FMA: BH ep 3 - City of Heresy
In this episode, I assume we have arrived at Liore. Ed and Al fight Father Cornello, whom they believe have the Philosopher's Stone.
No Mustang, Riza, Winry, Bradley, Strongarm (
my_daroga reminded me his name is probably Armstrong) or Hughes in this one. The very first episode was so confusing for me that I'm still a little uncertain what's up with Mustang and (separately) Hughes. I seem to remember Roy was transferred in from the east, and last episode I think he talked about getting to return home soon. Ed and Al stayed with Hughes, but I don't remember where they were coming from, where they were before that. I also remember McDougal saying he was in a war fighting beside someone, but I don't remember whether that was with Armstrong or Mustang. I assume we'll get back to the capital eventually.
I liked two things about this episode: religion and Edward. I felt the exploration of religion was heavy-handed, but I always appreciate the effort. Make something about the beauty, betrayal, tyranny and forgiveness of religion and I'm pretty much there. It was interesting that Edward claims that alchemy is science; I'm wondering if that's borne out by the metaphysics of this universe, or whether it's his personal belief.
I'm also interested in how central the issue of resurrection is to the idea of religion in this text. Edward attempted to resurrect his mom and failed. He now believes it to be impossible, and this seems central to his lack of belief in God. Meanwhile, Rose has faith in the idea of resurrection--she believes Cornello can bring her boyfriend back. This also seems central to her belief in God. Considering that the resurrection is so central to Christianity (and other religions), this is really interesting.
It was also interesting that Edward questioned whether Rose's god would want him. He seemed to ask the question based on the fact that he was an atheist, not because he was a sinner who had done this terrible thing (human alchemy). Which brings me to the other aspect I really enjoyed about this episode--Edward. He said this to Rose in perfect earnestness, but later, when Cornello is shooting them, Edward says flippantly, "Nah. I don't think god would want me." I just really loved his sass, and there's, I don't know, this quality of self-hate that he seems to be passing off as I-don't-care-about-anything (except Alphonse) in order to deal with the world around him, and it's both world-weary and childish. I really hope to see more of that.
Rose wasn't that interesting, but I appreciated the juxtaposition of someone faithful against Edward. I also liked the art at the end, when Edward was walking away from her, and telling her she has her own two legs to move forward. The dialogue and the music were too heavy-handed there, but there was a great painting of the cathedral steps. I also found Cornello's duplicity to be too heavy-handed; I dislike it when religious people are just evil, rather than complicated. Hopefully there will be better explorations of religion later, that are a little more ambiguous. I assume Rose isn't coming back; I don't know whether Cornello will.
At the end he met up with Sexy Villain Lady and Gluttony, and we learned that Sexy Villain Lady is Lust. I assume we'll get all seven at some point, and we saw that they have some weird mark with triangles. Okay. I thought maybe Cornello would be pride, especially since there was a lot of talk of hubris in this ep, but then again the talk of hubris was mostly in reference to Edward. I suppose Lust could want to recruit Edward. Still wondering who the Crimson Alchemist is.
Another thing I enjoyed about this ep was the high melodrama, partly because it's hilarious, but I'm also a little confused by it. When Zuko throws off his cloak in "The Beach" episode, they're obviously poking fun at the throws-off-his-cape trope, but when Edward does it it's in perfect earnestness. This makes it hard to take seriously, and yet serious things are happening. Same with the chibi figures and thought bubbles. It makes it feel like it's aimed at a younger audience, and yet people's flesh is getting ripped apart and there's considerable gore!
likeadeuce just mentioned how anime gives you ALL THE FEELINGS between all the characters, and it doesn't seem as hellbent on defining what is sexual vs familial vs romantic vs friendship as western media. I commented back that there also seems more blurring along the lines of what is made for different ages. In Japan, as I understand it, it's perfectly normal and accepted that adults will consume animated and comics media, whereas here it's only in the last 10 years or so that it's become a little bit more mainstream to watch cartoons and read comics as adults.
But anyway, what I mean is, there's some interesting genre blurring going on while watching this, in that I keep wondering who it's "for", when that's really the wrong way to look at it. Neon Genesis Evangelion was one of the more serious things I have watched; it still had a talking penguin. I am enjoying some of the more over-the-top aspects--Edward punched a chimera and then made his arm into like, a chainsaw or something. It's hilarious, but it also confuses me.
But speaking of blurring/confusion,
my_daroga mentioned when Cornello alchemied a tommy gun, or whatever kind of gun that was, that it's sort of unclear what world this is or what time period they're going for. One thing I forgot to say that I had heard about this show was that it was sort of steampunkish. This seems to be the case, considering the military uniforms and the trains and the guns, but so far there's not a lot of world-building, so I'm waiting to get a fuller sense of this world.
At the end of the episode, they defeat Cornello, but his ring shatters. Edward concludes this means that it wasn't the philosopher's stone, that it was a fake. I don't get how Cornello was able to do what he was doing if it was fake--Edward made a huge deal about how Cornello wasn't following the laws of conservation. I hope we find out how Cornello was able to do all of that, because otherwise I'm seriously at a loss.
Oh, and Edward being annoyed at being called little and Alphonse being mistaken for Fullmetal was still annoying, but I am enjoying how terrified and impressed people are when they realize no one is in the armor, and when they realize what the Elrics must have done to be as fucked up as they are. Everyone has this reaction of horrified awe, which helps solidify the idea that these boys are terribly alone. And Alphonse continues to be really adorable.
Still moderately interested, but now with considerably more investment in Edward and how seriously messed up and sassy he is.
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