Kei's Anime Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 34

"The Theory of Greed"

Considering Winry is tagging along with the Elric brothers at this point, it's amazing how little she shows up. She only gets to have a part during downtime, when Ed needs some automail repairs, or little parts like that. Really, this show is quite the sausagefest! Ed and Al are leaving Izumi-sensei behind, which means that's minus one more female. There's always Hawkeye, but considering how little time Mustang gets (no appearance in this episode!), that's another small female part.

On the other hand, I admire the fact that Fullmetal Alchemist doesn't feature gratuitous female roles, just for the sake of having them. Fanservice is notably (and gratefully) absent from the show (with the exception of the current, Winry-centric ending credit animation).

There are two good fight sequences in this episode, which are always fun (though watching Ed fight Yoda-style isn't really my cup of tea--I happen to think that his Baraka-like hand blade isn't the coolest of weapons).

As a viewer, I sort of feel like I'm in the same boat as Ed and Al. After the previous, strong story arc, I'm sort of adrift. There are a lot of threads sliding around, and a lot of questions (a few new ones) that have posed themselves, with only hits at their answers. Perhaps Ed and Al's leaving to move on to Ishbal will bring everything together again, but the show feels a little lost at this point.

Rating: A-

Posted by Kei at July 16, 2004 12:47 AM