Forum - View topicFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV) (w/ index).
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2633 |
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Your edit doesn't really change what you said. But really if you don't like things being different then why are you even bothering to watch this series in the first place? I don't care that you like the first series more (everyone is free to their opinion) but complaining that the concept of this series is different from the 1st anime is not really good criticism. There would be no point at all to do a new version of FMA if the only new things it was going to add to the table was some more action & more humor.
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silver_omicron
Posts: 132 |
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I couldn't agree less. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
Posts: 2633 |
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Well then since you obviously just wanted to see FMA series one again there is a wonderful thing called a DVD player. |
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RhymesWithEmpty
 Posts: 208 |
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Well, the original anime did follow the manga up until around the halfway point, and yes, I agree with you that the condensing that they've done this time around to get through that similar portion quicker has been pretty detrimental in places, but you can't blame this series, whose entire purpose was to follow the manga, because the 1st series also followed the manga for little more than 7 volumes - and it should be noted that there are now over 20 volumes, so there is plenty of completely unexplored material that most certainly deserves to be animated. It is more expansive than the 1st anime, yes, and I agree with you that the conciseness of the plot and storytelling was one of its strengths, but I can say that the new elements being introduced in Brotherhood will play significantly into the plot, even if it isn't as tight as the 1st series'.
And the 1st anime's story really did not need to be retold anyways. It works fine the way it is, and is still relatively new in that grand scheme of things - if you want a remake, I imagine you'll have to wait quite a number of years longer. And if that's what you were expecting from this series, then you were just sadly mistaken is all. Honestly, if this had just been a remake of the 1st anime , which I rank as among my all time favorites, just with more humor and action added, then I couldn't have been more turned off by this show. |
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Fawfulhasfury
 Posts: 46 Location: USA |
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Wow. Wow. Wow. That is all I can say about Episode 16. Well not ALL I can say.
Where did this PERFECT first series style pacing, character development, usage of musical cues, and high budget animation come from all of a sudden? I thought to myself that with Episode 14 would come the series turnaround where the series would start to increase to the quality we all know and love, and I think I was right. For those hoping, no Edward doesn't run up a familiar alley in THIS episode; that comes next episode. Yep, they aren't running through the Maria Ross incident in just one or two episodes. They're actually taking their time now it seems; hopefully. This episode was totally devoted to spoiler[coping with the loss of our favorite family man], and it just felt like FMA. It felt like what should have happened in the first series. Yes spoiler[Maria Ross tells them about it by accident, but the change isn't really all that jarring.] We don't even get to Maria spoiler[getting charged for the murder of Hughes til the end of the episode], which is probably the best part of the episode, along with the musical buildup to spoiler[Havok meeting Lust at the diner. I never expected epic violin music being played during this scene slowly building up, but now everytime I read that scene I'll hear that music. I got chills; they pulled that off perfectly]. I don't even think they cut any material this time around except for the newspaper. I absolutely loved it; it shows that they can do good pacing and development; and I can't wait for next week. |
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RhymesWithEmpty
Posts: 208 |
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I have to agree, this episode was rather unlike anything we've seen so far, evidenced(to me) by the fact that this is the 1st episode of Brotherhood that has given me chills! And that, to me, is a huge cue that says I might be able to start viewing this as being on the level of the first series. So, yeah, that's a huge sigh of relief to me.
And I know some people were upset that they changed the way Ed and Al find out about spoiler[Hughes' death,] what with the newspaper and all, but I think the way they did it worked wonderfully, and it gave us a little bit more of a connection with Maria Ross - made her poignant again, which was very smart. Actually, it was that part, right when Ed realizes, that gave me chills. So I have no complaints whatsoever about that change. This was a very good episode in terms of spoiler[coping with the death of Hughes, and giving him a sort of proper send off,] as well. And oh man, that part towards the beginning, where Ed and Al split from Winry, and run past the phone booth where it happened, and the shot just kind of lingers there - that was a nice touch. And the music...the music! Absolutely loved that violin piece. And they used it appropriately, even, and not just during some random discussion about geography and whatnot! Loved it. The ending was great. It almost started to drag on - there were a couple of different points at which they could've ended it, but I think they went just far enough, showing spoiler[Jean meeting up with Lus... Solaris  ]
Anyways, I'm hoping this and episode 14 are signs of what's to come - they've set a pretty good standard here, so let's hope they continue to live up to it. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I don't see why the music is getting compliments. They're still using most of the same tracks they've used every episode, with nary a new one since the fourth episode. Most of them are pretty unimpressive and they use them poorly. That music playing when Gracia was talking to the boys? That piece doesn't belong there. The only good piece was at the very end of the episode when Maria Ross was being arrested and Havoc was going on his date with "Solaris".
The events shuffle was barely noticable, to be honest. I'm sure if I wasn't re-reading the manga as we go along I probably wouldn't even have noticed. They got in Barry, an appearance or two by the Xingese, the brothers and Winry finding out about Hughes' death, the talk with Gracia, the homunculi's plans, the arrest of Maria Ross, and Havoc arriving for his date, and it all flowed very naturally to me. The only thing I might've changed was getting rid of that stupid scene with Ed running in close up for way too long and replaced it with an Ishbal flashback that belonged there during the bathroom conversation between Roy and Major Armstrong. I find it hilarious that in an episode where they finally got Havoc's character design down (before his face/head was too long), other designs were uneven. For one, Riza's eyes are still way too big at times, they look like they're about to pop. Another is that scene where Lust is talking with Envy and her bottom lip looks messed up. Apparently she fixed her lipstick in time for her date. Then there's Henry Douglas. Doesn't look very much like his manga design, does he? He looks all bumpy now, with a lot of lines on him. He's not an important character, but come on, it's like they didn't even try. But, it did have some good detail here and there and certainly set up the explosive events coming, so it was a pretty decent episode. |
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kpk
 Posts: 484 |
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Okay, so i sit down to watch EP 15 of Brotherhood, preparing to hate May and her little annoying panda.. when i read the manga i always imagine her with an annoying high noisy voice, but then i heard her voice, and... dammit! She's adorable! and the worst part, now when i read the manga and get to her parts i no longer hear that annoying high noisy voice but that sweet voice they gave her in the anime, so now i can't hate her anymore, those bastards make me like her... Damn with them!
**although, i do think her character design in the anime is kind of ugly, especially her eyes design. |
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RhymesWithEmpty
Posts: 208 |
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Man, this thread is surprisingly lifeless. Anyways, episode 17!
It was...well, I think parks of it were well done, despite being rushed, but the pacing just got weird again in the end. Like they hit an awkward lull in the action that probably should've been in the next episode. Just bad dramatic timing. Also, I think the reveal of spoiler[Lt. Ross's charred corpse (spoiler[cough cough wink wink])] could've been done much more dramatically. Maybe I'm just numbed to it since I already know what's happening, but I still think it was revealed a bit casually, as tense as the situation still was. And the bad comedic timing has returned as well - that bit where Barry is spoiler[rescuing Lt. Ross from prison, and she has to decide whether to stay or leave...it was all so tense, and really quite a good scene, up until the whole spotlight-cartoony-Ross-making her decision crap.] That scene wasn't so tense in the manga, but it also didn't have that much comedy in it, either. Instead of trying to amp it up on both fronts, they really should've just gone with one or the other, and I think it would've worked very well as a tense scene. And talking about them seriously overdoing things from the manga, I like how the one little frame of the 2 soldiers saying that Riza is Roy's "sitter" turned into this scene with a giant, glowing, super-intimidating Riza head in the background. I dunno if that was necessary. The one part of the episode that should've been funny just wasn't, to me, although I think they tried - the part where Armstrong spoiler[attacks Ed as an excuse to take him back to Resembool.] I think it could've been even more over the top - this is Armstrong we're talking about here, after all. I liked the music that played while Winry was talking to Ed and Al - was that a new piece? I'll agree with penguintruth about the music that was playing while Gracia talked in episode 16, actually - perhaps they should've played this piece instead. It struck me as less trouble-is-brewing and more forlorn than the other piece. I didn't like the piece playing at the end, though - I think that also served to undermine the comedy of the bit with Armstrong I was talking about. Seems like they try to leave every episode on some big, dramatic note, or, if it isn't so dramatic, they just put dramatic, ill-fitting music behind it. I don't know that we needed those Lust-Envy meet ups, save for at the very end. And I'm not sure it was the best way to wrap up this ep, either. Happy to see Dr. Knox make it in, though! And really, in general, I thought a lot of the 1st half was done well enough, just finding it hard to think of specific things I like. It's easier to pick out the bad things, haha. I really didn't dislike this episode, though. I just didn't like certain things. I really need to rewatch it again now, though. Armstrong's breakdown bit was done pretty well, I s'pose. And I liked that they opened it up with the interrogation scene. All of Roy's bits were done pretty well, too, I think. Again, I need to rewatch it, heh. Last edited by RhymesWithEmpty on Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was sort of let down by the "big event" of the episode, the scene in the alley with Roy and Maria.
First, because Ed and Al already knew about Hughes' death, their finding out about her arrest and running out to get answers isn't as dramatic. In fact, I sort of don't believe they would even run out right away like that just for Ross' arrest. It was that extra jolt of discovering Hughes was dead that led them to run out like they did in the manga. Second, the scenes leading to the "event" didn't really build the way it did in the manga, and you don't know how Roy could even have known about Ross' escape. It could just be because I know how these events pan out from the manga, but there was a little too heavy hinting for my liking, and the lead-in to the scene was a little too quick. The events in of themselves do amp up the tension in the story. I only wish they could have kept the proper manga event order and had the aforementioned scene at the end of an episode, not halfway through this one. If anything is an episode finale moment, it's that one. The first series was always good at doing things like that. I can't be too picky, I suppose. I did like the episode, it just didn't enthrall me like I expected it to. |
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kpk
Posts: 484 |
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In short: Nice EP, the scene in jail with "Ross's choice" was kind of embarrassing
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It starting to get interesting in the next EP because they are finally starting to get into expanding more about the world of FMA  , although, what i liked in the manga more than in the first anime was (except for the expanding of the world) the fact that there were some chapters that wasn't around Ed and Al and gave the spotlight to other characters beside them and gave you to felt like not everything is about them, but by how it looks like, i fear that the fast pacing won't give them the opportunity to do episodes like this.
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RhymesWithEmpty
Posts: 208 |
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Don't know if I agree with that. I still think the scene where Maria accidentally reveals spoiler[Hughes' death] was well done, and I think reading that Maria Ross, their former "body guard," and a person who's showed concern for them, and someone who was there for them in some pretty tough times, actually, is being implied as the murderer of a person who played much the same roll to them, is plenty of motivation for them to jump into action the way they did. I think we also have to remember that they are still kids, too, and they've really been going through a lot lately. Their emotions are bound to be pretty frayed at this point. And the whole tie in of Ross being the one who told them about his death makes things even more bizarre for them. [qoute]Second, the scenes leading to the "event" didn't really build the way it did in the manga, and you don't know how Roy could even have known about Ross' escape. It could just be because I know how these events pan out from the manga, but there was a little too heavy hinting for my liking, and the lead-in to the scene was a little too quick. The events in of themselves do amp up the tension in the story. I only wish they could have kept the proper manga event order and had the aforementioned scene at the end of an episode, not halfway through this one. If anything is an episode finale moment, it's that one. The first series was always good at doing things like that.[/quote] I can agree here. I can sort of see why they changed the order of events around a little, and I don't mind it too much, but I think the events in this episode should've come off as more than just the passing events of any other episode. Roy meeting Ross in the alleyway and asking if she was in fact Lt. Ross could've at least been the cut off point for the halfway mark. Everything about that part could've been stretched and made more dramatic, I think. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I love how devious and clever Roy can be, even if there were certainly a lot of plot conveniences for him to work with. In fact, I find that, especially around this portion of the story in the manga, that what Roy and his group are doing is more interesting than what Edward and Alphonse are up to. His whole "fishing" idea and the code name us is interesting and funny. It's too bad they didn't go into Barry being "Bunny" like in the manga, that's one of my favorite bits.
The shuffling is still a tad annoying. The spoiler[Maria Ross ]reveal came too soon, and it was much more interesting to see it after the battle with Lust in the manga, because it made you continue to think that Roy was that brutal for a while. I think in general, that having the Xerxes portion broken up, as well as it was handled, was annoying, and would rather have seen that at least in the second half of the episode. I never liked that scene with Ed and the Ishbalan refugees. It seemed a little tacked on, just a device for getting Ed to realize who it was that killed the Rockbells. It seemed like an awkward place to leave him in the episode, too. The ending of that chapter in the manga would have made one of the best endings of an episode, so one wonders if they plan to end the next episode that way. The next episode preview is so friggin' clever! I love it. I can only imagine what people who never read the manga will think next week. Makes me wish I was in that position. Good episode overall. I think I actually heard a new piece of music, too! |
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RhymesWithEmpty
Posts: 208 |
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Well, I just went back and rewatched eps 16-18 at Funi's site, just to try and get a better grasp on how they handled Lt. Ross's storyline in general. I don't think it was too bad, I just think, again, they need to get a better sense of dramatic timing. That's the biggest problem throughout, I'd say. Mustang spoiler[standing over a charred corpse in an alleyway] should've been a much bigger reveal, and then Ed and Armstrong finding out spoiler[Ross is still alive] should've been pushed back just a little bit, if only to maintain that whole sense of mystery and suspense in Xerxes for just a little longer. I do think they got the feel of Xerxes down, though.
Do you think they ended the whole spoiler[Mustang kills Ross] storyline earlier in the anime to help Roy save some face? I mean, when I read that part originally, I was just floored. It was one of those things that you really just absolutely did not want to believe, and rather than keeping it going and risk having people hate him for that long, I think they probably wanted Roy to very clearly be a spoiler["good guy" when he faces off against Lust this time around.] At any rate, I think they've gone a pretty good job at showing how tricky Roy can be, heh. About the scene with the Ishbalan refugees - I agree that it does feel a little tacked on, although I think, if handled differently, it could be much more convincing. I mean, having Ed easily dodge some random guy's attack, and then having another guy walk out to say "hey, would ya mind being our hostage?" just before some old Ishbalan woman comes to diffuse everything...it's just kind of weak. I think it was handled much better in the manga, though. Raise the tension, make the dialogue a bit more natural, and I think it'd be much better. They just rushed it too much. Heh, yeah, the next episode preview is pretty sly. I really hope Alphonse gets some good screen time this time around - I'll be really upset if they minimize his part here in any way, especially since they said he'd be getting more development in Brotherhood. |
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happymoose
 Posts: 62 |
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snip
Last edited by happymoose on Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:05 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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