First Impressions / Fullmetal Alchemist

OP5 Sequence

OP5: 「レイン」 (Rain) by シド (SID)
Watch the 5th OP!: Download, Streaming ▼

「不死の軍団」 (Fushi no Gundan)
“Immortal Army”

We have a new opening and ending this week to coincide with the final stretch of the series and they’re pretty good ones too! The new opening sequence comes off somewhat dark, whereas the new ending is much more hopeful, making me unsure as to exactly what kind of conclusion we’ll have. As for the episode itself, the immortal army was brought to life, but given its experimental nature, the mannequin soldiers don’t seem to follow orders from anyone. While Ed, Scar, and the others try to hold the them at bay and prevent them pouring out onto the streets, Olivier’s got her own hands full with the arrival of Sloth. To compound problems, Heinkel realizes too late that Pride is signaling for help, giving time for Kimblee to arrive and set him loose. Things get worse from there, as May loses sight of Envy’s jar and allows him to revive himself by absorbing all the mannequin soldiers around him, making that three Homunculus back in action. However, as Al frantically tries to save Heinkel, the wounded chimera entrusts him with the philosopher stone that Kimblee dropped a while back. Despite being against using the souls contained in that stone, Al is convinced to use their lives to save the lives of everyone, so he does just that and turns around to take Pride and Kimblee head on.

 

The highlights here were definitely the revival of Envy (stupid May for being tricked), Alex coming in the nick of time to save Olivier, and of course, Al being supercharged GN-Drive/Trans-Am style. On the slightly comedic side of things, I rather enjoyed seeing Central’s upper echelons getting what they deserve from the Homunculus. This includes one general getting eaten alive by the mannequin soldiers shortly after they were brought to life and another getting squashed by Sloth with one hand, saving Olivier from having to finish him off herself. In the latter’s case, it’ll be interesting what happens now, as Central’s forces were ordered to barricade the main building and prevent both Briggs’ and Mustang’s soldiers from getting in before he bit the dust.

As for the mannequin soldiers themselves, it was pretty cool watching Ed and the others fight off a swarm of them under Central as they tried to make their way towards Father. They’re an army of mindless zombies for the most part, but when Scar’s arm can’t even destroy one, they’re evidently no walk in the park either. For now, Ed’s managed to seal the exit and the other chimera have transformed to go all out, but things still don’t look so good. May on the other hand sure can handle her own, which this animated gif will show you (warning, it’s about 3.5MB). However, that still doesn’t change the fact that she dropped Envy’s jar and allowed him to return to his original form. It was actually kind of gross watching Envy reform himself, as it was just body after body clumping together as if they were putty.

Now what I’m really looking forward to seeing is some brute force versus brute force fighting between Alex and Sloth. Alex’s timely entrance in this episode was a good one, and it looks like it may serve to improve Olivier’s opinion of her younger brother. That sibling moment had a nice feel to it, but what I really found touching was Heinkel’s words to Al about using the philosopher stone to save everyone. It really sounded like those were Heinkel’s last words, but I really hope they aren’t as he’s one of the nicer chimeras and it would be a shame to see him go. The preview didn’t really suggest one way or another though, nor exactly how well Al is fairing against Pride and Kimblee even with the stone in hand, so next week should be exciting.

Noticeably missing this episode were all the other members from Xing too, so I’m looking forward to their return to the fray, hopefully with Ling/Greed amongst them. It never hurts to have more Lan Fan screen time in general either.

 

ED5 Sequence

ED5: 「RAY OF LIGHT」 by 中川翔子 (Nakagawa Shoko)
Watch the 5th ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

Preview

138 Comments

    1. Though Mustang had the saddest part in the OP. The way he’s falling into the background does not bode well. Raise your hand if you think he’s going to kick the bucket in the final stretch!

      *raises hand*

      SpacyRicochet
      Reply

      1. Without spoiling anything, I’ll say that the scene is not metaphorical at all.

        So he might have a happy ending after all. I hope so, he’s the best Colonel in the series!

        Shad_Phoenix
        Reply

    1. Omni sighting!!! 😀

      As for the episode, it was pretty kickass. As Divine said, the final stretch of the series has arrived, and I’m very excited for this portion of the story. There are so many awesome moments to look forward too.

      Also, with the manga ending very soon, I wonder if that ending will coincide with the ending of the anime? Either way, I’m strapped in and ready to go for whatever comes next in this wonderful series.

      Exia
      Reply

      2. Smart move …if you hadn’t have specified exactly what spoilers I’m sure people wouldn’t have noticed. Roy just looks like he’s lost hope or something and they put confrontations that never happen in the OPs all the time.

        Blaineo
        Reply

      3. Nice job assuming that everyone noticed what you saw in the OP and understood it as that. I didn’t pay attention to the OP for that reason, yet you had to call it out.

        Regardless of what was spoiled for me, great episode.

        Napes
        Reply

  11. LOL at seeing Omni here.

    Anyways this looks like a good chapter and with the recent amount of posts, I presume Divine that you have finished playing or at reduced hours playing FFXIII?

    Cherubium
    Reply

    1. You could say that I guess.

      I actually finished FFXIII way back in January, two weeks after I received my copy. I also wrote two posts about it, which you may have read already.

      Out of boredom, I also went for 100% trophy completion after that, so I haven’t touched the game in months now. I’ve only been filling up my free time with anime lately.

      divine
      Reply

      1. I still have a couple of missions left (Jumbo Cactuar & 64) and a whole lot of turtle farming to look forward to lol. Ugh, damn those 10,000 needles!

        Anyway, great to hear from SID again! It kind of gives a nostalgic feeling to wrap up the whole series, which is a nice little touch.

        Strawberry
        Reply

  12. Damn you, Omni… When you said you were doing your last FMA entry, I thought that was going to be the end. It’s a good thing they won’t stop! T^T
    Since FMA was the only series I was interested in at this blog, I never had the chance to
    know how Divine managed his/her entries. I’m so glad he/she is actually good ^^. But we’ll miss you, still.
    ————————————————————-
    Strange thing, this opening. The song is OK but the animation… Seems the budget is way too low now, at least at some points. The ending is so-so. Ohhh well.

    Hope Eclipse will release this episode soon.

    KaAya
    Reply

  14. Lol at Trans-am Al. Pretty cool I’d say. Things are getting more and more exciting now. I’m really looking forward to how they going to end the series. Liking both new OP/ED too.

    ayumikat
    Reply

  18. Talking about spoilers, the ED contains several shots that are – until now – not canon in the manga. I wonder whether they are from chapters that are not yet released.

    Anyway, it’ll be just a week before chapter 106 of the manga is released. Chapter 105 was the longest ever (67 pages, twice the size of the smallest chapters) and it is fantastic stuff. I think the new OP and ED will do justice to these final 13 episodes, which contain the best work that Arakawa ever penned.

    Stonehead
    Reply

      1. That’s what I’m wondering as well. The only two pictures I don’t believe I’ve seen would be the large group of people, who I’m assuming are the citizens of Xerxes inside Hohenheim, and the shot of Hohenheim or Father crossing the desert.

        RickyMack
        Reply

      2. What are you talking about? That scene of Hohenheim crossing the desert was in the manga.

        Maybe they’ll just elaborate on it…or you know, OP and EDs take liberties and shouldn’t be taken that seriously.

        Honestly, Ran Fan and Fuu were fighting Envy in the last opening, but did that happen? No.

        Cornwiggle
        Reply

      4. Show Spoiler ▼

        Stonehead
        Reply

  19. nice pick-up on FMA divine.. you’re doing a good job on your own so far.
    if you want to cut on time, you can always do w/o the summary. i think your opinion on the eps is what matters the most ^^ (the summary can be a little spoiler anyway ;p)

    Reizero
    Reply

  22. Divine, Thank you so much for picking up FMA:B! I cannot tell you how happy i am! =D

    Fantastic episode with some amazing scenes! The final scene with Al was definitley my favorite. It just blew me away with it’s intensity and everything just worked together so well. Al bursting out of the smoke was just epic!

    I’m glad to see Envy back. The way he was revived was so gross but i loved it all the same.

    Oh man, i love the Armstrongs! <33

    That eyecatch guy needs to be a man! XD He sounded kinda like a girl in the first eyecatch especially when he laughed.

    fullmoon
    Reply

  27. I never liked those stupid white homunculi zombies. Last minute mooks to serve as something for Ed and company to do while characters the author cares about do the real awesome things.

    Then there’s the EXTREMELY contrived return of Envy. Ugh. At least we got one of those things eating him in this episode, which provided a little comedy.

    The Armstrong siblings teaming up is awesome, though. The rest of the fight is probably going to be friggin’ awesome. And Alphonse stepping up is great, too.

    penguintruth
    Reply

    1. How many times do you have to keep saying that?

      We get it, and quite frankly I don’t think anyone cares if you think it’s contrived or anything of the sort.

      We don’t care about your opinion, so stop repeating it every freaking week. Jeez.

      Cornwiggle
      Reply

  33. The new op & Ed sucks . especially the op we are coming to some action episodes and major war it supposed to show some actions.

    in general the ep looks good although it doesn’t have much things happen in it

    so excited to see the brother and sister alliance

    Mohamed
    Reply

    1. I’d have to disagree with ya there. We’re coming to the end and the OP and ED give off a very “Last Stand” type feeling. I could very much see either one being played during the final battle or epilogue.

      RickyMack
      Reply

  36. Wasn’t expecting the OP to be so slow given that it’s the climax, but it actually worked really well. Al looks more awesome in your screen shots than I thought he did animated. For some reason I felt the animation was a bit clunky this episode. Armstrong’s entrance was eipc though and the music was awesome. The ED was good but I didn’t feel it fit over lapping it with Al marching through the dust.

    Blaineo
    Reply

  42. Thanks divine for picking up FMA. I noticed you’ve posted a lot in the past couple of days since the switch. Really appreciate it, but don’t burn yourself out man. Keep up the great work.

    Chen^2
    Reply

    1. I’d say it’s highly unlikely at this point, as I’ve put Durarara on hold since the first episode. I plan to watch the series eventually, but it’s not high on my priority list at the moment, especially with the start of the new season.

      However, I’ve heard that it’s getting really good right about now so I’m not ruling out the possibility completely. The fact that it’s simulcasted with official subs makes it a bit more appealing from a blogging standpoint (saving me from summarizing completely if I wanted), but you shouldn’t get your hopes up.

      divine
      Reply

  48. While I’m still very sad about Omni not blogging anymore and ALREADY miss him terribly, I’m sooo very glad you’re gonna keep blogging, keeping RC alive. Thank you divine~! On that note… like Chen^2 said, don’t drive yourself crazy either :c

    Anyway, I’m like 3 episodes behind in FMA (among other shows :/) but this episode looks unbelievably… promising. I think I’ll go catch up now… Oh and I like the new OP & ED, much more than I did the previous ones.

    xHoneythief
    Reply

  49. Thank you so much for blogging FMA:B Divine! 😀

    We’re really getting down to the wire aren’t we? This next arc should be awesome since so much happens, and the OP is quite foreboding. It’ll be interesting to see how the anime depicts some of those climactic events from the manga.

    mangaka-chan
    Reply

    1. Ah so that was why that scene with the eating felt so familiar, I felt that I had seen that somewhere before, but couldn’t pin it. It makes the resemblence even more obvious when its the same color as well.

      Cherubium
      Reply

  54. the new OP and its scenes don’t really work together IMO. But w00t at EdxWinry at the end, hope we get something nice at the end of this show regarding those two….like say… kiss 😀 ?

    anon
    Reply

  55. (Excuse my english please, i’m not a native english speaker)

    Hi! I’m missing something in this review.
    Before I watch a episode of FMA I ALLWAYS read the last paragraph of randomc review that is something like “this is a good episode…” or “I’m missing something…”, etc. This is, i like to read if it is a good episode or a bad episode but without learning anything about it XD

    Thanks for reading, divine! 🙂

    latin dude
    Reply

    1. Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to add that functionality, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to do so in the latest WordPress API. The old site used a plug-in for paginated comments that had a “Show All” option, but it’s no longer supported. I’m still looking for a way however, and will implement it when I do.

      In the meantime, I’ve increased the number of comments per page to 100, which should show all the comments for 90% of the posts.

      divine
      Reply

    1. I’m slowly trying to move away from providing download links actually. I’ve only been adding them because people keep asking. For the purpose of a blog, I don’t think I should be providing super high quality encodes and feel these ones are pretty good quality for the size.

      If you would like HD versions, please check the Community section for a link that starts to “Tokyo” and ends with “Toshokan”. =)

      divine
      Reply

  60. The anime seems to be going all the way to the end of the series. the manga is surely about to end, and the opening theme alone shows many preludes to what has happened in the newest chapters of the manga. Interesting. I’m curious to know just how many chapters of the manga are left, however.

    Kozue
    Reply

  67. SPOILER’S AHEAD, BEWARE:

    Show Spoiler ▼

    balker
    Reply

  68. Hey Divine,
    Thanks for the blog post. I know you mentioned you were worried that you might not be able to tackle the load Omni took on, but I really have to say, the quality of your posts and insight you put in each episode has been fantastic so far. If it means anything, I’d just like to verbalize my support for you, and say that you’re doing a fantastic job running RC so far. Keep up the great work, and I’ll keep reading. Cheers!

    Crimson
    Reply

  70. i was worried that Random Curiosity would be gone for good. i hope DIVINE picks up Bleach. =D

    *SPOILER*

    Show Spoiler ▼

    ThatGuy31907
    Reply

  72. the sloth fight has begun aw man. As much as I love see it all animated I am dreading it as well. The end is coming too fast. The immortal soldiers should have been kept on ice or brought out earlier when Ed and Al were in the north. They seem kind of just thrown in at the last minute. I feel Scar and Kimblee’s duel should’ve have been the opening kicker. Since Kimblee is just a nobody but manages to leave an impact..get impact lol I kill myself. Yeah I know it was lame so what.

    abe
    Reply

  76. A little disappointed in the new sequences, but the OP does have some very nice animation. Just don’t know how well the song goes along w it. Ah well, I’m sure it’ll grow on me. Ed’s voice actress keeps delivering 5 star performances, even if our main character still isn’t at the heart of the action. I’m not irritated at all by the Immortal Army, there was plenty of foreshadowing for them to show up (they’ve only been talking about them since the Briggs arc after all), and while they might not be all that impressive offensively the whole “can’t-die” thing will be a pain for Ed and co. And finally, Al striding out of the cloud of smoke, crackling with the power of Philosopher’s Stone, was a hell of a way to round out the episode. I hope he proceeds to pound the crap out of both of them, but even with the stone Pride’s shadows are gonna be tough to deal with. I wouldn’t give Kimblee much of a chance, even stone v stone, against Alphonse, but Pride is one tough little bastard.

    Thanks for blogging Brotherhood divine! Checking out the screencaps Sunday morning is a tradition of mine as well. Hope you can cover the last 12 of them too.

    Jeez, only 12 episodes left … it’s so sad that it’s ending, but at least it didn’t get just a 12- or 24-episode season. Can you imagine how much they’d have cut then?

    Guardian
    Reply

  80. op animation is wonderful, I think the song will grow on me for that reason. Even though it spoils a lot, you don’t know it’s spoiling much unless you know what happens so I guess that’s cool.

    Random C looks so lively and wonderful with all these new posts! Divine, you’re doing such a fabulous job

    empirexstate
    Reply

  81. Thank you so much for keeping this up Divine!

    The new OP sequence is beautifully animated. The song is slower than the ones before (which I think is ok since it gives more of an epilogue feel) but I’m sure it’ll grow on me.

    On the other hand, I love the new ED by Nakagawa Shouko! Maybe it’s because I loved the OP she did for Gurren Lagann so much. But all the same, it’s a great ED. Not much animation in it, but I’m fine with that as I’d rather they spend more of their budget on the last few episodes.

    On the actual episode, Al looks totally badass in that last scene, and the lead-in for the ED worked perfectly. Awesome fight scene coming up next episode!

    Also…nothing to do with this episode in particular, but I’ve always wondered: didn’t Kimblee ever get into trouble by almost killing Ed? One would think the homunculus would be upset that he nearly killed a human sacrifice…

    Ouroboros
    Reply

  83. So glad FMA:B is still being blogged ^_^ nice to see Omni around, too.
    Enjoyed this ep. Al and May not noticing how Pride and Envy were fooling them has been frustrating. Still, Al looked pretty awesome at the end.
    One good thing about humunculi coming back is waiting to see them finally get trashed again by someone.

    Cas
    Reply

  88. To use the overused Avatar quote: Omni, “I see you”. LOL

    Oh wow, Phil. Stone-powered up Al vs already Phil. Stone-powered Kimbly + Phil. Stone-based Pride. Should be quite awesome. 🙂

    From Kobato to Poplar in Working to May, why are the cutest lolis often the stupidest ones? XD

    Though I did mentioned that as Envy is quite obnoxious and thus not as badass as Kimbly, it’s still quite awesome to see his grand return.

    Good to see Sid back for what is likely the final OP of the series, the final ED by Shouko-tan is also good to watch. Speaking of Shouko-tan, she’s one of those rare “jack of all trades” in the anime industry, combining singer, seiyuu, pro-cosplayer and gravure idol all in one. Just google her name for more sexy pics of her.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  92. Thank you Divine for keeping this up and thank you Omni for doing it for so long!

    The episode…I don’t like fighting or zombies that much, so~~
    Awesome animation with May’s fight and when Envy “thanked” her.
    And I’m now a happy Al!fangirl. And he finally got himself another eyecatcher!

    Lilly
    Reply

  95. but i have a question does any1 think he heard the opening before in another anime (i mean something like it or similar in a way) coz i am pretty dure i heard it before and it’s driving me crazy….and i mean crazy crazy

    nplm
    Reply

  96. zomg~ the last few frames of the opening scene is sooo adoorable!! need a closer shot of Winry sitting on the bed w/ Edward sleeping!! @_@; that’s major fanart crave right there lol

    Yun_Fang
    Reply

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