The first act of this series is impossible to pace well for fans of the first series, since by the nature of what this series is trying to do it will reproduce large parts of the first series. You can rush through the material or painstakingly reproduce things the audience has already watched years ago, neither of which are very good options (see how lukewarmly Evangelion 1.0 was received for an example of the latter and this episode for an example of the former).
Did anyone mention in the last thread at what point the old anime diverges from the manga?
I did here.Originally Posted by DarthEnder
This certainly rushed things, but for me that's perfectly fine. It's not like I'm dying to see the same stuff all over again, and it's not like the old series was from pre-computer times and thus greatly in need of graphical updating. If they are saving time and money for stuff never before seen animated, that's cool.
I don't have a problem with them rushing it either. I do agree that you have less of an emotional attachment, but I think that's fine because it's the kind of series where you're going to get that anyway as you progress, assuming nobody major dies early. I enjoyed the first series, but I'm interested to see how it differs from this series, pacing included. Maybe they want to place more emphasis on the future and how they try to find the philosopher's stone rather than dwell on the past.
Strangely enough, I'm a bigger fan of the adaptation than the manga. So this kind of pacing doesn't really set me on the right foot. I've had some nagging doubts that this remake is a good thing.
Trying not to be a downer. I'll keep all those positive things everyone has said in mind.
I'm taking this in pretty well. The original is one of my favorite series ever and I didn't like the idea of a remake...
So far I think it has a little bit of a different feel to it than the first. I'm definitely going to keep watching. I like how in this ep they elaborated on what happened when they tried to bring back their mom. That was good stuff.
Hm, it´s still rather hard to watch for me.
I dont like Edward, he just...seems out of place for a main character of a shounen series.
What i really hate, though, is that they call this alchemy. What they´re doing is magic, nothing else. They talk about how you need to give something to gain something, but Edward simply puts his hands together and puts a spear out of the ground.
Alchemy is chemistry, just with the distinct goal of chaning material into another kind of material (making gold, for example).
I will keep watching, but so far i cannot understand the popularity of the show.
Based on the examples so far, it's pretty evident they only need to satisfy the material side of the exchange. Energy just comes from somewhere. The spear, for example, was obviously made of the materials the floor provided.
Yeah, well, as i said: Thats magic, not alchemy ^^
energy could come from their bodies for example
much like in naruto, chakra, chi and whatnot.
if I'm not mistaken, the body constantly produce and consumes energy.
naturally the energy wouldn't be enough to transmute anything but it's a manga/anime after all and people didn't know that they need something like a nuclear power station to transmute metal to gold for example back then (the anime plays around 1914?)
Last edited by KrayZ33; Fri, 04-17-2009 at 05:14 AM.
Where the energy come from will be explain later in the story. I'd say stick with it if that is your only gripe.
edit: On second thought, maybe you shouldn't stick with it. You're taking this whole "Alchemy" label too seriously and i would suggest not doing that for any shounen anime. I suppose it does seem like magic and the explanation that come later in the story might not be sufficient enough for you to say it's not.
personally, I almost totally agree with MFauli. Whether it's "ki" "soul power" "chakra" "alchemy", whatever, this is magic. It doesn't matter how many convoluted reasons or serious explanations it gets, it's magic of some kind with some kind of cool name to give it an extra spin.
Now, I like the way this show pulls it off. Whether or not there is that much moisture in the area for the Ice Alchemist to make glaciers, whether or not turning dirt into a ridiculous shield or condensing naturally occuring gaseous elements into controlled, directed fire is "real alchemy" is a mute point. The alchemy angle is just a vehicle, an element of the setting. And the "magic" in this show is entertaining because the vehicle is so technically drawn out by the show.
Elements and chemistry are pretty standard "fantasy" fare. In a lot of ways, this show is like we're watching a bunch of Pokemon meets Magic the Gathering, turned into people. Mustang is a Charizard. Ice Alchemist is a Blastoise (or something). Armstrong is a Onyx. But they still need Red, Blue, whatever, Mana, (or elements) around them to be any use. This adds a very interesting slant to the show, because everyone has a set range of special abilities, necessary conditions to use these abilities, and natural advantages and disadvantages against other fighters. Sure, Ed is a special case, but, hell, HE'S AN ANIME MAIN CHARACATER. He's always going to be a special case.
But, really, the thing is the conditions stated for using alchemy / magic. We saw how some characters have prepared equipment to enable their abilities. But there are also times where it's just an "oh fuck, fuck, where the fuck is some water? I need some fucking water!". And we get cool stuff like the wall prison, the canteen grenade, the blood sword. I mean, seriously, it's a freaking sword made of the dude's blood. There's no way in any world that that isn't magical. But it is also pretty fucking badass.
Sure. It's not "alchemy" just like "chakra" in Naruto isn't any kind of actual chakra, just like "fuel/energy" in any mecha series isn't any kind of actual fuel. It's always "bullshit". What matters is how you package and sell the bullshit. That's fiction.
I'm not going to tell you to like it or not, watch it or not. I do think it's good for people who haven't seen the first anime or read the manga to watch and give comments on it. But, well, this is just my two cents. I totally see where you're coming from, but unless you're like a serious alchemist or care a lot about true alchemy, you should try to just not let it get on your nerves (man, somebody is going to totally turn this on me about my rants on Gundam shows one of these days...)
Humans are different from animals. We must die for a reason. Now is the time for us to regulate ourselves and reclaim our dignity. The one who holds endless potential and displays his strength and kindness to the world. Only mankind has God, a power that allows us to go above and beyond what we are now, a God that we call "possibility".
I agree with above. The main attraction with "alchemy" in this anime is the requirements to use it (water to make ice etc). I dislike the typical magic fare where characters pull stuff out of nowhere.
The only gripe I have with the alchemy is the human taboo. I mean, whats so special about human?! They are living beings just like any other organisms. Maybe the taboo applies to all biological components, not just humans?
Well, in his defense, "magic" in Fate/Stay Night is also defined as the art of equal exchange.
I'm not entirely sure about the Taboo thing. I think it's like our current cloning issues. It's not right to clone one (now), but animals are fine. Perhaps they are too in FMA.
From Mustang's words when he visited Eldric(?) brothers, it's been done successfully before.
I also had a good laugh at Masa's stark difference in opinion of plot devices in FMA and Gundam. In particular where he openly embraces: "Stuff alchemy, it's just a bullshit term to make cool stuff happen", while.......you know.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
masamune, yeah, i see all that. and i will keep watching FMA, maybe i´ll get used to all they do.
But to come back to the "alchemy"-discussion:
It just seemed to be all magic, no kind of alchemy involved at all. You mentioned Naruto, and let me tell you that im only reading the Naruto-manga anymore because i want to know how it ends. But the story became boring to me when Kishimoto decided to turn Naruto into Dragonball 2, which was at the beginning of part 2, when suddenly every crappy ninja had uber-strong ninjutsu and visible chakra...ya know, back then when Naruto went berserk against Haku, Kakashi was totally shocked that Naruto´s chakra was visible...now that´s standard. Basically, from an originally well explained chakra-system, Naruto was turned into another magic-setting, again.
Or to make it short, i prefer well explained stories and things like magical power-sources. Naruto did a great job at the beginning. Another great show on that matter would be Hunter X Hunter.
If you like well explained stories then you should definitely stick with FMA because it does that pretty well. Personally if I wasn't already familiar with FMA then I wouldn't think too much of this series either but you should definitely give it a chance because it gets better. Right now they are simply assuming that everyone watching FMA 2 watched the original FMA so they are really just rushing through the material till they get to where the anime and the manga went their separate ways.
And like they said don't be bothered too much with the whole alchemy thing.
One of the things I like about this series is the way everyone just accepts alchemy. They are told this is how alchemy works and this is what is necessary for you to use it and they just go along with it never questioning anything and never really knowing the truth.
Last edited by Abdula; Fri, 04-17-2009 at 04:08 PM.
Dreaming impossible dreams.
Sapphire is awesome!
Human transmutation is taboo because it violates the Law of Equivalent Exchange. The implied meaning is that there is absolutely no material or energy equivalent to the human soul.
Ed was able to salvage Al's soul probably only due to the short length of time that had passed since Al's body was destroyed, but it cost Ed his arm as well.
Ed and Al could find the exact quantities of compounds that could rebuild their mother, even recreate the genetic make-up using their own blood, but they can't put a soul into the body once it has passed on. It just creates that thing.
That is a good explanation but I am guessing the Equivalent Exhange Law limitation applies to all sentient beings, including humans.
In theory, using their own blood in the transmutation would only produce a clone of themselves rather than their mother. Using the original subject's blood makes much more sense.
To bring Al back, Ed may have to find a dead body and transfer the soul from the armor into it. To avoid losing any more limbs, he can find an apprentice to do it.
I am liking this version. I enjoyed the quick pace. I always thought the first series was slow at the beginning, and about two thirds of the way through. I liked the way Fuhrer Bradley was developed a little -- totally unlike the first series. I didn't even know he used swords until now.
"After all, I am strangely colored."
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