Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 8: The Philosopher’s Stone

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here: Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 7: Night of the Chimera’s Cry

Picking up where we left off, Ed and Al are still at the crime scene.  Our heroes talk to Colonel Mustang about death, not being able to bring anyone back to life and the killer who has been targeting women.  The Military puts Ed in charge of Tucker’s work, which he isn’t very happy about.  Tucker was executed as part of a coverup.

Ed is so frustrated that he turns in his state alchemist watch so he can investigate the murders.  Edward runs into scar outside.  Luckily for Ed, he gave up his watch right before that because scar said he would have killed him if he was still a state alchemist.  King Bradley sends Al after the philosopher’s stone.  Winry is waiting for Ed when she sees a refrigerated truck, which is a newer invention.

Ed figures out that the truck is how the killer has been moving the bodies.  He finds Barry the Chopper’s shop.  Barry tricks Ed and knocks him out.  When Ed wakes up he finds out that Barry has removed his automail arm while he was unconscious.  Without his arm, he can’t clap his hands to perform alchemy.  Ed gets around this by drawing a transmutation circle.  Ed escapes and fights Barry.

Ed has Barry defeated and is about to kill him when Al shows up and stops him.  Hughes figured out that Barry’s truck was outside their building a lot and put two and two together.  The Military arrests Barry.  Ed returns to his State Alchemist position and is granted the title FullMetal by the State.  Ed was willing to take his job back in exchange for all of the information the State had on the philosopher’s stone.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 7: Night of the Chimera’s Cry

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here:  Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 6: The Alchemy Exam

Ed receives the pocket watch that he earned for passing his State Alchemy exam.  After Ed shows the watch to his brother, Tucker says he will throw Ed a big party to celebrate his success.  Tucker is currently under a lot of pressure.  He has to turn in a report every year showing his findings or they will revoke his State Alchemy license.  Without his license and State funding, Tucker says he will go back to being poor.

We meet a mysterious man with a scar on his face and tattoos on his arm.   He runs off when Ed stops him and rips off his shirt sleeve, revealing his strange tattoos.  After the weird encounter, Ed moves on to what he was there for…investigating Tucker.  Something just isn’t right about him.  Tucker’s daughter says her mom left them but the military says she died.  Things are just not adding up and there is more than meets the eye here.

Ed sees a woman murdered and passes out.  It reminds him of what happened to his Mother and it is just overwhelming.  Things may go deeper than Ed thought.  The Military kicks Ed out of Tucker’s house for investing his work.  That doesn’t stop Ed though and him and Al break back into Tucker’s house later on.  Oddly enough, Tucker invites them in and shows them the Chimera he created.

In one of the most twisted and evil things I have ever seen, Tucker has combined his own daughter and dog into a Chimera in order to keep his Government funding.  This guy is pure evil!  Tucker attempts to compare Ed and Al to himself, he says they are the same.  Ed takes the sophisticated approach and pounds Tucker into the ground.  The Iron Blood Alchemist hits Ed and covers the situation up.

Ed, still determined to expose this horrendous plot, uses his alchemy to stop the truck they are removing the “evidence” in.  The Chimera escapes and comes across Scar from earlier.  He touches her and can somehow read her.  He destroys her out of mercy.  Ed and Al find the body….

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 6: The Alchemy Exam

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here:  Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 5: The Man with the Mechanical Arm

Ed brags about being able to pass the state alchemist exam.  Colonel Mustang sends Ed and Al to stay with the sowing life alchemist, Mr. Tucker.  Mr. Tucker apparently used alchemy to create a chimera that can speak, which is supposed to be impossible.  To help Ed and Al study for his exam, Tucker shows them his library full of alchemy books.  This is an amazing sight to the boys who want to learn as much as possible.

The boys gets started in their studies right away.  One of the advantages of becoming a state alchemist is that Ed and Al will have access to many more books in the military library.  After the boys play with Tucker’s daughter we find out that it is Edward’s birthday.  Hughes throws him surprise party that ends up being more of a surprise than anyone expected!

Hughes’ wife goes into labor!  Ed uses alchemy without a circle while taking care of Hughes’ wife.  This isn’t supposed to be possible.  After some time, the Doctor finally arrives and the baby is born.  Ed and Al talk about their Mom and Al becomes sad because he isn’t human anymore.  Even though he doesn’t have a human body, Al still has human emotions.

The boys pass the written part of the exam.  Everything seems to be going well when Colonel Mustang gives the boys some bad news.  Al has to drop out of the exam so the military doesn’t find out the truth about him and his past.  Ed comforts him by saying that only one of them needs to be in the military and have access to the library.  Ed moves on without Al and takes the second part of the exam, an interview.

Ed passes the interview as well and moves on to the final test.  The final test is all of the candidates who are left using their alchemy out in the open.  Something goes wrong during this and Ed ends up saving several of the other alchemists who’s projects went haywire.  It was noticed that Ed did this without the use of a circle, which was all the military needed to see in order to pass Ed with flying colors.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 5: The Man with the Mechanical Arm

If you have not read my last review, you may do so here: Fullmetal Alchemist E4: A Forger’s Love

Edward is nervous as he calls Colonel Mustang.  Mustang tells him to take the earlier train into the city which forces Ed and Al to have to rush to make it.  It’s merely a test from Mustang.  After a misunderstanding with a child and being introduced to a few military people, terrorists take over the train.  The terrorists want their leader freed in exchange for letting the people on the train go.

Not being ones to stand by and do nothing, Ed and Al take out a couple of the terrorists but everyone else on the train thinks they should have just cooperated with them.  Well that’s gratitude for you, huh?  Ed heads to the top of the train while Al clears through it on the inside.  Both meet up with members of the military.  Edward takes out several of the terrorists.

Ed uses his alchemy to create a pipe going through a door the terrorists are using to protect themselves.  After the terrorists refuse to give up Ed floods the cabin with water using the pipe he created.  Only their leader, the man with the mechanical arm, is left.  Ed fights the man one on one, this is when Ed finds out this man also has an automail arm.  The terrorist says he used to work for the military as well but was kicked out when he received his mechanical arm.

Ed explains that they had completely different reasons for getting their automail arms.  Ed smashes the man’s mechanical arm and Al knocked him out.  At the train station, the terrorist escapes his confinement and attacks Colonel Mustang, only to be set on fire by him.  Mutang is the fire alchemist.  He didn’t kill the man, he only burned his skin a little.  We come to find out Mustang set this whole thing up for Ed and Al so they could be heroes and be able to take the military alchemy test.

Full Metal Alchemist E4: A Forger’s Love

If you have not read my review of episode 3, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E3: Mother…

We open on Ed and Al burning down their house and boarding a train, to begin the journey of becoming a state alchemist.  Winry and her grandma didn’t want them to go but they didn’t listen.  These boys are focused on getting their bodies back.  They managed to stop a mugger and are then told about a town where the dead come back to life.  This news is particularly interesting to them for obvious reasons.

Our heroes find out about a man who might be able to perform human transmutations.  On their way to find him they get beat up by some kids, due to them not being used to their new bodies yet.  After finding Majhal, he tells them not to mess with human alchemy.  He also states that he knows their father.

One of the little kids from earlier had a sister who was killed by a ghost.  She attempts to run away but Ed and Al manage to stop her in her tracks using alchemy.  She tells them about her dead sister.  Majhal tells the story of the “ghost”, she died falling off of a cliff.  Majhal is able to stop the ghost.

Back at Majhal’s house, Ed hears a noise.  It’s the same noise that the ghost was making.  Ed and Al discover his secret.  Majhal has been making dolls into life by using the souls of girls he has killed.  He is trying to bring his long lost love back to life.  She supposedly died when she fell off of a cliff.

In reality, Karin (his lost love) had merely lost her memory in the accident.  For twenty years she didn’t know who she was but her memory later returned.  Majhal refuses to believe her.  He refuses to believe this wrinkled woman could be his beautiful Karin.  Majhal fights Ed and ends up passing away.  During his death he looks past the real Karin, to his dolls, who have the beauty of youth.  He loves his fantasy more than the real thing.

Full Metal Alchemist E3: Mother…

If you have not read my review of episode 2, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 2)

Ed and Al are at the library talking about Cornello’s fake philosopher’s stone.  Al finds an introduction to alchemy book which leads to a flash back of them first using alchemy to make Winry a doll.  The process terrifies her.  It’s explained to Winry that Ed and Al were just trying to do something nice for her and everything is okay.  Outside, the boys talk to their Mother, who is curious as to when their Father taught them alchemy.  They said they didn’t learn it from him, but from a book.  It’s amazing they can understand it at their age.

Ed and Al retrace their journey of learning alchemy.  Competing with each other and trying to impress their Mother.  They head over to Winry’s home, only to find her crying.  Her parents have been killed.  Ed starts talking about human transmutation, trying to bring someone back to life but he is shut down quickly as it is a forbidden form of alchemy.  Ed and Al head home and hug their Mother while crying (thinking about the possibility of losing her).

Sometime later, Ed and Al are running and playing.  They come home and find their Mother collapsed on the floor.  The Doctor says this isn’t something new, she had been sick for a long time and had just hiding it from them.  They talk to her while she is in bed and she dies in front of them.  They come to realize that the reason their alchemy always made her smile was because it reminded her of their Father.  They find a stack of letters from their Father from various locations and decide if they send something to each place, someone will get the information to him and he will come home.

After studying their Father’s notes and hiring a teacher, Ed and Al try to perform a human transmutation to bring their Mother back to life.  Something goes terribly wrong and Al’s body is destroyed after being pulled into some sort of gateway with black hands coming out of it.  Ed loses both his arm and his leg during the process but did manage to attach Al’s soul to a suit of armor.  Al carries Ed’s severely damaged body to Winry’s home to try and save his life. Colonel Mustang shows up (following the letter to their Father) because he knows how talented these boys are and wants them in the military.

Ed decides to meet with Mustang and try to join the military, because of their funding and access to research no one else has.  Winry attaches Ed’s automail, which is a very painful process.  Ed and Al decide to do some martial arts training to test out their new bodies and see what they can do.  While training, Ed says he wants to return them to their original bodies.  That is now his goal in life.  Before leaving to start their new journey, the boys burn down their old home and with it, the painful memories of their past.

Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 1)

When we left off, Al had just saved Rose from Cornello’s monster.  Al tells Rose a little bit about alchemy and she asks him about his mother.  With his mother being a sensitive topic for obvious reasons, he changes the subject without answering.  Elsewhere, Al is still chained up.  He gets Cornello to admit he is a fake.  Cornello starts bragging but isn’t aware that Al and Ed set up a recorder.  Everything Cornello just said has been broadcast to the entire town.

Cornello attempts to fight Ed but ends up running away.  Outside all of the town’s people have shown up, confused and angry over what they have just heard.  Has Cornello really been playing them for fools this whole time?  They want answers and they want them now!  Cornello, being quick on his feet, makes up a lie.  He says that they faked his voice and to prove what he says is true, he brings the statues from earlier alive again.

Not one to be outdone, Ed brings the sun god statue to life in front of everyone.  Cornello collapses and we find out his philosopher’s stone is a fake.  The stone shatters before their very eyes.  Rose is angry because Ed crushed her/the town’s illusions.  Even if it was all a lie, at least Cornello gave them hope, according to Rose.  Ed tells her to go off on her own, she doesn’t have to stay in this town.

Cornello speaks to the mysterious woman again, who is named Lust.  Her partner, Gluttony, eats Cornello after she reveals this town is just a trap to lure in alchemists.  Still wanting to keep the game going, another partner, Envy, will take the form of Cornello and continue his work.  Al tells Rose not to make the same mistakes him and Ed made and gives her a little bit of their back story.

Full Metal Alchemist E2: Body of the Sanctioned (Part 1)

If you have not read my review for episode 1, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E1: Those Who Challenge the Sun (Part 2)

Cornello mocks Ed and Al for their failure to bring back their Mother.  This is a pretty heartless guy!  Ed and Al only want the philosopher’s stone to fix their bodies, not to perform another human transmutation.  Using alchemy, Cornello creates a gun and fires on Ed, who is able to defend himself by creating a wall just in the nick of time.  Ed may be stronger than Cornello thought, so he orders the town’s people to attack our heroes.

While this is going on, Cornello takes Rose to see her boyfriend (Cornello has been raising him from the dead).  Her boyfriend is behind a curtain but it sounds like him.  The strange thing is, there are feathers everywhere surrounding the bed.  Cornello promises that his body will be ready soon.

Ed and Al get beat up by some living statues, another miracle from Cornello.  They wake up back at Cornello’s, in prison.  Rose brings Ed some food.  Later that night, Cornello is having a nightmare.  He dreams about a giant snake and wakes up to find the mysterious woman from earlier in his room.  Whoever this woman is, she obviously knows more about all of this than anyone else.

Rose sneaks back into her boyfriend’s room, just wanting to see him again.  The curtain blows back to reveal a giant parrot, made from many other birds.  It was only mimicking her boyfriend’s voice.  Cornello is one sick man!  It makes one wonder what his plan was, because obviously he would have to show her eventually.  Was he going to try and make it’s body look human too?  Who knows?

Cornello catches Rose and says she has betrayed him.  He traps her in the room for the giant parrot to kill.  Luckily for Rose, Al shows up and saves her from Cornello’s twisted creations.  This one was of the most crazy scenes I have ever seen in anything.  Cornello has some power, no doubt, but he is twisted and obviously not concerned with hurting others.  How is he able to combine these animals?  Perhaps we will find out in the next review!

Full Metal Alchemist E1: Those Who Challenge the Sun (Part 2)

If you have not read the first part of this review, you may do so here: Full Metal Alchemist E1: Those Who Challenge the Sun (Part 1)

Picking up where we left off in the first review, Al and Ed meet a girl named Rose who Edward is obviously infatuated with, so they follow her to the temple.  Rose speaks to Father Cornello about giving Al and Ed a room while they stay in town.  Father Cornello has told Rose that he can bring her boyfriend back to life, which is why she is so dedicated to him.  Ed and Al see him performing miracles, which appears to just be alchemy.  The strange thing about them is that he seems to be ignoring the law of equivalent exchange.

Edward has little trust for Cornello but Al is more open to giving him and chance, to find out if he is the real deal or not.  Cornello even brings a bird back to life in front of everyone, possibly supporting his claims of being able to bring Rose’s boyfriend back to life.  Cornello gives orders to take out Ed, because he works for the military and is therefore evil.  We also see Cornello talking to the mysterious woman from earlier who somehow knew who Ed was.

Edward confronts Rose to tell her the truth about Cornello.  He says that he is a fake and alchemy is the only answer…even though alchemy has never brought anyone back to life.  Al is shot in the back of the head by one of Cornello’s men, causing his head to fall off.  This is where we find out Al lost his body during the transmutation to bring their mother back to life.  He somehow became a suit of armor.

Cornello’s power comes from the Philosopher’s stone, an object which allows an alchemist to ignore the laws of equivalent exchange and does away with the need for a transmutation circle.  Cornello unleashes a Chimera on Ed, a creature that is a combination of animals, formed using alchemy.  During the battle, Ed creates a spear out of the ground (he can somehow use alchemy without a transmutation circle as well) and we learn that Ed now has a metal arm and leg.  Using these weapons, he defeats these animals and is left ready to face off against the real threat, Father Cornello.

Full Metal Alchemist E1: Those Who Challenge the Sun (Part 1)

Welcome to my first review of Full Metal Alchemist.  Just for a little background information, there are two versions of this show.  This one (which I will call the American version) and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Japanese version).  These shows were made at separate times but the first couple hand full of episode are almost exactly the same because they were based on the same manga.  This version (which is older than Brotherhood) got ahead of the manga so it has it’s own separate reality after that where as the Japanese version follows the manga since it was made at a later time.

The show begins by teaching us about the law of equivalent exchange.  To create, something of equal value must be lost.  This law will be a running theme throughout the show.  We see two children, Al and Edward, who are trying to bring back their dead Mother using Alchemy.  This is a forbidden form of Alchemy and breaks all of the laws of nature.  We soon find out why.

In the process, Al is lost and Ed loses his arm and leg.  It’s a bloody mess.  When the smoke clears, all that is left is some sort of creature in the form of a woman who looks to be in pain.  We now skip to the present, we find Edward and Al (in a giant suit of armor) walking in the desert.  The show has an extremely dark and violent opening, but it quickly turns goofy.  This happens a lot in anime.  It gets more serious and dark as a show progresses.

They come into a town where they believe they see water fountains.  Unfortunately, these fountains are filled with wine, not water.  A restaurant owner stops them and turns on a radio where some sort of sun worshiper broadcasts a message everyone wants to listen too.  This person on the radio can apparently perform miracles, which has captivated the town’s folk.  Al bumps his head as he stands up, which knocks the radio off of the stand it was on.  He uses his alchemy to fix the radio and now everyone thinks he can perform miracles as well.

They think Al is the legendary Full Metal Alchemist because of the suit of armor he wears.  Edward is offended by this and the people commenting on him being short.  This is a running joke in the show.  People make fun of how small he is and he comes back yelling at them, exaggerating what they said about him (because it’s a sensitive subject for Edward).