Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - First Impressions

This series started back in 2003 with Fullmetal Alchemist. I discovered the show quite by accident on cable and became hooked, watching all 52 episodes and the subsequent movie, Conqueror of Shamballa. Even though there were some "immature" moments, the series had a kick-ass opening along with complex characters and plot twists. As the series went along and Ed "grew" up, the immature moments became reduced, but were replaced by the two brothers having fun despite their situations.

What is Fullmetal Alchemist?

Well, as the name suggests, the series has it's roots in alchemy. According to the series, the first law of alchemy, is the Law of Equivalent Exchange. This means that, every time you perform alchemy, a price must be paid. The boys new this, but they didn't really understand what it meant. The boys were very young when their father walked away from them, and it wasn't long after when their mother died.

In their grief, the boys decided to try to bring her back to life using alchemy. They knew there would be a price to pay, but they didn't really understand the extent of that price. They were two normal boys distraught with grief over the loss of their mother. They chose to do what many of us would do in their situation if we had the knowledge - bring a loved on back from the dead.

They performed the ritual. However, in the process of the ritual, something went very, very wrong. Al, the youngest of the two, began to disappear, and Ed - being the more powerful alchemist - did what he could to save his brother. He transferred his soul to a metal suit of armor. While it isn't perfect, Al doesn't seem to mind because he's still with Ed, but Al wasn't the only one to suffer for their failed attempt to bring their mother back.

Ed lost his right arm and left leg. After the attempt a long-time friend, Winry, helped Ed adjust to his automail (metal limb replacements) and helped keep them working properly - until he decided he wanted to become a state alchemist.

This is where their journey truly begins. Why a state alchemist? Because as a state alchemist, he believed he'd have access to, or get access to, the philosopher's stone. Why the philosopher's stone? Because they believed it to be the only chance to get Al's body back.

That's why I like Ed, he's more worried about getting Al's body back than he is getting his missing limbs back. According to Internet information, the second series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows the manga much more closely than the original series did.

While the first series did go off on it's own and has a different ending than the second series, I find that so far, I like the way the first series handled things better. While I like comedy, it doesn't need to be completely childish, but that's what it seems to be, however, I'm only one episode in so we'll see what happens as I get caught up to the current series. It's just hard to deal with changes when you fall in love with characters and storylines.