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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Friday, 09 June 2006 00:00 |
 Somehow it doesn't feel like six volumes of Full Metal Alchemist have been and gone, but here we are - and at the point where most series are packing up to go home, this one's just beginning to get into its stride. These episodes see the dividing line between good and evil become ever murkier, as Edward sees a way of helping his brother but doesn't like the cost while Alphonse struggles with understanding just what he is...
21 - Red Glow
Alphonse's battle with Mad Barry begins to go badly as he begins to question if he's really himself - but Scar's arrival on the scene soon brings that battle to an end. Sensing he's in trouble, Barry stalls for time by seeming to know what Scar's tattoo represents - something Scar himself has been trying to find out for a while now. Rather than spill the beans, though, Barry uses the delay to set off a series of explosive charges around the lab. Back inside the lab, Edward's still trying to learn what he can of the experiments carried out there, but his search is interrupted when he comes face to face with one of the creatures released by the explosions - Tucker...
22 - Created People
Scar and Alphonse continue to fight off Lust & Gluttony's attacks, but faced with the powers the two homunculi possess they're not having much luck. Down in Tucker's lab, Edward gets to work on creating a Philosopher's Stone, unaware he's playing straight into the homunculi's hands. His efforts are interrupted when one of the lab's prisoners, an alchemist himself, arranges an explosion of his own. With reaching their goal through manipulation no longer an option, Lust resorts to more direct forms of coercion, but finding out he's been played for a fool doesn't do Ed's state of mind any good. Meanwhile, the Fuhrer himself has taken an interest in what's been going on inside Research Lab 5...
23 - Fullmetal Heart
Thanks to Gluttony's snacking, Alphonse didn't quite make it out of the lab in one piece, and Edward himself picked up some damage when his alchemy ran out of control, meaning it's time for an emergency repair visit from Winry. Hughes, meanwhile, is trying to piece together the details of what happened in the lab - and is doing his best to keep as much of it as he can from Mustang, at least for the time being. When Winry eventually arrives in Central, it's not quite the occasion she was expecting - she can sense the tension between Edward and Alphonse, and when Ed won't tell her anything about how or why they were injured, she's less than impressed...
24 - Bonding of Memories
Scar's returned to the Ishbalan refugee camp to rest after his battle with the homunculi, but his respite is short-lived as the camp comes under attack by a mercenary unit. With their camp in flames, the survivors flee into the city's sewers. Meanwhile, Alphonse wanders through Central on his own after running from Edward, thinking about how much of his memories are fake, or if anything's real at all. He eventually happens upon the Ishbalan's hideout and Scar - but the military have also tracked their location and are planning another attack. Back above ground, Winry and Ed begin searching the city, trying to track Al down. When they hear that he's been helping the Ishbalans, they head over to help him out...
One of the recent major themes has been Al's doubts about just how "real" he is - from the way it was being played, I had thought that was going to become a long-running issue, but it's tied up here in a good, brotherly-love fashion. It's pretty much what you would expect, but it's heartwarming enough and gives an excuse for Winry to get more involved in events. More Winry is always good.
Less predictable is the way in which both Scar and Lust and her cronies are becoming more sympathetic by the day. The Ishbalan's are being painted as true victims of the military, who are still being hounded after being driven from their homeland, and the more you learn of the role alchemists played in the war the easier it is to sympathise with Scar's position. It also raises a few other questions - for all that Mustang, Hughes and the Fuhrer seem reasonable folk, they're part of the same military that unleashed the Ishbalan massacre - just what was their level of involvement and responsibility, both then and for the mercenary attacks now? When Ed finds out those details, what will his reaction be?
With Lust and the other homunculi, it's the desire to be human that makes them sympathetic characters, although only up to a point as their tactics are quite brutal. The brief appearance of Greed also shows there's possibly more than one faction there, which could muddy the waters in the future.
Some of the events here did have that "end of series finale" feel to them, despite this only being the half-way point. The key scenes are those in the lab where Ed is struggling with what to do when he's presented with a way of possibly returning Al to normal - at a price which his conscience has great problems with. That's part of a shift in the balance of good and evil in the series that's becoming more apparent as we go on. I'm also more impressed than ever at the way past characters who seemed to have fulfilled their role keep coming back in some rather unusual ways.
Overall, then, another good volume of Full Metal Alchemist. Longer series sometimes have problems filling all the airtime they're allocated, but that certainly doesn't seem to be an issue here. Well worth watching.
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