Series: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part Three – Episodes 27-39
Release date: 21st February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 304 mins
Director: Yasuhiro Irie
Starring: Rie Kugimiya, Romi Park, Iemasa Kayumi, Megumi Takamoto, Shinichiro Miki
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Originally written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa over 108 manga chapters, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the second anime version of this story. The original was commissioned before Arakawa had finished writing her works, and with her permission the studio went ahead and diverged into their own version, which occurred at around chapter 29 of the manga. This series faithfully follows the completed manga, and is animated by Bones, who were responsible for the vivid gritty hit Darker Than Black and its sequel Darker Than Black: Rise Of The Gemini.
This volume begins with a flashback episode, which also hints a little at Honenheim’s past and his makeup, as well as his inner struggle over whether to become involved in the issues plaguing Amestris or not. After this, the main story resumes with Al accompanying Gluttony into the den of one known only as The Father. Ling, Ed and the shape shifting homunculus Envy are, at this point, still trapped within the dimension linked to Gluttony’s belly, but are well on their way to escaping.
Scar and Mey Ling arrive, and there follows a confrontation with The Father, during which another homunculus emerges in a surprising way. The confrontation leaves more questions than answers, however, and after evading defeat and landing themselves in a compromising situation with the military, events transpire that lead the Elric brothers and some of the others into the frigid north of Amestris - into the realm of the staunch and unwavering border fort Briggs…
There are eight completely new characters introduced that play a large part in this volume, and two from past volumes that are now taking more prominent roles in the series. Each and every character in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe is fleshed out with a back-story that clearly defines and explains their motivations, if not their often quirky and megalomaniac personalities. Even some of the very minor characters that appear in just a couple of episodes come complete with a snippet of their past, showing how they ended up in whatever situation they are currently in, and even how things develop for them immediately after their interaction with the main characters has passed. The major characters also have their respective stories developed further in interesting and often surprising ways. This characterisation, along with the large number of main characters who are often following drastically different routes, really brings the Fullmetal Alchemist universe to life. It feels like a living breathing world where there is much more going on than what we are seeing on screen.
The story really opens up in this volume, the direction manga author Hiromu Arakawa intended for the series is much grander than realised by the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime, and this becomes apparent throughout these episodes. The scale is simply vast, and has become much more than the brothers simply searching for their lost bodies whilst combating homunculus. The philosophers stones play a different, more minor role in this visioning, the nature of their creation having been discovered in the previous volume, so the Elric brothers have as good as discounted their use in getting their bodies back. However, the story moves at such an intense pace that the Elric brothers have no time to focus on alternatives, and can only battle to keep their heads above the tide of intrigue and deception that is being revealed to them.
Despite this scale, it is always clear what is going on, there is no obscurity. Although there is plenty of intrigue and unexpected developments which fit together with a pacing that balances extreme action with more comedic and calmer moments seamlessly. There are many genuine goose bump inducing moments throughout the volume; when the heroes escape a dangerous situation or a forgotten favourite character suddenly re-emerges at a crucial point. It’s the stuff of a typical action anime, but is done very well, and in a more realistic way than usual - the heroes don’t triumph in every confrontation and, for the most part, it is more a battle to escape and survive than to overcome their overwhelming odds.
The artwork is beautifully adapted from the manga, different again from the original series, but not in an obvious way. The overall tone is darker, more stark and violent, with an added steam punk feel to some of the backgrounds. The comedy is also done in a more expressive way, using the typical comic manga ‘chibi’ heads (characters are shown with tiny bodies and over sized heads), enlarged expressions, and character sound effects appearing on the screen written in Japanese script. Unfortunately, the sound effect symbols are not translated on this release, which can be a slight annoyance, but it doesn’t detract from the episodes overall.
The soundtrack features a lot of the themes and interludes used in the original anime series, despite having a different composer credited, all of which are beautifully composed and recorded, and fit the tone and style. The quality of the Japanese voice cast is magnificent, featuring seasoned professionals with numerous credits in successful series behind them. In particular, Rie Kugimiya, who plays Alphonse, does a wonderful job at sounding like a young boy despite being cast mainly in cutesy and ‘tsundere’ heroine roles.
Unlike a lot of English-language licensed anime, the opening and ending songs are included as part of each episode, as originally intended by the creators. The first opening and ending songs of this volume are among the most popular of the entire series, and serve to punctuate the thrilling cliff-hangers, as well as make a good distraction from the intense viewing.
Volume three of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is intense anime storytelling at its absolute best. The sheer energy and single-mindedness of some of the characters is infectious, their plight means something to the viewer, and there are many laughs and tears as they attempt to chip away at the mountain of adversity facing them. Highly recommended viewing. JR
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