In short I would describe FMA as a great story about the adventures of two brothers, their quest to achieving their goal, their hardships along the way and how their relationship grows stronger despite that. Throw in some likable characters they interact with while on their journey, great fight scenes, lighthearted comedy and a lot of alchemy and you got a general idea what FMA is about.
Story (10)
The story has a clear goal to move towards, but it doesn’t mean that it’s the only thing you’re going to see here. There are plenty of smaller segments, that are kind of short stories of their own, but they don’t go too far off the main story. Most tie into the main story in some way or another and I don’t think I’ve seen anything that felt like it could have been skipped or was unnecessary.
My main complaint with FMAB is that the first 12 or so episodes felt rushed, but if you’d like to watch the story unfold in more detail the first 30 or so episodes of the first anime adaptation of this series (in 2003) covers mostly the same story just in a slower pace.
The beginning aside, in my opinion, FMAB beats the first adaptation in the ending department by a mile. I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it yet, but because of this, if you only have the chance to watch one of the adaptations, I’d recommend watching brotherhood, even though both of the adaptations have their own different charms and are worth a watch.
Art (10)
The animation style isn’t overly cute or overly rough and the colors aren’t too bright nor are they too bland. The animation is fluid and I didn’t notice any major faults with it.
I think it’s also worth mentioning that this show has one of if not the best fight scenes, especially involving some sort of magic (in this case – alchemy) that I’ve seen so far in anime.
Sound (10)
The OPs ranged from ok to good, even thought I personally liked the first adaptation’s OP songs better.
I have no complaints about the sound effects. They aren’t out of place and work well.
Personally, I have seen the dubbed version of this anime, and I have to say, the DUB is really good. The voice actors did a good job and they fit their characters well. If you like myself don’t usually watch dubbed anime because a lot of the times it just doesn’t seem to work, but don’t mind it when the DUB is good, I’d recommend at least trying the dubbed version of FMA.
Character (10)
As I have mentioned earlier, I find the characters very likable. Let’s start with the main characters – Edward and Alphonse or Ed and Al for short. The two brothers and their relationship is one my favorite parts of this show. They are smart and capable, yet not perfect. Both of them make mistakes and learn from them. Even though they share a very strong sibling bond with each other, they still disagree and fight at times. These are all things that make them believable human characters and it brings me joy to watch them change and grow over the span of the story.
The brothers aren’t the only characters that change and grow over time, though. The more important supporting characters also develop quite a bit throughout the story, including the villains.
Speaking of villains, FMA has some really good ones. I unfortunately can’t go into much detail about them without spoiling the story, but I can say for sure that I rarely ever see anime villain characters that I love, or should I say love to hate as much as I do in this show. Their motives make sense and I was even able to sympathize with some of them to an extent. Perhaps most importantly, the villains aren’t villains just for the sake of the story having someone for the main characters to defeat, but instead they are actual characters with good reasons for acting the way they do.
Enjoyment (10)
It probably comes as no surprise, when I say that I enjoyed this anime to bits. It was the first anime (well the second if you count the first adaptation as a separate anime, which I personally do not) that I’ve ever seen from start to finish, it has what I consider to be a great story with some of the best characters I’ve ever seen and it probably helps that I am very fond of elements such as alchemy, strong sibling and/or friend relationships and action in not just anime, but other entertainment mediums as well. And to top it all off – a nice and clean animation style and a fitting soundtrack, what’s there not to love?
Overall (10)
Is this anime for everyone? Well, no, I doubt such an anime exists, but that aside I think this anime can be easily enjoyed by most anime viewers. It has a great story for those that want one, great action for those that enjoy shows better when there’s a lot of movement involved, characters that feel human for those that want to see characters change and grow, comedy for those that like to have a good laugh with their anime and etc.
Fullmetal Alchemist really is a great anime, and I think it’s one that you should at least give a try to. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something else it’s worth praising for? Or maybe you’ll find the exact opposite – a major fault that has escaped my attention? Either way, I hope you give it a try.
