Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood 63

So it is finally here; the day we’ve been dreading and looking forward to for nearly seven years. It sure doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but Fullmetal Alchemist has finally come to an end.

With the manga having finally been completed and the anime following shortly thereafter, and with the green light on a second film, the story us fans have come to love and adore went out beautifully. In this review, I will be covering both of the last episodes.

So…without further adieu…!

The battle between Father and the rest of our heroes continue. Having lost his grip on god and the souls within him, Father struggles to hold his own. He can no longer fight with his otherworldly powers and is forced to defend himself with his hands; a surprise to both him and everyone else. Greed also gets in the mix, nearly losing his Philosopher’s stone to his foolish creator who falls for the homunculi’s trick. While Ling is not ready to let Greed go just yet, he must let the homunculus return to the source of his creation. Being the “unruly” child he is, he turns his powers against Father and carbonizes himself in order to turn Father to the weakened form of charcoal. Father’s body deteriorates but not before he has a chance to get rid of Greed completely. When the homunculus disappears, Ed takes his chances and puts his fist right through Father, unleashing the rest of his power. The homunculus dies as a result; thus, Ed can claim his victory.

There is a scene where Father returns to his true form, the dwarf from the flask. We see him at his Gate of Truth, which, funnily enough, is completely blank as opposed to Ed or Al’s gates. A voice comes from nowhere and reveals himself to be this god that Father so desperately attempted to capture. He is everything and nothing, the universe, he is Father. The bottom line here is that the homunculus has created this ending for himself and so shall he live out the rest of his existence in misery. Despite begging and pleading, Father is dragged into his gate and vanishes for good.

We return to Central where, in spite of Ed’s victory, Al has not yet returned. In order to help his brother, Al had transmuted himself in retribution for Ed’s arm. He’s at the gate with his body, but cannot be pulled back without a toll. Ling offers his Philosopher’s stone. Hoenheim offers himself. This, of course, does not settle with Ed. After a heartwarming and awfully strange exchange with his father, Ed thinks of the perfect payment. He draws a transmutation circle, much to everyone’s surprise. After a quick chat with the Truth, Ed reveals that he will offer his gate, meaning he can no longer perform alchemy. He explains that it won’t be all that big of a loss as the skill has created more problems than its solved. It is hardly a devastating loss in return for his brother who is severely malnourished, nothing but skin and bones. The two return through the gate and Al wakes up with a coat over him.

Everyone is waiting in silence, happy to see Al alive and okay, though severely malnourished. Even Mei is in tears, feeling guilty for what she had done despite having helped immensely. There are a few other scenes, one where Ed returns Selim’s true form to Mrs. Bradley, who has lost a husband and a son. Hoenheim returns to Resembool in a touching scene to revisit his wife’s grave. He tells her that everything is okay and that even though he would like to live now that everything has been taken care of, he is able to finally join her. Pinako finds him finally passed away with a smile on his face and the episode comes to an end.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood 64

Many people have asked me, those who did not read the manga, what the point of having another episode was for. Basically, I tell them, it is an epilogue, wrapping up the loose ends that had not been addressed in the previous episode. A lot happens here as the episode utilizes its time to go through each main and supporting characters’ stories after the fact. I might be a little nit-picky and address some changes in the anime in comparison to the manga. They’re also just fun little facts for those who care about that stuff.

We begin with Mustang and Hawkeye in the hospital. He is being drilled on his knowledge about the Ishvalan culture when Dr. Marcoh comes in. This is one of the scenes that had been changed from the manga. In the manga, they are set up in one of the camps set up after the hellish ordeal. In any case, the doctor does offer Mustang the chance to use his Philosopher’s stone, but on one condition. Mustang accepts, of course, but not before asking Marcoh to use it on a friend (Havoc). This is also changed, as, in the manga, at the end during the credits; Havoc is shown in rehab working his ass off to relearn how to walk instead of having been cured by the stone.

Over at the Armstrong mansion, Olivier and Miles, who have house Scar there in order for him to recuperate (also changed from the manga), ask him to join their cause, which he does. The next scene skips ahead some time to Ed and Al returning home. Al has cut his hair and seems to have put on some weight. He’s still using a cane as his body is becoming accustom to being used again. He asks Ed if Ling has returned to Xing yet. There is a touching scene between Ling and Mei, just after the ordeal, where Ling pretty much tells her he will become the next Emperor. Mei, in tears, of course, comes to realize that despite his greediness, he will also protect her as well. There is a bit of change from the manga here as well. Lan Fan is nowhere to be found, though, in the manga, it is shown that she returns her grandfather’s body back to Xing. I wish they would have included this, but for what reason they did not, I don’t know why.

A short scene with Ed on the roof of the house in Resembool shows him attempting to fix some shackles with his bare hands. He attempts to perform alchemy, but to no avail. Al joins him, telling him that Winry has made some pie. He also wants to tell him that he’s been thinking of something that he just can’t get off his mind and Ed knows exactly what.

In any case, there is a scene with Mrs. Bradley and Fuhrer Grumman who are enjoying a nice day, discussing a few things; one of which concerns Selim. Apparently, he has been keeping eyes on the child, his thoughts never straying far from the trouble the homunculus had caused in the past. Grumman is concerned that Selim might resort to his old self, that some memory or perhaps a natural urge will surface, though Mrs. Bradley assures him it won’t. He will still keep tabs on Selim and leaves it at that.

After a visit with Mrs. Hughes and her daughter, it is revealed that Al wishes to travel to the East. Having developed a new theory about equivalent exchange, he wishes to develop and test, he wants to learn as much about Alkahestry as he can. To do that, he will travel to Xing and learn from Mei, while Ed heads for the West. But before the former state alchemist can leave, he has to wait for the train with Winry.

Now, I’m not into romance or all that sappy stuff, but it was kinda cute what Arakawa did here between them. Ed is such an awkward young man still and Winry is just as much at times. You can tell they still have a lot of growing to do up. Just after the train arrives, Ed is about to step on when he stops and tells her he’ll give her half his life in exchange for half of hers. In typical girl fashion, she tells Ed he can have all of hers but then takes that back and goes down to 70, maybe 80 percent. Ed has a laugh and then pulls her into an embrace—as if it wasn’t obvious enough! The two part ways and there is some dialogue as narrated by Ed about a lesson without pain is meaningless. You cannot gain something without sacrificing something else in return. Standing strong in the face of pain and hurt, one will gain a Fullmetal heart.

The credits roll and a montage of pictures dedicated to the characters’ journey over the coming years are shown. I won’t spoil it all. If you haven’t watched it already, you should stop reading this and check it out!