Fullmetal Alchemist turned the Filler chapter into one of the best episodes of the anime

“Warfest” begins with the soldiers of the Amestris army arguing over who would win if Ed and Mustang ever fought. They are like anime fans arguing over which of their favorite characters is the strongestand soon they get an answer.

To satisfy curiosity among the ranks, Ed and Mustang are ordered to stage a public match for the men. The announcer is a mutual friend of the rivals, Lt. Col. Mace Hughes. Ed spends most of the fight running away from Mustang’s explosive, finger-snapping Flame Alchemy, while Roy, who wins effortlessly, loses his wisdom on the battlefield. (“An angry soldier fights blindly,” warns the choleric Ed.)

Ed briefly gains the upper hand when he creates a decoy and cuts Mustang’s right glove out of “ignition cloth”—only for Mustang to reveal that his left glove also has a Flaming Alchemy transmutation circle. Victory: Mustang. A comically injured Ed ends up being carried out on a stretcher by Al, but Mustang is the real loser because he has to clean up the wrecked battlefield. The chapter ends with Hughes returning to headquarters, sipping tea and dropping a final piece of wisdom: “A soldier must know when to stand back.”

“Fullmetal vs Flame” accurately adapts the battle, both action and slapstick. Both this chapter and the episode use a Gilligan’s Cut Mustang stating that there is no way Fuhrer Bradley would allow this fight – then an instant cut to his gleeful approval.

When Hughes introduces Roy and then Ed to the crowd, they are both booed—Mustang because the other soldiers resent him for rising quickly through the ranks (and stealing many of their girlfriends along the way), Ed because the soldiers no respect for a short teenager, even one who is an alchemy prodigy. When Ed escapes from the Mustang’s firebombs, in the anime the scene is marked not by a dramatic battle tune, but by Benny Hill-esque slapstick.

To fill out the running time, “Steel vs. Flame” adds two additional sections of comedy. The B-series plot of Sergeant Fury trying to find a home for a stray dog ​​is taken from the “War Dog” chapter of the origin story of Lt. Riza Hoki’s dog Black Hayate (“Hurricane” in Japanese). This leads to one of the most famous (and funniest) scenes of the series, where a cold Mustang swoops down on Hayate and grandly declares, “I love dogs!”

This isn’t Mustang’s only goofy moment in the episode. He also states that once he becomes Fuehrer of Amestris, he will order all female officers to wear “tiny miniskirts!” This earns him a wink from Hawkeye and the undying loyalty of Lieutenant Havok.

Bones

This is adapted from the non-canon four-panel chapter (“omake”), The Ambitious Alchemist. The joke is that Mustang’s holy purpose in reforming the country is to change the military dress code in favor of debauchery, and it is this lofty ideal that makes his team so loyal to him.

Viz Media

Yes, Fullmetal vs Flame looks on the funnier side, but it’s not simply a funny episode. In the series, this episode is used to tie together the story arcs and further characterizations of Ed and Roy.