ReviewBonfire

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I've watched this anime 5 times now and I'm still fascinated by how much it can overwhelm with its execution and quality. In the shounen realm, it represents the pinnacle of quality that can be achieved and therefore has a solid reputation in the anime community. The focus was not to offer fans something that any other series can do but to create an entirely new experience. And that was excellently achieved here by removing most of the shounen clichés and keeping only minimal ones.

Despite all the enthusiasm expressed and what's to come, I'm sadly disappointed by the anime adaptation after finishing the "Fullmetal Alchemist" manga last week. As many know, there are "2" different anime of the same name, from 2003 and 2009. The older series has almost nothing to do with the original and departs far from the manga. The newer series, on the other hand, follows the manga but made the mistake of deleting many scenes that were already in the old series. You notice less of this when you are completely drawn into the series. But once you have watched it several times, you will find gaps that are present in the narratives and sequences. After reading the manga, I have to agree that this is indeed the case. So much character screentime and relevant moments and dialogue have been removed so that the anime can maintain its tension. However, this caused many characters (especially Lust and Hughes) to lose a tremendous amount of sympathy by being much emptier shells in the anime than the characters they were capable of being in the manga.
This breaks my heart, but by making these changes, you've lost a notable amount of potential for the series that could have elevated all the "Important and Shocking Moments" significantly more.

So what does this series offer?
A very original story of two brothers who broke the absolute taboo in the world of alchemy and had to reckon with huge consequences. The brother who lost his whole body and must live on as a suit of armor and the other who lost half his body. The impressive focus of the story is also due to the great will of the characters to want to achieve their goal, whereas in most works it seems more and more secondary, so here this remains constantly in the spotlight. On the journey of the siblings, they meet many bizarre characters, but also discover the "truth behind the truth" which was a very interesting approach.
Especially important points here were the plot and the characters.

[Story 10]

Most of the points that came off the manga were mostly character-related and showed the transition of many scenes. As for the plot, it is practically as polished here as in the manga.
And especially here, I must note how positive the creativity and implementation of this plot are. Here an effort was made to create a small world, with an immensely gloomy and shocking background.

As the story progresses, one learns more and more about the world and the many truths that lie within it. The roots of the military, the wars, and how far everything is intertwined. Constantly receiving new revelations that have always given the story a chance, the atmosphere has practically never collapsed. The tension was completely strained.
The finale, as expected, was weaker than the whole anime, but this is never surprising. Nonetheless, the final battle was well held and especially by the respective characters and their final confrontations. Since all the mysteries had already been solved by that point, all that remained was the final clash between two fronts.

A very rare theme of alchemy, which was set as the main concept of the story, with respective approaches, principles, and philosophy. Like one of my favorites, the Equivalent Exchange approach. This was an excellent link in the narrative to highlight the importance of not rising above the laws of something people are only trying to understand anyway. Furthermore, alchemy was very interestingly eviscerated in this story, on different branches, perspectives, and applications. Comprehension, Deconstruction, Reconstruction, the pillars of the concept.

[Characters 8]

FMAB has many notable characters that I would say had fascinating personalities and excellent development. Unfortunately, some characters didn't get out of their diapers. Especially due to the lack of screen time, some particularly popular character deaths appeared, relatively mediocre for me. The implementation was good, no question about it. But a character who didn't even have 5 minutes of screen time will die accordingly. With more material and sympathy, her final moments could almost have been shocking, this chance was wasted.

So it would be far from saying the characters were flawless here.

However, some were very close due to various interactions, representations, and developments. Take, for example, the fascinating contrast between Ling and King Bradley, who were both who were destined to be number 11 (the eleventh prince and the eleventh candidate), both held/aspired to the same position and yet possessed such a fascinating contrast.

The 2 determined protagonists, Edward Elric and Alphonse. Although Alphonse looked like a boring character at first, he was the more mature and understanding of the two. No matter what emotions tormented him, he chose the passive and controlled way of coping with situations rather than cracking them with simple force. Whereas Edward, the smarter of the two, was very explosive due to his short temper. It is noteworthy, however, that the two did not benefit from a single, but from many different character traits and also had to adapt immensely depending on the situation.

Apart from that, there were characters like Roy Mustang, who had an immensely impressive final character arc. It was simple, but the representation of his goals, actions, and how they intersected just to achieve his personal goals was remarkable.
Scar has been very similar, also driven by revenge, he was one of the best characters in the series. With probably the greatest development.

Many supporting characters also received more or less positive attention. Notable ones like Kimbley, Hughes, Hawkeye, who had smaller character arcs, but still had enough influence on the series.

It is obvious, but the "7 sins" the "Homunculus" are the best representatives of the series and the most fascinating characters. Especially Envy, Bradley, Father, Greed. While Gluttony and Lust were also interesting, they lacked a massive amount of screen time. Which kept them relatively simple. Sloth, on the other hand, was relatively boring and had hardly any points worth mentioning.

Envy and Greed were both my personal favorites. Greed, the one who wanted everything and in the end achieved more than he could ever hope for. His development, and personality, was very nice.
Whereas Envy has been the perfect symbolic representation of human envy. He was the character who probably had the greatest influence on many scenes, as well as most of the whole story. And by far one of the best endings as an antagonist I've ever seen.

The author managed to give the symbolic sins so much depth and character that it still fascinates me to this day. As ironic as each of them came to an end.

Father and Hohenheim's character arc was also very interesting and how pathetic Father's attempts to understand humanity were. The symbolism behind his actions, his greed for knowledge and power, was still reflected, even after he had given up all of his sins.

You can interpret a lot in many of the characters and find a lot of fascinating little details regarding their existence and their irony, the role they were given.

[Animations 9]

Most of the animations are attractive and colorful. Through various adaptations to the respective scenes, the atmosphere could be raised by a certain play of colors. Especially later in the Brigs Tunnel, where it was most noticeable, in the depiction of light and darkness.

The fight animations fluctuated but were mostly very dynamic for individual scenes. Since the fights in the series are relatively short, it is all the better that the budget was placed correctly. Which also supported special moments of hype with beautifully choreographed movements.

[Music 10]

The outros have varied from pleasant to relaxing and beautiful. The musical style was more recognizable. But especially with the Osts, FMAB has by far some of the best intros you can find, each with its personal quality.

The Osts are beautiful too and I could hardly choose a favorite. They were very well laid out for various scenes and could support practically all kinds of moments. Whether emotional, mysterious or fascinating.

[Conclusion]

I would generally recommend the manga to every fan of this series if you want to have the same experience but again in full format. With more character screen time, better transitions, and no cut-out explanations. I was skeptical about it at the beginning, but I don't regret it, even if it damaged the image of the anime a bit.

Nonetheless, FMAB is one of the best anime I've ever seen, one of my personal favorites, and probably the best shounen to date. Even if you can argue about it, the quality and creativity of the author are undisputed.

[Enjoyment 10]