June 20th, 2010 
AstroNerdBoy Hagane no Renkinjutsushi – Fullmetal Alchemist Ep. 61
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Episode 61 review
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Father form returns to a younger copy of Hohenheim as he claims to have consumed God and obtained that power as well. Ed doesn’t believe it but Hohenheim states this is true thanks to all of the people of Amestris who were slain. Father seals off their alchemy abilities, thwarting Ed’s attempt to attack but is surprised to find himself under attack from within. Hohenheim states that he’s been planning for this event for years and depositing his blood (philosopher stones) all over the country so that when Father activated his transmutation circle, the rebellion would begin.
With that, the souls from Hohenheim rebel and cause the souls of the people within Amestris to be returned to them. Weakened, Father can no longer contain the power of God and attacks Hohenheim. Mei Chan uses alkahestry to create a defensive barrier and Hohenheim, aided by Ed and Al, defends against Father’s attack. They succeed in not only stopping Father’s attack but counterattack as well against both Father and Pride as they wait for Scar to do his thing.
Meanwhile, Scar has his hands full with Bradley-Wrath, who despite being injured is still a formidable foe. Bradley manages to avoid any critical damage that Scar throws his way and taunts Scar for going against his religious beliefs on alchemy. Despite everything Scar does, it is not enough and Bradley moves in for the kill. However, the sun emerging from the moon causes a glint which blinds Bradley for a moment, allowing Scar to remove both of Bradley’s arms and break his sword. Bradley takes the blade in his mouth and plants it within Scar.
Mortally wounded, Bradley sees Lan Fan come and asks if she wants revenge. The two exchange words but that gave Bradley time to burn out his stone. Scar has Lan Fan move him to the bloody transmutation circle despite his wounds were he activates the specialized counter-transmutation circle. He explains to Lan Fan and she understand the feeling of people living under the ground when she came to Amestris was in fact souls in liquefied philosopher stone form in the pipe system that ran all throughout the country from Father’s lair.
In that very lair, Ed, Al, and Izumi begin a full out assault on Father to attempt to get him to burn up his philosopher stones. Greed joins in and they even bath Father in molten material but he simply flies out and begins slaughtering people for more stones. Hohenheim and Greed go after him but Pride grabs Ed. Ed sends Izumi, Al, and Roy on as he faces Greed. They drop Roy off with Riza before going after Father. Riza is concerned about the blind Roy but Roy is more interested in knowing if she can still fight.
Back in the lair, Ed and Pride battle with Ed asking why Pride follows Father’s orders even after Father abandoned him. Pride’s humanoid container is breaking down and he’s not happy with Greed’s interference nor his sacrificing his pride as a homunculus. Pride decides to take over Ed’s body as a new container but finds himself stopped by Kimblee, who’s insanity made it so that he had no trouble with his conscious surviving the sea of tormented souls. Kimblee’s reasons for stopping Pride was that Pride has also sacrificed his pride of being a homunculus by deciding to take over a human body when Pride had disdain for humanity. This gives Ed time to come in and reduce Pride to his true form, that of a tiny fetus-sized baby. With that, Ed moves to go after the others and fight.
Thoughts/Review:
Well, it certainly seems that FMA is going to go out with a bang, eh? ^_^
Considering that Ed, Al, Roy, Izumi, and Hohenheim were call “sacrifices,” why aren’t they dead? I can understand why Mei Chan wasn’t dead. Ditto Scar and Bradley (near the center). However, despite the fact that Ed, Al, Roy, Izumi, and Hohenheim were near the center, being called a sacrifice implies that they must be killed. I suppose it is a term to describe those who’ve sacrificed in order to see the Door of Truth. I expected them to be killed somehow and Scar or Mei having some role in bringing them back.
I have long wondered what the heck Hohenheim had been doing all these years while Father worked on his plan. Well, Hohenheim wasn’t just doing nothing and now we know what he had his stones doing when he extracted them. So I guess his capture by Father was just Hohenheim feigning to allow his plan to continue by letting Father think his plan was working. Risky, but it worked.
Well, Wrath was killed this episode. Wrath was impressive right up to the end with his superior fighting skills. To actually nearly kill Scar despite Bradley’s loss of his arms and other injuries is pretty impressive. Isn’t there a character on One Piece that fights with a sword in his mouth? Regardless, I found that fight very good and I liked that Lan Fan didn’t end up having to kill Wrath since Wrath was already on his way out.
As to Pride, well, I didn’t expect to see Kimblee return much less save Ed. However, his reasons for coming out (to say nothing of his soul surviving in the depths of Pride) and stopping Pride worked for me. Had Pride not wanted to take over Ed’s body, I think Ed would have still beaten him. On the other hand, had Kimblee not interfered and Pride had managed to take over Ed, that could have been an interesting twist. ^_^ Still, I can’t help but wonder if leaving Pride alive is a mistake.
The whole Father-God thing is a bit nutty. You have the Eye in the sky and apparently Father absorbs that. However, when he’s forced to give up all the souls from Amestris, we are told that he can no longer contain God. So, did “God” leave or is Father still trying to hold on? That’s what I don’t know. I’d guess it is the latter, which would explain his killing folks for philosopher stones.
Scar ends up saving the world and being the good guy despite himself. *lol* I kinda like his full circle journey.
I take it that Roy’s remarks on getting back into the fight means that he’s going to rely on Riza to help him. I suppose that means that he’s going to try to wear down Father.
There’s still three more episodes and it is one heck of a roller coaster. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
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Well if they were killed they could never come back. It’s impossible to bring the dead back to life in FMA.
The term in the original Japanese isn’t “human sacrifice” it’s “human pillar” Human pillars were people buried alive in the foundations of buildings in Japan. So the 5 “human pillars” were foundations for Father’s plan. It’s a translation mistake that says they’re sacrifices.
God’s still inside Father (well, God in FMA’s understanding, which you’d have to of been following the story way longer than just watching Brotherhood to figure that out…) What he did was use the souls of Ametris to hold God down inside his body. Now that the souls are gone he’s struggling to keep God inside.
Overall I’m disappointed in this episode. And episode 62 was even worse. You should read the last few chapters of the manga Astro if you have the time. It’d be worth it.
I’m really glad they’re starting to wrap up loose ends, like “How was Father able to block Western alchemy?” But yeah, seems like they’re creating a few as well, like the “sacrifices” and the situation with Father and “God”.
Is it just me, or are Father’s actions reminiscent of a villain whose dastardly plan to steal a hundred million dollars (to pay off a mafia boss) failed, so now he’s running around mugging people in desperation? XD
I’m just guessing from instinct, but I wonder whether “sacrifices” was actually the best translation… or if it was what made sense with the context that was known then. I wonder what someone who does know the language would say after going back and looking at the wording with the benefit of hindsight.
Last but not least – I haven’t read or seen One Piece, but Zabuza’s last scene in Naruto was pretty epic (and bears more than a little resemblance). Could that have been it?
@Anonymous: Thank you very much for confirming that hunch. (^_^) It’s funny that we accidentally overlapped during the approval wait, though.
Only things I have to add are that they didn’t mention how their (the humans) alchemy was much more powerful than before once the interference Scar talked of was removed, though it is kinda easy to see and that those in that black bubble in 60 didn’t die… I think. Not sure if remembering correctly or not. I think I am, because Bradley could have easily killed Scar (like ripped him up) in that time or mentioned something about having to wait before resuming.
Well if they were killed they could never come back. It’s impossible to bring the dead back to life in FMA.
Well, that’s not quite true is it? After all, Winry and company all died but their souls were returned to them.
Interesting the five pillars things. That reminds me of Mai-Otome.
You should read the last few chapters of the manga Astro if you have the time. It’d be worth it.
I will but after the fact.
Is it just me, or are Father’s actions reminiscent of a villain whose dastardly plan to steal a hundred million dollars (to pay off a mafia boss) failed, so now he’s running around mugging people in desperation?
*lol* I love the analogy. ^_^
That’s sort of the point, though: they weren’t killed. As said above, they glossed over a few important points in this episode such as the alchemical counterattacks producing amazing results with much less effort than normal (see: the huge cannons). One of the glossed points went back to the mind-body-soul connection Ed and Al discussed that must be keeping Al’s body alive outside his Gate. All the citizens’ bodies were still alive, their souls still existed, and they were connected by the mind. So, by forcing the souls out of Father, they automatically returned to the bodies. Had the bodies been transmuted like was done at Xerxes, forcing the souls out would have just sent them off into nothingness.
Winry and company didn’t actually “die”, their souls were intact (inside Father) and their bodies were also intact, so resurrection was a simple matter of binding the soul back into the willing body.
I think the issue is that once the -soul- is gone, as it would be in a natural death, you can’t get it back. Al’s soul wasn’t gone, just waiting at the Gate, so Ed was able to pull it back, but Tricia’s soul was totally gone.
Quote: “Father form returns to a younger copy of Hohenheim”
Actually, he returns with a copy of Ed’s body, not Hohenheim’s.
@evgen
they look exactly the same
I dont think it matters which form father takes
“Well, that’s not quite true is it? After all, Winry and company all died but their souls were returned to them.”
Nope. They didn’t die. They had their souls separated from their bodies. Just like Alphonse. They would’ve died eventually (pretty quickly even) but Hohenheim was able to get their souls back to their bodies in time. So they weren’t ever dead.
Or rather just look at what Manae and Anon said. They explained it better. The main points being the mind connects the body and soul and a person is only dead if the soul is completely “destroyed”. In FMA-verse when a person died their soul becomes energy in the world (part of that whole One is All, All is One thing)
Sweet. I was able to fix the 3.0 blog images for this post without having to go left-right-left. ^_^