I’m digging it :laugh:
Great first episode! Really exciting! 
FMA B was not great ,but only after 1 episode I can’t say its bad either to at least 4 episodes in. First episode dub was good though. If it does not hook me I shall be calling it “Fullmetal Alchemist Blahterhood”.
I’ve got to wait till it added to the Online Player, dang it no cable.
[quote=mitamaking]
I’ve got to wait till it added to the Online Player, dang it no cable.[/quote]
It looks like Adult Swim will be adding it to their player starting on Wednesday, Feb 17.
I think I feel the way about this, the way Coffee felt when he was watching it initially subbed. Based on the first episode, it feels out of place, directionless and rushed to me - almost a WTH is going on - like I was watching an episode 15ish. It’ll take a few more episodes I’m sure to get more of a bearing though so I’ll keep an open mind. But it didn’t grab me anywhere as much as the first FMA, so far.
On the plus side the art, animation OP and ED, soundtrack were all great. A definite improvement over the original in the animation and art quality.
I thought the replacement for Al did a fine job, I didn’t have any problems with her, so far. Vic Mignogna as Ed sounded a bit too old, I thought. In the original there was an evolution of his voice, he sounded much younger early on and grew into the role. This time he sounded old, even in the cut-away scene to what happened to Ed and Al as kids, that one raised my eye-brows.
Also all the jokes and chibi fell flat to me. As many of you know I love chibi stuff, and I liked the jokes in FMA a lot - so far here, kinda eh.
The action scenes, especially with the new production quality did look nice.
On the whole pretty good start, but I’m not sold on it yet and so far doesn’t have the charm of the first season… but we’ll see how it goes in the next few eps.
Well, as for the series, in and of itself, it’s actually fairly good, though as I’ve mentioned before, it seeems rather rushed for several episodes.
The dub on the other hand, though not bad, just seemed a bit… I don’t know… awkward I guess is a word that’ll work. In the first series, the cast nailed their parts for the most part, but with this, it seems kind of… forced.
I hope that’s just them trying to get the character personality differences from the first series down, and all works out as it continues.
As for the new Al (my worry with the cast), Maxey Whitehead, she didn’t do too bad of a job, though she does make Al a bit “girly”, which is kind of counter-productive and out of character for the personality traits Al portrays in this series as it goes on.
Yeah, Aaron is definitely tough act to follow and perhaps impossible to replace. I think I can agree with you about the dub and forced quality in the first episode. Beyond the old part something about it just didn’t jive with me. We’ll see though, it is the first episode… perhaps it’ll take them some time to get reacquainted with their roles.
Something about this just seems to lack the charm of the original to me though. I can’t quite put my finger on it yet. Hopefully things smoothen out as as the episodes come.
But again, the art and animation was quite striking.
Since you’ve seen a lot of episodes in, do the action scenes ever get as good as those that was in the OP?
The original had charm?
[quote=psychopuppet]
The original had charm?:P[/quote]
pfft lol
[quote=psychopuppet]
The original had charm?:P[/quote]
Don’t start.
[quote=dragoon]
Since you’ve seen a lot of episodes in, do the action scenes ever get as good as those that was in the OP?[/quote]
Kind of hard for me to answer without giving too much away, but yes & no.
OP 1 & 2 are really, really intense as far as the action sequences go, and as of yet, we haven’t seen anything quite as intense as those.
However, the action sequences have been drastically incressed for this series in comparison to the first one.
[quote=psychopuppet]
The original had charm?:P[/quote]
Yes it did period
Ok… finally watched it.
This first episode…
[details=spoiler]…is completely different than the first episode in the original anime. In fact, I don’t remember this at all from the manga. Of course, I only have up to Volume 19… so I suppose it could be later, but I have to wonder if they made this first episode up completely. I did hear Ed & Al mention Lior, so we do know that this happens before that.
Isaac McDougal, the Freezing Alchemist, is a new character and apparently went rogue after Ishbal/Ishval.
Did anyone else glimpse the two quick shots of a certain figure? The first was when the “Freezer” activated his array and the second was when Bradley killed him. I must say that I almost missed the first one myself.
They certainly fit quite a few people in the first episode… Ed, Al, Mustang, Hawkeye, Hughes & family, Armstrong, Bradley, Kimblee… hmmm, did I miss anyone?
I certainly liked the fact that they didn’t start out in the same place as the last anime, even though the manga started in the same place. It was more interesting this way to me not to have start comparing right away.
Also, I was rather intrigued with a lot of the stark backgrounds, and the way they dominated the scenes. Completely different feeling from before. Nothing on the walls and vast areas of space, giving it a more barren feeling.
And, finally, it’ll take me just a little while to get used to Al’s new voice. There’s nothing bad about it, it’s just throwing me off a little, I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
Oh, one more thing, I’ve GOT to stop reading fan fiction… I’m getting my storylines all messed up… [/details]
If anyone missed the first episode on Adult Swim and still wants to see it, AS has it on their player until March 3.
[quote=psychopuppet]
The original had charm?:P[/quote]
This…makes me happy.
Wow, I was home that night and I didn’t even think to look or turn the TV on there at all. What did I do that night? I think I watched TAN for a while anyhow. I forget.
It’s worth watching. It’s not an omg great start or as fun as the original so far, but it was certainly solid. Definitely the best on broadcast (linear, regular) TV in a while; though perhaps that’s not saying much of anime on TV. 
I’m looking forward to seeing to how episode 2 shapes up. Can’t wait to see what happens when the story shapes up and how it’ll compare to the original.
Hmm, seems Vic is having a real problem making the young ED sound young these days.
It really fluctuated during the young scenes (and yes, I know part was him talking as himself of now and not young, that’s not what I’m talking about).
Caitlin Glass & Juli Erickson (Winry & Pinako respectively) also seemed a bit on the awkward side, as well as other members of the cast (Travis Willingham & Sonny Strait -/- Roy Mustang & Maes Hughes).
I really hope it’s just them trying to get reaquainted with their characters and the attitude and personality differences, and it smooths out as it gets further in.
Ep #2 - The First Day
[details=spoiler]Mustang is still in Central and Hughes gives him the final report about McDougal (the Freezer), it says that he used some sort of Xingese art known as ‘alkahestry’, but neither of them have heard of it.
This episode has the Elrics traveling to Lior by train; in the first anime they traveled to Lior on foot across the desert.
As they travel, Ed remembers how he and Al got to this point; reading their father’s alchemy books, learning how to do alchemy, their mother falling ill and dying, training with Teacher, and then learning how to do human transmutation.
They then gather the ingredients and a drop of each of their blood and attempt to bring their mother back by human transmutation. However, something goes wrong and Al disappears.
Ed wakes up before a mysterious door and sees a ‘ghostly figure’ called “all” “one” “you” or “Truth”. The door opens and Ed is dragged inside where his head is filled with information, but before he learns what he desparately needs to know - how to do a ‘perfect’ human transmutation - he is booted out. He then realizes that “Truth” has taken his leg as a toll for the information.
As he awakens back in the real world, he sees the creature that is in the center of the alchemic circle (and it looks nothing like his mother) as it groans and dies. Full of guilt, he curses himself and bonds Al’s soul to a suit of armor and then loses his arm in payment (equivalent exchange).
They don’t fully explain how Mustang hears about all this (in the first anime, the boys sent letters out looking for their father when their mother was ill) but he arrives and finds the evidence of the transmutation and rushes to the Rockbell house where he finds Ed without two limbs and Al without a body - he’s stunned at Ed’s ability to bind a soul to armor. He ‘suggests’ to Ed that he become a State Alchemist where he’d have access to the military’s libraries and where he could possibly find an answer to getting their bodies back.
Ed gets automail and travels to Central to take the test (which is vastly different from the test in the first anime - Ed is very aware of the fact that he can do alchemy without drawing a circle), the Fuhrer is in attendence, as is Mustang. Ed ‘pulls’ a spear from the floor and charges the Fuhrer and makes a smart remark about more security. The Fuhrer laughs and walks away as Ed’s spear falls apart. Ed gasps, not even realizing that the Fuhrer had pulled his sword.
In Mustang’s office, Ed is given his silver watch and title “Fullmetal” and, of course, he likes it.
Back in the present, Ed and Al can see Lior in the distance and they wonder if they’ll find the Philosopher’s Stone there.[/details]
I guess I’m still up in the air on this…
For one thing, I’m liking that they’re sticking to the manga, but I agree with Coffee that the actors just don’t seem to be feeling it yet, but then again it is only the second episode.
But I will stick with it!! 