Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 1) - Fullmetal Alchemist

Edward and Alphonse were ready to leave town when they were given an assignment. A former state alchemist known as Isaac the Freezer had shown up and that can only mean trouble!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 1) – Fullmetal Alchemist

What happened?

Isaac the Freezer was busy racing around the Central City drawing Transmutation Circles. Some soldiers attempt to apprehend him but are no match for his alchemy. Isaac can transmute water, turning it into ice and steam. The unfortunate soldiers didn’t stand a chance. That’s when Edward and Alphonse caught up with him and showed why they’re so widely renowned.

They managed to capture Isaac, but he slipped away during his transportation to a jail cell. Edward and Alphonse are forced to report back to Roy Mustang about what happened. That’s when Maes Hughes walks in and offers the boys a place to stay. They accept, but it becomes apparent that Maes is unaware of Alphonse’s condition.

The next day, Isaac is busy placing down the last of his Transmutation Circles when he is attacked by another State Alchemist, Alex Armstrong. Edward and Alphonse back him up, but Isaac gets away once more. He returns to his last Transmutation Circle and activates a chain reaction, freezing the entire city as a wall of ice creates an even bigger Circle. Edward and Alphonse attempt to stop him once more but are beaten again.

Isaac flees and runs into King Bradley, who cuts him down in the blink of an eye. He tells everyone that it was Roy Mustang who caught Isaac. Either way, they won and now they can relax once more… or so they think!

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 1 Alphonse and Edward Elric

What did you think?

I enjoyed this episode, but I will say that it felt like I had accidentally started with the wrong episode. There’s being thrown into the deep end and then there’s this. I started to get my head around things, but it was still a little too much too soon. Luckily, it would appear that we’re going back to the beginning for episode two.

A lot was going on and some of that stuff will no doubt become incredibly important. However, the amount of focus required just to keep up with what was going on without any sort of introductions means that a refresher will be needed closer to the time. It was certainly enough to grab my attention, which is good as there are another sixty-three episodes.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 1 Fuhrer Bradley

What have you learned?

So, I learnt that Edward and Alphonse broke the cardinal rule of alchemy and it cost them dearly. There were some brief flashbacks, but I’m glad that we’re actually going back to the beginning so that we can witness the entire event that set them on this journey. We definitely need more information than this episode provided.

I’m a big fan of stories that open with a bit of action and then pull things back so that they can work towards that moment. However, I felt like this episode was a little too much. As I said earlier, I felt like I had started in the middle of the series and not with episode one. There are ways to grab the audience’s attention and still give them enough information for it to make sense. I’m looking forward to getting into the details.