 one but the animation looks more polished, the textures look clearer and the movements are very fluid. There's not much else to say here, the fight scenes look beautiful. 

The soundtrack fits really well too. It gives off this classy medieval England vibe and I can't get enough of it. Some of the tracks are really powerful and emotional. 

One complaint that I've seen many people have about the show is the way they mix seriousness with comedy. I don't really find it an issue because in my case the comedy helped me get even more attached to the characters and it didn't ruin the atmosphere at all. 

Overall this show is great, I didn't discuss much of the plot here because you have to check it out for yourself. After all these years Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is still considered the closest thing to a perfect anime and probably one of the best modern anime to ever come out. 

I love this anime! U cant go wrong with fullmetal alchemist! I loved every minute of this series as well as the 2003 fullmetal alchemist! Highly recommended you watch! As if all the high ratings isn't enough to spark your interest in how good this anime really is! ;)

I mind you that this is only based upon 23 episodes watched. It will be updated ever so often.(next update 43 episodes.)

Personaly, I liked the first FullMetal Alchemist series better then this one. So many reason's why to but I will save them for later.

Lets begin with the story.

Story- (Rating- 8.6) Even though the story is slightly different then the pervious and fallows the manga more closely. I have to say that it kind of bores me more then that of the last one did. One- You already know what is coming before it comes so this leaves a gaint spoiler for those new to the series or just getting into it. It also feels like they are rushing it at most points and slows down more towards the actions scenes. Two- Though the character's are the same I've notice a few changes, Edwards seem to be slightly more sadder and showing less towards being called short. Basically the story has the same summary but it is different from either the manga or the anime. (The manga only slightly.)

Animation- (Rating- 9) Its planly at that.. a nine. The animation is better then most anime and has a more lighter feel towards it, it also has great dark contrasts combined with monstorious and slight gory scenes. Some of the character could have been better but I think they did pretty well with battler scenes, alchemy, and so on.

Sound- (Rating- 7) A seven. Now before anyone yells at me I do have my reasoning for rating it a seven. One of those reasons is when it comes towards the elements. At first you can hear the sound of water, fire, or whatever element they decided to use but then after you listen to it again you can hear something else hidden beneif the surface. I've noticed it with a few things. The voice actors were fine but some of the sounds you could hear another in the background. A little unprofetional.

Characters- (Rating 7.4) The character's now. Well seeing as this anime is fallowing the manga more closely why not give it my same opinion as the characters there. There are many differences between the characters and the pervious anime. One being Edward's hair, instead of the golden yellow color we come to know its a more lighter shade of gold. I do believe it is called white gold. His eyes slightly brighter, his hair a tad shorter, he seems more hunched over, and he is slightly shorter then the other Edward. I didn't enjoy that really. I quite enjoyed the other Edward Elric, he seemed more adultish and walked proudly, he even hit the nail on the head when it came to being called short, he didn't show too much sadness either. Alphose.. well other then the suit being slightly more grey blue I noticed no real change then his voice. One time he was one voice then a new after awhile. Winry.. still annoying as always only this time she shows more action which was enjoyable to see but not to the point where my annoyane would vanished, she still seemed quite girlie to me. Roy.. the same only more pervy, Riza.. I still like her. They didn't mess with her much and I liked that thought. In other words they where good and decent enough.

My Overall Rating for this- 8.5. Even though most like the fact that it fallows the manga, I still cannot ignore the giant spoiler that has, nor can I ignored the serious amount of boredom that I was given from watching. I also cannot ignore the mysterious sounds hiden in the shadows. In other words my opinion so far is eight point five. It was Good yet had a meidicore feel to it. Meaning that my opinion may shift at some point in time.