Episode 43, "An Ant's Bite"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: In Briggs, the bloody crest is made by the death of Drachma soldiers, who were tricked by Kimbley into thinking they could win the battle. In Central, Bradley admits that while his family and position were given to him, he chose his wife himself. In the Ishbalan slum, Envy arrives disguised as an Ishbalan, but is lured into a trap by Zanpano, set by Mei. Envy transforms into his true state, and takes Marcoh captive, threatening to destroy the slum town. Marcoh uses his skill in creating Philosopher's Stones to break down Envy's body, and Envy reverts to a small slug-like being, who they contain in a jar. Envy informs Alphonse that Edward has gone missing. Scar gives Envy to Mei, who heads back for Xing. Alphonse takes Winry and the chimeras to Lior. At Central HQ, Olivier is shown a room full of homunculi dolls. In Lior, Alphonse meets Rose again, who asks about Edward. Suddenly, Hohenheim appears in front of his son.
Comments:
To my dismay, this episode features a lot of Wendy Powell's Envy. I've always thought it was way too gravelly and scratchy, without any sense of that sharp maliciousness either Japanese VA have brought to the role. Another thing that I don't particularly care for is how Powell can't seem to decide whether to use a more male or more female voice for the character and switches between the two from line to line. However, to be fair, the monster form of Envy sounds fine, and I don't mind the fetus-Envy form's sound, either. Luckily, Envy spends most of his time in either of those forms in this episode.
Jerry Russell's Doctor Marcoh is likewise not a favorite voice of mine. The only time I could stand him in this episode was either when he was speaking very softly or screaming on the top of his lungs. His normal speaking voice sounds painful. But I bought his bellowing due to the age and wear of his character. The doctor was being pushed to his limit after all. I still wonder how Brice Armstrong would have handled this material.
J. Michael Tatum did all right as Scar in this episode, but I wish he would give it a little more power now and then. Monica Rial's May was a little annoying in some scenes, I hate to say, but great in others. Maxey Whitehead was, again, excellent as Alphonse and everyone knows by know how much I like Stephanie Young's Olivier Mira Armstrong, as well.
Overall ENGLISH DUB Score:
3.5 out of 5