Tear Jerker / Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

• Ed's howl of utter misery at the end of "Night of the Chimera's Cry", both in the original Japanese and the English dub. In the dub, Vic really sells it. His pained sobs sound way, way too real for him to just be acting.
  • How the Nina/Alexander chimera keeps asking Al if they can play. Each time it asks it gets worse.
  • Ed's resulting Heroic BSoD in episode 8. To make matters worse, he is tasked with going through Tucker's research. This drives him to resign his commission as a State Alchemist and track down Barry the Chopper, believing him to be Nina's killer.
• When Tucker snaps and uses Al's Philosopher's Stone body to try to bring Nina back.
  • A bit of Fridge Horror made this even worse. Because her father promised Nina he'd play with her the next day, it all might have made perfect sense to her. She and her dog sitting in circles drawn with chalk, her dad being all excited... Bloody hell, she probably thought her father would be showing magic tricks to her 'til the very end.
  • The Mercy Kill. Y'see, in Brotherhood, we meet chimeras who, while rather unhappy with their lot, are relatively well-adjusted and even looking into ways to restore themselves. If there was anything, anything at all, that could've been done to help Nina in the slightest, well... That door was slammed shut.
• Roy's flashback in episode 13. If the lighting, the hesitation of both characters and "Regret" playing in the background wasn't enough, the scene shows Roy's shadow on the wall flaring up as Roy incinerates the poor boy.
• Episode 27, near the end. Izumi has just beaten the living crap out of Ed and Al after they finally confessed to attempting to bring their mother back. She stands before them, angry and disappointed. Then she walks over and wordlessly holds them close to her. Cue a piano rendition of "Brothers." Both Ed and Al begin to cry. Such a simply crafted scene, but easily one of the most powerful and beautiful in the entire series.
• When Izumi explains the concept of death to one of the children who regularly comes by after her cat has died.
• Wrath, who is not so much evil as deeply, deeply unhinged for understandable reasons. The demise of his surrogate mother Sloth is a particularly good example, with Wrath inadvertently helping Ed kill her and breaking down in tears afterwards. Imagine a horribly twisted 12-year-old bawling his eyes out as his "mother" slowly dies in front of him/in him. Perhaps the most tragic example of Nice Job Fixing It, Villain. Worse still, the last thing she says to him is basically calling him an idiot for doing this (granted, she says it in more of a "You poor thing, you don't even realize that you messed up" tone than an angry one, but still).
  • The story behind his creation. Izumi, a mother who desperately wanted her baby to live again, tried to bring him back, and she ended up with something that was not human. She gives her baby to the Gate, only for her to immediately regret it after hearing his cries. She reaches out to him, but to no avail, and lets out an agonized wail as the Gate closes.
  • Hearing the cries of baby Wrath is really heartbreaking. This is a child whose own mother gave him away just because he was not human, and even when she realized her mistake and tried to take him back, it was already too late.
  • His Heel–Face Turn and death in the movie. Shortly after we learn that Izumi has since passed away, Wrath is shown slumped against a tree near her grave with a catatonic expression on his face, as if he no longer knows what to do with himself now that both his mothers are gone. He goes on to ally himself with Al and performs a Heroic Sacrifice when the two are ambushed by monster!Gluttony, urging him to transmute them both so that the Gate will open. He is outright pleading with Al in his dying moments, saying he just wants to go home to Izumi - his true mother.
• "Reunion of the Fallen." Half Tear Jerker, half terrifying. Everything about the episode's backstory is depressing, from Lujon falling in love with Lust because of how much she'd taught him, to Lust inadvertently regaining memories of Scar's brother (her past self's lover) due to how much Lujon resembles him, to Lydia finding out about Lujon's changing feelings on their wedding day... Ouch. Then there's how casually present-day Lydia talks about how Lujon has someone else he loves more than her, and one of the last shots in the episode after the entire town has returned to having the disease that Lujon tried to heal where Lydia and Lujon are shown together.
• Greed's death, especially because of how much it comes across as essentially suicide, not to mention his inspirational speech on the dire need to stop his fellow homunculi. It's also amazing to see Ed try and succeed in killing him one second and then start crying and screaming for him to wake up when he realizes the full impact of what's happened.
• Another thing with Greed is his reaction to Kimblee betraying him. It's to the point where Greed retracts his shield, and he looks utterly shocked. What's worse is that he has to be dragged away by one of his men to make sure he doesn't get killed.

  Greed: Bastard... You've betrayed us, haven't you?

• Ed's speech in episode 8 plays out in a shorter form after the Nina revelation in the manga and Brotherhood, but the first anime is a whole lot more powerful, as this was after a near-death experience.
  Ed: When I was certain he was going to kill me, my mind went blank, and I didn't have any hope anymore. And the only thing I could do was scream my lungs out. I felt so helpless, I couldn't even bring myself to believe someone might save me. Then you showed up, Al. And I realized that if we don't take care of each other, then no one else will. So I'll do anything in my power to get our bodies back, even if it means being the military's lapdog. And we'll just have to hope our powers are good enough to help us rise above our own limits. [cries into his hands] 'Cause we're not gods. We're humans. Tiny, insignificant humans... who couldn't even save a little girl...
• The last minute or so of the second-to-last episode is a combination of sadness and "What just happened" due to the rapid series of events. One heart-wrenching word: "EDWAAAAAAARD!"
• The episode where we see Ed and Al's past. The song "Bratja" at the end really hits it home, even if you don't know Russian.
  • Speaking of "Bratja", Vic Mignogna's now famous cover of the song. After a while, you stop seeing it as just an English cover that happens to be sung by the protagonist's voice actor... eventually, you come to see it as the real Edward Elric, singing his regrets to his brother and pleading for his forgiveness.
• While in Lab 5, the younger Slicer brother begs Ed to kill him, but he refuses, since denying he were human would mean Al was no longer human either. As this exchange is going on, Barry is convincing Al he's not human, only a product of false memories. If Ed's heartfelt speech isn't enough, the background song, "Bratja", really pushes it over the edge.
• The entire subplot of Tucker trying to revive Nina. Yes, he's a sick, amoral monster deserving of punishment. But as the show progresses, it's clear there's a side of him that truly loves Nina and wants her back, but to no avail. By his last appearance, he's only left with a soulless "doll" of her, and is so insane at this point that he doesn't know this. The mere idea of ANYONE being that messed up is just too much.
• Hughes' death. Compared to the Brotherhood, what makes it hurt is how quiet it is. In Brotherhood, Maes has enough strength to tell his family that he loves them before dying. By contrast, as he is immediately shot in the abdomen in this version, he falls to the ground without a word. A truly undignified and undeserved death to one of the finest officers.
  • To say nothing of Hughes' funeral. Everyone's sad enough, but the icing on the tear-jerker cake is when Hughes' four-year-old daughter, who doesn't understand the concept of death, starts asking why they're burying her daddy.
    • Not to mention that the words of Elicia even make the mega-badass Alex Louis Armstrong cry. There's just something horribly upsetting about seeing the normally boisterous Armstrong being reduced to silent tears.
    • One of the biggest tear-jerkers being when Mustang puts his hat on, stares up at the clear sky and proclaims: "It's going to rain today."
• Lust's death. She starts out as a cold-blooded monster, but seeing her become cynical and depressed after Scar's death is hard. She is portrayed very sympathetically after teaming up with the Elrics, and to top it off, she agrees with Wrath on some level regarding how she wants to become human so she can finally die.
  • Gluttony's reaction to it. Aside from his attachment to Lust, he had pretty much been established as completely amoral. Seeing him break down over her death and constantly ask where she is almost makes you wanna hug the poor guy.
    • After Ed tells him that Lust is dead, Gluttony just flops onto the ground and loses the motivation to do anything besides wander around mumbling her name. He's so far over the Despair Event Horizon, that the only way he manages to get out of it is for Dante to basically erase his brain. And even then, it's implied that it wasn't entirely effective, as in the movie Gluttony goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Wrath (Lust's killer) and completely ignores Al.
• Scar's final conversation with Lust. He points out that he loved her human form but also hated his brother for learning the forbidden arts of alchemy to try to bring her back. And yet the love that the Elric brothers felt for each other made him realize that he loved his brother.
• The opening theme of Conqueror of Shamballa is a somewhat melancholy, yet upbeat song that plays over a montage of the 51 episodes of the anime. It includes some of the saddest moments like Hughes' death, chimera!Nina and Scar shedding a tear. Just check it out.
  • Anything about Izumi in the movie. Her dying is a shocker, especially in hindsight for manga fans. But her being reunited with her son in death...
  • The airplane scene with Edward slowly making his resolve and turning away, then speaking in a heart-wrenchingly calm voice as he explains himself to his brother, the way his face quivers for a moment... and THEN Al starts screaming and crying.
    • Then the cut to Winry, who calmly states "I guess this is goodbye for good," while appearing as if she is on the verge of tears.
  • Anything about Alfons. Starting with his life, following with his relationship with Edward (who only sees a shadow of Al in him and doesn't even notice how much he hurts him that way) and ending with his Heroic Sacrifice. That man deserves a seat of honor here.
• Rick and Leo's scenario. One of them hates their mother for "forsaking" them, when it turns out she was basically blind and tried to find them but ended up dying whilst doing so.
• Selim's death. In this version, he's not Pride, but an innocent kid. And killed by his own FATHER at that. Then there's Roy Mustang carrying the little body away from the house after going on a fiery revenge.
• Rose. Being raped, lied to, manipulated, made mute and generally all the crap she went through. She didn't have it good in her first appearance either.
• There's something bittersweet about episode 4. Majhal was so in love with a woman who died that he tried to bring her back to life, and obviously failed. He essentially murdered several woman in attempts to bind their souls to mannequins that resembled his lost love, but they never binded correctly. At the end of the episode it turns out "Lebi", a woman who often visited Majhal, is revealed to be his supposedly dead lover - Karin. Majhal refuses to believe that the woman is Karin - as she is now older than before and no longer "beautiful" to him - and tries to attack her, but he accidentally becomes impaled by his own sword. Even while dying Majhal refuses to acknowledge that Lebi is Karin, and that she is alive.
  • The dejected look on her face as Majhal, with his dying breath, flat-out rejects her (and over something as shallow as aging) makes it even worse.
• Sloth's death. When she's evaporating after Ed transmutes her body into ethanol, it's possible she remembers who she once was as she says her last words. And the look on Ed's face!
  "Nicely done, sweetheart. Clean up after yourselves, and take care of each other."
• The Lab 5 scene where Lust threatens to scrape off the blood seal on Al's armor unless Ed makes a Philosopher's Stone for the homunculi, and Ed pleading her not to.
• Al having Martel killed while she is inside of him. Her blood is gushing out through the gaps in his armor and he just kind of sits there sobbing that he couldn't save her when he tried so hard. To make it worse, it's the only time in the 03 series that armor!Al cries onscreen. It really hits home that he's just a vulnerable kid trying to be cheerful for his brother's sake, and that for all the times we see Ed crying onscreen, Al is probably crying too, silently.
  • Al is so distraught at this that he actually wraps his arms around himself, as if trying to cradle Marta's body.
• The scenes after Ed and Winry are rescued from Barry the Chopper are some of the most depressing in the series. Narrowly escaping death and still mourning Nina and Alexander, Edward's in a state of agony and is emotionally exhausted. To make matters worse, he's only twelve and has had so much happen already. His speech, stated above, drives it all in, but Alphonse's isn't much better.
  Al: Since I no longer have a mortal shell, I can't feel the terror you felt, thinking you were going to die. I'm sure it must have been painful, and lonely. I want my body back, brother. I want to be able to feel what you felt. To feel human again. If we find the Philosopher's Stone, I can have that.
• During episode 6, while Ed is taking his exam:
  Alphonse: I don't know if we chose the right path, brother. But I do know this: I don't want to be in this suit anymore. I want to feel things again. It's strange. We've been right beside each other all this time. But I can't remember what your skin feels like, or how you smell.
• When Edward sees the corpse of a woman who was killed by Barry, he gets triggered by memories of his mother and that... thing... he and Al created, and passes out. Shou says that the entire time Ed was asleep, he was crying to his mom that he was sorry. The look on his face... That horrified look of fear and sadness and pain... it's just heartbreaking.
  • Before that, said woman's son can be seen clinging to the sheet she's under and crying. When a soldier tries to pull him away, he gets hysterical and begs them not to take him away from her. The clincher? The poor boy couldn't be much older than five.
• Ed and Mustang's farewell in episode 48, as Mustang goes off to confront the Führer and Ed to find Dante, is especially poignant given Ed's previous antagonism-cum-hatred towards his superior. Mustang goes to salute, then smiles a bit and offers his hand instead - Ed slaps his fingers, and smiles back. There's an air of finality about it that says neither expects to see the other again.
  "Goodbye, General."
• It's a small moment, but after the Tringham brothers help Ed get into Dante's lair, Russell tells Ed to come back safely. It's unclear if they find out exactly what happened down there, but neither option is all that great. Either they feel guilty for Ed basically disappearing, or they never get to know what happened to their friend.
• Envy has a pretty depressing backstory. When his father, Hohenheim, made him into a homunculus, he was horrified and ran out on his family. Dante, his own mother, doesn't even call him her son. She tells Wrath (while standing next to Envy) that "homunculi don't have mothers." After all of that, Hohenheim makes a new family and pretty much replaces Envy. While Envy's human self greatly resembles Hohenheim, he takes on a form that looks nothing like him and claims to have forgotten what he originally looked like.
  • In Envy's monologue in the OVA "Reflections", he wonders if the homunculi want to be human so that they can die, but adamantly states he doesn't want to. By the end, he expresses that he ultimately wants to forget the reason he was born.
• Lyra. She was an ambitious, but misguided young woman who had turned a new leaf and had her whole life ahead of her, yet she was cruelly murdered and then had her body taken over and made into the face of the central antagonist.
• The last episode where Al sacrifices himself to resurrect Ed, and restore his body. Afterwards, Ed sacrifices his new arm and leg to save Al from death.
  Al: This is for you, brother. I'll miss you.

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