Japanese FMA 03 Title: "Mother..."
American FMA 03 Title: "Mother"
Japanese Airdate: October 18, 2003
American Airdate: November 21, 2004
Important Characters: Trisha Elric, Hohenheim Elric, Roy Mustang
Important Locations: Resembool Village, Central City
Synopsis: An old book takes Ed and Al down a painful spiral of memories. Childhood-- a time of war for their nation, when every week, news from the front lines could devastate the family
next door. But Ed and Al had their mother, a pillar of strength who always made life okay. When she died, they would try anything to bring her back. No matter what the cost.
Thoughts
The dubbing of this episode wasn't too bad. Ed's is slowly growing on me (although it's hard listening to Vic trying to do the voice of a 7/8/10 year-old considering
how old he makes Ed's voice sound).
Winry's voice is fully heard and here's to hoping her teen voice is alot better and easier on the ears than her child voice is. x_X Pinako's voice is great, as is
Trisha's. Roy Mustang makes his debut and I'm quite impressed. If his voice actor can give him the cocky attitude the original Japanese seiyuu did, then he'll
be absolutely perfect for the role. It was nice to see they had Al always refer to Ed as 'brother' since he did just about the same thing in the Japanese version.
So it seemed like it was pretty close on the mark there. Speaking of Al, his voice actor really shined in this episode.
There seemed to be alot of mistakes in this episode, so let's get cracking.
Dub Error
They've stated that a Homunculous is an artificially made human with no mind. Somewhat correct. They DO have a mind (and you'll see later on) but they
have no heart.
Dub Error
What's this about Winry's parents being suprise attacked? They were shot from the front (as it'll be seen in a few episodes later on) in plain sight. Hardly
what I'd call a suprise attack. Not to mention that they weren't killed on their way to Ishbal like Winry was suggesting. They were already there when they
were killed.
Change of Dialogue
As Ed and Al are walking home, Ed's talking abit and then Al mentions how he feels sorry for Winry. Ed stayed silent in the original.
Dub Error
Wait, those letters were sent from Hohenheim? Last I recall, the one receiving letters has their name written on the center of the envelope. Hohenheim didn't
write those letters. Those were all letters that Hoheheim had RECEIVED from people. He just up and left his family without telling them why or where he was
going. Why would he write them letters if he had left them?
Change of Dialogue
"Brother, I'm hungry. And I'm cold, too. How are we going to live without her?" Al's words were ALMOST close to the original were it not for the last line.
Trisha specifically said she saved money for the two of them and was leaving it for them. Al made it sound like they had nowhere to go or live. Originally
he asked Ed if they could go home while Ed responded with "Al, let's bring mom back."
Dub Error
"We used some of the money to find ourselves a teacher." Wrong. Later on, it's revealed that the boys saw that Izumi (their sensei) is an excellent alchemist.
They begged and pleaded her to take them on as her students, even though she told them flat out that she was not making anyone her students. She wasn't
exactly a teacher to begin with. Methinks this error occured from the writers not having seen the whole series yet.
Side Note
Ed continued to talk while their blood dropped onto the body's ingrediants to explain what they were doing. I think anyone watching the show would be
able to have half a brain in their heads to understand the concept of DNA. Ed originally simply said "Information...about the soul..." and dropped their blood onto the
contents. Apparently they wanted to dumb it down for anyone who was too slow to understand the concept of it.
Change of Dialogue
Roy Mustang's first words were originally "Resembool Village?", not "There's something foul in the air." He was quite a distance away to even be able
to feel a bad vibe while reaching the village. Let alone, Mustang rarely has these vibes (if ever) considering he's usually not at full attention with things most of the time.
Side Note
After the failed attempt, Ed sounded like he was fighting back tears while holding the stub of where his arm once was. It seemed a little forced in this one,
especially since we don't see Ed crying at all. More like him being in pain but also clinging onto conciousness. Romi Paku also voiced Ed to be very weak sounding
at this point. Vic Mignogna made it sound more like Ed was crying in pain. :\
Change of Dialogue
Pinako seems really cross with Ed in the dub. When Ed mentions he has something he must do as a State Alchemist, Pinako says "Fix you, or the world? Make sure you ask yourself that."
Her original response was a question. She was wondering if Ed was still planning on resurrecting their mother. "Ed, are you still at it?" and not in an angry tone either.
Change of Dialogue
Al: You're no good without me, you just turn into a jerk.
Ed:Thanks for the endorsement.
Not exactly how their conversation went. Al originally spoke of how if he weren't around, Ed would probably slack off. Ed's not as tempermental as they make it seem.
Final Thoughts
After looking back on this episode, I'm pleased that nothing was cut or censored from the episode. But at the same token, I'm not liking having to report all these
changes made with the dialogue. This is the first time I've also had to point out some dub errors too. All in all though, the episode wasn't that bad. Hopefully FUNimation improves even more as they go on.
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