On July 4th, fans attending AX were treated to a special present brought by both Aniplex and FUNimation. Mere hours earlier in Japan, Aniplex had aired the final episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and had immediately rushed to not only provide FUNimation with the episode, but had also included a few special messages. The messages were from director Yasuhiro Irie, Romi Park, Rie Kugimiya and Shinichiro Miki (which was done in a way where it seemed like they were fully interacting with the crowd).
With flags provided by the Aniplex for the first 200 people in attendance, FUNimation first aired episode 63, which is simply the first half of chapter 108. Illustrating the fates of Father and Greed, what’s happened with Al, Ed’s decision on how to save his brother, and the culmination of Hohenheim’s journey, episode 63 provided a means of closure for several pressing plot lines, but obviously was not complete. One of the more touching additions to the episode that was not included in the manga was a scene with Van Hohenheim and Alex Louis Armstrong, in which Armstrong had simply thanked Hohenheim for his sons. This additional bit of dialogue helped to round out Hoheheim’s final decision.
Enter episode 64, which unto itself is more of an epilogue, as it simply the other half of chapter 108. Starting out with an additional moment with Roy and his team, it gave a clearer understanding to Roy’s plans for rebuilding not only Amestris, but also Ishval. There was another additional scene in which reveals the fate of Jean Havoc, who was one of Roy’s subordinates but was sidelined with a crippling injury. The fates of Scar, Ling Yao, May Chang, and the chimera were also revealed. But of course, the major part of the episode was the fates of the Elric brothers. The conclusion for the episode itself was the same photo collage that was done in the final chapter of the manga, but with BONES’ interpretation of a few of the pictures.
One final tidbit, I managed to talk with Adam Sheehan, Marketing Manager of FUNimation, and he told me that once they had found out about the upcoming Fullmetal Alchemist movie, they were immediately going to try to negotiate the rights for movie for the fans.
------Tags: ax2010, Fullmetal Alchemist, Funimation
