before my review, I wanted to mention that my review is catered towards those who have watched the original series since every time I think of Brotherhood, I'm constantly linking it back to the original series.
anyways.
I think it's a sin if you have not heard of the FMA franchise and you watch animes.
The original FMA series swept the anime world by storm and collected fans like a hook, line and sinker. While its popularity dawdled when the series started breaking away from the manga's storyline, it was still hailed by many reviewers/critics alike as a great, must-watch series. I was no exception to its hype.
After watching the original FMA, I stayed away from animes for the last three years. Any series I tried after FMA, I couldn't get into it -- it just wasn't good enough. It didn't have that "it" factor that FMA had. And so I left each series after FMA unfinished, dropped and with huge disappointments. So I left the anime world all together until I heard the news of a remake of FMA coming out. Initially when I heard about this re-make series, I got nervous at the possibility of them ruining what I hailed as one of the greatest animes at the time. After all, was it possible to perfect an already masterful series? But for the sake of my love for the original series, I decided to give Brotherhood a try.
And what a terrifyingly amazing anime it was...
...is what I would like to say. but the first impression of FMA: brotherhood was disappointment. I mostly owe this to the extreme fast pacing that FMA: Brotherhood adapted for the first 11 episodes. It starts off at a breakneck speed and crams I believe 2-3 episodes of what the original FMA had into 1.
The advantage of this is that it is a nice, FAST refresher for those who have watched the original series and for those who are new, it is a very fast summary of the big events (ie nina) that would continue to resurface throughout the series. The disadvantage (and my problem) of this method is that it loses the emotions behind each scenes (namely Nina's) that the original series so very well poignantly portrayed. However, I do understand that Bones had to cram this long series into a span of a year. Taking that into account, it does get the job done and bring the audiences to the branching point where FMA and brotherhood essentially splits, neatly and cleanly. And from this point onwards, it certainly did become the "terrifyingly amazing anime" that I hoped it to be.
The plot is undoubtedly one of the most original, action-packed, twisted storylines I have seen. However, what makes this anime so great is that it also had comedic moments that serve as a breather to all the emotional or intense scenes. Most animes I've seen run into a problem here as they are either not able to break away from the heavy atmosphere or the comedic moments are awkwardly placed. Brotherhood proves otherwise and makes the switch into and out of comedic scenes work smoothly. And I praise them for it. Even in the most dire consequences, I can't help but let out a chuckle every time Ed erupts into fits with the word "short" The plot is definitely more smoother than FMA was (most likely since it just followed the manga, which had a very complex yet easy to follow storyline) and the ending of Brotherhood is simply divine. I can't put it in words how good and satisfied the ending left me -- it neatly put all the stray hairs into one and gave me what I think is the most appropriate and "realistic" end for this series.
If I had one thing to complain about aside from the loss of emotional component in the beginning, it's the episode with Yoki. Honestly, it was so short that it completely passed over my head when he was reintroduced. I thought he was a character that appeared out of nowhere until the anime had a refresher of where the viewers first met him. While he isn't a super important character, he's a character that constantly appears and reappears throughout the series. Thus, I felt that his episode should have been expanded longer than what it was in the beginning.
I'm not a huge stickler on music/voice in general -- but the voice actors did a great job with each of their assigned characters. I can't imagine them sounding like any other after the completion of the series. And the soundtracks, while I do prefer the FMA ones, Brotherhood still provides great OSTs that left me with no complaints.
From what I remember, while it was more simple, the animation was more crisper than what I had seen in the FMA. however, I did originally hate the art -- not because it was bad but it took me a couple episodes to get used to it. After all, I loved FMA through and through that I've rewatched the series on more than one occassion. It was natural that the image of Ed, Al and all the other characters were so deeply embedded in my head that my brain registered any other form of them as "weird" and "awkward" but after getting used to it, I really liked it. I remember really enjoying the fight scenes in FMA brotherhood, lots of great visual affects, pleasing to the eye. (especially during transmutation) fantastic.
If I had to point to the single most thing that probably made Brotherhood a bigger gem than FMA it is probably in the characters. FMA, I think, focuses heavily on the two brothers and their development throughout the story. Brotherhood doesn't stray from this but also adds in the other characters and enhances their role in the story -- adding depth and complexity to the side characters more than FMA did such as with Mustang and most definitely the antagonists. (I find this ironic since Brotherhood is well, called "brother"hood but does a better job in developing the entire cast) By the end of the story, it is able to boast a gigantic number of characters but is able to package them individually into well-rounded characters.
so the short version/my breakdown:
plot (9.8/10) fast fast pacing in the beginning, you get used to it as it goes. however, as a compensation, lacks a bit in emotions in the beginning. well balanced series of comedy/serious moments, nice twists and an EPIC, godly ending.
music (10/10)
animation (10/10) took awhile to get used to. a bit more simpler than FMA but more crisp. great visual effects that stands out in the fight scenes.
character (10/10) a crazy huge cast. however, they're all well-developed and fit into the story rather nicely.
enjoyment (10++++/10) .. if i could give 11s, this would be it.
overall (10/10) I'm hesitant to give 10s in any form -- but I think this anime truly deserves it. (or if not, it would be like a 9.99999999) It exceeded what I thought was impossible and delivered a captivating story with detailed character development, great music/visual to boot and NO FILLERS (the last one being a pretty amazing feat in this day and age if you know what I mean). A classic in my book, and a must-watch in everyone's.
*random note: I'm not sure how helpful this would be since most people who read this review had probably finished the series, BUT for those who are starting and have watched and loved the original series, I would actually recommend skipping the first 11 (assuming you're well familiar with the story) since I think it's around episode 11-12 where the branching from FMA and Brotherhood starts. I did that when I watched Brotherhood first time around because I've watched FMA enough times (I'm too embarrassed to tell you the exact number) that I just continued comparing the two series and also got bored since I knew the scenes by heart.
