This is a question that is ultimately subjective. For me, there are two messages that I have taken from this series. The first is a cop-out and obvious one that many manga and anime series have going for it, and that is the idea of never giving up on your dreams or goals. This is pretty obvious and something that is seen in most manga and anime out there, especially ones that revolve around action and a clear endgame from the start. Ed and Al want to get their bodies back and will do whatever it takes to fix their mistake, never giving up in the process. However, there is a deeper, second theme that I took from this series, and that is the complicated issue of grief. Grief is such a hard concept for any human to grasp, let alone two young boys. Ed and Al are dealing with grief that few people have to deal with at such a young age, and that is of losing one’s mother young and having to fend on their own. This grief leads them to try something drastic because they are not capable of letting go. The entire series is teaching Ed and Al how to deal with grief, and this is seen in most characters that they encounter and the major deaths that happen later in the series. It is a powerful and complicated message, something that I have not seen in too many series.