Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Episode 4 Discussion

InsaneZero said:

They really can't afford to slow down any more than one chapter per episode, considering just how many chapters they need to cover. In the larger perspective, the characters of the Tucker arc aren't as significant as the story elements that are introduced.

Static said:
stop rushing anime and episodes

AlExile said:
Am I the only one who wants them to rush through these episodes? Now I know rushing isn't good, but they still need to get to the Greed Arc ASAP so people don't get bored.

Anyway next episode should be good. I might be wrong, but the Scar fight is the same in the manga as it was in the anime?

ShaolinRibiero said:
So let's recap;

Episode 6 in FMA1 is one of my favorites. The reason for this is that YOU NEVER SEE IT COMING. Besides one or two glimpses of Tucker's anxiety for the test, there's none of the discussion of how poor he was, and how much he wants to avoid it as in Episode 4 of FMA2.

Also, more of the episode is devoted to creating a very happy, breezy, idyllic feeling. It's just ridiculously sweet, and Ed and Al playing with Nina and the dog feels very natural and free.

Here, it just feels way more predictable, and the atmosphere foreshadows what's going to happen. It doesn't have nearly the same shock value. If I hadn't seen FMA1, I would have liked this episode. But knowing what they did the first time around, and seeing how inferior this is just makes me shake my head.

It also brings up another problem with the series; what's the point for the audience that has seen the original in seeing the same thing when they already know what's going to happen?

robbydesu said:
You know, since I see in like every other post, complaints about either pacing or clearly biased opinons how the anime is not as good as FMA1...I have a few complaints myself.

First of all, what is with this odd complaint about how the animation is bad? I mean, I'm not saying that the animation is godly, but it really looks like the animation is getting better o__o;;

Second, I think people really needs to stop referring to FMA1 as the "original" anime. What do you mean by that? Technically FMA:B >IS< the "original" anime since it's following the manga.

I mean, you can either be using that as a way to just differentiate the two animes.....but it really sounds like a derogative term you use for something you think is "better". If the latter is the case, then what is the whole point of watching if you come into watching FMA:B with such a set black and white way of thinking? You'll just come into watching this anime, looking for the faults rather than it's strengths.

Actually, Scar felt much "tougher" this time around, I don't know how...maybe it's his voice, how he looks or the animation...but that's what I thought. And I was really surprised. In FMA1, I just kinda felt annoyed by him but at the same time I felt sorry for him. His introduction this time seemed more...believable? I don't even know how I can explain it XD All I know is that my "first" impression of him this time is slightly differently than from FMA1 (a good impression nonetheless!)

It's actually really hard for some of us to judge upon whether or not this anime is truly good or not especially if you watched the FMA1 before. Most of us are so biased from FMA1 that sometimes we just miss certain details and forget to watch FMA:B as an anime in itself.

noteDhero said:
Quick questions:
-Is this really an interpretation of the manga if it's doing exactly what the manga did 2 or 3 episodes in a row?

DeathfireD said:
as much as I dislike this series so far, I actually liked this episode a lot. It was still rushed but the drama in it was a fresh change from the stupid ass Ed jokes and comedic feel that the past have had.

noteDhero said:

-Someone said something about this episode having 3 original scenes. Besides Scar showing up in the beginning, what were the other two?

noteDhero said:

-Is this really an interpretation of the manga if it's doing exactly what the manga did 2 or 3 episodes in a row?

noteDhero said:

-What is the difference in art style everyone is talking about? Besides Rose's hair/skin color being different, This show looks pretty much the same as far as characters are concerned.

noteDhero said:
Ok...I just didn't like this episode. I have been holding a lot of my criticism of this show, and defending it against my own standard in anticipation of this particular story. I was just disappointed. Dramatically, it was too much for one episode to be pulled off well, then you add in the comedy (which thankfully didn't consist of Ed getting mad at someone calling him small) and I'm left with an empty, indifferent response to the very end.

The stuff with Scar in the beginning was fine, but at the end he was already redundant, reminding me why I never really cared for him as a character.

I can't put words into how saddened that I am that this just got trodden over.

Fai said:
Ep5 will cover chapters 5 and 6 (which will work, pacing-wise, since Chapter 5 is fighting only)

Oxu said:

I need to somewhat agree with you, even tought episode had it's good parts too. Nina arc should atleast be 2 episodes! C'MON!This is starting to be more and more just showing bit things there and there. If we look first anime and manga there is good story and every episode/chapter is well done and continues from next. This is just rushing....No matter how much i love to see those awesome characters again, but i am very disapointed.

thalandor46 said:
Ok, I'm done. From the beginning, Brotherhood has continued to fall short of the expectations set by the original anime. It just doesn't do the same stories nearly as well as the first series did. I'm not interested in watching what I already know at a sub-par level. I'm dropping the series. I may pick it up again when it's finished, so I can rush through the old to get to the new, but for now, Brotherhood is at the bottom of my interest list.

thalandor46 said:
Ok, I'm done. From the beginning, Brotherhood has continued to fall short of the expectations set by the original anime. It just doesn't do the same stories nearly as well as the first series did. I'm not interested in watching what I already know at a sub-par level. I'm dropping the series. I may pick it up again when it's finished, so I can rush through the old to get to the new, but for now, Brotherhood is at the bottom of my interest list.

Fai said:


So they had to, maybe add some ridiculous talking overgrown parrots or rabbit Tuckers to satisfying you?


Because you CAN'T go slower than this. This covered exactly ONE chapter and EVEN ADDED stuff.

This episode was satistifying for me. Why? Because it fixed what was wrong with this arc in FMA1.

What about "what was wrong in fma1"? How about

These "omg rushing it" comments go even more ridiculous with each passing second

Oxu said:


Hhahha i wouldnt go that far, that i would like to see that parrots or Easter rabbit. And what's wrong about liking more slower pacing?

no reason to get mad man. I have my own opinion :)

noteDhero said:
I think people are confusing a longer story with a slower pace. Just because the length of a particular arc is longer than another doesn't necessarily mean that it has a slower pace.

The inverse is also true. Just because a story is told in one episode as opposed to 2 or more doesn't necessarily mean that the pace is fast.

In this specific episode, the pace began slow, introducing Nina, Alexander, and Tucker and then creating affection for Nina and Alexander (the "idyllic" tone that Shaolin was talking about earlier). Once that was created sufficently, the pace increased dramatically as there wasn't enough room to connect with Shou, display a cause for concern, and then reveal him for what he is. Not to mention that we needed to introduce Scar and have him kill Tucker and Ninaxander at the end.

Regardless of what the mangaphiles say, this episode had to do an awful lot, and whether or not it needed 2 episodes, an episode and a half, or just trimming of the initial sequence with Scar, the story of the Tuckers needed more room.

edit: Also, a fast pace can cause a 2 hr. movie to feel like 30 minutes. A slow pace can make one half hour episode feel like hours (we've all been there).

noteDhero said:
The pace was slow, the way it needed to be in the beginning. We got enough of Nina and Alexander to work for this to be one episode. What we didn't get enough time with was Tucker. I said this in a conversation with a friend, but he came of more as a Mad Scientist than he did pitful and pathetic. That would distinguish him from Cornello, and therefore show the merit in even airing this episode since nothing regarding his story has anything new that's relevant to the overall plot besides Scar.

It's my thought that if you are doing an info dump in an episode, the pace needs to be faster because there is a tendancy to bore the audience. If you're trying to develop a relationship between the viewers and characters, then the pace needs to be slower so that you feel like you're with them every step of the way. They did it with Nina and Alexander, just not with Tucker.

noteDhero said:
It absolutely would have been a crime to not to focus on Nina and Alexander in the way that they did. I never said that it should be a trade off. Tucker needed more time. Period.

Well, you know, that's kind of my point. What is the point in this story if we're not seeing a different side of the effect that breaking the rules has on an alchemist. Seeing Tucker hang his head in, dare I say, remorse as he's carted off, and then seeing Ninaxander destroyed in a back alley like a terminated abortion, those were images I won't forget. That wasn't here. Tucker didn't look pathetic or pitiful (I'm using strict definitions...he didn't invoke pathos), he looked desperate and clinging onto sanity in the same ways as Cornello.

So why even air this episode? Scar could have a new, and perhaps more fitting entrance. Was this all really just to introduce Scar? If so, then I think it fails on that point, because he looked rather generic.

noteDhero said:
The pace was slow, the way it needed to be in the beginning. We got enough of Nina and Alexander to work for this to be one episode. What we didn't get enough time with was Tucker. I said this in a conversation with a friend, but he came of more as a Mad Scientist than he did pitful and pathetic. That would distinguish him from Cornello, and therefore show the merit in even airing this episode since nothing regarding his story has anything new that's relevant to the overall plot besides Scar.

It's my thought that if you are doing an info dump in an episode, the pace needs to be faster because there is a tendancy to bore the audience. If you're trying to develop a relationship between the viewers and characters, then the pace needs to be slower so that you feel like you're with them every step of the way. They did it with Nina and Alexander, just not with Tucker.