Episode 10 (2003 Anime)

The Phantom Thief
Japanese Title	怪盗サイレーン Kaitō Sairēn
Translated Title	Phantom Thief Siren
Japan airdate	2003 December 6
USA airdate	2005 January 15
Series Information
Series	Fullmetal Alchemist (2003 anime)
◄ Previous	Be Thou for the People
Next ►	The Other Brothers Elric: Part 1

The Phantom Thief is the tenth episode of the Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 anime series.

Synopsis

While trying to avoid their meeting with Mustang, Ed and Al end up in a small town and become embroiled in a manhunt for a female Robin Hood.

Full Synopsis

Taking place after the events of the second episode, on their way back to the eastern headquarters following the investigation in Reole, Ed and Al stop at the town of Aquroya. Ed hopes that he might find a new lead on the Philosopher's Stone without having to deal a stern lecture from Colonel Mustang and to relax due to Aquroya being a tourist spot.

The night before their arrival, Aquroya's police attempt to catch a thief named Psiren where she uses alchemy to create a bridge over water to escape with a stolen jewel in her hand. After the Elrics arrive, Ed gets water splashed on him and after he uses alchemy to clean himself up, he gets arrested by the police detective. After spending hours of interrogation with the detective, Ed has to go to the hospital from a stomach problem which turns out to be food poisoning from the food he ate at the police station, which requires an injection. Although Ed actively protests, Al has to hold him in place while a nurse named Clara treats him without any further fuss. Al quickly becomes attracted to Clara whose kindness reminds them of their mother. The police detective catches up to Ed having confirmed his identity from Mustang and provides Ed with more free food in exchange for catching Psiren.

During the night of her latest heist, the detective reveals to Ed that Psiren is popular for announcing her heists, and during this robbery, she creates liquid from the ceiling to turn into steam and easily incapacitates Al with alchemy. Ed chases after her and fights her a bit until he pins her down, only to realize that his hand is on her breast. Psiren throws him off guard by partly exposing her breasts where a transmutation circle is located on her chest to defeat him too.

The next day, while looking for Al, Ed learns that Clara is Psiren when she exposes the same marking to treat some plants before Al returns, revealing the hospital is to be torn down. During the next heist, despite that the police have a trap set, Ed helps Psiren escape so she can tell him what she knows about the Philosopher's Stone, and to help the hospital remain open. But the hospital is torn down anyway the following day and Clara becomes a nun. The convent is torn down following the next robbery and Clara becomes a school teacher. Despite Al's protests, Ed is now more sure than ever that Clara lied to them from the start.

The Elrics then learn from one of the townsfolk that Psiren's actions are intended to attract people to Aquroya, since it is slowly sinking and will eventually be gone, so the attention Psiren creates through her robberies is to help Aquroya remain popular for the time it has left. Despite the truth, Ed won't forgive Psiren for tricking him, and personally catches her the following night by transmuting underwater to create a giant stone hand to prevent her from escaping.

After her arrest, Clara mentions the rumor of a Philosopher's Stone being created in Xenotime. As they are traveling by train to Xenotime, Ed and Al debate on Clara's true intentions, while in Aquroya, Clara escapes police custody and begins her activities as Psiren again.

Trivia

• The inspector, who's after Psiren, bears a strong resemblance to Inspector Gadget and Inspector Koichi Zenigata of Lupin III.
• A recurring gag at three points in the episode is Edward consuming katsudon (cutlet bowl), both times provided by the inspector (second time with a mass array of bowls prepared for him), and finally on the train ride leaving the town.
  • Curiously, both latter times involve his chopsticks being improperly snapped apart.
• The elderly patient Clara is feeding is named "Misses Crabnick" in the English version, but has no name given in the original Japanese.