Kei's Anime Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 18

"Marco Note"

Finally, some more information about the Philosopher's Stone (I wonder if they'll change it to "Sorceror's Stone" for American audiences?) for Ed. It's really not that surprising to find out that it isn't a happy lollipop, or something like that. I mean, after all, the red water, which was the closest thing to the Philosopher's Stone, caused all sorts of trouble just when people were in the general vicinity of it.

Fullmetal Alchemist has a unique character art style, which generally looks pretty good. Unfortunately, it makes female characters look really masculine, in general. It probably has something to do with how the faces are stretched out a bit (not to mention all the severe haircuts the female military-types have). It's not all bad, though, I seem to recall that Roze looked fine in the first episode.

Gluttony is really a disturbing character, with that helium-squeaky voice and crazy proportions (not to mention the whole cannibal thing), so I always like when he appears. Also, we get some amusing Mustang/Hughes over-the-phone interaction.

On the other hand, the pacing of this show really irritates me. It's got a long run projected, so they take their sweet time in giving you any sort of information. Luckily, it's pretty good at entertaining you in the meanwhile, like with Ed suggesting he'll transmute the ashes of the library, then all the ashes blowing away in the wind.

Overall, this show is still entertaining, but when you look at it episode by episode, it's hurt by just how drawn out it is.

Rating: B+

Posted by Kei at February 8, 2004 10:35 PM