Next Fullmetal Alchemist! If you didn’t start from the beginning, you really should. Watching them out of order doesn’t work. There are too many connections you need to be aware of in order to understand everything that’s going on and who everyone is, what they’re doing, etc. etc. By now we’re in the thick of things so you’d just be confused and that’s no fun. There are 51 episodes, and with about 4 episodes per volume that brings us to roughly 12 (probably 13) volumes in total. Huzzah.

Edward and Alphonse Elric are young boys (Ed: 15, Al: 14) searching for the Philosopher’s Stone. Because of a failed human transmutation, they’ve lost much when it comes to their bodies. Alchemy requires the law of equivalent exchange, but with the stone, they can bypass the laws and hopefully regain what they’ve lost. The only way to gain information about the elusive Philosopher’s Stone is to read everything and search everywhere possible, and now that Ed is a State Alchemist, complete with watch and new name of Full Metal (hence the name of the series), they have the freedom to do what they need. But along the way, they’re bound to come across some interesting adventures.

Episode 17: Finally home again, Ed, Al, and their odd escort go to see Winry and Pinako for repairs. Things are peaceful, and though they’re only there a week or so, Al discovers something that puts his mind at unease.

Episode 18: Once they’re both fixed up, Ed and Al head back to Central City to search the library for their clue – except it seems someone’s burned down half the library. But was the information they wanted burned with it, or will they be able to find it? And what does a cookbook have to do with all this?

Episode 19: Ed finally has a revelation regarding the Philosopher’s Stone that answers many questions that have plagued them – but it’s not something he ever wanted to hear. Perhaps they’ve missed something…

Episode 20: It doesn’t surprise me who was in charge of the project – I never liked him anyway and I’m glad he got killed. After Ed and Al have found what they were looking for, they might have stumbled onto more than they can chew. Even if they do win against their new opponents, what wounds will they receive in return?

The Details?
Argh! I totally want Winry to hug Ed or something. The boy needs a good hug from a girl. I kinda hope they hook up or something cute in the future, they seem to make a good match. I keep making guesses on what Lust and the others want, but it doesn’t seem to add up. Makes for a good reason to keep watching though, hehe. I liked how in #19 and #20 they brought back someone we might remember, never saw that coming.

Animation? Despite my early quirks with the style, I’m accustomed to it now. In some ways it’s simple, but it’s still really good. I haven’t mentioned Ed’s hair – I like the braid, it’s cute. I always did like Ed, even from my first false starts in the series.

Voices – I prefer the English version. When it comes to the English voice actors (VAs), though it took me a while to get used to Ed and Al, I enjoy them now. All the other characters work out rather well, so I don’t really have any complaints here at all anymore. As for the Japanese version, it’s taken me this long to finally ignore the female VA aspect completely. I just let myself go into the characters and forget about the rest, though there are still some times when I remember and have to put that fact out of my mind again. Everyone else though, just like in the English version, works well, and I have no qualms about them. Still, I usually watch it in English mostly because I prefer Ed and Al and some of the other guys (Hughes, haha).

Though like every other anime series, there’s the opening and closing songs, and finally in #14 we have the opening that I’m familiar with on TV. Yay! I like it a lot more because it’s fast, and upbeat and just a lot of fun to listen to. The closing song has changed as well and I like it too. It works out pretty well and I think they chose a good episode to switch at. The instrumental background music for the show is still pleasing and I think it’s going to stay that way for the whole series.

This series, though it has amusing parts, is serious a lot of the time. There is violence and Ed tends to say “Damn it” more often than everyone else (actually it seems like he’s the only one ever swearing), and a lot of weird stuff going on, but in my opinion (though without kids I’m by no means an expert) most kids will be able to handle it without much of a problem.

Episodes in this Volume:
Episode 17: House of the Waiting Family
Episode 18: Marcoh's Notes
Episode 19: The Truth Behind Truths
Episode 20: Soul of the Guardian

NT

Earlier Volumes:
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 1: The Curse
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 2: Scarred Man of the East
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 3: Equivalent Exchange
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 4: The Fall of Ishbal

Future Volumes:
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 6: Captured Souls
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 7: Reunion on Yock Island
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 8: The Altar of Stone
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 9: Pain and Lust
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 10: Journey to Ishbal
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 11: Becoming the Stone
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 12: The Truth Behind Truths
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 13: Brotherhood

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD