Whoa, I must say that this episode really caught me off-guard. It really is one of those episodes that’s a perfect example of how good this series can be: fun and tense at the same time, hardly impossible to predict and full of some very surprising plot twists.
Where to start? Because the creators killed off Marcoh in the first season, I really expected the same here… yet he is merely kidnapped. It does make sense: whatever the Humonculi are after is somehow related to the Philosopher’s Stone, so it would make sense for them to recruit the help of someone who is very knowledgeable about it.
But the really fun part in this episode was the part that took place in the forest. Overall it was a very creative action scene with this series’ trademark style of delivering comedy, action and drama all at the same time. Especially Gluttony got a bit of depth: we learn that he at least has half a braincell, and isn’t a complete berserk. Yet again, this guy is developing so completely different from the first series.
We also get our first glimpse of pride… who turns out to have powers of either invisibility or telepathy, and I also really liked the parts that featured Lan Fan, as she was unable to do anything for her master due to her losing her arm. My favourite of this episode was Envy, though. He was a very nice villain, and it’s a bloody shame that he died in this episode. there was so much potential left in him.
This episode ended with Roy Mustang, finding out that the problem isn’t just that the Fuhrer is a Humonculus, but he also has a ton of allies at his side. Thinking back, the first season never mentioned any of this, right? Now that I think about it, it would indeed have been a bit strange for just one or two humonculi on their own: one screw-up and everyone knows who they are. With enough allies on their side, they could cover up for them in those cases (such as, right now with Roy).
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 24
I’m glad you liked this. The best part is that the next 2 episodes should be the best parts of the series thus far. They have a huge amount of twists and development. I consider it one of the best parts of the whole manga, so it will be EPIC.
I agree with the comment above, that the next few episodes will cover one of the best and most awesome parts of the manga. Ever since Brotherhood began, these have been the episodes I’ve been waiting for the most, and I hope that the creators will do them justice, as they did with Roy vs Lust fight.
Truthfully, when the anime started I didn’t think we’d get to this part until episodes 40+
On one hand it’s cool because we get to see all this stuff sooner, and the story has a faster pace, on the other a lot of stuff has been left out…
Highly anticipating the upcoming episodes! There’s awesomeness for at least 3 more episodes
Perrin, if they didn’t get this far until episode 40+ there’d be no way the rest of the manga could get animated, considering it’s going to be a 50ish episode run. Although, it could’ve been better if the show was paced a little slower, I don’t think it would’ve been practical. Oh well
Yeah, Envy was pretty awesome in this episode. I’m a bit curious though, psgels why did you think Envy died in this episode? He’s still there in the preview you know.
I guess it’s already been pointed out, but Envy is in the preview, so I don’t think you need to worry about him dying yet. xD
@Keith
Where did you hear that the series would run for 50ish episodes?
@ntd, I think psgels tries not to watch previews, unless I’m mistaken
@darker, I thought it was generally accepted that FMA was running for 50ish episodes. That’s kind of the shortest it can be to maintain the story properly. And that’s how long the first series was. I can’t see it being 60+, can you?
Well, I can basically see it running for as long as necessary to finish the story of the manga. Only the manga isn’t finished yet, and last I heard it wasn’t going to end any time soon. This has me worried. After all, what’s the point of making another FMA at this point? Why not wait a year or two?
But hey, I’m happy enough. I haven’t seen any of the episodes myself (waiting for the show, or at least the season, to end), but it seems to be excellent 🙂
@darkerthanblackswordsman
Where did you hear that manga wasn’t going to end any time soon? Since to me it actually seems quite the opposite.
As for the anime, I think that it’ll close in 50-something episodes, too. It already reached volume 13, so it’s more than halfway through the currently existing material of 23 manga volumes. Assuming there’s only a few volumes left to be released, the probability of anime ending at episode 50+ is rather high at the moment.
Yeah. I honestly feel that it can end in about 5-6 more chapters. If it takes 6 chapters, that’s 6 more months. By that time the anime will have already caught up. So either it will cut it insanely close, the manga will be longer than 6 more chapters and well…that would suck.
This episode was intense!! I can’t believe that they “killed” Ed, Ling and Envy. Where did they go?? I can’t wait for the next episode to find out how Ed escapes.
It makes sense that Wrath would have underlings in the government who know about his identity. He probably bribed them with fame, fortune, eternal life etc. to get them to work with him. How else was he supposed to get to the top if he didn’t have help getting there.
My favorite scene was when they were running for their lives in the forrest and the little panda was streaming behind Al’s helmet. It was so cute and funny. I love that panda. Where can I get one? haha.
Just wanted to say you’ve missed an OVA. It was released with the DVD. The 15 mins episode is called The Blind Alchemist (or something similar to that). It’s really good, you should definitely see it.
For one, it didn’t look like Envy died. I remember what Lust had said about their core being the philosophers stone in their chest, looked like that got sucked in.
Also, that part with Selim kind of stood out. Seemed kind of random, but then with this series it could be really strange foreshadowing.