“Man cannot gain anything without first sacrificing
something else. To obtain anything, something of equal value must be
lost. That is alchemy’s Law of Equivalent Exchange”. Thus begins Full
Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood, an anime based on the Full Metal
Alchemist manga. The plot revolves around two young brothers, Edward
and Alphonse. Edward is a State Alchemist, having been awarded the
title by the state, due to his prodigal powers of Alchemy. He goes by
the name Full Metal Alchemist. His body was partly destroyed (and Al’s
body was completely destroyed) in an Alchemy experiment to bring their
mother back to life. Edward replaced his body parts with metallic ones
while capturing Al’s soul in a suit of armor. Their quest is to search
for the Philosopher’s stone, hoping by harnessing its power, and
reclaiming their bodies. In addition to this, a mysterious man known as
Scar is hunting the State Alchemists one by one....
FMA : B is at times rather dark. Dark as in how
Alchemists stride through the dark cities and shadowy buildings. Dark
as in story elements involving manipulating dark arts in order to play
with life and being. Dark as in characters who are flawed, who sacrifice
values in order to attain the forbidden. I found the plot involving and
captivating, the battles between Alchemists as they created weapons and
propelled objects fashioned out of the elements extremely satisfying.
There also is a lot of humour with Edward always teased about his size
and Armstrong, another State Alchemist, who is very camp and seems to
take his clothes off at every instant.
FMA : B is not the first anime based on the manga. The
series has been done before with a lot of the same voice actors
returning for this remake. The original series, in the later episodes,
diverted from the manga but FMA : B is advertised as being true to the
manga complete with twists not appearing in the original series. I
haven’t seen the original but from all accounts, this series is faster
as they try to rush through to the part where the original deviated. I
don’t mind, the episodes seem quick paced, full of action and human
emotion. Fans of the manga who decried the original’s detour from the
manga, rave about the pace, as this series blasts through entire volumes
in a wink. I agree - why make up original story elements when there is
a perfectly good story already written?
The video, for bluray, did not seem to be as sharp as I
imagined it could be. As if put through a filter, this may have been
done for artistic reasons but it didn’t detract much from the stylish,
detailed renderings. The audio is 5.1 Dolby HD English and 2.0
Japanese. I generally find animes more enjoyable with the audio in
Japanese so I do find it disappointing not having a similar high
definition audio Japanese track and not taking full advantage of the
sound stage.
The features included on the blu-ray are slightly
disappointing - the first disc has a commentary with a few of the
american voice actors who relive old memories of the original series and
even admitting they haven’t watched this particular series. Not having
people closely associated or immersed in the production is a serious
downer. An interesting tidbit gleaned from the commentary is the use of
“the bowl”, when Al’s voice is recorded using a metallic bowl next to
the mic in order to simulate being inside a suit of armour.
FMA : B is a great series which should appeal to anime
aficionados. Those who have watched the first series may find the first
episodes a bit slow as you will be going through old ground but this is
a superior retelling of the story. Readers of the manga will appreciate
the authenticity of this version. All in all, well worth viewing.
