Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

After a horrific alchemy experiment goes wrong in the Elric household, brothers Edward and Alphonse are left in a catastrophic new reality. Ignoring the alchemical principle banning human transmutation, the boys attempted to bring their recently deceased mother back to life. Instead, they suffered brutal personal loss: Alphonse's body disintegrated while Edward lost a leg and then sacrificed an arm to keep Alphonse's soul in the physical realm by binding it to a hulking suit of armor.

The brothers are rescued by their neighbor Pinako Rockbell and her granddaughter Winry. Known as a bio-mechanical engineering prodigy, Winry creates prosthetic limbs for Edward by utilizing "automail," a tough, versatile metal used in robots and combat armor. After years of training, the Elric brothers set off on a quest to restore their bodies by locating the Philosopher's Stone—a powerful gem that allows an alchemist to defy the traditional laws of Equivalent Exchange.

As Edward becomes an infamous alchemist and gains the nickname "Fullmetal," the boys' journey embroils them in a growing conspiracy that threatens the fate of the world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Elric, Edward Main

Park, Romi Japanese

Elric, Alphonse Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Mustang, Roy ing

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Hughes, Maes ing

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Greed ing

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Hawkeye, Riza ing

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Yao, Ling ing

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Rockbell, Winry ing

Takamoto, Megumi Japanese

Armstrong, Alex Louis ing

Utsumi, Kenji Japanese

Armstrong, Olivier Mira ing

Soumi, Youko Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Yonai, Noritomo Producer

Kurashige, Nobuyuki Producer

Reviews

May 30, 2025

IDFKD2

Recommended

Having watched the original as my first ever anime many years ago, I was skeptical to move onto brotherhood. After many years I decided to finally take the plunge. The first 4 episodes are a bit confusing (perhaps because I had watched the original, you may have less of a problem if you haven't). Everything after that left me speechless. 64 episodes spent going "oh just one more", early nights turning into 4am marathons. I have never felt a greater range of emotion when watching anime.

This is the undisputed king of anime, there is nothing better, there may ... well never be anything better.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by IDFKD2 (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Mar 24, 2025

deereiss

Mixed Feelings

is Fullmetal Alchemist really a masterpiece?

Before I start I would like to make two premises:
- I don't think fmab is a masterpiece, although it's a very good anime, well written overall and I recommend it anyway, unfortunately I didn't find that spark of originality and genius that makes me think “wow, this is a masterpiece!”

- obviously what I’m saying is also be based on my subjective tastes, unfortunately for the most part this anime bored me, maybe because I've been consuming fictional stuff for a lot of time or maybe because I'm a little out of target, there were elements that piqued my interest, but ... nothing of what I saw really surprised me, I would have certainly appreciated it more if I had seen it a couple of years ago, when I had consumed fewer anime.

Characters:
A huge pro is definitely the fact that there is a woman's pen behind fmab and it shows in a positive way, the female characters are quite good, maybe they aren’t particularly original, but they have a nice personality, their own individuality, they do not depend on any man and are not sexualized. Unfortunately, however, most of the characters did not arouse my interest, the Elric brothers left me indifferent for most of the time, I did not find them interesting or innovative, the same goes for most of the cast, I liked Mustang during the last episodes, I loved Izumi and then there are Greed and Envy, who are the only thing in the whole anime that really captured my attention, they are well-made characters, not banal and have that extra complexity that I look for, their scenes (and the last 10 episodes) are among the few elements that did not bore me and genuinely piqued my interest.

Plot:
there are no plot holes or terrible flaws in the narration, but there are some points where I found fmab slow and for no reason, the narration times needed to be managed differently and comparing myself with some people, including some who loved fmab madly, they itted that they also found problems with the narration times.
The plot is quite linear, nothing crazy and if it wasn't for the slowness I would have found it enjoyable, however the last 10 episodes were much more interesting and enjoyable.
One thing that I didn't like at all is the comedy, placed here and there randomly in an absolutely inefficient way, there are anime and manga in which comedy is used between serious scenes in a way that benefits the narration (like golden kamuy), but fmab doesn't do this well, I found really annoying the comedy moments in which Edward randomly screams because he's annoyed by something.
Speaking of the ending I have to say that I liked it, I would have preferred a more misanthropic and macabre twist, but this is something that depends exclusively on my subjective taste (I have a fairly pessimistic view of humanity), the ending is adequate for the work.
However, I must it that I preferred Edward and Winry as friends, I liked their friendship because it was spontaneous and sincere and in general their relationship did not give me the idea of ​​a romantic couple, but of a solid and healthy friendship between a boy and a girl.
I would add that in my opinion the alchemy aspect should have been explored more, the magic system is really interesting, but all the potential that came from it in my opinion was a little wasted.

Do I think it's a masterpiece? no, but overall it does what it has to, I would define it as average/quite good, I definitely recommend it, but if you have been consuming fictional products and fantasy stories for a lifetime you might find it uninteresting, however I recognize that in the animanga universe it had its importance (but not as much as stuff like evangelion and madoka magica that deconstructed two genres or urusei yatsura that invented a way of doing comedy).
The message it conveys is positive, but I am definitely out of target to be fascinated by it.
I conclude this review by saying that what I saw was not what I expected from something that is described as an undisputed masterpiece, I can’t deny that I was disappointed.

P.S.
One of the things I like most about fmab is the fact that the protagonist has two prostheses, I think it is a well-made representation, especially because it’s shown the maintenance side of the prostheses and what is behind it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by deereiss (7)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jan 3, 2025

RemanTheArchean

Not Recommended

Funny

It's kind of shocking to me how *this* is considered one of the best animes ever made. I wouldn't describe it as terrible, as it's reasonably well executed for what it is. The problem is that it's just so basic: a simplistic hero's journey with unambiguously evil villains and a fairly juvenile atmosphere throughout, despite the show usually taking itself very seriously. The writers were apparently scared of showing too much death in quick succession too frequently, so the heroes almost always refuse to kill the bad guys, and they neutralize henchmen by bonking them on the head and knocking them unconscious like it's a ... Saturday morning cartoon. There's nothing wrong with liking this type of stuff. I'll watch family films occasionally and enjoy myself. But I wouldn't call them, or this, transcendent in any way.

The show tries for comedy quite frequently, but the jokes rarely landed for me. Perhaps that's due to it having very few arrows in its quiver in this regard. It usually just involves characters overreacting in some goofy way. There's the "mistaking alphonse for the FMA" gag, the "Ed getting embarrassed about Winry" gag, the random shirtless scenes with Armstrong, and, of course, the many, *many* times that characters call Ed short. I don't think I've ever heard another series use the term "pipsqueak" as often as this one does.

The action scenes were also pretty lackluster. There's multiple layers to this. First, there's the show's inherent reluctance to show death, with characters getting stabbed with what should be grave wounds but end up just being moderately injured, or even shrugging it off entirely. Second, there's the classic anime mystery genre problem of characters simply manifesting new powers that resolve the situation whenever they're in danger, which rapidly conditions me to expect this kind of resolution whenever the good guys are in trouble. Third, the villains never seemed particularly committed to thwarting Ed and friends. They attack piecemeal and with little sustained intensity. I had thought this would be due to a later reveal that the bad guys had been purposely letting Ed disrupt their schemes, that it was "all part of the plan" especially given the scenes where Father is implied to be watching over everything, but this wasn't the case. Instead, it's revealed early on that Ed is needed as a "sacrifice" which effectively means he's immune from any major harm since the bad guys can't kill him, they can only harass his friends as an indirect punishment.

The mysteries and lore of the show were probably the best aspects, but that's a low bar to clear. Most of the twists could be predicted far ahead of time, and there were none that really shocked me.

Ed and Al are nowhere near as annoying as many other anime protagonists... but they're not particularly interesting either. They have fairly standard personalities and don't grow much over the course of the series.

The highest praise I can give Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is that it was decent enough to the time. If you're looking for something inoffensive then this show is fine I suppose. But there are so many other better alternatives out there.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by RemanTheArchean (23)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

really meant something

by fatnat1234

28 Entries · 3 Restacks

SFW Anime

by Alkimia

21 Entries · 6 Restacks

Best of 2000-2009 Catch-up

by aifukola

49 Entries · 21 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for November

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for November Week 1: November 6 - 12 Anime Releases Black Clover Part 2 Blu-ray & DVD Combo Galaxy Angel Z...read more

Nov 5, 2018 2:27 PM by Discuss (7 comments)

Interview: Live-Action 'Fullmetal Alchemist' at Anime Expo 2017

In May 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures Japan announced a live-action film based on the hit shounen battle manga series Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. The film o...read more

Feb 19, 2018 6:59 PM by Discuss (9 comments)

	Poll: infinite_Shadows - Sep 14, 2024	29 replies	by »» Yesterday, 1:43 AM
	Poll: Ahenshihael - May 31, 2009	240 replies	by »» May 28, 1:47 PM
	Poll: Ahenshihael - Jul 26, 2009	237 replies	by »» May 28, 12:23 PM
	Poll: Ahenshihael - Apr 26, 2009	462 replies	by »» May 27, 2:57 PM
	Poll: Ahenshihael - Apr 19, 2009	323 replies	by »» May 26, 5:33 PM

Black, White, and Gray: What Makes an Antihero Work

Antiheroes are often some of the most beloved and most talked about characters in their stories. The appeal of these characters can be high and their character brilliant, but what actually makes an antihero work?

by MAL_Articles

58,908 views

Spoiler

Can an OP Character Be a Good Main Character?

OP characters are a common trope in anime, if not a loved one. An often repeated criticism of leads, particularly in shounen titles, is that they were too powerful. Distinguishing between the pros and cons of OP heroes is important to be able to understand if an OP lead can be a great character.

by MAL_Articles

64,889 views