Hiromu
Arakawa's 'Fullmetal Alchemist' began serialization in July 2001 in
the magazine Monthly Shonen Gangan. It gained almost immediate
recognition as something truly special, and only a short while later,
an anime adaptation was greenlit and began airing on October 4, 2003
and lasted until October 2, 2004. Due to the anime starting so
quickly after the manga, the anime had to go at a slower pace in it's
adapted material, as well as creating 'filler' (material not present
in the original manga that often, but not always, doesn't do anything
to further the main storyline) episodes, before eventually going in
it's own direction separate from the manga - though it would
occasionally sprinkle certain elements from further in the manga into
it's storyline as well. Although the series was both a financial and
critical success both in it's home country of Japan and in the rest
of the world, and was extremely well received by fans in general, the
drastic difference between it and the manga lead to a divide in
opinions between Fullmetal Alchemist fans.
