Brotherhood

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 15 Review

(Took long enough for Eclipse to get their subs out.)

Episode 15, "A Messenger From The East"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Scar attacks and kills a State Alchemist called Joliot Comanche. When he returns to his hideout, he finds Yoki with a little girl, who introduces herself as May Chang, who travelled with her little panda Shao May from the country of Xing. May heals a wound for Scar using Eastern alchemy (Rentanjutsu) and insists on accompanying Scar, in hopes of meeting Edward Elric. Meanwhile, Ed and Al visit Winry in Rush Valley to get Ed’s arm repaired, and end up meeting a prince of Xing, Ling Yao, and his bodyguards. A battle ensues when Ling tries to force info out of the brothers, and Ed and Al eventually overcome their opponents. Ed discovers that Al can do alchemy without a circle now. Ed and Al intend to visit Central, and Ling intends to follow. Scar and Yoki journey, now with May as a passenger. read more

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FMA Primer #2

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD: CHAPTER 2

The new "chapter" of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood starts next week, with the advent of the Xingese characters, so here’s a little primer/reminder. I covered most of this in my first primer, mind you, but I wanted to approach the characters again, a little differently in some cases.

Xing is a country in the East, where Rentanjutsu (Funimation subs it as "alkahestry", after "alkahest", an alchemy term), an alchemy used for medical application, is practiced, passed down from a Sage from the West. Xing lies beyond the Great Desert, to the east of what was once Ishbal (which itself is east of Amestris proper, where most of the story takes place). Xing is ruled by an Emperor, who controls the many clans of the country. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 14 Review

Episode 14, "Those Who Dwell Underground"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: While Roy arrives at his new post in Central, Fuhrer King Bradley and Alex Louis Armstrong lead a charge on the Devil’s Nest in Dublith. Most of Greed’s chimeras allies are gunned down, with his closest allies killed by the Fuhrer himself. Greed is surprised that Bradley is also a homunculi, and is disabled by him. Bradley kills Martel while she hides in Alphonse’s armor, and shocked, Al remembers his experiences during the human transmutation. Bradley takes Greed to the homuculi’s hideout, where their leader, Father, condemns him to death, and reabsorbs his essence. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 13 Review

Episode 13, "Beasts of Dublith"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Despite her understanding, Izumi expells Edward and Alphonse for their going against her teachings, but they return to ask for her help. Meanwhile, Roy Mustang prepares to transfer to Central by calling together his subordinates. Scar recovers from his injuries at an Ishbalan refugee camp, where disgraced Lt. Yoki tries to have him taken by thugs for a reward, but Scar fights back. In Dublith, a group of chimera lure Alphonse to them, then subdue him for their boss, a homunculi named Greed. In their hideout, Greed offers to teach Alphonse how to make a homuculi in returns for information on how to attach a soul to something. Edward comes into the hideout refusing to make an exchange of information, and he and Greed battle. Greed uses his ability to harden his body to fight, but Edward figures out the key to it, and the battle comes to a draw. Suddenly, Izumi steps into the hideout, immediately subduing Greed. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 12 Review

Episode 11, "All Is One, One Is All"


*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward and Alphonse arrive in Dublith, to the home of their alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis, and her husband Sig. Izumi is angry at Edward for becoming "a dog of the state", but welcomes them anyway. Izumi casually mentions meeting the brothers’ father, Hohenheim, which upsets Edward. Later that night, Edward recalls how he and his brother met Izumi when she came through Risembool and helped stop flooding with her alchemy. Ed and Al begged Izumi to train them and she left them on an island for a month with the condition of surviving without alchemy. On the island, they learned about the flow of life and recieved further training after the trial period. The next day, Ed asks Izumi about her ability to transmute without a circle, and Izumi confronts Ed and Al about their bodies. Izumi tells the brothers about her own failed attempt at human transmutation, and holds them to comfort their pain. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 11 Review

Episode 11, "The Miracle at Rush Valley"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: On the way to Dublith, Edward, Alphonse, and Winry make a detour to Rush Valley, a town full of automail engineers. While engineers gather to admire his automail parts, Edward’s State Alchemist watch is stolen by a pickpocket, Paninya, with two automail legs. The three follow her into the mountains, where her automail mechanic Dominic lives. Winry asks for an apprenticeship, but he denies her. While there, Dominic’s daughter-in-law goes into labor, and Winry helps deliver the child while Ed and Al wait, powerless. Dominic reccomends Winry apprentice to an automail engineer he knows. Ed and Al continue onto Dublith. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 10 Review

Episode 10, "Seperate Ways"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward describes his experiences at Laboratory 5 to Major Armstrong and Lt. Colonel Hughes. Fuhrer King Bradley visits and warns the group not to investigate any further. The brothers get on a train to Dublith, to go see their alchemy teacher, though the thought of it frightens them. While reading the paper, Hughes is inspired to do some research into the massacres around the country, but is confronted by Lust. Hughes tries to contact Roy via an outside pay phone, but is killed by Envy, in disguise as Maria Ross. After Hughes’ funeral, Roy begins investigating his death, vowing to find his killers. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 09 Review

Episode 9, "Created Memories"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward regains consciousness in a hospital, scolded by Ross and Brosh for his recklessness. From there, he calls Winry to Central to repair his automail. Alphonse struggles with the implications of Barry the Chopper’s words, eventually leading to a confrontation with Ed. Winry yells at him for doubting his brother’s intentions, and the two make up on the roof, renewing their vow to keep going.

Comments:

It’s no secret: I’m a fan of the first Fullmetal Alchemist series. It’s how I was introduced to the world of FMA to begin with. It’s one of my favorite anime of all time. I even feel like it handled some of the manga’s material better than the manga did. However, in the case of Alphonse’s existential crisis, the manga, and this episode, handled it more naturally, with subtlety. The first series gave us a largely filler episode involving Scar and two Ishbalan children, which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great, and certainly didn’t handle it as well as this episode did. Yes, I’m saying that Brotherhood, in this case, is superior to the first series. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 08 Review

Episode 8, "Research Lab 5"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward and Alphonse are confronted by the guards of the Fifth Laboratory, Slicer the Homocide and Barry the Chopper, respectively. The guards turn out to be hallow suits of metal, who, like Alphonse, had their souls bonded to the armor. Inside the laboratory, Ed also discovers that Slicer is actually two souls, those of brothers, and barely manages to defeat them, using Scar’s technique of deconstruction. Outside, Barry fills Alphonse with doubts over the validity of his existence. Lust and Envy appear before Ed, with Envy knocking him out and taking him to his brother, Brosh, and Maria, as the lab collapses. Barry makes his escape, as does Envy. read more

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 07 Review

Episode 7, "The Hidden Truth"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward and Alphonse are in a bind when the 1st Branch of the Central Library is burned down, with all of Marcoh’s reasearch in it. However, with the help of Maria Ross and Denny Bloch, their new escorts, they track down a woman named Sheska, who used to work at the library. Sheska has the unique ability to recall everything she has read, and copies what she read of Marcoh’s notes, which are encoded as recipies. Edward eventually deciphers the code and comes to the realization that the Philosopher’s Stone is made of living humans, and likely by using prisoners. The Elric brothers sneak into Laboratory 5, a supposedly abandoned lab next to the prison. They aren’t alone, however, and while Ed sneaks deep inside, an armored guard attacks Al. read more

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