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FMA arcs.
This list is designed to divide FMA into manageable bites--sections one could watch daily over a week or two, instead of marathoning the whole series in a weekend or something and being dead at the end, as so many of us do. So this is FMA in approximately four hour chunks.
If you are watching the series for the first time, you probably don't want to click on the lj-cuts, because I explain the logic of my divisions, which is, well, spoilery. Although I tried to keep it from being too spoilery.
Episodes 1-9:
1. Those who Challenge the Sun
2. Body of the Sanctioned
3. Mother
4. A Forger's Love
5. The Man With the Mechanical Arm
6. The Alchemy Exam
7. Night of the Chimera's Cry
8. The Philosopher's Stone
9. Be Thou For the People
With the exception of the first two episodes, which lead into a "let us tell your our story" flashback scenario, this entire block takes place about about nine to three years before the main storyline of the series. It tells how Ed and Al got into their current, um, non-standard bodyforms, and how Ed became a State Alchemist, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Alchemist of the People.
Episodes 10-17:
10. The Phantom Thief
11. The Other Brothers Elric, Part One
12. The Other Brothers Elric, Part Two
13. Fullmetal vs. Flame
14. Destruction's Right Hand
15. The Ishbal Massacre
16. That Which is Lost
17. The House of the Waiting Family
This is kind of a weird arc in that a lot happens in the middle, but it's sandwiched between some standalone eps and some recovery eps, but nothing long enough to call its own arc. We start off with some episodes which give us the flavor of the three years Ed spends going on periodic missions under Roy's command, before things start to go haywire. Then we learn some about the Ishbal war, and Scar, who appeared briefly in the first arc, comes back with a vengeance. But our heroes survive (barely) and spend a couple of episodes going back to their hometown to get fixed up.
Episodes 18-25:
18. Marcoh's Notes
19. The Truth Behind Truths
20. Soul of the Guardian
21. The Red Glow
22. Created Human
23. Fullmetal Heart
24. Bonding Memories
25. Words of Farewell
Ed an Al get to Central to try to follow up on some of the leads they learned about the Ishbal war last arc, and things kind of go to hell in a handbasket. Spectacularly. At the end, Ed and Al feel the need to kind of get away from it all, so they miss one of the most heartbreaking things ever and you will be crying by the end of this arc. Ahem.
Episodes 26-34:
26. Her Reason
27. Teacher
28. All is One, One is All
29. The Untainted Child
30. Assault on South Headquarters
31. Sin
32. Dante of the Deep Forest
33. Al, Captured
34. Theory of Avarice
In this arc, we draw on some of those pieces of Ed and Al's tragic background that we knew had to be important someday, and start tying them in with the practically immortal opponents they keep running into. We don't have all the pieces, but we're getting there.
Episodes 35-43:
35. Reunion of the Fallen
36. The Sinner Within
37. Flame Alchemist: The Bachelor Lieutenant and The Mystery of the 13th Warehouse
38. With the River's Flow
39. Eastern Civil War
40. The Scar
41. Holy Mother
42. Without Knowing His Name
43. The Stray Dog Escaped
I had a hard time deciding where to begin and end this arc. Reunion of the Fallen could belong to the arc before, because it fits thematically with the story of the sins--but I decided to include it with this arc because it's also about Scar's history, and this arc is all about Scar. Likewise, episode 42 could be considered the end of this arc, and it's certainly the climax of the arc, but it's an absolutely terrible place to leave you in terms of cliff-hanging. The Stray Dog Escaped is a little better as an end point for the arc--it reaches an eventual lull; Ed and Al are home again.
Episodes 44-51:
44. Hohenheim of Light
45. That which Corrupts the Heart
46. Human Transmutation
47. Sealing of Homunculus
48. Goodbye
49. To the Other Side of the Door
50. Death
51. Munich 1921
The flip side of the argument for which arc to place The Stray Dog Escaped in is that it reveals Mustang's motivations and sets up all his action for this final arc. However, since Mustang is actually B-plot (I say that with a weird amount of surprise, given that he usually is B-plot, yeah, but dude! he is the Mustang! Have some respect, dawg, or something), I think Hohenheim of Light is the proper first episode of this arc, because that's when we figure out what an ancient, epic tale Ed and Al stumbled into when they tried to raise their mother, what legacy they became a part of. And from there, well, you really just have to watch all the way to the end.
Movie: Conquerors of Shambala.
I'm not sure if I would have immediately leaped for the movie at series end, if I had had it. The series does have a kind of resolution, just... not the resolution I wanted. Heck, the same could be said of the movie. I think it's good to have some time to absorb the end of the series before leaping into the movie, if only because the movie is set some years after series end, and it would be jarring to leap straight to the movie with no downtime.
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niqaeli, I hope this is helpful. Where do you want to start? And can I start with you?
If you are watching the series for the first time, you probably don't want to click on the lj-cuts, because I explain the logic of my divisions, which is, well, spoilery. Although I tried to keep it from being too spoilery.
Episodes 1-9:
1. Those who Challenge the Sun
2. Body of the Sanctioned
3. Mother
4. A Forger's Love
5. The Man With the Mechanical Arm
6. The Alchemy Exam
7. Night of the Chimera's Cry
8. The Philosopher's Stone
9. Be Thou For the People
With the exception of the first two episodes, which lead into a "let us tell your our story" flashback scenario, this entire block takes place about about nine to three years before the main storyline of the series. It tells how Ed and Al got into their current, um, non-standard bodyforms, and how Ed became a State Alchemist, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Alchemist of the People.
Episodes 10-17:
10. The Phantom Thief
11. The Other Brothers Elric, Part One
12. The Other Brothers Elric, Part Two
13. Fullmetal vs. Flame
14. Destruction's Right Hand
15. The Ishbal Massacre
16. That Which is Lost
17. The House of the Waiting Family
This is kind of a weird arc in that a lot happens in the middle, but it's sandwiched between some standalone eps and some recovery eps, but nothing long enough to call its own arc. We start off with some episodes which give us the flavor of the three years Ed spends going on periodic missions under Roy's command, before things start to go haywire. Then we learn some about the Ishbal war, and Scar, who appeared briefly in the first arc, comes back with a vengeance. But our heroes survive (barely) and spend a couple of episodes going back to their hometown to get fixed up.
Episodes 18-25:
18. Marcoh's Notes
19. The Truth Behind Truths
20. Soul of the Guardian
21. The Red Glow
22. Created Human
23. Fullmetal Heart
24. Bonding Memories
25. Words of Farewell
Ed an Al get to Central to try to follow up on some of the leads they learned about the Ishbal war last arc, and things kind of go to hell in a handbasket. Spectacularly. At the end, Ed and Al feel the need to kind of get away from it all, so they miss one of the most heartbreaking things ever and you will be crying by the end of this arc. Ahem.
Episodes 26-34:
26. Her Reason
27. Teacher
28. All is One, One is All
29. The Untainted Child
30. Assault on South Headquarters
31. Sin
32. Dante of the Deep Forest
33. Al, Captured
34. Theory of Avarice
In this arc, we draw on some of those pieces of Ed and Al's tragic background that we knew had to be important someday, and start tying them in with the practically immortal opponents they keep running into. We don't have all the pieces, but we're getting there.
Episodes 35-43:
35. Reunion of the Fallen
36. The Sinner Within
37. Flame Alchemist: The Bachelor Lieutenant and The Mystery of the 13th Warehouse
38. With the River's Flow
39. Eastern Civil War
40. The Scar
41. Holy Mother
42. Without Knowing His Name
43. The Stray Dog Escaped
I had a hard time deciding where to begin and end this arc. Reunion of the Fallen could belong to the arc before, because it fits thematically with the story of the sins--but I decided to include it with this arc because it's also about Scar's history, and this arc is all about Scar. Likewise, episode 42 could be considered the end of this arc, and it's certainly the climax of the arc, but it's an absolutely terrible place to leave you in terms of cliff-hanging. The Stray Dog Escaped is a little better as an end point for the arc--it reaches an eventual lull; Ed and Al are home again.
Episodes 44-51:
44. Hohenheim of Light
45. That which Corrupts the Heart
46. Human Transmutation
47. Sealing of Homunculus
48. Goodbye
49. To the Other Side of the Door
50. Death
51. Munich 1921
The flip side of the argument for which arc to place The Stray Dog Escaped in is that it reveals Mustang's motivations and sets up all his action for this final arc. However, since Mustang is actually B-plot (I say that with a weird amount of surprise, given that he usually is B-plot, yeah, but dude! he is the Mustang! Have some respect, dawg, or something), I think Hohenheim of Light is the proper first episode of this arc, because that's when we figure out what an ancient, epic tale Ed and Al stumbled into when they tried to raise their mother, what legacy they became a part of. And from there, well, you really just have to watch all the way to the end.
Movie: Conquerors of Shambala.
I'm not sure if I would have immediately leaped for the movie at series end, if I had had it. The series does have a kind of resolution, just... not the resolution I wanted. Heck, the same could be said of the movie. I think it's good to have some time to absorb the end of the series before leaping into the movie, if only because the movie is set some years after series end, and it would be jarring to leap straight to the movie with no downtime.
niqaeli, I hope this is helpful. Where do you want to start? And can I start with you?
no subject
Not reading yet. But it's been marked in memories for future reference.
Very much looking forward to it.
:)
no subject
no subject
(thank you!)
no subject
Off topic...
Re: Off topic...