Posted: 08/01/2011

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Volume 5

by Amber Burnham

Available on Blu-ray and DVD on August 2, 2011 from Funimation Entertainment.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the second anime series based on the manga by Hiromu Arakawa. It centers around two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are on a journey to gain their original bodies back after committing an alchemic taboo. The majority of the series’ final twelve episodes collected in Volume five take place within the span of a single day— The Promised Day. The characters are not only fighting for their lives, but for those of their loved ones and the people in the rest of the country. This volume is by far the most emotionally taxing on the viewer. You will be watching for your favorite character and hoping they come out of the fight alive. You may even find yourself becoming emotionally involved by a character you might have otherwise forgotten. This emotionality of the episodes pulls you into the action, until you are crying, laughing with joy, and questioning both sides’ next move right along with the characters.

The action in Volume Five is intense. This, in turn, makes the calm moments equally as intense. You will be one the edge of your seat as you wait for the next unexpected danger to arise. There will be times when you are not sure how the heroes are going to overcome the adversities in their paths. With the multiple groups of characters locked in various aspects of the fighting, the structure and editing of the individual episodes is important to the feel of the battle. The structure of the episodes in FMA: Brotherhood Volume Five is done in such a way that movement between the various groups of characters never leaves you wondering for too long. Although the cuts may come at times when the battles are intense, this only manages to add to the feeling of danger that has been built from the beginning of The Promised Day.

This volume sees the conclusion of a beautiful and gripping tale. Whether you were a fan of the original anime series, the manga, or both, you will surely find this to be another must-own piece of any Fullmetal Alchemist collection.

As with Funimation’s previous volumes, the HD transfer of the series on Blu-ray delivers great clarity, richly saturated colors, and deep, dark blacks. Each volume comes with four chronologically-numbered postcards with tableaus of the characters. The slip sleeve on Volume Five is a luminescent foil design featuring Salim Bradley, King Bradley, and a Homunculus. Again, the cover art of the inner Blu-ray case is that the artwork is revesible, giving you the option of making the episode list more visible. The special features include commentary on episode 64, outtakes, textless songs, and trailers.

Amber Burnham has a BA in Early Childhood Education from Kendall College. She is also a regular panelist on Kichicast, the all-girl, Chicago-based podcast devoted to anime, manga, and Japanese culture. You can listen to Kichicast at kichigi.com.

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