It should also be noted that Ed:
-had to undergo very painful and lengthy surgery to get automailĀ
-had to relearn how to write because of his prosthesis (thereās a post going around showing he had to switch hands etc) and his handwriting is likely a lot worse due to that. This means automail isnāt super good for delicate work, unsurprising, considering what itās made of.Ā
-experiences phantom limb pain and therefore other associated stuff (this was only really shown in the manga)
-cannot go anywhere too cold without changing his automail or heāll get really bad frost bite and it will stop working
-cannot go anywhere too hot, period, because the metal attached and under his skin will overheat and he will be badly burned
-Reattachment is painful, but needs to be done frequently if he breaks or outgrows his automail
- itās HEAVY so much so that the strain has the potential to cause stress on his body, enough that itās even theorized as possiblyĀ stunting his growth.
-it requires really frequent maintenance or it will break down, as shown by how when he first moved out he forgot to do that and itā¦broke down.
-when it does need to be repaired, it takes time to do that, during which Ed uses regular prosthetics (that usually donāt quite fit him).
-costs a lot of money (not a problem for Ed due to high state alchemist salary/having mechanics as surrogate family, but explicitly noted to being the reason why most people in the fmaverse stick to regular prosthetics along with the painful surgery)
So Ed canāt actually do everything perfectly and experiences a lot of extra hassle, problems and pain people without automail donāt have to deal with!Ā And any advantages he does have are more suited to fighting than day to day life (being able to incorporate weapons/fake out people who want to blow up his arm).Ā
Arakawa did her research and thought it through. Automail is by no means a magic cure that solves all problems associated with losing a limb.
