Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Vol 5 [DVD]

A lot of animes have bad endings. Many more have mediocre endings including the original anime. Only a few have truly satisfying endings. This one does. It seems like every anime has to end on an epic battle. While this series ends on such a battle it is set up so well that the epicness seems well earned as opposed to tacked on. It also spends about twenty episodes on nothing but fighting. In case anyone has visions of Dragonball Z and the endless repetitive fights rest assured that it's nothing like that. The show has an advantage in that it has a great many secondary characters involved in the fighting. This is important for the end because it allows numerous fight scenes to happen at the same time. The Armstrongs vs. Sloth, Al vs. Pride, Mustang vs. Envy, the Briggs soldiers vs. Wrath, Mustang vs. Wrath, Scar vs. Wrath... Basically a lot of wrath. Each of these fights is important and gripping with the understanding that a defeat in only one of them could doom the entire group. They do very good making it convincing that entire armies and highly powerful men are utterly outmatched by only seven enemies. Maintaining tension and excitement over 20 episodes is no easy task and that they manage to pull it off convincingly is very impressive. There is only one minor misstep and that is in the reveal of the nature of human sacrifices, yet thinking about it I can think of no other way they could have dealt with it. All loose threads are tied up and the series ends on a somewhat hopeful yet uncertain note. The future is not clear and I would love to see more about where this world develops. At any rate the ending is satisfying and feels entirely appropriate for such an involved and intricate series. If I had a quibble it would be that the final episode (which takes place after the action and wraps everything up) doesn't handle itself as well as the manga. A minor detail really.

I definitely recommend this DVD. Not only does it have both languages, but commentaries by cast and directors and the animation is great! Unlike the original anime, this version is based on the actual manga and while the old FMA was brilliant this is just as good if not better. So if you love FMA then I recommend you get this dvd and all the others!

This fifth volume of the `Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' anime contains the final twelve episodes of this greatly entertaining series. The episodes on this two disc set see Father's plans come to a head as he tries to activate the nationwide alchemic circle. Meanwhile the forces of Coronal Mustang and the northern Briggs troops continue their assault against Central Command but it is a race against time until reinforcements arrive.

This final volume of the series is easily the best of the series and is an almost perfect way to conclude the series. The animation is great, the voice acting as good as always and the storyline comes to head with some very nice moments with great action and some nicely emotional moments. The final episode of the series is especially good and it is nice to see the series end so well.

While I don't usually watch extras, I must say that this volume has a good one. Along with the usual commentaries and opening and closing themes there is also a short set of outtakes that, while somewhat rude in places, is hilariously funny.

Overall this series has been very entertaining and, while there are some parts of the series that I dislike, I would definitely count it as one of the best anime series I have watched. This final volume is well worth a full five stars.