re: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
Well, I watched the first volume of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. And, well, I have some thoughts!
PROS:
(1) Um, I'm not sure why anyone else has been complaining about the English dub and how horrible it is, because I think it sounds just fine. Maybe it's because I knew most of the cast from the first anime, and I've barely watched any of the Japanese episodes, so it doesn't bother me. I thought a lot of the other characters' voices sound great. Whoever is playing Alphonse is doing a marvelous job and he's probably my favorite next to Scar's voice. And randomly, Armstrong's booming voice just cracks me up.
So...I really don't understand why people are complaining about it or why it's supposedly horrible. Sure, I'm ready to bitch with people about Vic Migwhatshisface getting more acting jobs, but even he didn't really bother me. (A-Actually, I like him as Edward Elric. I'M SO SORRY, PPL.)
(2) The music is absolutely beautiful. It's on the same level as the soundtrack from the first anime, and it really compliments the series and each scene the songs are thrown into. And while Trisha's Lullaby isn't the first anime's Bratya, it's still very pretty and kinda eerie.
(3) THERE'S NO FUCKING RANDOM GIANT BIRD MONSTER THAT IS PRETENDING TO BE ROSE'S FIANCE. SO. THAT'S GOOD. I WON'T HAVE NIGHTMARES FOREVER NOW. :(
CONS:
(1) Even though I do love the English dub for what it is, I do have one issue with the dub: Funimation really should start hiring child actors to voice the characters in flashbacks when they're children. Silly Vic trying to play a ten-year-old Edward Elric sounds absolutely awful. For God's sake, the man is almost forty years old, I think, and his voice is nowhere near flexible enough to try to pass himself off as a child. It's really obvious he's trying too hard. (It isn't just him, either. Winry's voice actress sounds just as awkward, too.)
(2) I'm not sure if it's just me, but the first few episodes feel...extremely rushed. Like, we meet Nina and her father in one episode, and at the end of that episode, they're already dead. That's barely enough time to bond with the characters. Did they feel that they had to rush it because they dragged it out in the first anime, or were they following the pace in the manga? I don't know, it just didn't feel right to me, but I think it's because I was used to the pacing in the first anime. It might take time for me to adjust to it.
(3) The show skips over little things that I'm surprised I miss from the manga. For example, in the manga, when Winry begs that one guy to welcome her as his apprentice, he declines, not only because he just doesn't want to, but because he knows Winry's grandmother and he's scared shitless of her. In the anime, her grandmother is never mentioned in the episode. WHY DID THEY CUT THAT OUT? That was hilarious.
Again, it's really not that big of a deal. I'm just being nit-picky.
Final Thoughts: So, yeah, it's great! I'm a little nit-picky about it, but I loved it, and so did my sister, and I can't wait to watch the rest of it.
PROS:
(1) Um, I'm not sure why anyone else has been complaining about the English dub and how horrible it is, because I think it sounds just fine. Maybe it's because I knew most of the cast from the first anime, and I've barely watched any of the Japanese episodes, so it doesn't bother me. I thought a lot of the other characters' voices sound great. Whoever is playing Alphonse is doing a marvelous job and he's probably my favorite next to Scar's voice. And randomly, Armstrong's booming voice just cracks me up.
So...I really don't understand why people are complaining about it or why it's supposedly horrible. Sure, I'm ready to bitch with people about Vic Migwhatshisface getting more acting jobs, but even he didn't really bother me. (A-Actually, I like him as Edward Elric. I'M SO SORRY, PPL.)
(2) The music is absolutely beautiful. It's on the same level as the soundtrack from the first anime, and it really compliments the series and each scene the songs are thrown into. And while Trisha's Lullaby isn't the first anime's Bratya, it's still very pretty and kinda eerie.
(3) THERE'S NO FUCKING RANDOM GIANT BIRD MONSTER THAT IS PRETENDING TO BE ROSE'S FIANCE. SO. THAT'S GOOD. I WON'T HAVE NIGHTMARES FOREVER NOW. :(
CONS:
(1) Even though I do love the English dub for what it is, I do have one issue with the dub: Funimation really should start hiring child actors to voice the characters in flashbacks when they're children. Silly Vic trying to play a ten-year-old Edward Elric sounds absolutely awful. For God's sake, the man is almost forty years old, I think, and his voice is nowhere near flexible enough to try to pass himself off as a child. It's really obvious he's trying too hard. (It isn't just him, either. Winry's voice actress sounds just as awkward, too.)
(2) I'm not sure if it's just me, but the first few episodes feel...extremely rushed. Like, we meet Nina and her father in one episode, and at the end of that episode, they're already dead. That's barely enough time to bond with the characters. Did they feel that they had to rush it because they dragged it out in the first anime, or were they following the pace in the manga? I don't know, it just didn't feel right to me, but I think it's because I was used to the pacing in the first anime. It might take time for me to adjust to it.
(3) The show skips over little things that I'm surprised I miss from the manga. For example, in the manga, when Winry begs that one guy to welcome her as his apprentice, he declines, not only because he just doesn't want to, but because he knows Winry's grandmother and he's scared shitless of her. In the anime, her grandmother is never mentioned in the episode. WHY DID THEY CUT THAT OUT? That was hilarious.
Again, it's really not that big of a deal. I'm just being nit-picky.
Final Thoughts: So, yeah, it's great! I'm a little nit-picky about it, but I loved it, and so did my sister, and I can't wait to watch the rest of it.