fullmetal alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist Manga vs First TV Series - ROUND ONE Hiromu Arakawa's long running manga, Fullmetal Alchemist, has had the luxury of not only being extremely popular both in Japan and here in the U.S., but recieving two anime adaptations. The first was helmed by director Seiji Mizushima in 2003, and ran for 51 episodes. The second will air this year, helmed by Yasuhiro Irie. The two series were/are productions of Studio Bones, known for its high quality productions. However, the first television animation began while the manga was still starting to get off the ground. Only a few volumes of the manga were available at the time the production started. The author laid down her plans for the manga's story to the Bones staff, but insisted that they go in a different direction, which they did.

Expect a Fullmetal Alchemist Week this week, with Anime Moments all from FMA and a manga-to-anime comparison! Also, expect a bit of commentary on each episode of the new series here.

Looking forward to this, hardcore. I liked the manga and first series equally, but if they keep at this quality, I may like this series even more than the first.

The series, by the way, is supposedly subtitled "Brotherhood" from what I've read.

New Cast of Fullmetal Alchemist

A while back, news broke that for the new FMA series, based closer to the original Hiromu Arakawa manga than the first television series, the Japanese voice actresses Romi Paku and Rie Kugimiya would be reprising their roles as Edward and Alphonse Elric, respectively. This was met with much celebration from fans of the first series, such as myself, as they were great in those roles. However, now there's confirmation that while some other voice talent are returning to their roles in the new series, others are not.

Here's some of the new cast (replacements noted with credits):