Forum - View topicFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV) (w/ index).
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I liked how they included the "Elric telepathy" scene. It was pretty funny in the manga and here as well. It's one of those bits of humor that really works, even in the tension of the scene, or perhaps because of it, because Ed's worried about his brother's reaction. Ling's reaction to it is also amusing. Sometimes I dislike the humor injected into the story, but this worked, as did the shoe-eating and Ed asking Envy to help them.
They certainly added to the backstory of Mei and Xaio Mei. It was severely adorable watching the two of them train and eat together. I also liked Mei's scene with Yoki. The poor guy. spoiler[The flashback to Envy (disguised as the soldier) shooting the little girl and starting the war was entirely unexpected, as it wasn't in the manga, and I thought was pretty shocking. I have a hard time deciding whether it was gutsy or excessive, but for now I'll just say that it was a surprise. ] Another thing I have difficulty deciding on is whether spoiler[Envy's true form] looks good or not. There's obvious CGI at work, but I don't think it's that ugly. I think they probably could have done a slightly better job, but it doesn't look that terrible. I'll just have to see how this plays out in the next episode. I felt like they tried to sneak in a little too much in the latter half of the second half the show, though. spoiler[Bradley telling Roy why he spared him, Riza's reassignment, Alphonse deciding to have Gluttony take him to Father,] all of that sort of whisked by, I felt. Still, I guess it was all right, I guess I just wasn't expecting it and thought they could have included more of Ed and Ling's battle with Envy instead and taken care of the other things in the next episode. Still, a pretty impressive episode. |
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kpk
 Posts: 484 |
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This show just getting better and better
It was a good episode, but i hated spoiler[Envy's true form]. It was one of my most expected moments from this show, and i was very disappointed by the fact that they choose to make him in CGI. It looked ugly 
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zansabarshadow
 Posts: 9 |
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This series blows away the first series, i mean wow I didn't have much expectations when I started watching it then I got blown away. Its way more violent, bloody and everything about it is just better than the first series o-o i'm happy lol
-shadow kaze no machi he |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Wow, the past few episodes have been really good. I'm starting to like this as much as the first series.
This episode was a little too chatty during the Edward explanation bit, and needlessly, since he didn't have to spoiler[spell out every little thing that led him to believe Xerxes was sacrificed. ]Though it is fun to now and then get little insights into alchemy arrays, so that offset it a tiny bit. Still, this was the only real part I had a problem with. I loved the flashback to the Fuhrer's past. Baby Bradley was pretty adorable, and as a kid he looked a lot like Selim! I know they aren't really related, but still. spoiler[And that scene with the gold-toothed scientist (do we have a fan nickname for this guy?) and Father, with Bradley becoming Wrath, was really well done. ]But the most interesting part was the bit were Bradley's fencing and he stabs a guy, and is worried at first, only to steel his resolve when the scientist assures him the other guy is just a pawn. It shows that there were moments when Bradley was unsure. It's too bad Ed didn't have a sandwich in his pocket or something to leave for Al. I mean, does't Truth ever hand out snacks? Al's wasting away in there! Give him a Snickers or something! This episode had perhaps the greatest end to any episode of either series with spoiler[Ed bursting through the Doors of Truth to promise Al he'll return. With the manga ending, but him not doing this yet, I sure hope he lives up to his promise. ]And this scene just proves how spectacular Romi Paku is, and how she is without rival in this role. There was a little bit of off animation here and there, but I had to look for it to find it. This episode gave me goosebumps. Last edited by penguintruth on Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Ktimene's Lover
 Posts: 2242 Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert) |
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This episode was creepy for me too, penguintruth. However, the manga is a very intense and dark at times. The intensity and drama is a factor for certain anime series being popular. Fans will like comedy but they also like more mature and intense shows. When I saw the 26th episode last night, the intensity had me thinking something to the effect of "How do they get away with showing this intense stuff?".
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Blueshift
Posts: 11 |
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Now that we are well into the new material(manga direction), I feel that the pace has slowed just enough to not feel rushed anymore like it did with the first few episodes. I cant wait to see if and when AL gets to his current destination.
I think I may like this one as Much as the first Fma but, i think whats missing for me right now is the awesomeness of the music score for the first fma. The Russian Brother Song is just too good, I wish they would of brought it back into Brotherhood. |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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New Op: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRvEhxaAV24&hd=1
New Ending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMDRIrDOjOA&feature=channel The opening features some nice character-centric animation, but the parts are greater than the sum since the overall piece isn't very cohesive. Looking back, the first opening is my favorite. The ending is Winry-focused and set in my least favorite place, Rush Valley. Eh, it'll do.. Kind of hoped Envy would have been part-white, like in the opening. It's just kinda funny, because most of the unique coloring choices so far in the show feature the color green... It's like the show's favorite color. Not surprising that the last couple of episodes have been an improvement, now that they're taking their time. I can understand the added emphasis on Ishbal flashbacks, since it mitigates two things from the manga. Since we sympathize with Scar in his big flashback, his obliviousness to walking straight into a trap is lessened somewhat. And in the source material for the next episode (sorry, spoilers) spoiler[when Ed tells Scar about Envy, Scar unquestionably believes him. That doesn't make sense, there's no reason why Scar of all people should automatically believe a State Alchemist about anything, not to mention Ishbal. Next week... the revelation will probably still play out the same, but since the audience is more emotionally invested in the start of the Ishbal war at this point, it's easier to look past this oddity.] Similarly the dinner scene between Bradley and Selim was invented to add some pre-emotional backing to the scene of Roy 'threatening' the Fuhrer about his son... At least now this means they're looking at this from the viewpoint of 'how do we adapt the manga'. The recent ending with Ed at the gate is probably the best cliffhanger so far (and with an added emphasis on Adonai, huh). Brotherhood is also (I hope I hope I hope) making progress in terms of character interaction. For most of the show, Ed's had about three basic expressions: horribly timed SD comedy, making some big shonen-flavored speech, or he's *gasp* SHOCKED at some super duper epic revelation. That was basically it (now that I think about it, it's also the case with most of the cast...). Not many highs or lows outside of the expected shonen reactions. There hasn't been much opportunity for the characters to simply be themselves and letting their personalities flow naturally and/or rub off against one another. Like Ran Fan, sure sucks about her arm (the fallout was well-acted too), but how much cooler would her sacrifice have been if I had known more about her as a character beforehand? Aside from being a Ling fangirl, I mean. I'll probably warm up to the characters a lot more when the dub comes around though, especially since there isn't major recasting in the English dub. |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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The DVDs are continuing with short OVAs, this time one is based on a mini-manga featuring Winry and Hawkeye. Arakawa's short stories are great, and I prefer some of them to the on-goings of the main story actually. It's a shame that they aren't as widely available as the main manga, or as widely known. The soundtrack's out for the show, I'm tempted to get it but I'll wait to see if there's an American release for it again.
Here are the titles for the next few episodes: spoiler[28: Father 29: The Fool's Struggle 30: The Ishval Annihilation Campaign 31: The Promise Made For 520 Cenz So it looks like Ishbal flashback gets about an episode's worth..] Also it looks like the 63 episode count may be official (apparently this person has been right about things before). While this will probably thrill some of you, it just flat out confuses me. For multiple reasons. If they've really been planning 63 episodes this whole time... then seriously, why has the execution been so wonky? Like the current arc- as nice as it is to have the pace slowed here, it would have been much better served in the previous arc. I'm still disappointed that Brotherhood simplified Roy so greatly; If the series ends up at 63 episodes I will consider this even greater wasted potential. Also-- the show has just about covered five of the manga's main story arcs. You know how many are left? Two. Granted, they are much longer than the other arcs, but still, the proportionality is way off. It's unusual for an adaptation to speed through the set up and extend the payoff... usually it's more acceptable to do it the opposite way (and for good reason). Not to mention-- from what I've heard the DVD sales haven't been very good so far, and the TV ratings (up until the early 20's, anyway) were on a downward spiral. I guess Bones is relying on the manga-only material to sell better, but... what if that doesn't work? What I'm afraid of is that they're over-expending themselves... like the DVD-OVAs, while nice, stuff like that makes me fear for the budget. I'd much rather take a high-budget up-to-episode-50 finale than a lower budgeted, slower-paced 63 episode finale. It's not like they can't fit everything in at 50 episodes at this point, thanks to all the previous cramming (spoiler[And especially since Ishbal looks like a one-episode venture.] Huh?) Sometimes I think the creators of Brotherhood (while improving, definitely) are going on like they have no set game plan. There's some evidence of this... Like the prologue, which looked cool but didn't contribute anything, so it was dropped and never brought up again. Also: you know that part of the Xerxes circle with a big two-legged animal? Did you know that creature was initially left out of the first song opening, but added in a few episodes later? When I saw that, I thought the opening would eventually add more and more pieces to the Xerxes image, one by one... nope, it never went anywhere. What's that, you never noticed it? Well ok I'm nitpicking, but I keep getting the making-it-work-out-as-we-go-along sort of feel. While nearly every show ever made has something similar, it feels a little too prevalent in Brotherhood, especially considering the odd choices in pacing. Like.. inserting a recap episode. Really? Still, at least the next half of the show should be adapted better than the first half. |
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kpk
Posts: 484 |
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Now when i think about it, there are some very big plot holes in FMA, like: In the beginning of the show//manga Ed said that he's an atheist (doesn't believe in God), right? But that thing inside the gate, the one called himself "the Truth", clearly said that he is "absolute" and that he is "God" ("I'm what you beings called 'the world', or maybe 'the universe', or 'God', or 'knowledge', or 'whole' or 'one', and i am.. YOU!"). Also, behind him on the gate there is a drawing of the "Tree of Life" and on it the word "Adonai" which means "God". Now, Ed's clearly remember his visit in the gate and the Truth, and yet he's still an atheist? Also, we know that is been exposed to the truth behind the gate (which is all the knowledge exist in the world) except for how to bring people back to life. Now, i don't know what about you, but i don't think Ed act like someone who knows almost everything. In fact, it doesn't seem like he was affected by it at all (except for the knowledge on how to make alchemy without the circle) which is weird and unacceptable. And also.. If Al's body is still growing inside the gate, and three years have pass since then, how the hell is he still alive? |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2633 |
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Neither of these things are plot holes 1) Ed never specificially says he is atheist, he more or less says he is agnostic. I think it's more that he doesn't place importance on praying to a god and hoping god will grant his wishes but believes in what he can do with science/alchemy. Second of all while Truth might be God like that doesn't necessarily mean Truth is God in the sense that many of our monotheistic religions understand what God is. What Truth really is, is still a mystery. But Ed doesn't seem to think Truth is some untouchable being because he said himself that he will get Al's body back from that bastard Truth. I emphasize that word because it shows Ed's feelings towards Truth. To Ed, Truth is not an untouchable God just another obstacle to get Al's body back. However, other characters in the series do feel differently than Ed when it comes to the concept of God. As for the Tree of Life it is just random symbolism that Arakawa used. Again the FMA world is not our world and should not be compared to it. 2) This was answered in the series. Ed theorized that his soul and Al's soul combined when they performed the human transmutation and mixed their blood together. Thus Ed is so small for his age and sleeps a lot because he is sharing a part of his nutrients with Al. Although as you can see from Al's body (ribs sticking out) his body is still not doing so great despite this. But we can confirm that Ed's theory turned out to be true because when Ed performed the human transmutation in episode 26 he not only saw his door but Al's door as well and met up with Al's body. |
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kpk
Posts: 484 |
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1. I just checked, he said is an atheist. Also, the Truth pretty much said that he is everything and know-all.. everything and know-all=absolute.. an absolute being=our translation to what God is. The fact that he called him "bastard" doesn't really say much. There are people in our world that said things like that about God (that is a bastard and all), so.. 2. Oh, right right.. But.. if Ed's share is nutrients with Al why is he so skinny? We can see through the show that he was eating alot of food, enough even for five men i think. Oh, and you didn't answer about the second hole i found. Last edited by kpk on Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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He does actually. Though I think agnostic is more true. (Clarification: By 'more true' I mean conceivably more accurate to Edward's character)
Maybe not, but Ed is probably the only atheist who's had a near-death/afterlife experience, personally met a godlike deity a few times, is frequently in contact with disembodied souls... It's harder to ignore in Brotherhood; Ed claims he's an atheist despite having that big afterlife experience the previous episode. 
I've never been the biggest fan of how FMA treats religion. For example. In that big Scar flashback we got recently in Brotherhood, there was a little bit that they skipped in the interest of time. While studying the virtues of Xingese alchemy, Scar's brother originally remarks that the god they worship, Ishbala, is really an earth god who happens to correlate exactly with the Xingese concept of the Earth's rhythm. Which probably means the Circle of Life lesson Izumi taught atheist Edward is a foreshadowing to the Xingese line of thought as well, with the Xingese version being the purest version. Gee, how bloody convenient that everyone in Amestris unknowingly agrees with the tenents of the Xingese religion.  I'll stop before I get in a tangent about how the Xingese are right about absolutely everything.
(One thing I have to credit Brotherhood with is toning down their Mary-Sue qualities)
Question. How does Ed transmuting himself actually work? I've always been confused about that.
I'll have to go back and check, but I don't know if that claim is ever made. Edit: I think Ed saw information in general, but was kept at bay from most of the specifics. Last edited by Dune on Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:07 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kpk
Posts: 484 |
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If he was "kept at bay from most of the specifics" how did he learm to make alchemy without using the circle? |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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That's more of an automatic thing for contacting the Gate in the first place. Something about unlocking an inner aspect of yourself, which somehow unlocks the body's ability to use itself as its own circle. Or something (my memory's not the best on this).
Consider that one a freebee, he doesn't necessarily get to learn the other stuff. |
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kpk
Posts: 484 |
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Oh, O.k. |
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