Who's up for some Bullet Time?
Episode 56
Briggs troops and Ling/Greed battle Wrath and Central troops at Central HQ front gate, while Hohenheim faces Father. For detailed summary, see posts on manga chapters 97 and 98 (first paragraph).
Buccaneer's Moment of Awesome.
Episode 57
Wrath takes on Greed/Ling, Fu and Buccaneer in a fierce battle, while Ed, Mustang, Scar and Riza run into the gold-toothed alchemy doctor who works for Father. For detailed summary, see posts on manga chapters 98 (last two paragraphs) and 99.
Riza!! NOOOOOOOO!!!
Episode 58
The conclusion to Wrath vs. Ling/Greed and allies. Also, Ed, Izumi, and Al are transported to Father's chamber while the gold-toothed doctor tries to collect a 5th human sacrifice. For detailed summary, see post on manga chapter 100.
Vanilla? or Chocolate? Why does it have to be so hard to pick!?
Episode 59
In the underground tunnels, Riza is bleeding badly from the cut on her neck while Mustang and Scar are both restrained. The gold-toothed doctor states if Mustang performs a human transmutation then he'll heal Riza, and he even shows up his vial of Philosopher's Stone to taunt Mustang. Mustang looks at Riza in desperation, and Riza gives him a look in return. Getting Riza's message, Mustang states that he refuses to perform the human transmutation much to the surprise of the doctor. The doctor is suddenly grabbed from above by Jerso's mucus, and Zapano and May drop in and take out some of the swordsmen, allowing Mustang and Scar to free themselves. While being suffocated by Jerso's mucus, the doctor drops his vial of Philosopher's Stone. Both May and Mustang scramble for the vial but it is kicked away in the midst of the battle. One of the swordsmen charges Mustang but he is kicked away by the arriving Darius. With the Philosopher's Stone lying in one direction and the injured Riza in the other, May is forced into a tough decision and she decides to seal up Riza's wound first. After Riza's bleeding is stopped and all of the swordsmen are defeated, May goes to grab the Philosopher's Stone but the vial is picked up by Wrath who had swum through the sewers. Wrath asks Mustang if he would consider human transmutation if someone important to him is about to die. Mustang answers that the old him would have of considered it, but the current him will just move forward. In response, Wrath states that the notion that humans can change and adapt really pisses him off.
Mustang might be bad-ass, but not THAT bad-ass.
Suddenly, Jerso is cut up and falls to the ground along with the doctor, and Pride makes his way in from the overhead tunnel that Jerso was occupying. As Pride forces the other away with his tendrils, Wrath picks up two swords and stakes Mustang to the ground through the alchemist's palms. Using his tendrils, Pride pierces the doctor and forms a transmutation circle around Wrath and Mustang. Afterwards, Pride grabs hold of Mustang and forces Mustang to open the Gate of Truth using the gold-toothed doctor as the subject. Pride and Mustang then disappear, leaving Wrath to face Scar and the rest. Jerso mentions that the center of Father's operation is right below their current location, and with that in mind Scar blows a large hole in ground.
Homunculi using alchemy is cheating.
Meanwhile, Mustang is brought in front of the Gate of Truth to face Truth. Soon after, Mustang and Pride materialize in Father's chamber. Ed goes to check if Mustang is okay and at first it appears Mustang has all of his body parts, but the colonel soon discovers that he has lost his sight. Both Pride and Father take the opportunity to make snarky remarks about the Elrics, Izumi, and Mustang, stating that Truth has dealt the proper punishment for each one of them.
Not sure how this caused an explosion, but no one really cares.
Up a few levels, May, the chimeras and Riza are heading down the hole Scar created in the ground. Wrath attempts to stop them, but he is confronted by Scar instead. Wrath asks for Scar's real name but Scar answers that he abandoned it long ago. Wrath states that he doesn't know his real name and that he likes the prospect of two nameless warriors fighting to the death.
Ha, I'm still a lot taller than Ed.
Back in Father's chamber, Father suddenly notices a disturbance from above and May manages to force her way into the chamber. May arrives to see Al lying on the ground and urges Al to wake up. Meanwhile in front of the Gate of Truth, Al is reunited with his body. Al is initially ecstatic about the prospect of getting his body back but he soon realizes that his malnourished real body is unsuited to the upcoming battle. Al then leaves the through the Gate promising to return once again to retrieve his body. As Al leaves, his body mentions that Al's return to this realm may bring nothing but despair and ruin.
Time to face the final boss.
In the real world, Al wakes up once gain in his armored body, and Father is happy that all five of his sacrifices have arrived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was a nice string of four exciting episode as FMA:B moves closer to the final showdown. A lot of things happened over these episodes, and I can't really cover all of them in this post. I'll just say what I can.
The best storyline/fight over the last four weeks was without question Wrath vs. Greed/Ling and allies. Before leaving on vacation I said (based on what I've seen in the manga) this fight would have some of the best melee action we'll ever see in the series, and Bones really delivered on the animation department. It was a well-planned battle by Arakawa-sensei in the manga, and Bones managed to put their own spin on it without missing any of the moments in the manga. Wrath's bullet dodging and slicing was a bit over the top, but that stuff emphasized how utterly bad-ass Wrath is. The best scene in the battle was of course when Buccaneer stabbed through Fu to injure Wrath. To me, that is one of the most memorable moments in FMA. Kind of sad that the big guy and Fu died, but at least they went out in style.
While not as good as the Wrath vs. Greed/Ling in the fight choreography department, the underground battle between Ed and allies and the gold-toothed doctor was very entertaining as well, mostly because how quickly the tides changed during the ordeal. First it was even, and then in favor of the bad guys, then the good guys and then back to the bad guys. Riza fans who didn't read the manga probably received quite the scare when her neck got slashed. Ed, Al, and Izumi getting summoned was a big development, and Mustang being forced through the Gate and losing his eye sight was very significant as well. Have to hand it to Wrath: even after being stabbed in the abs, slashed in the left eye and shot in the shoulder, Wrath still fights like a king. It certainly helped that Pride was there as well. This battle ended with Scar facing Wrath and everyone else (who's still alive) heading downstairs. A part of me wished that Wrath would continue to face Greed/Ling given their history, but Scar vs. Wrath is by no means a bad alternative.
Overall, the action sequences in the last four episode were animated very well, but some of the other parts are inconsistent and the quality noticeably dipped during some scenes. Also, the flashing faces with Wrath and Scar was kind of stupid. With four episodes left to go, we are pretty much on the doorsteps of the final battle against Father. As expected, things aren't looking too bright as Father has all the pieces he need for his plan. The final manga chapter should be out in the next two weeks. I'm looking forward to see how this series ends (and then watching the ending again in animated form as FMA:B).
Now that I have finished this post, I think I have caught up to every series that I was covering. There is still the mid-season impressions post that I'm supposed to write, but I might just skip it since it's two-three weeks past the mid-season point.
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