Fullmetal Alchemist Filler Guide

Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese anime series created by Hiromu Arakawa. It is based on an ongoing manga, the first volumes collected into graphic novels. The story follows the adventures of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric. They are searching for the Philosopher’s Stone that will allow them to regain their bodies after a disastrous attempt to bring their mother back to life using alchemy.

Fullmetal Alchemist Plot

The story follows the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who attempt to use alchemy to bring back their mother. Alphonse loses his body in the process, and Edward loses his leg; to save Alphonse’s soul, Edward binds it to a suit of armor. The two set out on a journey to find the Philosopher’s Stone.

The Fullmetal Alchemist series is set in the fictional country of Amestris in an alternate world, with alchemy being one of the most advanced scientific techniques. Alchemy is also commonly used by the military as a weapon and has become similar to modern-day weaponry.

The manga of Fullmetal Alchemist is ongoing, and the story has not yet been fully adapted into anime. The series has been extended with filler episodes (which have no impact on the overall plot) to allow for a longer running time. These fillers are often considered unnecessary by fans of the series. Many are seemingly created to lengthen the run time rather than to further the story or build characters.

How Much Filler is in Fullmetal Alchemist?

The Fullmetal Alchemist manga is still ongoing and currently has over 50 volumes published, with the story being adapted in English by Viz Media.

There are a total of 6% filler episodes in Fullmetal Alchemist.

Quick Filler & Canon Lists

Complete Filler List

List of filler episodes for Fullmetal Alchemist in chronological order – Learn if it is worth watching

Episode 4: A Forger’s Love

When the Elric brothers arrive at a village, they soon notice that the villagers are scared and won’t talk to them. Ed and Al then notice Claus, who was being bullied by some of the children. She runs away quickly when she sees them, but Ed chases after her. Later on that night, a woman is seen being attacked by an invisible force while everyone else is asleep.

The next day, Ed catches up to Claus and asks her if she would like to go out with him. She agrees, so they go out into the forest where Ed convinces her that he can help her with her problem involving zombies haunting the town. They return to the village where they meet with Majhal who is actually an alchemist and not a legend like most of the people believe. He tells them that he doesn’t know anything about any zombies in town or what happened to Karin.

Back at his house, Majhal shows Ed how he can turn corpses into statues using his alchemy and then turns Karin’s body back into a “living” human form (which freaks out Claus). Claus thinks it’s really Karin until it attacks her father and he realizes it’s not his daughter anymore but something else entirely (a Homunculus).

This episode is technically a filler because it has no relevance to the plot of the series. The only part that seems to be taken from the manga is the scene with Majhal and his son, which doesn’t do anything for the plot. It serves no purpose other than to get Ed and Al in this village and allow them some battles with Homunculi (this one being a little more powerful).

This episode was primarily there to give us some background information on the Elric brothers, since we already know what happened with their mother and father’s death. It also gives us an idea of who alchemists are in this world, since they seem to have a lot of power over normal people. It’s not until later on in “Fullmetal Alchemist” that you really see how alchemy affects people.

Episode 10: The Phantom Thief

After stopping at Reole, Ed’s eager to find a new lead to help them on their journey but Al is tired of being in the rain so he suggests they spend their time in a town called Aquroya instead, which is a tourist spot where they can rest. The night before their arrival Ed gets water splashed on him by a passing car and he uses Alchemy to clean himself up and the police think that he was the one who stole their jewel and start chasing him. When Ed arrives at Aquroya, a girl named Clara who speaks with an accent like his mother’s helps cure him with an injection and Al becomes attracted to her kindness so Ed decides to stay in Aquroya for a while.

This episode is a filler episode because it doesn’t add anything to the plot. There is a reason why this episode is filler and it’s because in the manga, this episode was replaced by another one where Ed and Al encounter Shou Tucker from the State Alchemist system.

Lazy local cops who are too incompetent to catch a thief after she uses Alchemy, so they turn to the Elrics for help. This episode is filler because it doesn’t add to the plot in any way and is a pointless episode in that it doesn’t advance the plot or develop any of the characters. In this episode, Ed meets a girl named Clara who is an Alchemist and whose kindness reminds Ed of his mother. The ending of this episode has nothing to do with the ending of its manga counterpart which was “Fullmetal Alchemist: Drifting Island.”

Episode 37: The Flame Alchemist, The Bachelor Lieutenant, and the Mystery of Warehouse 13

This episode focuses on the Mustang Unit being assigned to watch Mustang’s every move and report back their findings. The group of junior officers assigned to the task are all old friends of the Colonel, and they all have personal reasons for joining in on the investigation. This episode focuses on the personal relationships of the members of the Mustang Unit.

The main focus is on Lt. Havoc and his inability to keep a girlfriend, and his current relationship with Sheska. The episode focuses on Havoc’s attempts to get Sheska to come out with him, but she turns him down, due to her work that night. When Havoc goes home he finds a note from Mustang saying that he will be taking Falman’s sister out for dinner. Immediately after this scene we see Falman looking for an attractive girl for Havoc, having borrowed Armstrong’s younger sister in order to get her out of Armstrong’s hair. While on the date with Mustang, she mentions that she heard about a pretty woman working at the Court Martial Office who was also a good dancer/cheerleader, leading Mustang to believe that because she must already know Sheska, that she could be the woman for Havoc. He goes over to talk with Sheska about getting together sometime with another member of the military (Presumably Breda). A few scenes later we see Breda talking with Fuery, who informs Breda that Falman is looking for attractive girls for Havoc and they decide to follow him to see if they can help.

This episode is a filler episode because there is no real plot to propel the story forward. This episode was added in by the animators to help explain the relationship between Havoc and Sheska, as well as that of Mustang and his Unit.

This episode is filler, however it does show a little bit of Sheska’s personality, which we hadn’t seen much of until now. Also we learn that Havoc can’t keep a girlfriend since he’s a womanizer and always scares them away by talking about the military. Nothing of importance happened in it. The only plot that it had was to show the relationship between Havoc and Sheska. Also we learn that Mustang can’t keep a girlfriend either, since he’s always working.