Another thing about the FMA manga-ka is that she researches the hell out of it. Again from her author's notes, she interviewed a bunch of WWII veterans, and she talks about walking out of bookstores with stacks of books on abnormal psychology and serial killers that make her wonder if the bookstore clerk thinks she's planning some sort of terrible crime. ^^;; But I think that's one of the things that makes it feel so solid and real - she really puts a lot of effort into the characters' psychological reality, and making them believable for the kind of people they are.

And yes to the low fanservice! I really love that! It's a wee bit creepy that the only character who does get the fanservice treatment is Winry, who is all of, what, 16, but in general, yeah, male and female characters alike are treated with dignity and respect (well, except when they totally lose their dignity, but not in an objectifying way ...!).

(ETA: Oh, and totally agree on Roy - definitely a strong contender for the title of "Hottest Man in Anime". :D)

And yeah, Fringe does get a lot better later on -- and it's best if you try to stay as unspoiled as possible, because there are some awesome surprises! Oh, and also, don't skip the credits! I don't think this starts until season two, but they start doing some very clever things with the opening credits in certain episodes.

I also love their big floating location titles. XD Orion says that he wants to cast something like that as a sculpture and mount it on our property somewhere, with our geographic location. XDDD