arakawa really did the most didnt she? like she didnt HAVE to have us hear gracia break down and elicia saying dont cry mommy, or see fu’s break down after he realized his granddaughter’s arm was really gone, or have that doctor guy crying asking if it was okay for a bad person like him to just want to be happy with his family, or establish that the embodiment of all human greed is just a desire for companionship but man did she do it
I like how she cares about her characters like that. I mean, she could find many ways to hurt us by killing a bunch or something, but she wanted to hurt us through these tiny characters because they deserve a chance to have their feelings explored. For once, after we see so much of Hughes loving his family, it’s only fair we see the impact of his death on Elicia and Gracia. I freaking love Arakawa’s choices.
Butting in and hijacking this post a little to say that “doctor guy” is Dr. Knox.
AND HE IS REALLY IMPORTANT. AS MUCH AS HE GOT A LOT OF GOOD SCREENTIME A LOT OF OTHER SUPER GOOD MOMENTS OF HIS STILL GOT CUT FROM FMAB GOOD GRIEF.
including his despair during Ishval about how he’s a doctor killing people (and look at those heartwrenching expressions Arakawa draws ugh)
And how the major reason he and his wife separated after the war is that he’s got severe PTSD
Another thing that was cut, was exactly how he gets Mei and Lan Fan to stop trying to kill each other While yes, like in the anime there’s a comical moment of him threatening that disturbing the floorboards could “UNLEASH A PATHOGEN THAT WILL KILL EVERYONE” the more palpable peptalk he gives Lan Fan and Mei is THIS
Which goes on to help inspire Lan Fan’s decision to request that Ling be kind towards the other Xing clans, when before all she cared about was the Yao.
Dr. Knox wasn’t even close to being a major character, in fact for the most part he was just instrumental in helping certain plots move along and EASILY could have Only Been That. But he got SO MANY extremely human moments and had a lasting impact on who he interacted with. Arakawa’s ability to put this amount of care into her characters is honestly inspiring.
