Well, the pacing is subtly getting slower, which is a good sign. The storytelling has as much energy as usual, but this episode spent quite a bit of scenes to the lighter comedy scenes when compared to the previous episodes so far. That’s definitely a good sign as we approach the point where first series went into its own direction.
In any case, this episode shows the library-arc and introduces Sheska. I liked her when she was first introduced, though her role in the second half of the series was just terribly redundant. Nevertheless, in this episode she was fun to watch, even though she only appeared for like, three minutes or something.
I also was surprised that Barry the Chopper does exist in the manga, meaning that the creators wrote an entire filler-episode just to introduce the guy. It was a nice idea, but the problem was that his story was just too filled with coincidences: he just “happens” to kidnap Winry who just “happens” to visit Central City, then he gets sent to prison and just “happens” to get turned into an armour rather than being turned into food for the Philosopher’s stone and after that he just “happens” to meet Ed again. Really, the creators of the first series had good intentions, but they simply weren’t the best storytellers out there.
And yeah, there was a lot of comedy and deformed characters in this episode. The contrast with the otherwise dark nature of this series works surprisingly well and it’s made this series much lighter than the original one. The downside of the new season is of course that the characters aren’t as fleshed out as they were in the original series at this point, with more than eleven episodes cut and all, but technically it’s been doing a very fine job: there haven’t been any headdesk-worthy moments, Ed and Al aren’t getting on my nerves and overall, the animation now is much more solid and detailed and overall I like it a lot more.
Rating: * (Good)
Lots of light moments, and we’re finally getting near the part we’ve all been waiting for.
I can’t wait till you see how different Barry the Chopper ends up being. They really ruined his character for me in the first anime.
Agreed with Kim. Barry the Chopper is awesome in the manga.
I liked the darker, more serious tone in the old series especially for this episode given the subject matter, but Bones is definitely being very true to the manga here (down to all the SD faces).
I think the series will get a more serious, though not darker, tone as time goes on, sort of following the growth of the main characters over time. The whole thing involving Barry the Chopper in the manga is pretty awesome. The fight after that involving Gluttony and Scar will also be quite interesting to see what kind of mood this anime will take.
It wasn’t the best episode so far but what I liked was the obvious change of pacing and slowly the pacing seems to slow down for the new stuff. Especially the darker and serious the series gets the more I like it. The comic relief scenes aren’t that disturbing and are definitely fun to watch from time to time but the serious part should take the greatest part of the screentime.
Well, I hope the change of pacing and mood will change this series into what actually everyone expected of it.
Honestly I love the comedy in this series because I love the comedy in the manga. I guess they can cut down on some of the SD faces but they don’t really bother me and I don’t think they take away from the serious moments (and there are plenty of those as well in the manga).
As for the reveal about the Philosopher Stone’s secret well in the manga that is where the chapter ends at that cliffhanger. In this episode you already continue with the next chapter so that is going to effect some of the suspense. But at the same time most people already know about the true nature of the P. Stone from the 1st series so the suspense is gone anyways. I think things will feel more suspenseful/darker when we get to the new stuff because there will be more surprises for people who have not read the manga.
Barry rocks in the manga, his character is actually interesting and has some awsome sceens. The series will get alot more serious as it progresses as thats the way the manga went. Still enjoying it 🙂
Yeah, I laughed out loud when
Barry phoned Mustang in the manga later….
I agree with everyone that Barry totally rocks in the later chapters of the manga 😀
Don’t worry about Barry. He does appear in the manga but, this whole arc will be very different. It’s already just for the fact that Tucker won’t be there. Anyway, I love Barry in the manga, he was one of my favorite side-characters and he actually ends being somehow important in all of it. If it means anything lol
love your blog
There’s something weird about this episode, feels like the art was so… very.. half-assed unlike the previous ones like episode 5, guess they save the good artists for the action-packed episodes, eh?
hate it when they do that shit though, like Eureka 7, every episode felt like they put all their effort into the art, but in anime like Naruto you occasionally find many episodes half-assed, filler-quality, only rarely the good art appears and only in “important” episodes.
are your hand made from a robot