Okay. I understand why the mood of the final OP had to be completely different.
This episode had such a sharp contrast with the previous arcs of the series: the characters looked so set on victory: four homunculi are dead by now, Pride is missing, and it seemed like only Father and King Bradley still posed a problem. This episode was dark, and left little of the euphoria that was build up in the previous seasons.
But seriously, what an awesome episode it was. Bradley probably is the best fighter of the entire series, aside from perhaps Father and Hohenheim but we’ve seen too little from them to really determine that. We hardly saw him actually fight though, so when he finally gets into action the tables turn completely, like the previous episode showed. For some strange reason, the other homunculi hardly ever directly killed people in fights: Hughes was the only major good guy death that I can remember so far, aside from flashbacks. In two episodes since he’s actually started fighting, the number of casualties has suddenly risen with two major characters, and who knows how many soldiers? The way in which he was eventually hit also made a lot of impact to me, and it was very well portrayed and very subtle after how over the top the final moments of the old guy were.
This episode also pulled one of the trumps it had been hiding for quite a while now: the strange scientist who created King Bradley. Some of his actions didn’t make any sense, like how he had to wait for Ed to show up before he could write that magic circle of his, and I’d also have preferred to see a bit more about who he is beforehand, but this guy definitely pushed the story in a different direction. At the end of the episode, Ed, Al and Izumi were probably transported to the Truth, or somewhere similar. I also have to give thumbs up to the animators: those “eating”-scenes looked beautiful.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
The next two episodes will most likely be extremely action packed. I thought I put this just so that you know what to expect. 🙂
Like you said, while the rest of the Homunculi are just immortals with several gimmicks up their sleeves, Bradley is just insanely good at fighting and able to be aware of his surroundings. So while other Homunculi like Greed can be defeated with the right strategy, Wrath is almost invincible.
If I’m not mistaken, that other scientist was someone who knew how to do human transmutation but wasn’t skilled enough to attempt it. I think the reason why human sacrifices are so rare is that to survive human transmutation you must either be extremely skilled at alchemy or just very lucky – like Ed and Al. Otherwise there would be no reason for the State to outlaw human transmutation and go through so much to find human sacrifices
don’t forget all those dude’s that the doctor had with him are failed bradley’s that are just as skilled as him
Bradley’s stone does give him a bit of a gimmick it gives him enhanced speed and strangth and his ablity to see evrything coming if he did not have his stone he would be just as tough as those dudes with the doctor
@Clinton
I don’t think I would’ve said “just as skilled”, though.. Bradley’s got a lot more experience than them, right?? But yeah, as skilled as he was before he got the stone, THAT I can buy.
@Bruce
Remember that the State banned human transmutation to avoid the possibility of creating an army. This was explained to Olivier Armstrong. However, I agree it should be difficult to find sacrifices. Since the process requires an exchange, you could lose your heart as Edward was willing to do in order to regain his brother from the other side. Or something else could happen, those who have read the manga should know.
Beautiful? Yeah, the “eating” scenes were, but did you see any of that fight with the Bradley-rejects? It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever had to look at. Worst animated episode yet, just for that scene.
I don’t know if I’m supposed to call it animation or art-quality… Roy fighting those Bradley-rejects was just… laughable.
Eh, I don’t know what to call it either. I just know it was horrible. It wasn’t just Roy either. Ed got some of that shit too.
I’m still going to stick to my guns and say that the opening is the first FMA anime creeping in and making it way to angsty. FMA, the manga at the very least, is about standing up and walking, not sulking and crying in the rain.
Maybe the ending’ll prove me wrong. I’ll see.
great ep, though the manga covered it better (it’s a great manga lol). they upped the body count on the bradley rejects, if i recall in the manga only the guy who sacrificed himself to save the doctor died b4 the transmutation, they pretty much overpowered Ed and co.
good point psgels about the doctor not having the sense to draw the full circle beforehand. and couldn’t he get an actual name beforehand LOL? “gold-toothed doctor” is pretty hilarious. i mean the guy created bradley AND got the sacrifices where they needed to be, he DESERVES a name. i guess it’s part of the mystery.
i didn’t like the OP/ED combo at first but it’s growing on me. about the rain metaphor, i think it works because rain/clouds is gloomy and right now the story is in a dark phase, father is starting to make his big play. but after rain falls, what happens? you get sunshine/rainbows, i.e. better times/HOPE. so though right now it’s bad, things are going to work out.
I didn’t have a problem with the animation, I will admit Roy’s face was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS but the vibe I got from it was it looks freaking funny because the look on his face basically says, “WTF, I have to fight with my FISTS?!?!”
LOL!
My take on the doctor’s transmutation circle is he moved the schedule up a bit since they were there and beginning to take down some of the Bradley rejects.
Still a fairly big coincidence that they met up at all, but it wasn’t on the level of some of the other wildly implausible timings that have occurred previously in the series.
rr101 he figeired out were they were going to be and set up the anbush
I think everyone should view the OP and ED as a pair, not separate. In that case it does follow the theme of the manga, which is that even in despair (Rain) you should stand up and move forward because there is hope (Ray of Light) ahead. And the OP and ED illustrate that well. Right now the manga is in a dark time (lots and lots of rain) but here’s hoping for a happy ending, or at least one where the characters can stand and move forward, something they’ve already begun to do even with the rain still pouring down.
I don’t get why everyone is so offened that the ‘Gold-toothed doctor’ doesn’t have a name. After all we have another character who is far more prominent that doesn’t either. Just a description–Scar. At one point Mei even asks his name, and gets no response.
As for the doctor, his identity has been consumed by becoming Father’s flunky long ago. So why should a name matter at this point. Make one up, for all the difference it makes.
From this point onward, I declare that his name is Harrison. So yeah.
ha ha! Harrison works XD
I’ve also seen someone call him ‘Dr. Goldtooth’
Question: As I recall, Mei-chan was last seen in the company of Ed, Scar, Mustang, Hawkeye, and Dr. Marco. Yet she was absent from the last episode, in which all of them fought the Wrath rejects. Where was she? Did I miss something? I kinda liked the kid