FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Episode 4: An Alchemist’s Anguish

Synopsis:

Episode begins with the explanation of alchemy, again.

OPENING: “Again” by YUI

The man with the scar (who we’ll call by his name, Scar, from here on out) confronts another State Alchemist: Basque Grand (Iron Blood Alchemist). When asked who he is, Scar only replies that Alchemists who “turned their backs on the ways of God” must “perish”. The State Alchemist tries to defend himself by transmuting guns and chains. Despite his best efforts, Scar breaks through and kills the Alchemist by decomposing his head.

Later, Hughes and Armstrong investigate the bloody mess from the fight. Hughes concludes that all State Alchemists are at risk of attack and asks Armstrong to be careful. They are surprised when Fuhrer King Bradley appears to view the carnage for himself. Bradley firmly states that all traitors must be dealt with.

The next day, Lt. Hawkeye and the rest of Mustang’s men are knee-deep in paperwork. They discuss the disappearance of Lt. Yoki, a man who was “lining his pockets” in the mining town of Yoswell and was stopped by the Elric brothers. Speaking of which, the Elric brothers arrive at that very moment and are told to speak to Mustang.

Mustang congratulates them on exposing Father Cornello in Liore and the discuss his fake Philosopher’s Stone and his ability to make a chimera. Seeing that Ed and Al have an interest in Alchemy on living creatures (themselves, obviously), he refers them to a man named Shou Tucker (Sewing Life Alchemist).

As they take a car to the Tucker residence, Mustang explains that Shou Tucker made a breakthrough two years ago. He created a chimera that could understand human speech. However, the only thing time the chimera would speak was when it begged to die. It refused to eat and eventually died of malnutrition.

As soon as they ring the doorbell at the residence, Ed is pounced on by the family dog. Shou and his daughter, Nina, greet Al and Mustang. Inside, they sit at a table as Mustang explains that the Brothers are interesting in his research. Shou agrees to show them, but only if they tell him the reason. Ed tells him the truth about their failed human transmutation. Shou leads them to his laboratory where he kept his “experiments”. Shou then takes them to his “Materials” room. As the boys study, Mustang decides to leave and says that he’ll send someone back in the evening to pick them up.

Time goes by as Ed and Al study the books. However, Al gets distracted by playing with Nina. When Ed gives Al grief over wasting time, he is tackled by the dog again. Havoc arrives to pick them up, only to see that Ed is still pinned by the dog. Shou invites Ed and Al to come back to study more if they would like to. As they walk out, Havoc reminds Shou that he will have to be “Assessed” soon. When questioned by his daughter, Shou explains that all State Alchemists have to pass an assessment of their skills to keep their State Alchemist privilege. Shou admits that his last assessment didn’t go so well, and he really needs to pass this one.

EYECATCH: Nina and Alexander, Shou Tucker

The next day, Nina explains to Ed and Al that her mother left two years ago. She then admits that although her dog keeps her company, she still gets really lonely. Remembering the same feeling from their father, Ed and Al stop their studies to spend time with her. They spend the rest of the day playing with her and the dog while Shou sits at his desk desperate to find something he can present at his assessment.

Meanwhile, Hughes and Armstrong the incidents involving Scar. They theorize possible motives when they are interrupted by Maria Ross who informs them that man with Scar’s description has been seen at the train station.

As the sun sets, Shou explains to Ed and Al that his family was extremely poor before he became a State Alchemist. He further explains that his wife left him because of their poverty. Shou admits that he needs to pass the assessment to prevent himself from becoming poor once again. Suddenly, he turns around and promises to spend time with his daughter.

The next day, despite it being extremely cloudy, the Elrics show up to do more research. The house is eerily quiet. They walk through and eventually find Shou in his lab. He smugly admits that he has a “finished product”, another chimera that can understand human speech. On closer inspection, Ed asks a few questions that confirm that Shou’s wife left at the same time he became a State Alchemist: two years ago. Ed is horrified as he realizes that not only did Shou sacrifice his wife for his first chimera, but he sacrificed his daughter for his second one!

In a rage, Ed grabs Shou and pins him to the wall by his throat. Shou, continuing to be smug, states that “Mankind’s progress has been the results of human experiments”. He then says that turning his daughter in a chimera was no different than the Elrics trying to revive their dead mother. Further enraged, Ed punches Shou in the face. As Shou continues to taunt Ed by telling him that he is no different, Ed continues to punch him in the face. Al stops Ed before he could kill Shou completely.

Ed turns his head to the chimera, who sadly asks “Dad, are you hurt?”. Al pets the chimera on the head and sadly apologizes for not being able to help turn her back into a human. All Shou can do is look at his State Alchemist pocket-watch and gleefully state that he did the experiment with enough time to save his State Alchemist privilege. Ed kicks the watch out of Shou’s hands and it shatters. The chimera asks Ed and Al to play with her.

Later in the day, Mustang and Hawkeye walk out of the Tucker residence as Ed and Al sit on the steps. Hawkeye states that Shou’s actions were that of the Devil, but Mustang likens it more to killing someone in war. Ed laments that he is an “insignificant human” because he couldn’t save one person.

As Shou sits in his house and looks at the chimera he made, Scar enters the room. Seeing the monstrosity that Shou created, Scar wastes no time in killing Shou by head decomposition. As the chimera cries and nuzzles Shou’s body, Scar decides to put her out of her misery as there was no chance of her becoming normal again. As Scar walks out of the residence, he asks God to give the two souls rest and salvation.

ENDING: “Uso” by SID

Analysis:

This is probably one of the saddest moments in the entire series. The idea that someone would value their wealth over the life of their own flesh and blood is just horrible. Shou Tucker is a nasty individual and deserved everything that he got. The fact that he could only look at his State Alchemist watch while the Brothers look in horror just proves his sliminess. How could they make him any worse? Turn his head upside down and give him a whisper voice? Oh wait.

The voice acting in this episode is surprisingly good. Romi Paku can REALLY channel her emotion into Ed as he shouted “SCREW YOU!” as Shou kept going on and on. Rie Kugimiya also does a wonderful job with Al’s voice. I’m just excited to see how Vic Mignogna and Maxey Whitehead handle this episode. The animation in the episode could be a little better, but it’s nothing worth getting worked up over.

This is also the first episode that we see another major character: Scar. Right off the bat, we get the idea that he’s not completely 100% evil. While one could justify his actions, many agree that he could have done things a little better. Will he redeem himself? All I do is suggest that you keep watching. It only gets better from here.

Dub Review:

Eh, this wasn’t a bad episode. Although I do have a few little things to mention. First of all, they axed the next-episode preview. This is starting to worry me, as there will be critical scenes after the ending in future episodes. Second, there were quite a few dialog changes that I wasn’t quite expecting. Nothing extreme, and some of the changed dialog made the plot a little smoother. They did add a few more words to the Nina-Alexander chimera, but that didn’t detract from the scene much.

As I said earlier in the review, I was excited to see how the voice acting in this episode would be. Brina Palencia and Chuck Huber reprise their roles and do a wonderful job at it. The best voice acting in this episode, in my opinion, is a tie between Vic Mignogna and Travis Willingham. Both actors were able to play their characters with more emotion than the Japanese voice actors, to my surprise. Considering Romi Paku’s performance in this episode, that is quite a feat!

The main new voice in this episode is J. Michael Tatum as Scar. While the voice isn’t as rough as the Japanese equivalent, I actually prefer this voice. Considering future episodes, playing Scar in this role is a wonderful act of foresight.

Overall, great episode. Little disappointed by the lack of a preview, but it’s not like I don’t know what happens.