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R2 DVD Reviews
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Monday, 30 August 2010 00:00 |
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Page 1 of 3
 Here's a new release from a new series that will still seem horribly familiar to some. Brotherhood is a reboot of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime, and as such this volume covers a lot of the same territory as the original show - albeit a lot more quickly. Fortunately, that doesn't mean that it's not worth watching - far from it...
As usual for multi-disc sets, read on to pages 2-3 of the review for episode summaries and screenshots. As the name gives away, Fullmetal Alchemist deals heavily with alchemy, which in the world of the show is bound by the Law of Equivalent Exchange: that to create something using alchemy requires that the equivalent amounts of raw materials must be used in the act of creation. Or, to put it more simply, you can't create something out of nothing. This Law has the interesting side effect of making human transmutation - the act of creating a human being using alchemy - incredibly difficult, as no-one can really say for sure exactly what elements and chemicals make up the human body. As a result, human transmutation is taboo, the one thing an alchemist should never attempt.
But taboos tend to be broken, which brings us to the stars of the show, brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric. Driven by their despair at the death of their mother, the boys broke the taboo in an attempt to bring her back to life - with horrifying results. Not only did their attempt fail, bringing to life only a shapeless blob, but their failure cost them dear, with the Law of Equivalent Exchange claiming Ed's leg and Al's entire body in the process - it was only Ed's quick thinking in sealing his younger brother's soul into a suit of armour, at the cost of his right arm, that saved Al's life - if you can call being a reanimated suit of armour living. Their actions also brought them to the attention of the military, with Ed's skills being enough to earn him a commission as a State Alchemist, a position that Ed can use to research the techniques they'll need if they're to find a way to restore their missing body parts - and so, with Ed's missing arm and leg replaced by automail (mechanical prosthetic replacements), their adventures begin.
They're not in for an easy ride, either. The power offered by alchemy is immense, especially if a way can be found to circumvent the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Such a way is rumoured to exist: the Philosopher's Stone, something that any alchemist worth their salt would want to get their hands on, and that naturally becomes the focus of the brothers' quest. But they're not the only ones after it: a group of homunculi (artificial humans), led by Lust, is also on the trail. They're also part of a larger conspiracy, the aims of which aren't yet revealed, but you know it's going to be big.
The boys are helped by their military allies, including Ed's commanding officer Roy Mustang (himself an alchemist), his childhood friend, automail engineer and all-round cutie Winry Rockbell, their former alchemy teacher Izumi Curtis, and others; while a spanner in the works for both sides comes in the form of Scar, a survivor of the Ishbalan Rebellion who bears a very justified grudge against users of alchemy - and the ability to eliminate them in rather gruesome fashion.
I was a big fan of the original Fullmetal Alchemist series - it took a while to get going, but once it was in its stride, it was completely engrossing. This reboot gets into gear a lot more quickly - the 13 episodes here cover the same territory as episodes 1-30 of the original series, and will eventually head into new territory. Even for this 'recap' material, though, the pacing is fast and furious, with enough happening that there's very little chance of getting bored. I certainly was able to get my teeth into the series a lot more quickly than I did with the original series.
It's kind of a win-win situation, really. Brotherhood takes the same source material, corrects the deficiencies of the first FMA series, and promises to do so much more with it - and at significantly less cost to buy. What's not to like? This is an impressive start, and well worth watching.
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