DVD Corner

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood- OVA Collection Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” fans should enjoy the 4 OVAs.

As someone who found “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” to be rather chaotic, I’m probably not the best person to review this set. It doesn’t help that I find OVAs to be mostly pointless, slight adventures strictly made for the fans. Surprisingly, however, this set of OVAs is better than most that are released.

The set kicks off with the story “The Blind Alchemist” which sees Ed and Al meeting Judau to learn about an alleged human transmutation. While short on story, there’s a real focus on character here and the actual plot of ‘Blind’ is important to the mythology of ‘Fullmetal.’

Next up is a rather simple story titled “Simple People.” In this OVA, we see Ed, Al, Riza, and Winry making “simple” choices. Once again, it’s a character centric piece that gives viewers a slight look into the mindset of these characters. Generally, however, this is pretty much filler.

The third OVA (“The Tale Of Teacher”) is undoubtedly the worst of the 4. It involves Izumi embarking on a month long quest to survive in the wild in order to become Silver Steiner’s apprentice. With lots of Izumi fits and an incredibly dopey ending, this one will likely have you groaning by the end of it.

The final OVA on this set (“Yet Another Man’s Battlefield”) is the best of the 4. This is a story with some weight to it as it explores the tragic story of the friendship between Roy, Heathcliffe, and Hughes.

Summary: “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” fans should pick up this OVA collection.

Video/Audio:

It’s like night and day when comparing the Blu-ray and DVD copies. The clarity of the animation looks completely superior in 1080p. It’s the only way to watch it as far as I’m concerned.

English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 audio tracks have been included here. The English dub is solid thanks to the fact that the cast clearly took their time to become the characters. It’s certainly not a rush job like many of the dubs we see. The Japanese track is on par (if not better) than the English dub.

Extras:
* Trailers for “Tales Of Vesperia,” “Dragon Age,” “Dragon Ball Z Kai,” “Chrome Shelled Regios,” “D.Gray-Man,” “Black Cat,” “Kenichi,” “Hero Tales,” and Funimation.com.
* 16 Volumes of Fullmetal Four-Panel Comic Theaters. Each volume contains 4 REALLY dopey cartoon shorts featuring Ed and Al and other characters from the Fullmetalverse. Basically, this is “Fullmetal Alchemist” meets “Looney Tunes.”
* DVD copy of the 4 OVAs.

June 1, 2012 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood- OVA Collection Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review