#like even if it doesn't end up canon once again we'll still have new content to enjoy

[yourhighness6]

The Power Couples in the Netflix Trailer

Sukka being badass and fighting the FN together

Zutara having their once-a-book iconic fight scene™

[dragontamer05]

One Piece anime how can we avoid catching up with the manga;

Actually take a brief, even seasonal break? Never, an insane idea.

Throw in the Filler!

Now there's more chapters but uh-oh if we try condensing multiple for one episode (like a reasonable series would do) we'll catch up to quick again.. what to do

Solution: Let's instead adapt one single chapter per episode, including fights that while taking several chapters once animated could probably be cut down in length (even make up like a single episode on it's own)

New problem: Adapting only a single chapter doesn't quite yield enough content to fill half an hour- need to find a way to fill extra time

Add in decent length opening and ending theme (even if it means reusing and remixing old ones) along side a Brief recap

Nah.

What if we gave you a 2 minute Op, about a minute-ish worth of a mini opener basically explaining the plot and like 3-4 minutes worth of unneeded recap before it starts and at the end we'll just jump straight till the next time on.

--

I get it, it's a super popular anime why would you want to hold production but also like because of it's popularity I'm sure most fans would willingly have waited for a time if they had chosen to hit the breaks let it go on hiatus - even just for a short while to allow more time for the manga to chug forward before continuing.

Cause even cutting all the straight Filler/anime only /non-canon content, part of what makes it so long besides having been going for decades, is because after a certain point they quite literally were adapting a single chapter per episode which caused fights that otherwise could likely have been condensed down in animated form to fit into far less episodes then the manga chapters took to cover them- some would probably still be multi part/multi episode fights but there are def some you could probably get away with working into being just a single episode/ only part of an episode on its own if you really tried.

[queen-feisty-pants]

While the InuKagMor reunion posts flooding my dashboard actually give me joy, I have quite a few criticisms about how the scene was written and quite a few concerns, frankly, about the content that I'll see on this site starting next week.

I honestly hate writing posts like this. HnY isn't canon. I haven't been following it for ages. But, alas, the new content involving my OTP of OTPs has dragged me down a rabbit hole once again.

With all of that having been said, if you still enjoy HnY, I advise that you skip this post. While I genuinely don't intend to insult anyone involved in its production and its fans, I acknowledge that it's still not fun to come across criticism of something you enjoy. I am not open for debate, and any disrespectful behavior in response to this post will immediately earn a block and report. Consider yourselves warned.

Rant & musings under the cut

Kagome's glare and tone of voice when confirming whether the girl standing before her was Moroha made me uncomfortable. I can’t help but feel like they could’ve directed that part differently. On top of that, adding the cliche comedy routine of one person nervously backing away and stuttering in response to someone else seeming angry just seemed out of place. It totally belied the gravity that is expected of a scene like this.

I just know that they'll be relying on running gags from the OG series, and the very notion of it is already making me tired. While I don't mind Inuyasha and Moroha butting heads - Actually, I think it'd be kind of cute, if done properly. - I have a sinking feeling that it'll be overdone, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get some tasteless slapstick comedy out of it. As much as it disgusts me to type this, I wouldn't be surprised if they show their bickering escalating to the point where Inuyasha bonks Moroha in the head for overstepping boundaries - all for the sake of comic effect. And, naturally, it'd be followed by a good old-fashioned osuwari command to tie everything in a neat, little bow. (Before anyone gets on my case for this, I'm well aware that there is no guarantee that this will happen, but the fourth film, which was also a creation of the team behind this series, unfortunately provides precedent for this type of behavior. Also, see my next point.)

While the reunion is heartwarming overall, Inuyasha's behavior thus far strikes me as OOC. His reaction to Moroha's arrival seems to be more similar to the kind of nonchalance, for lack of a better word, he'd display in the OG series. Similarly, the screenshots of him awkwardly blushing because he doesn't know what to say to his own daughter just don't sit right with me. While these kinds of interactions are admittedly more up Kagome's alley, he'd matured significantly by the end of the OG series. When you consider that many years have passed since this point of growth, it doesn't seem consistent with his character arc. I can allow some awkwardness, but it just doesn't make sense for it to manifest in this manner and to this extent.

I still don't see how Inuyasha and Kagome couldn't find a way out of the black pearl for 14 years. It's a horribly contrived disservice to their characters. That's all I have to say and can say about this mess.

Other random thoughts:

If Kagome uses the osuwari command, especially in front of Moroha, I'll fucking riot. It doesn't even have to be in the kind of situation that I mentioned above. No matter what the reason, if they resort to this gag, it'd be tired and inappropriate.

I truly hope we'll get a scene of Inuyasha and Kagome completely obliterating Jyūbei in retaliation for everything he put their daughter through. After this point, my only investment in this series is whether we get a moment like this.

If I'm correct in assuming that Kagome is watching something on a smartphone in the screenshots from next week's episode, then she'd better start asking enough questions to figure out how her family fit into all of this and inquire into their healths. Similarly, it'd only be natural for her to bring up her own adventures as a teenager and begin some sort of discussion about time travel. I'm not expecting much, given the show's track record, but it's the bare minimum. Also, lbr, it'd totally be a missed opportunity for pure comedy gold if they don't find a way to reveal that Moroha maxed out Souta's credit card.

This is kind of an abrupt end, but there's nothing else that comes to mind right now. See you guys later when the next set of spoilers whip me up into another verbal frenzy, I guess? ^^;

[harcidian]

fma post-series predictions

with Arakawa's new content coming up on July 12th, 2021, I wanted to share some details I tied together to form a general idea of how the series can possibly continue beyond the canon timeline, based on all the clues in the manga and in brotherhood. Even if Arakawa doesn't follow this theory, at least I'm able to get it out of my system.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying these are canon, or that these should be canon. These are mere observations and some are completely assumptions, so take it with a grain of salt.

Let's start by enumerating the characters' goals in the future, then defining the basic symbols, then drawing out assumptions on how these can be connected.

For this discussion, we'll be following what the silver pocket watch looks like in the manga. I have no idea why both FMA 2003 and brotherhood changed it, so if anyone knows, feel free to share!

note: I'm also using this headcanon for my ongoing post-fmab fic, meridian :)

(also this is very lengthy, so just click keep reading if you want to read more)

Due to Tumblr's photo limit, I wouldn't be able to add a picture for every point. But all these are from the mangahood unless otherwise stated, you could cross-check if you like!

Character's goals

EDWARD ELRIC, ALPHONSE ELRIC, CHIMERAS

At the end of the series (both anime and manga), the Elric brothers mentioned two goals.

first

"a new rule to counter the law of equivalent exchange".

Alphonse told Gracia that receiving "ten" and giving back "ten" only amounts to a zero-sum gain. So he proposed that if they receive "ten", they will give "eleven" in return.

In real life, this could be analogous to how interest rates work.

Gracia then asks Al what keeps them driven to come up with this principle, and he told her it's because of "a little girl we couldn't save."

This leads us to their next goal.

second

"once we pool what we learn from east and west together, maybe we'll find a way to help those who are suffering from alchemy".

Ed plans to head West, while Al plans to head East. Both of them seek knowledge on bringing chimeras back to their original bodies.

Al also mentioned studying the PURIFICATION ARTS in Xing.

The chimeras also strategized on how they would get their bodies back.

First, they take the soul out of the body and keep it safe in a separate location, then they take the body and separate it. They also cautioned about the "SPIRIT", which connects the soul to the body, and if it gets cut the soul can't come back to the body.

ROY MUSTANG, RIZA HAWKEYE, AND THE MILITARY

There were also two things that the mangahood hinted on what the future has in store for the military officers.

first

In Volume 16 of the manga, Riza tells Ed that their first priority is to "restore power to the parliament and move the country towards true democracy". Then she also shares that they plan to "negotiate with other nations to reduce our armaments" and "abolish the state alchemist program". Lastly, "end up on trial for the injustices we committed in Ishval".

However, the last plan should be taken with caution. There is an anomaly between the idea of getting hanged for their crimes and what Volume 15 is connotating.

In Volume 15, the highest-ranking priest in Ishval wanted to offer his life in exchange for the lives of thousands just to end the slaughter. However, Bradley tells him that one life is still equal to one life no matter who that person is. (It makes sense, in a way, but then again they only need it for the transmutation circle).

So I'm not sure if Arakawa wants military war criminals to experience death by firing squad or something but I guess it just depends on the way you interpret it.

Sidenote: After hearing about Roy's plan for "self-destruction", it appears that Ed has his own way of telling Roy to "stay alive". When Ed told him "you won't go far in life being that petty", he decided not to pay Roy back until he becomes the Fuhrer. And when that time comes, he'll borrow some more and will pay it back when Amestris becomes a democracy. Roy tells him, "then I've got a long life ahead of me". Ed also tells him "not to worry the Lieutenant."

second

Manga: Dr. Marcoh tells Roy that he would only use the Philosopher's stone to restore his sight if he agrees to restore Ishval.

Brotherhood: Roy already plans to restore Ishval without knowing that Dr. Marcoh can restore his sight. First, he plans to call off the military occupation from Ishval, then he'll return the holy land to the Ishvalans living in the slums.

In Riza's words, "This may not erase our sins, but it's the least we can do to fix it." (in the English dub but it has similar connotations in the manga)

OUR HEROES FROM XING (LING YAO, LAN FAN, MEI CHAN / MAY CHANG)

For now, I admittedly don't have much evidence on what's to come for them, but I think it's important to note that Ling Yao canonically becomes the Emperor two years after The Promised Day, where he decided to accept all clans.

I think that's all I have for the characters' goals, I'm sure I missed some, so feel free to let me know!

Now that all of that is in place, let's talk about the common symbols and how these are clues to what could possibly happen next after the series.

SYMBOLS AND THEIR CONNECTION

1. The "star" symbol on the silver pocket watch and its relation to the "spirit"

Again, I can't help but notice that the star symbol on the pocket watch looks different in the manga and the anime (and it honestly bothers me) so I'm going to have to rely on what it looks like in the manga.

So let's talk about this symbol.

In alchemy, a hexagram represents "the fifth element", the "quintessence", the unity of all elements [1] (it's Wikipedia lmao but it has citations. I'm too scared to check on other sites, I don't wanna dive too deep into alchemy)

We know that Hiromu Arakawa follows this symbolism since she used triangles for Flame Alchemy

(fire: plain triangle for fire, air: a triangle with a stripe on its top, and earth: an inverted triangle with a stripe at the bottom) [2]

I find it interesting to know that Arakawa specifically placed it on the silver pocket watch.

Caution, this is more speculation than observation and I've used it for my fic. I believe it stands for Time, and time has many connotations. The length of an event, a process from one point to another, and, of course, FMA's theme: immortality.

In an alchemical, philosophical, and chemical sense, time can be seen as the period that a substance exists, also known as volatility.

The volatility of a substance is central to alchemy, where alchemists believe that mercury is the most volatile substance. And it's interesting to note that alchemists code mercury as the Spirit.[3]

Remember when we were talking about the Spirit? About Ed and Al's plan to bring chimera's back to their original bodies?

SPECULATION: I, therefore, surmise that the quintessence, that time, that the Spirit, has something to do with splitting the soul of the chimera and putting the human soul back to the human body.

It's also interesting to note that volatility is a property used in Distillation (both a chemical and alchemical process). In Distillation, a liquid mixture is separated back into a pure component by heating it until the component with the lower boiling point (or higher volatility) evaporates.

And Distillation is one of the 12 Purification Arts that Al talks about, based on the magnum opus [4] [5]

Another interesting fact is that Ed and Al's goal of "fixing the volatility" have been foreshadowed all along.

2. Ed, Al, and Izumi's symbol

This represents the Crucified Serpent, where Arakawa modified it and placed wings and a crown on top of it.

I find it interesting that this site has defined what a crucified serpent means, and at the same time, defines what Ed, Al, and Izumi's symbol meant in relation to that.

So “fixing the volatile” generally means stabilizing the active principle, something which can separate harmful and beneficial elements from each other or even transform the harmful (pure active, too active) into the beneficial (balanced active).

The symbol that Izumi, Ed and Al wear, however, is not the crucified serpent alone. It is the crucified serpent winged and crowned. As we can see in many manuscripts, wings are used to mark progress or advancement of an alchemical solution toward perfection. Crowns mark the final stage of a spirit or solution: perfection, completion, ascension.

If we interpret snake = Mercury = spirit, which is a common symbol chain, then the symbol can suggest that the final “rendering” of the spirit, by death or enlightenment, will produce the pure, perfected, incorruptible spirit that, in alchemical terms, tends to go along with an incorruptible body. In this reading, the symbol indicates immortality, the standard promise of the philosopher’s stone. [3]

Basically, Arakawa is telling us that Ed and Al's goal has always been to fix the volatile or "render the spirit".

From the same quotation, another important factor we should look into is "Mercury", "volatile" and "snakes".

Do you remember another FMA symbol with snakes?

Yes. It is in Riza Hawkeye's tattoo.

This will be the last thing we'll interpret for this post and is the symbol that basically says it all.

3. Riza Hawkeye and the emblem of Flame Alchemy

Manga and Brotherhood

Source of the last picture [5]

I'm honestly a little skeptical of the last picture, because, in the mangahood, Riza's tattoo does not look like that, unless this was revealed in one of Arakawa's FMA guidebooks.

Anyway, we see that the snakes in Riza's tattoo look like an inverted Caduceus, which is the staff carried by the Greek or Roman god Hermes or Mercury. It is a symbol for medicine, and it also has Biblical roots where Moses crucified serpents to cure diseases back in the day [6]. Yes, we've gone full circle, we've mentioned the crucified serpent earlier, where it also mentioned the crucified serpents being related to Moses' healing [3].

We also know that snakes = mercury = volatility, and based from soterianyx's analysis:

Master Hawkeye meant for these two representations (the sun and the serpents) to be deciphered as one unit. When sulfur (the sun) and mercury (the moon/the serpents) are placed together, they are usually depicted in alchemical illustrations as the “Red King” and the “White Queen,” respectively. Riza would be considered as the White Queen, and whoever successfully decoded the array as the Red King. [5]

In alchemy, sulfur is related to the sun, fire, ambition, and is non-volatile, and mercury is related to water and volatility (correct me if I'm wrong, also I'm too scared to link it directly here but you could see it as the first result when you search "mercury and sulfur alchemy")

And if you remember that fire has the triangle symbol, and water has the inverted triangle symbol?

Yes, this merge forms the hexagram = the quintessence = time = life!

And in alchemy, this union between two dualities, fire and water, masculine and feminine, the Red King and the White Queen, is called the Alchemical Marriage [7], where two things become one.

(will edit this from time to time I'm so sleepy right now asksksakjd) Note: If the last picture is indeed true, then there's one more thing I'd like to point out.

Surrounding the largest circle in Riza's tattoo are 12 symbols. These 12 symbols are also known as the Zodiac signs. Interestingly, these signs are also used as a cryptography for the 12 Purification Processses in alchemy (the one we also talked before) [4]. This observation is also noted by soterianyx [5].

Calcination (Aries) ♈︎

Congelation (Taurus) ♉︎

Fixation (Gemini) ♊︎

Dissolution (Cancer) ♋︎

Digestion (Leo ) ♌︎

Distillation (Virgo ) ♍︎

Sublimation (Libra ) ♎︎

Separation (Scorpio ) ♏︎

Ceration (Sagittarius ) ♐︎

Fermentation (Capricorn ) ♑︎

Multiplication (Aquarius ) ♒︎

Projection (Pisces) ♓︎

Whew finally done.

How'd you like that? Thank you for reaching the end.

I also used this headcanon in doing my post-series fic, meridian . You might want to read it if you want to know more of my speculations since I'll be making my own analysis in the worldbuilding I'm doing there.

Other FMA blogs: @royriza - for royai stuff

@fullmetalanalyst - for my analysis