Summary
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has a lot of standout episodes. Some of them are great because of their excellent artwork, animation, and overall direction. Other episodes are great because of their emotional story beats and amazing action.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood It's often touted as one of the best, if not the best, anime out there, and it's easy to see why. The story is structured in an accessible way while still having moments of maturity and complexity, and that level of accessibility has allowed the story to maintain a fan base of old and new anime fans for over a decade.
Even after 15 years, Studio Bones' Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is still considered one of the best anime ever made. The combination of action, animation, and character writing makes each episode engaging. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood great to watchAnd even with how much anime has evolved since the series first premiered, it still holds up incredibly well, even by modern standards.
Several episodes in this series are especially worthy of praise, as each one perfectly encapsulates what makes this anime so compelling.
This episode highlights why Edward and Winry's relationship is so good.
In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #22, “Backs in the Distance”, as Edward continues to fight Scar, Edward calls Scar out to kill Winry's parents, which Winry overhears. Winry pulls out a gun to try to shoot Scar, and when Scar escapes, Edward stays behind to comfort Winry and reassure her that she shouldn't be a murderer.
“Backs in the Distance” is an episode that perfectly captures the emotional highs of Fullmetal Alchemist’s writing. Winry learning the truth about her parents’ deaths is as emotional as one would expect, and then, The way Edward comforted Winry did a great job of highlighting how well they supported each other. and why their relationship is so important to the story. Add in the early development of Scar's character into a more heroic figure and it's a great episode.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's Premiere Takes the Series to New Heights
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #1, “Fullmetal Alchemist,” opens the series with the Elric brothers joining other characters in the hunt for Isaac McDougal, a former state alchemist who has gone rogue. McDougal attempted to use his ice-based alchemy to destroy Central, but thanks to the Elric brothers and their friends, disaster was narrowly averted.
It's been five years since the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime series ended, and the release of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a great way to bring people back into the story. While the episode's content is completely original to the anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood did a great job of capturing the basics of the story and characters that people know and love.and with lots of great animation and direction, to boot. It's a great introduction to anime, and the series never fails to capitalize on its momentum.
Nina's Fate Was Made for Fullmetal Alchemist: The Brotherhood's Darkest Tale
In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #4, “An Alchemist’s Pain,” Edward and Alphonse meet Shou Tucker, a state alchemist who once created a talking chimera in the hopes that he could help them in their quest to regain their bodies. As the Elric brothers delve deeper into Shou’s research, they bond with his young daughter, Nina, and the friendship they form takes a turn for the worse when they discover that Shou turned Nina into a chimera to keep his license.
Between the soundtrack, animation, and overall direction of the episode, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood perfectly captured the tragedy of Nina's fate and how much it affected Edward's worldview.The aforementioned tragedy was made worse by her merciless death at the hands of Scar. This is one of the most important stories in the entire plot of Fullmetal Alchemist, and Brotherhood did a great job of it.
The Ishvalan War is as dark as everyone thinks
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #30, “The Ishvalan Annihilation War,” is largely devoted to showing everything that happened during the war with Ishval. The episode goes into detail about how horrified Mustang, Hawkeye, Armstrong, and many of Edward and Alphonse’s other friends are by the murders they are forced to commit, all while showing the brutal experiments Marcoh was forced to conduct in order to create the Philosopher’s Stone.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Episode #30 did an amazing job of capturing the horrors of war for everyone involved.and even with how many episodes are left in the series, it never stops pursuing that idea. Brotherhood's approach to war may not be as sweeping as the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime, but it does a great job of getting to the heart of the matter nonetheless.
Mustang killed a homunculus in the flashiest way possible.
In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #19, “'Death of the Undying”, Mustang was ambushed by Lust during an investigation and seemingly killed. However, when Lust was about to kill Alphonse and Hawkeye, Mustang was revealed to have saved himself with his flame-based alchemy, and he then burned Lust over and over again until she finally exhausted her philosopher's stone and died.
Lust's death is one of the most iconic deaths in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and for good reason. It's incredibly exciting to finally see one of the Homunculi die, but also The animation and music used for Mustang's destruction of Lust did a great job of capturing the tension of the scene. and stands out as one of the best scenes in the entire anime. This is one of the heroes' first real victories against the Homunculi, and it's always great to see.
This episode puts Edward in an incredibly dramatic situation.
In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #26, “Reunion,” as Edward and Ling battle Envy, Edward realizes that they can use Envy’s philosopher’s stone as a means to escape the artificial Gate of Truth in Gluttony’s stomach. When Edward performs the human transformation ritual, he encounters Alphonse’s malnourished body in the real Gate of Truth, and while they don’t have time to talk before Edward is thrown out, Edward swears that he will come back for him.
Aside from the drama of Edward having to compromise his morality by performing human transmutation, Edward's tragically brief reunion with Alphonse's body is a wonderful reminder of why Edward fights.and the animation that accompanies each scene further propels the series. Episode #26 can be considered the midpoint of the story, and that's largely thanks to the incredibly dramatic story beats from start to finish.
Hohenheim's backstory makes him the most tragic character in the series.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #40, “Homunculus (The Dwarf in the Jar),” reveals Hohenheim’s backstory as a slave raised by Father when he was just a black mass in a jar. Over the years, the dwarf in the jar manipulated events to make Hohenheim and himself the center of a massive human transmutation ritual, forcing the spirit of Xerxes into the two of them, essentially turning them into living philosopher’s stones.
The tragedy of Hohenheim winning his own life only to be torn apart and forced to live as a monster It's nothing short of heartbreaking to watch and perfectly captures the ironic theme of punishment in the story. In just one episode, Hohenheim went from a completely mysterious character to the most tragic character in anime, and it's great to see how his story continues to unfold from there.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has perfectly concluded the story of Mustang and Envy
Contains discussions of suicide
In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #54, “Beyond the Inferno”, Mustang is criticized for killing Envy in a way that would have caused him to go on a rampage. Envy doesn't understand why that would work or why a group of people who are supposed to hate each other like they do don't fight, and Edward eventually realizes that Envy is jealous of humans' ability to forgive, revealing that Envy was so humiliated that he killed himself.
Seeing Mustang avenge Hughes' death while still retaining his humanity was a satisfying end to one of the anime's biggest storylines, and while he may have been a despicable guy, Envy's suicide did a great job of making even someone like him feel pitiful in his final moments. Thanks in no small part to the directing of the scene. Every episode in the final season of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is fantastic, and episode #54 is one of the show's biggest highlights.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has brought the ultimate climax
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #62, “A Fierce Counterattack”, continues the final battle against Father, with Father losing his sanity and control of his powers due to losing too many lives. When Edward's automail is destroyed, Alphonse sacrifices his soul so that Edward can regain his original arm and continue fighting, and in a fit of rage, Edward begins to beat Father without ever giving him a moment's rest.
“A fierce counterattack” is everything the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime needed at its climax. Seeing Father become more dangerous as his plans fail ratchets up the tension brilliantly, and even with the cost of getting to that point, Edward's prolonged takedown of Father while everyone cheers him on makes for one of the most touching moments in anime.Episode #62 was the emotional peak of the anime and it's still easily one of the best episodes.
The series finale is still considered one of the best anime episodes.
In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episode #64, “Journey's End”, two years after Father's defeat, Edward and Alphonse are continuing their research into alchemy in hopes of overcoming the limitations of equivalent exchange. As Edward leaves for the West, he proposes to Winry by asking her to share half of her life with him, and her saying that she will give him everything gives Edward a hint about overcoming equivalent exchange.
With the main story action concluded, Fullmetal Alchemist: BrotherhoodThe end of it might just focus on wrapping things up and taking everyone to a new place. and in doing so emphasized that the core of the story has always been the humanity of the cast. There's no better ending the show could have asked for, and that makes it easily the best episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.