Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - OVA Collection [Blu-ray + DVD]

First off, I am a huge fan of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. It is the first anime in about 10 years or so that i've watched more than once. The characters' emotions and developement felt very real to me, and I love the mix of humor and seriousness that makes you both laugh and cry throughout the story. I also happen to love the english voice actors, even though I realize there are huge sub vs dub camps out there. I personally tend to try to watch the English versions if the voice actors do it justice, and I think they largely succeed in this particular anime. But enough about that.

This dvd/bluray combo, especially at the roughly 13 dollars price, was worth it for me. I know some are upset about having to buy both, but i've paid 13 dollars for just a dvd before, so a 2-for-1 deal for what I got was good for me. I primarily buy bluray now but still enjoy having dvd or digital copies for use with my computer player.

I enjoyed all 4 of the OVA's, having never seen them before. Each one averaged about 15 minutes in length (the total for all 4 was about an hour). The first one, The Blind Alchemist, was a relatively serious OVA that deals with the Elric brothers investigating a report of a possible successful human transmutation. It had the usual funny Al/Ed faces and antics in a few spots, but overall it had a rather grave tone, similar to Shou Tucker episodes.

The second OVA, Simple People, focused on the Elrics visiting Winry for repairs. It explains Winry's fondness for earrings. Riza Hawkeye has cameo appearances as well, and a rather poignant scene at the end. I really enjoyed this one, it had me laughing out loud at parts, and was a lighthearted break after the first OVA.

The third OVA, The Chronicle of Teacher, was another lighthearted and funny episode. As the title suggests, it features Izumi "Teacher" Curtis, Ed and Al's infamous teacher and one of my favorite minor characters of the series. It chronicles the month she spent 'training' out near Fort Briggs when she was 18. Without spoiling it, the end of the episode cracked me up.

The fourth OVA, Yet Another Man's Battlefield, was definately my favorite of the serious OVAs. It is the backstory of how Mustang and Hughes met in military bootcamp, and also shows some scenes of them in the Ishvalan War. I loved seeing Hughes again, and this episode almost had me teary a few times with the serious subject matter involved with the war. I loved it and it felt very real.

The bonus material of this dvd was the Four Panel Comic Theater. It is a collection of 16 comic short cartoons, found under the extras. Playing all of them took about 30 minutes. As their name suggests, they imitate a 4 panel comic cartoon strip. At the beginning of each one, the curtain lifts and a chibi style character from the show introduces it, a bit like an episode of Saturday Night Live. Following that are 4 short mini skit-style gags drawn with overly exaggerated animation. The humor was hit and miss sometimes for me, but overall they were cute and made me chuckle. They roughly follow the chronology of the Brotherhood anime so far as the characters featured in each episode and do a good job of poking fun at many scenes from the series. They are definately worth a watch.

Overall, i'm glad I bought this to add to my Brotherhood collection. I think any fan of the series would enjoy it, and the backstories flesh out the main series well. Enjoy!

For the inexpensive price, this DVD/Blu-Ray is well worth it. It contain 4 OVA's (all entertaining in their own special way) and 16 funny mini episodes presented in a comic-strip format parodying the series as a whole. This is a standard release, no commentary, only extras are the 16 mini episodes. The ovas all together run about 1 full hour. Buy this if you're a fan its a great deal.

I DID NOT BUY THE BOX SET. However, since I saw there was so few reviews, I decided to write one, since I have seen the OVAs that are on the set.

OVA 1: The Blind Alchemist
Ed and Al hear of a blind alchemist named Judau who had supposedly performed successful human transmutation. Is it possible that human transmutation can be used to bring back the dead?

OVA 2: Simple People
A short story about Ed and his many trips to Risembool for arm repairs.

OVA 3: The Chronicle of Teacher
A story about Ed and Al's teacher, Izumi Curtis, and her training near Briggs.

OVA 4: Yet Another Man's Battlefield
A look into back at an 18 year-old Roy Mustang and his time at bootcamp.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the Comic Theater. However, I really enjoyed all four of the OVAs. However, they are side stories, and are not essential to understanding the basic plot of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Hope I helped!