“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” part two is another fantastic volume featuring more action, more humor and also its fair share of heartbreaking moments. This is definitely an addicting series that continues to get better and better and I can’t wait for part 3. Highly recommended!
Images courtesy of ©Hiromu Arakawa/FA Project, MBS. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part Two
DURATION: Episodes 14-26 (320 Minutes)
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9 HD Native, Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English
RATED: TV 14
COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: August 24, 2010
Originally Created by Hiromu Arakawa
Directed by Yasuhiro Irie
Series Composition by Hiroshi Ohnogi
Music by Akira Senju
Character Design by Hiroki Kanno
Art Director: Takeshi Satou
Art Design: Kazushige Kanehira
Anime Production by BONES
Featuring the voices of:
Rie Kugimiya/Maxey Whitehead as Alphonse Elric
Romi Paku/Vic Mignogna as Edward Elric
Iemasa Kayumi/Kent Williams as Father
Megumi Takamoto/Caitlin Glass as Winry Rockbell
Shinichiro Miki/Travis Willingham as Roy Mustang
Unshou Ishizuka/Aaron Dismuke as Van Hohenheim
Ai Satou/Brittney Karbowski as Mrs. Bradley
Akemi Okamura/Cynthia Cranz as Paninya
Anri Katsu/John Burgmeier as Dolcetto
Atsuki Tani as Berthold Hawkeye
Chika Fujimura/Gwendolyn Lau as Sheska
J. Michael Tatum as Scar
Fumihiko Tachiki as Sloth
Fumiko Orikasa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Risa (Riza) Hawkeye
Go Shinomiya as Storch
Kikuko Inoue/Laura Bailey as Lust
Wendy Powell as Envy
The path to the Philosopher’s Stone now enters unfamiliar territory, as the Elrics face exotic strangers who use alkahestry, a version of alchemy native to the distant kingdom of Xing. As insight is gained into the secret world of the Homunculi and their enigmatic creator, Lust feels the fires of Mustang’s rage in battle – and the outcome of the clash will shock you. Winry endures the trial of her life when new horrors of the Ishvalan massacre are revealed.
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.
“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” features the following characters:
- Edward Elric – The oldest of the Elric brothers who manage to survive a transmutation and managed to bond his brother to a suit of armor just in time. In the process, he lost his legs and his right arm in which his childhood friend Winry has created metal prosthetics known as “automail”. He is also quite short but also very destructive as he is skillful with alchemy and the fact he survived a transmutation shocks the military. Working as a State Alchemist in order to find a way to bring his brother’s body back and possibly getting his own body back.
- Alphonse Elric – Al is the youngest brother of Edward who was bonded to a suit of armor. Almost invulnerable and very strong. Often mistaken as the eldest because of his size.
- Roy Mustang – The Lt. Colonel of the State Military who wants to become the next Fuhrer of Amestris. He is the one who discovered Edward and Alphonse.
- Winry Rockbell – A childhood friend of Edward and Alphonse. She is also very gifted in technical and mechanical things. Often is the person who repairs Edward’s automail (metal prosthetic limbs). And always arguing with Edward, but its quite obvious that she cares about him.
- Alex Louis Armstrong – A strong arm alchemist who is extremely strong and hulking in size but also very sensitive.
- Izumi Curtis – The teacher of Ed and Alphonse Eric who helped them hone their alchemy right after their mother died.
- Maes Hughes – An old friend of Roy Mustang’s who tries to help him with his goal to become a Fuhrer. He works in military intelligence and has a loving wife and young daughter. A family man, he lets Winry stay with them when she is in town.
- King Bradley – The head of the State Military and King of Amestris who has a major secret.
- Riza Hawkeye – Roy Mustang’s most trusted subordinate. The voice of reason and excellent in using firearms.
- Jean Havoc – One of Roy Mustang’s subordinates who is exceptionally trained in firearms.
- Lin Yao – A prince of Xing who is trying to find ways of immortality in order to prepare for his goal as Xing’s future emperor. An excellent swordsman.
- Lan Fan – Lin Yao’s bodyguard and a skilled fighter willing to protect her boss at all costs.
- May Chang – A young princess of Xing who goes to Amestris with her panda Xiao Mei. She has the power to heal and also manipulate energy.
The Homunculi
The main antagonists which consist of artificial humans who are trying to create the philosopher’s stone and has become a major thorn in the military’s side. They are hard to defeat as they can regenerate.
- Lust – A homunculi who is a sexy woman who can use her fingers to become weapons and grow to larger lengths and cut through anything.
- Gluttony – A homunculi who likes to eat people or anything. He has powerful jaws with acidic saliva.
- Envy – A homunculi who can assume any appearance and makes him infiltrate the military HQ quite easily and is known to create and instigate major problems.
“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Part Two” features episodes 14-26 on two Blu-ray discs. Here is a basic, spoiler-less summary of each episode:
DISC 1:
- EPISODE 14 – Those Who Lurk Underground – King Bradley takes on Greed, meanwhile Martel hides inside Al.
- EPISODE 15 – Envoy from the East – Scar takes on the “Silver Alchemist” and he also meets May Chang.
- EPISODE 16 – Footsteps of a Comrade-in-Arms – Ed, Al and Winry learn the fate of Hughes.
- EPISODE 17 – Cold Flame – Ross is being accused of the death of Hughes.
- EPISODE 18 – The Arrogant Palm of a Small Human – Ed and Armstrong go to the ruins of Xerxes and learns a major secret.
- EPISODE 19 – Road of Hope – Hawkeye vs. Gluttony. Mustang vs. Lust.
- EPISODE 20 – Death of the Undying – Ed sees his fathr Hohenheim again. Meanwhile, Ed wants to find out if the thing he transmutated was his mother.
- EPISODE 21 – Advance of the Fool – Ed talks to Al and tries to find out what happened during the transmutation and if he can remember anything.
- EPISODE 22 – Father Before the Grave – Winry learns the details of her family’s death and who was responsible for their murders.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 23 – Girl on the Battlefield – Ed and Al vs. Scar and the truth about King Bradley is revealed.
- EPISODE 24 – Inside the Belly – Ed, Al and Lin try to survive and escape from Gluttony.
- EPISODE 25 – Doorway of Darkness – Ed and Lin must escape from Gluttony’s stomach.
- EPISODE 26 – Reunion – Ed and Lin vs. Envy.
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.
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!
