Fullmetal Alchemist Premium OVA Collection
Spending the whole night partying is fun. Hanging out with friends and making new acquaintances with music, laughs, and stories is anyone’s definition of a good time. But in the midst of that there’s always that one drunk who no one knows. He starts spewing stories about his friends, none of which anyone knows, and then tries to get buddy-buddy with ladies well out of his league. In a way, Fullmetal Alchemist Premium OVA Collection is kind of like that guy. Of course there are several differences; the first being that the DVD won’t vomit its night of debauchery on your carpet, nor will it hit on any ladies.
Not to paint too negative a light on FMA Premium OVA Collection, but it matches that description in so many ways. Don’t expect any seriousness from this collection, but look for plenty of FMA in-jokes and references to the movie Conqueror of Shambalia. All the OVAs in this collection are short comedic skits, and are successful ones at that. Fears of dry Japanese humor that a western audience has no chance at understanding have no weight here. That being said, the target audience for this collection are the fans who saw the first Fullmetal Alchemist series and especially the aforementioned Conqueror of Shambalia. Watching it is imperative to fully enjoying parts of this DVD, which makes one wonder why this isn’t a bundle pack.
There are four main parts to FMA Premium OVA Collection. First is an interactive ‘tour’ of Central and its various alchemist training facilities. As nice as the thought is, assuming you understand the jokes within the collection, adding this to introduce newcomers to the series is a moot prospect. Seeing how more knowledge than is given in the ‘tour’ is needed to enjoy the humor of later segments, this serves more as eye candy than anything. Still, it’s a nice idea nonetheless.
Following that is a parody live action feature in which a statue of Alphonse searches for his brother. This is the weakest entry on the DVD, but it still manages to hold up as a light-hearted comedy. The true meat of the collection lies with the chibi wrap party, where various characters have hilarious cameos poking fun at the main events in the series, mainly mocking, yep you guessed it, Conqueror of Shambalia and its flaws. For this, the characters basically become actors rather than actual characters in their fictional world. It’s a fun take on the series and is sure to get a few laughs out of fans. The last OVA explores three children living in a modern day world where the Elric brothers are real people. Needless to say that one is worth checking out.
However, one major problem resides with this collection: its length. The short run-time of only 35 minutes doesn’t feel like a premium collection, more like the first volume. With a name like Premium OVA Collection, it’s expected that there be more than 30 minutes that are easily burned through. With the price taken into account, Fullmetal Alchemist Premium OVA Collection might be a hard sell. One thing is for sure, it’s a must-have for all fans of Fullmetal Alchemist. Damn, it would have made a really good bundle pack.
