Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episodes 14-26 - (Viewed via recent "Season 1, Part 2" Blu Ray) - Wow, talk about the total opposite of the first set. As a big fan of the first series, I was skeptical that this series would actually live up to the hype the manga nuts threw out. Well, it turns out that after an incredibly rough first 13 episodes getting the show to the big breaking point with the first series at warp speed...yeah, it really did. This was just an awesome volume, where there's just major event after major event, awesome (and often gruesome) animated sequence after awesome animated sequence. What's nice, though, is that this series doesn't really feel like it's replacing the first series, as it's doing very much its own thing. There are some things about the plot I care more for in the first series, and others in this series.
That said, I do have to scratch my head a bit at one of the major inclusions in this series that wasn't in the first: the characters from the land of Xing (who are so
totally not based on the Chinese, I assure you.
). While they can be amusing and Ling makes for a nice change in giving Ed someone
besides Alphonse to talk to, they really don't do all that much (at least in this volume). One of them even has a panda bear the size of a stuffed animal that rides on her shoulder, which feels kind of out of place in this show. I can't say I care much for this version of Scar, either, and this show tends to rely on the "wacky" comedy a bit too much. Still, this is definitely an awesome volume and highly recommended. Man, the wait for the next set is going to be long.