Well the shamballa one seems to be the sequel of season 1 as
the two brothers got seperated again as Ed used Alchemy in order to bring Al back to life.

Ah, okay ^_^ I'm not very familiar with Full Metal Alchemist, but I'll take your word for it!

It's kind of a dark anime but i love it none the less.

It looks like one I might enjoy, but for some reason I just never started on it.

I watched it back when it was on adult swim
I just didn't understand it till I rewatched it.

Is there some deeper connotation or meaning to the anime?

Yes the two brothers use Alchemy to bring their mother back.
bringing someone back from the dead is a taboo in Alchemy. When they did that
Al lost his body And Ed lost his arm and leg and so the brothers head out to find how they can undo what they did and get their bodies back to normal.

Al has a blood seal on a suit of armor as Ed did it in his own blood.
He lost his arm from the blood seal so he wouldn't lose his brother too.

Ohhh is that why they have metal parts on their bodies?

Originally Posted by salvete

Ohhh is that why they have metal parts on their bodies?

Yes exactly. Their childhood friend Winry her family owned a mechanic shop for automail. So Winry is his mechanic. Winry's parents were actually doctors but now only her grandmother is alive so her and her grandmother have always taken care of Ed and Al ever since they were little and when their mother passed.

That is super interesting ^_^

Mhm. the brotherhood one is based off of the manga.
I actually like it better than the first season.
it has the basic plot but I like the ending of it much better and it goes more into
detail.

So does the story have a happy ending? :) Also, by undoing what they did...does that mean they can't have their mother back?

A happy ending does happen.
At least in Brotherhood.

And no. Alchemy's number 1 rule is the dead is to never be revived.
Not ever.

When they did it, in both animes/seasons when they did it the created something
that wasn't even human or even their mother for that matter.

Ohh I see. No wonder they would want to reverse it! because if they had actually gotten their mother back, then what's an arm and a leg worth, right? :)

True. However, in Brotherhood Ed exchanges his ability to do alchemy
and all of his experience he has learned with Alchemy in order to get at least
his arm back and his brother's body back.

He still has a metal leg but he isn't upset about that.

Glad that they were able to get back at least some of their body parts :) and then what happened to the thing that wasn't their mother?

They didn't do that again. As a taboo they lost their bodies and they knew
that was a mistake to try to bring someone back from the dead back alive.
And it is impossible.

So it wasn't like their mother came back as some monster that tried to kill them or anything?

Originally Posted by salvete

So it wasn't like their mother came back as some monster that tried to kill them or anything?

It didn't do anything like that but it did turn to be some kind of monster.
As if it couldn't even speak or anything.
And turned out to not even be their mother when Ed dug up the bones from when they burned their home down.

That is very strange! So they never figured out what actually came back?

They did. Which was someone that wasn't even their mother and the bones belonged to a male and not a female. they didn't use their mother's body or anything.
Basically they read and studied alchemy as their father was an alchemist.

They read some of his books and the human body is made up a lot of essentials in a way
that are used in alchemy so that is what they did plus added their blood to bring her back.

That is interesting! The bones of a male...plus their own blood...it wasn't their father, though, was it?

No their father was very much alive.

Hmm not sure who it could be, then.

It's hard to explain unless you watch the anime yourself.
//shrugs//