FullMetal Alchemist 12

[xparrot]

1) Holy guacamole, alchemists are way too friggin' powerful!!! ummm??? Those trees?? eek!!!

2) I wish these had been 3 eps instead of 2...they just moved too quickly. The pacing of FMA in general seems a bit rushed to me, though that could be because I'm used to shounen dragging things out, but these eps went by awfully fast...
Aw hell, I'll admit it, I wanted more brother smarm. Fletcher & Russel are adorable...and why didn't the red water hurt Fletcher when he was splashed in it? Last ep it sounded like a Bad Thing, but there didn't appear to be any serious reprecussions. I wanted to see Russel worry, dang it!

3) I love Ed. I love Ed. I love Ed. When he was talking about how he hasn't gotten to punish anyone in a while, that smile? heee! And then at the end with Russel's big revelation? heee! And in between just generally kicking ass and saving the day. I love Ed. He's so smart and cool and nice and cute. Have I mentioned I love Ed? 'cuz I do. (I'm sorry, Al, I love you too. Your niisan is awesome but he wouldn't be nearly so without you there. And Roy, you can shut up, you're a sexy, manipulative, flakey bastard, so of course I adore you, that goes without saying.)

Today I was skimming a FMA forum, and the question came up that I've been wondering about myself - namely, since Al doesn't eat, where does he get the power to move around? This may be addressed in the manga (which I desperately need to get hold of, Japanese dilemma or nay, but never mind that) but otherwise it makes for interesting speculation. Opinion was divided, some thought it was from the nature of the alchemy, the animation of the armor powered by his own spirit. Someone theorized he secretly ingests kittens. ^^; And then a couple wondered if he might be drawing energy from Ed.

That last idea has some merit - might explain why Ed is so teeny even given the way he eats, if much of his metabolic energy is going there. Of course maybe it's just expended on his other alchemy - for all the talk of equivalent trade, it seems to refer just to matter in their universe, since there's never an obvious energy source even for hidously powerful transformations ^^;;

But if Ed is powering Al somehow...I bet Ed knows or at least suspects it, but I wonder if Al does. That Al might even be the reason for Ed's, um...size issues...awww, just what these boys need, another reason to guilt.

Comments

[luxetumbra.livejournal.com]

and why didn't the red water hurt Fletcher when he was splashed in it?

Yeah, that was a strange omission. Maybe the manga explains it, as I thought that was a pretty big plot point in the previous episode. Perhaps he just wasn't exposed long enough? But the vapors from the water seemed to be pretty quick-acting, so.... ::scratches head::

I love the sibling-WAFFiness. One of the reasons I like PMK so much too - Tatsu and Tetsu are just too cute in the way that they care for each other.

And Roy, you can shut up, you're a sexy, manipulative, flakey bastard, so of course I adore you, that goes without saying.)

Can hardly wait until 13. Showdown! Hidden agendas are so sexy.... ^_^;;

That Al might even be the reason for Ed's, um...size issues...awww, just what these boys need, another reason to guilt.

Wasn't Ed smaller than Al to begin with though? I seem to remember he was shorter in the early episodes. Maybe he just hasn't hit his growth spurt yet. Not that I'd really mind much if he stayed short - he's so cute as he is.

Toriyama only has Vol. 1 (http://www.toriyamaworld.com/files/fma-1.torrent) scanslated, but hopefully we won't have to wait much longer until it gets picked up by TP or Viz. ^_^;;

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Maybe the manga explains it, as I thought that was a pretty big plot point in the previous episode.

I'm not sure, but someone on the FMA comm mentioned that this ep was possibly based on a novel, rather than being from the manga? So maybe it is explained...

Ed looks about the same size as Al in the flashbacks, which does imply he was always small for his age...tho' considering his mother seemed of average height, not sure why he's so itty, unless his dad was short.
And I love him being little, hope he doesn't grow up too tall ^^

[calintz.livejournal.com]

XD

I think Ed's height thing MIGHT tie in with his burning hatred for milk, as explained quite a few times in the manga where he just goes >__________________________> at bottles of milk shoved in his face. <3<3<3 It's so cute. <3<3<3

And eeeee! I think episode 13 is gonna be based off the omake manga in the back of volumes 3 and 4. Not gonna say much more than that, in case I'm wrong. <3<3<3

Eeeeeeeee, FEEL TEH ELRIC BROTHERS LUV.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

heeee - edo-chan, don't you know milk makes a body good? maybe this is health education by example XD

ahhh~ can't wait for 13, looks fu~n! <3

[halcyonjazz.livejournal.com]

1) HagaRen has a lot of plot holes when concerning the actual alchemy >D They keep talking about the laws, but really they only pay attention to one. (not to mention, based on ep 6, wasn't there a stamina thing? If Russle and Fletcher can do THAT much with such a small array, they're practically at a Nationally Certified level o___O)

What's more, I want them to bring up the 3 principles... (Ed mentioned that in the first chapter, very dismissingly..) That stuff is a goldmine. I mean, the alchemy so far? We only see different variations in which it's used. Ed also mentioned stuff about the 4 elements, and we only really briefly look into that when Roy comes into the picture.. (at least, they explain it a little in the manga..) There's really a lot more to it then arrays and transmutations and philosopher stones. I want them to get into THAT *___* (and from what Sakki told me in the later volumes, it looks like they do, just a little *__*)

/end alchemy geek

3) Everyone loves Ed. The end.

(HAHA, I spend two paragraphs on my first point and then two sentences on my second. I rock ♥)

On how Al is able to move... haha, people can attach *souls* to *objects*. There isn't much sense in HagaRen-verse. However, based on all the spoilerage Sakki told me, there may be something.. ♥

ALSO NEXT EP HEEHEEHEE. There's NO WAY previews should make me that happy. XD XD XD

Anyway, I leave you along now ♥

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I want to see more about alchemy myself...what we see is so haphazard. the question is, are there actually rules or is the mangaka just making everything up as he goes along? <3
Tho' as far as stamina goes, evidence implies that Fletcher had a special gift for working with plants - or else maybe just experience with them? - at any rate, it's possible that with them being his specialty he could achieve greater effects. There might also be something in that plants are alive, maybe he can draw on their life force?

I need to see the manga...I've heard some spoilers (sakki via terra-chan...she teased me until I had to know, the creature!) of how Al has an array inside his armor, but not where he might be getting energy from...and yes, I know, Ed can make an inn from scratch overnight with apparently no expension of energy, but still...
...maybe he just polishes it really well and uses solar power? ^^;

What's more, I want them to bring up the 3 principles... That stuff is a goldmine.

I'm sorry, but you need to be smacked for that. *SMACK* <3

[halcyonjazz.livejournal.com]

...>D Well then!

If he can use the aray to attach Al's soul to an armor, it probably actually puts Al's soul in that armor, so it acts like an invisible body moving it *shrugs* or some bs theory like that.

The magaka is *so* making it up as he goes. He obviously didn't research that much >D



I'm sorry, but you need to be smacked for that. *SMACK* <3

...eh? What? Nandaaaaaa? T____T

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

*goldmine*, hon? <3

which would bring me to my next question...can someone 'wear' Al's suit of armor? I believe in the manga he puts someone inside it at one point...there's nothing really there, right? and you can take it apart without any ill effects...so you could actually put it on (in which case would Al's spirit be the stronger animating force, or whoever's in it? questions, questions...)

[halcyonjazz.livejournal.com]

...OH I GET IT *slow*

well, al is ten times smaller than the suit of armor, and there isn't anything there. But a spirit is a spirit. There isn't a shape or form or matter. Hell, he's probably some weirdly formed poltergeist <3;;;

[branchandroot]

It looked to me as though Russel took care of the water splashed on Fletcher with the stone they had crystallized. (historically) Alchemically speaking, it's reasonable for the problems caused by one form of a substance to be fixed by another form of the same thing. It would have been nice if that moment had been emphasized a bit more, though. For a few seconds at the beginning I actually wondered if I had somehow missed an episode!

Not that alchemy in FMA seems to have much at all to do with historical alchemy, which was a *fantastically* complex system. (this is a good resource site, if you can wade through the scholarly language)

...though, if I remember correctly, the lack of any attention to conservation of energy is pretty historically accurate.

3) Oh, yeah.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

ah, good theory about the stone. I think when I saw it I wondered about that, but then forgot. It also appeared that in one flashback, when that alchemist healed the little girl, he used a red stone to do it?

and thanx for the link - interesting site, will have to browse it in more depth when I have a spare sec.