Fullmetal Alchemist

Overview: The Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse (older and younger, respectively), seek to recover their former selves after an attempt to resurrect their deceased mother goes horribly wrong. In large, this quest involves looking for the Philospher's Stone. This is the first (2003) anime adaptation of the manga and diverges from the manga halfway into the series (episode 26).*

Edward Elric (EN: Vic Mignogna) and Alphone Elric (EN: Aaron Dismuke) (Episode 4)

*Some viewers suggest watching at least the first 25 episodes if not the entire series before watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (because FMA:B is more brief on the backstory). Others say just skip this first adaptation altogether.

Recommendation: I wasn't pleased with the ending and have yet to watch the more than just the first episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Furthermore, I watched the English dub instead of the Japanese dub with English subtitles. Sometimes I turned the English subtitles on and they're usually completely different from the English audio.

As such, the best I can say at the moment is the Fullmetal Alchemist is somewhere between a good and great anime.

Alphonse (before he became just a body of armor) and Edward (before he lost his right arm and left leg) (Episode 1)


As of 20180302, Netflix determined the movie for me as a 90% match. I decided to give the series neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.
20180302: English audio. Episodes 1 through 8.
20180303: English audio. Episodes 9 through 10.
20180310: English audio. Episodes 11 through 16.
20180311 & 20180312 AM Hours: English audio. Episodes 17 through 24.
20180315: English audio. Episodes 25 through 39.
20180316: English audio. Episodes 40 through 48.
20180317: English audio. Episodes 49 through 51. Done.


Lust (EN: Laura Bailey) and Gluttony (EN: Chris Cason) (Episode 2)

Episode 1.
3 years older.
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Episode 3.
Given all the tools that flew out the door, I'm guessing Winry is the mechanic at the opening titles?
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Episode 4.
"You're definitely much prettier when you don't dress like a paperboy!" - Edward to Claus. Claus's reaction is priceless.
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Al Elric (Episode 2?)

Episode 5.
I'm guessing due to the part where he requested they boarded this specific train, that the whole thing is staged. But someone has supposedly been shot and killed. Unless that person was faking. Hmm. We'll see.

Huh. Guess it was quite real after all.
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Episode 6.
Alphonso doesn't need to eat food (nor gets the joy of eating).
Huh. Ed warmed up water without a transmutation circle.
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Ed Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist (Episode 2?)

Episode 7.
This chimera is definitely a mix of his dog and daughter. [Confirmed. And elaborated: his previous chimera was his wife.]
Sad ending.
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Episode 10.
Hahaha. Also to be demolished.
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Episode 11.
Hmm. These people automatically kicked out the real brothers simply because they came second. A rationale person would question both sets.
Know so much and yet so little.
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Al and Nina Tucker. (Episode 6)

Episode 13.
Hahahaha. "That day... all female officers will be required to wear... tiny miniskirts!"
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Episode 14.
Huh. This guy defeats Iron Blood Alchemist (Basque Grand), but somehow I don't feel bad for Iron Blood. Probably because the writers portrayed Iron Blood as being the bad guy.
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Episode 16.
Strange that he was afraid to speak up about being dumped off the train.
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Ed the Fullmetal Alchemist fights Colonel Roy Mustang (EN: Travis Willingham) the Flame Alchemist. (Episode 13)

Episode 18.
Haha. No way. Transmute from ashes. Wouldn't make sense if you didn't know where each piece belongs.
Wow. He cracked the code.
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Episode 20.
Hehe. He used Scar's technique.
Real philosophical.
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Episode 22.
Huh. I really didn't know how that episode would end.
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Ed fights Scar (EN: Dameon Clarke) (Episode 14)

Episode 23.
"Was I ever really human?"
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Episode 25.
Huh. It seems they're playing the Fuhrer in a mysterious role. He seems nice, we haven't really seen much of his power, but could be behind everything.
Oh no. It's real. Hughes is dead.
[20180315: Internet sources say that this is the last episode which matches the manga. And roughly corresponds to episode 10 of FMA:B.]
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Alex Louis Armstrong (EN: Christopher Sabat) and Ed.
Armostrong shows off his talent as an artist. (Episode 16)

Episode 26.
Hehe. Women.
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Episode 27.
Huh. It seemed like she linked his ability to transmute without a circle and a performance of human transmutation. I wonder if that means she herself acquired the ability to transmute without a circle from such an experience.
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Episode 29.
Ed suddenly doesn't understand equivalent exchange because he gave up his arm for Alphonse, and yet the arm now exists on this humonculus.
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Winry Rockbell (EN: Caitlin Glass) (Episode 17)
Pinako Rockbell (EN: Juli Erickson) (Episode 17)

Episode 30.
Oh. Maybe Alphone's body, except the arm and leg, makes up the rest of the humonculus.
She gets upset at what they're telling them. But technically she was the one omitting information from them to begin with.
So it's true. She must have performed a human transmutation.
Grabs a random person for sulfur.
"Teacher. The Military. And These Bastards. Damn, looks like a four-way fight." - Ed. "Well then, I guess I make five." - Fuhrer. Ed counts himself in the four-way, and I suppose he included the Fuhrer as part of The Military. But the Fuhrer distinguished himself from The Military. It probably isn't the Fuhrer.
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Episode 31.
Holy crap. "What's wrong? Get it over with. If you don't then I'll kill you."
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Greed (EN: Chris Patton) (Episode 21)

Episode 32.
"Right, then I'll think for myself." (Bonk!)
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Episode 33.
Alphonse revealed his weakness to the girl inside him.
What? All these guys are chimeras? [They are human chimeras.]
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Episode 34.
I wonder which humonculus will be defeated first.
I wonder why there's a new Lust. What happened to the old one?
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Izumi Curtis (EN: Christine M. Auten) (Episode 29)

Episode 37.
Haha. That surveillance log.
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Episode 38.
The Thinker.
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Episode 40.
Hmm. Alphonse prevents Martel from killing him.
Ooo. Lyra shows up again.
A most interesting death for Martel. Interesting that the impostor didn't suspect that Al was given any information.
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Gluttony, Envy (EN: Wendy Powell), and Lust (Episode 14)

Episode 42.
Idiots. Don't listen to Ed.
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Episode 43.
The number of problems caused by Al.
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Episode 44.
Dante. I actually read this by accident in Episode 34.
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Wrath (EN: Luci Christian) (Episode 29)

Episode 46.
I hate when equivalent exchange gets used in the social context.
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Episode 49.
Wrath is annoying. "Mommy! Mommy!"
Ah thank goodness. As I mentioned above in Episode 46, it's bad when equivalent exchange is used in a social context, which Ed seems to believe. But Dante sets him straight (at least from a social point of view). She has yet to prove that the principle is somehow false with respect to alchemy.
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Episode 51.
Oh wow. I didn't even realize I reached the end of the series. Though I'm still only at the 10 minute mark of it.
Hmm... I'm not sure what I think of that ending.
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King Bradley (center, EN: Ed Blaylock) and Basque Grand (right, EN: R. Bruce Elliott)

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