anime: Full Metal Alchemist:up to ep 25
Feb. 25th, 2007 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreThe more I read and watch FMA, the more annoyed I am by how annoying its release in the US was if you weren't an existing fan at the time. It was enough then to get me to swear to NEVER check it out, but enough sane and rational friends of mine liked and promoted it that I finally caved.
Incidentally, ep 25 is THAT epiusode with THAT event
Incidentally, ep 25 is THAT epiusode with THAT event
I knew what episode it was the second we saw super depressed and angst!guilt rideen Roy open the door to see Hughes there with his girlfriend's(future wife) homemade pie. And then Hughes promises to help and support Roy. And then we flash to the present where he's still trying to get Roy to get married(he's already married to Hawkeye, he just doesn't know it) and is protecting Roy by not telling him how much trouble the brothers are getting in...sigh. And then he reminds us that he's not just a goofball family man obsessed with his daughter(in the doting daddy way, not the pedophile way) but is actually smart and ood at what he does and then he...he...hee...HUGHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*bawls*
For the curious, it plays out very much like it does in the manga.
And then the bit that absolutely kills me is when Roy is at his grave and tells Hawkeye that it looks like it's going to rain so that she won't let him be alone. (For those reading this who have no idea why rain would matter in that case, Roy has flame powers that are useless when it's wet, making him a perfect target, and Hawkeye is his subordinate/enforcer/babysitter who's basically devoted her life to keeping the man in one piece)
I seem to have become addicted to the second set of opening and closing themes(which I suspect will be gone as of next episode) The closing theme in particular(when they play the slightly longer version) reminds me of one of the themes from Samurai Deep Kyo, and anything that reminds me of SDK gets instant nostalgia points.
But, you know what's blowing me away in the anime? Scar.
Now, I love Scar in the manga, but I love him 10 times more in the anime(which is the reverse of my reaction to everything else, where I love it ALMOST as much as the manga?) Why? Scar is awesome, he's intense and driven on his quest for vengeance and answers. He knows that what he does is wrong and that he's become irredeemable by the standards of his people and religion, but he knows that his cause is just and for the greater good(by his standards) and that's the same in the anime and manga. But in the anime, it's not quite as black and white..there's less bloodthirst and overwhelming hatred, and more openness. Here, the answers can outweigh the vengeance, and he's able to look past the simple statuses of alchemist and military and see that there's more to Ed and Al than just that they're alchemists who work for the military, and he's able to, at least temporarily, put more important things above the vengeance. But don't get me wrong...I have no delusions about him and the brother's becoming buddy-buddy or anything, Scar is a rare case where the anime actually makessomething better than the manga, as opposed to the usual "As good as" or "Almost as good as"
That said, Ed and Al's teacher needs to show up NOW. I love her in the manga.
I'm also even more convinced that theirt father is evilevilevil in both the manga and anime *does not trust*
I also like how, even though Winry has a bad habit of not being around much at times, she's always rather prominent in the credits, especially her childhood with Ed and Al. Just goes to show that she's the most important living person(besides each other) to the brothers. And how muych do I love that the boys may as well be her pets? For different reasons, of course...prudent affection from Al, repressed OTP-ness from Ed. *gives Ed and Winry double OTP squishies because she would never dare give Roy and Hawkeye squishies under fear of death*
One sad side note? Scar kills Barry(in a really cool scene) before Barry crushes on Hawkeye and almost gets roasted by Roy for it...one of my favorite parts of the manga(you'll note that most of my favorite parts involve Hawkeye. It is because she's composed of pure awesome)
*bawls*
For the curious, it plays out very much like it does in the manga.
And then the bit that absolutely kills me is when Roy is at his grave and tells Hawkeye that it looks like it's going to rain so that she won't let him be alone. (For those reading this who have no idea why rain would matter in that case, Roy has flame powers that are useless when it's wet, making him a perfect target, and Hawkeye is his subordinate/enforcer/babysitter who's basically devoted her life to keeping the man in one piece)
I seem to have become addicted to the second set of opening and closing themes(which I suspect will be gone as of next episode) The closing theme in particular(when they play the slightly longer version) reminds me of one of the themes from Samurai Deep Kyo, and anything that reminds me of SDK gets instant nostalgia points.
But, you know what's blowing me away in the anime? Scar.
Now, I love Scar in the manga, but I love him 10 times more in the anime(which is the reverse of my reaction to everything else, where I love it ALMOST as much as the manga?) Why? Scar is awesome, he's intense and driven on his quest for vengeance and answers. He knows that what he does is wrong and that he's become irredeemable by the standards of his people and religion, but he knows that his cause is just and for the greater good(by his standards) and that's the same in the anime and manga. But in the anime, it's not quite as black and white..there's less bloodthirst and overwhelming hatred, and more openness. Here, the answers can outweigh the vengeance, and he's able to look past the simple statuses of alchemist and military and see that there's more to Ed and Al than just that they're alchemists who work for the military, and he's able to, at least temporarily, put more important things above the vengeance. But don't get me wrong...I have no delusions about him and the brother's becoming buddy-buddy or anything, Scar is a rare case where the anime actually makessomething better than the manga, as opposed to the usual "As good as" or "Almost as good as"
That said, Ed and Al's teacher needs to show up NOW. I love her in the manga.
I'm also even more convinced that theirt father is evilevilevil in both the manga and anime *does not trust*
I also like how, even though Winry has a bad habit of not being around much at times, she's always rather prominent in the credits, especially her childhood with Ed and Al. Just goes to show that she's the most important living person(besides each other) to the brothers. And how muych do I love that the boys may as well be her pets? For different reasons, of course...prudent affection from Al, repressed OTP-ness from Ed. *gives Ed and Winry double OTP squishies because she would never dare give Roy and Hawkeye squishies under fear of death*
One sad side note? Scar kills Barry(in a really cool scene) before Barry crushes on Hawkeye and almost gets roasted by Roy for it...one of my favorite parts of the manga(you'll note that most of my favorite parts involve Hawkeye. It is because she's composed of pure awesome)
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-25 09:26 pm (UTC)In fact, I have a post all about THIS EPISODE and why watching FMA is cooler than people think.
If you're interested, it's here (http://bzoppa.livejournal.com/233128.html) from a little over a year ago.
How do you read the manga? Translate it yourself, which i saw some guys at an anime club do. Or are they available in English? I'm intrigued.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-25 09:44 pm (UTC)Viz has published the first 11 volumes of the manga in english, as well as 3 novelizations. The first is based on the anime(the fake Elricv brothers) but I don't know if the other 2 are. I like them, though.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-26 03:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-26 04:00 am (UTC)He's my second favorite in the anime...Hawkeye is hard to beat.
the rain
Date: 2007-09-28 06:39 am (UTC)Re: the rain
Date: 2007-09-28 07:16 am (UTC)Have you read the manga? They(and the the series as a whole) are 100 times better there(which is saying a lot)
Re: the rain
Date: 2007-09-28 08:24 am (UTC)Re: the rain
Date: 2007-09-28 04:04 pm (UTC)There's a ton of Roy/Riza stuff that wasn't in the anime.
And in the anime, you don't get to see Roy's reaction to a serial killer with a crush on Riza(or how she deals with both)
Re: the rain
Date: 2007-09-29 01:24 am (UTC)i don't mind slash if it has a good basis. like if it could happen in canon. but seriously, roy/ed is pedophilia!!!
Re: the rain
Date: 2007-09-29 01:29 am (UTC)Well...yes, it is pedophilia by our standards, but likely not as much by the world's standards. Beyond that, however, is the fact that, if Roy's interest in Ed were to be given an emotional term, it would be paternal(actually, more like an uncle, but...) That is my SERIOUS pet peeve among slashers...taking the paternal/fraternal older/younger characters and slashing them.
Re: the rain
Date: 2007-10-03 08:18 am (UTC)it isnt so much the age difference that is creepy...ok, yes it is, but also, ed isnt even 16! but yeah, i always thought roy thought of himself as more a father figure to ed, and that makes the slashiness doubly weird. and ed should get with winry, anyway.
Re: the rain
Date: 2007-10-03 02:33 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, slashing a paternal or fraternal figure with a younger male(Ed is older than a lot of such characters that get slashed) is a very popular(and squicky) thing to do.
Don't worry, though, barring death he WILL end up with Winry. His destiny says so(and so does Winry)
Re: the rain
Date: 2007-10-03 08:33 pm (UTC)yeah, ive noticed the paternal thing, it is really prominent in the harry potter fandom (and even more disturbing. harry/dumblefore = eeeew).