Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 50

With the sun having risen on the so-called Promised Day, we all know that things are about to start rapidly hotting up within the world of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as we hit episode fifty, and I for one can't wait...

Certainly, this episode doesn't disappoint, proving to be a grin-inducing affair from beginning to end as we see the rebels numbers growing and giving the conventional forces of Central's military more and more problems - First, via Mustang's rabble of former comrades who work together without killing any of their former colleagues, before those who have been in hiding from Briggs join the fray, albeit with slightly less scruples when it comes to the body count. Even the Major General Armstrong isn't likely to sit around idly at such a time, and thus even she gets involved in the "festivities".


Meanwhile of course, Alphonse remains locked away with ride who does nothing but drum out a beat on the headpiece of Al's armour (which is rapidly beginning to seem less pointless than we may have first thought), while Ed and his own band of merry men accompany Hoenheim to quite literally get to the root of the country's problems. With May Chang returning to Central with Envy in tow however, and with all sorts of additional chaos about to be unleashed, there are a multitude of flies threatening to land in the rebellion's ointment.

I'm sure by this point I don't really need to put into words just how phenomenal Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood continues to be, with this episode proving to be a real highlight for the reasons I mentioned earlier - Seeing the good guys finally put their plan into action in full force is an air-punching, "yeah!" shouting pleasure of the highest degree that even the best and most patriotic Hollywood war movies would struggle to replicate. Even despite the clear-cut enjoyment to be had here, the series never forgets its darker perils laying beneath the service, and for all the flag-waving and cheering on the good guys there's always a healthy dose of foreboding lurking beneath this episode to make the prospect of what is to come all the more delicious. If this series gets any better, it's going to seriously start to scare me - Nothing this good can be healthy, surely?