I'm Considering Rewatching The Anime, Because Obviously I Hate Myself.

[rionaleonhart]

Right now, cidercupcakes is hosting nominations for a poll on favourite female characters. Looking through the comments and seeing all of those amazing women has reminded me that I do not write nearly enough about them. I have a few things to sort out at the moment, but when I'm finished with those I'll have to post a female-character-centric ficsnippet-request meme. In the meantime, go and vote!


The ninth volume of Fullmetal Alchemist managed to make me cry all over again about an event that occurred five volumes ago. THANKS, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST. THANKS. I should never have started reading the manga; my heart had just about healed after the anime three years ago, and then Volume Four came along and ripped it open again, and now it's just poking it with a stick to see what happens.

Also, I need to stop thinking 'oh, well, of course they won't kill this character off, s/he survived to the end of the anime'. A REMINDER, RIONA: BY THIS POINT, THE MANGA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ANIME. They could kill off Al in the next volume, for all you know. Dear Fullmetal Alchemist: please do not kill Al.

So I wasn't really expecting Ross's fate. And that was dark. She was innocent, Roy. I know you didn't know that, and I know you thought you were avenging Hughes (sob), but... man. Having a protagonist burn an innocent woman to death is quite a thing to do.

Roy's love for Hughes is so painful. (Although not nearly as painful as Elicia's. Her excited 'Papa!', and then the realisation, and then bursting into tears (this applies to both Elicia and me) and hugging Winry (I only wish I could do this) and Elicia.

I actually love the tiny children in Fullmetal Alchemist, which is unusual for me. I'm not usually one for tiny children. Fullmetal Alchemist, however, introduces characters like Nina and Elicia and has me hopelessly in love with them before their first appearance is over.

And then it does horrible things to them.

I hate you, Fullmetal Alchemist.)


AND THEN THAT ENDING.

DON'T KILL RIZA, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST.

DON'T DO IT.

asujhgshkjhdgjhggh Roy flashing back to Hughes' death on the telephone augh augh augh


In other Fullmetal Alchemist-related news, I think I love Major Armstrong. He is ridiculous, yes, but he is so good-hearted. I would give him a hug were it not guaranteed to land me in hospital. (Also, you know, were it physically possible.)

And I sort of want to write unrequited Roy/Hughes. This, of course, raises the 'how can I accurately capture their voices in writing when I've only heard them speaking Japanese?' issue. I hope I can find a way around that, because it is Roy's unrequited love for Hughes and I really, really want it to exist. See, Fullmetal Alchemist: you're not the only one who can torment your characters.


Finally, because of course I was thinking about it: if Roy Mustang had a Pokémon, it would be a Flareon. I have no idea about any other Fullmetal Alchemist characters, though. Perhaps the military issues Pokémon to its members, in which case Roy would probably assign Ed a Steel-type, just to annoy him.

Comments

[rionaleonhart]

Friending is very welcome! I am going to add you back, because apparently I am in a friending mood this afternoon and anyone who compares the writing process to the principle of equivalent exchange has to be amazing. Also, introducing yourself with a comment entirely about the Pokémon that Fullmetal Alchemist characters would have is more or less the best first impression you could have made.

(...Riza Hawkeye and Ninetales do have the same hair. That is extremely weird.)

I've just spent twenty minutes trying and failing to find a good picture of Roy into which to manip a Ninetales, and it is entirely your fault. (Why so few full-length pictures of you, Roy? A Ninetales cannot fit on your shoulder!)

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

I'M SORRY. D: D: D:

I think there's a full-length picture of Roy in the second FMA Brotherhood opening, though it's mostly of his . . . back. (But he's half-wearing his awesome black coat so I forgive him.)

[rionaleonhart]

Do you think I should give Brotherhood a try? If I have already watched the first anime and am reading the manga, is it worth watching? (BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY I HAVE NOT CRIED OVER ENOUGH PORTRAYALS OF THAT DEATH.)

I don't have Photoshop! You don't need Photoshop! What I use is the GIMP; it's free, so, if making stupid manips sounds like a way you'd like to spend your time, you could give it a try.

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Brotherhood is . . . what you watch when you're slogging through the Bog of Boredom (or the Land of Lethargy, take your pick). It has massive pacing problems compared to the first anime since the production team likes covering two to three chapters in one episode. The soundtrack's also not as good and gets completely irritating in places, and there are way too many spoilers if you haven't finished reading the manga. (i.e. In Episode 14, a character pops up that you won't actually meet until Volume 17/18.)

However, the animation's absolutely beautiful (I R SHALLOW LULZ), and the openings are awesome. The VAing is also better for the most part; Ed and Al are amazing, but Roy's new VA sounds like he's flirting with everyone - which isn't terribly bad considering his character (*g*), but he's got absolutely no presence to his voice at all due to it being so breathy.

tl;dr - Don't watch it until you finish reading the manga or you will be massively spoiled. The disappointment's probably unavoidable, but it is quite pretty, and there are some scenes you will want to see animated. :D

I will also admit that I am a complete rock and didn't actually cry during The Death. I did get a bit freaked out during the Nina episode though, so does that excuse me?

[rionaleonhart]

Thank you very much for the advice! I may give it a look when I've finished the manga, then.

NOTHING EXCUSES NOT CRYING OVER THE DEATH. Although getting freaked out by the Nina episode does earn you the title of 'Not A Complete Robot'.