Review by SkyE

If you don't mind not having the karaoke tracks, this 2-CDs release is an excellent way to collect the character songs performed by the Fullmetal Alchemist cast: Disc 1 collects all the VOCAL tracks from the previously released Hagaren Song Files singles (performed by voice actors for Ed, Al, Winry, Roy and Maes, with a few songs featuring guest appearances by other members of the cast); Disc 2 includes special version remixes of 5 of the vocal tracks from Disc 1 (one for each character) plus two new songs featuring various members of the cast singing together. My personal favourites include the vocal tracks by Romi Park (Edward Elric) and Gindokei by Megumi Toyoguchi (Winry Rockbell)... and even though I don't normally like remixes very much, in this particular case, I found some of the remixed versions (like the Bossa Nova remix of Tsuki no Uragawa by Toru Ookawa and the Acoustic Version of Asu he no Basho by Romi Park) to be remarkably enjoyable.

My favorite song from this CD is `be all right'. It's a very catchy song, and surprisingly "cool" sounding (considering it's the character song for Yuuri!) I was pretty impressed with the vocals by Yuuri's voice actor Takahiro Sakurai. The lyrics sheet comes with a nice illustration by Temari Matsumoto.

I think both songs on this CD are very nice. They have very different pacings and melodies (which is a good thing) but both of them convey intense (perhaps "nostalgic" is the word) feelings... The popular "Anna ni issho datta no ni" was my favorite ED theme for the Gundam SEED series and it's stayed with me since then. It has a rather dramatic feel to it, and I think it suits very well the complicated friendship that binds the main characters in the anime. "Tsuki hitotsu" has a much slower, sedate rhythm, but it manages to create an equally involving atmosphere.

This volume includes two of my favorite episodes (ep. 31 and 32) from this series. What really shines for me in these episodes are some rather emotional yet funny (and especially well-written) scenes that offer some nice development for two of my favorite secondary characters and their relationships with the main character. Overall, I was pleased with the video quality of this release (especially the colors, which appear bright but not overly so). The cast of talented voice actors (Mitsuki Saiga, Takahiro Sakurai and Kouki Miyata to name a few) and upbeat OP&ED themes also add to my enjoyment of this product. Considering that the whole series is 78-episodes-long, I just wish there were more episodes in each volume... There are no extra contents on the disc.