Full Metal Alchemist – 44



This show just keeps surprising me. The reunion between Al and his father was handled wonderfully well, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of everything that went on in this episode. It’s episodes like this that have a great balance between building up and actual climaxes.

It’s actually very interesting to see Al meet his father, without Ed. They probably would have gotten along a lot less if Ed was there, who has a lot of grudges against his father as we saw earlier. Ed would not have wanted to stay longer than necessary with this guy, but here Al has managed to create a bridge between the two of them. I really like how the creators chose their reunion to be subtle and not over-dramatic at all. The part where they didn’t know what to say to each other was full of subtleties.

Quite the opposite was Lin’s return, however. Talk about intense! We’ve already seen that Homunculi can break with the right amount of pressure at their weak points. Here we see Lin do it from the inside. Also, note how in his memories, Hohenheim is amongst Greed’s friends. So that explains why he got the idea to betray Father.

And again completely different: Ed’s return. Instead, that was much more of the fun kind of action scene. The “car scene” was absolutely hilarious, and I’m amazed at how much personality these two chimeras have already received. I already like them a lot, and they’ve been in like what? 2 episodes now?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

17 thoughts on “Full Metal Alchemist – 44

  1. “Also, note how in his memories, Hohenheim is amongst Greed’s friends.”

    What? I think you’re mistaking him for the Ox dude.

  2. actully Ling (not Lin) has not really returned thats still greed he just got his memory back so now he is taking out his rage at Bradley (rematch time for both Greed and Ling)

  3. I’m upset they took out the funny line when Hohenheim and Al meet. It went something like this:

    Winry: Ed and Al’s
    Al: Father!
    Hohenheim: My antique suit of armor!

  4. Yeah, the loss of that line was a disappointment.

    Other than that, though, the episode did a pretty good job, especially with the way it handled greed.

    The past couple of episodes have altogether been pretty strong. And given that there isn’t much longer now until the series starts hitting the endgame, that’s definitely a good sign.

    If they can keep up the quality, we should really be in for a treat.

    I only worry about the pacing. The manga is definitely getting near the end, but the show is moving fast enough that there’s a risk of overtaking it. I have to assume that there will be one more recap episode before the final arc starts, but even that will be pushing it if the manga has too many chapters left to go.

  5. Okay so say we have 20 episodes of Brotherhood left. That is 20 weeks, or about 5 months of Brotherhood left for us. I think the manga can wrap it up in 3 more chapters.

  6. I’m guessing it’ll be chapter 107 or 108. 108 is fitting so well it’s scary, ’cause in Japan, it’s an old tradition to chime a bell 108 times at new years to welcome the new year. Apparently each ring is representing 1 of 108 earthly temptations one needs to overcome in order to achieve NIRVANA. If it stops at chapter 108, I’m satisfied. Lol. There are lots of other symbolic meanings of 108 as well, and it’s really interesting to read about, but of course I might just be looking to much into it as well. xD

  7. That isnt Hohenheim that was Roa, the ox guy, but I cant blame you since they look abit similar in the memory part…I guess greed is just what u call…hmmm greedy, thats prolly y he betrayed his creator

  8. The Greed remembering stuff scene was very well done. The only bad thing about it, is since they rushed the earlier Greed arc (since it overlapped with the older anime), it caused confusion, because people don’t really remember greed’s old friends.

    But anyway, yeah, this was a great episode with good directing.

  9. GREAT episode

    @JackDawkins yeah that was a funny line, but i think they cut it because Hohenheim in the manga is a LOOOOOOOT funnier/goofier. i think they made a conscious decision to make him more serious in Brotherhood so in a way it makes sense that most/all of the funny stuff has been removed.

    Ling/Greed’s breakdown was very well done, the seiyus captured the emotion of the scene well.

    PS anybody catch the 1st (dubbed) episode on Adult Swim? just my opinion, but it was kinda bleh. the new voice actor for Al has some work to do lol

    PS don’t think i’ve ever said it, but LOVE the blog psgels, great, great job

  10. @bobby

    I still see hohenheim as goofy once we get to know his character more but you definately see him as more serious/cold with ed and al. this is actually a pretty inspired move on behalf of the anime and works better (for me personally) than the manga does. I love hohenheim’s silly behavour but it never really meshed when coupled with his discomfort dealing his kids. by having showing only the awkwardness the anime creates a better sense of the gravity of his decision to leave his wife and kids

  11. @psgels
    It’s Ling, not Lin ^^ And the person you misstook for Hohenhein was Roa, one of Greed’s friends from the devil’s nest. The reason Greed betrayed Father was that Greed wants everything, including Freedom.

  12. @Tiger, clinton
    Actually, in “FMA Perfect Guide Book”, Arakawa uses the “Lin” romanization… whereas in the 9th volume of the manga (if I remember correctly) she uses the “Ling” variant… so, if the mangaka herself is confused about it, there’s really no need to correct psgels either 😉 I’d rather stick to the Guide Book’s version though…

  13. I think translator decides if Ling or Lin is used.

    I liked the dubbing of the FMAB. I loved how they had actors from the first series. For me it kind of ties the series together. It was one few animes where most fans enjoyed the dub and I’m glad they carried that over to the new series.

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