After seven years of witnessing two young alchemists, Edward and Alphonse Elric, find the truth to return their lives back to normal after attempting to bring their deceased mother back to life, Fullmetal Alchemist has officially come to an end: both the manga and in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. With the series available to watch (legally) and watching it in full, after putting it on hold after my first impressions when it first aired in Spring 2009-I’m very satisfied, yet saddened. But it will clear up a few problems.

Review

For those who are still figuring out what the heck is going on, as this is NOT a second season of the 2003 FMA anime as everyone thought at first when it was announced. As pointed out by reader IchigoxGaraa, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a straight re-telling of the manga (like Dragonball Kai).

Everything we’ve seen from the first FMA anime in Brotherhood is retold (the canon parts), except that it’s a lot shorter (no pun intended, Ed…) than the original. For example: the events of the “controversial” 25th Episode of the first series is explained the 8th episode in Brotherhood. Although, there is the original “untold” story from the first episode, about the Ice Alchemist.

After some uncertainty from fans, Scar returns!

FMA: Brotherhood gets better around episode 15 when Ling Yao, the Prince of Xing, is introduced. This is first time seeing Ling in the anime adaption, when they could have found a place to put him in FMA: Original, even if it had to be filler. Though it breaks through the boredom of watching a part of the manga that I read already, it needed more episodes to pick up the steam. Enter Episode 20 when Ed finds more answers on the Philosopher’s Stone when he returns to Risembool involving the late Trisha Elric.

Admittedly, the first 20 episodes of FMA: Brotherhood is boring, because a lot of people already know what happens from the manga and the original anime. But let’s say you’re a new FMA admirer and just started watching the first series, then stopped to watched Brotherhood (or for us FMA vets, the manga), it won’t be so hard to go through as there will be new parts to the story that doesn’t make sense in the original (read: half of the original FMA is nothing but original material/fillers, with the help of Arakawa-sensei herself, or so the story goes).

Is it just me, or does Old Man Fu look a lot like Old Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4?

But the pacing of the episodes compared to the manga takes a load off of the fact that manga followers had the wait for the new volume to come out (only to be read in 3 days flat, like I did). One volume of the FMA graphic novel is explained in just 1-2 episodes (Episode 30 -> Volume 15), but it’s doesn’t help much for the anime viewers had to wait every week to see what happens, but it’s a lot better than months (now that it’s finished, it can be done in a month, tops).

For someone who has not finished the rest of the manga (following the Viz releases, stopping on Volume 17), it was a refresher witnessing the outcome of the story. Watching on a screen bought out a lot of emotions than reading them in the palm of your hand, and it lasted a long time. Not to mention the special effects on few of the episodes! ^_^

Ling Yao of the Yao clan appears in Brotherhood, unlike the previous series where he is no where to be seen...

Lastly, the music in FMA puts a new light on the series. The original music is memorable, such as L’arc-en-Ciel‘s “Ready, Steady, Go!”, Asian Kung-Fu Generation‘s “Rewrite”, and Porno Graffiti‘s “Melissa”. But I’m afraid that the new music has shadowed the originals. When was the last time I heard the aforementioned songs? No problem. The new ones are just as good, but it’s not as “exciting” like back in the day. A few noteworthy tracks in Brotherhood are “Again” (Yui), “Lie” and “Rain” (SID), and “Hologram” (NICO Touches the Walls). Although I would have liked the artist lineup like my predictions post-series re-premiere.

Summary

Whatever is happening in this scene, Ed will never hear the end of it.... Ever.

When it was first announced that Fullmetal Alchemist was coming to an end, it was hard to accept it. But on a positive note, it saves the series from being dragged on forever, like a few anime series currently on the air. If you’re following the manga from Viz’s releases, you’re very far behind from the events in Brotherhood (but it’s surely catch up to the end, now), but they will be told eventually (unless they do a speed-up release). However, you can find out what happens by jumping into the [new] anime.

You have to… no, you must watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, or else! Like Cowboy Bebop and Death Note, I think FMA is a series that is impossible to not like, even if you hate it at first, watching just a few episodes [of the anime] will get you hooked overnight. It’s hard to explain why it would be liked, but I guarantee that it will be eaten up in a 3-day marathoning session.

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Where to Watch

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood can be watched on FUNimation, Hulu, and YouTube.