User blog comment:Letsbringbackfma/Lets bring back Fullmetal alchemist!/@comment-1618178-20121208003857

Let's begin, then?

FMA was not created by Arakawa in 2009. It was first developed in 2001 in these terms:

Arakawa's editor in chief from Enix, Himomura, asked her to make a "oneshot" - a manga composed of a single chapter, no more - and, when Arakawa delivered it to him, Enix liked it so much they asked Arakawa if she could turn that OneShot into a full scale, multiple chapter series. Arakawa sat down for a couple of weeks and came up with "Fullmetal Alchemist", which was already 'defined' from start to finish in its basic lines. Her original idea was that, this FMA story would take about 50 to 60 chapters to develop and come to a close, but, as she came to further work on it, it turned out to be close to the double of chapters first expected, completing the series with 108 chapters, each with around 40 pages. And it took 9 years to come to its completion. (Yes, that's right: Arakawa already dedicated almos 10 years of her life to this series. She spent that time, breathing, eating and sleeping FMA to the point of exaustion. She even didn't take that much of a time off when her first son was born, in 2007.)

But, even so, FMA's ending was already set out since 2001. Arakawa already knew when and how FMA was going to end. It was only a matter of actually "drawing" it.

So, that being said, first of, your impression that "it can't be just that" probably comes from being used to series that have no such format. Some shounens have a "infinite" span, and most American cartoons and series are also like that. But not all Japanese series and animes are like that. Many animes are "closed" and have only 13, ou 26, or 32 episodes! And that's it! Just like a novel (which as of lately also have the annoying habit of going on eternally), some animes have a beginning, a middle and an end. And that's FMA's case.

Second of all, Arakawa has already stated, as Norman so well putted, that she's not interested in moving on with FMA. In her exact words, in fact, she said:

"There's no reason to make more FMA. FMA was the story of an alchemist named 'Fullmetal' and 'Fullmetal' is no more".

So, even IF Arakawa gets to read your plead, it'll make no difference. Arakawa is not a "fan pleading" guided manga writer and I doubt she'll start being that way. She cares about making a "good manga", that is, of course, well recieved by the fans, but she's not willing to risk her ideas and the quality of her work for mere "fan service". It's just not in her.

So, the best way for us to actually thank Arakawa for making such an amazing story such as FMA is to admire her work for what it is, and Arakawa for what she is as a manga writer. Be understanding of what she's trying to make, respect her work and her ideas and be thankful! Let her know her work has made an impact on you, that it helped you, that it changed you... and not mendicate for more.