Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Complete Collection One [Blu-ray]

That's right, this series isn't just one of the best Anime I've seen, it is the epitome of Anime in my mind, and one of the best animated television series I have ever experienced. Okay, so I'm a newbie who just finished the series and is on a bit of a high from the experience but I stand by my statements. Due to a series of random events I actually wound up buying the entire series just a few weeks ago and watching it for the first time. I bought the 5 separate Blu-ray releases that are currently available, it cost me substantially more than this set (about $200 total), but I'm still happy I did it, that's how much I love this series. So if you like this series and don't yet own it on DVD/Blu then you have to buy this repackaged Collection 1 set, in my opinion, there is nothing else to it.

This set includes the first 33 episodes of the series. A nice even breaking point that leaves the remaining 34 episodes on the eventual Collection 2.
As far as the episodes, yeah the first thirteen or so are repeated material for anyone familiar with the first series and they feel arguably compacted as such, but any arguments about the series quality disappears by episode 14 and onward where the series departs from the first anime and plays true to the original manga.

I highly recommend this series on Blu-ray over DVD, it's not the best blu-ray picture you will ever see but this is among the most unique and beautiful anime animation I've seen and I wouldn't want to risk missing any detail of it if I didn't have to. Towards the end of the series some of the battles are evocative of the best work of Miyazaki. The streamlined and simplified animation style seems to suddenly break free during some battles and they really do some artistically masterful things that would normally be reserved for feature films.

I realize I'm mostly preaching to the choir for most people who will see this review but I honestly can't recommend this series enough to newer fans of anime who may have not seen it. In fact, I recommend it not only for fans of anime but also for fans of animation in general, fans of adventure, fans of epics, fans of anime, fans of good storytelling. People talk about Harry Potter and James Camerion's Avatar or those types of things as being immersive worlds, well FMA Brotherhood is not only an immersive experience but one with a substantially more well constructed story than those aforementioned stories and a perfectly satisfying ending. Those who have seen the series knew how great it was long before I did, but I've been converted and having now viewed this show, I know it will be a while before I have such a fulfilling and rewarding viewing experience again anytime soon. They just don't tell stories with this attention to detail that often.

With the new more affordable price this set offers, fans who have been holding out will no doubt now see this $60 retail price as much better than an equivalent exchange for all they're getting. If you buy this set then I'd say according to equivalent exchange you'll still owe much more than that.

**I Love the artwork selection, I was sad Al didn't make the cover of the 5 individual series releases.

I began in 2011 watching this series on Cartoon Network/Adult Swim with much scepticism already in hand. After all I have already seen and own the original Fullmetal Alchemist series and the movie. What was Funimation doing, milking us the fans with the same series with minor twists?

At first it seems this way. Granted the very first episode is radically different than the first episode of the first series. Still for about 8 episodes these series side by side are very much the same. THEN a divergence happened, things started to radically change. The two series were no longer mirrors of each. In time I actually had forgotten about the original series, the new rendition is that good.

Plot wise this series is a 10 out of 10, versus the original which I now rate a 5 out of 10. The Humunculi are really delved into in this series. There are better ones than in the first series. PLUS, all the original voices returned for this series, which is another 10 for me. The original voices were PERFECT and having them return was genius.

This Anime series is supposed to be strictly based off the manga series. The original series was based off the manga as well. But the manga was still being written and released, so the developers decided to go in their own direction with the Anime, much to it's detriment.

The fight scenes are epic in this release. The mysteries are drawing. The lessons are so profound and true. One theme I always liked about this series, (either one), is that when you do something truly bad the consequences are with you forever, no matter what you do. Such is the case for Ed & Al and for us here in real life.

I don't want to give any spoilers away. This was on Adult Swim early hours of Sunday in 2011, I am not sure if it is still on, if it is I would recommend you check it out if you are not sure about this. I myself plan to buy this someday when I have the $$$ and space, (I'm out of room for new movies...), and will proudly display it in my Anime collection. For this is Fullmetal Alchemist truly done right by the fans.

This particular release will encompass one half (1/2) of the series. I imagine the other half will be released in the summer some time. This is the best value and the way I bought the first Fullmetal series. Combined both halves will still be dramatically cheaper than if you bought the individual volumes. So save up and get this if you missed it. Make sure and get BLU-RAY also, it is WAY cheaper than the DVD release. It appears the makers of movies are finally pushing us straglers into buying BLU-RAY players. Another thing on my to do list...

FYI, if you are really short on cash and have a high speed connection that doesn't cap you Gigabits every month, watch this entire series on Hulu or Youtube. It was all there dubbed and subbed last time I checked. Try the animenewsnetwork.com as well, may be there too..., bare in mind streaming isn't TRULY free, and you do get tracking cookies installed and you are also bombarded with advertisments sometimes.

However you choose to watch this, if you love Anime or Fullmetal, you owe it to yourself to check this out.

Hope this helps, and as always sorry for any misspellings, I went to public school...

There are shows we just to waste time since there is nothing better to do. There are shows you see because it is the "cool" thing to watch. There are shows you see because of all the ratings and rewards it has won. But then there are shows like these. Blending story, music, action, art, and suspense. This show is a masterpiece. Anime like these are simply not created as often as they should. This show along with Monster, Death Note, DBZ, One Piece show what the anime industry is all about. There probably not be another anime like this again so anyone who is not going to watch this show is doing himself/herself is a disservice. This set with 33 episodes has an MSRP of $70 which is a great deal and worth every penny. The price for most stores is at $50 which is a fantastic deal. But at $36.99 it is simply a steal especially on Blu-Ray. BUY IT! You won't regret it.