Why Fullmetal Alchemist was animated twice, and the remake became a classic
The first Fullmetal Alchemist anime ran out of manga to adapt and invented its own ending. Six years later the studio Bones started over, this time tracking Hiromu Arakawa's complete story, and the result, Brotherhood, topped fan rankings on MyAnimeList, Anime News Network and IMDb for years.
Arakawa revealed the new adaptation in the 20th manga volume, released in August 2008, the year production began. To tell it apart from the 2003 series, the Japanese title added the English words Fullmetal Alchemist as a subtitle, while overseas audiences got the word Brotherhood. Yasuhiro Irie directed, Hiroshi Ōnogi wrote and Akira Senju composed, with Romi Park and Rie Kugimiya returning as the two lead brothers.
The story follows Edward and Alphonse Elric, raised in the village of Resembool in Amestris after their gifted alchemist father walks out. When their mother dies, the boys attempt human transmutation, a forbidden act, to revive her. It fails: Al's whole body vanishes and Ed loses a leg, then trades his right arm to bind his brother's soul into a suit of armour.
Sixty-four episodes aired in Japan on MBS, TBS and affiliates from April 2009 to July 2010. Irie had to chase an unfinished source; as the manga neared its end in May 2010, he said his staff were already animating the finale and admitted he was stunned by how it concluded. Funimation handled North America, with the English dub shown on Adult Swim from February 2010, before rights moved to Aniplex of America in 2016 and Netflix picked it up in January 2018.
Early instalments drew grumbles from Anime News Network staff, who felt retelling events from the first series drained suspense, but opinion swung hard. Rotten Tomatoes lists a 100 per cent rating across 14 reviews, and critics praised both the climactic action and its moral weight. Frieren later overtook it on two of those ranking sites. A film, The Sacred Star of Milos, followed in Japanese cinemas on July 2, 2011.
Source: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
