Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2008-09-20 05:03 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2008-09-20 05:03 pm
[ SECRET POST #624 ]
⌈ Secret Post #624 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
I'm not even going to bother posting the obvious trolls any more.
CITY STUFF → [ pop com ]
Secrets Left to Post: 21 pages, 515 secrets from Secret Submission Post #090.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ], [ 1 2 - posted twice ], [ 1 - I don't know what this is trying to say ], [ 1 - warning that we're on Portal of Evil (we've known for months) ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Re: 143
Again, I stopped reading the manga before Riza's backstory was revealed and before Winry's second encounter with Scar, but I will say concerning that; I wasn't at all impressed with their treatment for the 14 or so volumes prior to those events and honestly? I shouldn't have to wait that long to begin to be impressed. Riza's backstory can explain why she is who she is at the beginning of the series, but over the present course of the series? She doesn't grow. And that's a bit of a problem. And backstory can only do so much; it's great to say, "Oh, well, here's why a character is the way they are at the beginning" but when they don't grow even from that (that being the beginning of the series) then, well, what good is that? Especially if the character is considered a main character, as Riza is.
RanFan, from what I saw, had little to her other than her desire to protect Ling. That's about as far as she was ever taken. She came, she lost her arm, she was gone again. She's just now reappearing. So yes, she could do some badass stuff now, but as I said before, I shouldn't have to wait 80+ chapters for it.
The manga really bugs me as far as the girls as a whole (minus Izumi because yes) have the problem where Arakawa continuously has to remind us that they have a backbone! :D Strong women! but they either lack in personality (a la RanFan), Arakawa can't decide what personality they should have (Winry), or their personality doesn't leave much room for development (Riza). And aslo? They're all stereotypes. They may not be the most prominent stereotypes, true, but they are stereotypes nonetheless.
Re: 143
(Anonymous) 2008-09-20 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)First, I think the homunculi are amount equal in the anime and manga, but on totally different grounds. In the manga, they aren't typical flunkies. They are a part of an evolution to humanity, who, in being so, believe they have the right to treat humans like animals to their own end. Gluttony has emotions, missing Lust extrememly, going insane, even, to avenge her death. I'd say more, but I don't think you've read quite that far yet.
I blame lack of personality for Ran Fan on the lack of appearance. I'd argue it, but I really can't since you do have a good point. She will still be one of my favorite characters, partially due to her badass and partially due to me being a sucker for Master/Slave relationship. [Which I have found is integrated into almost every type of pairing you can think of. I actually like Male-Master with female-slave the least, though. Female-masters are more interesting.]
Winry's personality kept changing, in my own opinion, because she herself is unsure of what to do. She is a teenager, still trying to find her place in the world. She feels left behind by Ed and Al because they are growing up quicker than her, so she is trying to rush her own personality growth ahead of what it should be, which I have seen happen with real life people before, one of the aforementioned friends, in fact. But, that might not be what Arakawa had in mind. As for the reaction to Roy, I thought that was far underdone. Even if you find out someone you know and respected killed your parents, you would want to kill them. You would want them to suffer, just as she acted with Scar. You have to understand her thoughts too. She was surprised and enraged, not knowing how to respond, so she acted on instinct, which, with Scar, is not the best way to do it, thus making a large stand still, making the scene seem over the top, at least in my opinion.
As for Riza, going along the same strand I started in the first comment, she does not want to change, thus is fighting herself to keep from changing, to keep herself the way she is now. She faced being alone with the Fuhrer without Roy's help. She has grown when forced, but unless that comes up, she does not want to. Change means she could lose the stability she has. She is comfortable with herself as she is now. Change might upset that.
Yes, they are stereotypes, but, in my opinion, they are a new, better spin on the old stereotypes. As you said, they have a strong backbone and a very strong will to fight, which they actually do very well, thus standing out from most typical shonen women. Yes, Arakawa takes a long time to develop a clear character focus, but I like it. It is like piecing together a puzzle and then being shown a picture of what it was supposed to be.
I apologize if I rambled in there too much, but I wanted to make sure to get my opinion out there successfully. Then again, I read the manga expecting to be disappointed after all the stories I had heard, but was happily surprised. Maybe that is the base difference in our opinions.
Re: 143
I'd disagree on the Homunculi for the most part. I will give you Gluttony, yes, and perhaps Pride, but the Homunuculi as a whole with the exception of Pride were little more than Father's lackies. They don't have their own goals or motivations, they simply do what Father wants them to. And while it makes sense in the context why this is the case, it takes away a lot of what I, as a big fan of the Homunculi in the anime, really enjoyed about them. Particularly Envy. But that'sa whole 'nother rant, one I could go on and on about, so we'll move on from that.
Ran Fan's lack of personality is due to her lack of appearance, but she really doesn't have much of a personality/presence even when she is there. And that's a big problem right there.
I can understand that arguement on Winry perfectly, the problem is that just looking at the material, that's not the impression that I get. If that's what Arakawa was aiming for, she'd need to make it more clear that that's the case, because it really takes a stretch to write off Winry's constantly changing personality being because of the fact that she's a teenager. Because that would make sense, but that's not really how it's presented to be in the context of the story. As far as the Roy v. Scar thing, I can understand that to a degree. I think that her reaction to Roy made sense due to the situation and because she had the time between when she found out and when she saw him to think it over and she was obviously furious and hurt and confused over it, but because she had that time she was able to keep herself a bit more calm, whereas with Scar she just went hysterical and pulled a gun on him. Which to me is way too over the top for Winry, who I can understand having a breakdown over the whole thing, but pulling a gun on him? That just doesn't really work for me. Especially since they later used that whole thing as an actual basis for development for Ed, whereas all Winry seemed to get from it was the realization that she was in love with Ed.
I'm not sure exactly what point you're trying to make with Riza no wanting to change. That doesn't explain her extreme and irrational and uncharacteristic reaction to Lust and her just giving up then and there. If it was proven that Roy was dead, then I might be able to have bought that, but as I mentioned; Riza's smart. So why did she believe Lust when she had no proof? The fact that she didn't develop from the encounter is an annoying thing to me but not as much as the fact that she gave up and broke down over something she had no reason at all to even believe to be true.
A better spin, yes. A new spin, I wouldn't really say so. The reason I think it might seem to be so on first look is because none of them are physically; all of them kick ass. Quite frequently. But see, ass kicking does not a good female character make [though it helps. A lot.] You need to have a good balance between their physical strength, their inner strength, and still have them have a good, likeable, developing personality. None of the FMA girls have that balance and therein lies the problem. Arakawa keeps pushing their kick assness in my face but I really don't care how much ass they kick if they, as people, aren't likeable or believeable. And I don't think that they are.