The highly anticipated FMA redux so far delivers, giving us a healthy dose of action and character reintroduction. Pretty much required watching for anyone who enjoyed the first series. And if you haven’t seen the first series, what are you doing reading this post? Go watch it!
A few people have said that the new seiyuu choices threw them off, especially with Lockon here doing Colonel Mustang. However, I am one of those people whose first exposure to FMA was in dubbed format so it’s all strange to me…
The OP has rather strange looking designs…
The battle scenes were very well done, with strong, fluid animation that didn’t rely heavily on eye tricks. Throughout the episode I found the animation quality to be rather high quality and constant. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering I’m sure they have a huge budget, and Bones almost always does a solid job in this area.
Guh, hold back those tears!
Alright, using your own blood as a weapon is pretty damn badass. However, I don’t know why they call this guy the “Ice Alchemist” if he can manipulate water into ice or steam. It would seem to be more appropriate to refer to him as the “Water Alchemist,” but I guess that’s not sexy enough?
That looks like it hurt
Great stuff overall, and Crusader and I are contemplating blogging it for the season. I know everyone and their mother is already covering though, so we’ll have to see. I hope some of you would be interested in reading entries on it, right?~
33 Comments
Haha. Boy, if you don’t know why the OP has that character designs, you sure are in for a treat!
lol… agree with ET about the the character design in the OP. Also, Inoue Kikuko reprising her role as a villainess is seriously delicious.
Yea if you don’t know about the character design then things are going to get fun. I can’t blame you, I would have assumed the same thing if I hadn’t read the manga.
I thought the pacing of the episode was a bit off. Animation was Bones quality and both the OP and ED look amazing. Looks like they’re blitzing through the original story if they skip Liore(which is possible).
I also wonder if Bones getting international licenses allows them to increase the shows budget as they can put more money towards the show?
Anyway main concern is getting manga end animated. I’m aware Arakawa said 100 chapters but there are things beyond her control so still worrying.
Should be interesting to see Crusader call Ed a terrorist.
I agreed with you for the rather strange looking designs until I read ET’s comment and I remembered what the design is.
Go ahead and blog it. I know I’m going to watch the show, read about it and comment on it.
I might be mistaken, but I think that person in the very beginning who looks like Ed is actually his father. The hair and eye coloring match, as well as the bangs. He also “reaches out” to their mother (who’s next in the scene).
It’s definitely not Ed. I don’t think it’s older Al either.
Oh, the overwhelming quality of the animation… I love BONES. This show is going to be absolutely marvelous.
Yeap, Bones know how to animate good fights. But I have doubts about if they can hold the ground in the plot, in fact I think that the characters development can be frozen. But the start look enough good so, I keep watching a little more.
So far, from this one episode, I think that this series is going to blow the other one away…..well maybe not blow the other one away (the first series is one of my favorite series ever), but it definitely looks better. The animation looks A LOT better, cleaner, and just plain NASTY in terms of action. Also, it still has the same feel as the original series, most likely because Roomi Park and Rie Kugimya returned. It really wouldn’t be the same without them as Ed and Al. I can’t wait to see it follow the manga.
Romi* Park
Yeah, when I saw “that particular character design” in the OP I was like “WHAT? Why are they putting him in NOW?” Since he doesn’t really come in till waaaaaay later…and the same applies to Hohenhiem. The only character they forgot to include in that OP was Ling.
(But he’d probably be in the 2nd OP). But it was certainly wonderful to hear Paku Romi and Kugimiya Rie again…so nostalgic.
I would love to read your entries on this series. Crusader too. I love it when you two double up (I always got a kick out of your Geass entries back in the day.)
Great value.
However, I don’t understand the story’s timeline ; is it meant to happen before FMA1 ? Is it in a parallel universe ? Are they restarting from where the first season left the manga’s plotline ? Time will tell I guess.
I was also thrown off by Mustang’s voice. Here again, time is probably needed.
I would DEFINITELY be interested in reading a play by play. I have to say I’m asking the same questions as Nemo. Still, closer to the manga is better as far as I’m concerned and I’m willing to take this ride to the end!
@Nemo
I think the new series is a remake that follows the manga storyline, although they did start off with an anime original episode.
They were definitely dropping hints of what’s to come in the OP and throughout the episode. Yeah people who don’t read the manga wouldn’t recognize who the guy is in the OP, but you can probably guess given his looks lol.
We can always use more FMA posts, so blog away Calawain and Crusader!
@ET, Jarmel
Yeah I haven’t gotten around to reading the manga, so if it’s anything like that I’ll be looking forward to the surprise =)
Please, for all of those who do know the manga, do not leave any exposed spoilers in comments. Please use spoiler tags for myself and others who have not read it.
@Jarmel
I think the international appeal certainly doesn’t hurt, because it’s a huge hit in the States. They know they were going to have it R1 licensed and that it would sell well when they started production. I assume that allows them a larger budget.
@Limewarrior, Kira_Dementia, Natalie, TJ
Thanks for the encouragement, we’re definitely considering it!
@Myu, Mareo
Definitely looking good so far. And think of some of their other top action shows (Darker Than Black, Rahxephon, Eureka 7). High quality animation all the way through.
Ooh it looks good! But I’m just wondering if they’re gonna completely start from scratch because didn’t the anime only divert at like ep 26-ish? I haven’t read the manga but that’s what I’ve heard. And the animation in general does look crisper and generally better but Mustang looks a bit weird to me…
anyway, I should start reading the manga…
@kira_Dementia
You’re wrong. Even without counting the support cast of the current manga, Pride was absent completely.
@Calawain
You could be considered lucky then for watching dubs first, because then you can’t really complain about Lockon. For me though, Lockon didn’t fit Roy as much as the old guy (Lockon always fit the flamboyant bishie almost gay guy like what’s his face in black cat), and I’m quite sure Allelujah never did Kimblee either, unless his voice was quite different then. They just keep recycling people too fast these days, despite having the majority of the old cast back anyways. Lockon doesn’t even sound ANY different than he did in 00 right now, so it’s completely stupid. At least with Black Cat, he was sinister and had a streak of crazy comparable to Hallelujah. The guy doesn’t belong in FMA, home of the square and rectangle faces.
Animation wise and production quality are top notch, comparable to S1 00. Perhaps if shit ramps up in the later fights (this is only the 1st episode) we will see Seirei no Moribito quality action. That would be beyond amazing, as FMA is internationally recognized unlike Seirei.
Even the songs fit back into that “theme” of FMA that they used. Slightly kiddy, slightly cheerful, slightly sad. Even if it’s not perfect, this far exceeded my expectations for this series. I expected something like Shippuden. What’s more is that they chose to remake the entire thing instead of continuing on, which well, would be completely fucked up.
YAY! Been looking forward to this! Though Roy Mustang torching the targets is gonna take a bit of getting used too.
“A few people have said that the new seiyuu choices threw them off, especially with Lockon here doing Colonel Mustang. However, I am one of those people whose first exposure to FMA was in dubbed format so it’s all strange to me…”
@Calawain: Cruusader might love this little tidbit as well. The character Lust (lady seen at the end of episode 1 talking to someone through some sort of telephone) is apparently voiced by “Grace O’ Connor.”
The guy who looks like Ed in the OP could be a few people. Ed’s father is first in mind, thouhg if you read the manga
SPOILER
you’ll see that it also could be the ultimate leader of the homonculus in the manga, a character called Father. He and Ed’s Father (Hoenheim) have a deep connection that has been explored a little bit, but only in the manga. Toward the end of the episode, when the guy;s eyes flashed on the screen, I’m pretty sure that was the Father character.
END SPOILERS
I think that’s Hoenheim in the OP.
If this comes out in English soon, I hope Scott McNeil does the dub soon.
Totally interested in reading, even though I may be covering it myself.
Nice to see I’m not the only blogger who was first exposed to the series through the dub.
So I’m the same in that respect, the voices don’t bother since I don’t know what the originals sound like. I only hope Funimation gets the old crew back together for the dub of this, since I don’t think I could imagine anyone other than Vic and Aaron as Ed and Al.
There has been so little that has interested me of late, so this show is very welcome. Its got all the class of the first go so I have no doubts I’m going to continue to enjoy it.
i can only say that the first FMA was not so good(and down right bad in the homunculi department) for me, here hopes this new ‘series’ does better
that or at the least the 2nd half of the series follows the manga a bit more closely. I’m hoping for a proper ending to it this time round.
awesome! This anime makes me want to continue watching.
Love Ed
Man, I must be the only one turned off by all the “cartoony” bullshit (the show looks like an exact copy of Soul Eater in that style). Thanks to that alone, the original will always look better to me.
I’ll continue to watch this, but it will most likely be low on my rankings for the season.
And in case you need to ask, this is what I’m talking about:
http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/Fullmetal%20Alchemist/Fullmetal%20Alchemist%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/Fullmetal%20Alchemist/Fullmetal%20Alchemist%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2037.jpg
There’s no need to break the style of the show to make it look like a Warner’s Bros cartoon. That kind of think works for a straight up comedy, but not in a show/story with more of a serious tone.
The guy in the OP is Hoenheim.
As for the cartoony style, I don’t mind at all. I haven’t seen the first series, but the manga also shifts from its normal style to that cartoony style during comical moments.
@Karisu
Check the manga, it’s in there too. The first one is exactly how Ed looks in a Rush Valley scene.
-jodabomb13@yahoo.com
Poor writing and directing; all I should say.
It seemed a forced attempt at re0-introducing characters, just in case we forgot ALL of their idiosyncrasies. The action was cliche, and they gave away a HUGE ploy element far to early: i.e. ITS THE FIRST FUCKING EPISODE, MAKE US TRUST THE KING BEFORE YOU WANT US TO BE SUSPICIOUS OF HIM. Now we already know what was revealed up by hughes’ investigations.
The dialogue was awful; and while the first episode of FMA(1) left me charmed by the characters, and eager for the next episode, this one left me saying “how pretty” and “how disappointing”.
sadly I had to agree with Joe the best critic ever.
I HATE Roy Mustang’s voice btw it’s horrible. He used to sound cool, now he sounds like some weak guy.
I do hope the episode gets better and better. =/
Have to also agree with Joe, I’m sorry but I think some people have fanboy goggles on right now due to the awsomeness of FMA comming back. People seem to cheer the fact it’s following the manga plot line closer, while cheering the fact the first ep isn’t even from the manga, wut?
This first ep is rubbish. The writers got some serious hard-ons for Al in the first introduction, trying to make him sound all awsome with the big bad guy recognising him and complimenting his awsomeness and all this rubbish. It instantly reveals his arm and leg WAY faster then the original ever did, infact right up. It straight away throws in a short joke EVERY time they meet a new character, all the characters jump in with thier catch phrases right off the bat before even being introduced, and the plot element of the hman transformation… That was the most artificial emo-moment on ed and al’s behalf ever. “omg you mentioned my mum, look at me, I’m emotionally scared and you brought up my terrible past! Super-Saiyan emo-attack11!!1!!” Seriously, that was dumb.
To top it all off they totally spoiled the ending of the series. Like the big twist at the end, with you know who being evil, right at the start, they just blew it away, what the hell? Yep, this show somehow managed to do a quick one eighty from the original. Oh, and the backgrounds which in the original were beutiful, are now quick crayon drawings. Well done.
Hahaha I so agree with you Drift! I did like the background though, the drawing look like a nice touch. But everything else was just crap, so yeah about the story and the disposition of the characters, I agree with you 100 %.
The old series pwns this one! (And it’s not even manga based entirely) *rolls eyes*
FMA brotherhood is pure awesomeness
forr now, im kinda bored with having to “rewatch” the first half or so of the series but hopefully this will change later on