Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 53




Wow, what an episode. Roy is back in the spotlight, and immediately steals it again. The action-scenes around him were just awesome. The animation, the way that Envy kept playing dirty and screwing up, it all worked wonderfully, not to mention that it was an exceptionally emotionally charged fight as we finally see him get the chance to avenge Hughes’ death.

And even though Mustang was incredibly powerful, it’s not like he god-moded himself through the fight as well: the creators made sure to not make this into just a one-sided bashfest due to that twist at the end of the episode: Mustang not taking into consideration that Envy could also change into Hawkeye. While not Darker than Black, this is another series in which being the strongest doesn’t necessarily mean being able to win every fight, and it does so without overdoing it by having weaklings win against incredible odds. Of course, this was a bit of a cliched cliff-hanger: the fact that we do not see Envy shoot means that he’s either going to miss, or just not shoot at all due to something (either Roy or the real Hawkeye) getting in his way.

And aside from the action, I also love those tiny details that are in the non-action parts of the show, like how during the broadcast, some of the guys had trouble holding in their laughs as they played around with the military on the phone. At this point, they really have nothing to lose, so they can really take such a risk of hacking into radio broadcasts, in order to gather up as many allies as possible.

One small bit of criticism here is the following: the past few episodes have really focused on a select amount of characters. I also would have liked what the characters who weren’t in the spotlights were doing. Not much, of course, just a few shots of were they were in each episode. For example, Hohenheim still is walking around somewhere, but we have no idea where that is. I actually think that it would make the series more complete if we occasionally got a small update on what guys like him, Al and also characters like Izumi and Father were up to.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

24 thoughts on “Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 53

  1. The twist is actually better than you think 😉

    But I will say this episode isn’t so much about the fight itself and more about what this is doing to Roy.

  2. Envy doesn’t necessarily need to be Hawkeye, actually. Didn’t she say early on that if Mustang went too far, she would be the one to pull the trigger on him??? I don’t know, so don’t tell me if I’m right or wrong here, but it doesn’t need to be Envy in a Hawkeye-disguise… Anyway, I don’t think this is a cliched cliffhanger. I believe the creators will have something unexpected in store for us.

  3. Even with the twist at the end, this was still mostly an episode of Mustang curb-stomping Envy. A closer fight would have been fun, but this wasn’t bad either.

  4. The past 3 episodes have done nothing but make me more and more excited about this show. I can’t believe we still have 10 more episodes of this AWESOMENESS

  5. wow! you’re fast.. i watched this just a few minutes ago..
    i already know who envy is..
    BWAHAHA!(evil laugh)
    ..
    Roy Mustang is effing COOL xD

  6. Goddamn, Bones really doing a great job on this. In the manga he was fcking pissed off at Envy, but in this episode he’s REALLY fucking pissed off, I felt this was expressed better than the manga. Keep it up Bones!

  7. Although might not be so important, but i like little details like these, In the manga he said his left glove was for pinpoint attacks and right glove causes explosive flames.

  8. i am also loving the animation . i think ep 52 w al vs kimblee and pride was especially well done. also, i was expecting a better battle of strength between these two but it certainly makes more sense this way. lastly , i love how this series has portrayed mustangs power. he hasnt had much battle specific airtime; one almost forgets just how powerful he is .

  9. its often the characters that have been missing for a while that usually reappear in big dramatic reveal scenes, so its far better you don’t see them before hand as it would ruin the suspense. Just be glad you’re not a manga reader; we where waiting around a year for particular characters to turn up.

  10. I’m glad you liked this episode, including the part of the radio broadcasting. Not many people I’ve seen on forums liked that part but I thought it was very interesting to see that even the people of Amestris are starting to get involved. Probably not in a fighting way like the others but they can still impact the story. Can’t wait to see what you think for the next episode!

  11. The sheer number of RAGE faces Roy made was insane this episode.

    I’ve been waiting 7 years for this moment. I couldn’t believe Hughes’ death stayed unsolved in the 2003 anime. So damn glad to see Envy getting the roasting he deserves.

  12. Amazing isn’t enough to credit this episode with!! i couldn’t keep my Jaw from falling in surprise and astonishment !!!

    My only comment here is with Dolls scene before Roy interfered and fried all of them . why where they not aiming at the dolls legs like last episode? i mean last time they figured how to affect them and this time they are just fighting helplessly! – it really caught/ interfered with my attention –

  13. i love how mustang unleashed his torturous streak on envy, people like him usually do have that bit in them. you should never piss them off, though it does take something like killing a best friend.

  14. It was simply great watching Envy turn into the wife like that. It’s also good to see Roy in action. The first series never actually gave him the credit he was due.

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