Forum - View topicREVIEW: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood DVD Part 1 (Hyb) DVD
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2633 |
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Yes the early episodes were way too rushed and extremely flawed. But the creators were in a rock and a hard place. I can't tell you how many times fans of the 1st anime were asking is this just a recap of the first series and dropped it without giving it a chance, not believing it would be different from the first series. So the early episodes suffered because they wanted to get to the point where the storyline completely diverged so fans could see they were getting something entirely new.
I guess this series was not made for new fans because Fullmetal Alchemist already has such a large established fanbase . Then again for people who have never read the manga or watched the first anime I heard no complaints about the pacing. The only ones who complained were the people familiar with the story. Of course having read the manga there are still some pacing issues later on but nothing as bad at these first 13 episodes. Still I hope ANN actually reviews the later episodes. So far these early episodes have been reviewed several times and the same exact thing is pretty much always said. I would like to see reviews of the later episodes. The later episodes (the ones that differ from the first series) are the reason this series was made after all. Last edited by Maidenoftheredhand on Mon May 24, 2010 11:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8459 Location: Penguinopolis |
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It's always a treat to read Hope's reviews. They're so well-constructed, educated, and insightful. And when it's for a show I have an interest in, it's even better.
I came in thinking that it might be a bit more dismissive of this than it was, because that's what some folks seem to think of it, since the beginning of Brotherhood absolutely has to retread some old ground, but Hope was very fair, and though she does accuse it of begging for approval (which I can't really disagree with), doesn't lambaste it for not just getting to the new material, either. I'm a huge FMA fan, and have no preference for what incarnation it's in, whether it be the manga, first series, or Brotherhood, and look forward to receiving this Blu-Ray in the mail, having ordered it a week ago. In fact, I've had room saved for it ever since I found out there was going to be a new series. |
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wandering-dreamer
 Posts: 1733 |
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I disagree that most people have already had the entire plot spoiled for them (considering even the diehard manga fans don't know exactly what's going to happen in the last chapter yet), but most people do know the first 14 episodes (except for that very strange first episode of Brotherhood) pretty well. After that though, well, I've seen a lot of FMA fanart (not surprising how popular it is) but I've seen tons less of the characters who were introduced in episode 15/volume 8 onwards and that seems to be a pretty good sign that almost knows about them.
Honestly, if you aren't a diehard fan of the series or new to it, I'd suggest just reading over the summaries for the first set of episodes for refreshing and then jump into the new stuff at episode 15. Sure you might be a bit lost but it's either that or actually watch Brotherhood, but if you can't get into it a few episodes after that then this is probably not going to be for you in any case. |
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bahamut623
 Posts: 1463 |
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Been watching it on Adult Swim. The first 13 or so episodes were a bit of a slog because it really just felt like watching reruns. But man, as of episode 15ish, the show got a new life injected into it. It's finally on a new story (as in stuff not covered in the first anime), and the animation and action scenes just got much livelier.
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johnmora
Posts: 74 |
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I totally disagree that the first anime's a better entry point. It may go slower, but it plays so loose with the story and adds so much fluff that I can't recommend it anymore to people now that there's this adaptation. Of course, I'd always recommend the manga first~
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Otaking09
 Posts: 637 |
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I completely agree. Everything feels rushed... And it doesn't capture the emotion that the first series effortlessly gave off.
It's a fine entry, and it certainly could've been worse, but.. it can't compare to the original'...
...and trying to compare the first series with the manga and Brotherhood isn't fair. It's come to this: Fullmetal Alchemist is a different story than "Fullmetal Alchemist;manga", and Brotherhood. If I were to choose which ver. I prefer (I've seen up to 50 on Brotherhood), it still be the first series. It's more emotional, the characters feel easier to connect to, the story has a message (when compared to Brotherhood, I couldn't help but feel I was just watching a another shonen story... albeit a very GOOD one), and it was paced a bit better. To simply dis the first series now JUST because it's unfaithful, when it wasn't at the time, would be to disregard all that it has done all on it's own. |
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Splitter
 Posts: 1276 Location: Knockin' on Heaven's Door |
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The early episodes don't play out too strongly thanks to having the dual role of inducting newcomers and pleasing the established fanbase. Remember that this is not an old series and that many that watched it the first time around enjoyed it, unlike other anime remakes which are made on the grounds that they need to be done justice as the first go-around didn't come close (see: Hellsing, Kanon).
13 episodes covers roughly 7 volumes of material, which is rather good considering they were aiming to cover half a volume with every episode in the beginning, and pushed on the brakes slightly when they got into new material. Also, Ms. Chapman, consider if you will the opposite view of your analysis. Look not at 33 episodes of material being crammed into 13 episodes, but 13 episodes being dragged out into 33 episodes. The manga was in its relative infancy and serious plot points had yet to be established when Bones first adapted the series in late 2003. Therefore much of the first half of the original was nothing but padding to make sure the source material didn't run out too early. It was a brilliant exercise in working with little source material, but it was not the creator's Fullmetal Alchemist, as you've already made note upon. I'm sorry you and many others cannot look at the series with fresh eyes, but that doesn't mean there doesn't exist those that can. Yes, it rushes a little, but that doesn't mean you should be recommending newcomers to a source that does the opposite negative. While this indeed made up half of the first anime adaptation, this time, it is only the beginning of the Elric brothers' journey. And oh what a journey awaits.
I get the same feeling, but at the same time, there is indeed a message. Much like the prevailing theme of equivalent exchange in the first series, this one connects in the gross majority of its aspects to the theme of "one is all, all is one" and executes the theme splendidly. |
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MeggieMay
 Posts: 607 |
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Good review Hope! I do enjoy reading your reviews because your writing style is clear and you have a real voice that comes through in them.
Just a brief comment on the issue of "everyone has seen it." It's surprising but if you check out ASMB (Adult Swim's Forums) you'll see plenty of people who didn't catch the first show who are watching this one. The ASMB forum is good, if for nothing else, in showing a wider, less seen, side of Internet Anime fans as well as fans of Anime who might not really consider themselves part of a actual "fandom." There are posters over there who really are new to this show, or saw parts of the original but didn't like it so dropped it, and seeing their take on it has been interesting. Some are lost (due to Brotherhood not covering everything from show one) but others like this show better even without knowing what's didn't get recovered in the new anime. On the flip side, you also run into those who who saw it but probably weren't involved in the fandom side of things, or just don't like this version, to some in between negative reactions. One of the funniest comment about last weekends episode from one of this group, IMO, was "so when do we get through these filler episodes?"  . It didn't seem like they were joking, FWIW. So there seems to be a wide range of reactions to this show, going off the comments over there. It's hard to tell if the issue of "this is all a rehash" is really that big of a issue or not, when you toss in viewers who actually didn't see the original anime.
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John Casey
 Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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Watching this, it felt as if the animators themselves were bored as hell with the first 13 episodes. "Been there, done that."
Then boom, episode 14 and onwards, it's like a completely different beast. Kind of like..kind of like going from an Activision movie-tie-in game, to a Suda51 game. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8459 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I can't agree entirely with this. First of all, the first thirteen episodes speed through manga material and skip quite a lot of it. As a fan of the manga, I was disappointed with a lot of the way they presented some pretty vital material, like the Dublith/Greed arc. Second, the first series, while it did have some padding, also happened to give the story some room to grow and breathe. I won't say that it improved the manga story, but it did make it seem like more of a journey at times, especially in the early material. This is aside from the more head-scratching filler eps, like Psiren or Majihal, of course. |
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merr
Posts: 466 |
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You've perfectly summed up my feelings on those early episodes. I watched the first four or so on AS, but then gave up because it became too painful to slog through the same story yet again.
To be fair though, I never actually finished the original FMA. I have all the DVDs, but every time I try to watch the entire thing, I end up getting bored right before the Izumi arc. I think I've watched the first 25 eps at least three times over now, but I still haven't made it through to the end. |
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Dop.L
Posts: 714 Location: London |
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Yes, it has to be said that the first dozen or so episodes are pretty much scampering through the same material covered by the previous anime adaptation, so fans of the first series are going to get a total sense of deja vu.
It is like the producers of this series wanted to get the same material over with as quickly as possible so they could get onto the stuff that wasn't covered in the earlier series. And that's where this show really takes off! It DOES get better. Oh boy, does it ever! After a while, that earlier anime adaptation just seems like a pale shadow, an inferior version, of the excellence that is this show. As we draw towards the end (and this show is going to have the same ending as the manga) it's real edge of seat stuff! I can't wait for the UK Blu-ray release (dang region codes and lack of region-free blu-ray players!) so I can have a high quality legal edition. |
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Charred Knight
 Posts: 3085 |
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The manga is the original! Does anyone want to see me make a ten paragraph rant on how much I hated the first series for ruining Fullmetal Alchemist? No, then I won't. Simply put they couldn't just start at episode 15 because you just wouldn't be a little bit lost you would be completely lost. First anime only watcher: Hey whose the bearded guy? Manga reader: Father, his the main villain First anime only watcher: What happened to Dante? Manga reader: She's not in it First anime only watcher: What ____ killed Winry's parents? I thought ____ killed Winry's parents. Manga reader: Not in this version First anime only watcher: Wait happened to the guy with the upside down head? Manga watcher leaves You might as well tell someone to watch Macross instead of MSG before watching Zeta Gundam. Sure the characters mostly look the same, but the plot, characterization, and feel of the show is completely different. That's the problem the first anime had, they couldn't radically change the series without either having massive amounts of exposition or having massive amounts of plotholes but they didn't even bother create any real world building and then turned around and said "A group of religion with 3.8 Billion followers just dissapeared. it's not important". Tne lack of respect that Shou Aikawa has for non-japanese is a major reason why he was a total disaster. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4421 |
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You do realize that the first series is one of the main reasons we have this one, yes? Different or not, the first series was very good and very popular, hence why we could have a new version just a few years later. As for how I feel about this, it's been tough watching it up to this point. We're finally to the new material on Adult Swim, so I'm hoping I can get past how rushed the first 13 episodes felt. Given that the first series is my personal favorite, I had a really hard time sitting through those early episodes since I was constantly thinking, "I've seen this already, but it was better before." I know I'm going to still have issues with the series as it continues, but at least with it being different that will help. I'll give this new one credit, the fights are certainly stepped up, thanks to a larger budget (again something that can be traced to the success of the first series). However, the speed and constant jokes make this feel far less emotional to me. |
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Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
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Why did you buy the second half when you didn't like the first half? |
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