Sunday 9 May 2010

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 56

The king is back, and he ain't happy - With King Bradley's return serving as quite the cliffhanger for the previous instalment of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, it was obvious that his efforts would make up a large portion of episode fifty-six.


Before that however we have other matters to attend to - After a brief flashback segment, we see Hoenheim facing off against his former "master", with it seeming that he's managed to grab an upper hand thanks to his unique take on the powers trapped within every Philosopher's Stone. This being Fullmetal Alchemist however, needless to say things aren't exactly that simple, and any victory on Hoenheim's part is merely a temporary one for now.

From here we finally move back to seeing the wrath of... err, Wrath, at close hand, as he sets about regaining his "home" while his loyal troops also redouble their efforts against Briggs' soldiers and the other rebels, which also looks set to make life difficult for those who had been holed up in the radio station as their propaganda campaign looks set to be blown wide open. Ultimately however, much of the remainder of episode turns into an all-out fight between Wrath and Greed, who has turned up to take his part in proceedings. He isn't the only one out looking for revenge though, as there are others more than ready and willing to lay their life on the line in the name of getting even...

I could call this episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood run-of-the-mill, which in a sense it is for this series, but I'm not going to as it makes it sound as though it wasn't anything but as entertaining as always, with the instalment's running time somehow feeling more like five minutes than twenty-five once you're engrossed in the action. That said, action was almost all there was to this episode beyond the initial exchanges involving Hoenheim, serving as a fantastic blood and guts episode but without progressing the plot substantially, while it wasn't really the best animated of episodes either aside from the odd breath-taking sequence here and there. All in all then, this maybe isn't the best showcase for the franchise as a whole, but the fact that even it's average episodes are impossible to tear yourself away from says a lot in all honesty.

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