Yoshi! 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. They come across some interesting adventures and have discovered many secrets long kept in the dark.

Episode 21: It looks like No. 66 isn’t the only familiar personality that’s getting out into the open air. A lot of unpleasant things are awakening in this laboratory, though I do wonder how those people weren’t aware that the Brigadier General was dead. And then there’s one more person…or should I now say thing I hadn’t ever expected to see again, and it was bizarre enough to make me say “Whoa” out loud several times in a row.

Episode 22: Greed? Is he another Homunculus? But what is it about him that freaks out all the others? Given the opportunity, Ed can make a complete Philosopher’s Stone, but there’s a catch he doesn’t know about, and a lot of complications keep on popping up.

Episode 23: Ah, finally the boys get some down time – even if it is in the hospital. Winry comes up for a visit and learns a few life lessons from (oddly enough) Hughes (aww, he’s so cute with his family when he’s not gushing about them like a psycho), and Ed and Al struggle with what they’ve been through.

Episode 24: Al wonders about his memories – are they real, or are they fake? During his time alone he meets up with Scar, who in turn is becoming less of a vengeful killer (well, sort of). Will they actually have to work together in order to defeat a new threat?

The Details?
Whoa. That was my reaction after the first episode. The series just took a turn for the super-bizarre and somewhat freaky. I like it. Hahaha. Do you remember that anime music video I mentioned in the first volume? I’ve finally hit the spot that made me really want to look into this series. Very exciting. But honestly, the State Alchemists are really slow in just about everything it seems. They totally suck. And how the hell was Gluttony able to leave like that? Did no one pay any attention to the orders they were given? I’m sorry but that just made the State Alchemists that much more lame. These guys are pretty much useless. For once though, Al annoyed me later on – Al, what do you think you’re doing actually believing some psycho serial killer? Honestly…

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 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).

Both the opening and closing songs have my stamp of approval. I like the opening song because it’s fast, and upbeat and just a lot of fun to listen to. The closing song works out pretty well as it’s a little mellower and brings you down a notch even after an exiting episode. The instrumental background music for the show gets 5 stars in itself because it works so nicely.

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 21: The Red Glow
Episode 22: Created Human
Episode 23: Heart of Steel
Episode 24: Bonding Memories

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
Fullmetal Alchemist - Vol. 5: The Cost of Living

Future Volumes:
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