Director: Yasuhiro Irie
Starring: Romi Park, Vic Mignogna, Rie Kugimiya, Maxey Whitehead, Shinchiro Miki, Travis Willingham, Megumi Takamoto, Caitlin Glass, Hidekatsu Shibata, Ed Blaylock, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Eric Vale,
Running Time: 318 minutes
Certificate: 15
Extras: 2 Episode Commentaries, Textless Opening and Closings.
FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD is the rebooted series that follows its Manga inspiration more closely than that of the previous series. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better, but after the first collection of episodes, the show followed a different path and fans rejoiced. Both series are amazing, and this third set of episodes from the most recent incarnation of Edward and Alphonse Elric’s adventures shows the show in its best light.
The first episode is a rare throwaway piece of filler that does bring some background to a specific character, but is also made up of a lot of clips from earlier in the series. FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD uses flashbacks sparingly, so to see an entire episode used as a catch-up is a bit tedious. However, if you’ve left it a while between set 2 and 3, then this may be exactly what you’re looking for.
After that, the show continues where it left off, as Ed and Ling break out from inside Gluttony. It’s a dramatic opening that relishes in the darker elements of the show. Immortality is shown as a curse and force of pure destruction, which is replicated well in the bold and brave designs. At the end of the last collection, Envy revealed his hideous form that saw his body made up of many sacrificed innocents. Seeing Ed do battle while being haunted by the constant screams and moans of the departed adds a cruel and disturbing layer to furious action sequences.
Like many great stories, the world seems to grow constantly darker for our heroes. The main thrust of this set’s plotline sees Edward and Alphonse travel north where they meet the sister to their close friend Armstrong. The plot keeps itself very focused and we rarely cut away to what other characters are doing, unless it is completely necessary. This shows one of the benefits of animation over live-action, as a live-action show would have to utilise its actors as much as possible, even if their characters had no place in the current story.
The northern setting sees snow covered mountains as the predominant setting, which one would imagine to be rather static and less interesting from an aesthetic point of view. Fortunately, the animators capture the landscapes perfectly, and tie the environment in with the characters and plot. You can feel the cold throughout each individual scene, and can clearly see how it affects the characters.
Despite the show journeying into the darkness which is necessary given a show about resurrection, the fragility of life, responsibility and forgiveness, the show keeps all the elements that continue to make it an incredible achievement. There are humorous moments; both in terms of witty dialogue and animation techniques, furious action that bursts off the screen, and deeply moving emotional content that engages the audience to a high degree. The brotherly love, portrayed well by both Japanese and English language casts, is so organic and believable, you can’t wait to see how their journey will end.
FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD PART THREE is released on Blu-ray on 29th April via Manga Entertainment.
