# of episodes: 64
# of episodes watched: 38
Rating Thus Far: 9/10
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As you may or may not know, I've been a huge fan of the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom since the first series started airing on Adult Swim back in 2005. Before I was introduced to the wonderful world that is One Piece, exclaiming that the first series was my favorite anime of all time was easy, and even though that place has been taken by One Piece, I still hold a lot of love for the original anime series. The storyline is wonderful and fluid, and speaking as a yaoi fangirl, the end of the series and movie just reek of Roy/Ed. Heheh. The story of Ed and Al and their journey for the Philosopher's Stone pulls you in from the very first episode, and by the time you've made it through the arc with Tucker and Nina, you're hooked (and sobbing, but I won't elaborate in lieu of possible spoilers).
When I first heard of Brotherhood, I knew that it had some big shoes to fill. True, this series is more true to the manga than the first (I think the manga was actually completely ignored for the first, lol), but FMA was so good and I hadn't (and haven't) read the manga so I really didn't care. Now that I'm just a bit more than halfway through Brotherhood, though, I can honestly say that it has filled the shoes of FMA so much that they're splitting at the seams.
The storyline is so much darker than the first!!!! Even though you're introduced to the homunculi and "Who Know Who" (won't give a name because of spoilers) is revealed as being one of them within the first ten episodes, that doesn't matter. Just like in the first series, Pride is the last to be revealed, and when you finally see who it is, the shock value is the same. My eyes widened and I gasped out loud when their face was finally revealed. And a lot of the characters who had minor roles or didn't appear until late in the first series have much bigger roles in Brotherhood. Kimblee's character has a much larger and different role in Brotherhood, and I have to say that I've come to like him a lot. Sure, he's still a heartless, manipulative bastard, but we're given so much more insight into his character in this series than we were in the other one. He's more human instead of just some insane murderer, I guess. And Hawkeye's character is so much more fleshed out. I'm dying to know what's going on with her and what happened in her past!!
A lot of new characters and plot elements are introduced in Brotherhood, as well. Armstrong's sister is so freaking bad ass! Three of the homunculi (Pride, Wrath, and Sloth) have different personas than they did in the first series. I love Sloth, mostly because he cracks me up and hasn't been much of a threat at this point in the series. He just wants to dig, even though it's a "drag." Heheh. The military is a helluva lot more screwed up in Brotherhood than in FMA (like, hardcore messed up), and there are a million and a half more twists and turns. Needless to say, Brotherhood keeps you on the edge of your seat every single episode, from one all the way through thirty-eight (and I'm sure it'll be the same through sixty-four, I'm just not there yet, heheh).
The Japanese voice acting in Brotherhood is superb. Yes, I did watch all of FMA in English as it aired on Adult Swim and still prefer to watch it in English because the dub is very good, but they changed several of the main characters' voice actors for Brotherhood and it's too weird. That and they're only up to episode twenty-seven or so on Adult Swim and I'm too damn impatient to wait like I did for FMA. Hell, if I knew anything about fandubbing while I was watching the first series, I probably would have been downloading like a fiend then too. But, needless to say, I wasn't introduced to fandubs until much later. But I digress... The Japanese voice acting is amazing. Ed's voice actress (yes, actress) is as hilarious as she was in FMA and the movie, and Al's voice actress is adorable. Everyone else works perfectly (even though I sometimes want to strangle Winry's voice actress because her voice is so high pitched >_<).
Speaking of Winry... The one thing that I dislike about Brotherhood is the romance aspect. While it's obvious that Ed/Winry and Roy/Riza were hinted at in FMA, they're pretty much blatant in Brotherhood. It doesn't take away from the series at all, but it's still just something I don't think fits. There's so much else going on, and I really feel like the romance aspect takes away from it a bit. And at the same time, I feel like, at this point in the series, Ed is much too focused to worry about relationships or anything of the like. His goals (finding the Philosopher's Stone and returning he and Al's bodies back to normal) are the priority. Anything else distracts from that. I know that probably sounds hypocritical since I admitted to being a Roy/Ed fangirl earlier, but my favorite fanfictions about their relationship are set AFTER Ed's journey is complete. But, that's neither this nor that, so I guess I can't really go on about it, heheh.
Also, the "commercial break indicator" things. OMG... They annoy the hell out of me, but at the same time, I laugh like a crazy person every single time. The guy's voice is just way too over the top. Whether he's being all dark and sinister or high pitched and...strange...it's just too much. The voice really isn't necessary at all, but I think that it would be less ridiculous if the man was Japanese (you know, said "Hagane no renkenjutsushi" all epic-like instead of "FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST" x_x). The show definitely could have done without the voice.
And, last but not least, a review of the show would not be complete if I didn't comment on the opening/closing songs. The first two openings are amazing. The animations and songs fit together perfectly, and I watched each opening every time. I did prefer the second ("Hologram" NICO Touches the Walls) over the first ("Again" Yui), but it was nice to see a female have one of the opening songs. The third opening, however, was a let down. I looooved the animation for it, but the song ("Golden Time Lover" Sukima Switch) just wasn't very good. Now, that may just be because of my tastes, but oh well... Heheh. The closings all kind of follow the same pattern. The first two are amazing. It's a no brainer that I would love the first closing, considering the song is by SID ("Uso"), but I also love the animation that goes along with it. The sketchy, "kid drawing" is adorable and I honestly think it would be interesting to see an entire anime done in that style sometime. The second closing is just gorgeous. The song ("Let It Out" Miho Fukuhara) is so full of emotion, the words relate back to what has been happening in the show perfectly, and the animation touched at my heart. The third closing, for me, was the same as the third opening. I did not like the song ("Tsunai da te" Lil'B) at all. Once again, that could just be a style thing (I skipped the closing every time because I just couldn't stand listening to that woman rap), but oh well... All in all, the first two openings and closings get a 10/10 and the third opening and closing get a "much to be desired." I've heard the fourth opening and closing once so far and can say that they definitely make up for the third of each, but I'll wait until the final review to comment on that.
Anyway, even though I'm only halfway through Brotherhood, I would 100% recommend it to anyone. Whether you're a fan of anime, a previous fan of Fullmetal Alchemist, or someone who's just looking for something good to watch, definitely take the time to check this one out. You won't be disappointed!
Happy watching!!
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