Fullmetal Alchemist - Brotherhood

Fullmetal Alchemist - Brotherhood

The second anime series taken from the Manga "Fullmetal Alchemist", following far more closely to the plot and storyline of the original manga than the first series. 

OVERVIEW - A prime example of what I would term a "Journey" anime, this 64 episode monster series is one of the more popular animes in the west. Produced by BONES, the same team behind the first anime, it doesnt wander off into its own storyline as the first anime did, and being made at a later date has generally better production than the first.

REVIEW - Set in a world where certain individuals, with training and practise, can make use of energy from the earth to "transmute" substances into new shapes and forms, or break them down into chemical componants, The story centers on two brothers, Edward (Ed) and Alphonse (Al). Their distant father, having left them and their mother when they were young, studied alchemy and the two boys also picked up the skill, showing proficiency at an early age. Taken in by a family friend when their mother tragically died only a few years after the Father left, they studied alchemy until they thought they were ready to try and bring back their mother, commiting an alchemic tabboo against human transmutation. 

As a result of this misguided attempt, Ed lost one of his legs, his brother loosing his whole body, to an entity calling itself "The Truth". Distraught, Ed then commited the tabboo again, calling back Al's soul and binding it to a suit of armour, this act costing him his right arm. He later had these replaced with complex mechanical prosthetics known as "Automail", built for him by the family friends who had taken him and his brother in. 

 It is to this background of personal loss, pain and guilt that the main story is set. Its cast is huge, its storyline vast, epic and literally world-changing and is weaved together between the cast, their backgrounds, nearly all of them as tragic as the brothers, and the primary group of antagonists, a group of artificial humans lead by a man they call "Father". Ed and Al are looking for a way to return to their own bodies, and in doing so stumble upon a conspiracy dating back to the formation of their own country, 400 or so years before.  With love, both romantic and familial, trust, shared pain and loss the cast slowly resolve their own personal issues and come together in a massive 20-episode romp of an ending that brings resolution to the entire plot and many personal stories at the same time. 

The production is slick, and you can see as the series progresses how the studio began incorporating more and more well-done CG into it, with most instances of its use being near-seamless. The fight scenes are fast-paced but without resorting to cheap tricks like blurring and distorting character's bodies, except in the cases of those who's abilities actually allow them to do so (Envy being the most common), The insert music is also very well done, adding depth and flavour along with emotional impact when needed. The story itself is enthralling, with each new twist bringing with it a whole new set of troubles and problems to solve. 

The serious, heavy and often painful emotional toll of the series is offset with a very comidic aspect. I am personally torn about this, because a lot of it is achieved by breaking out of the tone and style of the rest of the anime, "Chibi" forms, distorted-cartoon faces and massive physics-breaking over-reactions are how they do this and while its actually very very funny, literally laugh-out-loud funny and actually does bring in many long-running jokes (Mustang's "impotence" when the air is damp, Ed's reaction to being called short, almost any appearance of Major Alex Armstrong..) it breaks the realism of the moments, reminding you that you're watching what is in effect nothing more than a cartoon, something that I have a pet peeve with. (I personally think having a real-life feel or a cartoon-y feel should be preserved at all times, once one or the other is chosen) The show does do an excellent job of bringing a full range of emotions out however, and as such is an excellent piece of drama. 

Most of all however, is how strongly the bond between the two brother is shown. That and their resolve not to kill or lose anyone close to them again is really the driving emotional aspect of the show. As the story progresses and more pain and loss is heaped upon them, you can really see, and hear, the toll its taking on the characters, how their own fears and emotions are being toyed with. The power this has on an audience is very real, and well known (Joss Wheden, for example, loves to kill off someone you've grown close to for this sort of impact and effect) and its additionally hard to do in animation, because of the lesser amount of body language and facial expression it has compared to live action. Its why I talk about "emotional impact" so much in reviews, and this anime does it incredibly well, if it doesnt provoke some kind of emotional response in you, you're either not paying any attention or possibly dead. 

Dispite being a long series, on average about 3 times longer than most anime "seasons", the pacing is also very well done. There are a few "flashback" episodes, mostly used to give exposition into plot points or delve deeply into a character's past and no real "recap" episodes. Many of the episodes however do two of the most annoying things for me personally in anime, the first being the "narrated replay of the last few episodes" in the first 2-3 minutes of a show, the second being "important plot and story points shown after the ending credits", meaning you have to sit through, or forward past, every ending just in case this episode is one of those. 

Overall, one of the better anime's out there, immense plot, great characters, well produced and well voiced. Also a great starting point for those new to anime.

SUMMARY -

Story -  A possible benifit to being made after the manga run had ended, The plot is well developed, the story is gripping and hard to walk away from, always leaving you wanting more. Characters are fleshed out very well, with almost all of them having reasons for their behaviours, values and convictions that are realistic to the setting. 10/10

Production - Again, impressive work from the BONES studio, even for the time-frame of its production (2009) it holds up against currently being produced anime's for its use of CG and general animation. Voice casting is superb, with every character being realistic and with a wide range of emotion coming across. A few small flaws, continuity mistakes, colour mis-matches might be spotted when viewing more than once but are very minor. 9/10

 Music - This is my only let-down for the series. While the score is impecible, with some honestly stunningly apt pieces, the series has 10 different opening/ending themes, changing at episodes 15, 27, 39 and 51. Almost none of these seem to fit quite right with the tone of the series. The only one that comes close is the ending theme for episodes 39-50, a piece called "Shunkan Sentimental" by the band "Scandal". I'm sure this is because one of the major sponsers was trying to push "cool new bands" by associating the music with this series, as the first series and the manga were both hits. A sad reality of a lot of the popular anime. 6/10

Accessability -  Set in its own world, with very few cultural referances to Japan (more about china to be honest, as the fictional country "Xing" is basically culturally the same as china) and more of an "industrial revolution in the western countries" feel to it. Very accessible for newcomers, which is likely why its so popular in the west. 10/10

 

Overall Impression - An impressive anime by any and all counts, fun, enjoyable on many levels with some of the best writing and vocal performances around, not to be missed and a great starting point for almost anyone (over 15 i'd say, lots of death and blood) I would suggest everyone watch this, now. 10/10

 

Final Score - 45/50