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marvelvsmarvel · 5 years

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MCU Spider-Man:

Hom3 Series Prediction

“Everyone wants to know who the next Iron Man is...”

A major theme apart from coming of age and friendly neighborhood hero throughout the MCU Spider-Man Homecoming/Far From Home franchise has been answering this question. Homecoming was made out to be an apprenticeship whereas Far From Home depicts a passing of the mantle. In no way is Spidey out to be Iron Man but the public case is definitely made that the world feels the need to fill the whole made at Tony’s loss while at the same time the figureheads of the Avengers are nowhere to be found even by Nick Fury. This brings about a previous prediction of mine that a character like Mysterio that masquerades as a hero may be setting up more of the kinds as the long rumored Thunderbolts MCU debut or something closer to the Spidey-vest like Norman Osborn and the Dark Avengers. My prediction almost most certainly now turns to a not only a blend of these two but the much anticipated Sinister Six team up as well.

Norman Osborn: I don’t plan on breaking these groups down for those who don’t know but I do invite you to read up on them but just know that “villains impersonating heroes” is relative. Within the MCU the introduction of Norman Osborn is brewing whereas in all Spider-Man franchises the introduction of the Sinister Six has been boiling! The current would-be roster is Michael Keaton’s Vulture Adrian Toomes, Bokeem Woodbine’s Shocker Herman Schultz, Scorpion Mac Gargon, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio Quentin Beck. Adding Norman makes five with only some other animal themed muscle from the rogues to round off the Six. I’ve long been saying that Norman does not need to be the Green Goblin to pose a great threat and the Dark Avengers is a great example of that while also answering that marquee question of who will be the next Iron Man. The general public suggestively still sees Tony Stark as genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Hero. Norman Osborn may very well be seen as genius billionaire “Loving Father” philanthropist who has just been missing a suit of his own. The idea of Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts just realizes the vision that Mysterio theorized or that Thaddeus Ross had hoped would come of the Accords which is that controlling the likes of the Avengers makes for the worlds greatest armed forces and therefore a world power.

Citizen V: While Daniel Brühl’s Zemo is set to make his MCU return in the Disney+ Falcon and Winter Soldier series I think he’d be more inclined to run a full time Masters of Evil outright. But the character himself was a villain out to gain public trust in the absence of heroes to disguise from his villainous deeds. Adorned with a literal American Flag cape, the Cap vibes were real for the public. In a similar way Norman wore a red white and blue Iron Man or Iron Patriot suit when leading the Dark Avengers. I suggest for the MCU they merely tweak the two taking an Iron Man suit and designing it differently to look like a new hero while still giving off the Iron Man feels. While this is a grand answer to the question and a quick way to power this doesn’t however give a reason why any Sinister Six member would want in. For one is freedom to those like Vulture and Scorpion who currently rest within Seagate Prison. Then Shocker as with Vulture showed that they’d be willing to do a lot of bad in order to make a buck. The whole theme again is realizing Mysterio’s vision but with much more than projectors to back himself up. And then lastly is classical motive of it to gain public trust to hide villainous deeds. A guy like Scorpion with an extensive criminal record and friends on the outside ready to squish the Bug could really use a cover to get more authorities off his back including getting the jump on Spidey’s “Peter Tingle”.

Phase 4: Of course nothing is without yielding to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Sinister Six still technically just sits within the friendly neighborhood that is New York State. As it currently stands even with the presence of Black Panther or Doctor Strange somewhere on Earth an active Avengers roster is not necessarily active. In Endgame we saw that Black Widow was keeping up with that responsibility but with her gone it’s unsure. We know that according to Nick Fury that he has no other options such as Strange who’s unavailable Thor who’s offworld and not to evoke the name of Captain Marvel. It makes sense for Falcon and Winter Soldier and an independent Scarlet Witch to be finding their own footings. Ant-Man and Hawkeye should be home enjoying their families. Rhodey could have assumed Avenger leadership but considering his military and Accords history he would seem more likely to support the armed forces and help to reestablish government. Then there’s everyone’s favorite Hulk. The two do have a rich friendship and a mini science bro scene actually was suppose to be in Endgame. Perhaps he could help to uproot the truth. Or perhaps it’s time to introduce New heroes. Various hints at Young heroes have been rooted throughout the MCU and perhaps it’s time for them to as Nick Fury states “to step up or not.” And then of course there’s a potential Spider-Verse because I mean Team Iron Man, Team Cap, The Revengers, who doesn’t want to see some Web Warriors?! But it is worth stating that in the Thunderbolts comic run it was the Fantastic Four alongside memebers of the Avengers who helped to dethrone these false heroes. Now I’m not suggesting we have another Avengers 2.5 like we did in Captain America Civil War but it is possible. But I think we all agree that we want Spidey vs the Sinister Six with or without a little help from friends.

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ghostmartyr · 6 years

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What does the manga add to Roy and Riza's relationship that the anime doesn't have? Asking out of curiosity since I'm an anime only and they're still one of my favourite pairs of all time!

Oh, ha, I didn’t specifically point to the manga because I have anything in particular against Brotherhood (…or 2003 for that matter) it’s just not my canon, and I’m used to specifying which version of FMA I mean when I talk about the series. I do have a list of petty grievances against Brotherhood, but there is nothing fundamentally altered between Roy and Riza.

I mean. Yes. A number of my petty grievances are related to them. And feel slightly less petty as thought is spent on them.

But I would need to go back and watch the anime scenes again to point out the specifics of why.

[many hours later]

(As a note about this post, since I guess I did make the choice of tagging it, this is heavily critical about some specific moments in the Brotherhood anime, but before I get started I want to emphasize that my problems, with the exception of an example that spans a volume, don’t cover even two minutes of video. These things exist, and they bug me, and I clearly have things to say about them, but Brotherhood is 64 episodes long. My impassioned hatred of a few choice features isn’t indicative of my overall feelings on the anime.

Essentially, this is me having fun whining. Not trying to set off landmines. I hope it proves enjoyable.)

So there is this scene change in the first five minutes of episode 19 that has my eternal hatred and I have no plans to ever forgive. That has been true since it aired, and it is still true here today, because I am insufferably stubborn.

(I actually did a session about it before. I’m probably going to repeat most of it, but have a link if it interests you.)

That is not the dialogue the manga goes with.

In the manga, Riza’s interaction with Roy is focused on “what the fuck were you thinking why are you here.” Both versions have the scene with her berating Mustang for endangering the mission to save her.

In the anime, the above screencaps are what follow. After giving him a hard time for showing up at all, she thanks him for saving her life. Sweet, I guess, except Roy fires back with a mission-focused response.

If I were doing an anime-only meta thing, something could be said about the hypocrisy of Roy playing hero only to lecture other people about concentrating on the mission, and it would just be another cute thing. I guess. If I were in a charitable mood maybe.

But this is the first anime adaptation I sat through properly, angsting about every twist and turn and change.

My grudges. They last.

In the manga, Mustang brings up the slightly more personal aspects of what has happened. The reason he runs after Hawkeye is that he just lost Hughes, he won’t lose her, and he loses his head entirely. They have the yelling session over it, and he basically yells back the equivalent of, “yeah yeah fine -sulk sulk sulk-”

They leave Fuery and Hayate behind, and we have the presented moment.

Going to assist Riza is not the Proper choice for the military operation they’re running. It was a dangerous thing for Roy to have done, and she rightfully calls him on it. But he does it because he cares, and the fact that he cares is why all these people follow him. He’s a hopeless, idealistic dreamer at heart. His squad is loyal to him because he’s loyal to them.

Roy Mustang is a damn softy.

In the anime, Riza’s the one to call attention back to the whole life-saving motive. In the manga, it’s Roy.

In the anime, when it comes up, Roy dismisses it.

In the manga, when it comes up, Riza apologizes for worrying him.

It’s a small moment, but small moments are allowed to matter, and when small moments are changed, it leaves a bigger impact than if they were just left alone.

In the anime, this exchange, plus Hawkeye’s smile after, suggests that the sentimentality of the relationship comes primarily from her. Riza’s the one having her heart warmed when they have a job to do.

…That’s a slightly meaner way to put it than the scene perhaps deserves, but there is no unfair bitterness like unfair bitterness towards Brotherhood for me. Whining about this adaptation is a thing I do, despite honestly loving the majority.

Anyway, in the manga, the scene is both of them putting legwork into their dynamic. Hawkeye yells at Mustang for showing up out of sentiment, but when he expresses that sentiment in the aftermath, she expresses understanding of his perspective. He did a stupid thing, but they’re a team, and both at ease with their interplay.

In the anime, stop talking Hawkeye, don’t you know we have a job.

The manga is a conversation, the anime is putting a wall up to prevent that conversation. Especially annoying is that the character putting the wall up is the one who initiates the conversation in the manga. The anime drags Mustang back from his emotional openness and pushes Hawkeye to be more so, then provides a dismissal of her acting that way.

Besides being an inverse plus a step back for their relationship, it. also just feels kind of sexist. Instead of the man talking about feelings, the woman is. When the man talks about his feelings, it’s greeted with understanding and respect, when the woman talks about her feelings, it’s greeted with the instruction to put it somewhere else.

The fact that they changed it bothers me, because the way it is in the manga is great. It’s one of many small moments Roy and Riza have where they are shown to respect and care for each other.

The anime version doesn’t add anything, and lessens the mutuality of that bond.

I snarl in its general direction.

The other change that springs to mind is of a similar cloth.

Mustang and Hawkeye encounter the Elrics before they’re aware of Hughes’ death, and Mustang makes up a story about Hughes retiring in the country with his family so that they won’t go looking for him.

Hawkeye greets this with the face of judgment. “Why are you treating him like a child all of a sudden?” He’s never shied from giving Ed adult responsibilities before. This is a blatant lie. Roy says they don’t need any further obstacles to their journey.

A few moments pass. In silence, in the manga. In the anime, Riza points out that they’re going to find out someday. Then…

“…Who am I trying to kid?”

(Funimation, the heck is with some of your translation choices. Did you just keep the simulcast version for the official DVD subs?)

So there are a few things. The most obvious difference is the dialogue changes. Hawkeye is more insistent about how the Elrics will find out at some point, then after Mustang makes his character commentary, she calls it cruel instead of sighing and moving on to the next topic.

The other most obvious change is that Mustang smiles after calling himself soft in the anime.

These all sort of play together.

In the manga, Hawkeye is just as judgmental as she is in the anime, but she allows Mustang the space to dwell on his choices for himself. She asks him one question about how he’s treating Edward, then they walk in silence, her disapproval creating a tangible aura.

It isn’t simply Hawkeye judging him. He’s judging himself. In the anime it comes off as a, “tee-hee, what a silly softhearted boi I am.” So in the anime, she vocally objects to what he’s doing.

In the manga, Mustang takes in his inability to break the news to the Elrics as the emotional flaw that it is, and Hawkeye lets him off the hook. He doesn’t need a lecture; he knows his shortcomings. It’s not great, but he’s the kind of person who doesn’t want to tell Ed and Al that Hughes is dead because Hughes tried to help them.

Again, Mustang’s softness is part of what endears him to his crew. It is not always a good trait. Sometimes, as in this case, it’s actively causing problems. But it is who he is.

Riza knows this, and she can let this failure pass with a sigh because Roy knows it too. The anime version has a smile when it’s nothing to smile over. The manga version is more, “hahaha… fuck.”

Roy and Riza know each other and themselves extraordinarily well. They might have the boundaries of superior and subordinate, but they are comfortable enough in their understanding of each other that they are allowed to be themselves. It’s the conversation thing. There is an undercurrent of figurative dialogue to their relationship that never stops.

When they do call each other out in the manga, it does not keep the conversation from flowing. It continues it. Both of the above changes take it to a stuttering halt in their scenes.

Then we have episode 30.

After which, I do not have memories specific enough to shout about things or know if there are things to shout about, but episode 30.

-screams forever and ever and ever-

-intersperses screams with tears of anguish-

From what I know of being an FMA fan, it is difficult to be an FMA fan without being passingly familiar with the debates of which version is better. Usually it’s Brotherhood vs. 2003. My personal, obviously right opinion, is that this is the wrong way to do it, and it should be manga vs. 2003, because really it’s an argument over which plot is better, and Brotherhood’s plot is the property of the manga.

I also think it’s impossible to really debate. The two series have different feels and themes. They are both extremely well done, meaning that which one you prefer comes down to personal preference.

I’m pretty sure people who bother to have those discussions could say a lot more on the topic, but that’s my general, broad stroke, very glossed-over perspective on it all.

I mention this because I think anyone who loves FMA should read volume fifteen of the manga. If you’re not a manga person, you don’t want to read 27 volumes of manga, yeah, understandable. You have your version of the story, enjoy it, you shouldn’t feel the need to read the original if you don’t want to. The idea that you have to pour every bit of content into your brain to be a good fan is pretty unhealthy.

But I recommend volume 15 regardless, because the anime does not come close to presenting its content. It is four chapters devoted to the Ishvalan War. Outside the framing device (Ed going to return Hawkeye’s gun and asking about what went down), the entire volume basically stands on its own.

It is a harrowing, intimate depiction of the genocide campaign. That is the focus of the entire volume.

Scar’s backstory is moved to an earlier section in the anime, and Mustang burning Hawkeye’s back is moved to the Envy fight, so this might be an unfair barb to throw, but I still want to say it. The anime covers this volume in one episode.

-goes back to screaming-

(Honestly though, some of the best fun I ever had in fandom came from being on a forum full of manga fans and all of us yelling our despair over Brotherhood’s choices. You would never believe that this anime was considered the gold standard of anything.)

But we’re here for Roy and Riza!

There’s only one thing that sincerely bothers me to pain of the irritation of the above. Most of my sulking is just why did they do this to my favorite volume. Mustang and Hawkeye’s stuff is mostly intact. Except when it isn’t.

Chronologically, the first complaint is that when Riza’s father collapses (dies), Mustang is alone with him. In the manga, the scene ends with a shot of Riza, watching, terrified, from the doorway.

Also known as the scene where Roy calls Riza by her first name.

-still screaming-

The cemetery scene is truncated. The anime jumps right into Roy and Riza discussing Roy becoming a soldier. The manga starts the scene out with the focus on funeral things. Roy asks if Riza has other family, and what she plans to do now.

After that, he offers her his number, and they get to talking about the military and Roy’s dream.

They also cut this.

In the anime, Roy discusses his military life through the lens of Master Hawkeye’s opinion on it, asking if Riza is going to disapprove as well. Roy starts talking because he assumes that’s how she feels about it, and preemptively defends his perspective.

In the original, when Roy hands Riza his information, she asks, “For the rest of your life…?” It’s followed by the above panel.

Roy’s monologue about his aspirations and his dream for what he can do as a member of the military happens because Riza asks. Not directly, but her addition to the conversation prompts him to talk about his views, and he mentions that those views are why he studied alchemy. In other words, why he’s standing in front of a grave, awkwardly trying to talk to his dead master’s daughter.

Following that, the original pays more attention to the lead-up of Riza entrusting Roy with her father’s research. In the anime, she jumps straight from the ideals topic to asking if she can trust him with it.

In the manga, there’s that beat of contemplation after Roy brings up alchemy, and how his master didn’t teach him everything.

Riza tells him that his dream sounds wonderful.

Another beat.

That’s when she tells him that her father did leave his alchemical secrets behind. Words about this are exchanged for a small number of panels.

In the anime, she asks Roy if she can entrust her father’s work (dream, values) to him. Directly after the dream dialogue.

In the manga, when Roy tries to bring their discussion back to Riza’s father, and what he did with his research, Riza redirects him. It isn’t about her father. It’s about her, and by consequence, Roy, and how Roy’s dream inspires her.

“That dream… Can I entrust you with my back so that I can help make it come true?”

The anime severely underplays the significance of Riza offering her father’s research to Roy. They address it a little once Envy is being dealt with, but in the manga, all of the discussion of Riza watching Roy’s back is drawn from how Riza’s back is what’s given Roy the power to rise as far as he has.

It goes from maintextual subtext to subtextual subtext.

Also, the cuts to their conversation just plain means that there’s less of Roy and Riza interacting. The two of them are very, very young, standing in front of a grave and talking about ideals. The longer manga version allows the quality of their youthful awkwardness to truly shine.

The scene is dropped in the middle of the volume, whereas in the anime, it opens the Ishvalan flashback. There’s much to be examined about how that affects the emotional impact, but… geez that gets to be a lot of threads. Trying to go through all of the ways they crammed a whole volume into one episode is just going to make me dizzy.

Even if the theoretical focus of this post weren’t shipping, I’m not sure my brain would be up for that. There’s just so much going on, and the time allotted means it’s a Frankenstein job.

The one major difference for Roy and Riza, which I can’t believe they went with, and can’t believe my sad feelings every time I watch the episode and confirm yeah, they really went that way with it.

Why why why why why why why why must you hurt me this way.

SO!

THE ANIME VERSION!

OF ROY AND RIZA MEETING IN ISHVAL!

Riza walks up and says hi after noticing them because Hughes is babbling about his future wife.

Yay.

The manga version does not. does not do that.

It.

That’s not how it goes.

At all.

In the manga, Roy and Hughes run into each other on their break and start chilling together. Hughes gets a letter, does his excited babbling, Roy tells him to stop being a stereotypical red shirt, when suddenly

Oh noes.

Roy and Hughes react as fast as they can, which might or might not end up fast enough, when a bullet goes through the Ishvalan’s brain.

There’s quiet for a moment, then Roy gets behind cover because oh no gunshot, and Hughes tells him to chill, it’s all good.

“We have the ‘hawk’s eye’ on our side. […] A real ace sharpshooter… who’s causing quite a stir in my circle of friends. She’s still in the academy but because she’s so skilled… they brought her to the front.”

Guess who.

Hughes and Roy, being the good people they are, go back to camp to thank the sniper for saving them. Hughes is his cheery self. Roy is not noticeably perturbed.

Then the sniper drops her hood and stands up.

You could say I prefer the manga version. It has Riza being a badass, and adds to the shock they both have of seeing each other here.

Riza gets her own little horrified section of panels all about it.

She was just helping out two soldiers. She didn’t realize until after she fired that one of them was Roy, and that he’s in this hell too.

The other thing that I enjoy about this particular sequence of panels is that in the manga, they come up a bit earlier. Throughout the manga, Ishval flashback panels are everywhere. As this scene is initially presented (Hawkeye looking at Mustang through her scope), many chapters earlier, it looks like maybe they’re on opposite sides.

Or maybe it’s just me who thinks that’s a thing.

In any case, it adds some serious drama to their reunion. In the anime, the drama is entirely that they are both here in this awful war. In the manga, a Mysterious Sniper saves Roy’s life and turns out to be his master’s daughter.

It’s just cooler, okay?

Their conversation when Riza becomes Roy’s aide is also truncated. Riza says her specialty is guns, because death doesn’t linger when you use them. Roy tells her, with what I feel is sympathy, that’s just a deception to make the work easier. She agrees, but because she’s decided that work is necessary, there we go.

…

I thought that would be my last thing, but now that I have volume fifteen open, I can’t help but go to the scene during the Envy stuff. I won’t touch the main scenes of that, though I’m sure there are changes, because this is already too long and I’ve officially gone through the things that personally affect my view of the anime, which… was, at some point, maybe, the point of the ask. ^^;

Basically, I will never stop if I go through everything, but in case it isn’t obvious, I really love the fifteenth volume, so to Envy we go.

Huh. They really didn’t alter much. The core’s all there. Because of the placement, Mustang gets docked a few lines, and he is rewarded one of Riza’s (about making the tattoo as illegible as possible) in return, but it’s basically the same, with the addition of Riza thanking him.

I have no particular feelings on that. The ending of the scene is different because it’s not intended to go with the rest of the Ishvalan War, and… I guess I could manufacture some dislike over Riza expressing gratitude instead of the pure stubbornness the manga has. It distracts a little from why she’s asking those secrets to be burned off. They’re in a hell of their own creation. The soft thanks blurs the cutting edge.

Which isn’t to say I can’t have other problems with it.

As a manga reader who enjoyed Brotherhood as it was coming out, as well as someone who is writing this mostly from memory and going over only specific scenes, I have no way to ascertain how clear it is to anime fans what happens with Riza’s back and when. In the manga, it is excruciatingly clear that her father puts his research on her back, that is how Roy comes to have Flame Alchemy, and that is what Riza asks him to burn off.

Since that’s all in volume fifteen, the next twelve volumes are read with the understanding that before Riza is instructed to watch Roy’s back in case he falls, she offers him her back, and brings the ruin of Flame Alchemy to Ishval.

That history defines them. Their own choices plant them in that war, but Roy uses the alchemy she gives him out of hope for a better world to commit genocide. It’s a horrific weight on both of them, and his decision to have Riza, of all people, watch his back after the war?

Dude, it is such an amazing ship detail. Riza entrusts her back to Roy. He, in turn, entrusts his to her.

I get why it’s moved. Sort of. Given that volume fifteen is given one episode, I get why it’s moved. It’s most heavily relevant to Roy’s rampage against Envy.

However, I don’t think the power of knowing the depths of their connection earlier on can be understated. Roy and Riza’s devotion and synergy comes from watching their shared idealism burn the people they wanted to protect to a crisp, and their commitment to never letting that happen again. They create a hell through their good intentions. Having done that, they do not abandon their good intentions. They refine them and continue forward.

That is what binds them together. They rise from the ashes of their flames.

I do not, for the most part, think Brotherhood does them a major disservice. My gripes are pretty much all listed above, and my praises are endless.

But if you really love Roy and Riza, I’d seriously recommend reading the manga at some point, because there’s stuff the anime doesn’t bother with. AKA, yes, there is even more royai to be uncovered, don’t you want to seeeeee? :D :D

This kind of obviously grew past what you were initially asking, but I hope it serves a satisfactory answer regardless! Thanks for the opportunity to spam my love for these two!

…Through spamming my hate of stuff, but we’re ignoring that.

#Fullmetal Alchemist #FMA #royai #tl;dr #asks

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greed-the-dorkalicious · 6 years

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A diehard Mangahood fan’s opinion on why YOU- YES, YOU- should watch FMA 2003

(Yes, those are his actual lines in this scene. These are the Netflix captions.)

2018 is off to a great start, with both FMA anime being back on Netflix! But ever since Brotherhood overtook 03 in popularity years ago, the FMA fandom has been so deeply divided on the subject of the two anime that even today, a lot of FMA fans who have never seen 03 vehemently refuse to watch it, simply because they heard from someone else that it’s bad.

As someone who’s been in the FMA fandom for about 9 years, could easily go on for hours about the endless problems with 03, and firmly believes the manga is better than both anime anyway, I think that this attitude is bullshit. While I understand that 03 is not everyone’s cup of tea for sure, I think refusing to even try it is a very narrow-minded approach that will only make you miss out. So, from one Mangahood fan to another, here’s my take on why YOU should give 03 a try now that it’s back on Netflix!

A whole 51 episodes + 1 movie worth of FMA content you haven’t seen yet! Come on, what better reason do you need? For those of you who are always craving more of those good good Elric boys and their merry band of friends, here’s a perfect opportunity to see them in all sorts of new situations, in all their fully animated and voiced glory! More fight scenes! More banter! More brotherly love! More Riza Hawkeye shooting things! More alchemy! It’s a deal you can’t miss.

Learn about the FMA fandom’s history! Ever wonder why Hohenheim seems to get so much more hate than he deserves, or why that one Ishvalan kid who got like 3 lines is sometimes called Rick? Have you ever found yourself in the deep reaches of DeviantArt or Google Images and found strange images of armor Al with tattoos, Rose with dark skin and pink bangs, an edgy-looking kid with similar clothes to Envy, or a low quality gif of Havoc crying and aggressively writing in a journal captioned with “I have all these feels”? Confused about the phrase “In those days, we believed that to be the world’s one, and only, truth”? Do you occasionally see content of the “Tringham brothers” or “Alfons Heiderich” and not understand who they are? Have you seen the “tiny miniskirts” clip on YouTube, but never been able to find it in context? Just where did the titular tumbleweed of International FMA Tumbleweed Appreciation Day come from, anyway?! All these questions and more can be answered by watching 03!

Beautiful music! A lot of great music came out of the 03 era, such as silly OST pieces like Pint-Size Alchemist or Favorite Daughter; Beautiful pieces like Equivalent Exchange or Memories; Haunting choruses like Ishbal or Dante; Fun and memorable theme songs FMA’s oldest banger, Melissa, or the Resembool Trio anthem, Hagane no Kokoro; And of course, the unforgettable masterpiece of a duet that spawned a legacy transcending years and languages, Bratja aka Brothers.

Talented voice actors! 03 had a slightly different voice cast from Brotherhood. For the dub, we’ve got the loveable and unforgettable Aaron Dismuke as Al- You might know him for his triumphant return in Brotherhood as young Hohenheim, but he was the original Alphonse Elric, when he was just 12 years old! Aside from that, we’ve got Chris Patton as Greed, Dameon Clarke as Scar, Monica Rial as Dante, and “sexy Greed” Troy Baker as Robocop himself, Frank Archer! And for the original Japanese version, there’s Nana Mizuki (Lan Fan in Brotherhood) as Wrath, Tooru Okawa as Roy, Megumi Toyoguchi as Winry, and Junichi Suwabe (perhaps best known as Victor Nikiforov and Aizawa Shouta) as Greed. And more!

Bonus content from the manga that wasn’t in Brotherhood! While Brotherhood initially rushed through the beginning of the plot under the assumption that we’ve all seen it 500 times already so let’s get to the new stuff, 03 actually took its time and included episodes based off the early stories, such as Youswell or the battle on the train. Not only that, but 03 also includes episodes based off some of the bonus chapters (Dog of the Military, the military festival, the one where Havoc went on a date with Catherine) and even some content from the light novels (The Tringham brothers, the haunted warehouse).

An interesting reimagining of FMA, with new perspectives explored, and new characters! It’s true that 03 has a very different plot and overall tone from Mangahood, and maybe it’s not for everyone, but why is the mere concept of being different seen as a bad thing? Think of it like a fanfiction, an interesting AU with its own distinct flavor. Who knows, maybe you’ll enjoy 03′s style! It features interesting (not always good, not always bad, but certainly interesting) new characters, such as Dante, the Tringham brothers, Wrath, Sloth, Frank Archer, Lujon and Lydia, and Rick and Leo. It also explores new possibilities and new directions that the manga didn’t. Ever wish Nina, Sheska, Lust, Rose, Martel, or Mason got more character development? Do you wonder what the state alchemist exam might be like? Do you think the homunculi simply being created by Father is too boring an origin story? Are your favorite superhero comic storylines the ones that involve alternate universes crossing over with each other? Ever wanted to see a cyborg shoot bullets out of his mouth? Are AMVs featuring Scar set to early 2000s emo music your niche but passionate hobby? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, 03 is the anime for you!

Also ngl, some of the fight scenes are really cool. Ed vs. Greed in particular... now THAT was some animation, woah. I love it.

In conclusion, if you’re a FMA fan and you haven’t seen 03 before, I highly recommend you check it out! After all, it can’t hurt- Either you’ll enjoy it and have a fun time with more FMA content, or you’ll learn for yourself that you don’t like it, and can simply stop watching. But you’ll never know until you try! Please, don’t listen to bitter, negative fans who only want to drive you away from something you might enjoy. (Ngl, most of them probably weren’t even around before Brotherhood came out anyway; I can tell you from experience that before Brotherhood got really popular, 03 was actually considered to be a really good anime, and had it not been so successful Brotherhood would never have even been created.) Open up to new possibilities, and give 03 a try!

#FMA #Fullmetal Alchemist #I'm just really excited 03 is back on Netflix because every time a big FMA fan tells me they've never seen 03 I get so sad #They're missing out on so much! And all because some people are nasty enough to tell others not to watch something they might like #The FMA fandom as a whole owes a lot to 03. It was what really drove the fandom back in the days before Brotherhood #And whether newer fans are aware of it or not it still does influence the fandom to some extent #The FMA fandom is over 15 years old and is a product of osmosis between both anime and the manga #I truly deeply believe that it's not possible to get the full FMA (fandom) experience without all 3 or at least both the anime #Sometimes I forget that not everyone's seen both #I got into it at a time when everyone had already seen 03 and now everyone was starting to watch Brotherhood as well #So pretty much nobody in the fandom hadn't seen 03 unless they were REALLY new #And had only seen the like... 15 or so episodes of Brotherhood that existed at the time #So sometimes big FMA fans will say they've never seen 03 and I'm just. ??? ??????? but... but how can you... what #But hasn't everyone seen 03??????? Don't you know the memes. THE MEMES. HOW CAN YOU LIKE... BE HERE AND NOT HAVE SEEN 03 #Idk it just completely blindsides me sometimes #I want people to have the chance to Understand #And they can't do that if some fuckos who haven't even read the manga tell everyone not to watch 03 bc it's terrible #I mean yeah it kind of is terrible but also it is good #Because it's FMA #Anyway in conclusion the Mustang squad comedy filler eps shaped who I am as a person and also you can pry Aaron Dismuke from my dead hands

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 7 years

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When I look back at Bendis’ career and impact upon Marvel and the characters I know and love I realize more and more he did far more to harm than to help.

His take on Spider-Man in in large degrees responsible for the ‘YOUNG YOUNG YOUNG Spider-Man’ fetish we’ve been been enduring for so long now.

His invention of Miles has erupted into fan wars which have served to tear down and denigrate the original character.

He invented what may well be the most worthless and shallow legacy character ever in the form of Riri Williams.

He eviscerated the Guardians of the Galaxy.

He destroyed the Avengers and sacrificed their central appeal in order to mark them the centre of the Marvel universe to the point where they are not only impenetrable to all but the most ambitious of fans, but he made being an Avenger meaningless because who ISN’T an Avenger anymore.

His take on Spider-Man in the Avengers further hurt the character and reduced him to a useless manchild who apparently liked being an Avenger and needed to be on most major formations of the team despite contributing NOTHING.

He brought Luke Cage back to prominence, which was a good thing (along with his relationship with Jessica Jones) but he sucked the personality out of Luke and rendered the character who whilst dated and cheesy, was ultimately charming because he was dated and cheesy. Now he’s just...bland.

He rendered Mary Jane out of character by putting her in the Iron books where she increased sales but also contributed NOTHING.

He began a fetish for sticking major characters from one franchise into another on the alleged premise that you can generate uniqueness from doing that and then failed to ever prove that to be true (see MJ in Iron Man, Spider-Man and Wolverine as Avengers, Kitty, Venom, Ben Grimm, Carol Danvers and Iron Man as members of the Guardians).

Created Maria Hill who is just the fucking worst if you read her in...most things actually. Civil War and Standoff might be her worst outings ever but it’s not like those were OOC for her. Her value amounts to basically just being another notable SHIELD agent besides Nick Fury, but actually we’ve had plenty (more memorable) ones of those in the past.

He created precedents for MJ as a reporter (which is incredibly derivative of Lois Lane) and for Norman to be a mutated monster (which goes against the central themes of Norman wearing a mask) and for Spider-Man to be ‘a hero in training’ under the eyes of older heroes (again, not the point of Spider-Man).

He fucked up Wanda’s character by ignoring how her powers work, ignoring her history (he does this is ALL the characters he works on actually) and casting her character as mentally ill (which you could argue is more than a little sexist actually).

He treated Kitty Pryde as his waifu multiple times. She gets to date Spider-Man, become Star-Lord’s fiance (after a mere TWO YEARS of stories), become the new Star-Lord and beat Galactus.

He unmasked Daredevil, an idea derivative of older runs in the first place, but more poignantly created HUGE narrative problems for the character that he just ignored and left up to other people to clean up because he didn’t care.

He wrote some of THE WORST EVER Marvel crossovers and events and helped set the precedent for the indulgent event fatigue we’ve been enduring for over 10 years now.

Secret War: Cynical, overly dark and depressing bullshit storytelling that abuses the characters in the name of ‘realism’ and makes Nick Fury at least MORE of an asshole than he was. I’d evenargue it’s what turned Fury from a gruff leader of a government/military body who tried to do the right thing most of the time into a manipulative piece of shit asshole.

Avengers Disassembled: Requires a willful ignoring of how Wanda’s powers work and her established history. So fucked up that the Young Avengers guys needed to fix it via retcons in the infinitely superior Children’s Crusade storyline.

House of M: Same problems as above and he needed to kind of fix some of it himself 7 years later in another bullshit event. The event itself though REQUIRED the ‘heroes’ to be you know...UNheroic by deciding to just murder their friend instead of finding a better way. Fucked up Wolverine by just removing most of the mystery from him in ONE shot. Began the insufferable misinformation about Spider-Man really loving Gwen Stacy more because she was in his ‘ideal world’ during House of M. Turned Quicksilver into basically a villain. In fact the whole premise of House of M as an ideal world is never made any sense anyway. That’s how little thought Bendis actually put into this story.

Secret Invasion: A Battlestar Galactica rip-off

Dark Reign/Siege: You know how people incorrectly claim Norman Osborn rips off Lex Luthor? Let’s just wholesale MAKE him like Lex Luthor from the DC Animated Universe and the main DC universe during the time he was President. And also forget he has super powers. And also forget he’s Spider-Man’s Big Bad to the point where the story is more concerned with Hawkeye’s beef with him than Peter Parker’s. Meanwhile Spider-Man is robbed of his biggest villain for a prolonged period of time.

AvX: Heroes vs other Heroes AGAIN. Hooray. Haven’t seen that every year since 2004.

Age of Ultron: A confused, overlong set up to introduce and Image comics character into Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man 2099 into Superior Spider-Man and also set up Secret Wars.

Civil War II: Who hasn’t talked about what a turd this was? A bullshit false premise built upon everyone required to be out of character and also devoid of basic logic all in aid of ANOTHER hero vs hero fest that exists to tie into a superior film and promote Carol Danvers ahead of her own movie by tearing her down in the worst way possible. Also to set up Champions and Secret Invasion and make Miles Morales’ existence a way bigger deal than it should be for the ‘everyman’ character.

And then there is the precedent for decompression and writing for the trades. Not only is this frustrating as a reading experience but also harmfully impacts comic sales overall since it is so frustrating month to month and thus encouraging to just read the trades.

Bendis made Marvel a lot of money there is no denying that.

Bendis’ role in the Ultimate Universe might even have helped Marvel out of financial straits to a certain degree.

But from a creative POV, his impact upon the Marvel universe as a whole has been incredibly toxic and the sooner he fucks off the better.

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calangkoh · 7 years

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Character Breakdown: Roy Mustang (2003 Anime)

Time to talk about this awful person. He sucks. And I love him to pieces. He’s a fantastic character. It’s often overlooked that the 2003 anime had hella strong characters (complex, realistic, ambiguous, and meaningful to the well-woven themes of this deeply symbolic series while retaining identities outside of being puppets to the overarching plot), and Roy Mustang was one of them.

I. The Flame Alchemist, Hero of Ishval

II. His goal to be Fuhrer

III. His relationship with Ed

IV. His resolution, and what it all means

I. First a quick rundown: we first really learn about the “Eastern Rebellion” in Flame vs. Fullmetal, where we first see Roy’s PTSD, and his status of the ‘Hero of Ishval’. Later, we learn that it was a massacre from Marcoh. Roy is already disgusted enough by his slaughter of the Ishvalan people, but it’s the order to kill the Rockbells that drives him to an attempted suicide. Initially, I was in the same boat as everyone else who found this problematic--that of all the people he killed, it was the killing of two white doctors that affected him most. But it’s deeper than that. We already know Roy is filled with guilt for the slaughter: he developed a human transmutation theory because of it. In a later episode where he needs to use his alchemy for “crowd control,” he retreats into an emotionless persona. (His remark to Hawkeye, while cold and cruel, makes sense with his PTSD.) So, his order to kill the Rockbells wasn’t more important than other deaths he caused, just different, because it made the military corruption all the more obvious to him and the viewer. (People become soldiers to protect their country, especially in Roy’s case. Most likely the soldiers of the massacre held on to faith that their government was doing all of this for a good reason. It takes the deaths of the people you meant to protect to realize that the government doesn’t actually care about them. Then there’s how it reveals the institutional racism that plays a part as well. 03 isn’t sloppy with how it handles race, so I believe that we are supposed to feel weird about him seemingly being more affected by the Rockbells’ deaths. The race issue is an entirely different analysis, however--one that as a white woman, I don’t feel justified to get into beyond what I’ve already mentioned.) It was also the death that he’d end up hiding from.

Mustang is in Resembool for different reasons than Mangahood at the start of the series. One, he’s coming in response to one of Ed and Al’s letters looking for Hohenheim, but he labels his visit as “nostalgia, or misplaced curiosity.” It’s likely that he wanted to finally face the Rockbells, but got sidetracked with the events that unfolded while he was there. It’s no secret he’s cowardly about it. When Ed makes an offhand comment about Winry (”I’m going to see my doctor...you know the one”), Mustang shuts Edward down with cheap mockery (which lacks the usual banter-y smugness...he actually intended to hurt Edward with this comment). When he visits Gracia, he decides not to come into the house when he sees Winry looking down at him from the window. He remarks to Hawkeye, “Dealing with the living is a lot scarier than the dead. Give me a ghost any day.”

Roy is more clearly affected by the events in Ishval than he is in Brotherhood. He’s a more solemn character, and some key differences in his reactions to shared events between the two series really highlights this. When it’s revealed Scar is Ishvalan, Brotherhood Roy just displays a general shock, while 03 Roy looks down sadly and says sardonically “Now we know why he’s killing us.” I’ve mentioned how the useless-in-the-rain scene differs greatly. This isn’t a criticism of Brotherhood Roy (I like him equally, but for different reasons), but just a highlight of how differently Roy is interpreted and written in ‘03. He’s clearly still dealing with the aftermath of the genocide, while Brotherhood!Roy has moved on to pursue a noble goal. Speaking of this goal, the motivation for becoming fuhrer differs as well, which brings me to the next aspect of 03!Roy’s character...

II. As @combustiblegarbage says, Roy’s goal to become fuhrer was never really about becoming fuhrer, but rather about redemption. It’s unknown why Roy joined the military in the first place, but Hughes seems to imply in the above scene that it was for naive reasons of wanting to protect people.

Maes: ”Did you think if you became a state alchemist you could fix anything? Bring back anyone who died in a controversial war? Invent some utopian world?”

Roy: *smiles* “I don’t know.”

As far as we know, Roy attempted suicide twice, and by the time Maes visits him, he had developed theories of human transmutation. He considers himself a coward for not going through with killing himself, but believes himself unworthy of living, so the only thing he feels he can do is make his life worthwhile. He wants to do something to make up for his mistakes. And he arrives at the conclusion of becoming fuhrer.

But as we know, this is a misguided goal. His reasoning implies that it’s not his fault for following orders, and that he could do everything better if he was in charge (gosh what a prideful thing to believe). I’ll get into this in my final point. For now, a quick mention on Roy’s acting abilities.

While it’s not as explicit (since we don’t have Madame Christmas), Roy’s womanizing and lazy attitude is just as much of a front as it is in Mangahood. This becomes apparent when he vocalizes his desire to be furhrer and is called out on it. He pauses. It’s a significant pause, as though he’s considering how to play off his treacherous statements as nonthreatening. Then, he goes off on his ridiculous mini-skirts skit, which by 03 Roy’s personality, is uncharacteristically overbearing. (Other than his “I LOVE DOGS” rant, in which I agree with Havoc has to do with him being ‘manic’ from Ed challenging him to a duel, Roy is a person who keeps his cool.) Later on in the series, we see Roy go on a date with Grace from the flower shop. While his team assumes it’s just another date their womanizing boss is going on, by the faces Roy makes and the context of the date, we can tell it’s all for information. We see Roy collaborate with Armstrong as well in the same episode. He uses Havoc’s date with Catherine to get a letter from Alex. Roy is always using situations to his advantage, in ways that make him remain unthreatening to outsiders.

And Team Mustang is more or less aware of this, and has mad respect for him. (I even interpret Havoc’s response to the mini-skirt rant as playing along with the act.)

Havoc: “Mustang cares about that stuff.”

Ed: “Or wants a promotion.”

Havoc: *slams on breaks* “It’s true, kid. Mustang’s no political novice. He’ll do whatever it takes to move up the chain around here. But if that’s all he’s about, we wouldn’t follow him.”

III. Roy’s relationship with Ed is fascinating to me, because he’s simultaneously protective of him, while also being unforgiving and sometimes cruel in trying to expose him to the harsh realities of life. It’s almost as if Roy is fine exposing Ed to these truths as long as he’s in control of it. He’ll be smug or indifferent to Ed’s suffering as long as he has the teen wrapped around his finger, or as long as he’s not left in the dark. As soon as Ed starts getting into trouble without Roy knowing, or without him having the ability to protect him in case something goes horribly wrong, that’s when Roy gets angry.

At first, Riza’s comment seemed off to me, since Roy never really expressed care when they were in danger. I then realized two things: one being that Roy’s irrationality must happen largely offscreen, and Riza’s comment being our hint to that. Roy seems to always know everything that’s going on with the Elrics before the plot takes off, and there was a three-year gap of military life we don’t know about. I assume that (a) Roy has a period between sending them off on missions and eventually retrieving information on the boys where he becomes overly concerned about them and (b) one reason he seems to know everything Ed does is because he’s overprotective and cares about their safety, and he just likes to play it off as a power move when facing them (as a way to keep them from getting into trouble that he’d be unable to rescue them from). The other thing I realized, is that her saying this is more like a “hey. look at his previous actions in the series with a new perspective,” from the writers. All his smugness with the boys is just as much a front as the rest of his persona. He keeps tabs on them. He tries too hard to be in control of them at all times. He acts manipulative. All of it is his (albeit horrible and unhealthy) way of caring for them while trying to hide it.

And after this, we see Roy’s more genuine care for Ed. He gives a loving look when he stops Archer from drawing his gun at Ed’s outburst. He gets visibly stressed out by Ed talking to Archer (a man Roy rightfully distrusts) alone and making deals with him. He tries to advise him. After the events of Liore, he aggressively tracks down Ed, and when he finally faces him, he yells at him for not coming to him for protection.

“I’m not chasing you because I was commanded to; I’m doing it because I’m pissed. Now why did you two run away without asking for my help first?!”

Roy should know that Ed doesn’t really have reason to trust him with all the times he low-key blackmailed him, but somewhere deep down he’s offended that Ed couldn’t see that Roy actually does care for him. He’s angry that Ed didn’t trust him enough to ask for his help and to leave him in the dark, and he’s angry with himself for not being able to be there for him. It all goes back to Roy needing to feel in control of the boys in order to know that they’re safe.

EDIT: It’s also important to mention how Roy his the truth about Ishval from Ed (another reason Ed doesn’t trust Roy). For someone who believes Ed to be familiar with the harshness of the world and freely exposes him to it, the Liore case was something he couldn’t bring himself to talk about with Ed. He said his reasoning explicitly. It was too much for Ed to handle. He knew it would psychologically break Ed (and it did), meaning Roy never gave Ed anything he didn’t think he could handle.

[[Though this is a controversial viewpoint, I do believe Roy was a (again, albeit horrible and flawed) parental figure toward Ed. His state in CoS seems to solidify that he felt responsible for protecting him, blaming himself for his disappearance. From the start, Roy takes the Elrics under his wing and guides them. Even Brotherhood!Roy wasn’t as ‘parental’ as 03!Roy was; BH!Roy was much more of a peer/older sibling figure, at least in comparison.]]

IV. Just as Ed and Al had to battle their sins (Ed and Al battling Sloth, and Al battling Wrath was also quite symbolic), Mustang battled his: Pride, or “preoccupation with oneself.” As I mentioned, Roy’s motivation for becoming fuhrer is a less noble goal than it is in Brotherhood, because it’s still motivated by selfish reasons: a desire to redeem himself and erase his guilt (even though it likely wouldn’t succeed), and because of complacency in the corrupt system (a major theme of 03) and that in achieving power he would be able to ‘do it better,’ so to speak.

Bradley is Pride in 2003 for a few reasons, but the one that correlates with Roy is his statement of believing himself to be a guardian angel to humans by doing things in favor of a (wrong and corrupted worldview provided by Dante) bigger picture. This is essentially an ends-justify-the-means attitude in favor of bringing an ideal to fruition. And this is exactly what Roy says was wrong with his attitude in the car scene, and again strengthens later.

“The end justifies the means when it comes to achieving my ultimate goal. Back then, that just seemed like the right stance for me to take...[in response to Ed saying he wouldn’t be able to become fuhrer] That may be, but I can’t let him get away with what he’s done.”

...

“I didn’t do this for politics. I couldn’t forgive myself for being blind this long. It was the only way to atone for the friends I didn’t save.”

Two major themes of the series are present with Roy in this sense: “Even when our eyes are closed, there exists a world outside of us and our dreams” and the theme of equivalent exchange run parallel with this development.

The former refers to how no matter how much we want something, we can’t turn a blind eye to how those wants coming true would affect the world around us. We can’t ignore what we sacrifice to selfishly achieve those dreams. AKA, Roy’s dream to be fuhrer.

The latter refers to how equivalent exchange isn’t a clean rule. In Roy’s case, he does the right thing by defeating Pride, and by shounen anime standards, doesn’t that mean he should somehow get what he wants in the end as a reward? 2003 says no. Sometimes you can do the right thing and end up losing everything because of it, but no matter how unappealing that possibility seems, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, because we’re not independent from the world around us. We’re a part of it, and we’re only as good as we collectively make it. The reward should be in that. This further ties into “there never will be a war that isn’t in some part caused by all of us.”

So Roy’s journey adds to the themes of 03, just as most characters do. His arc is beautiful in that sense. In what it represents. Like Ed, he’s a deeply flawed and sometimes horrible person, but you need these complexities to get your point across. He works wonderfully with the narrative.

#meta #roy mustang #fma 03 #fma 2003 #fullmetal alchemist #calangkoh

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