In my opinion it was the best episode fo far. There were angst, drama action. Roy's cute 'pufff', Riza covering Ed with her coat, ENVY and a lot of goodies! Ed's dream was ultra awesome! And his sorrowful wake-up... And whole this drama in Ed x Al dialogues! Simply amazing!

Animation was very smooth (I was very surprised *___*), and arts were very good. Despite the fact that I hate way of drawing profiles in this series! Blaaah!

However, there can't be only sweetnes and advantages...

I HATE new Envy's voice! It's more masculine, nevertheless Envy's sex is unknown in manga... I prefered old, Mayumi Yamaguchi's dubbing... It was equivocal and very interesting! In addition new one is too similar to Paku Romi's voice!!! At first I thought Envy was recorded by Paku! XD Another BLAAAH!
If I were them I wouldn't change ANY seiyuu...

To sum up... Envy - YAAAY <3, action and drama!
Drawback: profiles, seiyuu.

That's all from me today~! *^^*

I must admit I loved this episode unconitionally. Scar felt like he really really ment to kill everyone involved and I stopped mesuring the scenes with manga/anime1 and just enjoyed myself. Wow. Scar dodging bullets was amazing. He IS fast, no wonder he managed to kill som many state alchemists.
Lior... this Lust is evil to the bone, cherishing every moment of her job. I held my breath when Envy was about to speak. New VA, but the voice suits him/her/it.

And I like the watercolor/painting feel to the backgrounds... I'm hopeless

And the look on Mustang's face as Scar's hand swished by... priceless

Cool. I bought the Uso single on Saturday (didn't feel like getting the version with the dvd, despite the fact that it was there), but I forgot to open it in the car.

Need to check if the other Kinokuniya in SF has the Yui single (San Jose didn't have it and I suspect it was sold out).

On the subject of the episode, I thought it was great. I really liked that they kept Edward's nightmare and I loved the Ishbal flashback (it's funny seeing how young they all were in that shot). I also loved the look of the entire episode, mostly because of the whole watercolor painting feel to it.

Rie's Al during the chastising of Ed was fantastic, as you can hear the raw emotion cutting & breaking through. To me, it really seems that there's a lot more emotion coming from the VAs this time around. I also really love how much more expressive everyone else (Roy especially) with their eyes - as that definitely feels more in line with the manga.

Scar owned in this episode. The nightmare scene was creepy and well done. It's not as good as episode 4 but I liked it all the same. Can't wait for the next episode.

Oh yeah, and I loved the character cards they used for this episode: only manly men can pull off the hot pink

<Program Note>

QUOTE (edo little kid @ May 4 2009, 11:34 AM)

hi , I have a new pic

I think it's drawn about Episode 5
---------------------



---------------------
yeah , my best episodes list :
1)-Ep5 !! , 2)-Ep4 , 3)-Ep3 , 4)-Ep1 , 5)-Ep2 .

------------------

QUOTE (amestris_star @ May 4 2009, 11:36 AM)

Wait, wait, WAIT!
Totally unrelated to the ep... where's that pic from? *____* I think I need a grand scan of that!

QUOTE (Kasumisty @ May 4 2009, 12:05 PM)

It's the cover of the USO singiel.

Thank you, edo little kid for th epic, and amestris_star for the question, and Kasumisty for the info!!

I'm moving the posts to FMA Brotherhood news and JP site watch thread... although it can also go to FMA-2 ED discussion thread and/or FMA-2 OP/ED & Soundtrack thread, so feel free to add that info to these threads also.

=============

~ Now, please resume regular discussions. ~

Well, I realized that I forgot to mention the homunculi when I gave my opinion last night (guess I was tired).

Well, Lust was great, with her evil smiles and all. Gluttony sounds like a old man! What happened to making him sound cute?! Even in the dub of the first anime, he didn't sound like this.
I like Envy's voice! I think it fits him/her. The transformation from cornello to his/her usual form was a little strange. I'll have to look at it carefully when watching it again.

i loved this episode because is exactly the same as the manga. I think that in the next episode they are going to move Marcoh to Rizembul or something like that, because they area going to put 2 chapters in one episode like episode 5. Im new in this forum and my english is not very good hehehe so i hope you can understand my opint of view

And I've noticed that homunculi has oroboros sign like in first anime adaptation...

The star inside the dragon circle is different... And I wonder why...

So I finally watched the episode and I loved it!

I thought the Ed vs. Scar fight could have been longer...but in reality, I guess it fit the pace of the manga in anime form.

The humor was perfect! It fit right in and made me laugh .

I also liked the introduction of the Ishbalans and their strife with Amestris. We got glimpses of some other soldiers and a nice map of Amestris for everyone.

I'm really excited with how this show is being paced now and can't wait until things get more hectic.

Also....ENVY! Oh, I love Manga!Envy so much and am glad to finally meet him, her, it...IT, lol. XP

I can't wait till hughes is killed all over again *if they show that in this which I believe they have no other choice but to do so since it was a major part of the story in the last one and the manga*

Brilliant Episode! I loved everything! ^0^

It had a great pace, was well animated (with a little stumble at some points i.e Al's chin but i don't really mind that ) and exciting (i was stuck to the screen XD)!

(my thoughts are all over the place lol XD)

-The dream sequence...or should i say nightmare was definitely scary, i did not expect their failed transmutation to replace their mother and to tie in Nina as well. Amazing!

-Also Ed with his hair down!! yay! =D <3 hehe

-I was so stoked to see Envy! and I'm loving his new voice and character design.

-Also the Lior uprising was very well done, it felt way more intense and darker this time around. I like

-The scene where Ed and Al are sitting in the rain was beautiful especially the rain falling on Al's face looking like a tear.

-Scar popping out of nowhere surprised me XD and he is way more scary this time around.

-I loved the action scenes! So intense! I was jumping in my seat and i never do that lol XD.

-The humor was great =D One of my favorite's would have to be after Armstrong had whipped off his shirt and Riza says "why is he naked?" XD Loved the useless line too ^^. I didn't notice Mustang's poof of smoke until my second time watching the episode XD. I loved it =D.

-Another wonderful scene was when Al was angry at Ed for not running away. Rie-chan was amazing! Her voice acting for Al...was so so good. I loved loved this scene and to have to the sun shine through at the end with Riza putting her jacket on Ed >w<.

Just some r-andom thoughts: XD
It was great to see the new series follow the Manga so faithfully. It's a real treat and a pleasure to watch. I've never seen such a series with such striking, beautiful and unique backgrounds and animation. It's so different and refreshing =D

I'm looking forward to the next episode! I really wonder how it'll be pulled off =D and i am dying to see Winry! I love her so much in the manga and new series! I didn't really like her in the first series XD

I totally second that!! A+++++ for Rie Kugimiya-san's voice acting in that scene!!! IMO she was totally convincing as Al in that state of mind. I think this scene was sooo relying on her VAing, and especially so because visually Al is in a metal armor, and IMO she nailed it!! ^^


And, it also comes with dejected "pop" sound when he snaps fingers. XD

I wasn't so happy with the voice, they really don't care about how much they are making Envy sound like a girl >.<

*no offense to the female population lol*

Hmm...it looks like this was my favourite episode of the season so far. I can't say why, but I think it's because it feels like it's getting more in line with the manga at this point - it was the first episode that's really put me back to a specific part or even panel of the manga (except of course for 'his eyes were full of fire',) and that's a good sign as far as I'm concerned. The episode just seemed the particularly faithful to the manga.

It was also the first time I took notice of the voice acting, so I agree with everyone's praise of the acting in this one! (Haha, Vic Mignogna, if he does indeed reprise his role of Ed, will have a feild day with this one; I know he really liked this episode last time, and this time round it's almost more dramatic. I liked his acting, so I'm looking forward to seeing his portrayal in this ep.) \i can't say that I loved Scar's voice however, though it is hard to judge when it's in another language. I just remember thinking it sounded overly-deep...but I'm sure that it'll grow on me.

I particularly liked the animation in the episode, which is weird because it's not like there would be much of a difference. I'll put it down to finally getting used to the new style.
...I guess I'll just conclude that I liked the episode. A lot.

I finally watched the episode.

When Scar appeared while Al was talking about not feeling rain, I was like "Oh hi it is Scar. Then oh wait he wants to kill them... RUN!"

I really enjoyed that episode. The acting was fantastic. I liked how Al's punch to Ed made Ed defy gravity.

Oh and I loved the Riza tripping Roy scene. Still made me squeal.

I didn't like this episode although it was better than the first three. Action in Lior was pathetic mainly because of stupid expressions of citizens and Lust (they blemished beautiful Lust by making her grin from ear to ear) which made this whole scene unconvincing.
I didn't like Scar's encounter with brothers either. How exactly did he know that by the fountain there was a state alchemist? A while later we've seen that Scar didn't know Ed was fullmetal alchemist (if he knew he wouldn't be surprised that Ed had an automail). Also it was strange that he attacked Ed first, not Al (every reasonable man would think that Al is fullmetal/state alchemist, not some kid). Unless somehow he knew (in the anime of course, we know from manga that he didn't) that there is a young state Alchemist that travels with big armor. Sorry but I don't buy it.
But that's not all of idiocies. Why did Al push Ed away from someone that seemed to want to attack Ed with his BARE hand (BTW, why did Scar waste so much time and make a cool pose then attack? Of course so that Al would have enough time to react)? He shouldn't have known that Scar possesses such destructive power and Ed isn't someone that would go down from a single bare-handed shot. Wouldn't it be easier to attack Scar? And first of all, how come Al managed to push Ed aside before Scar touched him? Scar was much faster than Al (in fact he was faster than their combined attacks, see 12th minute) and not only Al at this moment was fast enough to stretch his arms and pull them back before scar could reach Ed but also he managed to do this with Ed as a ballast! Besides Scar wouldn't slack and go after them 1 meter per 10 seconds like some terminator but killed them quickly (or at least immobilized them and then give few seconds to say prayers). And when Mustang appeared we've had classic shounen "bad guys calmly wait until people will stop talking and explaining things"... Again I don't understand the changes, it was totally unconvincing.

What I did like were Kugumiya's acting (as always, I love her especially as Kagura in Gintama) and care for details when Scar destroyed Al's armor and Ed's automail.

Edit:
And there's another thing that I didn't notice because of my manga fanboyism. As kujoe from animesuki wrote

Nobody really knows (aside from people like Mustang and Winry) that Ed has automail, so it's pretty reasonable why Scar's surprised. Him attacking Ed first was weird, though It made more sense in the manga with that soldier who went around shouting his name in front of Scar (the poor dude), but they probably cut him out for time purposes. (Although it would've been a nice touch.)

As for Al pulling Ed away from Scar...well, a scary man just walked up to Ed, asked him his name, and started to attack him. Ed isn't responding because he's busy being emo. Al's reaction would've been the same if Scar was attacking Ed with a machine gun.

And the last one is what I call nitpicking. That's not a classic shounen thing, it's a thing that happens in every damn story. Scar didn't know who Mustang was, and waited until he decided that Mustang was a big enough threat for him to move away from Ed. No change from the manga or the first series.

But he wasn't attacking him with a machine gun. And that doesn't explain why he would try to pull Ed back instead of fighting him (knowing Al he would do just that). Besides, the biggest problem I have with this is Al's speed. He was faster than Scar here.

Al's more violent in the manga than he is in the first anime, but he'd probably just grab Ed and get the hell out of there if somebody was trying to kill them. This is still early on, and Scar's the first real dude who seriously tried to kill them. And they did fight him later on, the first instinct was just to run away.

The speed thing is either a wtf moment like with Scar suddenly appearing or more nitpicking. I'm gonna infer more than I should into this and say that Al was closer to Ed than Scar was, so Al got to him first. It was a pretty close shave anyways.

I didn't get a chance to post my thoughts on the previous episode (I thought it was great, by the way; even better than in the first series and, dare I say it, in the manga), but I'm so happy that we've had two good episodes in a row. I still have some reservations about the series, but I have a good feeling it will only get better from here. I just hope they completely remake episode two when the DVD version comes out, but chances of that happening are very slim.

As for the episode: Alphonse was doing things! He was protecting his big brother instead of the other way around! Hell yeah!

I'm happy with the characterization of all the characters in this episode (except for Ed, but I will elaborate on that in a moment). The voice acting was great and I'm liking Gluttony's voice more and more. He's one of my favorite Homunculi, so it's important to me that they handle his character properly. It shouldn't be as challenging as with more complex characters, so I'm optimistic.

The animation was really great during some parts of the episode. They animated Ed's wet hair very well, and his eyes looked very detailed and pretty, and the dream sequence was animated wonderfully. I don't like how Alphonse was also in the scene when Ed woke up from the dream, but that's really just nitpicking on my part. Unfortunately, the other parts were animated rather poorly, and the characters looked really wonky. That was disappointing, but I understand that they want to save their budget for other things. I imagine they'll correct this in the DVD version.

Pacing was pretty good, though a bit too abrupt some of the time. But it's definitely improved since the first episode.

My biggest complaint about this episode, though, is Ed's characterization. On the one hand, I understand that they want Ed to come across as more vulnerable - I know some people don't like how tough Ed is in the manga, because it makes him seem less realistic. I'm glad that they gave him more vulnerability, but I think it was just too much. Ed seemed to be in a stupor half of the episode, and Alphonse was doing all the work for him. The angst coming from Ed was too reminiscent of the first anime, for me, and I don't like that. Of course, it gave us an opportunity to see Alphonse having an active role, which is great. And Edward does look really cute, even though he's a bit too girly in comparison to manga!Ed (aah, I can just see the yaoi fanfiction...).

I can't find the post, but to the one who posted and asked whether it's "Ishval" or "Ishbal" in this anime series.....

I just watched the official English sub on Funimation.com, and the map on the animation says Ishval, but English sub was using "Ishbal" spelling. Yeah, it's still confusing...

I really love this episode.
for me. this is the best episode the brotherhood ever showed.
i love the fighting and dramatic scenes.
i hope for more episode like this.

I'm sure we were all expecting this, but...



Armstrong got his gauntlets back!



And I'm also sure everyone noticed the "USELESS" gag was actually included in English this time.

I guess designing a new box with the word and tracking it onto the scene was easier than blanking out the word, plus it keeps viewers from wondering what that "konk" was.

I really appreciate you doing all these

Well, I've been watching the dubs now (a little late '), and I just have to add some praise for Maxey performance in this episode! And whoever wrote her lines! It was exellent.
"I just want to be human again. Even if it means going against the flow of the world and kicking logic out and do the impossible! That's how team Gurren rolls!" -- no wait!
"Stop! Don't touch him!" -- no wait...
Seriously, she was great and my favorite line was "Oh, great! And now my arm's come off because my brother's a big, fat idiot!!"

And, man, I could watch that animation, after Ed wakes up and Al asks how he is, forever for a very long time!

Also, help appreciated! What is Ed saying at ~11:30? "Damn it! What the hell is this guy's problem?! Making enemies isn't something that I-- well, [?werlneveenellyafoninit?]" Please

Of course you notice that Ed looks superpretty different in this episode, but when people said that Al did too, I thought you were hallucinating , he's an armour, how many different ways can there be? But I totally see what you mean, now that I've watched it a few times. Like, egg-shaped head. Or like a triangle.

I find Lust voice so...rawr :]

I've never watch any anime before with eng dub except two or three episodes from FMA1, because of various reasons (like, the voices make me cringe...ugh, Orihime. Yeah, and a couple of minutes from Bleach), so I was very sceptical. But I've grown to like Vic after I saw the first one (in jap) so I though I should try it. I've also gone a course in school in Critical Thinking, so I felt obliged to at least watch three eps before settling for an opinion. But it's growing on me, and really fast too! I noticed stuff I didn't before because I had to keep an eye on the subs! Nothing can beat Romi and Rie, but it adds so much emotion to be able to understand what there saying! (I feel like I've already said this, but I can't remeber where...) My next goal is, of course, to learn japanese...Someday...someday... *gazing into the future*

(That killed girl's teddy-bear was a brown one here, but a panda in the manga (Shao May inspiration struck the author!!!! *cough* not likely. But then again, Xing is close to Ishval (I sincerly have no idea what I'm talking about now, I very tired.)). Don't know why. *shrugs*)

(Oh, well "proof" that Ed's weird looks and eyes (superpretty, wee!) were because of the Hopelessness and Angst; 'cause he looks normal in Roy's office.)
Don't know why, I just love the line (and how Vic says it) "We've got no choice!" and the animation.

Yeah he says "Making enemies isn't something that I-- well, I never really avoided it..."

I'm starting to think it's just one animator who has a quirk of drawing Ed that way in profile sometimes.

For anyone who missed this episode, it will be on again tonight on Adult Swim (U.S.).