The Fullmetal Alchemist manga and anime series feature an extensive cast of fictional characters created by Hiromu Arakawa. The story is set in a fictional universe within the 20th century in which alchemy is one of the most advanced scientific techniques. Although they basically start the same, the first anime, midway through its run, begins to differ greatly from the original manga; characters that are killed early on in the manga survive to the end of the first anime and vice versa. However, the events of the second anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, faithfully follow those from the manga.