mariane.stoltenberg - 2013-08-15 12:52:29

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the remake and alternate retelling of the original Fullmetal Alchemist released back in 2003. Its immense popularity has proven that this is indeed a successful remake and probably better than the original (I haven't watch the original so I can't judge). Well certainly amazing but it is by no mean perfection.

Fullmetal Alchemist takes place in a fantasy world where alchemy exists. Alchemists, as in people who study in alchemy are able to use it as weapon, medical use and others. The main storyline here is about the protagonist, Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse Elric on a quest to find the philosopher stone.

This show is 64 episodes long, therefore there are a lot of different arcs and developments. The best thing about the story is how even though it's very long, it doesn't feel like it was forced to continue and everything seems to be the way it is. The bad thing about a long running show is that most of the individual episodes doesn't really stand out.

There really isn't anything wrong at all with the story itself, as if it's flawless. Even though the story maybe is flawless because there isn't any plot hole and anything but I can't say it's the best thing in the world. For example, let say Fullmetal Alchemist is an egg, a perfectly cooked egg, but no matter how perfectly cooked it was, its still just an egg, it can't beat a steak.

+ The positive:

• 1. Deep and symbolic
• 2. Original
• 3. No plot hole (Haven't found any)
• 4. Engaging
• 5. Excellent build up
• 6. Excellent execution
• 7. Not forceful
• 8. Final arc

-/+ The neutral: (base on perspective and opinion)

• 1. Long length (64 episodes)

- The negative

• 1. Sometimes it felt like it was dragging on too much
• 2. Episodes doesn't stand out

The animation of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was made by studio BONES, who brought us the original Fullmetal Alchemist, Darker than Black, RahXehpon, Star Driver and others. Fullmetal Alchemist brotherhood is definitely the most popular and probably the best work by BONES yet. While the animation is amazing during the battle and action scenes, it generally lack during the comedy and more dramatic scene. Whenever the plot decides to be funny, the animation of the characters seems to drop immensely to the point it looks likes a kid cartoon. I know this is on purpose so that it'll look funny and that is not a bad thing but that just turn me off as how big the difference is when the show tries to be serious and funny.

+ The positive:

• 1. Smooth
• 2. Detailed
• 3. Great action
• 4. Sharp
• 5. Consistent
• 6. Great special effect (smoke, blood, explosion, fire)

-/+ The neutral: (base on perspective and opinion)

• 1. Comedy scene

- The negative

• 1. 3D graphic could be better
• 2. Lighting could be better
• 3. Characters could blend in with the environment better

The comedy scene of the show

The more serious scene of the show

Great action scene, this is when Fullmetal Alchemist looks the best

There are a huge amounts of soundtrack being used in this show. I cannot say every soundtrack is good but I can say most are. I watched Fullmetal Alchemist a long time ago when it was released back in 2009. Until now I can still remember most of the soundtracks. The background soundtracks fit the show perfectly, it fit their era, it fit the situation and it just fit with the show as a whole. The voice acting is average I suppose. Weirdly, both of the main characters are voice by female and I though their voice were pretty manly. A special mention to Rie Kugimiya, who's known as the tsundere master, to voice the role of Alphonse Elric. There are 5 openings and 7 endings theme in total. I like all of the openings, as every opening fit the arc very well. Some of the ending themes are great and some just okay but as a whole they fit the show.

+ The positive:

• 1. Memorable soundtracks
• 2. Original soundtracks
• 3. Great opening themes
• 4. Great ending themes

- The negative

• 1. Normal voice acting

This opening is really nostalgic to me. "Again"

This is probably one of the best OST. "Main Theme"

An example to how well the OST can fit the show. "Lullaby of Resembool"

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood has a huge cast of characters and while that could be a good thing, it can be a downfall too. The huge cast of characters made some of them easily forgotten. Edward and Alphonse are quite a likeable character but I don't find anything special about their personality. Edward is like a typical shounen character but of course better because of his past. Alphonse is like a less mature version of Edward. Almost all of the characters get a development towards the end of the show. That is of course to be expected coming from a 64 episodes show.

+ The positive:

• 1. Great villains
• 2. Great character development

-/+ The neutral: (base on perspective and opinion)

• 1. A large cast

- The negative

• 1. Main characters could be quite typical

I have a mediocre enjoyment for Fullmetal Alchemist. I do enjoy the first few episodes of the show but I couldn't bring myself to find the main characters likeable. As the show progress, I enjoy the plot less but I like the main characters more as I have grow to understand them better. During the final arc, that's where I really enjoy the show. It was at its fullest in every aspect during the final arc and I enjoy the hell out of it. If it weren't for the final arc, I won't even like the show as it is now.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is an amazing show and it really deserves the praises it gets. Although as perfect as the show is, at the end of the day it's still just an egg and not a steak. Even though it may be flawless for most people, personally I just see this anime as an egg and nothing higher. Reviews are opinion and this is just one opinion out of millions. I recommend this anime for any anime watcher out there and I hope you can like it more than I do.

"I thought maybe the rain would wash away some of this gloom that’s been following me… but right now every drop that hits my face is even more depressing."

- Edward Elric

eduardo.blick - 2013-08-06 11:35:03

At the time I am writing this review Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is my personal favourite anime, that being said I don't think I can keep my love for the series out of this review, however if a series has made me love it enough that my pure enjoyment of the series is possibly transcending my ability to look at something more subjectively it must be doing something right.

Story - 10

In an alternate reality to our own in the country Amestris(think early 1900's Europe primarily Germany and Britain) alchemy the science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter has become a staple of society, however it is used primarily for military purposes by the government, the soldiers who use this power are called State Alchemist, they are known as "the dogs of the military" & "human weapons", one of these State Alchemist is Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist. Edward and his younger brother Alphonse are on a quest to restore their bodies that they lost while trying to bring their mother back to life. Edward lost his left leg and Alphonse lost his entire body because the two tried to mess around in God's domain, in exchange for his right arm Edward bound his brothers soul to a suit of armour. Now they are on a mission to find the Philosopher's Stone, an object of immense power that can restore them to their true forms, and from that point on this anime tells one of the most beautiful, heartfelt, tragic tales of our era, that by the ending will leave you with a feeling of immense satisfaction.

Animation - 10

This show looks amazing to say the least, the character designs are all fantastic, the animation is incredibly smooth, and the action scenes are marvellous I do not believe it is hyperbole when I say this is one of the best looking anime that I have ever seen. The times where you will see the characters go off model is primarily used in more comedic purposes and it is used to great effect to save budget for the more action oriented or dramatic moments without the animation suffering in the slightest(at least in my opinion).

Sound - 10

I will start off this segment by saying that I have not seen the show sub so I will not be commenting on the japanese audio. Now then, this show may have the best dub of all time, Vic Mignogna as Edward Elric, Travis Willingham as Roy Mustang, and Stephanie Young as Olivier Mira Armstrong are just a few of the many remarkable performances. The music was composed by Akira Senju and all of it fits the series perfectly with my highest level of praise going to the song One is All, All is One a song that perfectly captures the feeling of being at the lowest point you can think of at the time but raising yourself above it even if it's through immense pain and anguish. I also feel the need to praise the openings, especially opening 1(Again by Yui), opening 4(Period by Chemistry), and opening 5(Rain by SID) all of which are amazing and fit the parts of the show they are opening for expertly. In terms of credit themes number 2(LET IT OUT by Miho Fukuhara) and number 3(Tsunaida Te by Lil'B) really stick out in my mind. This anime has great sound design and it is sweet candy for your ears.

Character - 10

This show has some of my favourite characters ever and I think the reason for that is they all feel like real people, Edward Elric is hot tempered with a Napoleon complex and he can come off as incredibly arrogant, however behind that is a very emotionally troubled young man who wants nothing more than to save his brother from the "hell" he put him in. Then you have Alphonse Elric, he is a very gentle soul, who cares deeply for those around him and desires to help them, he is also full of regret and he blames himself for the tragedies that befell him and his brother. We also have State Alchemist Roy Mustang, The Flame Alchemist, a charismatic soldier that comes off as a very cold shallow womanizer who treats people like chess pieces to be moved to further his own agenda to become the leader of Amestris, but under that he feels deep regret for his actions as a "human weapon", he wants to find some way to help the people of his country, and he desires to find a way to repent for the atrocities he committed. that is just three of the characters but there are far more and to describe all of them in my level of detail would not even remotely due them justice, trust me Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has one of the greatest casts of characters in any anime.

Enjoyment - 10

Given my first statement in this review it should come as no surprise that I thoroughly enjoy Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, it has my favourite story in anime, it has my favourite cast in anime, and it has a lot of my favourite characters in anime. I have seen this series multiple times and even though I know what happens from the time I start episode 1 to the final credits roll I can still re-watch this series with the same level of enthusiasm as the first time I saw it, there are very few series that I can praise in that regard. I hope that demonstrates how enjoyable I find this series.

Overall - 10

As you can tell from my high levels of praise for this series there is nothing else that I could give it overall than a 10, I know this may not be everyones cup of tea but I can definitely say that it is mine, if you want a series with a great dramatic and emotional story with amazing animation, outstanding sound, and an awesome cast of characters I feel that you will get something out of this, I own this series on Blu-Ray & DVD and I feel it warranted those purchases. I hope you enjoyed my review and if you haven't seen or you are on the fence about seeing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood I highly recommend you give it a chance, I don't think you'll regret it.

brayan67 - 2013-08-05 07:11:20

There are remakes, and there are rehashes, and then is reinvention. This is prime example of a reinvention. You take a good franchise adapatation that turned out disapponting, repeat from the top, fix whatever made it wrong, and finally, make a gaddam excellent conclusion. Boom! You fixed it and turned it into the epic show that it truly deserves to be called. Very well done.

I admit I am one of the people who find the original FMA very dissapointing and Brotherhood is a gift from the heavens that answers our call for at least a concluding season. Instead, they gave us even more by starting where it all matters, the journey of the Elric brothers to alchemy, and end it where it should end, the canonincal manga conclusion where everything went well. It gave us a sense of satisfaction that we rarely feel in manga based anime adaptations recently, a sense of achievement if you may even want to call it.

Animation, OST, plot development, almost everything (except probably voice acting cast) was rehauled to turn this into a very well versed modern adaptation. It all fits the bill well and leaves a little room for errors, which can be forgivable knowing how fluid the turn of events went.

Overall a very excellent experience. I heard many anime shows are opted for remakes in the coming years, I just dearly hope this will serve as the benchmark for future anime remakes.

schimmel.clement - 2013-08-01 10:51:22

Having watched this first, before any of the original anime series or reading the manga, I was stunned by how awesome this series was. From character development, to music, voice acting, animation, action, to plot, it was a fantastic watch. Having watched all of Bleach, I was instantly drawn in by the recognizable voice acting, and really enjoyed this entire series from start to finish. Time to watch and read all of the other content!

feil.bethany - 2013-07-23 00:54:23

Masterful story with amazing pacing. Deep characters done with wonderful voice acting that truly sets the emotion of every episode. Art is beautiful and very thematic, portraying the 1900s British/German setting perfectly. Music is lovely, with many epic soundtracks that make fights very truly epic, as well as tracks during emotional moments or important shifts in plot. Almost every episode leaves you hanging and begging for more, and if you truly pay attention, you will be very impressed at how wonderfully paced it is. The content is very powerful, portraying many ideas and problems about society. Every scene is choreographed very well, using the ideas and philosophies that were portrayed and twisting them and giving even more meaning then they already have. An example of this would be in episode 8:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9m5R2mhlBESkip to 16:00 and watch from there and it should be very clear how the idea of the two brothers being human is quickly twisted into something more malevolent. The ending is very satisfying as it gives complete restoration and closure. Overall I enjoyed every minute of this anime and am confident in the rating I have given it. A must watch for anime mature anime fan, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a powerful anime with wonderful story that will have you at the edge of your seat until the very end.10/10 Perfect

qwilliamson - 2013-07-19 18:54:55

If you don't want to watch FMAB because it's just a remake of the original anime, you probably don't know about the history behind the series. If anything, FMAB is what the first anime was initially intended to be, as the first anime was not produced in the manner expected. When FMA was adapted into an anime, it was intended to be a simple, accurate translation from the manga into the anime. However, the producers soon realized that with the time they had been allotted to air the anime, they would be unable to show the full story. That's why around episode 14, the plot breaks away from the plot of the manga completely, and it becomes a whole new story. FMAB follows the original plot all the way through. So really, the two anime show completely different stories, and after episode 14 the only similarity is that about half the cast is the same.

donato03 - 2013-07-08 14:08:53

To start this review of, I have to say that I am a big fan of the shounen genre. I love all the elements that naturally comes with an anime of this sort. I've enjoyed all shounen animes that I've seen so far (at least the bigger parts of them), and FMA:B is no exception. The story is not all that complicated. Two boys, named Edward and Alphonse Elric, lose their bodies in an attempt to revive their dead mother through alchemy and have to get them back. The basic rules of alchemy states that to recieve something, you must sacrifice something of equal value (this is called "equivalent exchange"). The story is pretty simple, but at the same time very enjoyable. I would've liked some more in-depth information on some of the side characters, but overall it's a good story. The art is pretty new (2009-2010) and I enjoyed it a lot. Not much to say about it. I really enjoyed the OPs and the EDs were ok. The sound during the show is very well fit and I don't see anything bad about the music that plays during the fights, sad moments, etc. Personally I loved the villains in this anime. The good guys were good too (Colonel Mustang is what made me change it from 9 to 10 on characters). The only character that I found annoying at times was Al, due to his "I have to do something so that I'm not left out" kind of attitude, but whatever. At times the story was rather slow-paced, but I felt that the show was very enjoyable from start to finish and I do not at all regret watching FMA:B. Thanks for reading this review, it's my first one so it's not all that long. I would love to hear peoples thoughts of it, so don't hesitate to give me feedback!

THIS REVIEW IS OLD, MY OPINIONS MAY HAVE CHANGED SINCE I WROTE IT!

reynolds.joyce - 2013-07-06 03:24:31

Many will say this series is a masterpiece. It is definitely not. Brotherhood has terrible pacing, little character development and hides a generic Shounen story behind a military setting. That being said, it is undeniable that Brotherhood excels in animation and sound. The series is in no way bad, but it definitely doesn't deserve all the praise it receives.

kokuneva - 2013-06-26 00:04:04

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has gotten a lot of praise. Some say it even outshined its orginal, having gotten a higher budget and followed the manga more closely. I, finally having watched this, can easily say that this show is worth watching. But does it deserve all the hype and love it gets?Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, for one, has an excellent storyline. Constantly, the viewer is learning news of some violent criminal or introduced to strange, powerful enemies, all of which with their own secret motives. As the story unfolds, the viewer is surprised to learn each of these motives, as the show hides everything really well. Eventually, everything that happens in the series leads up to a spectacular finale, and as it works towards that finale, the series gets better in better. Oddly, the show started out a little rough, with a weak first episode and then followed by episodes that just moved a little too quickly. The first series handled these episodes much more carefully, however, considering fans of the first series may be watching this, they probably were wise to move things along quickly, as the viewer had already been subjected to most of the beginning content anyway in the first series, as, this is not a sequel, but a remake, and the beginning of Brotherhood is very similar to the original fullmetal Alchemist. Luckily, everything was soon pulled together in this wonderful and dramatic story pulled together with great characters and well-choreographed action scenes.Art wise, the art had a major bump in quality from the first FMA, but I can't help but be dissapointed, as it now looks a whole lot like a lot of other anime. It doesn't stand out anymore, and I prefer the older looking original FMA's art. Nonetheless, it is very fancy, and well done, and the animation by the company Bones looks spectacular.The music in the opening and ending songs is usually pretty fun, or at least very entertaining. The band does a good job. The music in show isn't very good stando-alone, but when paired with all the situations occuring in the show, the music really heps set the mood, anywhere from a gloriously heated battle to a sad and dramatic scene.If its not for the story, the characters really move this show forward. Every character, from the main characters Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric, to every other side character, are all fleshed out very well. Not a boring character to be found, and no one that you can hate. Even the bad guys are great characters, which is surprising, because many of the bad guys represent the 7 deadly sins, and so one would think that they would be one-sided, but this is not the case.All-in-all, this show is a wonderful show, and it certainly deserves a lot of praise. However, I do not think it is great enough to deserve all of the praise it gets, as there are better shows out there. Still, a great show, and I highly recomend it.

clare81 - 2013-06-23 13:20:42

For a long time I put off watching this series, mainly because I had seen the original and, while I did get through it, I felt like it was incredibly overrated and would never consider rewatching it. I made the mistake of assuming Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was going to be like the original anime... and I was so very wrong. It has been a year or two since I finished it, so bear with me if I'm a bit inaccurate on some things.Story - 10Compared to the older anime adaptation and other series in general, this story is nothing short than amazing. It is one of few shows rated a 9+ on here that I don't feel was even a little bit overrated. Unlike most anime series it follows the manga, which is probably a good part of why it is so good. I know no anime is perfect and part of the reason I probably enjoyed it so much is because I wasn't expecting much, but from what I've seen this is as close to perfect as any series is going to get. It pretty much stays the same as the older anime up until around episode 13 or so, then it becomes completely different.Art - 9The art isn't perfect, but it is still pretty good. It definitely does not make the series any less enjoyable and I actually think it suits this series. While I can think of series with better art, I just can't imagine this series with a different style.Character - 10It isn't just the main characters that are interesting, all of them are. I'm not sure how to describe the characters other than that they only serve to make this series more enjoyable and there is plenty of character development.Sound - 8It has a pretty good soundtrack and the theme songs are enjoyable. There are a few songs I did not like, but Period by Chemistry has to be one of my favorite songs now. Like the art it is not perfect, but it is still pretty good and for the most part it fits into the series. This is probably a matter of opinion more so than anything else is.Ending - 9One problem I see with a lot of series, is that they have a bad ending. I'm not going to talk about what actually happened in the end, but while not perfect it is definitely a lot better than the older anime and most other series I have seen.Enjoyment - 10I thoroughly enjoyed this series. I wasn't enthusiastic about it when I first started watching it, but since watching this it has easily become my favorite anime of all time. This is probably the only series I might actually re-watch.Overall this is one of the few series I would actually give a 10/10. You may look at the ratings and think this is overrated, but I think it has earned its high rating. It has been a long time since I finished this(roughly a year or two, I would say) and I am still impressed by this series. If you have watched the older anime and didn't like it, do not let that affect whether you watch this series or not - trust me, this is a LOT better than the older anime.