#I mean hopefully you've already seen FMAB if you're following this blog

[fmab-liveblog]

Spoilers, intro. This looks just like Ed and he’s got his arm back. Granted, I’m terrible at telling characters apart. There’s one point later where Mustang’s wearing a hat and has a mustache and I’m like “who the hell is Riza with? Where’s Roy?” 

If I had’ve paid better attention later, you can also see the alchemy stuff shortly before this and realize this is probably not a grown up Edward, even if the eyes and pouty square mouth are so similar. 

THIS DUDE AGAIN

FROM EPISODE 1. Look at how different their expressions are. 

And gain with the paying better attention, the second image has the same hairstyle as the first. I hate anime aging they look literally nothing alike except for the hair that transcends millennia. 

This is just a really pretty shot. Knowing what this is about makes it even better. I think I’ll talk about this part of the intro when we get to it in the main show

So I’m new to anime, so I didn’t know about the genre of anime intros and outros. They’re so cool. You’ve got the freedom to sprinkle in things that do actually happen (this this shot) and things that are thematically appropriate but don’t happen, for whatever reason. They’re so much fun. 

I retract what I said about ‘if I only paid better attention I’d realize that wasn’t Ed’. He’s doing the same pose in the same intro. I don’t have enough evidence to say the confusion was intentional, but I feel less unobservant now. He’s 15ish now and the guy in the first image looks to be mid-20s. That’s a reasonable change in appearance. 

LOOK AT THEM. I love these little shots that show that Ed, Al and Winry are all close, not just Ed and Winry. I’d also like to point out that this is the first (and only?) time we see young Al sleeping and he sleeps in a similar pose to how he lays when he’s in armor. 

The next bit is so fast I’m not even going to attempt screenshots. Just, just watch it. Trust me it’s good. It introduces every major character for the next 20 episodes. The fighting animation syncs up with the music and it’s soooo satisfying. I can and have watched it on loop on youtube. 

And if I had to pick a single image to represent FMAB, this is a major contender. The subtitles even fit. It’s Ed’s entire character arc in one. 

So he rips off his arm (which is representative of his identity as the Fullmetal Alchemist and also his devotion to his brother, because he gave up his arm to bind Alphonse to the armor), then throws it at the Eye of Truth/God. He’s always been a rebellious little shit and he spends the majority of the story looking for a way to undo his mistake and to, basically, fight the Truth. Buuuut this also foreshadows how he gets Alphonse back - he gives up his alchemy, again represented by the arm. 

Or maybe my tinfoil hat is on too tight and I’m reading into things. Anyway, on to episode 3