Japanese FMA 05 Title: "Dash! Automail"
American FMA 05 Title: "The Man With the Mechanical Arm"
Japanese Airdate: November 01, 2003
American Airdate: December 05, 2004
Important Characters: Bald, General Hakuro, Maes Hughes, Officer Falman, Riza Hawkeye
Important Locations: Train heading for Central City
Synopsis: Ed and Al are only one train ride away from reaching Central City and applying as State Alchemists. But on board with them is
General Hakuro, a key figure in the nation's turbulent politics. When gunmen hijack the rail, holding the General and all of the other passengers hostage, Ed
and Al must use all of their skills to take back the train.
Thoughts
Here's where the series picks up on a comedic level again. And we're introduced to Riza Hawkeye, Falman and Maes Hughes. Plus we get to see why Roy Mustang is at a high rank.
Dub-wise, this is pretty much a near-perfect translation. They actually kept Ed's exaggeration (finally), but on the same note there were a few probles. General Hakuro's name was changed to General Haruko. Sonny Straight sounds EXACTLY like Krillin when he jokes around as Hughes. And whoever did Bald's voice
cannot pronounce a Japanese name to save his life.
Change of Dialogue
Hughes was almost perfect. Unfortunately, when it came to him being his goofy, obsessed self, they made him sound like he's fully aware of it and only kidding around. Originally, when Riza hangs up on him, he complained about the connection of the phone
being bad. The dub had him say "Geez, didn't she know I was just kidding?"
Side Note
They kept Ed's exaggeration about the size insults AND kept the whole "big brother" thing. In the Japanese version, Ed refered to himself as the girl's "onii-chan" (big brother). It's common for a younger
child to look up to someone they admire as their "onii-chan" (big brother) or "onee-san" (big sister). And whoever did Falman's and Riza's voices were very good.
Final Thoughts
This episode is probably the most dead on to a perfectly translated episode. No cuts. No censors. They kept Hakuro's getting shot in the ear scene and Hughes stabbing the guy's hand. Voices were great. Although Ed STILL sounds too wonky. Especially at the begining of the episode.
But other than that, this was a great episode in both languages.
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