Ep 82: Fullmetal Alchemist Tutorial/Experiment
An Experiment: This week, we’re asking mom and our audience
to not only read some Manga, but also to watch some anime, and a movie. All of these things are the exact same thing. Namely, Fullmetal Alchemist, which is not
only a long running Manga series that ran for over 9 years, but also two Anime,
and a Japanese movie. So, what happens
when print media becomes a TV series and a Movie? Let’s see what Mom thinks.
Experiment
- Thesis: That Mom will enjoy the original Manga and possibly
one the various adaptations
- Test: Read several
chapters of the Manga, along with watching subsequent Anime and Movies created
from the original Manga
- Control: Manga
- Variables: 2003 Anime, 2009 Anime, 2017 Live Action Film
One Piece (Tangent)
Considered one of the greatest Manga in current production,
written and drawn by Mangaka Eiichiro Oda, One Piece has been among the top Manga
for the 23 years. Beginning in 1997, the
story begins with the death of a Legendary Pirate Gol D. Roger, Pirate King,
and his famous last words, “If you want my Treasure, you’ll have to Search for
it. I left it hidden, all in One Piece.”
This sparks the age of Piracy and the search for the legendary One Piece
treasure, with the finder to become the next Pirate King.
The world of One Piece is unique in the sense that most of
the world is covered in water, with a sprinkling of islands all over the
place. Each island is home to its own
unique climate, races, animals, and even unique plant life. The world’s technology and setting is reminiscent
of the 17th century, with some steam punk elements. Within the world, there does exist a unique
power system known as Devil Fruits, which offer magical powers of various
animals, elemental natures, or various other super human powers to the users,
but at the cost of being weak to Sea Water, making them unable to move or use
their powers.
The Story of One Piece follows, Luffy D. Monkey, a pirate
who ate a Devil Fruit and turned in to pure rubber, and his journey to find the
legendary One Piece treasure. Along the
way, he amasses a strange crew of fellow pirates:
Zorro - a Samurai who wields three swords at once
Nami - Ship’s Navigator and thief
Usopp - professional lair and expert of gadgets, he also
serves as the Sniper
Sanji - Ship Cook and master of a purely kicking fighting
style
Chopper – Ship Doctor, he is a reindeer that ate a devil
Fruit that makes him human
Nico Robin - Ship archeologist and able to reproduce her
body parts on solid object thanks to a Devil Fruit
Franky - Shipwright
and cyborg
Brook - Ship Musician, he ate a Devil Fruit that makes him
return from death once, but now looks like a skeleton
Jinbe - Ship
Helmsman, he is a ‘Whale Shark Fishman’ and a former warlord of the sea before
joining recently.
The art of One Piece is unique in its style and detail, with
it often looking nothing like Manga or Anime.
The series is one the longest running shonen series, staying at the top
of Shonen Jump’s rankings as #1 for almost all of its run. The series has spawn a media franchise,
including an equally long Anime, and is recognized by Guinness World Records as
the ‘most copies published of the same comic by a single author’. The series is also criticized for its length
at the same time, with some major Arcs of the story lasting for years and the
story seemingly not going anywhere for long stretches of time. The art can also be a barrier as it isn’t
typical of other Manga styles, with many people citing it as the reason for not
enjoying it.
What is Fullmetal Alchemist?
Hiromu Arakawa is the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist. She was born in 1973 and grew up on a dairy
farm in Hokkaido. From young age, she
loved Manga and would collect it whenever she had money from her
allowance. She initially went to
agriculture high school, a theme she would later revisit for her next Manga
“Silver Spoon”. After graduating, she
spent another seven years working on her parent’s dairy farm before moving to
Tokyo to follow her dreams of becoming a Mangaka.
She initially started as an Assistant before eventually
getting her big break with ‘Stray Dog’.
This won her the 21st Century “Shonen Gangan” award in 2000,
and the company, Gangan, would eventually become the publisher for most of her
work.
Her next big title, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, aka Fullmetal
Alchemist, began publishing in 2001. The
series was a monthly title, which consisted of roughly 35-40 pages per month in
Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan
anthology. The series would run for the
better part of 9 years and become one of the most defining Manga and Anime for
a world wide audience, particularly in the west. This would eventually win her the prestigious
Annual Shogakugan Manga Award in 2003.
The series also spawned two anime series, with two follow movies for
each series, as well as a live action movie in 2017.
Hiromu’s additional works include:
Hero Tales – Imperial China theme wars/conflicts
Silver Spoon – Agriculture High School, Slice of Life
The Heroic Legend of Arslan – Based off a similar book
series
World/Story
Fullmetal Alchemists tells the story of Edward(Ed) and
Alphonse(Al) Elric, a pair of brothers gifted in the science/magic of Alchemy,
as they travel around the fictional country of Amestris in search of a way to
recover their bodies and become whole.
In this ‘steam punk’ world, closely matching technology of
the early 19th century, alchemy is the most practiced science
throughout the world, which allows users who have studied to do transmutation
magic. Given a collection of items or
materials, an Alchemist can draw transmutation circles across along a surface
and channel energy in to it in order to create something new from the
materials. The magical system primarily
operates by first identify the material, breaking it up in to its most natural
components, then rebuilding it based off the transmutation circle. The magic system is a hard magic system,
consisting of rules and laws that must otherwise be followed. The most fundamental being the Law of
Equivalent Exchange, which directs that in order to create something, you must
first lose something of equal value; and is also referenced at the beginning of
every episode in the Anime. Because of
the hard magic System, Alchemists are limited in what alchemy itself can do,
these include:
You can’t make something without the proper components. IE, you can’t make a metal sword out of wood.
You’re limited to making something of equal size as the amount
of components you have. IE, you can’t
build a house with only a single plank of wood.
The more complex the alchemy, the more complex the
transmutation circle.
Within the country of Amestris exists the military, an
omni-powerful organization that runs the country and is tasked to maintain
order throughout the country and its borders, but may have secret motives and
directives. While they act like a
standard military army and political organization, the most defining feature is
the State Alchemists, Alchemists that are hired and operate for the military on
their behalf. The benefit works for both
parties, as State Alchemists receive large stipends of funding from the
government, but can be called in to service by the military to act as human
weapons against opposing forces. State
Alchemists are also known as Dogs of the
Military, a derogatory term as the military likes to throw State Alchemists
at their problems, and that Alchemists must heavily rely on the military for
funding to continue their research. Each
Alchemist is given a code name, which usually had something to do with their
alchemy style, such examples include: Flame, Iron Blood, Crimson, and ofcourse,
Full Metal.
While not explicit rules of the magical system, Alchemists
within the world are limited in doing two major things with Alchemy. The first not making gold, as this would
throw off the entire economy of the country.
This is also a call back to the origin of alchemy, which at the intent
of making precious metals, like gold itself.
The second is that human transmutation is outlawed, and considered
highly taboo, along the lines of grave robbing or worse.
To continue with the Steam Punk nature of the world, people
who have lost their limbs can have them replaced with robotic limbs known as
‘Automail’. Most Automail replaces lost
limbs like arms and legs, and rarely is it used to replace sections of the body
even. No electricity is necessary as it
uses nerves in the body that already exist and blood to power limbs. While uncommon, it is well known and entire
communities and companies exist as a matter of building various limbs and
parts.
Characters
The story primarily follows Ed and Al as they travel through
the world trying to use their knowledge of Alchemy to regain their bodies and
become whole. This is due to Ed and Al
attempting to bring back their dead mother using Alchemy using Human
Transmutation, but failing to do so. As
a result of this initial failure, Ed lost his left leg and Al disappeared
entirely, the toll or price for attempting Human Transmutation. As a result of Human Transmutation, Ed gained
advanced Alchemic knowledge, which he uses to bind Al’s soul to a nearby suit
of armor, thus bringing him back to the world, but at the expense of Ed’s right
arm. After a prolonged recovery for Ed
to gain an Automail Arm and Leg to replace those lost, the two set forth to
find the Philosopher’s Stone, a fabled Alchemy tool that ignores the Laws of
Equivalent Exchange, in hopes of resorting their bodies.
Edward Elric (Ed)
The main title character of the series, always seen with his
signature blonde hair, golden eyes, red coat.
Edward is known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, the youngest State
Alchemist, and best known for his signature ability of not needing a
transmutation circle to produce Alchemy, a rare gift never seen before in most
Alchemists. Gifted, brave, and fierce,
Edward is also a skill physical combatant, using his unique alchemy skills to
augment his fighting style by creating weapons out of nowhere, even manipulating
plates on his Automail Right Arm. While
a strong individual, Edward is also quite hot headed and temperamental, prone
to fits of rage if something sets him off, often his height, which is often
considered small for his age. Despite
his hot temper, Edward is very caring, especially toward his younger brother
Alphonse, to which he has promised to find a way to recover Al’s body no matter
what.
Alphonse Elric (Al)
The younger of the Elric Brothers, he is also a main
character, and is portrayed through the series as being a giant, hollow suit of
armor. This is due to his soul being
bonded to a suit of armor. This carries
some advantages, such as not needing to eat or sleep, also not getting hot or
cold, and seemingly immortality, assuming the blood seal remains
undamaged. However, these same pros are
also cons for Alphonse, a very loving and caring soul that would rather shelter
kittens than every punch a person, as he struggles to continue living without having
a proper body. Much like his brother, he
is also gifted in Alchemy, though not at the same caliber of his brother, but
is physically stronger and an even more skilled combatant than his
brother. He travels with his brother,
and is often confused for his brother from time to time, as they both are in
search of the Philosopher’s stone.
Colonel Roy Mustang
The Flame Alchemist, a State Alchemist who used his position
to climb the ranks of military, with ambitions of eventually becoming the Fuhrer,
leader of the country. Cocky and
reassured, his outward appearance hides his true motives and feelings, which is
a commander with pure intentions of making the country a better place. Much like his name, his manipulate flames
using Alchemy; this is accomplished by using his special spark sensitive gloves
to snap his fingers, creating sparks and then manipulating the air quality to
direct explosions and blasts of fire around.
Winry Rockbell
Best Friends to Ed and Al, she acts as Ed’s mechanic, as it
was her who built Ed’s Automail Arm and Leg, even installing them on to his
body with the assistance Winry’s grandmother.
A gifted mechanic, she loves machines in all forms and shapes, gawking
over them. She cares deeply for both Ed
and Al, thinking of them as brothers and wishing for only the best for
both. She is often the emotional support
for both, and even Physical Support for Ed.
Scar
An initial Antagonist, Scar is a nick name given to a killer
of State Alchemists. An tall and strong
Ishvalan (similar to our Middle Eastern heritage/decent), he known for the
X-shaped scare along the front of his face.
He hunts State Alchemists due to them having invaded his country and
basically starting open warfare when his country did nothing to Amestris. To combat State Alchemists, Scar’s right arm
is adorned with Ishvalan sigils and runes, similar to Alchemy’s transmutation
circles, which allow him to break down anything to its base components. Using it, Scar can break weapons, streets,
buildings, and even begin breaking down a person on to their base components as
a means of killing them.
Lust
One of three initially introduced Homunculus, seven in
total, she is represented by a tall and beautiful woman with an Ouroboros
tattoo on her chest. Much like her name,
people lust after her and she uses this to her advantage, often hiding in plain
sight amongst others in order to spy upon them.
She is cool and level headed, but also sadistic, she enjoys watching
humans scurry and suffer around her. Her
unique skills allows her to extend the length of her fingers to razor like
talons, upwards of several feet long, and cut through just about anything as a
result. Like all Homunculus, she is
essentially immortal, and if killed, will return to life, or rebuild parts of
her body, nearly instantaneously
Gluttony
Another Homunculus introduced early in the series, he short
and very rotund, not too dissimilar to a ball in many ways. He is often seen eating other creatures and
people, as directed by Lust or other Homunculus. Much like his name, he is always hungry, and
his unique ability, allows him to eat just about anything without feel the
ill-effect, or getting full either.
Often a comic relief character, he is also the character with the most
child like sense of character, having only an interest in doing what other
Homunculus tell him to do , please his master, and eating.
Envy
An androgynous Homunculus who is often seen with Lust and
Gluttony. He is amongst the cruelest of
all the Homunculus, playing and torturing humans for pleasure. He is the most likely to kill without
hesitation and follow his master’s orders swiftly once given. He is unique in that he can shape-shift in
to other forms, including different people so that he may act like a spy, or
transform in to his true, monstrous form.
Just like Lust and Gluttony, his is functionally immortal and will
recover from injuries and death with near immediate speed.
Homework / Adaptations
Manga – The Manga initially ran from July 2001 till June
2010, finishing with 108 monthly chapters over the better part of nine
years. All volumes have been release in
the state by Viz Media. Volumes can be purchased online, but be wary of websites offer to read Online, as they may contain malicious ads and/or attacks on your system.
2003 Anime – Released after about only 20 chapters in to the
Manga’s initial start, the series diverges after a certain point from the
original material. This is due to the Manga
still be in production, and only being a few chapters in which it was decided
to make it an anime. As a result, while
Arakawa was a part of the initial storyboarding process, she was not involved
in the filming, writing, or animation, resulting in a different take on the
material. Fully available via Netflix and other stream services.
2009 Anime 'Brotherhood' – With the Manga beginning to wind down, A second
anime adaptation was announced, this time following more closely to the
original Manga. As a result, the 2009
anime is considered the definitive version of Fullmetal Alchemist as a
result. The anime was purposefully set
up to end just a few weeks after the Manga, and staff were already animating
the final episodes in time with the Manga. Fully available via Netflix and other stream services.
2017 Film – In 2017, a live action film was created the
follows the first major story arcs of the series. This film omits quite a bit of world building
and simplifies a fair amount of the world, characters , and principles from the
original story. As a result, he’s
generally considered the worse adaptation amongst all known adaptation. Available via only Netflix.
