Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA Collection
鋼の錬金術師 (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Specials)
- Action
- Adventure
- Drama
- Fantasy
- Military
- Episodes
- 4
- Duration
- 15 min per ep
- Aired
- Aug 26, 2009 to Aug 25, 2010
- Status
- Finished Airing
Synopsis
*Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVA Collection* gathers four side stories that expand the world beyond the main narrative. The lineup includes “Moumoku no Renkinjutsushi (The Blind Alchemist),” “Simple na Hitobito (Simple People),” “Sensei Monogatari (The Tale of Teacher),” and “Sore mo mata Kare no Senjou (Yet Another Man’s Battlefield).”
Blending action, adventure, drama, fantasy, and a military backdrop, these OVAs offer additional perspectives and self-contained moments that complement the tone of *Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood* while exploring different corners of its setting.
Otaku Consensus
The Brotherhood OVA Collection is widely received as compact supplemental material that earns its place through sharp pacing, Bones' continuity of craft, and character-focused detours such as The Blind Alchemist and The Tale of Teacher. Critics and fans praise it for adding battles, backstory, humor, and tonal variety without bloating the main series, while the most common criticism is its brevity: at roughly an hour total, it feels enriching rather than essential.
Why You Should Watch
Watch this if you want more Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood without a padded sequel, recap structure, or continuity-breaking movie logic. These four OVAs work best for viewers who care about the franchise’s moral pressure points: military service, alchemy as both science and sin, and the way comedy sits beside trauma in Arakawa’s world. It scratches the same itch as the stronger side-story episodes of Hunter x Hunter or the character-history chapters of Rurouni Kenshin: concise, pointed, and more interested in perspective than spectacle. The appeal is not “more plot,” but more texture: Izumi, Roy, Ed, and Al are reframed through self-contained stories that let Bones tighten the emotional focus while keeping Brotherhood’s brisk rhythm.
Key Characters
- IIzumi Curtis(VA: Shouko Tsuda)
Izumi remains fascinating because her severity is never just a gag; fans respond to how her presence turns mentorship into something physical, philosophical, and emotionally costly.
- AAlphonse Elric(VA: Rie Kugimiya)
Alphonse gives the OVAs their gentler moral center, often making the franchise’s ideas about bodies, souls, and responsibility feel personal rather than abstract.
- EEdward Elric(VA: Romi Park)
Edward’s appeal here is in miniature: his impatience, intelligence, and bruised idealism still drive scenes even when the OVAs are not trying to outdo the main series.
- RRoy Mustang(VA: Shinichiro Miki)
Roy stands out because the military theme follows him into quieter material, where charisma and ambition are complicated by the institution he serves.
What Makes It Stand Out
- 1
The collection is structurally unusual for a shounen companion piece: four self-contained OVAs rather than a single bonus episode, giving it room to shift between backstory, comedy, military drama, and alchemical tragedy.
- 2
Bones handled the OVAs with Brotherhood’s core production identity intact, including director Yasuhiro Irie, character designer Hiroki Kanno, art director Takeshi Satou, and color designer Fusako Nakao.
- 3
The Blind Alchemist has a distinct production credit in Kouichi Horikawa as guest character designer for episode 1, marking it as the OVA with a specifically noted design contribution outside the main character-design credit.
- 4
The release window ran from August 26, 2009 to August 25, 2010, meaning these specials were issued across the Brotherhood era rather than years later as nostalgia-driven add-ons.
- 5
Audience response has remained strong for a short-form side collection: it holds an 8/10 MAL score from 79,647 votes and a 77/100 AniList score, indicating approval beyond franchise completionism.
Fun Facts & Trivia
- Fun fact 1
- Hiromu Arakawa is credited as the original creator, which matters because the OVAs are framed as expansions of the Brotherhood continuity rather than anime-original branding exercises detached from the manga’s authorship.
- Fun fact 2
- Yuuichi Shimomura is credited as supervisor and Yoneki Tsumura under literary arts, highlighting that the collection had dedicated oversight for its written and adaptation components, not only animation staff.
- Fun fact 3
- Tsuyoshi Kusano is specifically credited for title logo design, a small but concrete sign of how even the presentation layer of the OVA release received dedicated staffing.
- Fun fact 4
- The collection’s public reputation often pairs it with Brotherhood’s 4Koma Theater extras; fan discussions commonly recommend watching both, with the OVAs valued for added context and the 4Koma shorts for concentrated comedy.
- Fun fact 5
- Despite having only four episodes and about an hour of material, the OVA Collection has 167 AniList favourites, a notable figure for a side release rather than a standalone television series.
Studios
- Bones
