Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Forum

Anybody else see some similarities between Furher Bradley and Emperor Palpatine? Both are the main bad guys. Both are wolves in sheep’s clothing, playing both sides of a conflict against one other. Both are members of unholy, antithetical cabals. Both are ready to snap out like cobras and unleash their deadly swordplay and advanced magical ability. The resemblance is just striking.

Or perhaps the alchemical kids’ Dad is the real  éminence grise  here? They strongly imply that he’s the creator of the homunculi. Perhaps the final revelation is that Ed & Al have been homunculi themselves, this whole time? Wouldn't that be a mind bender?

Speaking of secrets, though, I did call that revelation about Scar (the most metro zealot in fiction) being the murderer of these kids' auntie and uncle. Why, I called it as soon as it was hinted at. Even when I didn’t see his big tattoo, I was thinking , “Gee, they’re talking about this mysterious Ishvalen. Hm... who’s the only major Ishvalen to have been introduced so far?”   

Getting deeper into these shows and, thus, getting a better position to compare and contrast, I think FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST had done a much better job of establishing and then juggling its cast than GURREN LAGANN did. All the characters’ personalites have been well established for a long time, while GL just had a lot of faces. I really had trouble remembering who was who when they were all dying in the final battle in outer-space. But this? Scar, Barry the chopper, Fuhrer Bradley, all the Homunculi... they're clearly defined.  This episode, in particular , demonstrates the advantage of TV to both feature bigger casts and explore the characters more deeply. 

And I'll heartily agree with the pro-milk message. It does do a body good. It’s made me big and strong... and if Ed wants to be as big and strong as me, he needs to be hitting the 2%.

Watch this episode, “Advance of the Fool,” below make your own decisions, and then read my comments on the previous episode here.     

  

 Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of   HYBRID BASTARDS!  & UNIMAGINABLE .  Order them on Amazon   here   &   here .

Time for Ling to get in on the action.

Ed and Al aren't Homunculi.  Don't think I've ever heard that one before.
Furher (Wrath) isn't the big bad, he's actually third rung down. Both Pride and Father outrank him, but he's still pretty damn high up, being the Fuhrer and all.
And you've now reached why FMA is better than GL. When FMA does something epic, it's not "WHOA! THAT'S EPIC!", it's "WHOA! MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER IS EPIC! AND SO'S THIS GUY I DIDN'T USE TO LIKE, BUT NOW I DO!" 
 
Seriously. Even the complete side-characters are well-developed and have their epic moments. You know the snivelly guy that hangs around Scar? He gets two Crowning Moments of Awesome all to himself.
 
And you're close about Father and Hoenheim being similar. However, look at their hair colours. Father has a far greyer tone to his hair than Hoenheim does. Plus, one is a douche and the other is a slightly better father than Gendo.

@rubberluffy:
heh don't worry....as I am sure you know ;).  He does and it is epic.  I loved how they handeled the revelations in this episode.  The revelations about scar and her reaction and the revelations about the furher were all done very well I thought.

@sotyfan16: 
Stopping at episode 26 would be rough.  That episode ends on such a "HOLY SHIT" moment that you HAVE to keep going.  Also Ed is only an alchemy prodigy (further reinforced by his seeing the truth), he couldn't even win in a fight against Al even before their accident.
 
Also did anyone notice the little continuity bit here?  Ed got hit in the head with a rock, and it reopened his wound he got from Slicer way back in episode 8.  Just a neat little attention to detail.

@Liminality said:

" Why do people seem to be spoiling the plot when the interesting thing is to read how Tom figures things out as he goes along? "

QFT
 
Although just to clarify one thing, Scar kills Winry's parents.  I don't seem to remember Winry being their cousin, just a childhood friend, so they aren't Ed and Al's Aunt and Uncle.  If that's established somewhere, correct me.