FMAB 1x4 Reaction Extended (YT link below)

Yeah they really have a deep connection and bond

Nick

Oh Nina and Alexander. Best friends, inseparable, together to the end <3

Rachel Espiritu

This is honestly one of the pivotal moments of the series, at least on par with Ed and Al trying to bring their mom back. I daresay it is also a pivotal moment in the life of any anime watcher. I first saw it when I was much younger and couldn't understand the pain and tragedy, only a sort of sense of fear and grossness. Now being older and having seen the full series, I appreciate the significance much more. With respect to Mustangs bizarre take, this is a bit of spoilers but you will learn that, like any soldier, all of the state alchemists no matter how nice they seem, have war horror stories and have done bad things. I think in war, the severity of the bad things you do don't always depend solely on whether you are good or bad, but sometimes simply on how much power you have and how willing you are to follow orders. So given that the state alchemists are all very powerful, you can imagine the horrors they've done and seen. And Mustang is especially powerful. All that's just to say, when you've done horrible things it makes you very uncomfortable to criticize horrible things that other people do, even if that's the morally correct position, because you see yourself in them. That's where I think Mustang is coming from.

Nathan

Feels a bit weird: I watched ATLA & Korra about 18 months ago, but I watched this series when it was releasing 10 years ago. They're both favorites of mine, but it's hard for me to compare them.

Duopierce

In the original series this episode came about 2 episodes later as I'm fairly sure there's multiple filler and flashback episodes prior to it and also Youswell where they were talking about Lieutenant Yoki happens but just later on and isn't just mentioned in passing that they finished that mission...i need to rewatch the original again at some point XD also that pain u felt whenever Chimera!Nina talked is literally the entire fandom still to this day whenever its brought up or meme'd like bro I can't even rn despite having seen both versions which BY THE WAY is far more graphic in the original

Brimmy

Man, watching this reaction is so stressful. You're all like "aww, such a nice guy," "I feel for Shou Tucker," meanwhile I'm just here cringing with every passing moment. You just don't see it coming. And I'm pretty sure the parallels between this and the last episode are intentional. One to show the evils of religion, but the other to show the evils of science, so you can't say one is good and one is bad. This show does gray areas so well. Just look at Scar. A monster at the beginning of the episode, but maybe less so by the end?

R. Lewis

I saw the thumbnail in my email and was like \oh no\

Brimmy

This was the episode that got me hooked but also set the tone of the show for me

Elijah baker

You can consider this episode as sort of a "central character backstory" episode for Edward. Just like how things Ed and Al went through in episode 2 irrevocably changed them, the events of this episode affects them just as strongly. In fact, Nina's fate is explicitly referenced at the most important choice Ed makes in the very finale -- the doubts he already had on tunnel-vision science solidifies here, and thus it is marked as one of the crucial turning points of his character. On another note: Roy. Without spoiling too much, I'd say Mustang had some pretty justified reasons to say what he did at that moment -- though saying that to Ed in particular was perhaps a bit uncalled for. Roy's definitely a fascinating character, whose inner thoughts and value systems are veiled from the audience just by the virtue of these early episodes being from mostly Edward's PoV. He's manipulative and "a bastard", but you can see he and the brothers also begrudgingly respect each other. In fact, I'd say the easiest way to glimpse Roy Mustang's character in the earlier parts of the show is not to look at Roy himself, but rather the people around him and their relationship dynamic between them. The moment he begins to shine starts around... somewhere just before episode 20, I think? And I remember the author of FMA explicitly stating that she put Roy a bit out of the main picture until that point to increase the dramatic effect when he does. It's going to be a long ride anyways, so get pumped, I guess!

Say

That makes sense. Although it's happening quickly, it feels intentional to have set Ed up as a "science is everything" mentality, only to be faced with an extreme version of that belief in the next episode.

Alex G

Say

Pain... Yes. There may be pain, but it will be worth it to see the end.

Ben Barringer

Haha yeah I understand that reaction. I've felt this way a couple times... There are some things like this episode that are just so well done and powerful, but at the same time it's like... "would I recommend this to someone?" Maybe not. I haven't seen it in a long time but I remember feeling that way about the movie Grave of the Fireflies. I loved that movie but it was just so sad, recommending it has to come with a huge warning.

Alex G

Yeah it blindsides you... New villain... the pressures of being a single father... fun in the sun... tragedy.

Alex G

Oh yeah, fair enough.

Sal Inger

Extremes of religion in the last episode, extremes of science this episode, extremes of the military next episode. One thing I love about this show is how it shows every angle. It presents morally complicated characters, with complicated ideologies, and it compares and contrasts them directly to each other with confrontations and various scenes. There’s so much interlap between these 3 things as the series goes on and it’s just great to watch. It’s brilliant writing. This episode, Shao Tucker is more of just an awful scumbag, but extremes of scientific pursuit are still on display Edit: On a side note, I’ve been showing this anime to my best friend. After watching this episode all he had to say was “fuck you for showing me that” lol. But it’s almost a rite of passage, very important episode to the Elric brothers

Nick

I didn't ever want to rewatch this episode... but I just decided to anyway... it didn't hurt as much as the first time but the first part of the episode was a lot more stressful knowing what was going to happen

Emma Root

LOL that is terrible and also great.

Alex G

There is no Nina and Alexander in Ba Sing Se.

Alex G

I had no idea

Alex G

True, he's not backing him. But that moment was a little too "well that's just the way things are" at that moment for me.

Alex G

Haha yes! I was thinking about this the other day. I'm enjoying FMAB a lot but it's also nice to have Dragon Prince as something a little more humorous to balance things out.

Alex G

:(

Alex G

Definitely, that is something I thought about in episode 3 and so it was really interesting to see them pick that up and go the other way one episode later.

Alex G

Yeah this is quite the welcome to the show... 2 episodes setup and backstory, one episode on the road, and then pain.

Alex G

@Andrew Richardson lol now that you mention it I realized I will have to watch it again when I eventually get to the 2003 series... Her (their?) lines are just brutal...

Alex G

@Richard Lucas I have not! But that is one of the shows that gets recommended a lot and I've heard a lot of good thigns.

Alex G

You might want to get this now to feel part of the club https://sharkrobot.com/products/happy-fusion-fun-times

This episode hurts every time. It's possibly the most painful episode in the show (as far as I can tell). But it's so amazingly done. Makes you love these adorable characters and then rip them away in the most horrible and painful way possible. It's also a great episode because it shows the atrocities that can be committed with Alchemy when people are driven mad by desperation. This episode is sort of infamous, and often times in conversation when someone brings up Nina it's met with responses like "we don't talk about that". Really tough watch. Luckily the show isn't all this hard to watch.

Aidan Pullen

also Ed saying "we're only human!!!!!!"

Sitasien

“The dogs gonna be alright right?” Hahaha you shouldn’t be focusing on the dog

hays collins

Bro, like; I was SHOOK by that episode back in the original series. I was like what? 12 or 13? That shit AFFECTED me. Then I had to do it all over again in Brotherhood and it’s almost WORSE this time because i got blindsided by how EARLY this happens 😦 Not to mention it’s just so much more horrifying than the original with the way they she interacts with them and shit ... FMAB out here doin the MOST

Andrew G

Oh boy that episode. Btw. I don't really see Roy "backing" Tucker with what he said. He just acknowledged that as state alchemists they're also expected to interfere with other people's lives (though not in such a perverted and fucked up way in which Tucker went about it) because they've sworn their lives to the military and are expected to take lives without question when ordered. He's just a realist. They aren't called dogs of the military for nothing.

Sal Inger

I find it so funny the difference of the two shows your watching. I mean dragon sure does amp up the dark parts in later season but comparing shows now it’s a funny difference

hays collins

BiG bROthEr eD.

thevoidbender

I love that they show the downfalls of religion in the last one and the downfalls of science in this one. When I first watched I thought the show was going to be anti-religon, but I think it was more about displaying the problems with putting your faith solely in either one.

Ace

I’m so far behind on your reactions! I’m hoping to start the third season of Korra with you this week. So I may have missed you talking about this, but have you ever seen My Hero Accademia? (dub). I think you would really enjoy it.

Richard Lucas

OOOOOOOOFFFFFF. I forgot how soon this happens in Brotherhood. You gotta watch the original after Brotherhood, overall I definitely agree with most that Brotherhood is better and its official canon cause it fully sticks with the manga but the original makes this horrific episode 10 times worse for reasons I won't spoil. Overall they just spend more time on the beginning of the story in the original show.

benj

ouch, you had to reach this one eventually, I will say it plays a huge part in Ed's character arc

Sitasien

Yeah... This was a tough one lol

Alex G

ooHHHHHH NO ITS /THAT/ EPISODE ALREADY

Andrew G