History Manga / FullmetalAlchemist

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the first series. [[spoiler:The ending is a lot happier after their journey finally ends]], they travel around with a cute little girl and her panda, [[spoiler: Homunculi are made from red stones instead of the body of a [[CameBackWrong failed human transmutation]], less good characters permanently die, and the ruthlessness of several characters is toned down compared to their incarnations in the first series. [[TropesAreNotBad Not]] [[InternetBackdraft necessarily a bad thing]], and the dark side of humanity is still shown on several occasions.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Quite idealistic on the whole; but the darker side of humanity is also depicted on more than one occasion.

* KarmaHoudini: If the omakes are to be believed, [[spoiler:most of the baddies, even the likes of [[TheSociopath Envy]] and [[SociopathicSoldier Zolf J. Kimblee]], are going to ''Heaven'' after they died. Chew on that for a second.]]

* AdultSwim: Considering [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the original]] was one of their biggest anime properties in the mid-2000s, it only made sense to air this one, too.

* IronicHell: [[spoiler: Pride and Father. Pride because he was a homonculus, and he's now a normal human, being raised by normal humans. Yes, the very people he despises. Father experiences everything that he said about the Truth giving despair to the conceited.]]

** Or tied up with shadow tentacles from horrific toothy NightmareFuel that walks like a man.

** And, in ch. 101, [[spoiler:Roy gets this when Bradley pins both his hands to the ground]].

* TheOtherDarrin: ''Brotherhood'' replaced a good deal of the Japanese voice actors from the first anime. Two who returned ended up playing different characters. In contrast, the English dub retained many voices; the changes basically amount to Al, Scar, Hohenheim, Marcoh, and Breda.

** BadassLonghair: Ed certainly qualifies. As do Hohenheim, Ling, Olivier, Izumi, Miles, and Kimblee. There actually aren't too many short-haired badass's in this series.
*** Long hair in FMA:B/manga = badass! Nuff said. Well, maybe except for Isaac McDougal, who's...not at all.

** Ling fights alongside [[BodyguardCrush Lanfan]] with spectacular results, but like with the aforementioned Roy and Riza, the couple part is complicated.

*** Kimblee always, ALWAYS has the last word in any philosophcal/moral debate, shutting up even the main protagonists. The only way anyone manages to quiet him down is to [[spoiler:''rip his throat out'']]. But wait! [[spoiler: even when [[DyingMomentOfAwesome '''dead''']] he manages to deliver one last brain-breaking statement to Pride that leads to his utter defeat. Take that!]]

** BadassLonghair: Ed certainly qualifies. As do Hohenheim, Ling, Olivier, Izumi, Miles, and Kimblee. There actually aren't too many short-haired badass's in this series.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Wrath's swords, shown to slice through a tank, bullets, artillery shells, and glass bottles. Also Lust's absurdly [[FemmeFatalons sharp nails]], which have given her the nickname The Ultimate Lance among her peers.

** Toward the end of the series, Mustang goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Envy, and despite Envy being one of the most sadistically cruel characters in the series, you actually feel kind of bad for [[NoGender it]].

-->[[spoiler:'''Ed''': [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "Get up, you worthless fuck. It's time you learned why you're not in our league!]]]]

* BookEnds: ''Almost.'' Take a look at [[http://www.mangareader.net/116-5187-52/full-metal-alchemist/chapter-1.html Ed at the end of chapter one.]] Now, take a look at him at [[http://mangastream.com/read/fullmetal_alchemist/152/68 end of the penultimate chapter.]] He even says practically the same line:

* [[GreenRocks Red Rocks]]: Philosopher's Stones basically allow you to do anything with alchemy.

** Dorchet/Dolcetto/[[SpellMyNameWithAnS what have you]] is a human/dog hybrid with a ring around his pupil, and he's loyal to his master to a fault. These traits come from the Military Dogs (sound familiar?) from Arakawa's first professional manga, ''StrayDog''.
** Lan Fan's design also seems to be the same as that of a character from Raiden-18, yet another one/two-shot from Arakawa.

This page deals with Hiromu Arakawa's original manga and its direct anime adaptation (entitled ''FullmetalAlchemistBrotherhood''. '''For the first anime series, please see ''Anime.FullmetalAlchemist''.'''

'''''Fullmetal Alchemist''''') is the story of the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who live in a world where the art of alchemy -- transmuting one material into another -- is a reality. The young brothers have set out to find the legendary Philosopher's Stone after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life using human transmutation -- a forbidden practice of alchemy -- cost Ed his right arm and left leg (now replaced with artificial "automail" limbs) while leaving Al as a soul affixed to an empty suit of armor.

This page deals with Hiromu Arakawa's original manga and its direct anime adaptation (entitled ''FullmetalAlchemistBrotherhood''; Japanese title ''[[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Fullmetal Alchemist]]''). '''For the first anime series, please see ''Anime.FullmetalAlchemist''.'''

'''''Hagane no Renkinjutsushi''''' (or '''''Fullmetal Alchemist''''') is the story of the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who live in a world where the art of alchemy -- transmuting one material into another -- is a reality. The young brothers have set out to find the legendary Philosopher's Stone after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life using human transmutation -- a forbidden practice of alchemy -- cost Ed his right arm and left leg (now replaced with artificial "automail" limbs) while leaving Al as a soul affixed to an empty suit of armor.