Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood – 21

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi – Fullmetal Alchemist Ep. 21
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Episode 21
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood – 21

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21Roy is not happy to have to share a hospital room with Havoc but wonders to Riza about why the homunculi haven’t come to finish them off yet. Elsewhere, Gluttony mourns for the loss of Lust while Envy rages to King Bradley, wondering why they are leaving Mustang alive after what he did. Bradly’s answer is that they have a use for Mustang still, implying that maybe Mustang can help open the door.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21After Ed and Al have a talk with Winry, they pay Roy and Havoc a visit. Riza has marked out on a map of Central City were she believes the giant door with the transmutation emblem on it was. It appears to be right under the Führer’s residence, making them wonder what Bradley’s connection to them could be. Roy tells Ed to be on guard and after Ed and Al leave, Roy tells his trusted aides that he’s going to put them to work. Havoc reveals that as he has no sensation in his legs, he is going to retire.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21Roy heads to the lobby to read with Riza standing watch when an unkept Dr. Knox plops down beside him, as if a patient. The two briefly talk about Knox’s being Roy’s accomplice. Knox says that one day Roy will pay for what he’s done and Roy says that has already happened with Havoc being paralyzed. Meanwhile, Breda learns that Havoc plans to help at his parent’s grocery store and figures that’s not good enough. He has some information on a Dr. Marco, who may be able to help and receives permission from Roy to proceed on this path.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21Armstrong returns and receives a report from Sgt. Brosh that startles him. Brosh is sent to find Ed and Al, who are attempting to find a way into where the homunculi are hiding. Finding them, he gets them back to their hotel as Scar is on the loose and is causing quite a bit of trouble. In their room, Ed figures that they could use Scar to lure the homunculi out since they need him and Al as human sacrifices and thus need them alive. Al isn’t keen on this plan but Ling, who has arrived through the window, is now that he knows homunculi are immortal and he and Lan Fan are down for whatever comes.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21Breda finds that Dr. Marco is missing and reports back. Now that Roy has been checked, Havoc continues with his plans to leave. Havoc does not want Roy to jeopardize his career so Havoc wants Roy to just leave him, something Riza tells Havoc that Roy cannot do. Meanwhile, Ed and Al cause quite a commotion by performing flashy alchemy and helping people in order to draw Scar out. Roy, who’s decided to check himself out of the hospital, arrives with Riza at a cafe where Ed and Al are at and takes them to a more secluded place.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21As Riza keeps a watchful eye out, Ed reveals the plan to use Scar as bait to lure the homunculi out. Sure enough, Scar comes and Ed has to use his creative alchemy skills to counter Scars destructive skills. Roy and Riza aid Ed’s plan by planting radio reports of Scar sightings, some false and some real. King Bradley picks up the real location of Scar and takes Gluttony with him. Ling and Lan Fan immediately sense the presence of the homunculi and attack Gluttony. Bradley, upon learning that Lan Fan and Ling can sense them, races at unbelievable speed and attacks Lan Fan, who’s on a nearby roof.

Thoughts/Review:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21Boy, did this episode kick it into high gear by the end or what? First things first though. ^_^

As usual, the comedy aspects of this series work quite well despite the dark and sinister nature of the underlying main plot. A series I’ve watched that comes closest to this would be Slayers Next, but that series wasn’t as dark in the anime and it suffers from story flow Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21problems. FMA:Brotherhood does not have this same problem as the story flows fairly smoothly from place to place, no matter where Ed and Al end up. That is a really good thing and since this anime is more closely following the manga, Arakawa-sensei is ultimately to be given kudos for good writing followed by the anime writers for not straying very far from the manga.

I’m glad we learned that Havoc survived the fight with Lust, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21though he’s paralyzed from the waste down. So while I’m glad he’s alive, I am surprised to see him injured so. Man, that adds an element to the anime as a whole, mainly because if you are going to kill off characters (both villains and allies) AND your are going to truly injure a character like Havoc was, then just about anything goes. I like that.

It is interesting that though Roy killed Lust, the homunculi are Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21being restrained from killing him. Gluttony mourning the loss of Lust felt real since they were often together as did Envy’s rage and desire to make Roy pay. Having the homunculi ranks reduced by two so early has been one of those other surprising elements in this anime.

Someone asked me about my thoughts on Ling and until this episode, I had no feelings one way or the other. However, this Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21episode proved that he was more than just some comic relief character looking for immortality and a ticket to the throne of Xing. When he and Lan Fan both sensed the presence of Gluttony and Ling knew that Gluttony had consumed others, that changed him in my eyes a bit. His concern for Lan Fan as Bradley sped to kill her also was a nice touch.

I am intrigued by the idea that Ed’s shortness of stature could Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21be due to his sacrifice when he and Al tried to resurrect their mother.

Also of note, I loved how Riza was constantly watching Roy’s back no matter where he went. ^_^

Someone also told me that there’s still a lot being cut from the anime even though it is following the manga more closely. I Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21wonder why the anime production team feels the need to speed along so fast. Not having read the manga, I’m not sure what all is being missed but feel free to keep me informed as to stuff missing. ^_^

The comedy aspects of the series still continue to impress me and make me laugh. The unexpected SD form of Ed is king though.

Another good episode in my opinion. I’m surprised the series isn’t doing as well in the ratings in Japan, from what I hear.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 21
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10 Responses to “Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood – 21”

  1. evgenidb says:

    It’s not doing well probably because it’s omitting quite a lot of stuff. Who read the manga know that, who didn’t, probably had given a glimpse at how much is missing. And they didn’t like that. I just can’t think of another reason for low ratings. I’m just hoping that they won’t stop it. The anime is still great (well, not like “Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari”, but still it’s doing great job).

    P.S. See the fourth post for a FMA game: http://astronerdboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/wheres-my-negima-chapter-264-images.html

  2. Anonymous says:

    Actually, it wasn’t doing too well from the start. However, this is not that it is getting a low viewership, it’s just around half what the first got, yet still a good number.

    Also, it now looks like season 1 will end and the end of Book 13 (which will be awesome to see animated, even moreso if they keep the ‘boot’ scene).

  3. Anonymous says:

    There’s more Ran Fan in the manga to this point.

  4. evgenidb says:

    And not only her. A whole battle between Lan Fan + Ling vs. Homunculi was skipped.

    Not to mention the other scenes from the manga.

  5. AstroNerdBoy says:

    Wait! There was a battle with Lan Fan and Ling against the homunculi prior to this encounter with King Bradley?

  6. evgenidb says:

    Aham.

    Lan Fan and Ling versus Envy and Gluttony. It should have been in the end of episode 18 and then in episode 19. They fought until Praid stopped them.

    P.S. You really should read the manga. At least one third of the manga is omitted or changed. And some of the omitted scenes are great, like this first battle between the Homunculi and the Xing warriors.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Look back to one of your previous episode reviews in the comments for details. It was Envy Vs. RanFan then changed to Envy + Gluttony Vs. Ling + RanFan. Also marked first references to Pride, though I suspect they’ll keep most of the stuff on *blank, not spoiling what or who Pride is* for season 2.

  8. Anonymous says:

    yeah i was so sad they skipped the Ling and Lan Fan vs Envy and Gluttony battle! i really wanted to hear prides voice when he stopped the fight! Also i realized that that fight was important because it shows us how badass the xing charecters are before Lan fan gets sliced up by wrath (as you saw at the end of this episode).

    P.S if they keep the boot scene in i will be so Happy! that was one of the most hilarious parts in book 13

  9. Gyt Kaliba says:

    I think I may have been the one that asked you about your thoughts on Ling, can’t remember for sure. He’s, up to a certain point anyway, my favorite manga/Brotherhood-only character by far. Keep your eye on him, there’s more surprises to come.

    I really am disliking what I’m hearing on what’s been removed, but I’m still looking forward to seeing the dub. Also, it will be interesting to see how they handle the Pride revelation now that they’ve removed certain things, as others have said.

  10. evgenidb says:

    Yeah, I too want to hear Pride’s voice. But it would’ve been better if they had included that previous battle from the manga. They could’ve made Pride’s voice more deep and evil to hide his identity. I don’t think that someone would have complained about that.

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