Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 3 Discussion/Poll

[danin8r44]

Honestly, this is my favorite of the FMA2 episodes yet. Maybe it is because I was no big fan of the first two episodes, but I was also very happy that they followed the manga pretty closely(not exact but still) and that they rushed through this arc a bit. We already have a great first season adaptation of this arc and so irregardless of how well they did it it would still feel a bit like a simple redo. The fact that they are moving fast but still keeping it entertaining gives me a good feeling about the future episodes and an even better feeling of which parts of the manga it looks like they will choose to focus on.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

slayerx the only reason to give rose the gun is that

Spoiler for spoiler about manga kind of:

later on they intend to bring her back in much similar fashion as the first season, and make her a more prevalent character even though in the manga her role is quite limited.

Hopefully they'll follow the manga in that regard, and not go down a similar route as the first season. They shouldn't anyway, seeing as though this is supposed to be a close adaptation of the manga.

[germanturkey]

i can't believe SHS said Ed gave up his left arm to bind Al's soul...

anyways, its moving along briskly. and it was another entertaining episode.

[The Avatar]

Huh, not sure what to think of this episode. It brought up some nice feelings of nostalgia cuz I read the manga and watched the first series but I can't help but feel that the episode was a bit of a letdown though it's not really their fault.

This part of the manga and first show was one of my favorites and I feel that they didn't do it justice in this second series though like I said it's not really their fault because this is a reboot and they can't spend two of their precious episodes retreading old ground. So I can understand. But I still feel disapointed that they didn't go deeper into Rose's storyline or have most of the dramatic scenes from the Lior arc or keep the intensity of some of the dramatic scenes.

I won't go into more detail about my disapointments. All in all I liked it and am looking forward to next week's episode. And btw is it just me or is the animation just not as good as the first series. It looked a little off to me and I have to check my old FMA dvd's to confirm it.

[Sannom]

I'm personally still surprised when people say that they liked Lior in the manga... between the number of inconsistencies with what Ed can do in alchemy, the weak enemy, and so on, I thought everyone came to consider it as a "necessary evil" (I consider the entire first tome as "weak" myself) Apparently it's not the case.

[Grif]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

i can't believe SHS said Ed gave up his left arm to bind Al's soul...

anyways, its moving along briskly. and it was another entertaining episode.

It gets worse, there is even a shot in the episode where it was drawn that he lost his left arm =/.

*tries to find shot*

EDIT

Found it:

Spoiler for Large Image:

Unless i am missing something really obvious. Silly Bones.

[Xacual]

Maybe it was just me but I thought that was being reflected in Rose's eyes, hence the mirror effect.

[LordCalgar1984]

It is a reflection in Rose's eyes, so yeah only a mirror effect.

[Grif]

Ahh, that would explain it. Thought it was a bit to obvious of a mistake to make.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Xacual

Maybe it was just me but I thought that was being reflected in Rose's eyes, hence the mirror effect.

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think mirror effect does that.

[kamikazex]

sweet. gotta see lust lol my favorite villain character

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think mirror effect does that.

Sure it does, just look in a mirror and hold up your right arm... it makes the arm look like your left

[Xacual]

I guess to explain it better, we're not seeing it from Rose's point of view, we're looking into Rose's eye and seeing a reflection of what she, herself is looking at.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

Sure it does, just look in a mirror and hold up your right arm... it makes the arm look like your left

Yep I was wrong, tested it out and that's the view I see.

[Nosauz]

still didn't get see ed transmute a huge statue of leto... disappointing

[FlareKnight]

Well was a good enough episode. Felt a little like we were introducing the series again though.

Anyways did feel for Rose at the end of this. Supports were just ripped down and left to try and find her own way. Bit strange coming from Ed who had Roy come in and lay down a path for him to follow. Though I guess since he didn't have a good answer might as well not try offering one. Not saying things should have been left the way they were since Cornelo's plans weren't good. But it's just unfortunate how everything ended up turning out. At least she got some short jokes on him during the episode .

Maybe Ed should start wearing a nametag so Al isn't always mistaken for him . Might save him some time that way.

One heck of a headshot by Lust at the end as well. That's one way to shut the guy up.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by Sannom

I'm personally still surprised when people say that they liked Lior in the manga... between the number of inconsistencies with what Ed can do in alchemy, the weak enemy, and so on, I thought everyone came to consider it as a "necessary evil" (I consider the entire first tome as "weak" myself) Apparently it's not the case.

I don't recall much in terms of inconsistencies... aside from the crazy sword arm he made his automail into; which as a said before, makes it seem like he wouldn't need a mechanic

And one thing you need to take into account was that this was the very first chapter/arc of the manga... we were not shown more powerful enemies; the first enemy for a lot of series is someone rather weak... a punk who is largely unimportant and will either be quickly forgotten, or end up as a returning comic relief character

The first arc is meant to establish who our main characters are and what they are all about, and Lior does that very well... We get a good sense of who Ed and Al are, in a small story that which is nice in it's own right

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Anyways did feel for Rose at the end of this. Supports were just ripped down and left to try and find her own way. Bit strange coming from Ed who had Roy come in and lay down a path for him to follow. Though I guess since he didn't have a good answer might as well not try offering one. Not saying things should have been left the way they were since Cornelo's plans weren't good. But it's just unfortunate how everything ended up turning out. At least she got some short jokes on him during the episode .

Well, Ed didn't have a "perfectly good pair of legs" to stand up with and move on... =p
though technically you could say that Mustang told Ed relatively the same thing; i mean if you break down Mustang's message it pretty much pans out to be "wallow here in dispair, or get up and try to do something about your problems"... the military was a way to move on... though since he was talking about the military directly, and was giving him some direction, that's why i say only "technically"

Maybe Ed should start wearing a nametag so Al isn't always mistaken for him . Might save him some time that way.

What and ruin a perfectly good running gag =p

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

What and ruin a perfectly good running gag =p

You know even if Ed did have a name tag, i'm 100% sure people wouldn't read it and jump to conclusions straight away. Hey that would make great 4-koma material.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

And one thing you need to take into account was that this was the very first chapter/arc of the manga... we were not shown more powerful enemies; the first enemy for a lot of series is someone rather weak... a punk who is largely unimportant and will either be quickly forgotten, or end up as a returning comic relief character

The first arc is meant to establish who our main characters are and what they are all about, and Lior does that very well... We get a good sense of who Ed and Al are, in a small story that which is nice in it's own right

I always saw the 1st volume very much as a set up volume to introduce us to Ed & Al and the world a little. Lior, Youswell and the train arc are not the best chapters (although they have their amusing moments) as they are very much episodic adventures. I think the real meat of Fullmetal Alchemist comes with the

Spoiler for minor spoiler:

Nina storyline which is then followed perfectly by Scar.

as it shows that our lead characters are still children and not invincible at all.

Well, Ed didn't have a "perfectly good pair of legs" to stand up with and move on... =p
though technically you could say that Mustang told Ed relatively the same thing; i mean if you break down Mustang's message it pretty much pans out to be "wallow here in dispair, or get up and try to do something about your problems"... the military was a way to move on... though since he was talking about the military directly, and was giving him some direction, that's why i say only "technically"

Moving forward and not giving into despair is just an important theme of the manga story line.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Good episode (I didn't expect anything less), though the fact that I already knew what was going to happen did take a bit of the suspense out, though. But I will admit they did a good job on mixing it up a bit.

But, as much as I hate to say it, Rose's naive belief that somehow her boyfriend will come back to life had always been pathetic to me, both in the manga and the old series. As immature as Ed and Al are (they're still kids after all), even they have come to the conclusion that dead people, are in fact, dead. Even if it took them a failed human transmutation to finally get there. I found Rose's attempts to convince Ed, very clearly and atheist, of the existence of God. Or a god, at least. In any case, I might be Christian but her unconvincing argument made me think of a little kid trying to convince a skeptical adult of the existence of her magical, imaginary friend.

Now don't get me wrong, Rose has had it rough. But compared to how rough Ed and Al have had it made her inability to cope by comparison rather disappointing. I mean, I would have thought she would have been a little bit more grateful once she realized she was just being used by Cornello, but all I saw was a breakdown. Again, I am a manga reader, but this has always bugged me. Ed could certainly have been a bit kinder and less apathetic (he was solely focused on the stone), but at the same time Rose was way to clingy and dependent on a vain hope that was doubtful and dodgy even in the best of light. I suppose a lot of this stems from dramatic irony (where we as the audience know more than the characters), but still any smart person would have realized that if Cornello could really bring back the dead, he would have already.