Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

 Hi-Ya!

I can’t believe I haven’t given any props to lil’ miss May Chan yet. Her voice actress is charming, she's cute and she can kick ass (believably,) it’s just plain fun to see the animators render her mess of pigtails... and she’s got real moxie! Seriously, her showing no fear against Father and ordering Ed & Al to take on the “small fish” of Pride was one of those great moments of courage that actually inspire you instead of bashing you on the head with the point.

One of these days, I’d be curious to find how much “real” occultism this show uses as a base for its own mythos. Alchemy and homunculi are, of course, from historical traditions. The Philosophers’ Stones seem to have been combined with carmot, the red alchemy-enabling solution. Alkahestry’s got an equivalent in Eastern alchemy, basically. However, I wonder how much more was invented for the show - - particularly the notion that an alchemist needs a proper sigil to conduct magic. I was thinking about that with Scar’s big reveal of his construction tattoos. Even it was made-up totally, it's still a very fitting arc for the character to embrace both his brother's heretical studies and his enemies' ways.  

 Words fail, here.

Something I’ve noticed is that a lot of climaxes in anime seem to revolve around one of the characters becoming some sort of blank, giant versions of themselves. Father’s colossal form HERE joins those I’ve already seen in EVA, PAPRIKA, even GURREN LAGANN to an extent. Out all of the times that conceit’s been used, though, I’d say that Father’s planet-sized ritual is certainly the most awe-inspiring. There’s just something sublimely wrong about that image of him opening a world-sized portal and reaching for the Moon, taking astrology to whole new level of influence, power and perversion.  It visualizes a perversion of natural laws that recalls Faust and the stories of the Golem to me, but with a hell of a lot more menace. I'm just dying to see what happens next.

Watch this episode “Eye of Heaven, Gateway of Earth,” below and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.  

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of  HYBRID BASTARDS!  &  UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon   here  &   here .  Follow him on Twitter:  @tompinchuk

" "Moxie"...that word has some history to it. Sadly the history of the word Moxie is not well known...So here's yet another edition of ZombiePie story time:
 
Moxie is an old school soda that at one point out sold Pepsi cola which in turn Pepsi at one point filed for bankruptcy and the beverage was almost discontinued. Moxie was well known for being far more bitter than Pepsi or Coca Cola and for the beverage's well known ad campaign that used "The Moxie Man." Upon the conclusion of the Second World War the popularity of Moxie declined with the growing popularity of soda fountains and sweeter beverages. Unlike Pepsi or Coca Cola the recipe for Moxie was very specific and very regimented making it hard to use and distribute at soda fountains. If ingredients were added in the wrong order it would result in the cola tasting like motor oil as many would put it. However with the dawn of the Supermarket Moxie continued to struggle amongst other sweeter beverages like Dr. Pepper and TAB.
 
Today Moxie cola is still manufactured in the United States and has developed a cult following due to its well known and iconic bitter taste. It is most popular in Maine where it was created and still bottled. More importantly Moxie is well known for adding the word "Moxie," to the English vocabulary. This again stems from the bitter taste of Moxie which lent to the term "He's got Moxie to drink Moxie," or "Just make it Moxie for mine!"

 Also Yes I've Tried Some...I Think It Tastes Terrible.

"

I think what got Scar to change was realizing that what happened to Ishval was all Father and the Homunculi. What Winry was is a reminder of his master's teachings. He was a zealot against the state alchemists for slaughtering the innocent. They were the weapons that turned the tide of the civil war. Winry is a reminder of that hypocrisy since he killed her parents who did nothing but help him and others at the risk of their lives.

Anime is fond of the transforming big boss. All the real big bads in manga/anime transform. I think it comes from staged battles in RPGs.
 

" Father's ultimate goal here was pretty much told to us by Ed back in episode 26 while inside Gluttony.  After looking at a Xerxes mural and doing the circle that would get them out of Gluttony, Ed mentions that the writing for "God" written upside down over a two headed dragon which stands for "Perfect being" comes out as "I will cast God down to Earth and become a perfect being."  I really like all the clues and such there have been so far, but some have been well hidden, and some are so blatant but only make you go "AH-HA!" at the end when it call comes together. "

if your comic books incorporate this amount of stuff I REALLY need to check them out.  

" Oh and do you have a larger version of the pic you used here that you can send in jpeg format really a great pic. "