Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

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Shadow Hog

Shadow Hog

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Dub/Sub, doesn't really matter to me. I will point out that the dub is 43-44 episodes behind the sub, so if you're gonna discuss the sub, I'd recommend putting all the discussion in spoiler tags, so as to not upset those who're sticking with the dub. (Although they're welcome to bite the bullet and catch up if they choose!)

So with regards to the dub, glad to see they reused so much of the original cast. Edward's voice is pretty much perfect for the teen he is (well, okay, he must've hit puberty a bit early, but still, later on in the series where he's obviously being drawn as more of an aged teen, Romi Paku's voice still seems a bit young), Mustang was one of the more memorable voices from the original show (if a bit flat).

Most of the new ones aren't bad, either. Al's voice actor is a perfect fit, and won't have the whole "going to hit puberty in a few years" issue the prior actor had (being an adult woman helps, eh?). Scar's is probably going to take some getting used to, though; grew too attached to the original, who had this sort of WEIGHT behind his lines; this new one is a bit too... whispery, in that regard. McDougal from the first episode sucked, plain and simple; the character is shown to be far more deranged than the voice was honestly able to convey (I think the original actor didn't have any problem). Kimblee... well, I forget if he's a returning actor or not, but I'm not entirely sure his voice'll work once he becomes a more major character in the third season; his seiyuu tended to give him a cool, collected "I really don't care" kind of feel to most of his lines, while this new one... well, it's still pretty cool and collected, but doesn't quite have the same "don't give a shit" feel. Probably more suited for the scenes where he gets to let loose and blow shit up, I guess. Might work, we'll see in... like, 5-6 months, at least.

As for more spoilerific characters...

Not sure if I'm as eager for Fuhrer King Bradley's voice returning, considering he tends to sound rather cheery, in spite of his being the cold, nearly emotionless homunculus Wrath, as evidenced in Episode 14 on. Also, I wonder if Hohenheim's VA is returning (Piccolo's, I think it was)? It'd be nice to give him a role that actually DOES something, unlike the first anime. Heck, wonder who Father's VA will be? He wasn't in the original anime. Maybe they'll have the same actor play both characters? I mean, Father WAS created from Hohenheim in more ways than one, so...
Also, dear God are the cuts annoying. I liked the little images they show just before/after commercial breaks (eyecatches?), and listening to that actor try to come up with weird ways of saying "Fullmetal Alchemist" was pretty amusing. The cut OPs/EDs work, too (although I think the OP chose a rather weak part to start as soon as the title leaves the screen). I hope the DVDs leave those intact... and no previews of the next episodes? Really? Sheesh, I hope they leave the post-credits scenes that a lot of the recent episodes have been including well enough alone, especially since the plot wouldn't make as much sense without them.

Anyway, I haven't read the manga, so I guess I get to discuss where the plot as it stands is now (sub-wise). Spoilers ahoy!

Sheeeeit Hohenheim is powerful. Guess he really DOES do shit in this new anime; not a hard status to improve, considering he didn't do much in the last one other than show up, weird everyone out, comment on how is house was burned down, go off to face Dante, wind up in our world, and ultimately ended up being eaten by a serpentine Envy. (The original anime was kind of weird, honestly. Well-written and worth watching, but this new one is so much better...)

Anyway, I can't help but dread what's happening as we go further on into this. While I don't read the manga, TVTropes has unfortunately spoiled me as to some of the outcome of "The Promised Day". Something about a Chapter 104...

It doesn't end well.
Guess it'll be interesting seeing how it all goes down, considering I unfortunately know the punchline (although there's more to it after that, apparently, so there's always that to look forward to).
So yeah, great series, watch it if you haven't, discuss it here if you like it.
 
Been watching it myself. It's not as tedious as the first and despite the comical actions in more serious moments, it still keeps the general mood of the episode's story keeping it addicting
 
Shadow Hog said:
Anyway, I can't help but dread what's happening as we go further on into this. While I don't read the manga, TVTropes has unfortunately spoiled me as to some of the outcome of "The Promised Day". Something about a Chapter 104...

It doesn't end well.
Guess it'll be interesting seeing how it all goes down, considering I unfortunately know the punchline (although there's more to it after that, apparently, so there's always that to look forward to).
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Don't worry, they get better.

I really do like Brotherhood. It slightly distresses me that I have a friend who refuses to watch it because she liked the first anime more.

The animation is pretty good, too. I mean, I've always loved Studio Bones, but the first few minutes of Episode 5 were extremely fluid.

And on that note of fantastic animation, Wrath vs. Greed, anyone?
 
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I'm trying to keep up with the dub, I know for a fact I don't have time for an archive binge of the sub. Overall, my main issue with the series is that some of the gags feel out of place, and that the per-episode story does not usually wrap up satisfyingly for a serial. (each episode would contain a smaller piece of an overall story, but these pieces feel like they just scrape the surface and then run the credits)

The story looks very promising, although I absolutely could not stand episode three. The gags really broke up what was supposed to be a serious confrontation, the cult aspect of the villain felt tacked-on, the girl's moral/emotional struggle was cliched, drawn-out, and unsympathetic until the end. That whole episode felt rather narm to me, but I'm hoping it won't hurt my experience with the other episodes:

The fact that it was not the victory Ed thought it was, as displayed in a later episode, might give the villain another shot at being a credible threat instead of a generic evil priest character. It may take a few more episodes before I can take him seriously. This does not apply to his partners though.

I know FMA came first, but the whole "soul bound to a suit of armor" thing reminds me of Spirit Tracks every time I watch the series... and that's not a bad thing.
 
Uh... Cornello's dead. Gluttony ate him. The real villains are the homunculi Lust, Gluttony and Envy (the dude - yes, that's a guy - who can shapeshift, and is posing as Cornello), and four other homunculi (the identities of two of whom will cause you to shit bricks)... or, far more importantly, the one they answer to: a man called "Father" (they keep mentioning him, you may have noticed? You can even catch two glimpses of him in the first episode).
PS: I don't consider anything that's occurred in the dub already to be spoiler-tag-worthy...
 
Oh, no spoiler tags for dub discussion? Well okay.

Anyway, doesn't matter whether its the priest or its the shapeshifter, does it? Ed's victory was to stop the phony priest from using the cult to gain power. But the shapeshifter comes into the picture and is going to use the appearance of the phony priest to take advantage of the cult anyway. What victory?

Yeah... well that Lust, Gluttony, and Envy are the real villains is pretty obvious, although Scar seemed to be a little more important for the time being. Anyway, I'm just going to take a totally out-of-the-blue guess at the other four....

Avarice, Pride, Wrath, and Sloth. I assumed the one they referred to as "Father" was their friend who was masquerading as the priest. Of the four though, I'd assume Pride's the leader considering its regarded the deadliest of the sins and Lucifer's sin. (Hmm, I wonder where Despair and Betrayal are though, those seem like biggies)

Anyway, I watched part of the new episode last night, and the gags once again seemed to derail the show a bit, but since unlike the third episode it didn't seem to be getting in the way of an important plot point, it didn't bother me. I still need to rewatch the end, I was tired and could not pay attention to what happened after the librarian finished thanking Ed. (which took a really really really long time)
 
JEV3 said:
Ed's victory was to stop the phony priest from using the cult to gain power. But the shapeshifter comes into the picture and is going to use the appearance of the phony priest to take advantage of the cult anyway. What victory?
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I could've sworn that the reason the Elric brothers went to Liore was because they heard rumors of a Philosopher's Stone. The stone turned out to be a fake, mission failed.
 
Quick recap from where you left off:

After all the thanking, Ed/Al ultimately find out that the ingredients to Philosopher's Stones are live human beings. This info gets passed to Maria Ross/that other dude, who wind up passing it on to Armstrong (because, well, he's intimidating). They determine that there must be something going down in Lab 5, because it was shut down due to structural instability, and yet is right next to a prison, where a fresh supply of live human beings can be obtained right from death row. Armstrong tells the Elric bros. to not do anything stupid, but they investigate anyway. Sure enough, the abandoned building is being guarded. Thus, they sneak in; Ed goes inside a vent, while Al stays outside (he can't fit). Inside, two men in suits of armor realize there's an intrusion and set off to stop it. The episode ends just as one of them attacks Al from above.

That help any?
 
Shadow Hog said:
Also, dear God are the cuts annoying. I liked the little images they show just before/after commercial breaks (eyecatches?), and listening to that actor try to come up with weird ways of saying "Fullmetal Alchemist" was pretty amusing. The cut OPs/EDs work, too (although I think the OP chose a rather weak part to start as soon as the title leaves the screen). I hope the DVDs leave those intact... and no previews of the next episodes? Really? Sheesh, I hope they leave the post-credits scenes that a lot of the recent episodes have been including well enough alone, especially since the plot wouldn't make as much sense without them.
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Considering Adult Swim was nice enough to air the entire show on their midnight block with only one commercial break, that's being grateful.

Though no next episode preview did throw me off somewhat.
 
Autosaver said:
Which anime is better?

This one or the previous one?
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You should be extremely glad this isn't an FMA fan board.

My personal preference is for Brotherhood (higher quality animation, original manga plot) but that doesn't mean the original wasn't bad. In fact, the original stands pretty much almost on par with Brotherhood for me.

Now if only Hohenheim hadn't been completely useless in the first anime.
 
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The original was very good, although I'd argue it had a higher tendency to kick the dog than the new anime does. The pacing also felt a bit more consistent in the first anime (the new one rushes through the first season of the first anime before taking its time with the new material; the first anime has a few one-off episodes early on but eventually gets the overall plot moving at a decent-ish pace and keeps it for the rest of its run).

Brotherhood, however, actually feels like it's going somewhere with its plot. FMAB's villain is far more convincing than FMA's was, if only because his motives are far less ambiguous than her's were (I mean, both were pretty petty, but it was implied in FMA that she was just a weakling, running away from a rather serious problem that was catching up to her whether she liked it or not... while FMAB's is just plain heartless, and, being just as in control of the situation as she had arguably been, is capable of far, far greater atrocities). Plus Hohenheim actually does shit in Brotherhood, and I do like me some Hohenheim.

And, well, then there's the music. To be blunt, Michiru Ohshima's soundtrack for the first was phenomenal. Now, Akira Senju's is pretty damn good too (in fact, after listening to it for 47-or-so episodes, I'd say a good deal of it stands on the same echelon), but... well, let's compare a few tracks, shall we?

Everyday life: "Heavenly Spirit" vs. "Stepping Along"
Okay, I was about to give up finding a decent match for this one, until I discovered the second OST had come out for Brotherhood. It doesn't have many tracks like this one, while the first anime does. I guess that makes the first one more upbeat? Surprising, I thought it tended to be more downtrodden at times.

Goofiness: "Favorite Daughter" vs. "Hum of the Streets"
A stretch, but to be fair, "Hum of the Streets" does get used in some rather goofy moments, such as the battle over the Armstrong estate...

Sorrow: "Parting" vs. "Requiem for the ..."
Ooookay, that song title's a bit of a spoiler, so I'll leave those last two words out. Anyway, I'm pretty sure those who've seen that twist know what I'm talking about. Both soundtracks have this base covered amply, though, and for good reason - FMA really likes shaggy dog stories where you friggin' earn that happy ending. Oh, and both these songs are used for the same scene. It's a real downer. I suppose the first anime's also got "Regret" and "Sorrow" going for it...

Mystery: "Unrest" vs. "Entr'acte"
Both work pretty well for it, I guess, although both evoke different kinds of mysteries...

Behind the scenes: "Suspicion" vs. "Pride"
Both pretty solid tunes, actually... although I have to admit, "Pride" is a pretty apt name. You'll see why eventually.

Action: "Fighting Bravely" vs. "To Be King"
Seriously, I love "To Be King". Still, gotta hand it to Ohshima - that sounds film-quality. I suppose a more apt comparison would be "Battle Scherzo", but that seems to fit the next category more...

Dramatic victories: "Sin" vs. "Battle Scherzo"
...but yet, while "Battle Scherzo" is good, but "Sin" is just amazing in scope. You can literally feel your spirits uplifting in this one. And I can't even remember where it gets used! (Apparently Mustang's final battle?) "Fanfare for the Brave" from Brotherhood is okay too, but is a lot more muted than either tune.

Happy endings: "Reunion" vs. "Home ~en route to Resembool~"
Funnily enough, FMA's OST has like four of these songs in a row... but this one's the one that stands out in my mind. Honestly, Brotherhood's opts more like a "ah, well, all's well that end's well!" sort of feel, while the first anime opts for a more honest, heartfelt feeling. And considering this is one anime where you really have to earn those happy endings... (yes I said that already shut up)

Melancholy: "Bratja" vs. "Trisha's Lullaby"
Honestly, I'm gonna say it right here - "Bratja" is the most memorable tune out of either soundtrack, setting the tone for both series as a whole, so I'm incredibly biased towards its soundtrack. "Lullaby" does a decent job of emulating that feel, but it doesn't quite reach the heights "Bratja" does.

And, well, I'm sorry, but "READY STEADY GO" is Fullmetal Alchemist. Full stop. Hell, after rewatching it, it'd probably have worked pretty well as an OP for Brotherhood, too! Although as far as EDs go, I've grown rather fond of "Shunkan Sentimental" (I'd link the actual ED, but it's pretty spoilerific for Brotherhood...)

tl;dr: I have a hard-on for FMA soundtracks

What was the question again? Which one do I prefer? Yeah, Brotherhood. Except I prefer FMA's music. That sums it up.
 
So I just watched Fifth Laboratory. I really liked the way 66 tried to demoralize Al in order to make it a more fair fight, but if it were not for episode 2, it would be a great way to get the viewer to question it as well. Now either its gonna feel cheap because Al is concerned over something the viewer knows to be false, or if they pull a wild card and it turns out to be true, its a retcon of actual footage.

Well, I assume Ed is going to need to be repaired AGAIN thanks to that fight. I like Winfrey though... so I wouldn't mind her showing up again at some point in the next few episodes.

Now to decide whether to continue watching it on CN or to watch the subbed version.
 
Both are good choices, honestly - although the series really is meant to be watched in weekly half-hour bites, so I can't guarantee that going on an archive binge and watching multiple episodes at a time isn't going to be a bit overwhelming. At least it's not the first anime; that one felt like it had more depressing plot twists than the manga/Brotherhood has, so watching it on an archive binge would feel like you'd been run over by a semi, emotionally (an emotional semi, I guess).

Also it's "Winry".

New intro already? Sheesh, I'd have thought we'd have to wait until 53 or so, keep it lined up on the 13s.

Anyway, God those one-eyed bastards are freaky. I have no idea how Ed, Scar and those three chimeras are gonna get out of this one - although there're still the loose ends of Hohenheim, Lan Fan, May Chang and Greed also running around the same facility, all pretty much with a vendetta against Father (except maybe May, who's just there because Envy told her to be), so I suppose one of them can pull a Big Damn Heroes here.

Also nice to see Sloth actually do something other than stand around staring off into space. Gives one of my favorite wasn't-in-the-first-anime characters more screen time (Olivier, natch).

Lastly, Al just took a level in badass, I dare say. Go on, Al, kick that little kid's butt! You can do it!
 
I can't wait for the DVDs to eventually come out here. Being a fan of the manga, I watched a few episodes, up until 11, I think and I found this one a lot better than the first anime.
 
This week's episode felt extremely short. I'm almost wondering if the dub is cutting anything out besides just half the opening and credits and the previews. I wonder if it is a coincidence that the only episode I watched that seemed a normal length was the only episode I watched subbed.

Still, it was an excellent episode. The flashback at the beginning caught me off-guard... I don't remember them having the snippet before the title, although I do remember them dropping the little thing on alchemy before the music.

I'm not entirely sure what to expect from Col. Mustang... He hasn't had as much attention as the other state alchemists, perhaps this episode is where that changes. I'd like to see more of him though, he's headed into what promises to be a very interesting conflict.

EDIT: Okay, I get it. Mustang's the guy that wants to be the fuhrer, Hughes is the guy that gushes about his wife and daughter. I've only seen ten episodes, I'm allowed to not know some of the names... right?
 
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JEV3 said:
This week's episode felt extremely short. I'm almost wondering if the dub is cutting anything out besides just half the opening and credits and the previews. I wonder if it is a coincidence that the only episode I watched that seemed a normal length was the only episode I watched subbed.
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IIRC, the dubbed airing doesn't cut out anything besides both credits, the character cards and the previews.

I'm not entirely sure what to expect from Col. Hughes... He hasn't had as much attention as the other state alchemists, perhaps this episode is where that changes. I'd like to see more of him though, he's headed into what promises to be a very interesting conflict.
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Oh god...
 
is dead. What more conflict is there?

The conflict that this is setting up, actually, is Roy Mustang vs. the homunculi... and let me tell you, when that finally reaches its climax, it is one hell of a climax - assuming what I've seen thus far in the subs even qualifies as its climax.
 
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And what episode do I have to watch to be able to click on those little spoiler buttons without regretting it? :E

Well if my schedule gets a little bit more open, I think I will start watching the subs. I can at least watch it more regularly than one a week then, if I resist the temptation to archive binge.
 
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