FMA Doujinshi Review: Hermaphrodite
"Humans live on their own so if they are confronted with only a little bit of gentleness, their hearts are touched like this, and I'm sure that's how people's hearts start growing closer bit by bit." - Edward Elric (line excerpt from Hermaphrodite: Part 5)
EDIT: Okay, originally, I was only supposed to post a doujinshi review I've made, but after remembering what my Religion/Christian Living teacher said last Friday, I'm tempted to write a short rant about it.
Okay, so, our lesson for that day was all about marriage and my C.L teacher read this scripture (Gn. 2:18-24) where it tells how woman is made in this world and we learned that it is because God took a small rib from the man's body, which is why a woman is called as 'woman' for out of her man this one has been taken. It is also why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body, which is true as far as reality goes.
...However, when my teacher opened the topic about 'homosexual relationship', I'm really disappointed. Not only did he say that homosexual relationship is bad and impossible, he also said (proudly, I might add) that said relationship is forbidden and is not accepted by God or the Church itself. I mean, WTF? Where did my teacher get this kind of logic? I may not read the Bible as religiously as some Christians do so I may not know that much, but is it even stated in the Bible that God hates homosexual people or something along that extent? As for the Church itself...aren't I also part of it?
As if that wasn't enough (and my classmates all agreeing to what he said, damn it), he also added that he hasn't seen a homosexual couples having a happy life. Excuse me? As far as I remembered, there's this certain news in our country about a Filipino who went through a major sex exchange, and was courted after by a Canadian man. Said Filipino feared that that person won't accept him anymore if he found out that he used to be a man, but he was wrong. In the end, they both got married in Canada and lived happily after that. Actually, there's also a news about a Filipino and an American who got married in Canada despite having 10 years of age gap. *amused* Sure, there might be some homo couples having a hard life because of homophobes' relentless discrimination, but not all of them, period.
Thus, my question: If it is really true that God does not accept this kind of relationship, isn't it, like, ruining the Law of Love He and Jesus made in the first place? My teacher once said that Christians value love, so what now? I'm just curious.
...Ack, look at that. I actually made it longer than a short rant. -_-;;
Anyways, moving on the real point of this entry - yes, I actually made a doujinshi review. To be honest, I've always been tempted to make one after reading too much FMA doujinshi and simply rant about each of them but I'm loaded with too much school works so I failed. However, after seeing this certain doujinshi in steelandsparks and read it, I actually fell in love with the whole thing and felt the need to write a review and rave about it. Of course, everything about this review is just my opinion only. After all, doujin!rant is not really my forte. astizya, is. XD *laugh*
"I've been wondering about this from time to time. What kind of person is the Colonel? Even though we're doing such a thing, I don't know anything about him at all. I know his sleeping face but I have no idea why he wants to be promoted so badly..." - Edward Elric (line excerpt from Hermaphrodite: Part 4)
So while checking my flist for my long absence in the LJ, I came to see this particular doujinshi entitled Hermaphrodite. Of course, being a total weirdo that I am, I actually freaked out when I read its title at first, thinking that it's one of those femme!Ed doujinshi, but after reading the summary and reading Part 1-5 of it, I realized it wasn't. In fact, I actually fell in love with this doujinshi.
So what is this doujinshi, anyway? Aside from the fact that it's FMA and it's Roy/Ed, it's a little similar to Idea's successful Roy/Ed four-parter doujinshi (Blue Flame, Deep Reverb, Sinful Contact and Next Restraint) where Ed gives his body to Roy in exchange of information about the Philosopher's Stone as chrysa said, but really - there is more in this story than meets the eye. And also, unlike Idea's Roy, the Roy in this doujinshi has a different motive as to why he wants Ed in exchange of those information. You may not believe it, but despite having sex scenes, it isn't explicit (or too graphic) like Valiant's works.
ART STYLE - I love the artist's style. Bambi Takada's drawing style is really pretty and her lineart is neat - not entirely the same as canon, but still beautiful in her own way. I also adore the way she draws Ed, and I love how his expression changes (especially when he speaks with Al) everytime without making it look like OOC. Same thing goes to Riza. And she seems to like Winry for some reasons, which makes me squee a lot. Why? Look at this and you'll see why. *loves it*
Weirdly enough, the way she drew those warehouses in Hermaphrodite: Part 3 reminds me slightly of those houses in FMA: Sonata of Memories. Coincidence? *amused*
ANGST OR FLUFF? I love how this doujinshi balances both angst and fluff in the right way; throwing some funny parts (e.g Al rolling on the floor while reading gay porn books and imagining them as Roy and Ed, thus ruining the whole room) without making them out of place and the angst doesn't make you scream 'OOC!' at all because personally speaking, the pace is pretty much the same as the canon itself.
CHARACTERS - I don't have much problem about the way she portrays the characters, although to be honest, when I first read Hermaphrodite: Part 1, I thought Roy was acting a little OOC when he said he wanted Ed's body in exchange of the information about the Philosopher's Stone, but after reading Hermaphrodite: Part 2, it explained everything about Roy's strange course of action. His desperation to drive Ed away (which is failing) reminds me slightly of canon!Roy and the way he thinks whenever he sees Hughes's picture (saying 'You won't forgive me for doing this to a child' or something like that) is a nice touch. Nice.
Ed here is, IMO, the same as canon. He doesn't scream 'OMG! I WAS BLACKMAILED/RAPED BY MUSTANG!!1eleventy1!!', nor did he became a wimp even after that. His description about kiss being slimy and gross is pretty amusing. I also love the way Ed's view changes (slightly) towards Roy by H3 and the way he starts to cling/hold Roy during sex gives me an impression that Ed starts to care for Roy. Thus, parental!Ed kicks in. I pretty much agree on Ed when he realizes that he doesn't know anything about Roy at all despite having sex with him, which is something I've always want to see in a doujinshi. And see the last part of Hermaphrodite: Part 5? Much love for it. I love Ed's line in there and I can so see it from happening in canon. ^_^
As for Al, I'm really happy to see that he exists in this doujinshi. The way he cares for Ed is similar to the canon, and I agree to Riza when she says that Al won't act irrationally unless it concerns Ed, as seen in that episode where Al fights Wrath - that part where Al says that he won't forgive Roy/accept Roy's relationship with Ed and that he's willing to shut up as long as Ed tells him so gives me a canon feeling. I think it's pretty natural for Al to be confused about Ed and Roy doing it, being young, after all. Also, the interaction between Ed and Al is really cute and sweet. I actually laugh at that part where Al thinks of his first kiss with a girl and Ed ruins his imagination. XD And when Al teases Ed about having no dreams whatsoever, Ed counters something, like, 'Who could have those with the Colonel as your partner?'? Simply amusing.
Riza is also included in this doujinshi, and reading Hermaphrodite: Part 4, it's pretty obvious that she does have a thing for Roy. And while she doesn't strike me as the type of person who'd allow Roy to do such things to Ed, knowing that it might jeopardize Roy's goal and for harming a mere minor, I really like the Ed-Riza interaction. ^_^ It's pretty rare to see them interact in a Roy/Ed doujinshi, IMO, and it is executed fairly well in this doujinshi. You'd probably think the same way if you read Hermaphrodite: Part 4. =)
THINGS I NOTICED ALONG PART 1-5 - The absence of Aunt Pinako and Winry. Sure, I like the fact that Al is there, but where the hell is Winry? Ed doesn't seem to get some maintenance from her, and if I had it right, Ed's automail gets damaged slightly by the OC enemy with her waterstrings, but when Ed gets home at the end of H5, it becomes shiny and fine once again for some reasons. O_o Plot holes? *gets shot* Disregarding the absence of the Sins (I'm thinking that Bambi Takada is trying to form a different canon here), it's never showed in this doujinshi where Ed and Al travels. And I don't see Roy giving any orders to Ed to go in some places just like in canon, IMO. I don't think it's because Ed's all too dependent on Roy and his information about the Philosopher's Stone, so maybe it's because it would only make the story longer and complicated? *gets shot once again* Seeing as how many times Ed receives information from Roy (read: books), why aren't he and Al working on it yet? At least give some of those information a go or something? Or are those informations aren't completed yet? *curious*
REACTION - Well, to be honest, I didn't fall for this doujinshi just because of sex or see Roy and Ed do it - no. I like it because not only it is long, but it also has plot; just something to make up my whole day. There's an OC enemy in this doujinshi, but it didn't ruined anything at all. I love how things develop between Ed and Roy, and I love how everyone interacts with each other. Not too fucked-up, not too light-hearted, I think Hermaphrodite got almost everything a Roy/Ed fan wants in a doujinshi. And this isn't to say it's because I just read this one recently - I actually believe that this doujinshi is one of the best out there. ^_^ Go ahead and try it! For some reasons, Ed's song 'RETURNABLE MEMORIES' fits the whole ambiance of the doujinshi, tune-wise. O__O
...and that's where my rant ends. *looks above* Yeah. ^_^;; And yeah, I managed to catch up a little.