Episode 9

Aired 20060428.

Be Thou For the People. Original title, Silver Watch of the Dog of the Military. (Yeah... they call it "silver watch" instead of "pocket watch".

(Hahaha... got carried away writing to my new Japanese "pen pal" and totally ignored my own blog. This is exactly one week late.)

So...
Moving away from last episode's dark clouds, this one slowly brightened up. Ed was still depressed in the beginning but he was pretty much back to normal after 2/3.

1. Winry had her shopping spree and then return to Rezembal.
2. Ed got his first mission as a State Alchemist, which was to inspect the Usewell coal mine.
3. His first taste on how much the military was hated.
4. Yoki and Lyla were introduced. (Lyla was a TV-only character.)
5. The overseer of the town, Lieutenant Yoki, was the cause of the people's suffering.
6. Mustang got promoted to Colonel and transferred to the Eastern Headquarter. (This is the opposited to the manga. He started in the East first and then transfered to Central later.)
   
7. Hawkeye also got promoted to first Lieutenant. (The promotions of Mustang and Hawkeye were because of the Ishbal civil war in the manga.)
   
8. Yoki tried to bribe Ed.
9. Halling's inn was destroyed. (Yoki's doing)
10. Ed decided to help the locals by scamming the town away from Yoki, and then giving it back to the people.
11. As a result, his reputation as a State Alchemist who sided with common people grew.
12. Mustang seemed to have used Ed to "clean up" the east before the transfer.
13. The last 30 seconds of this episode brought the time line back to "current".
    

Wow wow wow... tones of translations misses even before the OP!

• Winry was also shopping for her Granny, not just for herself.
• And she asked for the machine oil to be thrown in for fee, not to be put on her tap.
• Hold on, It was simply "machine oil", not "sewing machine oil".
• Mustang's messenger should have refereed to him as "Lieutenant Colonel Mustang" instead of just "Mustang".
• When Ed received his mission, Hawkeye was treating him a little too harsh, on top of Mustang's already intimidating attitude. (Poor Ed...)

More...

• Sigh... I thought I finally got used to Al's voice. But this time I have to say something. The carriage scene was totally screwed up. Originally, Al sounded like he was trying to cheer Ed up. (Good acting of Al = you can sense Ed's feeling without him even saying a word.) But the English version sounded like Al was just enjoying the trip. A complete failure.
• My God... Halling's wife sounded so wrong about the broken vase! She kept it because she treasured it, not because he didn't buy her another one!! Geeze...
• Ed sounded like he was bragging when he revealed his State Alchemist identity to the miners, but he was actually pretty low key in the Japanese version.
• The sarcasm exploded out of control. Halling even sounded too rude when greeting Yoki.
• O...K... Hawkeye called General Hakuro "General Huruko" too...?
• Wait a minute... Ed never agree to accept Yoki's bribe! He only said he'd think about it!!

In terms of story...

• I don't believe Al would do nothing when Kyle was almost sliced by Yoki's man?
• Why were Al and Kyle the only people in the inn when it collapsed? It looked like bed time already but why weren't his parents inside the building too?
• The introduction of Lyla is probably for contrasting Ed. An alchemist who actually sold her soul to the military and not care about the people. At this point I don't think the anime staff planned to have her return as a key character in the last quarter.
• What!? The last 30 seconds that return the time line back to "current" was way too sudden and short! If you miss the 2 shots that showed the brothers' age, or Al's comment on Lior, you won't know what's going on! Sigh... yeah, this is one thing that sets this series apart. The story moves really fast and you gotta pay full attention!

Shots to look at...

No punches this time, but still plenty of impacts.

Finally! Funiture that is normal size. (Ed's feet really don't reach the ground.)

The camera dolly-out this CG hallway! They built this hallway just for one shot? Ya gotta be kidding me!








Excellent eyes leading action! This shot was less than 1.5 second, but it showed that Ed was thinking quickly and considerately even during an emergency. He took a quick glance at the crowd and realized he might get other people injured. So he ran off and drew Lyla's attack out to the open. And at the end of the shot when Ed is closer to the camera, he's blurred for a racked focus effect! All of these in such a short time! Impressive acting and timing!! However, this is a very expensive shot since the amount of resources spent may not be picked up by the audiences. It's gone if you blink!

Opposite to the last one, this shot has unclear eye line. When Lyla was on the ground defeated, she was looking at Ed at first, and then looked up before finally admitting the defeat? But... what was she looking up at??? Ed didn't move! (At least there was no sound of footstep.) It looked more like a moment of eureka?!

Hey! That stack of notes in front of the photo in the OP has the "12 Gates" printed on it too! I wonder if Ed's report also used the same text as dummy!

Last but not least, Ed's evil moment.

Japanese sites spying time: (^_^)
The review of episode 9 at Yoo's blog Fuuyuu.
The review of episode 9 (page 1 & page 2) by Saori Amano at Egaoni Aetara.