Blogging Brotherhood: Episodes 9 & 10

Episode Nine: Created Feelings

A mandatory hospital visit for Ed after the events that occurred at Lab Five reminds him that his automail needs repairs. Winry arrives to assist him. Meanwhile, Al harbors resentment over the fact that he could very well not be a real human, but a creation of Ed's imagination.

Mmmm...so they did end up sticking with the "Ed wanted to know if you hated him for losing your body" as the answer to what he wanted to say to Al.

EXCEPT IT'S DONE SO MUCH BETTER HERE, HOLY CRAP.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when that turned out to be all it was, but there are two reasons why it worked well overall this time and not so much with the last: One, they don't drag it out for that many episodes. It doesn't get lost amongst all of the other plot points. Two, the way it's presented. Rather than have Ed spit it out in a haphazard way, they use Winry to do it. That might sound kind of petty, but the way they string her throughout the episode and allow her to express how she feels towards both boys--how much she cares about them--makes her moment of frustration and anger (that's strong enough to bring her to tears) all the more potent. I love how she collapses in front of Al and beats him absent-mindedly with the wrench--it's funny but also expresses her emotional exhaustion. Having her be the one to get so upset that Al would even consider the fact that he's not real packs a little more of a punch.

This episode just really did a great job building up to that point. It was a needed payoff, a sort of cathartic release, from the tension that had been growing since the episode started. Not to mention the sheer awkwardness that everyone else in the room--Hughes, Ross and Brosh--has to endure is funny.

I'm glad that Winry is making some more appearances, and ones that are actually relevant to the story in a deep and emotional way. They're doing a much better job building her relationship with Ed and Al than the original did. And to be honest, I think the brothers' bond is even stronger here as well. The flashback that is supplied via Winry's lecture to Al is heartbreaking in a good way. We really get to see how much Ed loves his little brother, how much he's willing to give up for his sake, and what it does to him when he's not able to protect him. The original touched on it in various ways, but there's something about the presentation here that feels stronger and more substantial.

Hughes is in this episode, too! And his family! This took some of the same material from the original, what with the whole birthday party scene and Elysia's attachment to Winry, but there's a great conversation that she has with Hughes that I can't remember whether or not was in FMA. It's a nice little conversation that lets you see a bit inside of Winry's head and allows Hughes to have more than five lines of dialogue. I mentioned before that Hughes comes across often as a bit of a bumbling idiot, but there's much more to his character beneath that. His advice to Winry is sweet and insightful.

Actually, a lot of the dialogue in this episode is great in general. Ed's comment to Al about having a big body and Al's angry response of, "It's not like I asked for this body, brother!" was so good. Because, I mean, Ed's comment was kind of stupid.

Mmm, drama. I love it.

As per usual we have the comedic moments, most of which are courtesy of Winry and Ed or that particular running gag about Ed not liking milk. Brosh and Ross get a good moment with Ed too, when they rightfully slap him for being a complete moron and unwilling to ask anyone for help.

Speaking of those two goofballs, why is it that they're just now informing us that State Alchemists rank as Majors in the military? I only knew that because I cheated and checked the Wiki page (for another reason, but whatever). It seems like a sort of important detail that never bothered to be said until now, from what I can recall. I mean, they both have been speaking to him with "Yes Sir" and "No Sir," so you'd think Ed would have at least told them to cut it out long before now. And why doesn't he even know that SA's rank as majors?!

Actually, the military/Ishavlan war is one thing that is a lot different from the original (besides like, the entire approach to the plot). There's a considerable lack of screen time for the Ishvalan War. They mentioned it a couple of times in previous episodes, and there's a tid bit with Scar at the end of this one, but so far there have been few details given out about it. My best guess is that, since this thing is divided up into four parts (at least on Netflix) that they may be structuring the plot into four different arcs or focal points. This one is obviously setting a lot of things up and introducing us to characters and the relationships they have with each other.

So far, I'm cool with that. It's bringing in a lot of good stuff and I am a happy camper.

Episode Ten: Separate Destinations

After digging around in some old files, Hughes discovers a dangerous connection between the Ishvalan War and the Philosopher's stone--a realization that costs him his life. In the wake of his death, Roy's resolve to become the Fuhrer grows stronger. Unaware of what's happened in Central, Ed and Al board a train to Dublith to meet with their old teacher hoping to both build on their training and gain more information regarding the stone.

WELL DAMN.
THIS EPISODE.
I JUST.
GAH.
WOW.
Emotions. Everywhere. Crying. Squeeing. Laughing.
SO BEAUTIFUL
SO SAD
SO GOOD
WAAAAHHHHHHHH.
...

Okay...now that my spazz is over, I'll get back to some more coherent thoughts.

I can't reiterate enough how much better Brotherhood has managed to set up relationships. Understanding how certain characters relate to each other is part of good characterization (one that can often be neglected), and here they manage to do that in spades. Roy and Hughes' friendship was far from nonexistent in the original, but the little moments that Brotherhood takes time to spend with just the two of them not only helps build that friendship further, but gives us deeper insights into who each of those people are as individuals. 

The opening scene is fantastic because it both sets up the direction of the episode as well as provides one of those central moments between Mustang and Hughes. In addition, it shows just why Mustang wants to become the Fuhrer in the first place, something that the original tripped over a lot (it's inital presentation made it look like he was interested in the power and authority rather than protecting his loved ones which, you know, was curious because it went against what we knew of his character up until that point). We see that Hughes is prepared to support Mustang until he achieves that goal, no matter the cost. This implies that Hughes sees the--rather daunting--task of getting Mustang to that position as worth it, and allows the audience to put more stock in what are, admittedly, somewhat grandiose plans from a military colonel.

Not that it was all that hard to trust in Mustang's intentions because they've made both him and Hughes so likeable, but still. THESE KINDS OF MOMENTS ARE IMPORTANT. Seeing that comraderie is what makes Hughes' death--and Roy's renewed fury and dedication to his goal--all the more poignant. Not to mention that the entire "It's a bad day for rain" line and Roy's ensuing trail of tears is tear-jerking in and of itself.

I'm sorry, I just really love these guys. Sigh.

Moving on.

Hughes' actual death was drawn out a lot more than before. The poor guy drags his bleeding self out to a payphone and has to deal with an operator before even getting anywhere. It's a minor detail, but the lighting for that scene is interesting--the murky greenish yellow color gives off a creepy vibe without being a standard red or even the whitish blue of the moon. They really push for a relentless, merciless demise for him between the (kind of excessive) amount of blood and that shot of him desperately reaching for the receiver before Envy takes it and hangs it up.

Then of course they juxtapose that with Ed, Al, and Winry having fun on the train to Dublith and mentioning how they should thank Hughes for being such a constant presence in their time at Central.

Which...does kind of fall a little flat, since we don't get to SEE him doing that much at all up until this point. He pops up every now and then, but I'm not convinced--based on what I've been shown here--that his presence was substantial. It wasn't so much a flaw as something that could have just been done better.

I do like how they added another layer to Roy's relationship with Ed and Al: how he tells Hawkeye that he's beginning to understand what drove them to try and transmute their mother. I'll be curious to see if that connection produces anything in the future.

Also, jeeze, Hawkeye is one hell of a good listener. 

Falling in line with what they've done in regards to Lust, the Fuhrer himself is darker and far creepier. They seem to want to make sure the audience knows this guy is an enemy or, if nothing else not to be trusted. That was the case in FMA as well, but there's more directness in the message. Roy even stares him down in the opening scene.

As a final note, they didn't include any narrations in this episode, either as an opening or that weird recap that they've been doing for the last nine episodes. I'm not sure why. Not really complaining, since I didn't like it to be begin with, but to remove it unceremoniously seems a bit odd.

General Thoughts

So far, these two episodes have been my favorites. What I like about Brotherhood as a whole, though, is that they're weaving the story together in a fashion that doesn't make anything feel like filler. I know going into each episode that something important to the plot is going to happen and not either be a continuation of the same thing that's taking forever to get to the point or standard filler.

This makes me happy. If it's 50+ episodes of plot and story, I'm okay with that.