Episode 7 -- Hidden Truths

Burn down the library to keep the Elrics away from the truth rather than a fight with Scar accidentally burning it down makes more sense to me. Gluttony aside, I feel like the homunculi are presented as clever adversaries, not opposed to destruction, but definitely aware of their resources and interested in using those resources only when needed.

Scar vs. Lust and Gluttony. He's clearly overpowered. Gluttony by himself might have been a fair fight at this point, but the two ganging up on him is not going to end well for Scar. But seeing the outcome now would be too kind.

Mustang's ambition. Clearly stated, and fairly early in the story. He's still just pushing paper at a desk, which is not super interesting, but his subplot is moving forward. The main story is clearly focused on the homunculi and the trouble they are causing, but I like that we have several subplots aside from just the Elrics trying to restore their bodies. I guess that's a bit of a small spoiler because at this stage there is no indication that Mustang's story is going to progress beyond paper-pushing.

No body and a bloody jacket. He's lost a lot of blood, but it would be too easy for Scar to be dead already. Clearly Mustang feels the same way. Scar is another fairly major character, so we wouldn't expect him to kick the bucket so soon in the story. Although several other players have been removed at this point, so anything is possible.

And Lust clears up that little question. I guess they're not going to drag that one out.

New babysitters, and another pair of side characters. I liked these two.

<3 <3 Sheska.

I find this image super funny for some reason. I have no idea why.

Mixed blessing? As much as I like Hughes, I do not think I'd like to work for him. I love Hughes' laugh as he's leaving.

Big reveal of the secret behind the philosopher's stone. Also early in the story. I definitely like the faster pace for Brotherhood.

Lololol. Armstrong passed his Intimidation check.

God's special way of torturing those who have committed tabboos. Why is this such a common theme in the way people think? That when bad things happen it must be because you've done something wrong. It's illogical, but very accurate.

It's not our fault he rolled super well on his Intimidate check.

Why do I have a feeling that I'm getting involved in something really dangerous? ... Foreshadowing. To use Hughes' words. This is a "special kind of freak show." It's really not good for normal people.

 Intimidate check. Didn't do as well. The steam from the nostrils is a nice touch, but he left his shirt on. I'm pretty sure that significantly reduced his bonus to Intimidation.

Poor Al. All by himself outside. A good group would have tried to stay together because bad things always happen when people get separated. This has become a fairly solid rule in our games because more player deaths have happened because the group split and one part of it found an encounter designed for the entire group.

 Hey look, it's bad things that are about to happen.  XD 

Next episode will start the Lab 5 episodes, my least favorite after the Liore episodes. Spoiler Lab 5 doesn't take as long in Brotherhood, which was a huge huge huge plus for me. 

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.

Episode 5 - Rain of Sorrows

This was the episode that made me fall in love with Brotherhood.

I'd like to say that this is unrealistic and that people wouldn't fall to violence so easily, but the more I see of the world, the easier it is to find this believable. 

And we see that the happy healthy Cornello was a fraud (of a different kind), and the homunculi are the ones really calling the shots and inciting the violence. As much as I dislike what they're doing, I can't fault them for their derision of humanity. I promise I have always been this cynical, although working at the 9-1-1 call center has probably not helped.

Discussing Scar... Scar is without a doubt equal to any of these characters when it comes to combat. He is probably better than any one of them on their own. That's my opinion. Mustang is advised to lay low, as he's the only State Alchemist of note in the area. Oops. Forgot about Ed. I like how there are clean narrative transitions. The conversation naturally built to move to Ed, then cut to the next scene with Ed and Al.

So usually people have something else in mind when they say depression kills. Here it's more not being aware of or caring about your surroundings, especially not noticing the mass murderer in front of you. That kind of malaise is clearly bad for Ed's health. 

I like that Ed does recognize that he doesn't try to avoid making enemies with the implication that his personality and behavior could be abrasive enough to create serious enemies. Ironically, this is probably one of the few times where Ed is legitimately not responsible for Scar's enmity. Is my bias showing? Ed isn't really one of my favorite characters. 

Al's down. Ed's next. So, generally it's a good thing that Mustang remembered Ed and decided to go check on him... I sometimes wonder how Mustang would have reacted had he either forgotten Ed, or had Ed not been there, and therefore not been a concern.

Lol. Love this scene. <3 Riza so much. 

And Armstrong sparkly muscle. Because I can. XD

This was one of the first places I noticed that whoever choreographed the combat put some effort into differentiating fighting styles. Armstrong fights using boxing stances and strategy, which really suits his build and combat style. For me, details like this are big. 

Du-duh. Foreshadowing. So, just to note, although I will try to avoid spoilers, I'm going to assume that most people reading this will have seen the '03 anime, and knows where Hughes's story goes. If not, ready any part referencing him at your own risk, because there are indirect spoilers. Hughes should take his own advice. Getting messed up with this pack of superhuman freaks will be bad for his health. Interestingly, he's referring to alchemists, but that statement could just as easily apply to the homunculi.

Extra special freak show and it's only going to get worse from here. Take my advice: just go home. But then he'd feel bad because the extra crazy ones are just a pair of kids, and if he went home, it would make him look bad. Sometimes people can be so irrational. There's nothing wrong with turning tail when you're dealing with something beyond your means to handle. 

Backstory/exposition time. I like the muted tones added to the flashbacks to the war. I like that generally. I'm not sure I like the color differentiation with the red tones for the Ishvalans and blue for the Amestrians. On the one hand it does serve to clearly show who's on which side, but I also find that I don't like the red for the Ishvalans. Clearly they are set up as victims, and red is the color of blood--and their blood flowed freely during the conflict. However, red is a color traditionally associated with evil. So, I think they should have all had purple eyes, and used purple colors in the back stories.

Again, discussion that transitions to the next thing. This time, it is Ed discussing fixing his arm (and Al), which means, it's time to visit Winry. I wonder if she got one of those chills that means someone's talking about you somewhere... or someone's walking on your grave...