Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 52

With things hotting up for all and sundry last time around, it's no surprise that episode fifty-two of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood consists almost entirely of wall-to-wall action.

A large chunk of this action focuses upon Alphonse, who rather fortuitously came into the possession of a Philosopher's Stone last episode, which he uses to great effect to enable him to fight the dual menaces of Pride and Kimblee. Even with the additional power that this grants him he still needs a little help from his friends however, and luckily for him some of them make an appearance at just the right time to add their own varied abilities to the fight.


Elsewhere, the Armstrongs are still in the line of fire with regards to Sloth, who gets to show off some more of his own particular powers, while Mustang and his comrades look for a way into Central and Edward and his posse continue the seemingly fruitless fight against the Philosopher's Stone-created army that simply won't die. Add to that May Chan's troubles against the newly regenerated Envy, and that covers pretty much all of the major factions involved in the current state of affairs.

While this episode is perhaps rather light on major aspects of plot progression, it certainly serves up an impress action-packed instalment for us which can be enjoyed in its own right - Yes, it does pull off the old trick of a friendly face appearing "just in time" to save the day a few times too often, but that's to be expected of any series like this at this particular juncture, and even with that in place you can't help but enjoy some of those twists and turns as they pan out in front of us. Even though this isn't the meatiest episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood you'll find, it still doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the gore and horror of the situation it portrays while still managing to be quite breath-taking on occasion when it comes to the action on show, meaning that it remains as watchable as ever.