Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood - 4

Summary:
Ed and Al have returned for Lior and are reporting to Mustang. Mustang informs them about a man, Shou Tucker, who successfully created a chimera that spoke. The chimera spoke only one phrase, "I want to die" and refused to eat and died. Interested, the brothers decide to check Tucker out. They meet Tucker and his daughter Nina. Ed begins right away studying Tucker's old work.

Meanwhile a killer is on the loose in central. This man, who can only be identified by a large scar on his face, has been hunting down and killing Alchemist. His appearance, and his targeting on some of the toughest opponents has thrown Central in disarray.

One night, while leaving, they escorting state alchemist reminds Tucker that his review is approaching. If he fails, he will loose his title. It is revealed that life was tough before he became a state alchemist and his wife left because they were poor. When Ed comes by the day of the review, Tucker has created a new Chimera. However Ed soon discovers to his horror that the chimera is none other than Nina. The story about his wife leaving is also a lie and the previous chimera was his wife. Ed nearly pummels Tucker to death but is horrified when Tucker tell him they are the same and that they both pushed the limits too far with human alchemy. Ed refuses and is finally stopped by Al. When they leave Scar comes to kill Tucker. Seeing Nina in such a state he decides to kill her out of mercy.

Reaction:

I hate tucker. I hated this arc. I hated how Tucker survived in the original. Thankfully they shortened all of this into one episode and killed him off. They made Tucker appear a lot more desperate and almost pitiful in comparison to his original "mad scientist" motif. It's interesting to note they didn't try to inject any humor into this epsiode (minus Ed vs Dog) but left it mainly dark. This is more like what i expected given the dark ending and dark PV, however i am wondering if it is darker than the source. Also lost was Ed's true studying nature, and that he worked hard to gain his understanding of alchemy.

It was also interesting they cut out the Yoki arc, but mentioned it in the episode. I wonder if they will do the same kind of thing for the thief girl arc. It wasn't really interesting, but it was one of the few really funny episodes.
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If anyone actually reads this :P

Yes, i am late as hell for my shows. FMA will take me a day or two and i plan on catching up on Hayate during the rest of the week.

Along with the three shows i am blogging, i am also watching Valkira and maybe picking up eden of the east because i heard a lot of good things about it.

In other news, a new gundam anime will start up sometimes before the end of the year for the 30th anniversary. Given the short time left and the lack of details, it looks like it will be OVA insead of a full series. Reports say it will be based off the gundam unicorn novels. Given the excitement i expect this to be good.

This msg will self destruct when i have the post up. Read more!

k-On - 4

FANSERVICE!!!

The girls ability to make faces never ends



Mugi has that stalker face



OMG a bird ate Yui



Am... i in heaven?



Yup, this must be heaven



Hurray for yuri Subtext

Recap: Mio finds a recording of the old K-ON club and decides that they need to hold a practice vacation in time for the school festival. Yui and Ritsu can only think about enjoying a summer vacation, and Mugi is happy as long as she can spend more time with others.

They all end up going to the beach villa by the ocean that Mugi's parents own. They secure only the smallest villa, but its still the size of a hotel. While Mio tries to get the equipment ready, Yui and Ritsu are already out having fun. Mio reveals that reason for the sudden need for practice is that the old club was very very good, and she feels that she doesn't want to loose to them. Seeing as how they can't get any practice in that day however, she decides to join them. Later on She desperately tries to get Ritsu and Yui to practice, but it still fails. After dark the group is having fun around a campfire with Yui playing around with her guitar in front of fireworks. Later she shows how she can play the same guitar portion of the previous club from only hearing it once.

After seeing Yui, Mio determines she may have been worried over nothing. As they go back to school, Mio isn't too pleased with some of the pictures Ritsu took :)


Reaction:
Another very moe heavy episode. seeing how Yui seems to be a natural genius with music I'm not too surprised that they will be ready for the concert at the school festival. Mio is still very awesome between angry and determined, to shy and embarrassed. For a fanservice beach episode this actually had more plot than the previous two. (minus the acutal buying of the guitar). Next episode looks to focus on the teacher (which i have heard a lot about) and Nonoka so it looks good.
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FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood - Episode 03

recap:

Well this episode was virtually the same as the beginning episode for last time. Ed and Al travel to Lior because they hear about a priest that can perform miracles. So once they are in the city they are eating something and when Al stands up he knocks over a radio. What do our two hero's use to fix it? Why Alchemy of course! So the towns people watch as Al turns the radio back to new and they start to talk about how he performed a miracle like the priest, father Cornello. Well the insults to Ed start off early again as the people once again decide that Al is the Full Metal Alchemist.

So Ed and Al go to check out Cornello and find that his miracles don't follow the rule of equivalent exchange. They also find out that the priest can supposedly bring the dead back to life, which we already know is a sore subject for the two brothers. The two walk into the church to meet Rose, a girl who is devoted to the church, and to Cornello's teachings and talk of bringing the dead back to life. Ed precedes to sit down and list off all the ingredients that make the adult human body, also commenting that it could all be bought with a child's pocket money. (a part that I really enjoyed last time and even more this time.) Rose of course is angered by this due to her great belief in father Cornello and God.

The Elric brothers request a meeting with Cornello which he agrees to, but he has some of his followers try to kill the Elrics once they arrive at the meeting place. Ed quickly dispatches of the two guys that are covering him and Al punches the guy with the gun in the face (which as always was quite amusing). The gun falls by Rose's feet and ed yells back and forth with Cornello about transmutation and the Philosophers Stone (if you don't already know what that is well then you never really cared about the series). Ed, Al, and Rose stand there and Rose is ordered to shoot Ed, though once again she thinks the Full Metal Alchemist is Al. She shoots Al and they find nothing inside and Cornello explains that they commited the Taboo of Alchemy, Human Transmutaion.

So basically a bunch of stuff happens and we find out that Cornello's stone was only a fake, so Ed and Al are back to square one.

Reactions:

Well it was nice to see a redo of the origional first episode, but I didn't really enjoy it at all. I mean there were some really awsome parts like where Ed explains the make up of the human body and where we see the Homoculous at the end. Over all I'm liking brotherhood and I look forward to the next episode. Oh, final note. ROY MUSTANG RULES!

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K-On - 3

Exam Horror!

Who dares scare my Mio!



>Wow shes even worse than me.



Well if K-On gets disbanded she can always return to the WWE



Rejected by Mio. Lol double bump



Shes even good at video games

Summary:

Yui starts more guitar practice and produces some extreme Mio moe moments using squeamish stories. As Yui starts to practice more cords, she completely forgets about midterms. Exam time comes and she is so distracted (from her guitar and other things) she fails miserably. Mugi and Mio manage to do pretty well (however we never see their grade). Surprisingly Ritsu also gets an A, but it is explained she begged Mio to cram with her the day before, as usually apparently. Things only get worse when the find out if she doesn't pass, the club will be shut down again, and she cant join in until she finishes the makeup exam in a week. Two days before the makeup the decide to all send her encouraging messages. That however turns out to be more a distraction then a benefit. The day before the exam. Yui admits that while she is studying more this time, she isn't sure if she can pass. The gang decides to go to her house to help her study. When they get there, they are surprised by how much more mature Ui is and how different she is from her sister. Mugi provides snacks and encouragement while Mio becomes her personal tutor. They study until Yui is ready to collapse. After the makeup, Yui looks burnt out. Luckily however she aced the exam and got perfect. However because of all the studying, she forgot all the cords she was learning so we're back to the start.


Reaction:

Another funny episode. Really shored up Ui and Nodoka's characters. However the lack of progress makes it look worse that we will ever get to see a concert. But whatever at this point anything with more Mio makes me happy. We also see more of everyone character. Mio and Tsumugi as the reliable smart ones, and Ritsu and the clumsy lovable idiot. Yui is the can-do-anything-she-puts-her-mind-to type. Must admit its kind of cliche but i still love it Read more!

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood - 2

Summary:
Ed and Al are on a train to Lior to see a man who can make miracles. They think it is probably slight of hand, but they check it out anyways in case it might be the philosopher stone. We flash back to Ed and Al's childhood where they begin to learn alchemy using their father's old books. However their mom soon suddenly dies from disease. The boys continue to practice alchemy under the tutelage of their teacher (later will be identified as Isumi) and slowly start their research into human alchemy.

One night they determine they know enough and attempt the forbidden alchemy. However soon afterwards things begin to go wrong. the alchemy circle grabs Ed's legs and suck Al into it. Left behind is a hideous creature who soon dies. It in inside this circle that Ed meets a creature and a door who call themselves god. The door opens and Ed is flung in. He begins to acquire all the knowledge in the universe, so much it nearly kills him. However when he approaches the area that would allow him human alchemy, he is pulled back out. The creature tells him that all that knowledge was enough for the trade, the trade of his leg. He returns to the real world and finds Al missing. Knowing he was taken he tries to attach Al's soul to a suit of armor. He losses his arm in the process.

The next day Roy Mustang and Hawkeye arrive in search of a powerful alchemist said to be in the area. However they only find the bloody remains of the fail alchemy. He goes to Winry's house where Ed and Al are healing and confronts them. He later offers Ed the chance to become a state alchemist. Doing so would mean that Ed would be a dog of the military, but it would open the immense possibility of research that could lead them to the philosopher stone, and the restoration of their bodies. Ed decides to take the offer and heads off to the state alchemist exam. While preparing, with a new arm and leg from Winry, he trains with Al and shows off his ability to use alchemy without a circle. Al, even though he also went through the gate, cannot. when he gets to the exam, he he attempts to show off by transmuting a spear with out a circle, and then attacking the fuhrer. However the fuhrer was able to slice Ed's weapon without anyone even noticing. regardless he passes and is granted the title of FullMetal Alchemist.

Reaction:

First of all, i'll take this opportunity to talk about the OP and ED. I have to say i don't particularly love the OP. It just sounds really rough for some reason and her voice seems to stammer. The overall beat/tune is pretty good though. The ED though is quite enjoyable and i love it. The animation at the end is also quite entertaining and even has a few laughs (Armstrong lol).

Onto the Episode...
Well, Not to bad. Obviously they went back on track and followed the storyline of Ed getting his arm and the failed transmutation of their mother, but it feels way too rushed. If their was one thing the first season did dead on, was hit the emotional note of how painful and just how hard Ed works to be where he is. Nothing about Ed's amazing studying ability was mentioned here and he seems to be driven by pure rage and pride more than determination. It's also sad to see Al's voice explaining equivalent exchange replaced by the narrator. Al really gave the saying a whole depth of meaning about how nothing is truly equal and someone always ends up paying more in the world which is lost when the narrator says it. I guess they want to try and make this closer to the original, yet different from the first season so that it wont be boring. Problem is the beginning of the first was close to the original. And i read somewhere the manga always tried to cut the intense emotion with jokes to lighten the manga anyways so its not too bad. Overall i don't think I'll be pretty impressed with this until they reach where the first season deviated. We'll have to see how they handle Lior because i felt the first season did a very good job. One of the scenes from the first season they can't do well now is the speech Ed makes to Rose about how a human is nothing more than a list of ingredients. (I thought that was a powerful statement about how his view of the world has changed to one of chemical parts. It was one of my favorite scenes.)

(I will be calling the source "manga" from now on and the first season "original" because I'm starting to get confused.)
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Full Metal Alchemist and Hayate no Gotoku

I havent forgotten them. exams are just slowing me down. expect them within a day.

Edit 1: I will have FMA up in a few hours. (aka tomorrow morning) Hayate will probably take another day. Read more!