“It’s just not how I do things”: Hiromu Arakawa’s Approach to Fullmetal Alchemist Anime Was the Opposite of How Eiichiro Oda Handled One Piece

After years of being the top-ranking series, Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood stands as the second-most popular anime in My Anime List. Its predecessor anime, Fullmetal Alchemist, was also a great adaptation (but it included anime-original episodes).

The 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime did not have a lot of material to cover since the manga was still ongoing. Thus, the staff decided to include fillers as well as an anime-original villain and ending to conclude the series on a positive note. In an interview, Arakawa revealed just how much she was involved with the anime’s production.

Hiromu Arakawa Trusted the Anime Staff with Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist | Credits: Studio Bones

In an interview regarding the release of the 2017 live-action movie Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa was questioned if she gave any directors to the cast or directors about the film. Arakawa admitted that while she had checked the submitted script, she had mostly left the responsibility of the movie to the director, Fumihiko Sori.

It’s just not how I do things, I think believe in “leaving the job to the specialists”. So I simply think, “I’m looking forward to the finished work.”

The author also admitted that her trust in the directors and studio didn’t only exist during the making of the 2017 movie. She acts the same way regarding the anime adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist as well. The author is well-aware of her lack of participation and thus hilariously apologized for being an author who doesn’t work.

That was the case with the anime as well, but I feel that I should “apologize for being an author who does not work” (laughs).

Arakawa explained that there was no need for the movie staff to worry about the original manga separately, so she green-signaled them to do whatever they wanted. She admitted that she is the type of person who does not care about a character’s visual appeal as long as their essence is expressed properly.

Eiichiro Oda is the Exact Opposite of Hiromu Arakawa in Terms of Anime Adaptation

Luffy in One Piece | Credits: Toei

Eiichiro Oda has an extremely different attitude to adaptations of One Piece. Unlike Hiromu Arakawa, he is extremely involved in the creation and production procedures of the adaptations of his series. Oda is a busy man and thus, he might not green-light every step of the anime, but he does turn in suggestions as well as notes for the anime.

Oda also has a lot of trust in the former director of One Piece. He had admitted that he liked the way the staff shaped the anime and changed a few bits of the original story to fit the context better. However, Oda’s approach to Netflix’s One Piece live-action adaptation is completely different.

Emily Rudd and Iñaki Godoy as Nami and Luffy in Netflix’s One Piece. [Credit: Netflix]

The director and editor of the Netflix series, Emma Sullivan and Tessa Verfuss, revealed that everything went through Oda. They agreed that Oda had an overarching presence over the whole adaptation and had the last say in everything. Thus, the styles of Hiromu Arakawa and Eiichiro Oda might be different in terms of supervision, but their franchises still reign at the top of the Shonen world.

Fullmetal Alchemist and One Piece are available to read on Viz Media, and the anime are currently streaming on Crunchyroll.