Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Forum

 You don't want to invite comparisons to this...

Oh, so he’s Fuhrer King Bradley now? They’re just going to pile the titles on, aren’t they? Because they really don’t mean anything.  I brought up last time how I saw some similarities between Bradley and Palpatine, and I suppose I was more on the money than I initially thought. After this episode, it's clear that they’re also both supposed to be Hitler analogs. Somebody brought up before that the Ishbalan/Ishvalan war was supposed to be an ethnic cleansing and, after I see how the spot color in the flashbacks blatantly emphasizes that the Alchemists have blue eyes, it's unavoidably clear which specific ethnic cleansing it's supposed to represent...  

• Scar's origin finally gave the metro-zealot the sympathetic tragedy he needed. He got his brother's amputated arm sewn onto his own stump? That's rough. There's also the great added dimension of him being a pariah amongst his own people, too. He doesn't have any friends at all, does he?
• The prince got bad ass in this one. The part where Gluttony’s eye slit in half was a hell of a surprise! Of course, the sin got right back up and tried to eat these kids, but that doesn't diminish the badassery. 
• I’m a sick person, so I couldn’t help but find the transition to the end credits darkly amusing. Winry’s having herself a good cry on Ed’s shoulder and what are the first lyrics of the song? “Let it all out…. Let it allllll out…”

Watch this episode, “Backs in the Distance,” below, make your own decisions, and then read my comments on the previous episode here.   

From TvTropes:

The whole Ishval situation was inspired by the plight of the Ainu people, which is unsurprising given that the author's from Hokkaido. Most Western fans have little to no clue of who the Ainu people are, or their relation to Ishvalans. Ironically, though, they notice a strong (but likely accidental) resemblance to the Islamic peoples of the Middle East (single god, desert-dwelling, very traditional yet advanced culture and a reverence for not messing with "God's creations"), and given that Amestris seems pretty well based on a certain European power and the time period of the show (self-proclaimed to be in the 19-teens), it's very easy to see why everyone west of the Ganges would come to that conclusion.  

" I know it's silly, but every time I hear the title of "Furhrer King Bradley" I always think of the movie "The Great Dictator" (1940).    I wonder who will even get that reference? "

" SO!  Turns out that the Ainu are a group of Russian/Japanese tribal people that only gained ethnic minority class in 2008. Before that, they were treated quite badly. As in, Ishvalan badly. 
They also dressed and acted a LOT like the Ishvalans, albeit being Russian/Japanese. There was also Ethnic clensing at some point. In Japan. Not a proud moment methinks.
Arakawa grew up near where this was going on, so it's clearly affected her, what with the focus the Ishvalan's get in the series. 
 
@rubberluffy:  Yeah, his son's Selim Bradley, isn't he? Yeah, his name's King Bradley. It makes sense once you learn his backstory. "