Review of Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST (New) Episode 1 - Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi

Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi (Hagaren for short) is back on TV. Well, I did like the anime series and enjoyed the movie version too. However, the moment I heard that this was coming back, I wondered how the story would be presented. I did not finish the manga which is still in progress so I do not know how much the first anime series deviated from the manga. If the anime did end at a certain point in the manga, how does the new series develop? Will it take a new direction? Judging from the title, it certainly doesn't look like a sequel to me. So that means they are going to start all over again?

And my guess was confirmed after watching the first episode. Although the starting point of the new Hagaren was different from the first Hagaren, it is technically just before the first episode at Reole. (This time, I confirmed the English spellings of the places' names so I assumed this should be correct. In the past, I just used the romanized version.) In fact, Ed and Al mentioned that they were planning to head to Reole due to some miracle happenings there. As such, I am under the impression that the anime will go through everything again but with some fillings here and there. Maybe they will show a different perspective or inject new facts into the story.

Basically, this episode talks about Ed being ordered to help Mustang capture an ex-national alchemist, Isaac McDugar also known as the Freezing Alchemist. Apparently, Isaac is in cahoots with the Homculus so as to eliminate King Bradley but it appears as if Isaac is just a pawn in the game, going by Lust's conversation with someone. The bulk of this episode is about Isaac trying to escape from Ed, Al, Mustang, Armstrong and Co. but he ends up dead at the hands of King Bradley. Nothing out of the ordinary is introduced in this episode. It feels as if it's an introductory episode for the sake of people who have no knowledge of Hagaren, have forgotten most of the characters or are new viewers to the series. The next episode's trailer then goes back to the roots of the Elric brothers and how they became who they are now. This is in contrast with what happened in the first Hagaren which talked about Reole first and then shifted to the hidden past of the brothers.

The graphics and storyline maintains the standard of the previous series (at least from what I've watched so far). It was a pleasant surprise to see YUI back with the OP of this series and the lyrics seem to be tailored to the theme of the anime i.e. trying to regain what's lost. Hagaren has some of the best OPs and EDs during the previous run so I was expecting a lot from the new series. However, I don't really like the ED and think that the animation was too coarse. I would have preferred something more refined. The ED song gets on my nerves at this point in time but I don't know if this will grow on me over time. I seriously doubt so though.

The biggest grouse I have about this new series is the change in the seiyuu lineup! Other than Park Romi and Kugimiya Rie who get to reprise their roles as Ed and Al, there's been a major revamp in the lineup. I was pleasantly surprised to see Kimbly in this episode but was horrified to hear that it was not Ueda Yuji voicing him. What is going on?! I then went to check the lineup on the official site and saw that Ueda Yuji has been "relegated" to be Jan Haborg, Mustang's subordinate! Why is there a need to change this? Just to name a few of the changes, Mustang is now voiced by Miki Shinichiro instead of Ookawa Tooru, Winry is now played by Takamoto Megumi instead of Toyoguchi Megumi, Riza Hawkeye's voice is now of Orikasa Tomiko instead of Neya Michiko. Is there really a necessity to change the lineup? How can it be that there's such a big change? And why is there a need to shuffle the roles of seiyuus who were previously in the series? The biggest surprise I see is that Okiayu Ryoutaro is no longer playing Scar! I mean, these people have been doing well so I certainly do not like the idea of them being replaced or relegated to less important roles. There is no news of Suwabe Junichi being removed from the role of Greed and if this really happens, I may lose interest in the series altogether. It is really a big disappointment to see such changes. Even if they wish to distinguish this new series from the old, I certainly don't like this.

I guess I need to watch a few more episodes to see how the series progresses. If it turns out to be 80% to 90% similar to the previous series AND has a seiyuu lineup which keeps giving me unwanted surprises, I think it is very likely that I will drop this.