Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Episode 23 – 26

Now that I feel a little less like dying, it’s time to wrap up the last few episodes of Hagaren. This post is going to be long enough as it is so I’m probably going to gloss over a lot of the smaller details. Second, I’m probably not going to go into a lot of detail about my thoughts on them. Not entirely sure anyone cares but those are the caveats for this week’s super-jumbo-sized Hagaren babblechat.

~Warning, Spoilers Ahead~

Girl on the Battlefield (戦場の少女) – Lin escapes with LanFan over his shoulder and Bradley heads out with Gluttony to track them down. After leaving Winry in the care of the Lieutenant, Ed goes after Scar where Al is already fighting and Mustang sends Hawkeye out to be of assistance however she can. Bradley hears the commotion from the brothers and sends Gluttony to take care of them while he follows the prince and his retainer. While they are running, LanFan tells him to leave her and save himself. He refuses and she tells him she knows how she can be of use to him at the same time she pulls out a knife.

Lin appears, alone,  from the sewers to help Ed and Al battle Scar and the homunculus and Bradley finds that LanFan has sacrificed her useless arm by cutting it off and tying it to a stray dog so they could both get away. Meanwhile, Lin binds the regenerating Gluttony with a strong cable, effectively trapping him. While Hawkeye drives Lin, Gluttony and the rescued LanFan to the hideout, Ed and Al are just about to take down Scar when Mei Lin shows up and rescues him with her alkahestry. The brothers are taken back to Central where they find Winry talking with Bradley. She returns to Rush Valley to take care of her customers, realizing as she watches them go that she is in love with Ed.

As they are leaving the station Mustang picks up the Elrics, then the coroner to treat LanFan’s wounds. While she’s resting, they take stock of the situation with Gluttony and Lin tells the others that Bradley might be a Homunculus. While they’re bickering, Gluttony overhears Mustang’s name and becomes enraged, an enormous “mouth” opening from his stomach…

Inside the Belly (腹の中) – Marcoh is being held captive by the Homunculi and Envy tells him if he doesn’t help out they’ll kill everyone in the little village he’s from. Back at Central, Wrath (Bradley) is talking with Pride, who remains hidden in the shadows, about the dangers they face from the younger generation. At the hideout Gluttony has transformed into a horrifying monster able to devour anything in its path in its desire to get revenge for Lust’s death. Ed, Al and Lin stay behind to fight Gluttony while the others retreat and, after a brief battle, Ed, Lin and Envy are devoured by Gluttony while Al watches helplessly.

At Dr. Knox’s house, Mustang prepares to take action while LanFan laments her current inability to look after Lin. Mustang and Hawkeye head back to Central Command to face Bradley head on. He mentions his suspicions to General Raven offhandedly, hoping to find a powerful ally, but is instead brought before Bradley himself just as Al regains consciousness in a lake of blood and rubble…

The Door of Darkness (闇の扉) – Wading through the lake of blood, Ed finds Lin and they try to figure out where they are. They assume they’re in Gluttony’s stomach from the fire and rubble around them but have no idea how to get out. Back in the outside world, Mei Lin is depressed because she can’t find Xiao Mei and Scar agrees to help try and find her because he sympathizes with her clan’s plight. Inside Gluttony, Ed and Lin take a short break to eat one of Ed’s boots and encounter Envy, who explains to them that Gluttony is a fake “Gate of Truth” created by Father and that there is no exit. He also tells them it was he, in disguise, who started the Ishbal War and shows them his true monstrous form.

In the woods outside the hideout, Al questions Gluttony about where Ed and Lin went and demands to be taken to Father. At Central, Bradley answers Mustang’s questions and reveals that the Homunculi have been behind the scenes since Amestris was founded, and that it’s impossible to try and blackmail him by threatening his family. Outside the Command, Fuery tells Hawkeye that he and Mustang’s other subordinates have been transferred all around the country and she discovers that she is to be the personal assistant to Bradley…

Reunion (再会) – Inside Gluttony, the battle between Envy’s true form, Ed and Lin has begun. Ed is just about to strike a blow when a face appears from the mass and begs him to kill it, along with hundreds more. He flashes back to Nina and Alexander, giving Envy time to strike and swallow Ed whole.

Meanwhile Mei Lin and Scar follow Al and Gluttony into the depths of Central. Right away Mei Lin is able to feel that something is wrong and gets scared, with good reason. A number of grotesque chimera attempt to stop them, which Scar dispatches easily while Al is taken further under the city to where Father resides. Inside Envy, Ed finds himself in front of the Philosopher’s Stone that is his core and realizes that he may know how to get them out.

Meanwhile, Bradley tells Mustang how he was educated by the state and turned into a Homunculus by being infused with the Philosopher’s Stone. Somehow his body withstood the process, only losing his eye as a result. He explains that he is just as proud of being a Homunculus as Mustang is of being human.

Ed realizes that the entire country of Xerxes was sacrificed to create the first Philosopher’s Stone and that if he uses Envy’s body as a “toll” to open the Gate he will be using the their souls. Using pieces from the transmutation circle he saw in Xerxes, the Stone inside Envy and the knowledge he gained through his failed transmutation, Ed opens the real Gate of Truth and finds himself in front of the Door he once entered. Sitting in front of a second Door is Al’s emaciated body, who says he can’t return with Ed because it’s not his soul, but Ed swears he’ll return and bring him back someday.

~whew~

Taken together, these episodes form one of the most important arcs in the Hagaren storyline. We find out that the military’s not just in danger, it is the danger to the country and that everything has been planned out like this from Day One. Learning what really happened in Xerxes gives us some clues as to what the Homunculi are planning for Amestris and Ed’s discovery that it’s possible to get back to where Al’s body is kept are also important to the story that is coming, though there’s still a long way to go before they’re able to do anything about it. Mustang’s carefully chosen team is split up in retaliation for the stunt that they pulled to lure out and capture Gluttony and Bradley makes sure the Colonel knows he’s got him firmly under his thumb by playing on his desire to protect his subordinates and the country. Bold moves are no longer an option for any of the characters, at least those who want to keep their lives.

Next week we learn a little more about both Father and Hohenheim and I’ll be back on a regular schedule. Hopefully. Later this week, a similar treatment of the last 3 episodes of Umineko.

A Plague Upon Our House

Due to a sudden plague affecting the joint Geekerella and MystyrE household, bloggery has been put on hold until we can stand upright for more than a few hours and/or lay on our backs without coughing ourselves into migraines. Or at least until we’re well enough to figure out the wrappers on the DayQuil.

We hope to be back online with next week’s Hagaren episode.

~The Management

Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Episode 12

Last week was a little odd at the temporary Chez Geekerella, so Umineko unfortunately got pushed to the back burner. Of course I watched it on time, I just didn’t get around to writing about it. So here it is now with my apologies. The next post, it seems, is going to be a double-episode Hagaren post. One of these days I’ll get on what’s called a “schedule” again. -_-;

~Warning, Spoilers Ahead~

Episode III-I, castling starts the new chapter off in another new setting, this time a comfortable looking cottage in which a small girl has just broken an important vase. Beatrice, a witch who looks nothing like the Golden Witch we know, appears and repairs it just long enough for a cat to come by and break it again, then explains to the younger girl (whom she calls Princess) that she couldn’t change the fate of the vase breaking but was able to put it off for a little while – only an Endless Witch can permanently repair and break things. The girl says she wants to become a witch and Beatrice takes her on as her disciple.

The story moves forward, stopping briefly to see Eva arguing with Kinzo about being the head of the family and being told her place is to marry a man that will be “profitable” to the Ushiromiya family. Her younger self comes to her in a vision and they plot to find a way to become the family’s head, then begin working on what appears to be the epitaph’s riddle.

The next jump is to Rokkenjima on the night of the storm, and in the garden Maria tells Beatrice that she wants to become a witch too. Beatrice sends her to the house and reaches out to catch the ring thrown to her by Kinzo, but it is intercepted by a smartly dressed man and they are taken back to the “tea room” where Battler appears and she reveals the man to be Ronove, her butler and high-ranking demon. Beatrice and Battler have their first confrontation, he demands she say there are only 18 people on the island and she refuses. He demands that she say there are at least 19 and she also refuses. Meanwhile, the siblings are discussing the letter brought by Maria and Rosa says that it couldn’t be Beatrice who gave her the letter because she killed her with her own hands.

The painting at the beginning of the credits has changed once again and this time it looks like a very young Beatrice holding a staff with a one-winged eagle atop it. This combined with the opening scene makes me hope that we’re going to learn more about Beatrice and how she became a witch, particularly now that we’ve seen that her teacher’s name was Beatrice.

It also seems that the spotlight has fallen on Eva this time, giving further proof of my idea that the series is focusing mainly on the women of the Ushiromiya family (with the exception of Battler), possibly because they are more open to suggestion by the witches. Speaking of, we didn’t see either Bernkastel or Lambdadelta this epsiode. Why do I have a feeling that’s not a good thing? Finally, the meeting of the siblings after dinner didn’t really sink in for me until I was rewatching it later – the meeting the siblings are having is the one that they were killed at in the last two chapters. But this time all seven are present. Are we going to see them killed this time? Who escapes, if anyone? It goes without saying that I’m really looking forward to this week’s episode.

MAOH: Juvenile Remix

Nothing like a pervy businessman groping a timid schoolgirl to kick off a shōnen series. Unless it’s a teenager with mind-control powers making said timid schoolgirl scream accusations at said businessman in front of the entire train car. Now that’s a manga I can get into.

A shōnen manga with a slightly dark atmosphere, MAOH: Juvenile Remix focuses – at least in the beginning – on Ando, a high school student who has the strange ability to make people say what he wants. More than anything, Ando wants to just be normal but when he gets particularly angry or upset his power has a way of coming to the surface. During a run-in with some thugs, he comes face-to-face with Inukai, the mysterious and charismatic leader of a vigilante group known as the Grasshoppers. At first Ando dismisses him as a pretty boy blowhard, but is impressed by the way he takes on the leader of the gang.

As it turns out, Inukai seems to have an agenda of his own. In chapter two he butts heads with the councilman about his city revitalization plan and announces that he will be the one to save the city, and in the first panels of chapter three we see that the councilman won’t be standing in Inukai’s way. I think it’s safe to assume that he has some powers of his own, but for now they’re remaining hidden from both Ando and the reader. I enjoy stories like this, ones that remind me a little of a detective story that crashed headfirst into a dark high school fantasy. The characters are likable as well, even cheerful, carefree Junya and his too-cute girlfriend Shiori. What we’ve seen of Inukai and his Grasshoppers has become progressively more sinister and I’m interested to see how their part of the story plays out. Also, whether or not that’s lipstick in the center of his lips to go with his eyeliner. The guy’s kind of hot in a visual kei sort of way.

MAOH ran in Weekly Shōnen Sunday for two years, and with only three chapters up on Viz’s Shonen Sunday website it looks like it’ll be a while before we see the end unless they decide to pull it and release the tankoubon on a schedule like their current series. I’m already hooked on it and am hoping for the latter so I won’t have to wait another month to find out what happens with Ando’s classmate and the bullies. Creepy.

Sugar Princess

Sometimes a really epic manga series is what you’re looking for. Sometimes it’s a dark comedy. Sugar Princess (シュガープリンセス) is one of those super-cute, super-sweet shōjo manga that you invariably find yourself trying to hide underneath a copy of Uzumaki or MPD Psycho when you’re carrying it out of the bookstore, at the same time knowing that you’re going to read it as soon as you get home. Or maybe that’s just me.

The story is pretty simple. Maaya Kurinoki makes one heck of a first impression on a skating coach when she performs a double axel while skating with her little brother at the rink. After a slight misunderstanding, she agrees to become a figure skater at his rink just in time to find out that the owner’s son is threatening to close down the rink. He agrees to keep it open under one condition; Maaya has to skate – and make the finals – in a beginner’s competition with Shun Kanou, the rink’s moody resident star who has sworn to never skate as a pair again.

SP is a much shorter story from the same manga-ka that brought us the epic and beloved Hana-Kimi, and though there are a few similarities – Maaya is inspired when she sees Shun skate, Shun becomes kinder and more thoughtful as he teaches Maaya – between the two, it’s not the same story. It’s a very light manga about a girl and a guy who don’t get along but have to team up to save their rink, and nothing deeper.

Two volumes have been released in both English and Japanese which wrap up the main story arc, but there has been talk of Nakajo continuing the series after returning from a hiatus while working as a game designer. There are certainly plenty of characters and plot points that could be grown into a longer series, and although the possibility of a relationship between Maaya and Shun was hinted at nothing really came of it. I’ve got a feeling that if it does continue, whatever relationship they have is going to be much more cutesy than Mizuki and Sano’s in Hana-Kimi. With a title like Sugar Princess it’s almost a requirement.