And some people say Alphonse does nothing in the first anime.

Fullmetal Alchemist Manga vs First TV Series - ROUND THREE The third volume of the FMA manga covers the Elric brothers' trip back to Risembool to get Edward's automail arm fixed (it was destroyed by Scar), the research at Central's library into the Philosopher's Stone, and most of the Laboratory 5 incident. The first animated series stayed pretty faithful to this portion overall. EVENTS: Chapter 9: A Home with a Family Waiting Event(s): Edward, Alphonse, and Major Armstrong visit Resembool, the Elric's hometown, to get his automail and Alphonse fixed. Episode 17: "House of the Waiting Family" Event(s): Edward, Alphonse, and Major Armstrong visit Resembool, the Elric's hometown, to get his automail and Alphonse fixed. Judgement: Rather poignant in both versions, but slightly more subtle in the anime one.

POMATO!

Fullmetal Alchemist Manga vs First TV Series - ROUND TWO In this round, I'll cover comparisons between chapters 4-8 and the episodes that correspond to the events in them. It's in this volume of the manga, volume 2, that Scar first appears and menaces the State Alchemists, and it all happens in "present" time, meaning none of it in a flashback like in the anime. The incident where Ed gets his automail broken by Scar comes shortly after the Tucker incident. In the first series, the Tucker incident occurs in a flashback, so chronologically, Scar's main attack in Central doesn't occur until around the time Ed and Al encounter Dr. Marcoh. Also, Marcoh isn't killed shortly after the encounter by Lust and Gluttony in the manga like in the anime. In fact, Tucker and Marcoh seem to switch places.

So... beautiful...

Fullmetal Alchemist Manga vs First TV Series - ROUND ONE Hiromu Arakawa's long running manga, Fullmetal Alchemist, has had the luxury of not only being extremely popular both in Japan and here in the U.S., but recieving two anime adaptations. The first was helmed by director Seiji Mizushima in 2003, and ran for 51 episodes. The second will air this year, helmed by Yasuhiro Irie. The two series were/are productions of Studio Bones, known for its high quality productions. However, the first television animation began while the manga was still starting to get off the ground. Only a few volumes of the manga were available at the time the production started. The author laid down her plans for the manga's story to the Bones staff, but insisted that they go in a different direction, which they did.

Expect a Fullmetal Alchemist Week this week, with Anime Moments all from FMA and a manga-to-anime comparison! Also, expect a bit of commentary on each episode of the new series here.

BLOW UP! BLOW UP! NEVER SAY GIVE UP, NEVER AGAIN!

Looking forward to this, hardcore. I liked the manga and first series equally, but if they keep at this quality, I may like this series even more than the first.