List of Fullmetal Alchemist episodes

Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist volume one DVD cover by Funimation
Native name
Kanji鋼の錬金術師
Revised HepburnHagane no Renkinjutsushi
No. of episodes51
Release
Original networkJNN (MBS, TBS)
Original releaseOctober 4, 2003 (2003-10-04) –
October 2, 2004 (2004-10-02)

Fullmetal Alchemist is an anime television series loosely based on the manga of the same title by Hiromu Arakawa.[1] Set in a fictional universe in which alchemy is one of the most advanced scientific techniques, the story follows two alchemist brothers named Edward and Alphonse Elric, who want to recover parts of their bodies lost in an attempt to bring their mother back to life through alchemy.

Produced by Bones and directed by Seiji Mizushima, Fullmetal Alchemist was first aired on TBS Television in Japan from October 4, 2003, to October 2, 2004. It later aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the United States from November 7, 2004, through March 19, 2006.[2][3] A theatrical release titled Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, a sequel to the television series, premiered in Japanese theaters on July 23, 2005;[4] and it premiered in the U.S. on August 24, 2006.[5] A series of five original video animations (OVAs) were also released. The majority of these OVAs are side stories and do not expand on the plot.[6] In 2009, a new anime, titled Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood for the English release, started broadcast on MBS and TBS, being directed by Yasuhiro Irie.[7][8][9] Brotherhood is an independent second anime series adaptation that directly follows all the events of the original manga, and is not related to the first anime series.

The first series has been released in a series of thirteen DVDs from December 17, 2003, to January 26, 2005, in Japan.[10] Funimation also released the same series of DVDs from February 8, 2005, to September 12, 2006, in the United States.[11][12] MVM had released the first eight volumes in the United Kingdom; however, Funimation gave the rights over to Revelation Films.[13] In March 2006 a DVD featuring the OVAs was released in Japan with the name of Fullmetal Alchemist: Premium Collection.[10] Funimation acquired and dubbed the Premium Collection, which was released on August 4, 2009.[14] During January from 2009, Bones released a "DVD box archives" of the anime. It includes the first anime of 51 episodes, the film, the CD soundtracks, and guidebooks from the series.[15]

Eight pieces of theme music are used for the episodes. Each of the theme songs was performed by artists under Sony Music Entertainment Japan's label, whose anime distribution unit, Aniplex, handled the production and music production for the series. The music score was composed and arranged by Michiru Oshima.[16] For episodes 2–13 the opening theme is "Melissa" by Porno Graffitti and the ending theme is "Kesenai Tsumi" (消せない罪, "Indelible Sin") by Nana Kitade. Episode 1 also uses "Melissa," but it uses it as an ending theme, and it doesn't have an opening theme. For episodes 14–25 the opening theme is "Ready Steady Go" by L'Arc-en-Ciel and the ending theme is "Tobira no Mukō e" (扉の向うへ, "Beyond the Door") by Yellow Generation. For episodes 26–41 the opening theme is "Undo" by Cool Joke and the ending theme is "Motherland" by Crystal Kay. For episodes 42-51 the opening theme is "Rewrite" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation and the ending theme is "I Will" by Sowelu (except the finale episode, which has a voiceover with the credits instead of an ending theme song). All episodes that originally opened with "Melissa" and "Undo" had "Ready Steady Go" shown in place of those songs on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and YTV's Bionix. The DVD releases from Funimation include all openings in their original places and format.

  1. ^ "Hiromu Arakawa". Viz Media. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
  2. ^ "Fullmetal Alchemist on Adult Swim Saturday". Anime News Network. November 5, 2004. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  3. ^ Hanson, Brian (March 25, 2006). "The Click: March 25th–March 31st". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  4. ^ "Japanese Box Office: Fullmetal Alchemist movie Debut". Anime News Network. July 27, 2005. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
  5. ^ "Japanese Box Office: FMA: The Conqueror of Shambala Opens This Weekend". ICv2. August 24, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
  6. ^ "Funimation Adds Fullmetal Alchemist Premium Collection OAV". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  7. ^ Animage Editorial Staff (October 2008). 鋼の錬金術師 新シリーズ. Animage (in Japanese). 364 (October 2008). Tokyo, Japan: Tokuma Shoten: 67.
  8. ^ "New Fullmetal Alchemist TV Anime Series Confirmed". Anime News Network. 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  9. ^ "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Debuts on Funimation - Anime News Network". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  10. ^ a b "鋼の錬金術師 DVD and CD" (in Japanese). Sony. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  11. ^ "Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 1: The Curse (Episodes 1-4) (2004)". Amazon. 8 February 2005. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  12. ^ "Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 13: Brotherhood (Episodes 49-51) (2004)". Amazon. 12 September 2006. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  13. ^ "New Funimation Distributor revealed". UK Anime Net. November 14, 2006. Archived from the original on November 21, 2006. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
  14. ^ "Fullmetal Alchemist: Premium OVA Collection". Mania. Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  15. ^ "鋼の錬金術師 Box set archives" (in Japanese). Fullmetal Alchemist official Japanese website. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  16. ^ "Discography 2006-2003" (in Japanese). Michiru Oshima. Retrieved May 24, 2009.