Both of them seem strangely fascinated by that rock. Not that we can blame them…it is rather shiny, so people would be attracted to it as a matter of course. That also explains why they want to keep the mining secret…if people heard there were shiny rocks around, they’d go to any lengths to steal them.

I’m sure that when they say they’ll ensure the miners’ loyalty, they mean with an excellent pay and benefits package, including paid leave, 401k, and stock options. Though it will be quite the endeavor to set that up when you’re also arranging games and entertainment for the upcoming festival…that’s probably what the Stranger meant, right?

You’ll notice a new little link down at the bottom of the page; Ascension is now part of Top Webcomics! Woo! We don’t have a character in the voting rotation…yet…but you can still vote for us and help bring in new readers! Which will hopelessly addict them to the comic, make them my minions, and further my plans to conquer the world!

Ah. You might want to forget I said that.

Those who’ve been following the comic for a while might remember that I’m a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist. In fact, Li’s first bonus picture cosplay (and a continuing favorite) was Lust. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve been following the Brotherhood series as well. Before we go further, you hereby have permission to mock me on the following points: the fact that I watch the dubbed version (Monica Rial, I love you, but I just don’t buy you as May Chang. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you just sound…off. Sorry.), the fact that I wait for the DVD release instead of getting them off FUNimation’s website, the fact that I waited for the DVD release instead of torrenting them the instant they came out in Japan, and the fact that I watch the DVD version instead of the Blu Ray (largely because my crappy old CRT is still working and I can’t justify dropping a couple thou on an HD while it still putters along). Feel free to question my sexuality and whether or not I’m a “real” fan based on any or all of those points.

And fair be warned, there will be some spoilers below, but if you’re reading this you probably already know about them. I’m sure a number of people checked out at the end of the first sentence of the preceding paragraph.

Anyway, what’s been bothering me about Brotherhood isn’t really anything about the series itself (though I mentioned Monica Rial above, and add to the list Todd Haberkorn , J. Michael Tatum, and John Swasey as all sounding off to me, though Tatum and Swasey might just be because I was used to Dameon Clarke and Scott McNeil), but rather the way it’s advertised as being “true to the manga.” It didn’t really bother me at first, but the more I thought about it the more it rubbed at me, like that single grain of sand that gets in an oyster. It is a correct assertion, since as we all know the first series was changed at the request of Hiromu Arakawa (I’ve heard both that she requested it because she didn’t have it planned out far enough at the time and that she didn’t want to spoil the manga’s storyline, so I don’t know which is true). Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but that seems…smug to me, like they’re saying “This is the real version.” Particularly when you consider that Brotherhood was likely made and got all its spiffy extra production values due to the success of the first series.

I know it’s kind of an irrational feeling, and it may have something to do with the fact that…well…I think that there are some things that the first anime series did better than the manga (and subsequently Brotherhood). (And hey, here’s another point for you to question my otaku cred on) The major example I can think of is Lust’s death. In the first anime, it was very satisfying, being the culmination of her character’s journey throughout the entire run and her increasing questioning about what it means to be a homonculi versus what it means to be a human. Moreover, the method of death is very satisfying from a storytelling perspective: you need to weaken the homonculi through contact with some token of their former selves and then perform an alchemical ritual to extract the Philosopher’s Stones that give them their immortality.

In the manga and Brotherhood, though, it’s almost a non-event. The dark secret to killing the homonculi is…kill them over and over until they stop regenerating! If this was a video rant, this would be the point where my face would dramatically fall from a look of excited anticipation to one of vague disappointment and annoyance. I suppose if you’re trying to root it in a more “rational” motif it makes more sense, since a Philosopher’s Stone would only have so many souls contained within it and each soul could regenerate them once but still…eh. It just seems too…video game-y.

Mustang: Haha! That’s your last man! One more and it’s game over!
Lust: Up up down down left right left right B A
Mustang: SONOFABITCH!

It also sort of raises the issue of how lucky Mustang was to catch Lust when her Philosopher’s Stone was almost drained. Imagine if she had 500 souls in her Stone when he confronted her instead of a couple.

Mustang: 397 souls in the bitch, 397 soooulllsssss. You flicker the lighter FWOOOOSSSHH 396 souls in the bitch to kill
Lust: Can we pick this up later? I have a mani scheduled, and you would not believe how long those take for me. It’s a nightmare to schedule.

In the end I suppose it’s really just a harmless bit of advertising on the shrink wrap, but it’ll probably always bug me. And what is the Internet for if not inane pontificating?