Fullmetal Alchemist - Spoilers & Speculation (for experienced Alchemists only)

[Shiroth]

I'm just glad it's been made officially clear that the two formats are ending at the same time, otherwise i'd be even more worried then i am now.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by duckroll

BONES is really cutting it close. Ep59 ends at the end of ch102. Based on the preview of ep60, it'll have to cover at least 2 whole chapters. Ep61 has to cover about that much too. It'll be interesting to see how fast paced the action sequences are, and how much of the dialogue they cut down on to make it all fit.

Looking back over 103 and 104, I can see them doing it. They're pretty fast-paced chapters that shouldn't take up as much on screen as they do on the page. My worry is how they're going to fit the longest four chapters in the series into the last three episodes...

[duckroll]

Episode 60 aired. Covers up until the last few pages of ch104, but not to the very end of it. Ends with the major event as expected.

The MORE interesting detail is that Sengoku Basara season 2 is officially starting 11th July. Which means there is either a one week break, or FMA:B has been extended to 64 episodes.

[Shiroth]

I'll be really surprised if we get one more episodes. Will say that the series would need it.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

Looking back over 103 and 104, I can see them doing it. They're pretty fast-paced chapters that shouldn't take up as much on screen as they do on the page. My worry is how they're going to fit the longest four chapters in the series into the last three episodes...

Spoiler for Episode 60:

Boy, did I call it or what? They even had the end of 103 right before the eyecatch. Only thing missing was the Ed!Father reveal at the end of 104, which should be pre-OP (if there is an OP) next week. They even squeezed in Brosh and Ross reuniting, which I thought might be skipped.

On a separate note, I think this really marks the point where the anime staff started getting drafts and outlines instead of full chapters to run their storyboarding off of. The story was a pitch-perfect rendition of the two chapters as it pertains to plot developments and most events, but there were a few slight differences (mostly visual) that make me think they weren't working from the actual chapters.

They've been adding and modifying a few things here and there over the last several episodes, but this is the first ep where it looks like they didn't intentionally get from point J to point K in a slightly different way from Arakawa.

[duckroll]

The preview for ep61 definitely shows scenes from chaper 106, so as expected, ep60 = 103-104, ep61 = 105-106. Very fast paced episodes, and great looking action. That means if they want to, they can still end it with ep62 = 107, ep63 = 108. The only unknown factor is how long chapter 108 is, and what the ratio of action to drama there is. The only way I can see it being extended to 64 eps is if the final chapter was literally too long to adapt without making a compromised and lackluster finale to the series.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by duckroll

Episode 60 aired. Covers up until the last few pages of ch104, but not to the very end of it. Ends with the major event as expected.

The MORE interesting detail is that Sengoku Basara season 2 is officially starting 11th July. Which means there is either a one week break, or FMA:B has been extended to 64 episodes.

Wouldn't surprise me much. This episode showed that they can squeeze 80 pages of manga into one episode quite nicely, but they might need a quicker pace than that if they want to end in 63. And I imagine 108 is going to be a lot slower-paced than the chapters before it...

Originally Posted by duckroll

The preview for ep61 definitely shows scenes from chaper 106, so as expected, ep60 = 103-104, ep61 = 105-106. Very fast paced episodes, and great looking action. That means if they want to, they can still end it with ep62 = 107, ep63 = 108. The only unknown factor is how long chapter 108 is, and what the ratio of action to drama there is. The only way I can see it being extended to 64 eps is if the final chapter was literally too long to adapt without making a compromised and lackluster finale to the series.

Well, if they keep the same pace as this episode, as things in the next couple chapters run at about the same pace, if not a bit faster, then ~80 pages an episode comes out just about right for the ~200 pages of 104-107 and another 50~60 for 108. That means part of 106 in the next one, most of 107 in 62, and a little of 107 in the finale. Much more than that, or a slow-paced 108, and there's trouble.

My stream wasn't the best quality, but once the raw comes out, I'll try to pin down exactly how much of 106 we might get in the next one. The plot is pretty linear from here on out (not a lot of switching from one group to another, and what there is is very time-sensitive), so it should be easy to tell.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

Wouldn't surprise me much. This episode showed that they can squeeze 80 pages of manga into one episode quite nicely, but they might need a quicker pace than that if they want to end in 63. And I imagine 108 is going to be a lot slower-paced than the chapters before it...

Yeah, that's basically all I'm "concerned" about at this point. When the series moves fast, and there's a lot of action, BONES adapts and condenses it VERY well. The animators are good enough to get maximum bang for the buck, so even if a fight scene is just one 60-90 seconds, it can perfectly capture a 10 page fight, and even add original stuff into it. So when chapters are filled with several of these long fights, there's no problem in adaption.

The problem could only emerge that there's much more drama and resolution in the final chapter than expected, in which case they would have to dedicate ep62-63 to the final battle itself (including what's left in the final chapter), while dedicating one more episode to tying up all the loose ends.

Either way, I supposed we don't have to wait long to find out. Tomorrow there should be information from Newtype as to whether the series is 63 or 64 episodes long, and by the end of the week we should have the final chapter to read for ourselves.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by duckroll

When the series moves fast, and there's a lot of action, BONES adapts and condenses it VERY well. The animators are good enough to get maximum bang for the buck, so even if a fight scene is just one 60-90 seconds, it can perfectly capture a 10 page fight, and even add original stuff into it. So when chapters are filled with several of these long fights, there's no problem in adaption.

You're thinking of Mei vs Father, aren't you? ^_^

Spoiler for ep 60:

I thought one of the additions (Mei's surprise rentanjutsu) was genius, but the manic gunman Father was a little much...

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

You're thinking of Mei vs Father, aren't you?

I'm thinking of many of the action sequences in the final arc (ep52 onwards) actually. In particular the Al vs Kimblee and Pride sequence. That sort of animation is really pretty amazing. An uninterrupted 90 second battle that flows really smoothly and has tons of awesome animation effects and sequencing that moving pictures benefit from.

While the manga sequence was great too, it took advantage of still moments and general panel choreography which Arakawa is great at (as a comic artist, she should be). BONES on the other hand relied on great storyboarding that made the sequence outstanding in motion. It was about a 10 page fight in the manga, which made it about 1/4 of a chapter on its own. In ep52, BONES managed to adapt it such that it's 90 seconds, and all wrapped up before the title card came up. Yet the viewer doesn't feel cheated, and there's no feeling of it being compressed or compromised.

Sadly we can't say this for the entire series, especially for the more drawn out character moments and more talky development arcs. That's mainly where I feel BONES really dropped the ball throughout in adapting the manga. There isn't a consistent pace and very often things either feel too fast or too slow when people aren't fighting. They're great with the action, but the character drama adaptation was lacking. Maybe it is because they realize this, that they're trying their best not to avoid making the very end of the series feel that way at least. We'll see.

[Serpit]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

Wouldn't surprise me much. This episode showed that they can squeeze 80 pages of manga into one episode quite nicely, but they might need a quicker pace than that if they want to end in 63. And I imagine 108 is going to be a lot slower-paced than the chapters before it...


Well, if they keep the same pace as this episode, as things in the next couple chapters run at about the same pace, if not a bit faster, then ~80 pages an episode comes out just about right for the ~200 pages of 104-107 and another 50~60 for 108. That means part of 106 in the next one, most of 107 in 62, and a little of 107 in the finale. Much more than that, or a slow-paced 108, and there's trouble.

I still firmly believe that 61 won't cover the entirety of 106, but rather up to

Spoiler for spoilers:

Pride's defeat.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Serpit

I still firmly believe that 62 won't cover the entirety of 107, but rather up to

Spoiler for spoilers:

Pride's defeat.

That happened in 106.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

That happened in 106.

And it's going to happen next week in Ep61. The director's comments on the cast recording for that episode pretty much confirms it.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by duckroll

And it's going to happen next week in Ep61. The director's comments on the cast recording for that episode pretty much confirms it.

Well, hell, that's almost the end of the chapter... Maybe we are getting 105 and 106 in one episode...

[Serpit]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

That happened in 106.

Uh, yeah. Brain fart, sorry. I mant to say that 61 won't cover the entirety of 106, but rather end with that event. The rest of 106 + all of 107 would then be in 62.

[Vicious108]

Apparently a 64th episode has now been confirmed.

Spoiler for Scan:

If true, I'm relieved.

[Jeffry2009]

Originally Posted by Endless Twilight

Apparently a 64th episode has now been confirmed.

Spoiler for Scan:

If true, I'm relieved.

I was right! This episode won't be just 63 episodes.

[K_Babyy]

Originally Posted by Endless Twilight

Apparently a 64th episode has now been confirmed.

Spoiler for Scan:

If true, I'm relieved.

I'd be relieved too, it's kinda stressing me out that these are the longest chapters and they only have 3 eps left to do them in.

[duckroll]

64 episodes in total confirmed. Here's the scan including staff for the final episodes:

Spoiler:

[Shiroth]

Brilliant news. Now i'm not as worried about it being rushed.