At the peak of popularity, Fullmetal Alchemist received a 51-episode anime adaptation in 2003–2004. At the time, though, the manga series was still ongoing. The anime studio Bones had several options while waiting for the manga series to complete. They could have gone the My Hero Academia route of producing story arcs on a seasonal basis to align with the manga or the Bleach route of creating original side stories. Instead, the studio honored Hiromu Arakawa’s request. The series pivoted from the manga, only covering seven volumes of the original material and providing a different ending.
Fans of Fullmetal Alchemist were indifferent about the original ending for this series, but they understood Arakawa’s wishes. Some fans did not even watch the original series and only acknowledged Brotherhood as the only adaptation of the series. However, even though it is not the actual ending of the manga, Fullmetal Alchemist provides an authentic story that is worthy of being watched by FMA fans.
How did Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) End?
The series deviates from the manga at the point when Maes Hughes gets killed by Envy. Soon after, the series showcases an original antagonist, Dante, who is the former lover of Edward and Alphonse Elric’s father, Hohenheim. The story transforms into a toxic love story. Dante and Hohenheim were in a constant chase for the Philosopher’s Stone to gain immortality. The two were willing to sacrifice human lives to obtain the stone. Hohenheim regrets his actions and leaves Dante. As for Dante, she continues her quest, manipulating Homunculi and other vulnerable alchemists to do her bidding in creating another Philosopher’s Stone.
One of these vulnerable victims is Scar. Scar creates the stone by sacrificing himself and thousands of soldiers, and he uses Alphonse “Al” Elric as the vessel for the stone. Soon after, Al gets kidnapped by Envy and meets the leader of the Homunculi, Dante. Edward “Ed” Elric learns about Dante’s plans to transfer her soul into the body of Rose, a woman who met Ed and Al previously at Lior, by using the stone inside Al.
Ed searches for Al underground, and he encounters Envy. They have a heated battle. Ed learns that Envy was the deceased son of Hohenheim and Dante and the first-ever homunculus, resulting from Hohenheim’s human transmutation to revive his son. Envy hates the Elric brothers because Hohenheim left them for another family. As a result, Envy pierces Ed with a blade in its arm.
Alphonse uses the stone in his metal body to revive his brother, Ed. Envy does not stop Alphonse, and instead, Envy enters the Gate of Truth to travel to the “real world,” where Hohenheim currently lives. Edward wakes up to see that his entire body is restored. Consequently, Al is taken by the Gate of Truth. Edward decides to do a human transmutation, using his own life in exchange for Al to return to his original body. As a result, Al lives in Amestris, and Edward enters the Gate of Truth and resides in Munich, Germany. As for Dante, she gets eaten alive by Gluttony, who became manic after the death of Lust.
The Conclusion of Fullmetal Alchemist (2003): Good or Bad?
FMA took on an authentic direction from the manga as it became a soap opera filled with family drama. Ed and Al’s estranged relationship with their father, Hohenheim, becomes complicated when they learn his secret: he committed mass murder to obtain immortality. They also learn that Envy is their “step-sibling,” and Ed cannot help but feel pity for Envy. FMA has an original ending, but the conclusion loses sight of the premise, which is having the Elric brothers return to their original human form.
The ending of the Fullmetal Alchemist series left fans with questions. One of the biggest questions was whether the Elric brothers would reunite or not. Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa answers this question. The film focuses on the two brothers trying to reunite. While trying to figure out how to return home, Ed gets the attention of the Thule Society, who believes that Ed’s home, Amestris, is Shamballa. The Thule Society wants to go to Amestris to retrieve weapons that would aid them in World War II.
The FMA original series’ ending is different from Brotherhood, which remained faithful to the manga. At the end of Brotherhood, Ed performs a human transmutation on himself so that Al can return to his original human body in exchange for his ability to use alchemy. Yet even though Ed cannot use alchemy anymore, his ending was wholesome. Ed confesses his love to Winry, and they get married with children. As for all the other characters, their conclusion proves to be just as wholesome in that Scar was able to rebuild Ishval, and Al goes on a journey to the East to learn about alkahestry. Regardless of how each of the series ended, both were heartwarming, as the brothers lived happily ever after.
FMA (2003): Differences in Character Roles, But Keeping A Core Message
By creating an entirely new ending to Fullmetal Alchemist, writers had to cut characters from the manga, such as May Chang and Olivier Mira Armstrong. Furthermore, the writers also had to rewrite the roles of specific characters. For example, a minor character, Rose Thomas, didn’t have much of a role in the manga, but she has a vital role in Dante’s scheme in FMA (2003).
Furthermore, the roles of the Homunculi drastically shifted too. In Brotherhood, Lust was the first Homunculi killed off in the series. Yet in the FMA series, she played a significant role. Lust is the result of Scar’s brother trying to revive his deceased wife. Her personality remains the same in the original anime and the manga as she becomes curious about humanity and wants to be human.
Even though characters were rewritten, it didn’t drastically change the landscape of the series. Both series showcase that the antagonists aren’t entirely evil individuals. They have trauma that made audiences feel sympathetic towards their motives. These complex characters play into the role of one of FMA’s thematic messages: every individual has a bit of good and evil in them. So even if there are changes, both series continue to illustrate the core themes of the manga.
Although the original Fullmetal Alchemist did not live to honor the manga, it is a series worth watching as a standalone anime. Unlike other series that branch away from the source material and provide an unfulfilling and nonsensical conclusion, like Tokyo Ghoul and The Promised Neverland, Fullmetal Alchemist intentionally made it known that it is deviating from the original content. Thus, its ending is a legitimate conclusion to fans that does not tarnish the manga’s reputation.
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