Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood 63- The Other Side of the Gateway Early Reaction!
Added 2020-11-17 13:01:00 +0000 UTCCommentary begins at 12:47
Comments
Such an incredible episode! Didn't notice that bit about the homunculus' gate! That's really interesting.
Eric Reacts
2020-11-18 23:13:59 +0000 UTCAs much as this is Ed and Al's story, and they've been our main protagonists throughout this journey, it's also Hoenheim's story. It all started with Hoenheim and the homunculus. If they hadn't done what they did to the people of Xerxes (however unwilling Hoenheim was in the complicity of it) Hoenheim wouldn't have been around for hundreds of years, long enough to meet Trisha and have Ed and Al to begin with. But yeah, Hoenheim was mourning someone who I think was his first friend and teacher, back when he was a slave. I think Hoenheim giving his life for Al would have been a good ending, but not a great one. Ed wouldn't have come to the conclusion he did. For Ed, the whole journey has never been about getting his arm and leg back, I think. It's always been about rectifying his mistake that nearly got his little brother killed. It might have been a different matter if automail didn't exist in this world, but I think even then, Al would have come first for Ed. Al felt guilty for what Ed lost too, but even Al secretly just wanted his body back - as we learned during the one scene in the second arc when Al confesses that he's tired of being alone at night while Ed sleeps. I think Ed could still be a State Alchemist - he could be a researcher, like Marcoh, or a teacher, he just couldn't actually transmute. And I don't think Ed would accept the gift of his alchemy back in exchange for Al's. These two needed to learn that they need to stop sacrificing the extremes for each other. Ling definitely rubbed off on Greed and vice versa. Ling reawakened Greed's memories of the chimeras that were his friends before Wrath killed them and showed him what real friendship was, and Ling got a little of Greed's cynicism and wisdom - Ling on his own has always come across to me as an eternal optimist, but also someone who doesn't always like to face the truth, which we saw when he broke down at Fu's death. I think sharing his body with Greed forced him to face some hard realities that he'd never really faced before due to his upbringing as a prince. Sure, he might have always been involved in Xingese politics and had to deal with assassination attempts, but that's not the same thing as facing death and knowing you can't stop it when it comes to the people you love. An interesting fact - if you look closely at the homunculus' gate, it's completely blank. Every other time we see an alchemist before the gate, it's covered with symbols and text which shows their knowledge and discovery. But the homunculus' gate is blank when he's facing his judgement. He never learned anything - he stole from others, but he never learned it for himself. One more episode, plus the bloopers and OVAs. I don't know if you've already recorded the blooper episode, but my recommendation would be to pause the video after each blooper, since they're hilarious and you might be laughing so hard it's easy to miss some of the best ones. I've watched the blooper reel dozens of times and I still bust a gut at some of the best ones.
Megan Saunders
2020-11-18 17:12:55 +0000 UTC
