Manga
The manga that were hits in Japan in the 2000s.
2000S HITS
About
Alchemy tore the Elric brothers’ bodies apart. Can their bond make them whole again? In this world, alchemists are those who study and perform the art of alchemical transmutation—the science of manipulating and transforming matter. They are bounded by the Law of Equivalent Exchange: in order to gain something, one must sacrifice something of equal value. In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother’s bodies...the legendary Philosopher’s Stone.
Character analysis
Edward and his brother attempt a forbidden alchemical ritual to bring their dead mother back, and the catastrophic failure costs Edward an arm and a leg and costs Alphonse his entire body. His sharp intelligence and quick temper are both shaped by that guilt, he becomes a state alchemist specifically to find a way to fix what he broke.
Alphonse's soul was sealed into a suit of armor during the same failed ritual that cost Edward his limbs, and his continued kindness and patience, despite having far more reason for bitterness than most, is a deliberate contrast to his brother's sharper edges.
Winry builds and maintains Edward's mechanical automail limbs, which keeps her involved in the brothers' dangerous life even though she herself isn't a fighter. Her grief over her own parents' deaths gives her friendship with the brothers real weight beyond mechanical support.
Mustang climbs the military hierarchy with a clear goal of reaching the top, partly to change the system from within, and his effortless, confident public persona hides a specific, painful history from his time in a brutal war the story keeps circling back to.
Riza serves alongside Mustang with unwavering loyalty and sharp judgment, and her willingness to pull him back from his own worst impulses makes her one of the most quietly essential relationships in the entire story.
Status evaluation
Clean, expressive linework handles both lighthearted character comedy and the story's darker body-horror elements well.
The alchemy-and-consequences premise is widely regarded as one of the best-constructed stories in the genre, with a tightly plotted ending.
Edward's temper, especially around height jokes, provides regular comic relief between heavier arcs.
Loss, sacrifice, and the cost of forbidden knowledge are handled with real, sustained emotional weight throughout.
Several antagonists and body-horror elements create genuine unease.
Violence and injury are shown fairly directly, particularly around the central alchemy mishap and war flashbacks.
A large cast, detailed alchemy rules, and interwoven political and personal plots ask for real attention.
This is a completed series. This figure has not been verified against a current source and should be treated as approximate.
“Two brothers breaking the one rule alchemy can't bend to get their mother back, and spending the rest of the story paying for it, this is as tightly told as shonen adventure gets.”