Hagane no Renkinjutsushi – Fullmetal Alchemist Ep. 07
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Episode 07
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood – 07

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Lust and Gluttony are in East City, having recently left Central City where Lust burns down the First Branch library, thus apparently destroying Dr. Marcoh’s research. Gluttony smells Scar nearby and receives permission to consume the man. However, Scar (who’s in the sewers) is saved when he notices rats fleeing from Gluttony and in the ensuing short battle with Gluttony and Lust, Scar manages to escape to the disappointment of Gluttony and Lust, who observe the military investigation of their battle scene. Mustang orders Lt. Havoc to have the rubble removed and Scar’s body found (since they don’t know he escaped).

Back in Central City, Al and Ed are depressed by the loss of the library. Lt. Ross and Sgt. Brosh arrive to relieve Major Armstrong of the task of escorting Ed and Al. They take the brothers to a young woman named Sheska, who worked at the First Branch. Sheska’s home is literally filled with books and they find the poor girl buried under a mountain of books.

After rescuing her, Ed and Al don’t think they can get anywhere with her until she reveals that she has a photographic memory and can reproduce all of Dr. Marcoh’s research, since she read it all. Five days later, she produces an impressive amount of papers, but they all appear to be cookbooks. Ed sees the truth of the matter and as a reward, makes arrangements for Sheska to be well paid, enough so that her ill mother can be put into a good hospital.

As Ed and Al pour over the research, they reveal that the cookbook aspect is merely code to hide the alchemy. Their task now is to break that code. Sheska comes to visit them and thank them for what they did for her. When Lt. Col. Hughes arrives lamenting the destruction of the First Branch and valuable documents there, Ed gets Sheska hired by Hughes to recreate those documents. Ed and Al get back to work and after ten days, they unlock the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone — its creation requires human sacrifice. This is devastating news and they make Ross and Brosh promise to keep quite, but Major Armstrong manages to get the information out of them.

After Armstrong reveals that he knows the truth, Ed realizes that they are still missing something. Armstrong produces a map of Central City with the locations of the four alchemical research facilities to try to determine which one the military might be using for Philosopher Stone research. Ed discounts all four and notes a fifth facility that is officially closed. Ed feels that this is the right place because it is right next to the prison, thus human prisoners could be sacrificed in the research. Armstrong forces Ed and Al to promise not to investigate the site as he will quietly do his own investigation. However, Ed and Al go anyway and some “people” inside discover their presence.

Thoughts/Review:

As this new series progresses, I find myself completely absorbed into every episode despite having watched the first series. Granted, it has been ages since I watched the first series but knowing story elements has not dampened my enjoyment of the new anime at all.

Again, I believe we have rapid pacing here. I want to say that Sheska’s recreation of the papers took the same amount of story time, but this was padded out in the first series. Y’all can correct me if I’m wrong. ^_^; However, I’m fine with that because we received the basic information needed and that’s what is really important.

As dark and gruesome as the story is, I really am glad that the humor keeps things from going too dark. Ross and Brosh provided comedy moments by asking the obvious, “Why is Al wearing armor?” question. Also, their shock at the people Al and Ed know added to the comedy as did their encounter with Major Armstrong that forced them to give up the information about the Philosopher’s Stone. Of course, Major Armstrong still has all his comedy moments too and it is these moments that counter the horrors going on all around them. It is a nice mixture to be sure.

Sheska (or is it Schiezka like places are saying, though the eye-catch in the episode spelled it “Sheska” — I’ll go with the anime) certainly reminds me of Yomiko Readman from Read or Die when it comes to a love of books and having one’s residence packed with them. Their personalities are very different, but the book aspect is identical IMO. I didn’t make the cross association with the first anime series because I didn’t watch R.O.D. until 2005. Going back again, the association clicked in my mind.

I learned a new honorific today — “shi.” I’m not sure how often this is used in anime, but I’m betting not too frequently. I’ll be keeping an ear open for it in future. Nevertheless, I found it interesting that Armstrong referred to Dr. Marcoh as “Marcoh-shi.” The “shi” honorific is very formal and generally used by a speaker who knows of the person but has never met them. Armstrong not only met Dr. Marcoh last episode, but my understanding is that Armstrong knew him from the Ishval War. Since honorifics are often used as literary devices in anime or manga, I’m wondering about the choice of this particular honorific.

Good thing Ed has a metal arm and Al is made of metal, eh? I couldn’t help but laugh at Al using barbed wire to scale the prison wall.

Speaking of the prison, I certainly remember this from the first anime. Wasn’t Tucker in here in the first anime series?

Also, did Mustang mention becoming Fuhrer in the first series?

So more good stuff, even if I have to lag a bit behind most everyone else when blogging it. ^_^;