This episode made me think of the use of weaponry in the FMA universe. There were a lot of gunfights in this episode, in which the people working under Roy Mustang were assaulted by some of the homunculi and their chimera, in which they used various guns to defend themselves. That’s pretty nice and interesting, but that does bring up the age old question: why doesn’t Ed use one?
One of the major biggest flaws of Full Metal Alchemist, both the series I’ve seen so far, is of course how they try to get away with Ed’s strangely amazing fighting abilities, even though he’s only sixteen years old. And okay, it’s something that a lot of anime suffer from, so that’s easy to overlook. But I still wonder why he’s still stuck with his sword hands in a day and age in which guns seem to be common.
Anyway, about the actual episode, it was as fun as usual; especially Barry shined, and I’m starting to understand why he’s such an interesting character, and how much the first season raped his personality. It was very interesting to see him finding his old body back (talk about different from the Barry from the first season), and this indeed shows that the Homunculi are somehow related to the fifth laboratory, and their current mission indeed seems to stop people from finding out about them. That still doesn’t explain their main purpose though, but I suspect that Lior holds some hints to that.
I’m also glad to see Ross still alive. It had it coming of course, but it was quite unnerving to not see a single hint of her alive in the previous episode (yeah, I’m gullible; so what?). It’s also interesting that she’s going to get her own side-plot right now, as she travels to Xing in order to avoid any chances of revealing herself to the public. I’m interested to see what she can add to the story there.
Also, for some reason Ross hid near a camp of Ishbal people who happened to know Winry’s parents, and were helped a great deal by them. It then turns out that they were murdered, not by the order of the Fuhrer to wipe out the Ishbals, but rather by an Ishbal himself: Scar. Or someone who looks like Scar anyway. He sortof reminded me of a Humonculus in that flashback.
Rating: * (Good)]]>
Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 18
Ed doesn’t use guns because he’s a pacifist, hates killing, etc. That’ll come up later. Also, he’s a good fighter, but even Al’s better than him, and there are plenty of other stronger characters.
And unless they make some major changes, I’m sorry to disappoint, but we don’t actually see inside other countries than Amestris. Sucks, because the other countries have a lot of potential from what we hear about them, but Arakawa wants to wrap up the series soon.
I wouldn’t necessarily say Ed is a pacifist he will still fight. But to support the above comment Ed has issues with killing. And since a gun is a tool that kills he stays away from it.
But I do think you are overestimating his fighting abilities. Ed is a good fighter but not even close to the best in the series. Which is one of the things I really love about FMA that the main character isn’t the best at everything. Ed’s best skill is his intelligence and his creativity in alchemy (that helps him in fights).
Agreed with senerikfred and Kim. Ed is a good fighter, but many of the other characters we’ve seen are better than he is. And yes, Ed makes a conscious decision not to use guns or transmutate projectile weapons. Most alchemists don’t carry guns because their alchemy is far more potent than any small arms.
And yes, Barry the Chopper is awesome.
Batman doesn`t use a gun. That`s all I have to say.
Ed’s non-use of guns is addressed later in the manga.
i never really though about that “gun” thing. I mean, its normal for the military to use guns.
as for the State alchemists, they are military but they are different, they are supposed to be human weapons. if you take notice, not a single alchemist uses guns, unless it’s some similar device created by their alchemy, like one of Scar’s first victims.
so, i don’t really think there’s that “syndrome” in this anime. state alchemist are all supposed to have a personal alchemy technique to fight.
ed uses sword weapons along with normal alchemy, roy uses explosions, armstrong uses hand to hand and some normal alchemy.. and the list goes for explosions and a lot of other stuff. i think you were kind of narrowing it just to ed and not remembering the state alchemist concept.
FMA has too many dumb fans.
Gun issue will come up later. Also noted that Scar and most of the state alchemists didn’ t use guns either. Some might carry it, but if they can creat deadly weapons by their own so easily, why use guns that will run out of bullets?
IMHO the gun in this story was strongly linked to killing and wars. These are the kids who hadn’ t seen wars but were effected by it. Winry used to say she don’ t like soldier when she met Riza. Even asked her did she ever killed anyone before. Ed stated that he actually afraid that someday he might have to participate in a war and have to kill people. The Elric brothers and Winry are still a kid, while Roy and co are seasoned soldier. There’ re these huge gap between characters’ age and experience. And we get to see their different POV and how they deal with things.
I think you’re forgetting that he trained with Izumi, who beats them down in training sessions every day.
Every indication would suggest that she is a very capable figther, and taught both Ed and Al hand to hand combat as well as alchemy, and they themselves are seen continuing the training by sparring at various points at the series.
So yeah. It’s not inexplicable. And Ed, as others have said, isn’t so incredibl a fighter anyway. His alchemy and ingenuity are his real strengths.
nice ep to resolve the ross subplot from last week, and i like how they basically got it out of the way first so that for the next 2 weeks you’re probably going to have nothing but fighting.
ONE thing i thought they could have done better was the ending with riza and gluttony; that particular manga chapter ends with a cliffhanger while this episode just implies she’s in BIIIIIG trouble. manga 1, anime 0 (LOL)
in the original series ed turns his arm into a gun i cant remember when though
FMA BROTHERHOOD ROX!! =3
Yeah, the anime creators indeed had a really good idea to deal with Ross’ subplot first, so now we can expect a bunch of action-packed and, hopefully, mind-blowing episodes *__*
Expect Barry to shine even more. And yeah, he wasn’t the only one whose character was butchered by the first anime. I just can’t forgive them for what they did to Envy, Kimbley, Roy even… but mostly Envy – you’ll see why, when we get to those episodes (which will be very soon)…
“nice ep to resolve the ross subplot from last week, and i like how they basically got it out of the way first so that for the next 2 weeks you’re probably going to have nothing but fighting”
Yeah, I did like that change from the manga. For the pacing of an animated show, I think that it’s better to get it out of the way than to let it wait until after all the fighting.
@Bobby
I thought that they ended it fine this week, though it was a bit odd that they had her shoot gluttony in the shoulder rather than the head.
The only big thing I missed from the manga was a short scene with Breda where he reveals that he was under orders from Col Mustang to keep an eye on Ross and kill her if it turned out that she really was the killer. It was pretty short, and I think it added a bit to Mustang’s character, but I suppose I can see why it would be on the chopping block if they were pressed for time.
Also, I seem to remember the scene about the Rockbells being longer and was about to complain about them cutting it, but I went back over and it looks like what I’m remembering must have come from somewhere else in the manga.
I have a question regarding this anime. I watched the FMA series and the movie as well, but didn’t read the manga. So when I watched the first episode of FMA – Brotherhood, I was kinda confused… Is this supposed to be a sequel? Or just a remake of the first serie? Sorry to bother you, but it would mean a lot for me if you answered. 🙂
@Sugar
It’s an animated version of the manga. The first series shared its beginning episodes with the manga, but then diverged.
So many of the characters are the same, and some of the backstory is similar, but there are some huge differences (especially for the antagonists) as things continue moving forward.
Ed never, ever, turned his arm into a gun, and Col Mustang never suspected Ross even when he first found out(or ordered Breda to tail her) Don’t know where the hell you guys got those from, probably mixing it with the first animated series? And wth, Hawkeye always appeared to be a “professional” in the manga, all her shots were pinpoint accurate and her abilities as a soldier were top notch(makes up for the inability to use any alchemy), but why did they make her shoot Gluttony in the shoulder when she actually shot him in the head? meh.
Ed is impractical, intellectual, and egotistical. (All of those qualities are probably true of most alchemists.) He also has a deep sense of personal sinfulness, for committing taboo.
A practical man in his position would probably kill much more often. In fact, a practical man might even be willing to break the human transmutation taboo again.
Ed is not practical. I think he would be a lot more interesting if he were. I still like this series more than the first animated series.
@formosan-it’s not so much that he’s straight up impractical, more that he’s idealistic/naive. Where it doesn’t interfere with his morals, he’s highly practical. And he IS a kid who made a huge mistake while pretty young, and was taught by a woman with a philosophical view on alchemy. People aren’t naturally grimdark and cynical.
“but why did they make her shoot Gluttony in the shoulder when she actually shot him in the head?”
Probably it was ‘too graphic’ to be shown on TV. That’s usually the excuse. =x
People move faster and bullets move slower in anime. Just look at Scar: he can dodge bullets. Therefore, in anime world, it is as logical to use a sword as to use a gun.
About the gunshot: I have never hold a gun, so I’m not the most knowledgeable on this subject, but is firing a gun really just a matter of point-click-kill? I mean, Hawkeye was surprised by an incredible giant who came her way. In my view, she’d be too startled to aim perfectly straight, especially with a hard-to-hit moving target on a short time-frame.
“Col Mustang never suspected Ross even when he first found out(or ordered Breda to tail her) Don’t know where the hell you guys got those from”
This is the panel I was referencing.
http://www.onemanga.com/Full_Metal_Alchemist/41/14/
I wouldn’t say that Mustang necessarily suspected Ross, but he seemed to be keeping his options open.