Episode 27, "Banquet at the Crevice"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: In a dream, Hohenheim talks to a younger Pinako about his sons, the country, and humans. Another version of him appears and reveals that "Pinako" is really him trying to defend the human race. In the end, he dreams of confirmation of his beliefs by Trisha and the people he knew in Resembool. Waking up, Hohenheim continues on his journey.
Comments:
Recap episode, recap. Nothing here to see, move along. Next episode continues the plot.
Well, okay, I do have some thoughts on the episode.
Yeah, I could tear this episode apart for its irrelevance. After all, dressing aside, it's merely a recap of events that have passed so far in the series. The first series didn't doing anything of the sort, why does this one need it? What a waste of time! The plot was getting more interesting by the episode, then they slam on the brakes.
Er, did I say I wasn't going to tear it apart?
Don't be too hard on the episode, though. As far as recap episodes are concerned, it's not the worst. It's actually fairly organized into segments focusing on diffrent aspects of the series. The first focuses on the military nature of the country. The second seems to be about research into the Philosopher's Stone. The third is about human sacrifices. The fourth was about the homunculi, The final part seems to be about the human spirit.
I think this episode sort of helped piece things together from the previous episodes. I wasn't having that much difficulty, since I've been reading and re-reading the manga faithfully for years, but I can see where other might. There's a lot going on and a lot of details. FMA has a rich tapestry of plot points and themes, after all.
So, while I can't give this episode a high score, it wasn't that big a waste. At least we got some wonderfully weird packaging with Hohenheim's dream. The end of the dream even looked like the "Congratulations!" scene in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like I said, weird.
The episode featured the new OP and ED for the series. The opening has some great content, though it does spoil some things. I'm just happy to get Olivia Armstrong, one of my favorite characters from the manga, in it. The song isn't bad, either. Then there's the ED, which is probably my least favorite thus far in both the song and content. They really could have done better. Why feature Winry through most of it but then a few seconds of Ranfan and Mei, only to return to Winry? It should have been about all the major females.
Overall Score: 2 out of 5
