Personal Note: Things are looking up!

[nebroadwe]

We survived the first Triduum service yesterday evening, and this morning I woke up to episode 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, legally available in the U.S. practically on top of its Japanese release. If this is the future, I like it. I enjoyed the opening scenes, with their foreshadowing of future concepts, very much: the night view of Central from above down to the array being drawn on the sidewalk, and then the prominent placement of the map of Amestris on the Führer's office wall. On another visual note, they used a lot more SD this time around; I'll be watching how they integrate that into the drama with skeptical attention. I'll also be waiting to see how they fold the explanation of what MacDougal was up to into the larger plot. (His death was very awkwardly animated -- c'mon, Bones, this is not like you.) The pace of this episode felt a touch forced, as plot axiom after plot axiom was ticked off (e.g. everyone mistakes Al for the Fullmetal Alchemist, Ed hates being called short, he doesn't get along with Roy, Roy is useless when wet, Ishbal was a horror show, Armstrong sparkles, Ed's not paying attention to the larger situation in Amestris, etc., etc., etc.) but I suspect the intent is to skim or skip most of the manga's establishing material and move as quickly as possible to the parts of the plot not covered by the first version of the anime. But the voice acting was quite nice: it was good to hear Romi Paku and Rie Kugimiya return as Ed and Al, but I also enjoyed Hidekatsu Shibata as King Bradley and Kenji Utsumi as Armstrong, as well as everyone else. Next up: backstory, including our first glimpses of Winry! Can't hardly wait ...

Of course, the very next thing I encountered was a weather report, confirming that we're going to have rain this afternoon. Rats. We've got a leak in the choir loft that drips ugly, sticky, reddish glop in wet weather; also a window that won't shut and blows damp breezes right down my neck. I guess we'll just have to offer it up, as my mother would say.

Comments

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

suspect the intent is to skim or skip most of the manga's establishing material and move as quickly as possible to the parts of the plot not covered by the first version of the anime

I never thought about it this way. I assumed more it was to add in as much character detail and action to hook people like a good pilot should. I'd rather hoped they wouldn't suddenly fast foward to where the other anime went astray.

[ishte.livejournal.com]

Ick... on the reddish sticky glop... kind of sounds like bluuuud. Blech.

How did you like Mustang's new voice actor? I like him. Thought it was cool how a tenor could carry that sarcasm and feigned boredom so well.

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

I agree the kinda pushed everyone's little quirks too much in the first ep, Ed being called short and Al being called Fullmetal. Other then that, I loved it!

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the first episode, but I still remain suspicious. The first anime did terrible things to my heart; this one will have to work a little bit harder for me to declare my approval. However, I did enjoy it a lot. And it was weird to hear Urahara as Roy.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

...something happened besides Maes being in the episode? And Winry being prominently featured in the opening and closing?

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I never thought about it this way. I assumed more it was to add in as much character detail and action to hook people like a good pilot should.

Well, that too, of course. I just found it slightly jarring for the way that it threw everything at us at once. I mean, compare the first series's opening (cribbed straight off the manga): it begins by giving us Ed and Al's situation, piece by piece (them being alchemists, Ed as the Fullmetal Alchemist, Al's empty armor, Ed's automail, and their quest for the philosopher's stone), with hints about the larger situation from Lust. Then we get backstory in episode 3 and only thereafter do we widen out to take in Mustang and Co. Here, we locate Ed and Al in their military context first -- not necessarily a bad thing, except that the script couldn't seem to stop tossing in details (why introduce Armstrong this early? why the Mustang-is-useless-when-wet joke, which would be a lot funnier if it had room to develop after he'd been established as powerful, as in the manga?) so that the revelation that Al is an empty suit of armor and he and Ed broke a taboo becomes one more thing to keep track of rather than a dramatic focal point. I'm guessing that the problem was a matter of figuring out how to retell the story without going scene-for-scene with the first series during their overlap periods. That's why I expect a certain amount of streamlining through the initial stuff, with more emphasis on those sub-stories that make connections we'll need for stuff later in the manga (e.g. we'll get Reole/Liore, because of all the stuff that goes on there later; but we may lose the train battle, since Ed's already established as military; if they intend to keep Yoki, we may get the coal-mining town -- though they could lose that, and just introduce him as a snivelly little ex-military guy later -- his backstory's not plot-crucial).

I'd rather hoped they wouldn't suddenly fast forward to where the other anime went astray.

I don't think they will; there's too much necessary set-up. (I also don't think the first story went astray -- I mean, they didn't have much past the Greed arc then, so they had to make an ending up, and I rather like a lot of what they thought up. Some of the plotting got shaky toward the end, granted, but the character drama and the themes worked well for me. I loved all the stuff about whether equivalent exchange/natural justice is a law of the universe or something we project into it/a promise we make to each other to behave as if fairness existed, thus creating it. Gave me a chance to quote Ecclesiastes, Geoffrey Chaucer, Terry Pratchett and the Rolling Stones in the same discussion. Win! :-)

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Ick... on the reddish sticky glop... kind of sounds like bluuuud. Blech.

People keep saying that. I know that bleeding statues are a Roman Catholic staple, but a bleeding pipe organ?

How did you like Mustang's new voice actor? I like him. Thought it was cool how a tenor could carry that sarcasm and feigned boredom so well.

Yes, enjoyed him quite a bit. I hadn't seen enough Bleach to recognize him as Mr. Hat-n-Clogs, but I did vaguely recall his turn as Kurz Weber from Full Metal Panic. They've really got an A-list set of voices here; I can't wait to see what Funimation does with the English dub (assuming they get it, which they likely will). The original FMA dub is one of my favorites.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

They've got me hooked for the next episode. FMA in its origins is a grand bait-and-switch, anyway, so I have no problem beginning with a Typical Shounen Action Pilot and then getting all interesting. :-)

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen enough Bleach to have that bit of mental whiplash, as I mentioned up-comment -- I get to go the other way, and find it weird to hear Roy as Urahara when I finally get around to watching Bleach. :-) I just hope they can pull together the character stuff as well as the plot. Having such excellent source material should help, once they get past where they have to worry about comparing themselves to the first series all the time. They get a pass from me till we hit the Devil's Nest -- then I start expecting fireworks. (And EdWin. Shounen heroes do it with subtext.)

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Well, there was the bit in the OP with young Hohenheim, too. :-)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

you have a point. However, I have a feeling that they're assuming they're not getting new fans that need back story with this. It's like the returning audience of a mystery series, you know the details, here's a quick reminder of them and let's move on with the new stuff.

See I do think it went astray, especially with the how the homunculus were made. Obviously Arakawa wouldn't have wanted it to spoil us for Father and all but there was no need to actually give us reasons for them. We knew they were alchemic creations. I found the whole Dante arc and the Lior end arc painfully bad. (especially Scar's demise), not to mention what eventually happened to Edward.

Gave me a chance to quote Ecclesiastes, Geoffrey Chaucer, Terry Pratchett and the Rolling Stones in the same discussion. Win! :-)

Now that's funny

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

You mean the Cutter-from-Elfquest-lookalike? *grins*

Yeah, on second or third reconsideration, a lot of "tried and true" was shoved into this first episode, but I also agree with Dana - that they're not hooking new fans, they're reminding old ones. There was certainly enough dash and action to keep my attention and as I said, from being terribly, terribly worried, I'm now kind of excited.

Winry's treatment still makes or breaks it for me, though. And I get to see her for my birthday! *bounces in delight*

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

It'll be even weirder once Riza gets some lines; she plays Rukia on Bleach too. That one will throw me off even more.

The thing is, I don't want to be the wet blanket in fandom, I'm simply waiting to reserve real judgment. I enjoyed this episode, but, you know, I ALSO enjoyed the first episode of the Anime v.1 you know? I've had breakups with boyfriends less dramatic than the angst I felt when I finished the FMA anime. (...I think that says terrible things about me...)

I think it's generous of you to give them Devil's Nest - the first big test for me is Rush Valley, which is (to me anyway) where I noticed the first significant deviations, especially in characterization, from the manga. Although I was heartened to see Elysia in the first episode, because it means we won't have a repeat of Ed and Al delivering a kid.

(Except, oh god, I honestly hadn't prepared myself mentally for going through Hughes again. Oh, ouch, ow, god.)

[grey-damaskena.livejournal.com]

Hiya! This is grey_damaskena. I'm sorry to be leaving you a comment so randomly, but I dropped by because you're a member of the saiunkoku community. I just wanted to let you know that there's currently a poll running on the community to gauge interest in getting the Saiunkoku Monogatari light novels translated into English. The number of answers in the poll could very well determine whether or not we ever see an English version of the novels. So if you have the time and have not done so already, we would really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to answer it.

Please either drop by the saiunkoku community (the poll is in the sixth post), or click on this link (http://community.livejournal.com/saiunkoku/337261.html) to go directly to the post.

Thank you very much for your time, and for your interest and support of Saiunkoku!