Hagane no Renkinjutsushi – Fullmetal Alchemist Ep. 15
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Episode 15
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood – 15

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Scar attacks an older, crippled State Alchemist named Giolio Comanche, the Silver Alchemist, and eventually kills him. Scar returns to the abandoned house he is using as a base where he finds his cowardly follower Yoko and a young girl named Mei Chan from the country of Xing. Scar does not want her around but the girl sees he is injured and uses what she calls alkahestry, a form of alchemy, to heal Scar’s wound when she recognizes Scars’ tattoo.

Mei Chan states that she and her mini-panda Xiaomei (Xiao Mei?) crossed the desert to meet with wonderful genius “Edward Elric-sama.” Yoko tries to expel Mei only to get a chomp from Xiaomei. Scar resigns himself to allowing Mei to travel with them.

In Central City, Riza is walking her puppy, Black Hayate, when they are attacked by Barry the Chopper. Riza blast him several times with his gun but of course being a suit of armor, Barry suffers no real damage. Barry tries to scare Riza by revealing that he is only a suit of armor and when that fails, Riza reveals that she knows someone like him. Barry figures it must be Alphonse, so Riza has no choice but to capture Barry and take him to see Roy and Vato in a storage warehouse. There, they learn about Lust and Envy and the research done for the Philosopher’s Stone.

Elsewhere, Ed and Al arrive at Black Valley to pay Winry a visit at her place of employment. After punishing Ed for again wrecking her automail, she makes temporary repairs until she can acquire more parts. Ed and Al wander through town when Al finds a starving man in an ally. They take him (Ling Yao) to a cafe, where he eats a ton. He’s looking for information on alchemy, the Philosopher’s Stone, and the secret to eternal youth. Ed plays dumb on this, so Ling decides to have his two bodyguards press the issue.

Not giving into Ling’s demands, Ed and Al battle the masked bodyguards. The battle lasts long with Ed taking one guard and Al the other. Al is running from his opponent when Paninya comes up and together, they execute a plan which captures the bodyguard. Al unmasks him and discovers and older man named Fu. Ed too has trouble and is forced to rip off his automail arm as bait in order to snare his attacker. Ed unmasks this bodyguard and finds a female named Lan Fan. Ling arrives to congratulate Ed and Al but when the townsfolk arrive to demand payment for all the damages caused, Ling and his bodyguards beat a quick retreat.

Ed and Al make things right and return to Garfiel’s, the automail shop Winry is training at, only to find Ling waiting for them. He says that he is a prince from the country of Xing (one of many from different clans born to the emperor). In order to have an edge in becoming the next emperor, Ling wants the secret of eternal youth. Winry returns to find Ed holding his automail arm, which results in more punishment for him. Meanwhile, Fu is concerned that Ling is having to bow to these kids, but Ling says it is a small price to save his clan.

Winry and Garfiel make repairs to Ed’s arm and when Winry asks where they are going next, they tell her they are heading to Central City. Winry wants to tag along in order to pay the Hughes family a visit and Garfiel gives her the time off. Ling, hearing their destination, is going to tag along as well.

Elsewhere, Yoko is driving the cart with Scar and Mei in it on their way to their next destination.

Thoughts/Review:

Yay! Totally new material here. ^_^

Now that Al has regained his memories, he can also perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. That’s something cool and new and certainly makes Al a more powerful character.

Barry the Chopper’s return was pretty funny. I loved now only how Riza dealt with him (even capturing him), but the macabre humor of Barry’s response to Roy’s question about the death of Hughes made me laugh in spite of it all.

Though Giolio Comanche wasn’t onscreen very long, his little “spinning top” attack was something I found interesting, even though ultimately it did him no good when it came to battling Scar.

Mei Chan (or “May Chang” as the eye catch spelled her name): Another, cute moe-type girl that I hope doesn’t meet a horrible end like Nina did. I loved her going all gooey over the idea of meeting “Edward Elric-sama.” Her ability to heal through alkahestry is certainly interesting and a new element to the story. As a form of alchemy, this means that we’ve seen alchemy as a power to destroy (Scar), as a power to create (Ed and others), and now as a power to heal. Still, I wonder how she has survived on her own when her half-brother (or so I’m guessing) Ling Yao had two bodyguards.

Xiaomei (or “Shao May” as the eye catch spelled the name): Heh! This little mini-panda not only adds to the scene-stealing potential of Mei, but also works well as comic relief. The idea of a mini critter accompanying some cute girl is not a new concept (I think of Misty from Van Dread: Second Stage) but making it work and not seem old is what matters. I wonder why this panda is so tiny.

I don’t have much to say on Ling Yao, Lan Fan, or Fu at the moment beyond feeling that they’ll be around for awhile. It will be interesting should they hook up with Mei Chan, which seems likely considering she wants to hook up with Ed.

Garfiel: Ugh — a gay stereotype character.
Scar allowing Mei Chan to stay with with him and Yoko kind of says a bit about Scar, doesn’t it. Granted, she proved herself to be a useful aid when she healed his injury but I get the feeling that Scar would be like Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha — pretend not to care but deep down be very protective of his charges.

Which reminds me — having Yoko’s story removed still seems to be harmful to the anime. However, I still hope that we will get a flashback scene to explain who Yoko had been and why he is where he is now.

Anyway, this episode was very enjoyable. I’m excited to enter this new territory because I’m sure most stuff will be new from here on out. ^_^