I’m noticing something pretty weird with this series. Scenes that were nearly the same as in the first season suddenly turn out to have much more impact when compared to when I watched them for the first time. I should be getting bored right now, for having to rewatch the same thing all over again, and yet I’m not…
So yeah, this episode tells the Izumi arc. It’s pretty similar to the original series one, with again some notable differences: Ed and Al never went back to the island they were dropped off at (I’m not really sure why they wanted to go back there so badly… probably nostalgia), and so they never met Wrath. We also learn that in Brotherhood, Ed hates his father even more than he did in the original series, and Hohenheim in his turn looked nothing like the caring yet stupid father who simply was too long away from home for some reason.
But the scene that hit me the most was where Izumi discovered that Ed and Al had tried to revive their mother, and the way she related their hardships to her own loss of her dead-born child. She didn’t bash them into the ground, like I remember her doing in the original series, but instead she immediately recognized that she should have told the two of them about how one should never attempt to revive the dead.
It’s interesting how the homunculi have played such a small role so far. At this point in the original series, we had Wrath wreaking havoc, there was Greed (who also didn’t show up yet), and they were much more involved with the storyline. Here, all they did was preventing people from getting too close to the philosopher’s stone. At the same time I’m also wondering whether Izumi’s teacher still is the same person, and whether she still also is the one behind the homunculi like she was in the first series (if you’ve read the manga, please don’t spoil, because I’d like to find that one out through watching the series ;)).
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Izumi’s proper introduction, and despite the lack of action a great addition to this series.
I am glad you enjoyed the episode, I had some issues with it but I guess only in how I compare it to the manga. Your post shows me that the episode can still be enjoyed despite these changes.
Anyways no spoilers but I will tell you that it looks like manga only stuff will start by episode 14 and definitely by episode 15.
It was a really compacted episode, even when compared to the manga. I wanted to see Ed and Al being chased around by Mason (the guy with the mask and club) darn it!
Yeah they left out the guy in the mask and compacted the stay on the island. I don’t really see it as have too fast a pace though. The series has started to fit into its own pace and it will have to adapt the manga such that the pacing isn’t disturbed. With that in mind they did a pretty damn good job of it. They way the series is moving the island part would take up “at least” a full episode and they needed the time to actually have the brothers reunite with Izumi first plus the island part doesn’t really have a breaking point in the middle if they couldn’t do it in one episode.
Thus, they changed it and made it work.
I had a hard time watching this episode becuase of the slight differences,
I mean the ordering in the manga is different, Izumi confronts them about their state and tells them to explain everything which leads into the flashbacks and then ends with after Izumi shouting at them and disowning them as pupils and the manga then finishes up with Izumi conforting the boys as equals.
What bugged me more was the lack of Mason as TJ said, he made their stay on the island a real fight for survival, he stole their food and attacks them relentlessly til the point where they are near death this is when Ed has the epithany about ‘all is one and one is all’. However this episode was still pretty good and not my biggest qualm with the series so far [my biggest qualm was with first episode and then the missing Coswell mining town episode]
Ah well, lack of mason is disapointing but no real loss as far as i’m concerned. I thought the seen when Izumi figures out their condition was more moving than in either the manga or first series.
Enjoying it so far the pacing issues of the early series have seemingly been solved as it falls into its own pace.
lol yeah i didnt like that they took out mason on the island, but i guess they want to get to the manga only stuff soon. (I cant wait for it!)