Ch. 108

[dragonimp]

Well, the scanlation is up.

Okay, the fight was wrapped up really well. There's not much to say about that. It kept the same level of intensity as the last several chapters. And seeing the blob get eaten by the Gate was worth it.

I still think Roy getting his sight back cheapens it. That wasn't the only option. But at least she did it in a way that makes sense; his eyes weren't healed, the implication was that he actually went back to the Gate and used the Stone as the toll to get them back. But it still annoys me.

At least Al and Ed didn't settle down right away. I'm glad she showed them preparing to travel around and learn.

The Ed/Winry stuff... I'm not upset that it happened. I knew it was coming I'd resigned myself to it. And Ed's way of 'proposing' was actually pretty Ed-like and cute. But there are still some things that bug me:

Winry was always Ed's equal. She was never one to submit or back down. To the point of being, eh, kinda abusive, but the point is that they've always been on a pretty even footing. But now we get this:

A condescending pat on the head, and her hiding in his arms like a little girl. If I was an Ed/Win shipper I'd be pissed (I'm pissed anyway), because the dynamic of their relationship was just ruined within a handful of panels.

But that's not the end of it. In the photos at the end, we don't get to see how Ed and Winry are getting on some years down the road. We get this:

Hohenheim and Trisha, take 2.

The picture itself is not the problem (I can see them doing that to honor Ed's parents), it's the fact that it's all we get. Way to honor the characters, turn them into clones of the previous generation. It's particularly insulting to Winry; at least Ed looks like himself. Did Winry really have to be wearing Trisha's hairstyle?? Let her be her own person!

I can mostly live with this ending. We knew we - 'we' being the yaoi fans - would have to rewrite things to some extent anyway, so that's irrelevant. But Roy getting his sight back doesn't sit well, and Ed and Winry's relationship went from boring to disturbing. It's aggravating.

Beyond that, there's always going to be a let-down when something ends, especially something that's been going on as long as this. May we all continue to find solace in fandom!

Comments

[pandoraculpa]

First of all, my disturbed brain keeps insisting that those kids in the picture are actually Al and Mei's. Ed and Winry tried the whole married thing, but it fell apart pretty quick because of how easily Winry rolls over for Ed, when what he needs is a strong adversary for a partner. But then, like I mentioned, that's my denial brain in action.

(although I really have felt like, toward the end of the manga, Winry went from being a strong woman to being the stereotypical waiting-in-the-wings-and-weeping obligatory girlfriend. Ugh.)

I'm also with you about Roy's sight. I'd rather have seen him buck the system and stay on in the military regardless of his blindness, being the strong leader we know him to be. I'm also unhappy that the bit about regaining his sight was ALL of the wrap-up we got for him. He deserved so much more than that! Hell, the chimeras got a better ending than him! (better in terms of completeness, I mean)

But Ed's loss of alchemy was intriguing. As in, is already trying to spawn stories in my head (which, of course, feature the aforementioned denial ending). I thought that did great service to Ed's character, and spoke well of who he'd become.

So yeah, there were some flaws in the ending, but overall, I think it was pretty well managed. Another 30 or so pages to really flesh out the aftermath would've been nice, but eh. That's what fanfiction is for, ne?

[dragonimp]

Yeah, Winry turned into a stereotypical anime girlfriend :P. I'm not all that surprised, really, but it's disappointing. And it's mostly little things, too, like the staging of that hug at the train station. Even with Ed's new height, she could've drawn that so it didn't look so unequal. But eh - not my OTP anyway.

I would've been happy if there'd been a line about Grumman changing the rules to let disabled soldiers serve in a non-combat capacity, or if Roy had retired but stayed as a civilian advisor or something. That kind of thing lets him have much more strength of character than "oh here - magic fix!" This is the guy who cauterized his own wounds and then carved his array into the back of his hand - he'd have found a way.

Part of me thinks Ed should've taken Hohenheim up on his offer ^^. But what he actually did is much more in keeping with character. It seemed like it was party "I don't want this thing any more, it causes too much trouble."

[auragirl.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I pretty much expected all of this..as much as I like FMA - as you know, I just prefer the first anime a bazillion times over any of the manga....well.

Basically my only thought, reading your comments, was nodding in agreement to your opinions and going "well what did you expect?" when you expressed displeasure with the way Ed and Winry's relationship went.

The fact that Ed and Winry are drawn to look like clones of Hoho and Trisha is absolutely unsurprising - it's a major trope in anime and manga, children always end up doing exactly what their parents did, or inheriting qualities in a really unrealistic way. It's both a way to "close" a story and a symptom of the Japanese belief that children will/should grow up to be just like their parents, fill the same social niche, do the same job, work for the same company, go to the same schools etc. It's a mindset that prizes the social group over the individual, and it shows up constantly in almost any story where families are present.

I do think it's a trope in animation and comics in general to show children in a similar situation to the parents when it's a story that's followed their whole lives, but in Japanese media I tend to find that it's more pervasive and doesn't just include an iconic image to show that the story has come full circle, but often times a literal implication that EVERYTHING is the same. I guess for the Japanese audience it's a "feel-good" ending, because it shows that the troubled protagonist(s) have taken their place in the circle of life, blah blah blah, they have found true happiness by settling down, becoming a useful member of society by having a family and doing exactly what their parents did!

Just a couple of examples off the top of my head:

- Kaitou Kid from Detective Conan has character relationships with others in the series that are identical to the relationships that all of their parents had, when they were young. And all of the children are filling the same roles that their parents filled.

- Prince of Tennis has Ryoma spending an entire (extremely lengthy series) trying to not be like his dad.........except he's just like his dad anyway.

- Fruits Basket makes a big deal about Yuki becoming student body president because Ayame was student body president. Yuki doesn't want to do it but eventually he gives up and accepts it, more or less.

- Lupin the Third obviously does exactly the same things his grandfather and father did, and almost every other recurring character in the series is also a descendant of someone famous that they are doing the exact same thing as, too. And in the aborted series Lupin the Eighth that never got past a pilot episode, the descendants of Lupin and everyone else from the show continued to do exactly what all their ancestors did (only IN SPACE!)

- CLAMP's Man of Many Faces shows Akira as a kid who absolutely hates stealing, but is forced to follow in his catburglar dad's footsteps, and end up in a relationship with a girl that's similar to his moms (he has two mothers, don't ask).

There are more examples but I can't think of them right this moment...

Why is this trope so prevelant in stories about kaitous? I have no idea...though I think possibly they're all paying homage to Lupin ...but it doesn't change the fact that the authors all seem to think this is a GREAT idea and is the best, nicest way to wrap up their story.

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

I know it's a common Japanese trope, but it was done poorly. It's been established several times throughout the series how similar Ed is to his father, and Winry is to her parents. That doesn't bother me. But to turn Winry into a clone of Trisha grates against her character, and to make that the only glimpse we get makes it a bit much. If she'd had her own hair style I could probably deal with it, but that was the last straw. She could have had them following in their parents' footsteps in a way that also kept better with their established characters.

[randomcheeses.livejournal.com]

At least it wasn't Mei-Sue who fixed Roy's eyesight. Aargh.

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, true. I would've cried foul if it was.

[priestess-grrrl.livejournal.com]

*nods* In total agreement, here.

That's a really good point about how Winry's character in addition to Ed's is also degraded. Why, in God's name, would Edward want to be just like his asshole father?? That makes no sense at all. And while Trisha was a decent person, she's very stereotypically feminine: sweet, docile, motherly, and of course totally compliant, even in the face of "yeah um, thing is, I'm actually immortal and I gotta go now. Good luck raising the kids. TTYL." ??!!

I'm not actually a Winry hater - I think she has a lot of good qualities. Two scenes in the manga come to mind: one, when she delivered the baby in Youswell, and two, when she knocks some sense into Alphonse after the Barry the Chopper incident. Both of those times she's fast on her feet, doesn't take shit and holds her own very well. Also her taking the job in Rush Valley shows her independence and her ability to go after her dreams.

To turn her into this weepy, waiting-for-her-true-love-to-come-home stereotype totally degrades her. What is it she says about Ed leaving, "a guy who just sits around is boring"? WTF is that?? So it's okay if he just takes off, like his father? What the hell kind of couple declares their love for one another and then separates? And while we're on that topic, what kind of brothers just get reunited body and soul and then separate themselves? It just didn't make sense.

Like I was saying over on my LJ, it feels like Ed is no longer Ed. I understand the whole "he grows up" concept, and I get that it's a Japanese trope, too. But really? He's just "fixed" now? Because he realized he was in love with Winry all along? Love doesn't "fix" people. Once again, exhibit A, your honor: Hoho/Trisha. Sheesh.

Re: Roy's eyesight... yeah, it was a little deus ex machina, but honestly, the Roy fangirl in me was relieved, have to admit. But it was cheap, you're absolutely right. I did like the whole Ishbal thing, that was cool. It seemed fitting that Roy would be the one to make those changes. But yeah, I mean, a little too much deux ex in this last chappie for my taste. Roy, like Edward, has a boatload of issues, which are not all resolved away by a Philosopher's Stone. But at least we don't see Roy smiling at the altar next to Riza. *makes vomiting noises*

Yeah, it's hard. I'm torn. I want to be happy with my friends who are happy, and it's not like I wasn't expecting the EdWin. But a part of me is still bitterly disappointed.

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

I guess that line is supposed to be taken as Winry knows Ed's not the homebody type, and is okay with that - but wouldn't it have been better to have something along the lines of "It's okay; he always comes back"? Because *that's* the important difference between Ed and Hohenheim. Maybe we're supposed to assume they worked out a lot of issues in the two years we missed, but arrrg that was a cheap way to do it. (I realize she didn't have the space to show it all, but as it is it makes it look like there were no lasting problems :P)

I think with Roy I would've rather seen some indication of him working around the disability, like having to retire but staying on as a civilian advisor, or a line from Grumman about how forced retirement is a waste of good resources so he's changed the rules to let disabled soldiers stay on in non-combat roles. Roy's the kind of character who keeps going no matter what the odds, and I would've liked to have seen that here. But the way she did it just seemed too much like "loose end, meet magic fix!"

I agree, any Royai would've been the last straw. Maybe she realized she couldn't believably make both couples come together, or maybe she realized that marriage meant they wouldn't be able to work together - whatever, I'm just glad it didn't happen.

I'm *mostly* good with this ending. There's just those certain issues I'd rather cut out and burn.