Forum - View topicFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV) (w/ index).
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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My thoughts on episode 22 (and I'll try to be more careful):
Some more thorough thoughts on the episode: As much as I dislike Ling as a character, he sure knows how to cut a good action scene. And I've always liked Fuhrer King Bradley, despite him dispatching my favorite character. I would have even liked it more if they'd stretched out the scene a little. After all, they cut out the previous scene with the Xingese fighting homunculi. But oh well, it was still a pretty good scene. spoiler[I still think the whole situation is a bit ridiculous, with Winry immediately reaching for a gun and aiming it at Scar. Like she went from zero to "I'ma avenge mom and dad!" in a matter of moments and had the wherewithal to even reach for the gun. Yes, she snapped, but come on. Not to mention Ed and Al are still having way more difficulty with fighting Scar than they should.] The best part of the episode is actually my biggest issue with it, though. I love the job they did with the Ishbal flashback. Love it. The colors, the expressions, the "camera" work expressing Scar's madness. It's perfect. Amazing. I want it on DVD now. spoiler[However, by going so far into Scar's past now, and for so long, this part of the story ends up seeming to be more about Scar than Winry, when this moment should be way more Winry-oriented. Understanding of why Scar did what he did should come later. This is about Winry's initial reaction to coming face to face with her parents' killer. By having that flashback go on for so long, they dragged this out more than it should have been, too.] Now we have less for the Ishbal flashback later. I understand why spoiler[they did what they did, but I think Arakawa had it slightly better.] I can't say I didn't enjoy the episode, though. It was very good. The strongest element was the voice acting. Everyone performed so well, especially Ed and Winry's VAs. I never really cared much about Winry, but by the end of the episode, I wanted to let her cry on me like Ed. |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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The titles for the next few episodes have been revealed (light spoilers):
spoiler[Ep23 - Women of the Battlefield Ep24 - In the Belly Ep25 - The Gate of Darkness Ep26 - Reunion Looks like I was right earlier. With a certain big event confirmed for adaptation in episode 26, I think it's safe now to assume this series will end by the 50's after all rather than the reported 63 episodes.] |
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RhymesWithEmpty
 Posts: 208 |
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After seeing it twice, I'd say this episode is pretty good overall, although it has some weird moments, for me.
Ling and Bradley's part at the beginning was pretty well done, most definitely. I also wish it'd been longer, but even so, they did a good job of cutting it down and keeping the important parts in tact while leaving you wanting more. I had expected spoiler[Ran Fan to cut her arm off] this week, but with how they decided to do this episode, it's not surprising it got delayed, and it just gives me more to look forward to, I suppose. I can see why they did the episode like this, and I think it works nicely on a lot of levels. The flashback was done pretty well, and it really helped a lot to flesh Scar's character out, even to the point where you feel sorry for him. Actually, I don't feel out of line saying I more fully grasp Scar's madness and the motives behind it better now than I ever have, after watching that. The scene where spoiler[he opens his eyes in the hospital, thinks his brother is there, and then realizes that the arm is attached to him, and just loses it,] that was fantastic. The only weird part about that bit was spoiler[The Rockbells not even paying attention to his freaking out until somebody shouts out in warning, a minute too late. It was even weirder because they actually did seemed concerned about him at first, but then when he actually gets up to attack them, they're not paying him any attention at all.] Well, not that big a deal, just thought it was weird. Another minor thing, but I thought Scar's brother's spoiler[jumping in front of Scar when Kimbley attacks was - well, the way they did it, considering his brother's knowledge of alchemy, it really didn't make any kind of sense, and obviously didn't pay off, so I thought it was kind of silly, but I can easily accept it as one of those moments where you just leap into action without thinking.] And Scar's character design seemed to waver a lot in this episode, to me. I don't know, it just really bugged me at points. I don't think too much of the focus came off of Winry - at any rate, I think it would've been a mistake to conclude this event at the commercial break(although I guess I tend to want to stretch a lot of things out like this, heh), so they needed something to fill time with. And it came back around to spoiler[Scar murdering Winry's parents, so it was still related to her, at least. Perhaps they should've shown a blood-splattered photo of her with her parents as a little girl after he murders them, or he knocks it off a shelf and the glass cracks, or something - too melodramatic?  Could've made a nice transition, but then, I'm no director, so, eh, what do I know.]
Winry does kind of spoiler[crack and go from nada to "I'ma shoot you!" perhaps a bit too quickly to be believable, but I think it's still very emotionally powerful, overall, and the end of the episode, where she completely breaks down and sobs on Ed, was very satisfying(haha, sounds horrible when I say it like that), for me.] |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I just noticed we're on 51 pages, the number of episodes in the first FMA series!
Here are some of my thoughts on episode 23: I enjoyed some of the action that went on, especially since Alphonse did some pretty neat things. I don't think Scar should still be giving them this much trouble, but that's all right.spoiler[ It was cute seeing May spring into action, and the aftermath that had Alphonse with Xaio May. The only thing is, the food chain joke doesn't quite work if the lil' thing doesn't bite Ed's finger first. Still, adorable. Ed even mentioned Alphonse picking up a cat once and raising it inside himself and it reminds me of the first series or all those jokes in the 4komas. ] Mamoru Miyano (Ling) performed very strongly in this episode, as did Nana Mizuki (Ranfan). I've stated that I don't really care for the characters themselves, but the voices are doing a fairly good job making them tolerable for me.spoiler[ I especially love the callback to Ed's trick during his battle with Ranfan, it really tied together what Ranfan was thinking. ] I'm sure EdxWin folks were just eating this episode up with a spoon. Winry is another character I don't particularly care for, nor do I see the necessity for romance in the story, but the scene at the train station was still very well done, so I can't complain too loudly. I do wonder what sort of conversation she was having with Fuhrer King Bradley in that room, though. ("Do you like melon?") spoiler[I thought they ended in a pretty good place, but knowing what happens next, they may have missed their chance to end an episode at an even better place. Then again, I have a feeling that will be the half way point in the next episode] |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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I got through about 22 pages of this thread before giving up, so if someone has addressed this already, I apologize. But here it goes:
Who does the voice at the commercial break? You know, the English "Fullmetal Alchemist!...Fullmetal Alchemist!" And is it that way in the Japanese version, or just Funimation's? Either way, I hate it. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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After 23 episodes, I'm used to the voice.
It took me 20 episodes, though. 
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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I don't like it either. Anyway that's the way it is in the Japanese version, we're not sure yet what Funimation is going to do. Either the English dub is going to omit it entirely (please  ) or they might redub it (since that's usually the case when English voices appear in the original audio track).
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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But who's the voice? I don't see it anywhere in any of the credits. there's no Japanese accent, so one would think it has to be a native speaker. Or maybe they're using a voice synthesizer? That would explain the hammy, unpleasant quality. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2633 |
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I don't think it's been said who does the voice. Maybe we will find out at the end of the series. 
I have to admit the voice doesn't annoy me as much as it used to. I still think it was a bad idea for the eye catch. But after so many episodes I am able to tune it completely out. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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It's the real voice of spoiler[Truth]!! well, other than voice synthesizer, it could also be an English speaker working with a voice director not used to working in English. Voice actors aren't always the ones to blame for bad performances. I kind of love the eye catches themselves, though, if you ignore the voice. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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My thoughts on episode 24:
Now this is what I'm talking about, Bones. I didn't notice just how excellent this episode was until watching it subbed, but now I have. You keep up quality like this, and it may even end up rivaling my love for the first series. I was on the fence about the Selim essay bit for a bit, but after some thought, have decided I like it. As somebody who follows the manga, it may seem like a bit excessive, but I took it as being a bit of a nudge and wink, and I think newcomers will appreciate it later on. I have to admit, I'm growing attached to the new Gluttony voice. I probably still prefer the old one, but this one seems just as natural now. In fact, I think I'm starting to like Gluttony in general, whereas I always found him a little annoying beforehand. It's strange how he's both threatening and funny all at once. The scene with General Raven and Roy's flashback to playing with Grumman (probably on a different occasion than THE chess game) was interesting, but I sort of preferred Raven just seemingly coincidentally running into him. I also have an issue with Raven's voice, I imagined hiim sounding a little less old and with a deceptively warm voice. But other than those things, the scene spoiler[with him leading Roy into the conference room and Bradley coming in] was a great one. My other issue is that the actual spoiler[swallowing of Ed, Ling, and Envy] seemed a little plain. They could have spiced it up a bit. I know they would have done so with the first show. I hope they keep up the great work, otherwise. I'm really looking forward to the next episode. With the announcement of the English dub cast, I'm hoping Mike McFarland does a better job directing the VAs this time around. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Episode twenty-five: Envy is spoiler[a green monster? Where have I heard that before?]
This episode wasn't as good as the last (which was really quite something), but it was still okay. I noticed the humour went up, for the first part at least. Since I have not read the Manga, all these current events and happenings are very new and very interesting. And I don't mind the eye-catch dude. Yeah it's cheesy, but in a good way. |
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Bigtom88
Posts: 5 Location: Arizona |
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When, if anyone even knows, is this going to hit America?
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braves
 Posts: 2309 Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas) |
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Next spring. Series has gotten really good as of late (haven't watched ep. 25 yet, though). The pace has finally slowed down just enough that they're not taking out too much and yet they're still able to add in minor stuff here and there. I like. |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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Gotten better indeed, I just wish they could stop with the jokes during the serious scenes. Sometimes a whole scene is ruined by a mere joke, and that's been happening a lot.
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