Episode 6 -- Road of Hope

At this point, the number of overlapping episodes and scenes are diminishing, so I will hopefully stop comparing to the '03 anime. I've found it really difficult to not compare, especially with these early episodes. I really think the two versions are very different beasts. I do prefer Brotherhood because I found the plot to be more robust, and the characters were over all better developed, especially the characters outside of Ed and Al. But, that doesn't mean I don't like the '03 anime. There was a lot I liked about that one as well, but where they do overlap, I do tend to prefer how Brotherhood handled the situations. Anyways... moving onward to Episode 6.

 Poor Al. At least they didn't forget him this time...

 Drop by next time... The feels because ... you know... there won't be a next time. T_T Since I am generally unfamiliar with the manga, the first time I watched through Brotherhood, I did hold out on a slim hope that he might not die.

 Poor Ed with his left armed salute, not realizing that this is his final good bye to his friend. T_T Okay... enough of that. Moving on.

 There will always be screenshots of Armstrong and his shenanigans because I love him so much, especially all the things that have been passed down the Armstrong line for generations.

 Perfect example of the use of the Improvised Weapon feat (reference most versions of D&D and Pathfinder).

 Hey look: it's the thing you're questing for. If the Elrics didn't have ethics, they could have walked off with this and we could have ended the show here. But, I guess that would have been a bit anti-climactic.

 The one thing I did find strange about this scene, and I didn't notice it until one of my later viewings of Brotherhood, is that Al doesn't speak. At all. Especially since he's the topic of conversation for part of it.

 And Al's no longer luggage. I wonder if anyone else riding on the train thought it was weird that a dis-assembled suit of armor was talking.

This is one of those places where my memory is a bit fuzzy for the '03 anime. I want to say Marco died here in the first anime. I certainly expected him to be dead in this version. At this point in the story, he'd served his relative purpose, which is to direct the Elrics toward discovering how to make a philosopher's stone.

 Pinako Rockbell vs. Edward Elric. Pinako wins every time (my opinion).

 Given how smug and casual Ed looks here I'd be pissed too if I was Winry. "It's basically the same, just in smaller pieces."

 Yeah. He deserved that...

 More backstory. I find it interesting that they go to significant effort to make sure we don't see the father's face. This is also another place I'm fuzzy on the '03 anime: were Pinako and Hohenheim drinking buddies in the '03 anime? I can't remember. It wasn't a major point if they were. Pinako is one of many characters that got more TLC in Brotherhood. She's allowed more of a role, more personality, and more depth to her character (although we don't really see that yet).

 Always...

 Just get used to it...

 Such poise. Such emotion.

 Hey... Poke. Does this bother you?

 Hey. Poke. How about now?

Hey. Look at this face I can make. (What the heck kind of face is that anyways?)

 How about now? Does this bother you now?

 And this is why I think Ed is obnoxious, and I cried tears of joy over Brotherhood and the fact that he did not completely run the show. I also think Winry is a saint for tolerating him. This is possibly an unpopular opinion, but at this stage in the story, he's not particularly endearing to me.

I'm also a huge fan of canon pairings for most series, and this one is no exception. She's an angel, and he's the devil. Just saying.