Forum - View topicREVIEW: Fullmetal Alchemist Blu-Ray Collector's Edition
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BigOnAnime
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 1255 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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 Also the FMA CE contains more content than what can be found in the Japanese release (Booklet is only 56 pages for them as they're not re-using what was in the singles (Which is where the booklets in our many FMA releases came from) or DVD box), it's one of the rare R1 releases that surpasses its Japanese counterpart.
Consider this, FMA was originally released in 13 singles for $30 MSRP, or $390 MSRP for 51 episodes, which is about $7.64 per episode. FMA's CE at an MSRP of $330 comes down to nearly $6.5 per episode. However compared to other deluxe releases on the market from FUNimation and Sentai, it's actually much, much cheaper. Tokyo Ghoul's CE has an MSRP of $130 and 12 episodes. That comes down to $10.83 per episode. Kamisama Kiss's Goddess Edition (Which is still not sold out despite the 2,500 unit count, while FMA is sold out at wholesale) is $130 for 13 episodes, that's $10 per episode. You get about the same price per episode on Sentai CE's that are priced at $130 for 12-13 episodes. The highest you get with them is the Beyond the Boundary CE for $180. Including the OVA, it comes down to nearly $14 per episode. The FMA CE really is not that expensive compared to other deluxe releases when you do the math. And it should go without saying, compared to Aniplex USA and Ponycan USA BD releases, it's much cheaper than those. |
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Divineking
 Posts: 1299 |
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Great review. While I do lean a bit more towards Brotherhood as an action-adventure fan, there's something to be said for the more human drama of the 03' series and both series are among my favorites. Don't think I could spare the change for this release but I definently plan on picking up one of the other editions for the holidays.
Personally though I'm not sure why lacking Shamballa would be a negative though. That movie was awful and it almost single-handedly ruined the ending to the TV series for me. |
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Animeking1108
Posts: 1244 |
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Honestly, the lack of "Conqueror of Shamballa" is no big loss. It was a disappointing conclusion to a great series. Characters like Izumi, Hohenhiem, and Envy got royally screwed over in favor of new characters nobody cared about (honestly, name one interesting thing about Noah aside from her cryptic foreshadowing powers), Eckhart was basically just a poor-man's Dante, and they gave Alphonse the power to transfer his soul into armor at-will, and yet he and Ed don't use it to spoiler[close the gate on the other side, saving them the trouble of having to abandon their loved ones for good.] It's not like there weren't any suits of armor lying around. Hell, that was how spoiler[Al snuck in to the Alternate Universe under Ed's nose], and not once did it cross his mind. Really, what was the point of giving Al that ability if it was only going to serve a purpose in one scene?
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Topgunguy
 Posts: 258 |
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Um... you do remember that what portion of Alspoiler['s soul is transferred has a time limit?]. |
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#838774
Posts: 158 |
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Definitely prefer this iteration of the series. Sure, Brotherhood has the better story but it also suffers from poor delivery. Bad pacing, lackluster music compared to the original adaption. If I could combine the story from Brotherhood with everything else from the original, it would be the best anime ever.
Unfortunately, that's not how it works and so you're left with making choices. Brotherhood is great if you're a manga fan and just want to see the story animated beautifully as succinct and emotionless as possible. The box looks really nice but they could've done better on the side logo as it really stands out against the rest of the case in a bad way. |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4467 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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but considering how popular the manga was too, it led to the massive discussion on which one is better, this one which is original and not faithful at the slightest or the brotherhood series which is completely faithful towards the manga.
You cant be surprised at all by that at all. NO ONE liked that movie at the slightest cause it nuked the ending of the TV series & turned it on its head. to the fans of the 2003 series, its just a filler that belongs on the deepest perishable trashbin. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4828 |
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I have no use for most of the trinkets in the artbox (except maybe for that artbook, I'd love FUNi to sell that separately), and I sure as hell don't have any room to store it, but I jumped on the standard BD set in a heartbeat. FMA 2003 was one of my seminal anime experiences, and it's definitely earned its position as a modern classic. (Or not even "modern" anymore...damn I'm old.) The debate on 2003-versus-brotherhood has been done to death and back to undeath, but for me at least the first anime will always be a far more powerful and moving experience, and I can't wait to give it a long-deserved rewatch.
And yeah, even though I don't flat-out hate it as much as some people (I have a friend whom I swear will have "SHAMBALLALALALA SUCKED" emblazoned on her tombstone someday), I see the lack of the movie as nothing but a positive. At its best it was an unnecessary epilogue, while at its worst it was a wildly-inconsistent film that flouted many of the series' established rules about the mechanics of alchemy and royally screwed over multiple characters for no good reason. |
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Videogamep
 Posts: 564 Location: CA |
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As someone who really liked FMA 2003 but didn't like the ending, I felt like the Shambala movie didn't improve the ending much but didn't detract from it either. It was just there. |
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louis6578
 Posts: 1880 |
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I personally think that Shamballa would have been stronger without the forced villain presence of the Nazis, and if Ed had permanently returned to the Amestris-verse. I love the original 2003 anime to death, and the only plot point I'm not that fond of, aside from Terminarcher, is the gate being a portal to our world. Even then, I didn't hate it. I just thought it should have been explored more.
It'd be interesting to see more anime adaptations like this. Taking the manga, adapting whatever little bit there is (maybe Deadman Wonderland could have done this), and take it in a direction separate from simply being a shounen action. |
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GaryNhk
Posts: 68 |
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Amazon right now is selling the blu ray for 31 dollars. Its a steal for this show and well worth it. Oh btw pony canyon is way worst than aniplex nowadays. Their sets are very ugly and only have 3 to 4 episodes for 80-90 dollars. Japanese companies don't understand american market at all and i hope pony canyon don't get ahold of alot of top shows |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6902 Location: Kazune City |
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SillyPerson
 Posts: 39 Location: Vatican City |
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Conqueror of Shamballa is not such a bad movie. Also it is the ending for the Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 series (the series itself has an incomplete ending and leaves viewers hanging, and the Conqueror of Shamballa movie ties up the loose ends). It is certainly not my favorite anime movie, not even close, and I don't think it is as good as the Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 series in quality, but for me it is important to have closure and be able to see the ending of a show.
As an example, Netflix allows you to see all of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood except for the final season and this is very very very very annoying for someone like me who likes closure and seeing the ending. So, while I have a Netflix account, it is not going to be my primary way for getting anime any time soon after that particular experience. Anyway I do personally think that both shows are really good and the Brotherhood show is even better than the original 2003 one. The 2003 one seems to go deeper into the characters and take the time to thoroughly explore ideas, while the Brotherhood version has tons more plot, a lot more characters, and just way more stuff going on so they can't really spend too much time on anything at all. The Brotherhood one is not at all as sentimental as the 2003 one. So although I like the Brotherhood one better I am also glad I saw the 2003 one too and it's a lot easier to have an emotional connection with the characters in the 2003 one. In the Brotherhood one there are various shifting alliances that at times make absolutely no sense why certain characters would be getting along with each other instead of trying to kill each other. Late in the series Envy actually brilliantly critiques this flaw in the Brotherhood series except the Brotherhood show makes it out as if Envy is wrong and the show is right. No, Envy is right. spoiler[State alchemists working together with Scar] makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. But the reason I prefer Brotherhood is all those other characters from Xing and from the border with Drachma and all of that extra plot, I actually like it a whole lot, and I also really like Brotherhood's version of Greed. But as for villains, spoiler[Dante] from the 2003 show is much better than spoiler[Father] from Brotherhood. Then again, in the 2003 show, Hohenheim (Ed and Al's dad) doesn't make much sense as a character whereas he is treated a lot better in Brotherhood. But then there are characters treated better in the 2003 version than Brotherhood like obviously Lust. But yeah as far as Conqueror of Shamballa goes I like the alternate-universe versions of the characters. The main problem with Conqueror of Shamballa is the plot, the pacing, and indeed the main premise itself. OK so that movie has plenty of problems, but it's still pretty good, full of neat little Easter egg cameos of characters. If you try not to take Conqueror of Shamballa too literally and just suspend your disbelief about the stuff in it that goes against how Fullmetal Alchemist previously worked it's not that bad. Anyway the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist will always be a great classic anime despite the Brotherhood version that came out later and is better in some respects but also lacks some of the things about the original anime adaptation that made it special. Which version people prefer probably comes down to if they like slow pacing and a simpler plot with less characters that develops all the characters fully like the 2003 version or fast pacing and a complicated plot with lots of characters that can't develop anything too deeply like the Brotherhood version. Also I don't know if other people have this happen to them but in both versions I find myself sympathizing with Edward Elric's character really closely and liking or disliking other characters based on how Edward Elric feels towards them when I watch it. So for instance I can't stand Colonel Mustang and find him an arrogant prick, because Edward feels the same way. And I really like Winry a lot. And I find Alphonse whiny and annoying and want to beat him up. All exactly the way Edward feels... I don't usually identify so closely with one character in an anime. In most other anime I can be a bit more neutral with regard to the characters instead of looking at everything from one character's point of view. I guess it is just because my way of thinking and personality are very very similar to Edward Elric, by some coincidence. No really my personality is very similar to him, even including his exact same personality flaws, and my worldview and way of thinking is also pretty much the same as his. I don't know why this is. It is obviously just a coincidence... no other character I've seen in any other anime is similar to me even remotely as much as Edward Elric. Some anime characters have a few things in common with me personality-wise but Edward Elric has basically the exact same personality as me completely. That kinda creeps me out actually... but I know the author of the original manga who developed his character obviously never met me so it's obviously just a coincidence, that's the only rational explanation, I'm not one for superstition (and neither is Edward). |
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BladeBlur
 Posts: 60 Location: California |
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Still going to wait for a FMA vs FMA:B comparison from her
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Animeking1108
Posts: 1244 |
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Well, it apparently gave him enough time to have a full conversation with Edward after escaping the Nazis. I honestly think COS would have worked better as either a new season or an OVA series. It would have provided more development for the characters introduced and the ones that got screwed over. Also, it would have actually given closure to Winry's subplot with Mustang. |
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louis6578
Posts: 1880 |
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THAT was my biggest problem! No closure for Winry and Roy's thing. I actually loved the change that Roy killed the Rockbells! Riza telling Winry on the train that being a soldier meant following good and evil orders was a powerful moment! I loved it! But... without closure, it falls too flat.
I love that Winry hates herself for actually respecting Mustang, the one who killed her parents. She's not being annoying and saying "YOU KILLED MY PARENTES! YOU HORRIBLE BASTARD!" No. She's aware of what kind of person Roy is, but doesn't want to accept that side of him. They could have done a lot with this! |
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