Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 4 Blu-ray Movie Review

The endgame is in sight.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 25, 2011

Note: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a newly produced anime adaptation of the original manga by Hiromu Arakawa. Released five years after the original Fullmetal Alchemist series, Brotherhood contains elements of the prior 51-episode production, but remains more faithful to the storyline of the original manga. My colleague Dustin Somner reviewed the previous three boxed sets of the series. As Dustin discussed in those reviews, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 1 basically rehashed events that occurred during the first 33 episodes of the original production, giving longtime fans of the series a quick brush up while getting uninitiated viewers up to speed. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 2, featuring episodes 14-26, really started to get into the nuts and bolts of the Brotherhood storyline and started setting up events which may have surprised those familiar only with the original anime series. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 3 really took off, introducing new characters, and upending several preconceived notions about motivations while setting a chain of events into motion that could lead to massive rebellion. And now, Part 4. . .

Books and films as seemingly harmless as The Wizard of Oz to the Harry Potter series have come under attack from religious fundamentalists for supposedly poisoning the minds of children and introducing them to bugaboos like sorcery, magic and other fantasy laden elements that these perhaps well intentioned people are convinced are the "gateway drugs" to full fledged Satanism. One wonders therefore what these people must have made of both the original Full Metal Alchemist series and this epic spin-off, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Over the previous 39 episodes leading up to the mammoth events of Part 4, we've seen the Elric brothers, Ed and Al, not just indulge in alchemy, but lose not just one of their parents but large chunks of their bodies as a result of their meddling in things which no mere mortal should (to borrow a phrase from many an old cheesy B-movie). Adding to the fray are several elements of the Black Arts, including Homunculi, miniature creatures whose evil intents wreak havoc on various characters. The series is alive with visual references to everything from pentagrams to the kabbalistic Tree of Life. Carl Jung of course insisted that alchemy was a huge psychological trope for changes the Self (in the pure Jungian use of the term) wanted to achieve within itself, and while there are most certainly self-actualization elements in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, everything is depicted as happening "out there," in the supposedly real world the Elric brothers and the vast array of supporting characters inhabit.

A quick plot summary of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood at this point would be futile for a couple of reasons. First of all, this is easily one of the most labyrnthine animes ever, a huge, sprawling novelistic piece that has so many disparate plotlines and characters that even full fledged fanatics might be confused from time to time. But more importantly, especially after Part 2 of this franchise got underway, there were a series of radical surprises that greeted viewers fairly regularly, and to write about them in any detail would deprive those new to the series of some great moments of discovery and, yes, even shock. So this review will try to deal with where we are in general terms while giving a few details about what's going on. So forewarned is forearmed: if you don't want to read anything even approaching a spoiler, you might want to skip down to the technical aspects of the review and let the content aspects introduce themselves as you watch Part 4.

Picking up immediately in the wake of a major character's death toward the end of Part 3, Part 4 thrusts us immediately into one of the most fascinating backstories of the series, involving Van Hohenheim and "Father," a backstory which finally answers several questions which may have been puzzling viewers for some time. In fact Part 4 repeatedly pauses, as it were, to give us some salient information about several major characters, obviously in preparation for the series' climax and wind-down which will be coming in Part 5. Interestingly, now that we understand more about the relationship between Von Hohenheim and that nasty smiley face (which in an included commentary line producer and ADR director Mike McFarland rather humorously compares to the logo of the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books), that doesn't lead to a rapprochement between Von Hohenheim and Ed and Al. In fact, Ed and Al are split up for the bulk of this chunk of episodes, and until well into this set of episodes there's no clear indication that the family will ever be reunited.

As fans have come to expect, there are a number of surprises as events catapult towards a massive revolt in Central. Long simmering feuds are resolved (for better or worse), an occasional homunculus proves that it isn't all bad, and some romantic subplots start to blossom in the wake of war. Several major characters, including Scar, Winry and Dr. Marcoh have their moments in the sun in this series of episodes, but the show's greatest triumph is how it weaves together literally scores of characters and subplots in the, well, "central" storyline that unfolds as the coup gets underway. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has managed to maintain an incredibly high level of storytelling throughout its life, and it's to the credit of series director Yasuhiro Irie and writers Seishi Minakami, Hiroshi Ohnogi, Shôtarô Suga, Michihiro Tsuchiya and Yoneki Tsumura keep things clear and precise despite the inherent problems of dealing with so many characters and opposing (and sometimes shifting) motivations.

Things are brought to a head as Part 4 comes to a close, but of course no ultimate resolutions of any major plot points are on hand, at least not yet. Those who watched the show as it streamed already know how artfully (or not) the convoluted storylines play out, but for the rest of us, Part 4 builds things to a fever pitch and most fans will be counting the days until Part 5 arrives and we can finally witness the tie up of manifold loose strands in the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood universe.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 4 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 4 sports an AVC encoded 1080p image in 1.78:1. Fans of the series know that is can be strangely schizophrenic in terms of detail. At times it seems as if characters and backgrounds were done quickly, with lines sufficing for mouths and a blotch standing in for a tree. At other times, there's a staggering amount of painterly detail, and the character designs are filled with lots of little elements. This particular set of episodes is no exception in that regard, so anyone expecting an incredible visual feast here, at least all of the time, may end up being more than slightly disappointed. The image here is clear and precise, a native HD master helping to up the color saturation and clarity impressively. Line detail is excellent and even some of the more nondescript backgrounds pop nicely.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 4 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Two Dolby TrueHD tracks are included on this release, the original Japanese 2.0 mix and a rather artfully done English 5.1 dub. The Japanese dub is noticeably narrower, not just in terms of the soundfield itself, but also the frequency ranges on both the extreme high and low ends of the register. Though I typically prefer original language tracks, I actually stuck with the English 5.1 track after sampling the Japanese, and I was pleasantly surprised both by the overall quality of the dub as well as the consistent use of surround channels. Voice work is very good to excellent throughout these episodes, and discrete channel utilization is very well handled in several large crowd scenes as well as some of the bigger action sequences. Fidelity is excellent, offering both clear and crisp dialogue, a wealth of well placed sound effects and an appealing underscore.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 4 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentaries on Episodes 40 and 46. Line Producer and ADR Director Mike McFarland is joined by John Swasey and Aaron Dismuke on episode 40 and Caitlin Glass on episode 46. These are interesting, if kind of chatty, commentaries that discuss a number of interesting elements, including background on the characters they all play (McFarland voices Havoc, Swasey and Dismuke voice different ages of Hohenheim, and Glass does Winry), as well as what dubbing into English is like. All of these people have a very obvious love for this project and it shines through on both of these commentaries.
• Textless Opening Song "Period" (HD; 1:37)
• Textless Closing Song "Shunkan Sentimental" (HD; 1:37)

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part 4 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood continues to surprise and amaze with virtually every new episode. Characters have deepened, new layers of plot have been revealed with several fascinating pieces of information, and things seem perched on a precipice where we can either devolve into absolute chaos or maybe even achieve a somewhat happy ending. Bring on Part 5! Highly recommended.