Fullmetal Alchemist (TV)

In the very first scene of the very first episode, you can see Al's empty suit of armor by the wall, before Ed bound him to it.

Many of the symbols in the series are significant to "Real Life Alchemy." Things such as the Elric's Alchemic crest, and the symbols in many arrays are all taken from historic documentation of medieval documents on alchemy. These include the lizard on Roy’s gloves, the crucified snake on the crest, and the vague outline of a bird (a phoenix) on Scar’s arm.

'Hohenheim', the name of the Elrics' father comes from Auroleus Phillipus Theostratus Bombastus von Hohenheim, AKA: Paracelsus. Paracelsus was a reknowned 16th-century alchemist who made many pioneering breakthroughs in medicine [such as the use of certain minerals and metals in treating diseases], while also dabbling in the occult. Among the accomplishments Paracelsus claimed, though it was never substantiated, was the creation of a "homunculus" - a small humanoid creature that he made by stewing hair, skin fragments, bones and semen in a pit of horse manure. The creature was said to have been loyal to its creator for a time, then ran away.

Cars in Amestris are mainly steam-engined.

Automail is powered by electricity generated from the muscles.

The title of episode 49, "Tobira no mukou e", is the same as the title of the second end theme for the series.

The name of Dante's apprentice, Lyra, means "night" in Hebrew.

The Philosopher's Stone was an actual element believed to have existed by early alchemists. It was said to have the property of turning any base metal into gold.

The name of Alphonse Elric in Japanese is a play of language regarding the nature of the character. In Japanese, his nickname is adapted into the katakana "Aru" to mimic the pronunciation of "Al," but the hiragana "aru" (pronounced exactly the same) is a verb meaning "to exist." The Japanese, however, have two verbs for "to exist;" one for animate objects (iru) and one for inanimate objects (aru). Since a major theme of the anime is whether or not Alphonse still exists as a person with his soul affixed to the normally-inanimate suit of armor, the choice of naming him takes on a deeper meaning with this background. This wordplay could in fact be only a coincidence and not an intentional decision, but it serves as an interesting look into the nature of the language nonetheless given the theme of Al's struggle to define what he has become.

Arakawa Hiromu employed a number of naming conventions, adding deeper meaning to her characters' names. Elysia, the name of Hughes' beloved and much-photographed daughter, is likely a reference to the Elysian fields. In Greek mythology, this was the paradise of the heroes in the afterlife. Given how Hughes felt about his daughter, it's a very appropriate name.

Another naming parallel can be seen between King Bradley and Roy Mustang. Both aspire to the position of Fuhrer, and their first names suggest their ambitions. The name Roy is of Gaelic derivation, and also means "king."

Nearly every member of the military -- Mustang, Hawkeye, Fury, Havoc, Hughes, and even Riza's dog, Black Hayate -- is named after some type of mid-20th century military aircraft. Most of them are WWII-era airplanes. The exception to the aircraft rule is Bradley, who seems to be named after a modern light-armored tank.

Winner of the "Best TV Animation Award" at the 9th Animation Kobe (2004)

In the episode "Phantom Thief" the woman known as Psiren lures tourists to an island that is sinking, an act that is reminicent of the Sirens in the Odyssey that lure sailers to their island ( though for much different reasons )

In "Theory of Avarice" when Ed encounters Greed in Dante's home, Ed's jacket is undamaged but when the scene switches over to Greed and then back to Ed, the right arm of Ed's jacket has mysteriously vanished.

Alphonse's nickname, Al, is also the chemical symbol for Aluminum, quite appropriate for a suit of armor.

Vic Mignogna, Edward Elric's voice actor, sang an english version of Fullmetal Alchemist's Theme song BROTHER, which is originally sang in Russian.

In the english version of "Flame Alchemist" if you slow down the title scenes you can see the original japanese characters of the title at the scene transition.

In the first ending theme "Indelible Sin," the name of the series appears on a broken metal gateway, but Fullmetal is spelled "Fulmetel."

The episode 7 ending is an altered version. It shows Nina and Alexander. At the very end, Ed also does a toothy smile instead.

Lior, the town that Edward and Alphonse Elric stumbled into at the beginning of the series, means “my light” in Hebrew.

The French DVD release of the series, such as following DVDs & BRDs, went through some slight rewritings of dialogues. While the original TV broadcast (on Canal+) let the adaptation writers use some coarse language especially for Edward Elric, the DVD publisher, Dybex, asked some parts to be recorded again with a softening on some coarse words. Moreover, the automails were named differently in the first dub: "mecha-greffes" (litt. "mecha-transplants"). The redub exchanged this word for the original "automail", in order to be coherent with the French official translation of Arakawa's manga.

In episode 3, Ed kicks Al into the water when they were sparring. Later in the series we find out that if the blood seal gets wet it will disappear and there would be nothing to bind Al to the suit of armor, but Al comes out of the water perfectly fine.

In episode 3, the name on Mustang's letter is not his. It reads James Herbert, a well-known British horror writer.

In episode 3, the text of the book at the start of the episode is about Dungeons and Dragons. To be exact, the text was taken from an online review of the book Alchemy and Herbalists published by Bastion Press.

In episode 13 when Riza Hawkeye fires her gun at Black Hayate she fires 6 rounds, but there are 7 bullet holes in the wall.

In episode 13, in the French dub of the series, the famous quote from Roy Mustang saying that « when [he] become[s] "Führer", all women will have to wear miniskirts » had a first rewriting... that was extremely weird. He said, « When I become Führer, I'll give armies their glory and dignity back! »... as miniskirt were shown in the background to illustrate his original desire. Fortunately, when the second dub was ordered, the writer(s) rewrote this sentence so it strictly expressed Roy's true desire.

In episode 23 Winry is in the train station in Central looking for her escort. As she scans the station we see Izumi Curtis "Teacher" and Sig Curtis looking at the Central Information Board.

In episode 26, a letter to Mustang from Ed briefly appears and repeatedly mentions Britain, despite the fact the story does not take place in this world and does not take place in a different place by that name.

In episode 41, Kimblee, the former Crimson alchemist, met Scar. When the fight began, Kimblee put his palms together like Edward Elric and Izumi do. In fact, he needs not do so because he already has two array tattoos on his palms.

In episode 42 when the military invades Liore you can see a bar with the name Motherland. Motherland is the title of the third end credits theme.

The mystic group that appears in episode 51 has extremely dark undertones. The Thule Society was a group of ultranationalist German mystics that were critical in the formation of the Nazi party. Herman Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess were members, among others. Professor Karl Haushofer was the geographer who popularized the term "Lebensraum" (Living Space) that later justified Hitler's expansionism. He also participated in the establishment of the German-Japanese alliance.