Fullmetal Alchemist Mangahood

Written on 27/06/26

Writing this based off my experience rereading the Fullmetal Alchemist manga about a month ago. I'll add some stuff in about my thoughts on Brotherhood in as well since I watched it alongside.
FMA still holds up and all my bias against Brotherhood has vanished. The plot is super tight and never feels like it wastes time. The manga is perfect in this sense but Brotherhood falters only slightly with certain parts of the story being brushed over too quickly or entirely. It only happens earlier on with though and I don't think what they omitted is vital anyway. I kinda wish Ishbal was covered the way it was in the manga though, even if it's only really because it characterizes the Iron Blood Alchemist with one particular action that I really like.


This time around I found the gradual uncovering of the central government's connections to the homunculi a lot more than I did before and seeing the offensive walk onn eggshells but eventually work their way into staging a coup was very engaging. The different moving pieces of the Elric brothers, Olivier's men from Briggs and Mustang's crew in addition to the folk from Xing and all the fellas who join along the way makes the cast feel lively in a way and emphasise the connection between people and how one good thing can lead to another. I really liked that overall theme of this rendition of FMA, especially now that I'm older and have more life experience under my belt.

Through this reread, Hoenheim is still my favourite character. I like backstory a lot and his overall demeanour. He's a chill and humble guy despite being what he is. I also adore that one moment where we see him begin to tear up whilst take the picture with Trisha, young Ed and Al. Makes me feel some way.
This is kinda totally unrelated and I should talk about this once I'm done with 03 but no words can express how much I like this version of Hoenheim over his 03 counterpart. That guy is a BUM.
I also like Izumi too she's cool.

The homunculi are good villains but I'd say they vary in quality. Lust, Sloth and Gluttony are kinda whatever to me, they're fine and serve their purpose. The rest are all great though and I think it comes down to their greater presence in the story and charisma. Greed is neat, I do wish we got to see a little bit more of him, though really I mean Ling, between volume 15 and the moment he rebels again but what we have of him is good enough I suppose, since he has a very active role in the latter part of the story.

I could glaze and meatride envy and wrath all day so I'm not gonna indulge here but I'll say they are already great villains and they both benefit greatly from me loving the hell out of their english voice performances so much. Quick note on Bradley though, I thoroughly enjoy how he interacts with and views the opposing forces. He is simply a loyal and powerful asset to Father in purpose, but he has that nuance to him where he almost seems ot enjoy having stuff go arwy at times simply because everything else regarding his life was defined for him at the point he was conceived. That extents to his wife I suppose to a lesser extent, Pride who I think is alright and all I have to say on him is that I love how his shadow looks and how manipulates it along with the fact that there are hints to him appreciating his 'mother' despite being a homunculi.

Father himself kinda lacks the charisma despite having a demanding enough presence. As the major villain he sure does serve that role well enough but I don't find him interesting, or at least the way he goes about things. He's decently on paper, being an individual trapped in a cycle of wanting more and to surpass whatever he perceives to be above him, effectively making a metaphorical flask around him everytime he outdoes himself BUT, he doesn't much in terms of personality so he's pretty boring to me in action.

I'm structuring this on a whim so next I'll say my favourite volume is 15. I like the glimpse we see of the Ishbal War and how it shaped the views and or lives of particularly Scar, Riza and Mustang. Outside of that though I just like the vibe of that section of the story, rather bleak and disheartening in a vacuum, however I think it says a lot about a guy, like Mustang, that would experience and be motivated to still climb the political ladder and see to the vision he holds for his country. On the other hand you have Scar who we see the origin story for and come to understand truly, why he is motivated to carry out his murders. Though his redmption is of course not tied to volume 15, I really liked seeing him confronted by Winry earlier and be faced with a mirror. Also love how Winry doesn't resort to killing and sort of gets a mild sense of closure, by doing what her parents would have done as doctors within, that moment in Briggs where she encounters Scar again. This interaction also perpetuates the theme of FMA as a whole of how positive actions spread like a wave, as we see Scar is vital in the plan to defeat father in the end and he may not have been around if Winry hadn't decided to forgive him.

Lastly, regarding plot and related characters, I found the ending to be really really good. I cannot deny that anymore, I loved that ending. As I said earlier, the moving pieces present throughout the story really do make for a satisfying conclusion when they all come together and unite as one force. It's all very cathartic.

Onto presentation, the manga is really solid and that's about it. Art and panelling is consistently good and never looks sloppily done. There's only really one panel with Alphonse in it during the first volume that bothers me because of how his head is angled but that is about it. My favourite volume cover would have to be between Volumes 9 and 15.
Brotherhood is also pretty consistently good looking and I don't have any complaints. Animation is good, art is rarely not on point and the music is great. Whilst I still prefer the soundtrack of 03, Brotherhood's excels in bringing triumphant and intense vibes, that's what I find myself appreciating about the ost most. It's more sombre songs are okay but I can't help but compare them to the tracks of 03 which do that but better and more tactful way(?) I guess. It's hard to describe but the ost for brotherhood has that sort of in your face vibe.
The openings and ending songs where all pretty good, my favourites respectively being, Golden Time Lover and Let it all out.

Anyway those are my thoughts on the Manga and Brotherhood. I like even more than I did when I first read it and I no longer think Brotherhood is overrated but perhaps a bit overhyped by those who recommend it.

Rambling about misc stuff

Finally some random stuff I wanna mention, that one scene where Hoenehim seals pride in the dome is really cool and badass and it makes me smile hearing pride scream like, "HOENHEEEEEEEEEIM!!!!" Truly an exemplary example of hype moments and aura, only really rivaled by whenever Wrath is fighting anyone. Wrath is really cool in general, a badass old guy. I loooove the speech he gives the Scar during their fight about how in he feels truly alive when he's fighting with his life on the line and it feels like nothing else is relevant. That is, verbatim, how feel mentally when I'm having a back and forth with someone in a fighting game lmao.

Yeah good stuff. I guess I'll indulge in talking about Envy some more too. They are simply just a really fun villain. Despite being directly responsible for a genocide and killing a dearly beloved character, somehow I fail to dislike them at all. Props to Wendy for perfectly voicing Envy so exceptionally well too, genuinely perfect casting, couldn't imagine 'em voiced by anyone else.
Sticking to voice actors though, I wanna say I find the difference in demeanour between Travis as Roy in 03 and Brotherhood is kinda funny. In 03, from where I've reached in my rewatch, he sounds so much more soft spoken and cool whilst in Brotherhood he has lot more weight to his voice in comparison. I suppose that may be a result of just being more comfortable in the role over the years and perhpas the differing protrayals of Mustang between version. On the other hand his Japanese seiyuus have the opposite thing going on, where he sounds a relatively cooler and soft spoken in Brotherhood compared to 03 where he sounds more gruff in comparison.

Worth mentioning I watched Brotherhood via the dvd set I bought a couple years ago. It was nice putting it to use after having it collect dust for so long. Menu's where serviceable and the extra features were appreciated. Enjoyed listening to the episode commentaries whilst doing chores, whether it be them dicking around or giving insight into behind the scenes stuff about the production of the dub.
For the sake of gloating and nothing else, I read the manga physically with the box set I bought many years ago. I just think it's cool and I treasure it quite a bit.

Forgot to mention that I think the overplayed humor of this version was never much of an issue for me outside some moments in the earlier episodes. I thought it was fine but that kinda humor better suits a medium like manga where it doesn't really overstay it's welcome, especially with 1panel gags that may take up more time in an animation if adapted.
Final last 最後の忘れ物が I prefer the way alchemy is animated in brotherhood over 03. It tends to be a lot more detailed and intricate with how typical alchemy is protrayed in Brotherhood but in 03 it's usually a flash of light and some lightning.
I lied I have one last thing I forgot to say. I liked Dr Marcoh a lot more this time too. Liked seeing him change from self pitying to actually taking responsibility for his past actions and working to be a better and help those he wronged.

Some spreads pages and panels I like