Talk:Episode 21: Advance of the Fool (2009 series)

The Mysterious Man in White
Perhaps I should have made a page for him before making a note, but I'm not exactly sure what to call him; I'd have to go back to the original factbook to see how Viz translated Arakawa's name for him. However, there is a recurring gag background character that Arakawa has included in this manga: a man in his mid-late thirties with his head shaved and wearing a white suit (to me, he kind of looks like a yakuza). He is seen in the background of countless scenes in the manga and in the factbook, Arakawa says he's traveling around the country looking for someone. I've even seen him once or twice traveling with a little boy who looks exactly like him - presumably his son. And in the final chapter, when Alphonse walks into that coffee shop or whatever to greet Jelso and Zampano, the man is in the background once more - seated across the table from a man who could be his twin, with identical dress and hairstyle. I guess I wanted to save him for more of an "Unnamed characters" page or "running gag" page, though. Keep an eye out for him, he's pretty fun to spot...sort of like "Pandaman" from One Piece or "Where's Waldo". ^^ I was surprised a little bit when he started showing up in Brotherhood, though. I can only think of two times I've seen him in the anime, but I'm sure there are others. CorbeauKarasu 14:30, July 6, 2010 (UTC)

Ouran Reference?
Did anyone else notice how, near the beginning of the episode, when Ed presents the hypothesis of his soul being tangled with Al's--and that being a possible explanation for his shortness--he immediately goes and cowers in the corner, with a color drain, and, to top it off, MUSHROOMS growing on his head? It seemed like an obvious reference to Tamaki of Ouran High School Host Club, who is also voiced by Vic Mignona in the English dub. That is his SIGNATURE thing; cowering in The corner, color drained, growing mushrooms, when he is embarrassed/humiliated/etc. I'm just saying, maybe it's just an extremely specific coincidence, but the second I saw it I laughed out loud. If anyone else agrees, should this be added to the episode's trivia? ℳąφℓ₠ ƒя☼ş₮ ❣ ツ  04:27, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

I'll admit it, I thought this said "Quran Reference" at first and you were going to have some crazy theory about how FMA was trying to convert people to Islam. :)

Anyway, on to the topic actual topic, I've never seen Ouran High School Host Club so I wouldn't know. However, the loss of colour and sulking in a corner after being humiliated is a pretty common thing in anime, so I don't think that alone could be used as evidence of a reference. The mushrooms could be argued to have a connection, but I'd need more than that to go on. As for the voice actors being the same, that doesn't matter because as I recall the same thing happens in the manga (numerous times I believe) which has no voice actors. Fullmetal Fan 09:31, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

By the way, don't think something is a direct reference to another anime solely because they share dub actors. The dub has little to do with animation in animes as it was created long before they even started. I know everyone in America thinks there's only one language version, but it's incorrect. So, as FMF said, the fact that Vic happens to be in both is irrelevant here.

I also am in agreement about how it's very common in anime for comedic over-reactions of characters, and I'm betting the mushrooms are probably the same like the sweatdrop. Over in the west, people are like "What the hell is that?" but over there, it probably has meaning behind it.Tommy-Vercetti (talk) 13:13, July 11, 2012 (UTC)