50 Fun Facts About Fullmetal Alchemist

Who wrote and illustrated the Fullmetal Alchemist manga?

Arakawa grew up on a dairy farm and draws herself as a bespectacled cow in her author notes.

In which magazine was the manga serialized from 2001 to 2010?

Gangan is the anthology of a video game giant, which is why the publisher of Final Fantasy owns this series.

How many tankōbon volumes collect the complete manga?

Arakawa originally expected the story to fit in 21 volumes before it grew by six more.

Which company publishes the manga in Japan?

The series sits alongside Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest as one of the company's best-selling properties.

In which fictional country is the story mainly set?

Its politics and look are modeled on Europe around the turn of the 20th century.

What is the name of the rule that a transmutation must obey?

Arakawa said the idea came from watching her farming parents work hard for everything they ate.

In the botched attempt to revive their mother, which limb did Edward lose?

Alphonse lost his whole body in the same moment, which is why Ed pays a second price moments later.

Edward bound Alphonse's soul to what object?

The bond makes Al nearly invulnerable but leaves him unable to eat, sleep or feel.

What is the rural hometown of the Elric brothers?

The brothers burn down their family house there so they can never turn back.

Which town is known for manufacturing automail prosthetics?

Winry later works there as a sought-after engineer with a loyal customer base.

Who trained the Elric brothers in alchemy?

She too attempted human transmutation, trying to revive her stillborn child, and paid with organs.

Which colonel invited Edward to become a State Alchemist?

Ed passed the exam at 12, making him the youngest State Alchemist in the country's history.

Which grandmother raised Winry after her parents were killed in the war?

Arakawa used Pinako taking in the orphaned Elrics to explore society's duty to orphans.

Scar hunts State Alchemists to avenge the genocide of which people?

The war began when an Amestrian soldier shot a child, an act later revealed to be a shapeshifting homunculus in disguise.

Which homunculus murders Maes Hughes?

The killer frames an innocent lieutenant, whom Mustang then secretly smuggles out of the country.

In the manga, King Bradley is secretly which homunculus?

In the 2003 anime Bradley was a different sin entirely, and this one was Izumi's lost child.

Which homunculus turns out to be Selim Bradley?

He is the first homunculus Father made and fights as a shadow bristling with eyes and mouths.

Which homunculus is nicknamed the "Ultimate Shield"?

His counterpart Bradley is the Ultimate Eye, which is why the two are framed as opposites.

The "Ultimate Shield" hardens his skin by rearranging which element?

He turns the carbon in his flesh into a diamond-hard coating, the same chemistry as graphite to diamond.

Which Xingese prince willingly hands his body over to a homunculus?

He is the twelfth prince of Xing and ends the series as its new emperor.

What is the name of Xing's own medical form of alchemy?

Practitioners throw kunai to create two linked circles and work at a distance.

Who commands the northern Fort Briggs?

She is the elder sister of the flamboyant Major Alex Louis Armstrong.

Father's Promised Day transmutation can only be triggered during what event?

The sun stands for man and the moon for woman, so the eclipse represents a perfect being.

In which ancient country was the being later called Father created?

He was first a shapeless creature in a flask, made from the blood of a slave boy he named Van Hohenheim.

Which framed lieutenant has her death faked so she can be smuggled abroad?

She ends up in Xing under the care of Fu, Lin's bodyguard, until the Promised Day.

Who discovers that King Bradley's young son is a homunculus?

Hawkeye passes the secret to Mustang in coded conversation while being watched.

What does Edward give up to fully restore Alphonse at the story's end?

He offers up his own Gate, reasoning he never needed alchemy when he had friends.

Which childhood friend does Edward eventually marry?

The epilogue shows the couple with two children in a family photograph.

Which animation studio produced both FMA anime series?

Bones president Masahiko Minami greenlit the adaptation after staff brought him the manga.

How many episodes does Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood have?

Four OVAs were also bundled with the Japanese Blu-ray and DVD volumes.

How many episodes did the original 2003 anime run?

The series recorded a 6.8 percent television viewership rating in Japan during its run.

Who directed Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood?

Irie said Mustang's popularity forced him to give the colonel special focus.

Who directed the 2003 anime series?

Mizushima also wrote the lyrics for the series' foreign-language theme song "Brothers".

Who composed the music for Brotherhood?

Ōshima had scored the 2003 series, so Brotherhood's sound was entirely new.

Who voices Edward Elric in Japanese in both anime series?

Park and Rie Kugimiya (Alphonse) were among the few Japanese actors kept when Brotherhood recast.

Which English actor voiced Edward Elric?

He recorded an English version of the song "Brothers" that was never officially released.

Who performed "Again", the first opening theme of Brotherhood?

Sid supplied both the first ending, "Uso", and the final opening, "Rain".

The 2003 series' signature song "Brothers" is sung in which language?

Its absence from Brotherhood helped make it the defining sound of the first anime.

Which ensemble recorded the score for the 2003 anime?

The sessions took place at the Mosfilm studios, arranged by a Japanologist-turned-cosmetics executive.

Which film concludes the story of the 2003 anime?

It premiered in Japan in July 2005, nine months after the series finale aired.

At the end of the 2003 series, Edward finds himself in which real city?

He throws himself into rocketry research, hoping to use it to get back home.

Who is the main antagonist of the 2003 anime series?

She is a centuries-old former lover of Hohenheim who hops between bodies to stay alive.

Who directed the 2017 live-action film?

Two sequels followed in 2022 and reached Netflix later that year.

Who played Edward in the live-action films?

Yamada is also a member of the idol group Hey! Say! JUMP.

Which publisher released the manga in English in North America?

The English first volume was the top-selling graphic novel of 2005.

At what age did Edward become the youngest State Alchemist ever?

His short stature is a running gag he reacts to with disproportionate fury.

Every homunculus bears a tattoo of which symbol?

The self-devouring serpent is placed somewhere different on each one, such as Lust's chest.

Arakawa's parents ran a farm in which Japanese region?

She later drew the autobiographical farm manga Silver Spoon about the same region.

Which Xingese princess travels with Scar?

She is the seventeenth princess of Xing and arrives with only a tiny panda for company.

Which company took over Brotherhood's license after Funimation's expired in 2016?

Funimation re-licensed the series for its own streaming service three years later.