Don't forget 3. Oct. 11
This is where I take the opportunity to debunk this really ridiculous argument about Edward Elric.
I’ve seen a lot of criticism for how emotional Ed is in this series. He doesn’t cry often, but he tears up and expresses a lot of negativity that doesn’t fall under your typical shonen macho bravado.
Edward Elric is a fifteen year old boy.
Edward Elric is a traumatized, injured, lonely, orphaned fifteen year old boy who has had to take on responsibilities that are far above his maturity level.
He has endured pain on the level of a soldier in a full-scale war and then some.
He has had flashbacks triggered, he’s lost two of his limbs, he has nightmares of blood and decaying flesh, he has lost his mother, he blames himself for what happened to his brother, he watched an innocent child die and blames himself for that too, he has just recently admitted he doesn’t have anyone older he can trust right now, he has nearly been murdered with knives and with amplified alchemy designed to blow his brain apart, he doesn’t have a home, he’s cut himself off from his remaining family besides Al for their own protection after seeing what dangers his job incurs.
He loses sleep on research. He carries limbs that are too heavy for his body mass. He is regularly called upon to solve problems that are better left in the hands of adults by other adults he distrusts because he feels like they will only exploit him.
All while trying to be the adult he is just not ready to be. Not yet.
You will never experience half of what this kid experienced. This orphaned, child soldier, amputee who is trying to save he and his brother’s livelihoods under corrupt authorities who’d kill him for stepping out of line.
He deserves to shed tears.
zukitz
Wow, everyone wants to talk about this today, eh
Sure he does deserve to cry and be emotional and stuff. But that doesn’t mean that he will.
Edward has a lot of pride. He’s been through hell and back and survived. Because of his experiences, he feels the need to be behave like an adult and he expect that sort of treatment; which is why he shows a lot of anger and frustration when people don’t take him seriously due to his height and age. He puts a lot of effort to earn respect from the authorities and adults, which is why I’m pretty certain that he wouldn’t cry. At least not very easily.
Thats what I like about the 2009 series the best: they keep their characters strong and consistent. I felt like the characters were a little sloppy in the 2003 portrayal, so towards the end they basically fell apart to the point where they were nearly bland or inconsistent. Yes, characters do develop but you need to control that balance and make sure that there is way for that to actually happen.
But you’re applying mangahood!Ed’s character traits to 2003!Ed and expecting them to still hold true? 2003!Ed is a different character, especially with regards to how he processes emotion. I’d make the argument that the first anime tends towards a more realistic portrayal of emotional reactions to trauma, while the mangahood goes for a more idealized portrayal - and there’s nothing wrong with an idealized portrayal, it makes more thematic sense in the mangahood, but it would not make sense for the themes of FMA2003.
And FMA2003 Ed doesn’t exactly cry easily, either. Most of the times we see him cry are when he’s still twelve or younger, and undergoing amounts of trauma and stress that would bring an adult to tears too (ex: crying when he finds what’s left of Nina’s body - remember that in the first anime, the Elrics lived with the Tuckers for around a half of a year, so Nina’s death hits them that much harder.)
I disagree about character portrayal and consistency in the different canons. I think both do a pretty good job with it. Do you have examples for “sloppy?“ characterization? Because I don’t see it.
To each their own and whatever, but I personally appreciated how FMA2003 Ed was set up as an archetypal shonen hero, but was then deconstructed and subverted. All that bravado is a front, he’s much more fragile than he wants anyone to know, but sometimes the mask falls down and we see him like this. That’s more appealing to me than just muscling through the pain.
i mean it when i say that fullmetal alchemist has ruined my standards for shonen anime. cant even watch a new modern series w/o thinking abt how arakawa already did it better
#fullmetal alchemist#fullmetal alchemist brotherhood#fma#fmab#im lookin @ u demon slayer#im sorry but the protective sibling dynamic peaked with two orphaned brothers#also am i the only one irritated that they just. introduced tanjiros really good sense smell for no reason other than plot progression.#like. idk if i stopped too soon but it feels so out of place#overall i get what its going for but the characters are too shallow for me#zenny.txt
I drew Greedling for an art trade ~
Full Metal Alchemist - Hiromu Arakawa Illustrations
im so mad at how smart hughes is and yet everyone calls him a himbo!!!!!!! hes faking his stupidity guys just like how roy fakes his love life
this is how episode 56 went, right?
Better late than never! Edling for Ed’s bday
this is it. this is their entire dynamic
to anyone wondering about the source: its from the fullmetal alchemist 2003 ova “kids”!
