According to LA Weekly and confirmed by Funimation, Cartoon Network will begin airing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood beginning Saturday February 13 at midnight eastern time during its Adult Swim block. Brotherhood is not a sequel to the original, but is an all new series that follows the events of the manga series by Hiromu Arakawa more closely.

The series follows the adventures of Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers who are attempting to repair their bodies after they try to bring their mother back to life. The attempt to bring back their mother cost Edward an arm and a leg, and cost Alphonse his entire body, forcing him to attach his soul to a suit of armor. They travel around an alternate reality, using their powers of alchemy, or the ability to change one object into another. If you’ve seen the original series, you can expect a different experience once you get past the first few issues. I’ve read the manga, (at least what has been released in the U.S. so far) and the story takes a number of turns that are completely different from what was seen in the first show.

The new series also features the return of many of the American voice actors to their roles from the first series, including Vic Mignogna as Edward Elric, Caitlin Glass as Winry Rockbell, and Travis Willingham as Roy Mustang.

Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the most popular anime of the last few years, and it will be interesting to see the story again and to see the differences from the first series. I’m looking forward to watching this one.