Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood Review

To start of I would like to discuss my favourite anime to date - Full Metal Alchemist. The manga series by mangaka Hiromu Arakawa had been running in Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan since 2001, and the last chapter was released last month. In 2003 producers from Bones created a 51 episode animated series, but the series did not follow the original storyline. When refering to the anime I will be talking about Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The last episode was released a few weeks ago totaling the number of episodes to be 64. 

The complex story of FMA follows the lives of young Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric, who try to ressurect their deceased mother by using the forbidden techniques of alchemy. The taboo they commit leads to Edward losing his leg, and in order to save his little brother he sacrifices his right arm to affix his brothers soul to a suit of armor. Their childhood friend helps by giving Edward fake limbs known as automail. The journey then begins as they set out to search for the legendary Philosopher's Stone in order to return to their original bodies, meeting new lifelong friends while overcoming the greatest obstacles of their lives.

The story line can be very confusing and hard to understand at some points, as well as being particularily gory, so I'd say the recommended audience is 16+. The anime follows the manga with exact details and words, but watching the anime is much more enjoyable for me. The type of animation used for this season was particularily perfect for action scenes - watching them kick ass was awesome. One thing amazing about Hiromu's work is she is capable of creating characters that all have their own personal look, differentiating characters is easy as everybody is detailed and different. This is a special skill to me because I read a lot of manga and watch a lot, and numerous times they can be confusing because so many characters look so similar. The animation certainly portrays each character with their own individual detail.

On top of their own personal physical appearance, each character also has an individual personality. We see an overwhelming amount of character development throughout the story, as we watch them grow and learn from their past. The switch between past and present is easy to follow and helps us understand the characters even more as we can see why they chose the path they did. With such a huge cast of characters to work with, and only 64 episodes, there was still plenty of depth to each one. 

The setting to the whole anime is well layed out and detailed with numerous different locations. The soundtrack also provided to create a better atmosphere for the situations with intense build up. The multiple opening and ending themes were beautifully created, and each song is a wonderful relation to the anime. I already have most of them downloaded.

A story filled with epic fights, mesmerizing settings and animation, and some of the most memorable characters to ever be created, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is forever one of my favourites. Action galore, comedy, romance - everything included, this anime is one any anime fan does not want to miss.

Genre: adventure, comedy, drama, science, action, fantasy
Episodes: 64
Manga Volumes: 25

Have you seen Brotherhood yet?