December 08, 2003

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 07

Fullmetal Alchemist

"The Night the Chimera Cries"

I was very impressed by the use of shadow in the latter half of the episode. Just more evidence of the exceptional production values of this show. Everything goes along very smoothly until Ed's voice actor completely manhandles his last bit on this episode, where he has to cry. It's a terrible piece of acting, and the upbeat closing theme comes in too quickly.

Some spoilers follow.

Well, I guess I should just expect from here on out that every person Ed and Al meet up with that seems good in the beginning, is actually a terrible person. I don't remember exactly, but I definitely had some suspicions that this was going to happen after watching the previous episode. The depths that the alchemist in question goes to in this episode is really pretty sick, though he does have a good point that what he did was very much the same as Ed and Al's attempt at human transmutation. There's an important difference, however, being that Ed and Al did it for love, and he does it more for self-preservation.

The results of the transmutation are pretty disturbing though, and it really makes you wince to see and hear it.

We're also introduced to a new player in the story (are we back to the present yet?), a mysterious guy who hates alchemy, but has apparently been given a brand by his brother, that grants him the use of alchemical powers. He sees the alchemists as blasphemers, and has some sort of religious anti-alchemist fanaticism. We'll see where that develops.

Overall, this show continues to be very good, and has some really disturbing moments (which are surprising, from the overall tone of the rest of the show), that help it stand out from the pack.

Rating: A

Posted by Kei at December 8, 2003 10:58 PM
Comments

Agreed. This is one of the best episodes. The first one that really convinced me to watch the show. When you see the monstrosity, and come to know its story, you are a fan.

Posted by: James at December 19, 2004 09:26 PM
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