OPEN PANEL // We Went Back to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Action, Alchemy and Brotherhood

Spoilers ahead for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. After watching the anime adaptation of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, we came to the conclusion that Hiromu Arakawa has delivered another banger. Naturally, that sent us reminiscing about the series that made most of us fans of her work in the first place: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. TJ and I have only watched Brotherhood once. Turtle went back for another run in 2015, but even that was over a decade ago. So we decided a refresh was overdue, piled onto the sofa, switched on the English dub and went back to Amestris. And honestly? One of the most satisfying things about revisiting it is filling in all those spaces between the major plot points. We remembered the brothers. We remembered Mustang. We remembered Bradley. We remembered that dog. But we'd forgotten just how much happens on the road between those moments.

So why is it so damn good?

So many things. The lore. The world-building. The characters. The politics. The fights. The villains. The philosophy. And somehow, sitting right alongside some genuinely horrifying subject matter, a perfectly timed bit of slapstick comedy. There really is alchemy at work here. At the centre of everything is one of the best rules for a power system in anime: Equivalent Exchange. Alchemy isn't presented as unlimited magic. To obtain something, something of equal value must be given in return. And Fullmetal Alchemist spends 64 episodes interrogating what that actually means when human beings start believing everything has a price. Arakawa takes what could simply have been a cool supernatural combat system and builds an entire story about consequence around it.

For me its the story, the way they use the power of alchemy is completely different from other stories that have magic or mana. The anime teaches you that theres equivalent exchange and consequences for power. Its kind of a valuable life lesson.— Omniturtle

That's probably one of the reasons Brotherhood works on so many different levels. You can come for two brothers clapping their hands together and turning the pavement into a giant stone fist. Stay a little longer and you're dealing with war, genocide, political corruption, grief, disability, faith, science, ambition and the value of a human life. Pretty heavy stuff for something that can also spend five minutes roasting Edward for being short.

I watched this when I was in high school and honestly it taught me more about science than my actual lessons! Roy Mustang is my favourite character.— TJ

And Roy is still ridiculously cool. Flame Alchemy is one of those abilities that sounds straightforward until Brotherhood starts getting inventive with it. Mustang manipulates the oxygen concentration around a target before creating a spark with his ignition gloves, turning what initially looks like “guy who clicks his fingers and makes fire” into one of the most terrifying combatants in the series. Then the rain comes and he's useless. Perfect.

Bradley is still HIM

My favourite character is King Bradley. The ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing. That plot twist was such an OH DAMN! moment.— Wes

King Bradley might be one of the best examples of Brotherhood hiding something enormous directly in front of you. The friendly, slightly eccentric Führer of Amestris gradually gives way to Wrath — a Homunculus capable of carving through opponents with almost casual efficiency. His Ultimate Eye allows him to read movement with absurd precision, and unlike most of the other Homunculi, Bradley's ageing human body means there is something frighteningly finite about him. And that's what makes his fights so good. There's very little wasted movement. Bradley doesn't feel like someone using a supernatural power. He feels like a weapon that learned how to smile.

The Sins

Then we have the other Homunculi. Pride. Lust. Greed. Gluttony. Wrath. Sloth. Envy. Making the Seven Deadly Sins literal characters could have been painfully obvious, but Arakawa uses each Sin to explore the human trait they're supposed to represent — and then gradually complicates them. Greed, ironically, develops some of the strongest relationships in the entire story. Wrath displays an extraordinary degree of control. Pride discovers vulnerability. And Envy... Nah. We still hate Envy.

THE HATE FOR ENVY IS REAL

There are villains you enjoy watching because they're charismatic. There are villains you respect because they're powerful. And then there's Envy. Envy's ability is shapeshifting, which means almost every appearance comes with the possibility of manipulation. But what makes the character truly horrible isn't the ability — it's how deliberately Envy uses people's relationships against them. The obvious example is Maes Hughes. Hughes uncovers too much of the conspiracy inside the Amestrian military, and Envy ultimately kills him after taking the form of Hughes' wife, Gracia — exploiting the split-second hesitation of a man staring at the person he loves. That is vile. Then you discover Envy's involvement in starting the Ishvalan conflict, transforming into an Amestrian soldier and murdering an Ishvalan child to ignite tensions that were already close to breaking point. By the time Mustang finally learns the truth about Hughes and comes face-to-face with Envy again, the audience doesn't need convincing. We are completely onboard. Roy, cook this fool. And yet even that confrontation becomes something deeper than revenge. Brotherhood refuses to let hatred remain uncomplicated, even when it has spent dozens of episodes making you desperately want to see somebody get what they deserve.

And then there's Tucker...

You know exactly where we're going. Shou Tucker. The Sewing-Life Alchemist. One of the impressive things about rewatching Brotherhood is remembering just how early the series shows its teeth. You spend time with Tucker's daughter Nina. You meet the family dog, Alexander. Edward and Al play with them. Everything feels warm and innocent. And then... Yeah. Even years later, the Nina/Alexander reveal remains one of anime's most infamous gut punches. What's interesting is that it establishes something Brotherhood never really lets you forget afterwards: knowledge without morality is dangerous. Tucker doesn't see himself as some cackling supervillain. He sees an experiment. A breakthrough. A way of preserving his State Alchemist certification. Ed sees a little girl. That difference tells you almost everything you need to know about the moral argument sitting underneath the series.

When Brotherhood throws hands

It would be easy to spend the entire article talking about the writing and forget one important fact: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood absolutely throws down. The combat is ridiculously creative because alchemy allows environments to become part of the fight. Ed transforms terrain and weapons on the fly. Scar dismantles matter through his tattooed arm. Mustang turns atmospheric chemistry into artillery. Armstrong punches the ground and somehow makes masonry feel patriotic. Greed turns carbon in his body into the Ultimate Shield. Bradley walks into fights armed with swords and sheer disrespect. And because everyone fights differently, battles rarely become two characters firing larger versions of the same energy beam at each other. The abilities reveal personality. Mustang is precise. Bradley is ruthless. Scar is direct. Ed improvises. Al protects. That makes the action feel like storytelling rather than something inserted between story beats.

Funny. Horrific. Hopeful.

Perhaps the thing we've appreciated most on this revisit is Brotherhood's ability to move between emotional extremes without completely falling apart. One minute Armstrong is sparkling. The next you're staring at a mass grave. One episode is full of sibling arguments and Ed screaming about his height. Another asks whether a country can ever atone for genocide. Maes Hughes can be an unbearable dad showing photographs of his daughter to anyone unfortunate enough to stand near him... ...and then his funeral happens. That range shouldn't work. Somehow it does. And going back now, years removed from our first watches, we're finding completely different things to appreciate. Maybe that's the real mark of a classic. We remembered the major transmutations. We remembered the deaths. We remembered the fights. We remembered the twists. But we'd forgotten how carefully Arakawa connects all of them. So we're going back through the circle. And so far? Equivalent Exchange be damned. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has given us considerably more than we've put in.

OPEN PANEL

Who's your favourite Fullmetal Alchemist character — and who's getting thrown straight into the Gate? Turtle has the story. TJ has Mustang. Wes has Bradley. And apparently the entire KOMA://PLAY sofa has beef with Envy. Your move.