CCY has thrown down his Twelve Moments of Anime gauntlet, inviting others to join him everyday until Christmas in recalling their 12 favorite anime-related things of the year. Today? Moment #11.
Brotherhood, the latest Fullmetal Alchemist adaptation was the show that didn’t need to be. The original adaptation had aired just five years earlier. And for many of us, it was even newer than that. And it’s not like it needed a new adaptation. The original is one of the most high acclaimed animes of all time – beloved and revered by many. It’s not like Peter Jackson remaking the crappy cartoon version of Lord of the Rings. It’s like a new director telling us that there’s going to be a completely new and different release of the Fellowship of the Rings coming this Christmas. Entertaining? Yeah, probably. Necessary? No way.
Random Winry fanservice. Same old Fullmetal.
So I decided to watch with reservations. I was sure it was going to be a good series, but I wasn’t sure that it would be able to stand out from the shadow of the original. And for the first thirteen or so episodes, it didn’t. It was a poor man’s version of the original. It rushed through scenes we had seen, and dulled the punch from powerful scenes like Shou sacrificing his daughter or Hughes being murdered. And on top of that, it inserted the Soul Eater style random humor into all the worst spots. But it troopered on. And around the 14th episode, the story struck off in a different direction featuring characters and locales totally absent from the first. It started feeling like a more worthwhile show. But I still had that nagging thought in my head: Brotherhood is entertaining, but totally unnecessary.
That is until we hit the 19th episode. Like the riots in Lior, or the massacre in Ishbal, sometimes it just takes a little spark to create something bigger. In this case, just a little bit of flint and transmutation circle made of blood to create a raging blaze.
Flame on!
And this is where I stopped thinking that Shinichi Miki isn’t a bad Roy, but no Toru Ookawa. That Brotherhood is fun, but keeps pulling its punches. That it’s good, but still in the shadow of the original. Roy’s "seal it with fire" is the crowning moment of an episode that kicked off a long stretch of some of the most gripping, on-the-edge-of-your-seat episodes that I’ve seen. Had I the chance, it would’ve been prime marathoning material.
Will I consider Brotherhood even better than the original when it ends? We’ll see. But either way, I’m glad it exists, and I can surely say it’s a show that’s worthy on its own merits.
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This episode was the turning point for me, as well. (I was actually planning to write about it, myself, you sneaky man! I’ll probably just take a different angle on it, though.) When Mustang unleashes his fury upon Lust, you can really feel Brotherhood being taken to the next level.
Shinmaru´s last blog ..Twelve Moments in Anime No. 12: Setting the (Kaleido) Stage
Yup, that was also the turning point in FMA for me too. Actually I dare say that scene is the single greatest moment anime achieved that aired this year. Even though I’m pretty sure ‘I sealed it with fire’ was an incorrect translation, damn does it sound manly!
Scamp´s last blog ..12 moments in Anime #11: The Curry Fairy
Agreed. best episode of anime I watched this year, and I already knew it was going to happen. Burn baby burn!
TJ´s last blog ..Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 36
High five bro! I knew someone else was going to come up with the same thing
7´s last blog ..12 Moments in Anime ‘09: No.11 – PWNAGE…Roy Mustang Style 
I think it’s hardly accurate to call the first anime the original. The manga is the original, and Brotherhood follows it FAAAAR more closely. Believe me when I say, once brotherhood is at it’s end, you’ll think the first anime was childsplay.
The manga’s a completely different media from the anime. Sure the manga is the “original” source material, but it’s absolutely accurate to say the “original” anime was non-Brotherhood FMA.