Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood 01 – If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Transmute It
Posted by 0rion on April 6th, 2009 - 11:48 pm
It has been entirely too long since I’ve seen the Brothers Elric in action. Entirely too long. It’s also been entirely too long since our last post, but that’s an issue for another post entirely.
In any case, I can’t express how thrilled I am to see one of my favorite anime series back in full force, and (presumably) returning to follow the brilliantly written manga storyline.
FMA is back and I must say that it is positively refreshing to see those characters again. It’s been far too long since I last heard talk about transmutation circles, equivalent exchange, and forbidden transmutations. Interestingly enough, the new season opened with a kind of stand-alone introduction separate from both the original series and the manga.
All in all, I think it was a great way to start the series and if nothing else it gave us an excuse to see some Ed and Al tag-team action, along with Hughes amusing quirkiness, as well as the hilarious antics of Armstrong.
Grumpy bat is grumpy.
The animation, though slightly different, is as solid as ever. One of the greatest strengths of the original series was its ability to strike such a keen balance between the serious and the whimsical, and the animation in the new series continues in that manner. There is a continuous interplay between serious business and chibi-goofiness. I mean just look at that mini-bat, it has a grumpy Ed face on it. And this is after such a fluid and intense introduction sequence.
Honestly, the previous series had such engrossing themes and such grim story elements but the shonen style animation really served to reinforce the narrative’s richness rather than deter from it. Thankfully this aspect of the show seems to have remained unchanged. In other words, if ain’t broke don’t transmute it.
I have to agree; one of the things I’ve always loved about FMA is the way they strike such a great balance between srs bsnss dramatic sequences with impeccably detailed animation, and slapstick chibi comedy. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing Al’s o_o face, or watching Ed rant about being called short.
Speaking of slapstick, nothing makes me happier than seeing Colonel Douchebag Mustang get his parade rained on, quite literally.
Can’t help but love Hughes. =D
And speaking of unchanged elements, most of the vocal cast is the same and this is a very good thing indeed. Honestly, with a show of FMA’s caliber it would be highly questionable for Bones to frivolously gamble with the tried and true voice cast of the first series. Not that such an egregious miscalculation hasn’t happened before. Artland…I’m looking at you.
Yeah, as an unabashed Kugimiya Rie, I’m definitely glad to see her reprising her role as Al-kun, if for no other reason than I think it’s only other decent voice she can do besides “Urusai urusai urusai!”
Romi Park is as always solid, as well, and her work voicing Ed seems spot on to the original.
The most interesting of the new cast is definitely Inoue Kikuko as Lust, especially considering that she’s usually cast in the mild-mannered Onee-sama role. Even from just the couple lines we heard in this episode I’m impressed and intrigued. Hopefully we’ll be seeing plenty more of her in the near future. =3
The combat sequences from FMA have always been second to none, some of my favorite battle moments from the original animation were the sparring bouts between Ed and Al; so it was nice to see some Elric bros combo action. Finally, I’m not sure if my memory is just fading along with the rest of my shrinking community of brain cells, but I had completely forgotten just how lush the music is for this series.
Basically, FMA was awesome and it continues in the glorious tradition of said awesomeness. Moar please. Onegaishimasu. ^^
P.S. – Al has a quest for you.
And before you say anything…
Yes I know, we keep doing this “post a couple times and then disappear for 4 months” routine. OTL
Well, we’re gonna give it one more shot. I’m gonna make sure we have new content up every single week, and if just seems like there’s really too many other competing priorities for my time, well, than maybe it’s time to shutter the doors and call it quits for good.
That said, though, I haven’t given up on this whole blogging thing just yet. Time is limited, so the posts may be a lot shorter from here on out, but there will be posts.
Trust me, I sympathise. As always, though, it’s marvellous to have you back. :3
Better once every 4 months than never
I was kinda disappointed when Roy Mustang came out as Lockon Stratos. It just doesn’t sound right, at least to me anyway.
TBH, I liked the first FMA series but I was never a big fan of it for some reason. Maybe it was just too dark for my taste then. I’m hoping the new season will be better.
Of course the first few episodes to prepare the setting around the story will probably be quite boring… But it’s been a long time, so I’m sure no one will openly complain about it
Aha, Just As Promised! Good to see you two back in the swing of things again. You’ve been missed!
I must confess I never watched FMA – the feature-length sequel was playing at an Anime All-Nighter event last May and while the story was obviously lost on me the aesthetic and dynamic between the Elric brothers was superb so I daresay I’ll enjoy the rest of the series. Rumours of this being a full ‘reboot’ of the franchise sounds like a good opportunity for me to get into it actually.
As for Kugimiya Rie, in my mind at least she’s pretty typecast as the tsundere – her turn as Taiga in Toradora! reminds me so much of Shana. As for the music…it’s the same songwriter as Xam’d: Lost Memories, which was excellent on all fronts, soundtrack included.
Yey, a fresh, new post.
Epic Win is alive and kicking, spread the word!
I really love FMA. Like you stated it’s one of those series that combines the best of drama, action and comedy. Looking forward in anticipation. I’ve always taken a huge liking to Hughes…happy to see him in all his glory again. I’ve always been remarkably attached to that character…meh.
(Ooh and please do a series review for Monster
)
So glad to see a new post. Even if I have to wait four months between them, I’d still rather have that than nothing at all. I can’t imagine my bookmarks folder without you guys.
As for FMA… Seeing as Hughes was my first favourite character, I’m glad to see him back in action, although it’s strange seeing him like this when I know what’s going to happen to him…
Finally, a post after such a long time. All this time keeping your RSS finally paid off
Hoping to see more content soon!
[...] the work alchemical powers: A blog that was dead since last year suddenly came to life and produced a post on FMA Brotherhood 01, of all things. The power of [...]
Is this supposed to be a retelling or additional stories? If I recall, Hughes already met the Elric brothers when they first applied for the State Alchemist exam. They even helped with the birth of Maes’ daughter.
@ Bernie
Supposedly this is a “restart”, telling the story over from the beginning starting with next week’s episode. Except that this time it should be following the manga’s plotline rather than the anime plot that the story diverged into in the last series.
We’ll find out just how faithful a retelling it is soon enough.
Welcome back, so good to seem some new posting…and on Brotherhood too, which I’m interested to hear people’s opinions on.
It looks like fun so far, having picked up the manga after watching (and loving) the original anime, I am dearly looking forward to seeing some of the manga’s epicness translated to the screen. But then, I will let them off on a lot of things on the grounds that it’s FMA and I’ll probably continue to love it out of loyalty. It looks very promising though!
I agree with Nekonron. The only problem with this first episode was Mustang’s voice. It lacks that amazing sarcastic edge to it. Sounds more like a pansy now