Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

[yallo]

First impression of Roy Mustang's VA --- the voice sounds a tad too gentle and refined. But I guess it's all a matter of getting used to it.

What bothers me a bit more is the extreme swing between normal animation and those squiggly cartoon-ish looking drawings. Somehow I don't recall this "sudden comic relief" being so pronounced in the previous series. Wonder if that's how it is in the manga?

Came away feeling somewhat overwhelmed by this first episode, it kinda felt like they were trying to squeeze and pack a lot of information into it by introducing so many characters at one shot. The fight sequences also felt lacking in substance, half suspect it might be because this first episode is not actually from the manga? Can anyone confirm this?

Highlight of the episode --- debut of Armstrong and his pink twinkling stars! You gotta love those!

Oh and why is there "Brotherhood" added to the series name, is this official? Don't recall seeing this anywhere in the title screen of the anime.