Episode 19

Aired 20060707. The Truth Behind Truths. Same as original title.
Here's the episode guide and detailed recap at TV.com.

Instead of English vs Japanese this time, the thing that bugs me most, is the anime vs manga difference on the brothers' personally. In this episode, Ed completely gives up. Which means, he wouldn't be getting Al's body back. This is unthinkable in the manga. Ed always puts Al first. Even in Gluttony's stomach.

In the manga, when Ed gets depressed about the human sacrifice and goes into a shut-down mode spending hours lying on the couch, Al tells him to eat something. That, is impressive. Al feels no hunger and doesn't need food himself, but he never forget about Ed. Just one line shows Al equally puts Ed first. (Yeah... but... the brothers are a bit too obsessed with each other... No wonder why there are so many dojinshis...)

And the actor's attempt of a bitter Ed sounds like an old evil witch. Al isn't as supportive as the sub.

Ross calls Ed "Ed"? Hey he's your superior! You should be addressing him as "Mr. Elric"! (Well, the original is "Mr. Edward", though...)

Dub: It's our duty.
Sub: Please! (Should be more like "I beg you".)
Ed and Al are surprised at Ross' plead. But this reaction doesn't make sense with the dub.

Dub: It's the right choice.
Sub: You can count on us.
The dub makes Ross sound too bossy.

Clever camera work on these action shots. By using stills, they save a lot of animations. Sneaky!!

What? Scar knows magic or something? A plot device turn into a hole-in-the-plot! Very unnecessary! Or is this the best way the screen writer could come up with, to let Scar know Ed has discovered the secret? Scar has no such ability in the manga.

Dub: Damn those two.
Sub: Those kids...
Ross is supposed to play a motherly role. She cares, and very concerned about the brothers and would never say "damn those two".

I'm glad they did it the same way as the original. When Envy transforms into Ed, the voice is also Ed's.
Dub: I'll kill him! Let me! Let me please!
Sub: If you're going to kill him, give him to me!
"Eating" should be the only thing Gluttony is interested in. Not "killing". And... another slack off shot? The camera on Gluttony while Lust talks to Envy.

Funniest moments. They did it exactly like in the manga! (Ah, only the one of the left. The other one is original.) However... animation quality of some shots aren't too good. But the fighting scenes are excellent, though. The timing is very dynamic.

Indiana Jones! CG ball!

Hey, what does Ed transmute the walls and floor into???





Greed's first entrance! (I totally missed it the first time.)




CG door! Hey... the door in the previous short looks different!


Winry sounds too casual with the missed screw. She's a lot more apologetic in the original.






Oh! First time the house was shown in the end credit. But it's been cut short anyway so it's meaningless...

Japanese sites spying time: (^_^)
The review of episode 19 at Yoo's blog Fuuyuu.
The review of episode 19 (page 1 & page 2) by Saori Amano at Egaoni Aetara.

Yoo's observation is impressive. He said in his review of episode 8, that the author treats the protagonist as a child. in this episode, it shows. Especially the scene where Ross convinces Ed to keep going. Try listening to the dialogue without watching the the screen. It's truly a "conversation between child and adult". The actors have sure done a good job, but the bottom line is, the story has a very solid backbone. Instead of getting rid of adults, the author gives them proper roles to play towards children. This author... must have had a very good up-bringing, and it shows in her work.