Reviews for Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (2009) (9.27) 2423i

Filled with a lot of hype, FMA: Brotherhood is well known among anime fans as one of the highest rated shows on many anime sites. It is a sequel series to Fullmetal Alchemist, adapted to be closer to the manga. Does this show do Fullmetal Alchemist better than its predecessor, or does it fall short?

At this point, who doesn’t know the story of FMA? Edward and Alphonse Elric use their knowledge of alchemy to bring their dead mother back to life. In the process, Ed loses an arm and a leg, and Al’s soul is entrapped into a suit of armor. The two proceed to journey through the world of Amestris to search for the Philosopher’s Stone, in hopes of obtaining their original bodies. The series starts off much like the original series, though I think unlike the original series, this show doesn’t have very good pacing. Early on they are speeding things up because they expect people to have already seen the first series, however in here lies the problem. If the show was intended to replace the first series (which a lot of people just skip the first one and go straight to Brotherhood), I think this more botched up version of the original story just doesn’t give new viewers enough. The drama of the first show really is gone when you speed through the first half of the story, which Brotherhood initially did. They also did another thing I greatly dislike, and that is adapt the comedy straight from the manga. The comedic moments in comic s don’t translate to anime format, and they never have. Because they do this, serious scenes are ruined by comedic moments. This becomes less noticeable later on, but it starts out as a bit of a hassle.

Referring to when the show diverges from the first anime, the manga content sometimes is better than the original, other times it isn’t. There are specific plot points I feel are much better presented in the original, such as how homunculi die. In the first series, homunculi came to be after you performed human transmutation, thus the only way to kill them was to weaken them with bones or other remains of the person you tried to revive using alchemy. In this series, you just need to kill them enough times until they die. I thought that was rather weak reasoning. There are, however, some things I did like more. I liked how larger the world is in Brotherhood, the original show you were limited to Amestris, here the audience is introduced to other parts of this world. So, when it boils down to the story, there are some elements I prefer in the original, there are elements I prefer in Brotherhood.

The pacing when the new content starts coming in is a mixed bag. Some parts of the show have perfect pacing, such as Briggs, but near the end it kind of drags. The fights go on a bit too long, and some plot points are unnecessary. That being said, in of action, it has plenty, and the scale is much larger than the first show. Unfortunately, I think the show just got saddled with an inexperienced director, and I feel like had the show had better direction, the pacing and presentation would have been better.

In of the ending, I liked the first series’ ending a bit more, since I felt it captured FMA’s theme of sacrifice a bit better. While there is sacrifice in Brotherhood’s ending, I feel as if the exchange at the end was not quite equivalent. Overall, the story of Brotherhood is far from perfect, but it is enjoyable. I may have a lot to nitpick, but don’t get me wrong, I quite liked the show’s story.

Not unlike its 2003 counterpart, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has a huge cast of characters. They all have different personalities, motivations, and a lot of them are memorable. I really loved Scar’s character development in this show, as well. The new characters, such as Ling, are really cool. They go through troubles, but also develop as characters, which I approve of. Ed and Al aren’t as focused on in this show as they are in the first one, but they still develop, even if their development isn’t quite as good in this one. I liked Mustang’s development here, and I honestly have a hard time choosing which show I like him better in, because I really like him here, too. Mustang’s crew does manage to develop as well, though I miss the stand-alone episodes that involved them a lot more in the original.

The characters I really think were underdeveloped or poorly developed were the homunculi. Wrath was made to be completely predictable, unlike the first series where he was a lot more mysterious. His backstory showed promise, although I was disappointed to see they didn’t do much with it. Pride was alright, though I would have liked to have seen more backstory. I did like Envy in this show a lot, as the character development there was actually quite fantastic. Sloth was as one-dimensional as you get. Lust was also extremely one-dimensional here, and I missed how well developed she was in the first series. Gluttony was also really one-dimensional here, but he wasn’t exactly well developed in FMA 2003, either. At least he has some cool powers in this show. Greedling could have been cool; however the show lacked subtlety in his development, so the whole thing came off as really cheesy. Father was a cool villain, and I really liked the backstory behind him, though the final fight was a little underwhelming as a whole, considering how strong of a villain they had built him up to be. Overall, I’d consider the characters ranging from great to weak. A lot of them are quite good, though. Considering the show has so many characters, that is a lot of hits, although the show also has its fair share of misses, as well.

The animation and art looks quite nice here. Backgrounds are detailed, the character designs are nice to look at, and the shows action scenes look good and are well choreographed. My problem is that the colors are a little too bright. Considering this was supposed to be based off the manga, Edward’s hair is a little too light, and the lighter colors are really bright. This is most noticeable with the overly bright green grass. Overall, though, the animation looks really good, and is mostly what I would expect from an FMA reboot.

The music is not that great. The background OST sounds really cliché and generic. It really makes serious moments come off less as scary and more as cheesy. The openings and endings, on the other hand, are really catchy. My personal favorites are the second opening, “Hologram” by Nico Touches the Walls (who you may know for “Matryoshka” in [C] – CONTROL), and the fifth ending, “Ray of Light” by Shoko Nakagawa (who you may have known for “Sorairo Days” in Gurren Lagann).

The voice acting is better than ever, at least in the English dub. While the first show started out a little rough, here they all have had experience, so they all sound really good. The only one who sounds rough here is Maxey Whitehead, who now plays Alphonse Elric, due to the previous voice actor, Aaron Dismuke, no longer being able to play Al due to puberty. She starts out sounding a bit too much like a girl, but later on really grows into the role, and sounds just as good as Dismuke. Todd Haberkorn as Ling is a solid performance, as is Troy Baker as Greedling, and Monica Rial as May Chang.

In the end, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood isn’t exactly perfect; however it still proves to be an enjoyable show and a “must-see” for anime fans. Would I personally consider it to be a better show than the first Fullmetal Alchemist series? No, I would not. The show’s direction wasn’t as good, and I didn’t like the story or the villains as much. That being said, I still believe fans of the original should watch this show and decide for themselves which one they like better. I also believe the first series should be watched before Brotherhood to fully enjoy the FMA franchise. With that being said, both FMA shows prove to be top shonen series well worth both a watch, and the manga is also well worth a read.