Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Shounen
Episodes: 64
Production Studio: Bones
Introduction
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is one of the anime that I’ve watched very early on and has remained one of my favourites throughout the years since it’s been released. This series has left me smiling, laughing and crying after recently rewatching it.
Being a remake of Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), FMA Brotherhood is 1:1 from the manga itself. The series tackles quite a few topics on society and has also done a very good job on balancing out it’s seriousness with comedy and heartfelt moments. On top of that, it has an entertaining plot. Who wouldn’t want to watch that?! It’s definitely something to pick up if you haven’t managed and you probably wouldn’t have any regrets on watching it.
Storyline Premise
The series follows two brothers, Ed and Alphonse Elric, who have lived a peaceful life with their single mother but things take a turn for the worst when the brothers lose her. In the midst of their despair, they decide to study alchemy and perform a forbidden act of human transmutation to bring their mother back to life. Well things don’t end up well for the them as it turns out that with great power comes with its own consequences. Ed’s sacrifice was an arm and a leg while Al loses his whole body but Ed manages to attach his soul into an armor suit. Since the incident, Ed vowed on getting his brother’s body back and thus setting out to find the Philosopher’s stone! As they march on their journey, they would get caught up in both political intrigues and conflicts with supernatural beings.
The plot of this series is absolutely great as there are no fillers and everything is planned and written brilliantly so it will flow naturally till the very end.
The roles of each character that appears is not forced at all and each of them have so much depth, even for the secondary characters and villains for the show! I feel that watching this was such a treat.
But because it’s a remake, the beginning of the series is similar to the older version if you noticed. I wouldn’t say it doesn’t have flaws but hang in there! Breeze through the beginning and everything will begin to take off !
Art and Animation
As it is a remake, it’s only fair to somewhat compare both the earlier version of the series and FMA brotherhood.
Personally, I’m more of a fan of the art of the FMA brotherhood series. It might feel slightly bulky compared to the 2003 version but all in consideration, both 2003 and 2009 versions are already pretty good. It really depends on the viewers preference!
The animation in the series is absolutely amazing. With action scenes animated nicely, they managed the comedic scenes very well too.
I laughed, smiled and cried watching this series as it nails every scene and emotion that was intended in the series.
Sound and Music
I think the voice acting and sound effects are pretty well executed as they nail most of the emotions of the scenes.
The music is also really good! I would definitely recommend checking the themes that were used in some episodes out . Comparing to the 2003 versions, I guess the direction of the scores are different in the sense that 2003 has more of an emotional tone while FMA brotherhood really hits you with epicness.
Characterisation
So character-wise, there is just so much to say about the characters in this series both main and secondary. Every character in this series is written with their own purpose and goals and there is just so much depth and thoughts in them that you can’t just label them as just one type. Each of them holds a purpose in the series and every one of them were written and used so well. Some characters would make you think that they’re not important but appearing on the later episodes in a very organic way fulfilling his/her purpose.
As for the villains, they have their own goals and motivation on being a bad person in general.
With such a big cast of characters, they manage to make every character unique and memorable in their own way.
They manage to introduce a vast world and also along with so many characters, but everything was executed well. There’s no way I could ever manage to explain the characters in just a few paragraphs.
Overall
I personally think that this is a must-watch for just anyone. With an amazing, well thought out plot and writing, not to mention the likeable characters, I think most people would enjoy witnessing the adventure of two brothers.
But as amazing as I think it is, there are still some flaws made in the series, having the beginning rushed and the intro shaky, It seems as if they assumed that viewers have already watched the older version and know what they are getting into. But after the shaky intro, I think it hits off very well.
I swear it’s worth the 64 episode. I will forever be hurt because I’ve watched it.
