This isn't a plot correlation or anything, but I find it funny when Arakawa draws things in the manga that have been done in the anime. For instance, I really did laugh out loud when I saw the Leto statue in Lior and Hoenheim mentioned something about bad taste.

I'm soooo glad she didn't make Rose like anime rose. Bleh.

And Ed has been stabbed by a pole, if no one's mentioned that yet.

Sorry if people have already mentioned these.

~When Did The Manga Start Again?, And why am I such an Idiot? ~


Seriously, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. What manga chapter did it start on? (After the last episode of course.) Thanks sooooo much!!

@dmbrandon - The question could have probably been posted to the question thread instead (threads based on one question like this tend to not last long) but... I think the manga startted in 2001, the stories of the anime and the manga separated somewhere around anime episode 25/manga volume 5 (there were differences before that, but it's where the two stories took a completely different path from each other), and have been two different stories since. The manga does not continue from where the anime ended, since the plot is different. The manga has been ongoing since 2001, when it first began. It never stopped, so it never started again.

If that's what you were trying to find out.

Did anyone notice that Al's anime- human body does not match with his manga- human body? In the anime he has grey eyes and is sort of a brunette. In the manga he has golden eyes and hair like Ed.

I thought Envy's true form was that big monster he was in Gluttony's stomach with all his souls, and he is only the fetus thing because that's something that all of the homunculi have the ability to be if they don't have their stone in them. That's why he tricked mei lin to take him back to father so he could get a new stone to put in him.

It is so interesting to read the differences between the manga and the anime.

I just finished watching the anime including the movie and want to start getting into the manga more.

If I did not want to start at the beginning, which volume of manga should I start with? I here that when the Elrics leave Central with Winry, that is when the changes begin.

Because I have to say: The series was completely awesome until after Hughes died. From there the series went in a different direction (still good) but the last 10 episodes with Dante and the parallel words was rushed in my opinion).

Lando, I suggest you start at the beginning of the manga because, even though they have similarities at first, there are small differences and details in the first chapters of the manga that make a great deal of difference later on.

Turdaewen, thank you for the info.

I will start at the beginning and take it from there.

I wonder if this new FMA series is going to take a point in the original anime and just start going in the direction of the manga.

I know that there is another discussion on that so I will keep on eye out there.

Thanks and have a great day!

To answer your question, I think Arakawa herself said in an interview (I think? Can anyone back this up?) that there are no religions (except for Ishbal) or god in the FMA world. She also said that there are no religious based holiday. So, no Christmas or no Easter for the Hagaren characters!

Other than that, the first 25 episodes or so of the anime were based on the events up until book 6 or 7 in the manga. So, other than the differences already noted by many posters here, half the anime is well correlated with the beginning of the manga. Which means... they are not that similar after all...

I'm looking to get into the manga, and although, having looked through and seeing that everyone by and large seems against the anime, I really enjoyed it, so am a little worried that by reading the manga I'm really going to confuse myself...


I think I've done it the wrong way round and should have read the mangas first, but I was bored and started watching online and pretty soon was hooked.

The only other series I've read and watched is deathnote, and i much prefer the mangas.


Grrr. Annoyance.

There's no shame to having discovered the anime first. And I don't think "everyone" prefers by far the manga and is so against the anime (I, for one, found the manga to be a true letdown and lacking the overall intensity the anime held - and when it comes to some characters and their development lately, it has been a true disaster). It's just that most hardcore manga fans are much more...vocal about which verse they prefer, and I don't think you would have enjoyed the anime as much if you had started reading the manga first. The good thing to do is to appreciate both verses for their differences, and not compare them instantly...since there's not much to compare to begin with.

Cheers

It's nice to hear a pro-anime opinion lol.
I also really can't afford mangas, as much as I'd love to read them

@Dickens - Actually, if I'm correct, I think the overall fan base of our board is largely skewed towards FMA anime. But, many of them were very active while we had the first run airing of FMA-1 anime series in the U.S., and now majority of these members are mostly inactive on our board, while FMA manga is still going (it's nearing the end, although we do not know how and exactly when it will end ^^) and we currently follow each new FMA manga chapter as it comes out in Japan, so you may see more active discussions on FMA manga on our board currently, than on FMA anime.

Myself, I am a fan of both FMA anime and FMA manga, and when I was following FMA-1 anime, I was just as excited to watch every new episode as I am excited to read every new chapter of FMA manga currently, and I don't see anything wrong on being introduced to FMA by watching FMA anime first.

In fact, we have many members who were introduced to FMA by watching FMA anime first, and then being interested in manga later, and this thread is mainly geared toward members like you and all these members.

To those, my personal advise is to go ahead and finish watching the FMA anime series (and enjoy!! ^^) but also I highly recommend to check out FMA manga, because, as explained on this thread, FMA manga and anime start out with similar story lines, but later becoming two completely different stories, and I personally find FMA manga story-line to be highly interesting, and I also love all these FMA characters who are seen only in FMA manga, and I hope many other FMA anime fans find FMA manga as interesting and enjoyable as I do.
Or, at least try it, and see how you like it.

Thanks for the advice

Thank you, Ropespinner for answering the question!! ^^

@dmbrandon - FMA manga didn't start after the completion of FMA anime (first series) Rather, FMA manga was there at first, then FMA anime (first series) came later, then had 51 episode + movie and it's own story run it's couse and concluded, while FMA manga has been going on with its OWN STORYLINE all along.

You can read more on this on How Well Are Fma Anime And Fma Manga Correlated? thread.

For other FMA anime fans who are wondering how FMA anime storyline connects to FMA manga storyline, please read the stickied How Well Are Fma Anime And Fma Manga Correlated? thread, and for other FMA manga questions, please use stickied FMA manga Questions thread.


ETA: June 19, 2009 merged thread

Hey! I'm brand new on here, and I'm glad to see that I'm not one of the only FMA fans that actually read the manga. I was really pissed off at the anime for veering off the story line so much that I wanted to do something really bad to the series director!! Anyways, I've been watching the brand new series (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), and hopefully from what I've seen so far is that they're actually going to follow the books this time. I'm on episode 11 so far, and they've been following it like scary accurate. For me, this series is like a god-send, because the fans who actually read the manga can actually see it "truly" animated!

@AlphonseEnvy - Welcome to our board!
Glad to hear that you are following the new FMA:Brotherhood series!! Hope you can join our discussions in our FMA series-2: Brotherhood anime forum!!


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@Dickens - You're welcome!! ^^

Lol how I got into FMA...I wanted a new anime to watch so I randomly took some quizs and they all said FMA and i was like wtf is that, but anyway I was bored so I checked it out and zomg I LOVED IT! Even though on the first episode I watched, someone posted how lame the ending of the series was due to not following the manga, well anyway I loved the series till the end and then despised the movie and the ending alot, for me personally a complete dissopointment and so I read the manga.

I was completley shocked to know just how different the two were, and even though I was originally biasd toward the awesomeness of the anime, I took that back very quickly as I think the manga is 100000000000x better XD Even the part of the manga that the anime supposedly followed, it told the events VERY VERY VERY differently, I don't think there was one episode, even the lior ones that followed the manga's line of events completley faithfully. I guess all the differences have probably been listed here allready so I won't go repeating them, but oh is it just me or does anyone else think that Ed appeared a bit of a cry baby in the anime? I think he has a much stronger character in the manga, like that thing with Barry the chopper in the anime, manga Ed would never have started crying and getting all flustered I don't think, oh yeah an Ed has a weird 6 pack in the anime that actually scares me haha XD he looks more...human? in the manga, lol you gotta admit that picture on the DVD cover is a bit...eep XD

Yea the anime is cool and i enjoyed how they wrapped it all up with the FMA movie but the manga is better in every way

Id say the two are mostly consistant with each other until they meet up with Greed

Im on volume 17 in the manga and things are really starting to kick up haha

~ Where To Start?~

Okay, there are probably like 4163156 of these threads but I don't got the patience to look for them... so can someone please tell me what chapter i should begin to read in the manga after i've watched the first full metal alchemist anime (not brotherhood)? I don't got the patience to read the same thing over again so please tell me.

@Karlhagen - Welcome to our board!
The quick answer to your question? Chapter 1. Yes, from the beginning. IMO, that's the best way, and I think lots of of FMA manga readers seem to agree. But, you can check out FMA manga-anime difference thread and decide yourself. Technically, most of season 1 of the first anime is "similar" to manga story line. Yet, there are some fundamental differences such as WHY there was a Ishibal conflict, WHAT is the Gate of Truth, HOW homunculi are made, etc., etc. And, the Two sets of Homunculi, they are not even same!! Anime Wrath doesn't exist in manga, etc., etc., and smaller yet important differences such as WHO killed Winry's parents, what happens to Tucker after "Nina" incident, etc., etc. Therefore, I would highly recommend reading Fma manga from the beginning. You can read it up to chapter 72 (currently manga is on chapter 96 in original Japanese version) on our manga viewer.

Anyway, I would recommend skimming through the first post of FMA manga-anime difference thread, and if you got more questions, please post there, and we'll try to help you with your questions there.

Closing thread. This thread will be merged to FMA manga-anime difference thread later.



ETA: July 15, 2009, thread merged.

~ Moving From Reading Fma Manga To Watching Fma Anime (first Series) Which episode is equivalent to chapter 95? ~


i have been reading full metal alchemist but stopped for a while and i am starting again but i want to watch the anime so i am at Chapter 95 and need to convert to anime ( it is at the part where mustang and them are trying to take over the country and mustang is threatening to full metal if he dose not give him envy to kill. so what anime ep is that about ? i do understand that in FMA the anime seems to be a lot different than the manga .

Hi japan07, welcome to our board! We now have TWO different FMA anime series, the first FMA anime series that had a storyline that differed very much from the original FMA manga storyline after the first season of the anime series, and ended up as a completely different story altogether, and then we have a new FMA anime series, FMA:Brotherhood that is currently running, and more faithfully following the original FMA manga storyline. I assume you are talking about the first series of FMA anime on your post, correct? If so, there are NO episodes that are corresponding to that chapter and the following chapters, because by then the first series of FMA anime went off into entirely different storyline. Yeah, sorry, but to see that scene, and the scenes from the following chapters animated, we have to wait and then watch those in the future episodes of new FMA anime series, FMA: Brotherhood.

To learn more about the difference between the first series of FMA anime and FMA manga, you may like to check out FMA manga-anime(first series) differences thread.

Also, if you are following FMA manga that far, then I highly recommend watching FMA:Brotherhood anime series that is currently running. It airs weekly in Japan, and also there are official viewing options of officially subbed version, depending on where you live. We just had 26th episode, but I think most viewing options offer viewing of all of these episodes. Check it out. ^^

If you got more questions about FMA manga-anime(first series) differences, please post here and ask. Eventually, I'll move this one to FMA manga-anime(first series) differences thread.

If you got more questions about the new FMA:Brotherhood anime series, please post that on FMA:Brotherhood anime Q&A thread, and we'll try to help you with your question there.

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ETA: Oct 19, 2009. Thread merged.