Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 57 - Random Hits

There isn’t really any one thing about this episode that stands out, so bear with me while I plunge into some random thoughts.

– I take issue with Buccaneer’s assertion that Wrath did not see Buccaneer’s attack. Uh, do you see how massive Buccaneer is? How could he hide himself?? The more likely scenario: Wrath took a temporary snooze because he is so damn old. You didn’t think he kept bringing that up for no reason, right?

– Wrath could be a great chef with those knife skills. At the very least, he would clean up in that skills challenge on Top Chef where each chef is assigned a specific task to finish as quickly as possible. Imagine Wrath breaking down a chicken; he’d make Hung look like slow ass Casey and her onions from season three. (Seriously, I could have cut onions faster than she did.)

– It’s weird seeing these fights play out when animated because the pacing in animation differs so much from manga pacing. The fights seemed to take much longer to play out in the manga; these episodes pack in a lot of content, and the focus is shifted around to better suit TV storytelling, but still. Even I am surprised at how quickly everything seems to be happening. (Note that this isn’t a pacing complaint.)

– The gold-toothed alchemist is what happens when Naruto takes an unhealthy interest in alchemy. Seriously, though, wtf @ this guy’s chameleon eyes. They appear multiple times, so it’s not as if someone from BONES screwed up and the higher-ups made like Calculon and said, “Shove it on the air!” I don’t remember this guy having weird eyes in the manga, though.

– So, no, really, do they serve some sort of biological purpose? Does his peripheral vision improve with those eyes? Can they move around on their own? Does he have a chameleon tongue? These are important questions, and I demand answers!

– I like that he is simply identified as “Gold-toothed alchemist” in the eye catch. If he weren’t so white, that would be a pretty kickass gimmick to play up if he were a part of a rap group, right? He already has a gold tooth, so he is part of the way there. He’s got crazy eyes, a gold tooth, is part of a series full of crazy gunplay and sick martial arts . . . the Wu-Tang Clan would welcome him with open arms if he had rhyming skills, right? I’m not crazy, am I?

– Even with her arm in a sling, Olivier is still plenty scary. Actually, in a way, isn’t she a bit more scary like this? She’s got a tough injury, and yet she is still more than willing to take some time out of her busy schedule for some rough interrogation. (“Rough Interrogation” HAD to have been the title of some sleazy S&M porn flick at some point.) Sure, she’ll do more damage at full strength, but she’s probably less willing to put up with bullshit when she has an injury giving her some urgency. (Though I am not certain how Olivier could somehow be less likely to put up with bullshit than she already is.)

– If your argument hinges the totally crazy, unsubstantiated assertion that sacrifices would live on within the souls of the chosen survivors as a reason for soldiers to stick with a leader who plans to kill almost the entire population of a large city . . . you’re probably not going to do a whole lot of convincing. Nice try, brigadier general. Nice try. Maybe his argument would have held more persuasive power if he had offered some candy to go along with the deal. Eternal life and all the Twix I can eat? Now there’s a deal to give some pause.