Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 14, 2015

Brotherly love amongst anime fans may win out in the end, but there’s still a perhaps surprising disconnect between those who prefer original formulations of properties to reboots. There’s even a disconnect within certain ranks of fans—for example, while many aficionados prefer the redactions of Dragon Ball Z Kai to the “warts and all” full length saga provided by the original Dragon Ball Z, it’s actually pretty easy to find fans who won’t go anywhere near Dragon Ball Z Kai and insist that if you’re going to spend time with this particular tale, you might as well get the whole story. On the other hand, it’s at least relatively rare to find even a diehard “originalist” (if that’s even a word, which I have hunch it isn’t) who prefers Fullmetal Alchemist to its own reboot Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. The reasons for this preference tend to be various, including liking the “shinier” animation of the reboot, as well as the fact that Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood gets through pretty much all of the original anime’s content in a somewhat faster form, in a gambit that is at least somewhat reminiscent of Kai’s approach, at least in tone. There’s also the fact that fans of the original manga by Hiromu Arakawa often feel that Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood hewed more closely to Arakawa’s conception and storyline, though in the early going at least Fullmetal Alchemist doesn’t stray too far from Arakawa’s version. Perhaps surprisingly, the original Fullmetal Alchemist is only now being released in (upscaled) high definition, finally providing those who do like (if not outright prefer) this first iteration a chance to revisit the series again.

A different kind of brotherly love, namely the relationship between two siblings, is the underlying context of just about everything that informs Fullmetal Alchemist. While the anime engages in regular (and at times slightly disruptive) flashbacks, it almost feels like the series begins in media res, a feeling which only increases once more and more backstory is offered up over the course of ensuing episodes. Though not presented strictly chronologically within the confines of the series, the basic plot follows brothers Alphonse and Edward Elric, who for a while at least enjoyed a somewhat sylvan youth with their mother Trisha and father Van Hohenheim. The setting of the series is a kind of odd combination of pseudo-feudal or at least medieval elements (as evidenced by the series’ emphasis on alchemy) merged with an ambience that suggests a more fascistic presence, something that’s only increased when terms like Führer start getting bandied about.

In what becomes a rather convoluted concatenation of events, it turns out the Elric brothers have each sacrificed at least parts of their bodies in alchemical experiments which were designed in an attempt to resurrect their mother. The whole alchemical angle is played for its mythic opportunities throughout the series, offering an easy to understand but still enticingly complex “McGuffin” that allows the Elrics a chance to go on a magical quest of sorts that offers both physical restoration but (more importantly) the chance to bond and, ultimately, emotional catharsis. Along the way the brothers' past repeatedly intrudes, slowly but surely offering more information about how they ended up in this predicament as well as offering a kind of peculiar family dynamic that plays out throughout the continuing storyline.

In fact, for all its overheated verbiage and tendency to dart to and fro on a rather large gaggle of supporting characters, Fullmetal Alchemist is in essence a simple “road” series that allows the two brothers to evolve both physically and emotionally as they explore their fractured history and attempt to move toward a somewhat bittersweet ending. The series attempts to weave in a number of pseudo- historical incidents and/or characters along the way, not to mention other quasi-folkloristic elements like personified versions of at least some of the Seven Deadly Sins, but the rightful focus of Fullmetal Alchemist is always on the Elric brothers.

Note: Fans of the series who have deep pockets may want to check out the deluxe edition of this release which can be accessed via this link: Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. How you feel about this presentation will probably depend on a couple of factors, including if you have some history with the series in its broadcast or previous home video formats, and (perhaps more importantly) how you tend to react to upscales. As far as upconversions go, this actually looks quite solid to my eyes, and it's certainly at least marginally better than other such entries as Shakugan no Shana: Season 1. There's very little if any stair stepping and no egregious banding, two elements which tend to disrupt upscales, but the overall look here is decidedly on the soft side, and the biggest issue (to my eyes, anyway) is a kind of bland looking palette, one that has the requisite range of tones but which never really pops with any immediacy. Grain resolves naturally throughout the series. All of this said, line detail is generally quite crisp and well defined and fans of the series should be generally satisfied with the results here.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series features a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix for the English dub, and a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 offering of the original Japanese track. There's an obvious amplitude difference between these two, with the English track providing a much more fulsome low end. The action elements also benefit from the surround version, with good placement of effects in discrete channels. That said, prioritization occasionally suffers just slightly in the surround mix, with some dialogue sounding somewhat buried for brief moments in some of the noisier sequences. Fidelity is fine and dynamic range very wide on the surround track.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc Three:

• Episode 19 Commentary features Mike McFarland, ADR Director, and Vic Mignona and Aaron Dismuke, who play the Elric Brothers).


• Episode 25 Commentary features Mike McFarland, Sonny Strait and Travis Willingham (Roy Mustang).

Disc Six:

• The Transmutation of a Phenomenon - An Inside Look (480i; 31:24) is a vintage piece (look how young Aaron Dismuke is, only around 12 when this was done!) that includes some decent interviews.


• Episode 51 Commentary features Mike McFarland and Colleen Clinkenbeard, both of whom co-directed and also appeared in the anime. This has some interesting information about the voice casting process.


• Japanese Commercial (480i; 00:17) has some of the worst stair stepping imaginable.


• L'Arc en Ciel "Ready Steady Go" Video (480i; 4:06)


• Ura Hagane: Comedic Previews (1080p; 29:34) offers brief previews for all 51 episodes.


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:42)


• Textless Opening Songs:

  "Melissa" (1080p; 1:43)

  "Ready Steady Go" (1080p; 1:31)

  "Undo" (1080p; 1:32)

  "Rewrite" (1080p; 1:39)

• Textless Closing Songs:

  "Indelible Sin" (1080p; 1:20)

  "To the Other Side of the Door" (1080p; 1:33)

  "Motherland" (1080p; 1:32)

  "I Will" (1080p; 1:30)

Note: Additionally, all of the discs have a Marathon Play option for navigating episodes.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Series may not ultimately follow the manga's path as closely as diehard fans would have preferred, but revisiting the series now after so many years proves that it's often quite engaging, especially in its depiction of two close knit brothers working together to put themselves back together while also embarking on a Joseph Campbell-esque hero's (and/or heroes') quest. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood may still be the favorite among many FMA fans, but there's a certain undeniable charm to this original version. Video is about what you'd expect from an older standard definition source, but the audio has moments of impressive immersion, and FUNimation has offered up some okay supplements (not including some of the swag that comes with the more expensive editions). Recommended.