Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Specials

When I decided to watch this OVA I really wasn't expecting anything special. I decided to watch this just because I had nothing else to do on my Monday afternoon. Thank God I had nothing to do because this OVA was very much worth the 17 minutes I spended on it.

The story of the "Blind Alchemist" picks up with Ed and All deciding to go to an alchemist who is believed to have been able to do a transmutation of some sort. This story doesn't seem too exiting and maybe a couple people can make out the ending because of the "Blind Alchemist" part ... of the tittle but trust me most people will be very surprised to see what happens. It centers on the main theme of the anime. Ed and All doing everything they can trying to get their bodies back. But going to this Alchemist should have been the last thing they do.

The animation is typical Fullmetal Alchemist. There's nothing to say about it. If you watch the anime you'll know what I'm talking about. The sound is also typical FMA. It's sad when it's supposed to be and exciting when it's supposed to be.

The characters in this OVA are all really special. Every character is somehow important, even those gardners play some part. By the end of this OVA you'll feel something for at least one of the new characters.

I really enjoyed this OVA. Like I said before I wasn't expecting much especially after I saw it was only 17 minutes long I thought it would have been a poorly done OVA by my favorite animation company. This was by far bad and it was very enjoyable.

Overall this OVA is a quick watch for anyone that's a fan of the anime. If you think FMA is a good anime then you will love this OVA.

Esta review también está en español.

Fullmetal Alchemist is a mega success, specially the Brotherhood anime. Proof of that is the fact that it's ranked number 2 in this page, since who knows how many months. And, as with any successful product, OVA, specials and movies are created. Unfortunately, in most cases, these products tend to be mediocre at best, therefore, prudent consumers often face these creations with skepticism, or directly not expecting much. So, i watched Brotherhood's special with the intention of having fun, but not expecting anything great or mind blowing. I mean, four fifteen minutes long self conclusive episodes? What could you get ... of that?. A lot. This is one of the few cases in wich the product took me by surprise. Let's see why...

Like I said, there are four episodes, each with a different story.
The first episode, "The Blind Alchemist", shows us the Elric brothers arriving to a mansion, attracted by a strange rumor about Jude, the blind alchemist. Like the brothers, he also broke the taboo and tried to revive someone... but unlike Ed and Al, he was more successful...

The second episode, "Simple People", is about how Ed want to give a present to Winry, so she doesn't get too mad (and by mad, I mean wrench assault) for his usual automail wrecking. So, the brothers try to buy her forgiveness with some earrings.

The third episode, "Tales of the Master", is about the training of an 18 years old Izumi in Briggs. Maybe less experienced than in her adulthood, but healthier, and badass as usual, we'll see how exactly she became a legend/nightmare for the soldiers of that place.

The fourth and final episode, "Yet Another Man's Battlefield", is the Mustang chapter (because, come on, could you imagine a special creation of FMA without him? That would be a commercial suicide!). Not the adult, full prepared Flame alchemist, but the 18 years old student in the military academy. We'll see his studies, his problems, and his rivalry with an equally young Maes Hughes.

The interesting thing about these stories is that are so very well written, that they could be a part of the manga (or the Brotherhood anime). Episodes 2 and 3 have lots of comedic and touching moments, while 1 and 4 are more dramatic and serious. I want to highlight the first episode (my personal favorite, by the way), which touches the reason that motivates the Elrics to do what they do (you know... try to recover their bodies without dying).

The animation is superb, as in the main series. The character design is excellent, changing from "normal" to "SD" in a totally normal, funny way (specially noted with Ed, Al, Winry and Izumi). The alchemy is colorful (with bolts of electricity flying in all directions, buildings structures that changes, or are directly destroyed), and the landscapes are equally beautiful and colorful (especially Risembool, with the fields, prairies and all that... Ishval, on the other hand, is quite brown, which according to the current cultural parameters, means that it's very realistic xD).

The voices are the same form the Brotherhood anime, so good job there. As for the new characters the more destacable is Jude seiyuu: Show Hayami (Aizen in Bleach, Devilman in Devilman, Zarbon in Dragon Ball Z, Tokiomi Tohsaka in Fate/Zero, Archer in the first FMA series, and a long etc). The music is also the typical in FMA, although there is no opening nor ending. For any of the episodes. That's weird... but hey, not that serious (although, it would have been awesome if Yui, Asian Kung-fu Generation or L'Arc~en~Ciel were involved in this project...).

So... what do we have here? A surprise and a very nice one. The episodes are truly in the league of the original creation. I cannot imagine a greater compliment. In four chapters we have comedy, action, drama, alchemy and lots of emotion (and sadly, nothing of Armstrong...). As I said before, this really looks like a part of the series, especially Izumi's training (which is mentioned in the manga) and Mustang's education.
This is not recommended, this is mandatory for any fan of Brotherhood (and seeing the ranking of this page, there are a lot of them n_n). Watch this and enjoy, since high quality specials/OVAS are not that abundant...
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Fullmetal Alchemist es un mega éxito, eso es innegable. Prueba de ello es que en esta misma pag esta rankeada número 2 desde quien sabe cuánto tiempo. Y como con todo producto exitoso, se crean OVAS, especiales y películas. Desafortunadamente, en la mayoría de los casos, estos productos suelen ser inferiores a la obra original, por lo que, los consumidores prudentes suelen verlas con cierto escepticismo, o no esperando gran cosa. Yo encare los especiales de Brotherhood de esa forma: esperaba divertirme un rato, pero no imaginaba que fuera nada del otro mundo. O sea, 4 capítulos auto conclusivos de solo 15 minutos? Que se puede esperar de tan poco?. Mucho. Este es uno de los pocos casos en el que el producto me tomo por sorpresa. Veamos por que...

Como dije, hay cuatro capítulos, cada uno con una historia diferente.
El primer capítulo, “El alquimista ciego”, nos muestra a los hermanos Elric arribando a una mansión, atraídos por un extraño rumor acerca de Jude, el alquimista ciego. Al igual que los hermanos, el también intento revivir a alguien... pero a diferencia de Ed y Al, el tubo más éxito.

El segundo capítulo, “Gente común”, trata de cómo temiendo por las represalias de Winry por haber roto su brazo tan rápido, Ed y Al deciden comprarle a su mejor amiga unos aros, con la esperanza de apaciguar su ira (que usualmente involucra agresiones con llaves inglesas).

El tercer capítulo, “Cuentos de la maestra” es sobre el entrenamiento de Izumi (de solo 18 años) en Briggs, y como fue exactamente que se convirtió en una leyenda/pesadilla para los soldados del lugar.

El cuarto y último capítulo, Yet Another Man's Battlefield, es sobre los días de Mustang (personaje que no podía quedarse afuera de estos especiales, o varias cabezas hubieran rodado :P) en la academia militar, sus estudios, y su rivalidad con Maes Hughes.

Lo interesante de estas historias es que no solo están muy bien escritas, si no que tranquilamente podrían ser parte del manga. Los capítulos 2 y 3 tienen sus momentos cómicos y conmovedores, mientras que el 1 y el 4 son bastante serios, sin llegar a ser dramáticos al nivel del primer anime. Particularmente quería destacar el primer capítulo, que toca de lleno la motivación de los Elric para hacer lo que hacen.

El apartado técnico es impecable. La animación es soberbia, al igual que en la serie. El diseño de personajes es excelente, rotando de forma esporádica entre “normales” y chibi de forma totalmente natural. La alquimia es vistosa (con rayos de electricidad volando para todos lados, edificios que ven sus estructuras modificadas o directamente destruidos) y los paisajes son hermosos y muy coloridos (especialmente Risembool, con sus campos, praderas y todo eso... Ishval es bien marrón, lo que según los parámetros culturales actuales, significa que es realista xD).

Las voces son las mismas de la serie, y cumplen de la forma que ya sabemos todos. En cuanto a los nuevos personajes, destaco a Jude, cuyo seiyuu es Show Hayami (Aizen en Bleach, Devilman en Devilman, Zabon en Dragon Ball Z, Tokiomi Tohsaka en Fate/Zero, Archer en la primer serie de FMA, más un largo etcétera). La música es también la usual de FMA, aunque no hay ni opening ni ending. Para ninguno de los capítulos. Eso es raro... pero bueno, tampoco es un problema.

Así que, para redondear, que es lo que tenemos acá? Una sorpresa, y una muy agradable. Realmente estos especiales están a la altura del anime. No se me ocurre un mayor halago. A lo largo de cuatro episodios tenemos comedia, acción, drama, alquimia y mucha emoción (y, tristemente, nada de Armstrong...). Como ya dije antes, realmente parecen una parte más de la serie, especialmente el entrenamiento de Izumi (que es comentado en el manga) y la educación de Mustang.

Esto no es recomendable, es obligatorio para cualquier fan de Brotherhood (y viendo el ranking de esta pag, son muchos). Véanlo y disfruten, dado que los buenos especiales/OVAS no son tan abundantes...

This is a review of all 4 OVAS of FMA: Brotherhood

1. The Blind Alchemist (Score: 9 out of 10)

The Blind Alchemist is about Ed and Al hearing a rumor that a state alchemist named Judas successfully made a human transmutation to save her daughter from dying and what they see is rather disturbing. The Blind Alchemist showcases more on the consequences of human transmutation and how can affect on people's lives. It's been done in other FMA episodes, but this OVA is still emotionally heartbreaking and a nice start to the OVA Collection.

2. Simple People (Score: 8 out of 10)

This OVA is about Winry who ... decides to pierce her ears with earrings, because of the day that she meet Hawkeye and where Edward decided to be a state alchemist to help his younger brother. This OVA is more simple, but with a very subtle message of why our reasons can be so simple rather than being too complicated and it does offer some funny hilarious moments with Ed and Winry. Not the best OVA, but still a fun one at least.

3. Chronicle Of Teacher (Score: 10 out of 10)

Chronicle Of Teacher centers on Izumi, when she was 18 years old, as she finds a man named Silver Steiner to train alchemy with him. However, he says to Izumi to survive one month in the Briggs Mountain with a knife only and if she survives, she will become her apprentice. What follows is an epic journey on how she learns the meaning of "All is one and one is all" throughout the entire month and how she became the hardcore badass housewife that we all know and love. You will cheer and laugh your ass off in this OVA, cause everything that Izumi does is just crazy and she fights a fucking bear with her own two hands! Also, how Izumi and Sig first met and fall in love is priceless. This OVA is the best of the bunch and worthy of re-watching it a lot.

4. Yet Another Man's Battlefield (Score: 10 out of 10)

The last OVA centers around a younger Roy and Hughes as they became the top soldiers in the military academy and getting enlisted in the Ishavlan war. This is a much darker OVA, as we see Roy becoming from a recruited soldier into a person that sees the torment of war in his own eyes. It also sees Roy actually having a friend of Ishavlan before the war. Overall, one of the darkest OVAS in the FMA franchise and a worthy look to all fans.

So that's all the OVAS of FMA: Brotherhood OVA Collection and it also has 16 incredibly funny episodes of "FMA Four Panel Comic Theater" and just damn funny for all FMA fans. If your interested in seeing this OVAS, they are worth buying it to your FMA collection.

Four espisodes are four different stories, that the reason why it is tought to rate all of them by one mark. The second story was quite boring to me, so was the third. However 1st and, especcialy, fouth were kind of a masterpiece. After watching all of them I was so confused that I was unable to give it any rate.
The specials are great mean to meet our favurite characters one more time, also to learn new things about their history. Few scences where already shown in the core series, for me it is an advantage, as it allows to place a situation in ... the time frame, and it proves that this is not completely new story out of the blue.
Art is the same, characters are the same, and sound is fine, so my enjoyment was pretty high. However it is not what I had expected from the story and it was not really interesting/intriguing for me. Not dropped after third only because there would be no sense in dropping last episode.
I don't regret watching it and totally recommend you to watch these specials, but bear in your mind it is not a whole new story, just short pictures form the past.

I cant lie when i say that these are very good.

I liked each of the 4 episodes, i think they are good enough to be on the actual show, however it may have been seen as filler so i dont really know what to make of it.

I really liked the 3rd one, where we get a little more background on Izumi's character. How she trained and how she met her husband.
Beautifully done.

I also liked the twist on the first episode, you really feel bad for the alchemist and the parents.

The second episode is cute because i like everything that happens in the house and ... the old lady is cool but it can be skipped.

Fourth episode was cool i guess.

Wow this was better than I expected I thought it was going to be some ok side stories for the main series but I was so wrong.

Even though this was a side story I saw no drop in animation or sound value unlike alot of other movies and ovas for certain anime series. All the episodes were amazing each of them had some sort of theme and meaning to it which I liked. I got to know some more about certain charactesr such as Mustang and Curtis.

Overall very enjoyable specials that certainly added some toppings to the cake. It's definitely a recommended watch once you ... have finished the series FMAB series.

The ovas had only 12/14 minutes (except the last one), and in my opinion, that went down very well! But although they were short, they were great. Except for the Winry episode, which was quite simple, but the part where Riza says, "The reasons are quite simple because the world is simple, just shoot the trigger that the person dies," referring to the Ishval war, managed to save the episode.

The blind man who claimed to have managed a human transmutation is also worth seeing, it is a separate story that further explores the universe of Fullmetal.

And who was never curious to see Izumi training in ... the Briggs Mountains? It was the perfect opportunity. Modesty aside, but she should have a movie of her own. hehe Unlike the Elric brothers, she never showed much compassion for the animals she ate. Still, she understood that it was just another small part of the flow of life. And to top it off, it became a legend that scared to everyone who lived in Briggs hahahaha

Bump into senpai for being late for class, drop your books and fall in love with him? NO!

Bump into senpai for wanting to return home after a month of surviving on Briggs Mountain, knocking down your bear and falling in love with him? YES, very romantic, baby.

The most interesting of these specials, however, was clearly the episode that showed the young Mustang and Hughes fighting together! I was more a fan of Hughes than Mustang, but I think after that episode, I completely changed my mind. Should Hughes be cute to care about his wife more than any other life he murdered? Nah, I found it a little disgusting. He would definitely not be a good ruler, thankfully the one who had this dream was the Mustang, not him!

I understand, it was his duty as a soldier to accomplish the mission, and he held on to his wife to move on. However, that's a lot of fun, isn't it? Hughes didn't care about the motive behind the war, and in the end, it was that motive that killed him. By the time he started caring about the country, it was too late.