Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood-Collection 01-Episodes 1-13 (Blu-ray) (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-2 episodes Music Video-Textless opening and closing credits song
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	318:45 (Case: 325)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Seiji Mizushima
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray Variant
RPI	$64.95	Music	Michiru Ôshima Colleen Clinkenbeard Mike McFarland

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 EX Japanese Linear PCM 48/16 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

     Fullmetal Alchemist has remained one of the most popular manga and anime properties around since its release in each medium. Fullmetal Alchemist- Brotherhood is a second attempt to adapt the progenitor manga into an anime, rather than a new story or continuation of the original series. Not that there was anything wrong with the original, by all accounts (I have never seen it, though it rates as a must see in most anime fans' books). Aside from being an excuse for updated animation, the original anime series followed the manga relatively closely up to a point before diverging quite substantially and the intent of Brotherhood is to follow the manga more or less to the letter.

     The series follows the exploits of the Erlic brothers, Edward and Alphonse, two young government sponsored "state alchemists" in a steampunk rural Victorian-esque world where magical alchemy (the transformation of one substance to another) more or less takes the place of science in our world. Through a series of alchemical accidents as young lads Edward (the more talented of the two) has lost and arm and a leg, each of which have been replaced by pneumatic metal limbs - which earned him the name the "fullmetal" alchemist. Although many mistake his brother as the "fullmetal" alchemist, as his entire body has been replaced by a giant suit of armour for similar reasons.

     With the broad goal of discovering the secret of the "philosopher's stone", a trinket that purportedly lets alchemists violate the fundamental laws of alchemy (effectively granting them unlimited power), and restoring their lost appendages, the pair roam the countryside engaging in what amounts to a mixture of single-episode stories and a few ongoing plot arcs.

     This package includes the first 13 episodes of the new series, which purportedly is very little different to the first few episodes of the original anime series and thus how it would play to someone already familiar with the story is hard to tell. As a newbie to the franchise, Fullmetal Alchemist- Brotherhood is a must see. The story is fantastic. The vibe is an utterly unique balance of fun, character-driven anime (that would not feel out of place in Naruto or Dragon Ball Z) and particularly dark, macabre fantasy. Up to this point at least, Fullmetal Alchemist- Brotherhood is undeniably one of the best anime series out there.

Video

     The series is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The video looks excellent, although the animation on show isn't really elaborate enough to make the improvement over DVD resolution stand out as much as it does with other titles.

     The colours on show are bright and bold. There is no sign of compression artefacts or film artefacts, nor of the aliasing or interlacing artefacts that many Region 4 anime fans are probably used to seeing in fare that has been cheaply converted from NTSC to PAL.

     The show features English subtitles which are a translation of the original Japanese dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The show features an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Audio track and uncompressed LCPM 2.0 Japanese audio. Although the uncompressed Japanese audio sounds great for a 2.0 track, fans will no doubt be annoyed at the lack of a surround mix with the original audio. The dialogue is clear, well placed in the mix and reasonably well timed for a cartoon.

     The series features a fitting orchestral/electronic score from Akira Senju, which manages to avoid sounding too samey between episodes.

The surrounds are put to decent use in the 5.1 track, primarily for environmental audio. The subwoofer gets a decent, though straight-forward, workout.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Audio Commentaries

     Two episodes, one per disc, feature commentary from several of the English dub cast and dub producer. This lot is pure padding, although the gaggle of participants ensures that there is rarely dead air.

Textless Opening & Closing Credits

     It's the opening and closing credits... only we're going to pretend that makes an extra feature.

    The Region B Blu-ray edition is identical to the US Region A Blu-ray, right down to the master (which is formatted for both regions).

     The beginnings of a masterpiece steampunk series. Fullmetal Alchemist- Brotherhood is essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in anime fare.

     The video and audio are good, although hardcore fans will be disappointed there is no Japanese 5.1 mix available on the discs. The extras are negligible.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall