Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 23 ENGLISH DUB Review
Episode 23, "The Girl on the Battlefield" *****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Ling, with Ranfan on his back, tries his best to evade Fuhrer King Bradley while Gluttony is sent after Scar. Ed leaves Winry to the MPs and goes off to help Alphonse. Gluttony arrives to eat Scar, beating him up. Bradley sees that Ranfan has cut her own arm off to throw him off. Ling arrives on the scene with Gluttony and Scar and with Ed's help, binds him. Ling escapes from the scene with the help of Hawkeye, but insists on picking up his aide. Mei helps Scar escape, but loses track of her panda, Xaio Mei, who Alphonse picks up. Ed and Al see Winry off at the train station, Ed promising to make her cry tears of joy next time. Roy picks the brothers up and takes them to a house where Doctor Knox treats Ranfan. As they argue over what to do with Gluttony, the homunculus overhears Roy's name, and enraged by Lust's death, transforms and destroys part of the house. Comments: As much as I love Monica Rial, her Mei sounding so much like her Ai Satoume from Shin Chan really distracts me sometimes. Yeah, they're both little girls, and the voice suits her just fine, as does the delivery, but it's distracting because I keep thinking of Ai using alkehestry. Or Mei trying to make Shin Nohara her boyfriend. I'm not saying Monica Rial is a bad Mei, because she's pretty good, but it's just weird. Is there any doubt by now that Maxey Whitehead is every bit as good as Aaron Dismuke in the role of Alphonse Elric? I cannot help but to keep thinking it is Dismuke doing the role still. And it's not like she's doing an imitation, it just seems like the voice is really Alphonse's voice in the way Dismuke made the role his when he did it. I think Whitehead may be the real star of the Brotherhood dub in the same way Dismuke was the real star of the first series dub. I continue to marvel regularly at how good she is in this role. I know I've beaten this to death already, but I just cannot get into Ed Blaylock's King Bradley. The guy just doesn't sound as intimidating as the Japanese VA. He sounds vaguely sinister, and maybe this would be a great performance for another role, but Bradley sounds pants-shittingly frightening at times in Japanese, as if to say, "I enjoy tea and carving you up" and here it's just, "Yeah, I'm kind of sort of wicked, ooooh". Ugh, all the lingering in Winry-related scenes in this episode made me want to vomit. Did we really even need the phone call scene? The answer is no. I mean, they're already shuffling her out of the forefront after briefly making her important, why pretend she matters by dragging this few bits of her out so much? Get back to the plot. Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5 
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Winry's an important part of
Winry's an important part of the story.
Maybe Arakawa shouldn't have
Maybe Arakawa shouldn't have kept constantly shuffling her off somewhere else after pretending she was.
yea but...she was kinda
yea but...she was kinda getting herself into trouble back there by not thinking...besides the only thing she does is make automail-which Pinako can do, and...well that's really it.
@ PeguinTruth: She's a
@ PeguinTruth: She's a supporting character, she's not meant to always be there or else she'd be stretching her purpose. But supporting character =/= minor character. She gets her own development, but once she's had her time she's leaves for a while, yet is still an omnipresent part of the story even if she isn't physically present - and she always comes back eventually because she is important.
@Anon: Of course she got herself in trouble by not thinking. That's the point. And making automail isn't the only thing she does. She's a character in her own right. You fall into the common trap of a limited perspective on the roles female characters can play in an action/male-oriented genre.
I think Rial's Mei is beyond
I think Rial's Mei is beyond adorable. God I'm loving this woman more and more!
I also really like Monica's
I also really like Monica's Mei. Her voice fits the role so well and her delivery is just great. I never watched Shin Chan Chan, so I fortunately don't think of her sounding like any other character.
Maxey has been just an absolutely brilliant Al from the start. I honestly think she's a better Al than Aaron was, but I might be one of the few who think that. Two other VAs that I haven't heard being mentioned much are Todd Haberkorn and Trina Nishimura as Ling and Lan Fan respectively. I had my doubts when I heard Todd was going to be Ling just because I wasn't sure if his voice was going to fit the role knowing how he sounded as Hikaru in Ouran, but to me, he is a surprisingly good fit. And while Lan Fan doesn't have a ton of lines, the ones she does have Trina just nails. Her voice is so fitting and natural, and her performance is just fantastic. For example in this episode, when Doctor Knox is operating on Lan Fan and she screams in pain, I was in awe at how real Trina made her sound. I immediately got goosebumps.
May Chang's voice reminds me
May Chang's voice reminds me of Prairie Dawn from Sesame Street. She should learn to sound less like a Muppet in the future!
I am honestly surprised you haven't warmed up to King Bradley's voice at all. I used to feel the same way about it as you did, but now I think his English voice actor has really stepped up his game since the Ouroboros reveal. The sharper contrast with his regular nice voice makes his scary voice sound even scarier. The Japanese voice may be more gruff, but it's also more even-tempered.
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