Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Vol 2 (Eps 14-26) [DVD]

This second volume of thirteen episodes from the `Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' anime continues to improve the series and it is here that it begins to surpass the previous anime series. These episodes see travellers from the eastern empire of Xing arrive in Amestris searching for the secrets of immortality. Meanwhile the Homunculi begin to put their plans in action, Colonel Mustang continues to investigate the death of Maes Hughes and the Elric brothers make some terrible discoveries.

This volume of `Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' is a brilliant continuation of this series that follows the story of the original manga quite nicely. The episodes here are all very well done with some nice animation and the English dub is just as good as ever. The volume includes some nice action and although some of the humour can be a little annoying in places, with far too much super-deformed animation, there are still many other very funny moments.

The new characters introduced in this volume are all very good and interesting with Ling Yao especially being a very funny and interesting character. The volume also sees the plot advance somewhat with some interesting revelations about the background of the characters, and the setting as well as the goals of the villains.

This was a very good volume of a great anime that I must say that the series easily surpasses its predecessor.

This is where Brotherhood really begins to rise above the old series (here, here, here and here). While the first set was basically nothing but a recap of the original anime this set carves out its own story. Without giving too many spoilers it introduces several new characters (including the Elric brother's father) and has the lead characters finally hunting the homunculi instead of merely reacting to them. The biggest new character is Lin Yao, the prince of Xing (Basically China), who is introduced right off the bat in episode 15 as if to emphasize the split. He's hunting for the Philosopher's Stone so he can gain the advantage in the succession of his kingdom and become emperor and since they know all about it he hangs around with Ed and Al. Lin's selfish nature really bugged me at first but by the end of this set he was among my favorite characters, which is a shame because he doesn't have as much screen time in the rest of the series. Another new character is Lao Fan, who is the only character on the show that I never really liked. She's a little girl from a rival family in Xing and comes complete with a mini-panda. You also get to see the first real enemy death, and it's a big one. A big issue of this series is leadership and loyalty, especially to subordinates. There are four main leaders in this series and each of them has a different style. Lin and Mustang are loyal to a fault to their subordinates (although Lin's rather more careless about sending them into danger) while the homunculi's leader cares nothing for his. The fourth shows up in the next set and she is willing to spend her men's lives but never capriciously or on a whim. A lot of these relationships will be important as the series progresses.

A great deal is going on in these episodes. This series is really a straight continuation of the last set in style and direction. A lot of things are wrapped up and many new developments are revealed. After this set the show takes kind of an unexpected turn and has a very different feel as the Elrics are forced into a rather compromising position. The ending basically establishes the course for the rest of the series. There are a number of cool fight scenes including a big one towards the end.

this is a great series and everyone should get this! however there is a problem. The have stopped making more volumes because there are not a lot of sales which is a shame. I started collecting these and discovered it will remain as 2 volumes out of 5. The US version will have all 5 volumes which wont work in the UK. im hoping for Manga Entertainment to release a 5 volume box set in BLU Ray in the UK!, because I will defiantly buy it.