This episode is very interesting my only issue is that looks a little rushed. The main characters are very interesting and the premise of the episode about religion is amazing, this show looks really promising.
4 Reviews
Amazing
aliceveiak6 July 2022
Great action
bilybassoon11 July 2022
Evil Priest & The Mindless Horde
injury-6544710 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I really enjoyed this! Only episode 3 and I'm starting to see why this series is so popular and beloved.
After the epic debut & then the origin episode - we get in episode 3 what I guess you could consider a stand-alone adventure with the boys.
The story is somewhat predictable, however it's executed well and the animation is glorious.
In this episode I really started to appreciate how great the humour is in the show and how it's perfectly expressed through the animation. Some of the reactions are just priceless.
Rose is a fantastic side character here, and she is the real heart of the episode (which is otherwise just a generic power hungry bad guy). Her struggle with faith and wanting to reclaim her dead fiancé is heartbreaking and relatable. She wants so badly to believe it was possible, and now learning she has been deceived is utterly lost and despairing.
The villains teased at the end of the episode (who I remember from episode 1) are intriguing. It's great to get this hint of the larger schemes in motion, of which this false priest character with his false ring is merely a cog. I look forward to learning more about their nefarious plans.
On a broad level the episode also tackles themes of religion and mindless, unthinking obedience. It may cause the viewer to question the nature and purpose of faith.
The only thing I can criticise is that the show tends to go on about the brother's insecurity over his small size. Also, there is a fair bit of exposition and recap within the episode that doesn't really feel like natural dialogue. But none of this greatly took away from the viewing experience. It's petty amazing stuff.
After the epic debut & then the origin episode - we get in episode 3 what I guess you could consider a stand-alone adventure with the boys.
The story is somewhat predictable, however it's executed well and the animation is glorious.
In this episode I really started to appreciate how great the humour is in the show and how it's perfectly expressed through the animation. Some of the reactions are just priceless.
Rose is a fantastic side character here, and she is the real heart of the episode (which is otherwise just a generic power hungry bad guy). Her struggle with faith and wanting to reclaim her dead fiancé is heartbreaking and relatable. She wants so badly to believe it was possible, and now learning she has been deceived is utterly lost and despairing.
The villains teased at the end of the episode (who I remember from episode 1) are intriguing. It's great to get this hint of the larger schemes in motion, of which this false priest character with his false ring is merely a cog. I look forward to learning more about their nefarious plans.
On a broad level the episode also tackles themes of religion and mindless, unthinking obedience. It may cause the viewer to question the nature and purpose of faith.
The only thing I can criticise is that the show tends to go on about the brother's insecurity over his small size. Also, there is a fair bit of exposition and recap within the episode that doesn't really feel like natural dialogue. But none of this greatly took away from the viewing experience. It's petty amazing stuff.
A Perfect Encapsulation of My Biggest Problems with FMAB
liammc-732748 February 2022
To be frank, this episode is a tonal mess. If the show wanted to go for a more comedy-centric episode after the beautifully dark and emotionally poignant flashback the episode prior, I would've been totally fine with it. Instead, it clumsily attempted to cram in a tragic story of a woman whose desperate faith (inspired by an event similar to the catalyst of the Elric brothers' quest) caused her to be manipulated by a corrupt religious organization. It's nearly impossible to successfully ride the line between comedy and tragedy, and due to the repetitive nature of the show's comedic style (ie. The already tired "Ed is short" and "Al isn't the Fullmetal Alchemist" jokes) it failed to do so spectacularly for me. There was absolutely no subtlety in the transitions between chibi animations/goofy scenarios and a heartbreaking tale of this woman tormented by grief and false promises. For me they broke immersion in the dramatic scenes, and just weren't funny enough on their own to merit that. As a result, none of the emotional moments felt earned or held any weight. A show that accomplishes this effectively for me is Avatar: The Last Airbender. If comedic moments are interspersed between dramatic ones, they are fleeting and don't draw the viewer out of the conflict at hand. To put it bluntly, they're also quite a bit more creative and genuinely funnier than those displayed here.
But the problems don't stop there. Half of the dialogue is just rehashing material from the previous two episodes (the Elric brothers' committing of the taboo, the properties of the philosopher's stone, etc.), and it came off as incredibly clunky. There were also several moments of logical inconsistency in the dialogue. For one, when the brothers first arrive in town, the townspeople claim to know nothing about alchemy. They're only familiar with Cornello's "miracles" and are bewildered by Alphonse's repair job of the stall owner's radio. But suddenly, after they reveal their identities everyone is familiar with the brothers and their fame in the realm of alchemy? I'm curious if this is explained better in the manga (perhaps a result of brainwashing in some fashion), but regardless it makes little sense in context. In addition, even after conversing with a seemingly omnipotent deity that stole his brother's body and a couple of his limbs (and revealed untold alchemical secrets to him), Ed is apparently still completely unwilling to give any credence to belief in religion in his conversation with Rose. In part because of this, the commentary on religious corruption, faith, and mob mentality felt ham-fisted and lacked depth. Coupled with a secondary antagonist that's cartoonishly evil and is dealt with in comedic fashion in the end, any potentially poignant commentary fell through.
I still give it a 4/10 due to the stellar animation in the fight scenes, delightful art style, intriguing conclusion, and fantastic score. But all in all this is an incredibly disappointing episode that could've been so much more with a bit of retooling. The same could be said for the show as a whole honestly, although I wouldn't go so far as to say it's incredibly disappointing. It's still a very solid show with so much going for it to make up for its flaws. I'm just not convinced that it's the absolute pinnacle of shonen, let alone anime as a whole.
But the problems don't stop there. Half of the dialogue is just rehashing material from the previous two episodes (the Elric brothers' committing of the taboo, the properties of the philosopher's stone, etc.), and it came off as incredibly clunky. There were also several moments of logical inconsistency in the dialogue. For one, when the brothers first arrive in town, the townspeople claim to know nothing about alchemy. They're only familiar with Cornello's "miracles" and are bewildered by Alphonse's repair job of the stall owner's radio. But suddenly, after they reveal their identities everyone is familiar with the brothers and their fame in the realm of alchemy? I'm curious if this is explained better in the manga (perhaps a result of brainwashing in some fashion), but regardless it makes little sense in context. In addition, even after conversing with a seemingly omnipotent deity that stole his brother's body and a couple of his limbs (and revealed untold alchemical secrets to him), Ed is apparently still completely unwilling to give any credence to belief in religion in his conversation with Rose. In part because of this, the commentary on religious corruption, faith, and mob mentality felt ham-fisted and lacked depth. Coupled with a secondary antagonist that's cartoonishly evil and is dealt with in comedic fashion in the end, any potentially poignant commentary fell through.
I still give it a 4/10 due to the stellar animation in the fight scenes, delightful art style, intriguing conclusion, and fantastic score. But all in all this is an incredibly disappointing episode that could've been so much more with a bit of retooling. The same could be said for the show as a whole honestly, although I wouldn't go so far as to say it's incredibly disappointing. It's still a very solid show with so much going for it to make up for its flaws. I'm just not convinced that it's the absolute pinnacle of shonen, let alone anime as a whole.
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