Customer Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2 [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In Japan, "Fullmetal Alchemist" (Hagane no Renkinjutushi) has been a popular long running anime and manga series created by mangaka Hiromu Arakawa. The original manga series was serialized in Square Enix's "Shonen Gangan" since 2001, while the 51-episode TV series created by BONES was shown on television in 2004 and was followed by a film to conclude the series.

The popularity of "Fullmetal Alchemist" has led to many novels, OVA's, drama CD's, soundtracks and video games and a lot of these releases have been distributed in various countries and its popularity is a testament of how people have come to love the series which has won many awards in Japan including being voted for the #1 most popular anime series of all time.

Despite it's popularity, the series could have gone on longer but because the anime series was created when the manga was only several years old, the anime series only lasted 51-episodes and there were differences between what the director featured on the anime series and what Arakawa had in the manga.

So, in 2009, a new series titled "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Furumetaru Arukemisuto) was created by BONES and this time around, the series would follow the manga much more closely. Currently there are over 60 episodes that have aired in Japan and the series is still ongoing. Also, unlike the previous anime series, this series would be created in HD (540p). The first 13 episodes of "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" would feature its first 13-episodes covering the first 26-episodes from the original anime series but from that point on, the series becomes a whole new storyline which features more characters and for the most part, something new and different for the viewers, especially fans of the original series.

To make sure that there is a difference between this series aside from the storyline differences compared to the original, the staff is different this time around as well as the character designs. The director for "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" would be Yasuhiro Irie (who worked on RahXephon", "Cowboy Bebop", "Macross Plus", "Gunparade March"), series composition by Hiroshi Ohnogi ("Eureka Seven", "Area 88, "Aquarion", "RahXephon", "RIN", "Skullman"), music by Akira Senju ("Red Garden", "Mobile Suit Victory Gundam", "Silent Service"), character designs by Hiroki Kanno ("Angelic Layer", "Eureka Seven", "Ninja Scroll", "RahXephon") and art design by Takeshi Satou ("Mobile Suit Gundam 00', "Ghost Slayers Ayashi", "Please Twins!").

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" is a series about two young alchemist brothers named Edward and his younger brother Alphonse Eric (aka "Al"). Their father left them and several months after their father left, an epidemic hit their village and killed their mother. Grieving and alone without their mother, the two quickly tried to hone their alchemist skills and hope to bring their mother back alive by using a human transmutation (this is illegal and considered taboo by alchemist).

While performing the transmutation, a dark shadow comes and literally breaks apart the body of Alphonse and as for Edward, he is shown "the truth" but in return for doing the transmutation, there is a toll and in this case, he loses his legs and feet and his right arm. And the transmutation to bring their mother fails as Edward was only able to revive a disembodied figure. In a short time allowed before the dark shadow leaves, Edward was able to bond Al's soul to a suit of armor but there are some consequences. And these consequences and guilt have plunged Edward to the lowest he had ever been.

Meanwhile, a military figure named Roy Mustang has come and is shocked to see that Edward was able to survive a human transmutation and also anchoring his brother's soul and thus gives Edward a chance to join the military to fight with them but at the same time, gaining access that may give Edward a chance to bring his brother back to life and also his own body as well.

With this opportunity, this gives Edward a chance to repair what he did wrong and help his brother. But as they investigate on how they can get their bodies back and investigating what is known as a "Philosopher's Stone", an unknown group is out there, observing his every move and willing to kill in order to get to Edward.

In part two of "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood", the story begins to focus on the military encounter with the Homunculi, the investigation of Hughes death and Winry coming face-to-face with the murderer who killed her parents.

VIDEO:

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Part Two" is presented in 1080p HD 16×9 via a HD native source. It's important to note that although the conversion was made to 1080p, I've read that the actual Japanese original masters were created in 540p. With that being said, this is a TV series and one can't expect OVA or film quality but I manage to compare the DVD and Blu-ray version and the Blu-ray looks much more colorful, much more detailed and looked much better and more colorful than its DVD counterpart.

I did notice edge enhancement and I'm sure the conversion of a 540p source to 1080p possibly led to the jaggies that can be seen at times. Granted, I'm a bit picky when it comes to video quality but the fact that this is created by BONES (a busy anime production company) and the fact that this is not an OVA or film, for a TV series, "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" looks very good. Granted, it's not uber-vibrant but there is a good amount of shading, detail, blacks are deep and overall, I felt the Blu-ray looked much better than its DVD counterpart.

AUDIO:

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Part Two" is presented in English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0. Overall, the 5.1 lossless soundtrack sounds very good and there is a good amount of surround usage and its much more immersive than its Japanese lossless counterpart. There is quite a bit of action in this second volume, plenty of battles are featured and many episodes that utilize the surround channels.

The Japanese lossless soundtrack is still good, especially if you have a receiver in which you can change the setting to stereo on all channels. I do prefer the Japanese lossless soundtrack in terms of acting especially during the more emotional moments in this second volume (which there are many). But I've watched the series in both Japanese and English and for the most part, both are well done and similar to "Dragon Ball Z" and "One Piece", the English dub has caught my attention and this time around, I was watching many of the episodes in English. But both voice acting are well done.

Subtitles are in English.

NOTE: You can not use your audio button to switch from Japanese to English and vice versa while watching the series. You will need to press your guide button to switch to another audio. Also, you can not optionally remove English subtitles unless you choose the English lossless soundtrack. So, for those who want to watch the series in Japanese with no English subtitles may be disappointed by this.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Part Two" comes with the following special features:

* EPISODE 14 Commentary - Audio commentary by Mike McFarland (ADR Director/Line Director and voice of Havoc) and voice talents Chris Patton (Greed) and Vic Mignona (Edward Elric) talking about reprising their role for "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood).
* EPISODE 23 Commentary - Audio commentary by ADR director and voice talent Mike McFarland (Havoc) and English Dub voice talents Todd Haberkorn (Ling Yao), Monica Rial (May Chang), Trina Nishimura (Lan Fan).
* Textless Opening and Closing Songs - The textless opening and ending theme songs.
* Trailers - FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

JUDGMENT CALL:

Like the first part of "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood", there is a good amount of episodes that will make you laugh and even make you want to shed some tears as not only does the series feature a good amount of action, fun and upbeat moments but also heartbreaking episodes. Especially those dealing with Ed and Al's realization of what happened to their good friend Hughes and when we see Winry confront the man who killed her parents. Heartbreaking scenes but definitely added to the enjoyment of this series.

Aside from the more emotional scenes, the battle between the military and the homunculi is starting to ramp up and we get to see a number of awesome battles between the military and the Homunculi and also an introduction to Lin Yao, Lan Fan, May Chang and also a confrontation with the murderer Scar.

If anything, while the first series was more or less trying to jam pack a lot of story (that people saw in the first series) in its first 13 episodes, this time around the storyline becomes much more focused on what took place on the manga series. More character development was needed on the military characters and the writers have done a wonderful job in including more scenes with Roy Mustang, Jean Havoc, Riza Hawkeye and also on the newer characters Ling Yao, Lan Fan and May Chang. As well as showcasing the homunculi and what they are capable of.

I really enjoyed part two of "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" and how well-paced, how action-packed and how much deeper the episodes were. This latest volume was quite addicting and I definitely enjoy how the series has continued to grow and improve with each episode.

As for the Blu-ray release, as explained with my review for the first volume, some people may have issues that this series is not true 1080p but created in 540p and then upscaled to 1080p. As many Japanese companies are going through cost-cutting situations due to their economy, we are going to see some anime released in 4:3 instead of widescreen and we are going to see Japanese companies not taking advantage of true 1080p and focusing on creating anime series in 540p. It's the nature of the industry right now and if we want to support anime, we'll need to support them even during these tough times.

But with that being said, I was able to compare the DVD and the Blu-ray release of "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" and the artistic backgrounds and its details are much better looking on Blu, the colors are more cleaner, sharper and more colorful on Blu and for the most part, for a TV series, I'm quite content with the PQ. I felt the black levels were good and again, for a TV Series released in 2009, the picture quality is good not great (it's not 1080p) and there is a hint of edge enhancement but it's still pretty good.

Overall, "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" may not please the diehards who have loved the original anime TV series but the fact is, we are getting a series that is now closer to the manga series and also more episodes than the original release. Not to say one should forget the original series but in a way, the "Fullmetal Alchemist" brand has moved on to bigger and better and the FMA: Brotherhood series is much more consistent to what the creator, Hiromu Arakawa intended.

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" has the making of a great anime series and part two is fantastic!

It will make you laugh, cry and you'll notice how things continue to get better and better with this series and you are left with wanting more! If you are looking for an anime TV series on Blu-ray that has a great balance of cool characters, an addictive storyline and for the most part, looks good and sounds wonderful in HD. Definitely put this series high on top of your anime on Blu-ray list!

I highly assure anyone if you haven't checked out Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood then you are greatly missing out on this animated masterpiece!Fullmetal Alchemist is an franchise that has taken America by storm three times now firstly with the original 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist animated series..secondly with the cult followed manga of the same and now the final time with the remarkable animated Brotherhood!Brotherhood is currently airing on Adult Swim and is gaining great attention with impressive ratings all around and the animated series is on the last three episodes that will be airing in Japan for the rest of June and officially ending its run on July 4th with 64 episodes in total.This animated rare gem truly hits an incredible peak with part two..this is when the animated series strays away from the original 2003 anime to pave its own path by following the manga's brilliant plot.What your in store for with this 13 episode set is my personal favorite episodes of the series..beautiful emotions are unleashed,Jaw dropping battle sequences animated with some of the best animation ever put on film..I kid you not..you will be left in awe with every gut turning,beautifully paced moment..and with the ending episode on this set it will only leave you wanting more..don't worry this animated series only gets better as it progresses into its deeply intelligent and engrossing plot.Studio Bones has proved once again with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood that without a doubt they are the greatest animation Studio in the world.Hiromu Arakawa has created one of the most unique and groundbreaking stories ever written in the graphic novel world..Fullmetal Alchemist is indeed one of the greatest stories ever told..so what are you waiting for..buy this set today and experience the beautiful world of Fullmetal Alchemist!

P.s.The Japanese Dub is by far the best dub I've ever heard in all my years of watching anime and the English Dub is remarkable as well!Vic Mignogna truly deserves an oscar nomination for his riveting performance as Edward Elric!

This set of episodes is where Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood really starts to take off and establish itself as a different series from the first anime. I would consider this the "narrative hook" of the FMA:Brotherhood series. I will admit that I was a bit turned off by the first 13 episodes of FMA:Brotherhood, I felt like the series had a very "rushed" feel to it. I understand that they were trying to speed over the ground that had already been covered by it's predeccesor, but I wished they would have slowed down with it a bit. I felt that it detracted from the emotional impact that the original series had. But once I finally got to episode 15, and the series slowed down the pacing a bit, I realized that once again, the Bones animation studio was delivering yet another masterpiece. If you were a fan of the original FMA, and were dissapointed by the first set of episodes like me, I encourage you to at least give Part 2 a view, your opinion will most likely change. I have watched the entire series of FMA brotherhood in Japanese (with english subtitles) and I can tell you that I really thought this was the stronger of the 2 series once it takes off. In the original FMA, I felt a bit dissapointed by how they ended the series, and I honestly felt that the last 10 or so episodes didn't really add up to the rest of the series, though I did enjoy the last 2 or 3 episodes. Where'as with FMA Brotherhood I feel that it's the opposite, it has a week opening with the first 13 episodes, minus a few moments, but overall the series is better as a whole from the original. There is a whole lot more action throughout FMA: Brotherhood, and the ending, which I won't give away, is a great deal more climatic than the original FMA series ending, in my opinion. By the time you finish this disc set, I can say that you will more than likely be "sold" on what FMA: Brotherhood has to offer. And it only gets better from here.

I'm assuming that if you are buying the second dvd set of FMA:Brotherhood, then you already know and like what this show has to offer.
Well it only gets better. More characters, plot intrigue, rich story, and character developments. Not to mention beautiful animation.
(Again be aware this is a remake of FMA. It is not like the original TV series. It follows the manga plot.)

You seriously can't go wrong with this show.

So this is where the series really gets going. In these episodes we see the folks from Xing taking a more central role. The homonculi are all a little 'different' and pretty much each event that occurs is completely changed from the original anime series. But these episodes more closely follow the manga (which I read after watching this).

For those who haven't seen the first series, please watch the first series before Brotherhood. I think that is how to achieve maximum viewing enjoyment. But if you have to start with Brotherhood, at least go through the first season (volume one) before tackling this.

I actually checked this out from my local library, and it was the DVD version, so I cannot comment on the Blu-Ray version. But the Japanese voice acting is stellar, as it was in the first series. I haven't seen this in English, but I did flip over a few times, and it seems that Funimation did a pretty good job with the dubbing. The subtitles are overall pretty accurate to the Japanese dialogue (I understand a bit of Japanese), so there don't seem to be many moments where Funimation changed the dialogue drastically (you will have some slight changes like "Let's go here" instead of "Don't go over there" but nothing like "Edward has a red coat" changed to "Perhaps we can get something to eat" or anything like that).

The animation quality is also improved in this season. It seems that in the efforts to get the first 10 episodes over with quickly, the animators let some sloppy scenes go through. Once we get to the end of season one and start season two (you know when season two starts because of the new intro song), the animation quality and consistency really steps up a notch.

Also in keeping with the manga, there are some funny and lighthearted moments. You see the characters suddenly surprised and becoming 'super deformed' or hear the cow or chicken noises. Much like in the manga.

But overall these episodes are serious and we are taken to a different story line than the first series. The characters from Xing are actually quite interesting, and some of the new scenes are very well done (like the ruins of Xerxes).

It's a great series, and it finally gets going full steam in this set. Worthy.

Covers the end of volume 7, volumes 8-12, and most of volume 13 of the manga.

Fight scenes: Ed and Izumi vs. Greed. Bradley vs. Greed. Scar vs. Ed + Al. Scar vs. Winry (really). Bradley vs. Lin and Lan Fan. Mustang (and Havoc) vs Lust. Lin, Ed and Al vs. Envy and Gluttony.

There's more to the series than just fight scenes, of course. In this volume, we're introduced to new characters from Xing, the country to the east (modeled after China?): Prince Lin, with his bodyguards Lan Fan and Foo, and May Chang with her stunted-growth micropanda. Lin and May are on their seperate quests to discover immortality/the philosopher's stone in order to improve their chance to inherit the throne of Xing from the dying emperor. Oddly enough, May ends up following around Scar. Because every serial killer needs a little girl and her tiny pet panda following him around, right? We also learn how Wrath was created, who killed the Rockbells and why, we get a glimpse of Sloth (he doesn't look like Trisha Elric, for those who saw the first version of the anime) and there's a dialogue between Wrath and Pride (Pride is "off camera").

We meet Ed and Al's father Van Hohenheim. Why does he look so much like the one the homonculi call Father?

This series has great animation, artwork, and voice acting, with an intriguing plot and characters, and this volume in particular is very close to the original manga. My only problem with it is that it's really one enormous story, so it's hard to find places to take a break. Most episodes end with so many things left hanging, and the final episode is no exception, which nearly forces you to buy the next volume.

This is where Brotherhood really begins to rise above the old series (here and here). While the first set was basically nothing but a recap of the original anime this set carves out its own story. Without giving too many spoilers it introduces several new characters (including the Elric brother's father) and has the lead characters finally hunting the homunculi instead of merely reacting to them. The biggest new character is Lin Yao, the prince of Xing (Basically China), who is introduced right off the bat in episode 15 as if to emphasize the split. He's hunting for the Philosopher's Stone so he can gain the advantage in the succession of his kingdom and become emperor and since they know all about it he hangs around with Ed and Al. Lin's selfish nature really bugged me at first but by the end of this set he was among my favorite characters, which is a shame because he doesn't have as much screen time in the rest of the series. Another new character is Lao Fan, who is the only character on the show that I never really liked. She's a little girl from a rival family in Xing and comes complete with a mini-panda. You also get to see the first real enemy death, and it's a big one. A big issue of this series is leadership and loyalty, especially to subordinates. There are four main leaders in this series and each of them has a different style. Lin and Mustang are loyal to a fault to their subordinates (although Lin's rather more careless about sending them into danger) while the homunculi's leader cares nothing for his. The fourth shows up in the next set and she is willing to spend her men's lives but never capriciously or on a whim. A lot of these relationships will be important as the series progresses.

A great deal is going on in these episodes. This series is really a straight continuation of the last set in style and direction. A lot of things are wrapped up and many new developments are revealed. After this set the show takes kind of an unexpected turn and has a very different feel as the Elrics are forced into a rather compromising position. The ending basically establishes the course for the rest of the series. There are a number of cool fight scenes including a big one towards the end. Unfortunately reviews of these later sets will have to be brief and vague to avoid major spoilers. Characters die in the first set and much is revealed that should only be learned at the proper time.

it would be more stars had i found out that it was region B as well as A. But it wasn't unfortunately one of the users on the website blu-ray.com said it was region B but it wasn't, and i had already bought it. :( Although the postcards you get with it are very nice. :)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part Two is a two-disc set that contains episodes fourteen through twenty-six of the series. It's been very fascinating to see how much the story in this series has changed in comparison to the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series. In these episodes, we are introduced to several new characters who did not appear in the original anime series (May Chang, Lin Yao, and Lan Fan), who all come from the land of Xing. We are also introduced to the ruins of Xerxes, and how they are important to the story of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. While some of the elements from the original anime are still here, there are different twists and details for these elements. There are some changes that I liked and that I thought were interesting, while I felt others worked better in the original Fullmetal Alchemist. However, it should be noted that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is intended to be a more accurate representation of the story from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series.

On the main menu of the discs, you can choose to watch all of the episodes, choose which episode you want to see, set your audio and subtitles preferences, and see the extras. The only extra on the first disc is commentary for episode fourteen ("Those Who Lurk Underground"). There are four extras included on the second disc. The first extra is commentary for episode twenty-three ("Girl on the Battlefield"). The next feature is labeled as "Textless Opening Song." This feature has the new opening credits that were introduced on this set. The next feature is labeled as "Textless Closing Song," and it features the new ending credits that were introduced on this set. The final extra on the disc is trailers. On this disc are trailers for: The Slayers, Initial D, Nabari no Ou, Soul Eater, Kaze no Stigma, Dragon Ball Z, and Full Metal Panic!

If you're familiar with the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series when you watch this set, you'll have a feeling by the end of the set that, while you know most of these characters, it feels like you're watching an entirely different series. However, that's not to say that this is a bad thing. Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing how Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood continues on with the next DVD set.

If you're a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, this release is worth picking up and adding to your DVD library. If you're a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist that must own everything related to the series, this is also worth adding to your collection. If you're a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist who also enjoys Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, then this set is also worth purchasing.

I wrote a review of this DVD set after checking out a copy through the King County Library System.

If you are a fan of Full Metal Alchemist then theres no reason you should even be readig this because you have obviously seen this DVD already and witnessed the awesomeness. But for those that haven't seen Brotherhood, this DVD will be l absolutely blow your mind. For those that are awareof the original series and felt discouraged by the first DVD because of repetition, WORRY NO MORE because this is where Brotherhood shines as a brand new series in its own right. Some will even be surprised of how much BETTER Brotherhood is compared to the original adaptation. In my opinion, the first anime was very very good, however I was very dissatisfied by some of the storytelling in the original series. The first series had a couple of filler episodes as well as couple of moments where the story strayed away from the storyline and didn't go anywhere for a while until episodes later. The MAIN difference between Brotherhood and the original series is that the story never slows down, it never goes away from the plot, even with the addition of new chracters the pace of the story never feels too slow or rushed which is a HUGE thumbs up for me.

The DVD is Part 2 of 5 compilation DVD's which contains episodes 14-26 of and for me so far this is still by far my favorite volume. When I first watched this DVD I felt like a kid in a candy store, I felt very excited because EVERYTHING is BRAND NEW material from here on out. I was a little skepticle at first because although I know this is the original story of Full Metal Alchemist, I still keep in mind towards my love for the original series and I did not want to bruise those feelings and feel that this is the inferior series. But that completely changed as soon as I saw episode 16 because although the first 13 episodes had a rushed feeling because of how much material they compacted in the first episodes, this DVD is the START of the true story and really takes its time in pulling in the viewers of the new storyline. I was also very worried about the new charactrs in the series, there a couple of new characters from the country of XING (mostly considered as the Chinese derived characters) and I was worried I wouldn't like them or to figure how long I have to watch this to begin to like them. I LOVE the new characters, all of them have there own unique and loveable personalities especially the character Ling who seems like there is a lot of back story that has to be told.

This DVD is pretty much exactly the same as the first DVD as far as features is concerned. There are 2 commentaries (which are very entertaining) couple of trailers and THATS IT. Funimation has always been lousy in the extras department and this one is only focusing that. All in all though, any anime fan should watch this series, it is a good blend of good storytelling, comedy, action, drama and even a little love here and there. Brotherhood is quickly becoming one of my favorite animes of all time and everybody should check it out, this is a must buy no question about it.