Your appreciation of Armstrong is not annoying. Everyone loves Armstrong. Not liking Armstrong is like not liking kittens or something. Really muscular, dramatic kittens…
best part of armstrong is even all these years later, take the Vas lines from All-Might and over lay them onto armstrong and its literally the same thing XD he might as well have come through that wall with 'I AM HERE' XD
@@vincentvoillot6365 Most def! I didn’t care for how Hawkeye couldn’t hit Scar in this episode. I get it’s for the story but she’s freaking Hawkeye. She got very Worfed.
The jumpscare you have at Ed's nightmare is phenomenal. As someone that grew up on this show, watching reactions to this are life giving. Loving your reactions so far!
That saddest thing about Nina to me is that I think she never really understood what happened to her, she just understood that her father was happy about it.
On the contrary, it was the only calming circumstance. Imagine that she realized what her father had done to her, and that he had put out her mother in the same way. That would be hell.
Not everyone in uniform is an alchemist, most (like Hawkeye and Hughes) are normal soldiers. There are State Alchemists that also serve in the military full time, like Roy and Armstrong, but also State Alchemists like Ed and Tucker that are licensed by the government but effectively civilians. That is until the state calls upon them in times of war to serve at their behest, like in Ishval.
the state alchemist title does grant them an equivalent rank. they mention what it is at some point. they won't outrank a military officer of that rank(or higher obviously) but can issue orders to lower ranked soldiers if need be
@@Parallax-3DI suppose there's some variance. Marco and Tucker were civilian researchers. Edward and Alphonse report directly to Mustang. Granted, this might just be the arrangement due to them committing human transmutation.
The mid episode title is called an eye catch. Basically it’s a way to tell the audience the commercial break is over and what show they are watching. Don’t worry too much about it.
All of the voice actors put on their A-game for this show, and that's especially true for Maxey Whitehead as Al. She really brings out his earnestness, hopefulness, and thoughtful nature. He's a great kid making the best of a bleak situation. And hey, everyone loves Armstrong. In a lesser show, he'd just be some musclebound idiot. But as you already tell, there's so much more to him than that. Same with Scar; he's not some random serial killer, but the survivor of a genocide obsessed with revenge. If the perspective was flipped, he'd be the main character. That's one of the great things about this show; all of the characters are complex in their own ways, and for good reasons. You'll see soon enough...
Envy has a deeper woman's voice and gets referred to with male pronouns. But I believe in the manga they're never referred to with a specific gender! I think it fits their shape shifting ability. Literal gender envy lol. Rocking a crop top and a skort. I agree, gluttony is weirdly cute. He's a giant bald man but has toddler mannerism and it just kinda works.
Poor Gluttony is so innocent, but that kinda fits. Overindulgence is a sin that pretty much anyone can easily fall into without seeing the problem. Why not eat when you've only ever known hunger? Why not sleep when you're always tired? Thus, he is the most innocent of the seven sins.
I would say... there are more flaws than that, and I love this series. These flaws seem to be centered on them seeming to rush into plot with the first dozen episodes. I do get it, some friends told me a lot of that material was done in the previous anime series until it outpaced the source material... and the creators did not want to just retread ALL the same ground. So we get Mustang's crew being chummy with the Elric brothers but don't get as fully introduced to them all. But the pacing issues start falling away after Ep 10. They start becoming more economic with their time, as well, hiding details which are referred to again later.
I like the use of the rain in this episode. Having it carry over from the end of the last episode and stay with us through most of this episode was really smart cause then the sun can start piercing the clouds right as the characters and audience start to feel a bit of hope.
I just want to reiterate - I really enjoy the single episode reactions. Every episode has a ton of content, so I think you won't regret it if you only did one at a time. There's only a few select instances where episodes can be grouped that would make sense together, but standalone just fine.
Oh man I just can't wait for Angela's reaction for the whole series. From the stuff you're already talking about, I think "oh, she's gonna love this moment", or "this episode is gonna break her". This whole show is just a huge compilation of highlights and I'm so looking forward to your reactions to all of them.
It is extremely unfortunate that it's relevant... I watch someone else who watched this episode and was like "how could a government do this? Why would the soldiers do this?" Like.... You sweet summer child..
Regarding Hughes comment and the number of alchemists, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Of the military members at that street fight, the only alchemists were Roy Mustang and Lt Armstrong. The rest were military members of varying rank. And Hawkeye is absolutely a badass! Can't wait to see more!
28:23 FWIW the sorcerer's stone and the philosopher's stone are pretty much the exact same thing. The HP franchise actually calls Nicholas Flamel's stone the philosopher's stone in the UK versions.
I know that’s why I made the joke about us Americans calling it the sorcerer Stone. I don’t know why they felt they needed to change it, but I’m sure it has something to do with us being confused about what a philosopher is lol
Episodes 3 and 4 are foils, the extremes of religion and science. But the main takeaway I believe is that humans are the ones that create evil. Religion associates evil with an unseen boogyman and science labels it as necessary. Both rationale try to pass blame off of the person doing the evil onto something else. Both give humans that catalyst to do unspeakable horrors to fellow people. Kinda reminds me of the song Symphony for the Devil by the Rolling Stones.
Edwards first encounter with Scar goes a little differently in the Manga, Mustang Sends Military Police to look for Edward when he realises he's in Danger but Scar only recognises Edward after the officer refers to him by name. Scar kills the officer, and then they fight. Also, Scar likes animals, a random detail that isn't really important, but it humanises him a little
The Netflix _distributed_ movie uses the manga version of the encounter, however it also chooses to clumsily sidestep some of the story’s themes, especially those that involved tackling racism, colonialism and genocide, doing so by casting ethnic Japanese actors to play the European-inspired Amestrians, (which is something Arakawa admitted as the basis for the Amestrians,) and the vaguely Middle Eastern/Ainu Ishvalans.
one of the small handful I think is an improvement in the anime- the "Scar is suddenly silently there in the middle of sad monologue" moment and the fact that the sad music doesn't stop until the moment of his attack (and the cut to the bell toll of the clock right as he strikes) is some peak cinematography and way more memorable.
When people have met my parents in the past, they've often asked me, "how did you become such a decent human being" and I've always answered the same way, "Animorphs, Buffy and FMAB." They shaped my morality. If you haven't read animorphs or watched buffy, you really should.
Yeah actually its a lot more simple. Everyone decides their morality in spite of their parents because your parents have a 100% chance to insist on a mistake to you regardless of who they are, and if its especially bad you're going to have a moral framework on what not to do
Right at the end there, when Ed is talking about their only way is forward. The way all the adults brighten up out of their gloomy mood is a scene I always find quietly heartwarming.
Im really happy to see you appreciate Alphonse’s speech, it’s one of my favorites, feel like a lot of reactor don’t recognize how much he keeps Ed going, I have no doubt that if Alphonse had died during the human transmutation , Ed wouldn’t have joined the military or had the motive to Fast track his Automail recovery
I'm so excited to get to the 2 episodes in 1 video reactions. Every episode in this show just gets better and better. It's always "oh man you're gonna be in for it next episode" every time you drop a new video lol I like how naturally this episode picks up after the last one, and I really like how abruptly Scar shows up in the middle of Ed and Als emotional moment. The sad musical score keeps going well after Scar enters the screen up until Al realizes what's going on and pulls Ed out of the way
As many probably mentioned below : yeah, many people like Armstrong. I think he's a bit too much, but also he's lovely and strong and silly, so the balance is positive :D
An eye for an eye = equivalent exchange. I never made that connection before... but Scar's techniques and abilities are just destruction... which equates to the saying "an eye for an eye just leaves the whole world blind". Damn, I love this series.
For being a first-time anime watch (excluding Blue Eye Samurai), your enthusiasm for this show is great! I, too, heard that if you're going to watch an anime, watch this one. After HunterXHunter, i swore I'd never watch another 3+ season anime, only because of the filler. But, I'm watching this show through your reactions, and it's great. Keep up the stellar work. Congrats again on 100k subs!
You don't need to worry about fillers, this anime is so perfect, it doesn't even have that. You could consider the first two episodes the fillers since they had to make some changes and a kind of summary, but even tho it's just that. It could be really longer than it is. But it's very packed and straight forward. I recommend you to watch the entire show, it's not that long and reaaaally worth it.
Overcoming irreversibility of the results of human transmutation is exactly why the brothers are looking for the philosopher's stone as it breaks the rules of alchemy.
I do really like that this episode shows how much Nina's fate affected the boys. It's all too common for a tragic early death in a story to be paid lip service and then seemingly written off so the main characters can move on; FMAB does a great job of showing, even as two kids who have faced tragedy before, how much Ed and Al are struggling with it.
I feel llike you might have a little thing for Armstrong. Ed and Al's superpower is being very lovable. The F'd up thing about Scar going after Ed, though, is Ed was 2 when the war was fought.
18:06 this is one of the few major failings of the dub. Ed lists the first stage of alchemy as construction, but it is Understanding. Understanding, deconstruction, then reconstruction.
I guess you could say he means understanding the construction is the first stage of alchemical transmutations with deconstruction, and reconstruction following that.
@@ripleyjlawman.3162 I can definitely see that if I look for it, but it takes some stretching to get there. I am normally a dub watcher, so that isn't me trying to say the sub is better, but that one line always stands out to me because otherwise they do such a great job. I think there was one other line that similarly bugs me, but I can't think of it right now, so I may be thinking of something else.
Understanding of How Things are Constructed; The main aim of dubbing is matching lip flaps over word for word transcribing. If you want to see how trained these artists are, check out some outtakes. Even as their take goes down in flames, every word they say usually matches the flaps.
I would have been more happier if they had dubbed it with " composition" rather than "construction," i think both words fill the time stamp of the character pretty well.
I hope that you remembered (since I am sure you watched it already) that there is an post-credits scene next episode (6). Agaiun, the list of episodes with after credits scenes are: 6, 8, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 40, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 49. Additionally, the endings of episodes 45, 54, 63, and 64 (the finale) are different.
FMAB episode four is really an episode of television, you know what I mean? It sticks with you. I'm always proud when somebody gets through it, doubly so when they aren't a big anime consumer in the first place, and redoubled when they do it on camera.
If you like the connection of winry and hawkeye, there actually an OVA you could watch. Theyre just short extra content. This one is called "simple" people. I would stay away from the other ones for now because of story elements that haven't happened yet
Worry not about your enjoyment of Major Armstrong's shirtless body. Appreciation for his physique (which was passed down the Armstrong line for generations!) transcends male/female preferences!
Another thing I really like about this show is that the main protagonist is literally disabled. We forget about it cause he has auto mail and is an amazing fighter. You can see how used to his prosthetics he is cause after his arm gets destroyed- he instinctual goes to lean on it when crawling back and ends up falling over cause of it. One thing that doesn't get explicitly stated is that mustangs gloves are made of a special material so that they spark when he snaps. One of the gloves is used for precision aiming and the other is for big blasts. Amestris has pretty big Germanic inspiration, ishval is moreso a middle eastern inspired country. Especially with their god being called Ishvallah and Islam worshipping Allah.
Obscuring the Eyes is a known and well used visual-art strategy that takes advantage of our brains' neurology. there're some deep dives on the topic here on YT that're fascinating.
I have been watching some videos deep-diving into real-world alchemical theory as it relates to the characters and themes of fma. Arakawa really did some massive research for this series.
watching your expanse reactions you had mentioned nerdy nightly which was my introduction to their channel. so been watching some of his anime reactions where he does 2 episodes at a time but will break down the first episode after its done then the 2nd at the end and can further expand on both if needed. i agree doing 2 back to back could potentially be a bit much to remember to try to breakdown both. i love the post episode break downs though to me thats what really makes reactions special. seen a lot of channels who just do in the moment reactions and theres like very little if any post episode thoughts its just like "well that was a good episode cya next time"
17:00 lol that little spoof of cloud for his failing. Still makes me laugh. Always gotta love an episode with Alex in it. Seeing as how you like muscular men at some point you should try watching jojo's bizarre adventure.
Growing up I had such a crush on Armstrong :X It doesn't help that he has such a caring personality lol. More buff strong dilfs should rip their shirts off mid conversations irl... Just sayin! ... don't judge me xD
I don’t know if you caught it but scar explains that ed forms a circle by putting both of his hands together, the circle is the base of all alchemical transmutations so by forming a circle with his hands and imagining the alchemical formula that he wishes to perform he is able to perform alchemy without having to draw any of the symbols that other alchemists have to
Yeah... I don't agree with Scar but I can't say I blame him for being the way he is. Fun realization that most of the "good guys" in the military are war criminals here. Armstrong is a treat and should be treasured. On that note I saw a guy pushing carts at the grocery store the other day and my dude had the blonde curl in the front so my mind instantly went to, " this is the cart pushing technique that has been passed through the Armstrong family for generations!!!" 😂
First: Undoing a Chimera would be like taking bread dough and separating the flour back out. Second: Win-ree - not Win-er-ree. Third: If it wasn't raining, Mustang would have EASILY beaten Scar. Not even close. Like Ozai vs 10 year old Zuko Agni Kai not close.
Every character is driven forward by their baggage. People complain that Mustang forgets that he’s affected by weather, but he’s rather myopic. You were correct when you said Armstrong was “look at me”. Just remember that the “animeisms” are being used for a reason.
seeing Winrey reminded me of a very funny moment in a later(much later) episode, and have tissues on stand by for more then 1 episode that's coming up. (that's all I can say without spoilers)OH! I just remembered a scene that I know that Angela IS GOING TO LOVE!!!
i think tucker had convinced himself she would be able to adapt. otherwise he'd have to actually face what a terrible thing he did to his wife. by convincing himself it was just he didn't take into account her age and adaptability he was able to convince himself he was not such a monster. and that means if he stops trying that he would be admitting what he did to his wife was a wrong choice which he didn't want to face either
I don't know if anyone's told you, but the Philosopher's Stone and the Sorcerer's Stone are the same thing. The first Harry Potter book is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but it was renamed for the American market. The Philosopher's Stone is a legitimate part of folklore in real-world, historical alchemy.
"Maybe it will be a fun one" Ant the title of the episode is Rain of Sorrows 😅 Hawkeye is such a badass! I love that she got more screen time in this one.
Don't worry about the other series. This one is based on the original story the other series went off on its own with only a few similarities. This series is better and I say that as someone who grew up with the other series.
You made it past 5 episodes, congrats. Emotional devastation in 4 and religious genocide in 5 didn't drive you away. You'll survive the story escalation, emotional roller-coaster, and the stunning revelations. Enjoy!
Something that the original does is it's way more cartoonish and flanderizes the characters. Most anime fans today didn't grow up with it so they can't really appreciate it when little bits of it come up in Brotherhood. Like you say they do a good job as lust or Al but they also had a ton of experience voicing the characters before this. The whole cast came back and in the case of adapting it from the manga the anime team does try to insert little bits of their old characters especially for comedy scenes. It doesn't come up so much early on but it is something that'll help lighten things up. Mainly just the first episode. Also in terms of cartoonish. The mention of the canon alchemist reminded me how in the old series Ed would make these little canons sometimes mid fight. I think he also made little statues, i just remember him being a bit more obnoxious and imaginative with alchemy.
Since you mentioned you like Alphonse's VA you should know it isn't a man. At least not in Brotherhood. The original series it was a 12 year old boy but in this iteration it is a woman named Maxey Whitehead. She knocked it out the park. This anime has some real veteran heavy hitters in the dubbing world. By the by, in the Japanese dub Ed is voiced by a woman; Romi Park and her portrayal of Ed is very different to Vic's performance here yet both voices work well for Ed. I personally prefer the English version.
So, I have two things (unrelated) I want to talk about: Envy and the Ishvalans. One of the things from here on is that a lot of characters will use he/him for Envy because this was before nonbinary was well recognized, so a lot of fans prefer to use they/them. This is because Envy is a shapeshifter who can look however they want, and this appearance is just the latest one they chose. The Ishvalans honestly make me think of a lot of stuff to do with the Jewish people; having been massacred and forced out of their homeland by the Roman Empire and being mostly unable to return to it somewhat mirrors how the Ishvalans were massacred and forced out of their homes by Amestris. They were also both edge-of-the-desert cultures. The biggest differences (aside from the existence of alchemy) in their stories are that the Ishvalans weren't enslaved after the massacre and the length of time since it happened (the Jewish Uprising happing around 2000 years ago vs the Ishvalan Civil War being 13 years ago).
Say nucular again! Say nucular one more goddamned time! I dare you! I double dog dare you! (lol, I kid, I kid! That pronunciation is one of my great sins, so I’m attuned to it.)
We don't actually get too much less with Nina in FMAB, in the original it's literally just one more episode. Of course that episode includes Ed's birthday so... yeah... it is worse. Edit: Armstrong is wonderful, gush as much as you want. Considering they're like 14 and 15/16: Alphonse is... wise, wise beyond his years.
Your appreciation of Armstrong is not annoying. Everyone loves Armstrong. Not liking Armstrong is like not liking kittens or something. Really muscular, dramatic kittens…
best part of armstrong is even all these years later, take the Vas lines from All-Might and over lay them onto armstrong and its literally the same thing XD he might as well have come through that wall with 'I AM HERE' XD
there’s a valid take out there that the armstrong siblings are best boy and best girl
@@doodoo5594 Major Armstrong's only problem in this anime is that the introduction to his family was cut out)
I remember watching the show with my brother 20 years ago and the Armstrong shirtless flex had a meme status.
And yes, Hawkeye is badass
@@vincentvoillot6365 Most def! I didn’t care for how Hawkeye couldn’t hit Scar in this episode. I get it’s for the story but she’s freaking Hawkeye. She got very Worfed.
The creator-artist is unabashedly a fan of buff, shirtless men and buxom women. She's got you covered pretty much the entire series.
"IF THEY'RE TOO SKINNY, PEOPLE WILL THINK MY POOR CHARACTERS AREN'T GETTING FED! MEN SHOULD BE BUFFED AND WOMEN SHOULD BE VAVOOM!"
~Hiromu Arakawa
@@jacobjohnson4072 yep
what does buxom mean?
@@CptApplestrudl BIg boobed
@@CptApplestrudl large breasts
"awww and now my arms fell off cause my brothers a big fat idiot!" brings a tear and a smile everytime
It's an iconic ending to that truly profound speech
Angela's perpetual crush on every moustached, buff, older guy we meet in any show is pretty great.
muscles is her thing..she crush on firelord Ozai
@@raggydoll0189 We’d all crush on Ozai if he weren’t concentrated evil. That look and voiced by Mark Hamill? Dreamboat!
The jumpscare you have at Ed's nightmare is phenomenal. As someone that grew up on this show, watching reactions to this are life giving.
Loving your reactions so far!
That saddest thing about Nina to me is that I think she never really understood what happened to her, she just understood that her father was happy about it.
On the contrary, it was the only calming circumstance. Imagine that she realized what her father had done to her, and that he had put out her mother in the same way. That would be hell.
I really truly hope that you are wrong
@@lothsperWell, I mean… technically in the sense that the whole thing is just made up, yeah…
Not everyone in uniform is an alchemist, most (like Hawkeye and Hughes) are normal soldiers. There are State Alchemists that also serve in the military full time, like Roy and Armstrong, but also State Alchemists like Ed and Tucker that are licensed by the government but effectively civilians. That is until the state calls upon them in times of war to serve at their behest, like in Ishval.
the state alchemist title does grant them an equivalent rank. they mention what it is at some point. they won't outrank a military officer of that rank(or higher obviously) but can issue orders to lower ranked soldiers if need be
@@meewec2091- State alchemists are essentially the rank of a Major or higher, even Edward.
@@Parallax-3DI suppose there's some variance. Marco and Tucker were civilian researchers. Edward and Alphonse report directly to Mustang. Granted, this might just be the arrangement due to them committing human transmutation.
The mid episode title is called an eye catch. Basically it’s a way to tell the audience the commercial break is over and what show they are watching. Don’t worry too much about it.
All of the voice actors put on their A-game for this show, and that's especially true for Maxey Whitehead as Al. She really brings out his earnestness, hopefulness, and thoughtful nature. He's a great kid making the best of a bleak situation. And hey, everyone loves Armstrong. In a lesser show, he'd just be some musclebound idiot. But as you already tell, there's so much more to him than that. Same with Scar; he's not some random serial killer, but the survivor of a genocide obsessed with revenge. If the perspective was flipped, he'd be the main character. That's one of the great things about this show; all of the characters are complex in their own ways, and for good reasons. You'll see soon enough...
I can't wait for you to learn more about the Ishvalan war. This series is so damn good.
Envy has a deeper woman's voice and gets referred to with male pronouns. But I believe in the manga they're never referred to with a specific gender! I think it fits their shape shifting ability. Literal gender envy lol. Rocking a crop top and a skort. I agree, gluttony is weirdly cute. He's a giant bald man but has toddler mannerism and it just kinda works.
Yeah, Envy is nonbinary iirc.
Poor Gluttony is so innocent, but that kinda fits. Overindulgence is a sin that pretty much anyone can easily fall into without seeing the problem. Why not eat when you've only ever known hunger? Why not sleep when you're always tired? Thus, he is the most innocent of the seven sins.
The only flaw in FMA:B is that each episode feels like 30 seconds cause they are so good.
I would say... there are more flaws than that, and I love this series.
These flaws seem to be centered on them seeming to rush into plot with the first dozen episodes. I do get it, some friends told me a lot of that material was done in the previous anime series until it outpaced the source material... and the creators did not want to just retread ALL the same ground. So we get Mustang's crew being chummy with the Elric brothers but don't get as fully introduced to them all.
But the pacing issues start falling away after Ep 10. They start becoming more economic with their time, as well, hiding details which are referred to again later.
In universe we can find you on the sidelines of a major battle screaming out for Armstrong to take off his shirt lol
I love your enthusiasm every time Armstrong is on screen 😂 Glad you're enjoying the show 🙂
I like the use of the rain in this episode. Having it carry over from the end of the last episode and stay with us through most of this episode was really smart cause then the sun can start piercing the clouds right as the characters and audience start to feel a bit of hope.
Likability has been passed down through the Armstrong line for generations.
I just want to reiterate - I really enjoy the single episode reactions. Every episode has a ton of content, so I think you won't regret it if you only did one at a time. There's only a few select instances where episodes can be grouped that would make sense together, but standalone just fine.
Oh man I just can't wait for Angela's reaction for the whole series. From the stuff you're already talking about, I think "oh, she's gonna love this moment", or "this episode is gonna break her". This whole show is just a huge compilation of highlights and I'm so looking forward to your reactions to all of them.
Two things I noticed in this episode that makes this show great is
1) the soundtrack
2) The brothers are talented but there are no easy fights
always thought the idea of Envy’s form being more androgynous is a cool detail, since they can take both gender forms
It is extremely unfortunate that it's relevant... I watch someone else who watched this episode and was like "how could a government do this? Why would the soldiers do this?" Like.... You sweet summer child..
I first saw that episode almost ten years ago and I am STILL not over it. You NEVER get over Nina and Alexander.
So happy to see my boy Armstrong putting in some work this episode
You and me both 😏
Regarding Hughes comment and the number of alchemists, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Of the military members at that street fight, the only alchemists were Roy Mustang and Lt Armstrong. The rest were military members of varying rank.
And Hawkeye is absolutely a badass! Can't wait to see more!
28:23 FWIW the sorcerer's stone and the philosopher's stone are pretty much the exact same thing. The HP franchise actually calls Nicholas Flamel's stone the philosopher's stone in the UK versions.
I know that’s why I made the joke about us Americans calling it the sorcerer Stone. I don’t know why they felt they needed to change it, but I’m sure it has something to do with us being confused about what a philosopher is lol
hahahaha "and ya'll are sick" we've only had time Angela XD
Maxey White Head did a great job bringing Al to life especially when he lecture Ed and gets upset when his arm falls off
Also the bloopers. Easily my favorite of the blooper reel. xD
One good thing about this anime is that you do get the answers. What they set up will pay off later.
Episodes 3 and 4 are foils, the extremes of religion and science. But the main takeaway I believe is that humans are the ones that create evil. Religion associates evil with an unseen boogyman and science labels it as necessary. Both rationale try to pass blame off of the person doing the evil onto something else. Both give humans that catalyst to do unspeakable horrors to fellow people. Kinda reminds me of the song Symphony for the Devil by the Rolling Stones.
aww hey hugs =) The darkness does get complimented with some good wholesome silly moments too
Edwards first encounter with Scar goes a little differently in the Manga, Mustang Sends Military Police to look for Edward when he realises he's in Danger but Scar only recognises Edward after the officer refers to him by name. Scar kills the officer, and then they fight.
Also, Scar likes animals, a random detail that isn't really important, but it humanises him a little
The Netflix _distributed_ movie uses the manga version of the encounter, however it also chooses to clumsily sidestep some of the story’s themes, especially those that involved tackling racism, colonialism and genocide, doing so by casting ethnic Japanese actors to play the European-inspired Amestrians, (which is something Arakawa admitted as the basis for the Amestrians,) and the vaguely Middle Eastern/Ainu Ishvalans.
one of the small handful I think is an improvement in the anime- the "Scar is suddenly silently there in the middle of sad monologue" moment and the fact that the sad music doesn't stop until the moment of his attack (and the cut to the bell toll of the clock right as he strikes) is some peak cinematography and way more memorable.
When people have met my parents in the past, they've often asked me, "how did you become such a decent human being" and I've always answered the same way, "Animorphs, Buffy and FMAB." They shaped my morality. If you haven't read animorphs or watched buffy, you really should.
Incredibly based Animorphs mention. That series goes so hard.
Oh man, Buffy is so under-rated. I rarely see a channel do any reactions to the show :(
Fucking hell. I haven't heard animorphs since i finished the series years and years ago. I grew up on those books lol.
Yeah actually its a lot more simple. Everyone decides their morality in spite of their parents because your parents have a 100% chance to insist on a mistake to you regardless of who they are, and if its especially bad you're going to have a moral framework on what not to do
Based af. I have ATLA / Korra in there too.
Right at the end there, when Ed is talking about their only way is forward. The way all the adults brighten up out of their gloomy mood is a scene I always find quietly heartwarming.
17:35 I, too, need to see a perfect physical specimen to invigorate myself and hasten my recovery.
17:53 I'm looking healthier already!
Im really happy to see you appreciate Alphonse’s speech, it’s one of my favorites, feel like a lot of reactor don’t recognize how much he keeps Ed going, I have no doubt that if Alphonse had died during the human transmutation
, Ed wouldn’t have joined the military or had the motive to Fast track his Automail recovery
I'm so excited to get to the 2 episodes in 1 video reactions. Every episode in this show just gets better and better. It's always "oh man you're gonna be in for it next episode" every time you drop a new video lol
I like how naturally this episode picks up after the last one, and I really like how abruptly Scar shows up in the middle of Ed and Als emotional moment. The sad musical score keeps going well after Scar enters the screen up until Al realizes what's going on and pulls Ed out of the way
As many probably mentioned below : yeah, many people like Armstrong. I think he's a bit too much, but also he's lovely and strong and silly, so the balance is positive :D
An eye for an eye = equivalent exchange.
I never made that connection before... but Scar's techniques and abilities are just destruction... which equates to the saying "an eye for an eye just leaves the whole world blind".
Damn, I love this series.
For being a first-time anime watch (excluding Blue Eye Samurai), your enthusiasm for this show is great! I, too, heard that if you're going to watch an anime, watch this one. After HunterXHunter, i swore I'd never watch another 3+ season anime, only because of the filler. But, I'm watching this show through your reactions, and it's great. Keep up the stellar work. Congrats again on 100k subs!
You don't need to worry about fillers, this anime is so perfect, it doesn't even have that. You could consider the first two episodes the fillers since they had to make some changes and a kind of summary, but even tho it's just that. It could be really longer than it is. But it's very packed and straight forward. I recommend you to watch the entire show, it's not that long and reaaaally worth it.
I’m pretty sure blue eye samurai is french but idk
Overcoming irreversibility of the results of human transmutation is exactly why the brothers are looking for the philosopher's stone as it breaks the rules of alchemy.
12:59 the duality of Gluttony
I do really like that this episode shows how much Nina's fate affected the boys. It's all too common for a tragic early death in a story to be paid lip service and then seemingly written off so the main characters can move on; FMAB does a great job of showing, even as two kids who have faced tragedy before, how much Ed and Al are struggling with it.
ROFL, was not expecting FunnyLilGal's reaction to Armstrong. But, here for it.
😂
ah ah Scar is sick too love him and King Bradley
I feel llike you might have a little thing for Armstrong. Ed and Al's superpower is being very lovable.
The F'd up thing about Scar going after Ed, though, is Ed was 2 when the war was fought.
I'm convinced Armstrong is a D&D Berserker. The less clothing he has, the more damage he can take! 😂
18:06 this is one of the few major failings of the dub. Ed lists the first stage of alchemy as construction, but it is Understanding. Understanding, deconstruction, then reconstruction.
I guess you could say he means understanding the construction is the first stage of alchemical transmutations with deconstruction, and reconstruction following that.
@@ripleyjlawman.3162 I can definitely see that if I look for it, but it takes some stretching to get there. I am normally a dub watcher, so that isn't me trying to say the sub is better, but that one line always stands out to me because otherwise they do such a great job.
I think there was one other line that similarly bugs me, but I can't think of it right now, so I may be thinking of something else.
Understanding of How Things are Constructed; The main aim of dubbing is matching lip flaps over word for word transcribing. If you want to see how trained these artists are, check out some outtakes. Even as their take goes down in flames, every word they say usually matches the flaps.
I would have been more happier if they had dubbed it with
" composition" rather than "construction," i think both words fill the time stamp of the character pretty well.
Oh trust, the Ishval situation is more relevant than you know. Just keep watching, the parallels are parallelling something FIERCE.
I hope that you remembered (since I am sure you watched it already) that there is an post-credits scene next episode (6). Agaiun, the list of episodes with after credits scenes are: 6, 8, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 40, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 49. Additionally, the endings of episodes 45, 54, 63, and 64 (the finale) are different.
She says at the end of this one that she hasn't forgotten, so fret not
In the first version of the anime, Armstrong is introduced moments before his fight against Scar. His opening monologue gives me chills to this day.
At the end of the chapter with Nina and Alexander in the manga shows their souls heading up as separate beings. While Shou is about to go downstairs.
FMAB episode four is really an episode of television, you know what I mean? It sticks with you. I'm always proud when somebody gets through it, doubly so when they aren't a big anime consumer in the first place, and redoubled when they do it on camera.
Oh! Not everyone there who saw als body was an alchemist! Only mustang and Armstrong! Everyone else was just regular military personnel
If you like the connection of winry and hawkeye, there actually an OVA you could watch. Theyre just short extra content. This one is called "simple" people. I would stay away from the other ones for now because of story elements that haven't happened yet
Worry not about your enjoyment of Major Armstrong's shirtless body. Appreciation for his physique (which was passed down the Armstrong line for generations!) transcends male/female preferences!
Just to let you know that Vox Machina season 3's opening has dropped as well as it's air date.
Another thing I really like about this show is that the main protagonist is literally disabled. We forget about it cause he has auto mail and is an amazing fighter. You can see how used to his prosthetics he is cause after his arm gets destroyed- he instinctual goes to lean on it when crawling back and ends up falling over cause of it. One thing that doesn't get explicitly stated is that mustangs gloves are made of a special material so that they spark when he snaps. One of the gloves is used for precision aiming and the other is for big blasts. Amestris has pretty big Germanic inspiration, ishval is moreso a middle eastern inspired country. Especially with their god being called Ishvallah and Islam worshipping Allah.
Obscuring the Eyes is a known and well used visual-art strategy that takes advantage of our brains' neurology. there're some deep dives on the topic here on YT that're fascinating.
I have been watching some videos deep-diving into real-world alchemical theory as it relates to the characters and themes of fma. Arakawa really did some massive research for this series.
It's a terrible day for rain.
watching your expanse reactions you had mentioned nerdy nightly which was my introduction to their channel. so been watching some of his anime reactions where he does 2 episodes at a time but will break down the first episode after its done then the 2nd at the end and can further expand on both if needed. i agree doing 2 back to back could potentially be a bit much to remember to try to breakdown both.
i love the post episode break downs though to me thats what really makes reactions special. seen a lot of channels who just do in the moment reactions and theres like very little if any post episode thoughts its just like "well that was a good episode cya next time"
17:00 lol that little spoof of cloud for his failing. Still makes me laugh.
Always gotta love an episode with Alex in it. Seeing as how you like muscular men at some point you should try watching jojo's bizarre adventure.
Growing up I had such a crush on Armstrong :X It doesn't help that he has such a caring personality lol. More buff strong dilfs should rip their shirts off mid conversations irl... Just sayin! ... don't judge me xD
He must spend a fortune on new shirts.
I'll loving your break down of the themes and characters.
I don’t know if you caught it but scar explains that ed forms a circle by putting both of his hands together, the circle is the base of all alchemical transmutations so by forming a circle with his hands and imagining the alchemical formula that he wishes to perform he is able to perform alchemy without having to draw any of the symbols that other alchemists have to
Yeah... I don't agree with Scar but I can't say I blame him for being the way he is. Fun realization that most of the "good guys" in the military are war criminals here. Armstrong is a treat and should be treasured. On that note I saw a guy pushing carts at the grocery store the other day and my dude had the blonde curl in the front so my mind instantly went to, " this is the cart pushing technique that has been passed through the Armstrong family for generations!!!" 😂
There will of course be more information made available about Ishval throughout the series, and what happened there. Really compelling stuff.
First: Undoing a Chimera would be like taking bread dough and separating the flour back out.
Second: Win-ree - not Win-er-ree.
Third: If it wasn't raining, Mustang would have EASILY beaten Scar. Not even close. Like Ozai vs 10 year old Zuko Agni Kai not close.
You wanted Ed to talk to the serial killer in the process of trying to kill him? Ok then... 🤣
Every character is driven forward by their baggage. People complain that Mustang forgets that he’s affected by weather, but he’s rather myopic. You were correct when you said Armstrong was “look at me”. Just remember that the “animeisms” are being used for a reason.
Envy, more like Gender Envy 😂 (fr tho, they were always my favourite. When i came out i was like 'Oh')
Your love of Alex gives me life lmao
Dont worry, theyll never let you forget any trauma in this show
seeing Winrey reminded me of a very funny moment in a later(much later) episode, and have tissues on stand by for more then 1 episode that's coming up. (that's all I can say without spoilers)OH! I just remembered a scene that I know that Angela IS GOING TO LOVE!!!
i think tucker had convinced himself she would be able to adapt. otherwise he'd have to actually face what a terrible thing he did to his wife. by convincing himself it was just he didn't take into account her age and adaptability he was able to convince himself he was not such a monster. and that means if he stops trying that he would be admitting what he did to his wife was a wrong choice which he didn't want to face either
FMAB proving that it’s the best starter anime again
violence seeds violence. Only grace and forgiveness will ever end conflict.
I don't know if anyone's told you, but the Philosopher's Stone and the Sorcerer's Stone are the same thing. The first Harry Potter book is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but it was renamed for the American market. The Philosopher's Stone is a legitimate part of folklore in real-world, historical alchemy.
That’s what I literally said
Nina will never be forgotten by the brothers
The amestrians are ww2 era Germany. Right down to having a fuhrer
"Maybe it will be a fun one" Ant the title of the episode is Rain of Sorrows 😅
Hawkeye is such a badass! I love that she got more screen time in this one.
Don't worry about the other series. This one is based on the original story the other series went off on its own with only a few similarities. This series is better and I say that as someone who grew up with the other series.
"You're useless on rainy days" remember that.
Taking some days after that episode is normal. I did that too almost 2 decades ago. (original series)
You made it past 5 episodes, congrats. Emotional devastation in 4 and religious genocide in 5 didn't drive you away. You'll survive the story escalation, emotional roller-coaster, and the stunning revelations. Enjoy!
Something that the original does is it's way more cartoonish and flanderizes the characters. Most anime fans today didn't grow up with it so they can't really appreciate it when little bits of it come up in Brotherhood.
Like you say they do a good job as lust or Al but they also had a ton of experience voicing the characters before this. The whole cast came back and in the case of adapting it from the manga the anime team does try to insert little bits of their old characters especially for comedy scenes. It doesn't come up so much early on but it is something that'll help lighten things up. Mainly just the first episode.
Also in terms of cartoonish. The mention of the canon alchemist reminded me how in the old series Ed would make these little canons sometimes mid fight. I think he also made little statues, i just remember him being a bit more obnoxious and imaginative with alchemy.
Armstrong is amazing!
Chimera recipe. Add one Alexander, a dash of Nina, mix well. You said you have a dark sense of humor so I had to do it.
Since you mentioned you like Alphonse's VA you should know it isn't a man. At least not in Brotherhood. The original series it was a 12 year old boy but in this iteration it is a woman named Maxey Whitehead. She knocked it out the park. This anime has some real veteran heavy hitters in the dubbing world. By the by, in the Japanese dub Ed is voiced by a woman; Romi Park and her portrayal of Ed is very different to Vic's performance here yet both voices work well for Ed. I personally prefer the English version.
I love Riza Hawkeye so much.
Remember, nobody has margheritas with pizza.
xD Did they hit you with the "Fu-Sion-ha" meme? It's a T-Shirt these days.
That’s the one
So, I have two things (unrelated) I want to talk about: Envy and the Ishvalans.
One of the things from here on is that a lot of characters will use he/him for Envy because this was before nonbinary was well recognized, so a lot of fans prefer to use they/them. This is because Envy is a shapeshifter who can look however they want, and this appearance is just the latest one they chose.
The Ishvalans honestly make me think of a lot of stuff to do with the Jewish people; having been massacred and forced out of their homeland by the Roman Empire and being mostly unable to return to it somewhat mirrors how the Ishvalans were massacred and forced out of their homes by Amestris. They were also both edge-of-the-desert cultures.
The biggest differences (aside from the existence of alchemy) in their stories are that the Ishvalans weren't enslaved after the massacre and the length of time since it happened (the Jewish Uprising happing around 2000 years ago vs the Ishvalan Civil War being 13 years ago).
Can't wait for your reaction to the end of ep 26, best scene in anime history
Brotherhood is good but the original series just hits so much darker
Its a terrible day for rain.
I envy Envy, Non-Binary ICON!
Say nucular again! Say nucular one more goddamned time! I dare you! I double dog dare you!
(lol, I kid, I kid! That pronunciation is one of my great sins, so I’m attuned to it.)
I think now I just mispronouncing things for funsies
@@funnylilgalreacts Farscape will give you some opportunities!
If you’re ever feeling generous, feel free to drop double episodes :)
18:03 BEST. REACTION. EVER
We don't actually get too much less with Nina in FMAB, in the original it's literally just one more episode. Of course that episode includes Ed's birthday so... yeah... it is worse.
Edit: Armstrong is wonderful, gush as much as you want. Considering they're like 14 and 15/16: Alphonse is... wise, wise beyond his years.