Just under 20 years ago, the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series debuted on the Japanese airwaves in October 2003. The series was an adaptation of the popular manga series of the same name created by Hiromu Arakawa. The nature of the anime series’ production by Studio Bones, and the manga still being published at the time, necessitated that the anime series go its own way and take the story in a new, alternative direction that was no longer faithful to the original manga series. Such choices are not unprecedented in the history of adapting manga series into new animation. In this case, while the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series was forced to tell its own story, it allowed the series to try something uniquely different. In the process, Fullmetal Alchemist became an iconic, classic global phenomenon with a completely different ending from the manga, which ended its run several years later.
Fullmetal Alchemist tells the story of two brothers, Edward (Romi Park) and Alphonse Elric (Rie Kugimiya). They live in an alternate universe where alchemy became the dominant science of their world. By the early 20th century, the time in which the series is primarily set, scientists and soldiers have already adopted alchemy, the process of taking a material and breaking it down, before rebuilding it. The science follows the “Law of Equivalent Exchange,” which means something of equal value must be lost or destroyed to transmute it into something else.
Edward and Alphonse Elric are two young pre-teen brothers who became gifted prodigies in alchemy but were driven over the edge with grief by the loss of their mother. As a result, Edward and Alphonse conducted an alchemical experiment breaking one of science’s most sacred laws: human transmutation. The process ended in disaster, as the experiment cut off one of Edward’s arms and one of his legs. Alphonse’s entire body was lost in the experiment, but somehow, Edward figured out a way to bind his brother’s “soul” to a suit of armor. Now, the brothers set out on a mission to discover a way to once again defy the laws of alchemy and restore their bodies.
The original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series ran for 51 episodes. When the series reaches its midway point of Episode 25, it begins to wildly diverge from Arakawa’s manga. This resulted in two uniquely different storylines. The Fullmetal Alchemist anime series and the manga have two different main villains and completely different endings. Arakawa’s manga was still ongoing at the time, and Studio Bones was forced to improvise for the series. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In telling its own story, the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series obtained a unique identity, and it became much darker and more intense, with an incredibly memorable storyline. The Fullmetal Alchemist series works best when the Elric Brothers are pushed to their emotional limits, and the anime series pulls that off in spades.
In crafting their own story, director Seiji Mizushima and writer Shō Aikawa created a series that not only exists as a great alternative adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist but also stands on its own since it goes on a completely different path than the manga. Manga creator Arakawa gave her approval for the anime production team to tell their own story and complete the story as they desired. The anime series delved more deeply into the Elric Brothers working as tools of the state. Edward Elric gains a license to become a State Alchemist who has the backing and resources of the government, but the brothers are still legally required to follow the will of the military. The story of Fullmetal Alchemist is set in the country of Amestris, which features a military-controlled government. Throughout the series, the Elric Brothers learn that their government is corrupt and secretly controlled by the story’s villains, artificial beings created through alchemy called Homunculi. The original anime series delves further into the effects of the military’s intervention.
While Studio Bones had to invent its own unique storyline for the second half of the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, it allowed the producers to tell a darker, more intense story. Early on in the anime and manga, Edward and Al liberate a desert city called Lior, which has fallen under the sway of a charlatan religious priest, Cornello. Eventually, the Elrics expose Cornello’s corruption and depose his leadership. In the manga series, the city undergoes reconstruction following the overthrowing of Cornello. However, in the anime series, things get much worse. A civil war breaks out in Lior, manipulated by the Homunculi, and the Amestrian military is set in to intervene, which only makes things worse. The Elric Brothers gain witness to the atrocities of war and military intervention, and the fallout takes a heavy toll on them during their journey.
Another dark aspect the show takes is the revelation regarding the creation of the McGuffin: the Philosopher’s Stone. The Philosopher’s Stone is a powerful object that defies the laws of alchemy and potentially solves any alchemical problem. Edward and Alphonse learn of its existence, but it requires the mass sacrifice of thousands of living humans to create. The anime series depicts Alphonse becoming a literal living Philosopher’s Stone, due to the actions of the show’s antihero, Scar (Ryōtarō Okiayu). Alphonse essentially becomes the very object they were searching for, but they are still at a loss on how to safely use Alphonse’s newfound power. The object was also created through mass murder and death. The series explores the effects of a government controlled by its military, along with how this affects Edward and Alphonse from an emotional perspective. Edward and Alphonse are viewed by civilians as “dogs of the military,” and their world views are challenged by the actions their government has taken in civil wars, leading to acts of human genocide and displaced ethnic groups, specifically the deeply religious country of Ishval.
Later in the anime series, Dante (Kazuko Sugiyama) emerges as the main villain and the master of the Homunculi. For centuries, Dante has used alchemy and the creation of new Philosopher’s Stones to extend her lifespan by swapping bodies. She was once the lover and partner of Hohenheim Elric (Masashi Ebara), the father of the Elric brothers, who eventually turned on Dante. The Elric Brothers eventually put a stop to Dante and the machinations of the Amestrian government, but it comes with a price. Alphonse regains his body, but Edward is left stranded in another dimension, post-Great War Europe. The original series ends with Edward stuck in a world where the combustion engine became the dominant technology over alchemy, separated from his beloved brother.
All the Homunculi in the series are figures with similarly tragic backstories, and each Homunculus character is named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Considering the tragic nature of the Homunculi, their birth from traumatic emotional events makes them more than just two-dimensional villains. They are tragic figures who merely seek to become human. In a way, they are like Pinocchio, wishing to become real. In the anime series, the Homunculi Wrath (Nana Mizuki) was created from the body of the miscarried fetus of Izumi Curtis (Shōko Tsuda). Izumi Curtis is another gifted alchemist and the teacher of Edward and Alphonse. In her own moment of grief, she once attempted human transmutation in trying to revive her miscarried child, creating Wrath. Lust was the result of Scar’s brother’s attempting to revive his dead lover. Envy (Mayumi Yamaguchi) was the product of a failed resurrection of Hohenheim and Dante’s son who died of mercury poisoning. The anime series depicts Sloth (Yoshino Takamori) as the Homunculus created from Edward and Al’s failed human transmutation experiment. All the Homunculi are sad creatures. They all suffer trauma and rejection, much like Frankenstein’s monster. As a result, they become far more interesting characters throughout the anime series since their goals are understandable. They merely wish to be “normal” humans as well.
After the end of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime series in 2004, the story of the series continued in the theatrical movie sequel, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala. The new movie depicted a cult called the Thule Society seeking to use techniques similar to alchemy to open a portal into a new world, bridging the two dimensions. Thankfully, the Elric brothers reunited and intervened, putting an end to the Thule Society, and are finally reunited. However, the brothers are left stranded in Germany in the 1920s with another war and the rise of the Nazi Party on the horizon.
Arakawa would continue her manga storyline which goes in a completely different direction, introducing a wider class of eclectic characters, and depicting a different central villain called The Dwarf in the Flask, aka “Father” (Iemasa Kayumi) Father is revealed to be the leader of the Homunculi in the manga series, and he is a homunculus as well who previously manipulated Edward and Alphonse’s father, Van Hohenheim (Unshō Ishizuka), into wiping out an entire city to create the first Philosopher’s Stone. In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Father is seeking to amass power to unlock an alchemical gate that would essentially grant him the power of a god.
While Arakawa’s manga series has its darker moments, it never becomes quite as dark and traumatic as the first anime series, which delves heavily into more intense thematic material. The villains in the manga series are more straightforward bad guys and not the tragic, abandoned figures of the first anime series. The manga series also has a more satisfying, less bittersweet conclusion. Characters are generally left in much better places than they were at the start of the series, and most of the “good guy” characters accomplish the goals they set out to achieve. Primarily, Edward and Alphonse both restore their bodies and remain together in their world in the manga series. Edward also gets together with Winry Rockbell (Megumi Takamoto), the childhood friend of the Elrics and Edward’s love interest. In 2009, Studio Bones began its new adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist, dubbed Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The new anime series retold the story of Arakawa’s manga, offering a much more faithful adaptation of her work. Now, Fullmetal Alchemist exists with two completely separate beloved and iconic anime series.
For many years, there was a civil war within the Fullmetal Alchemist community between fans of the anime series and more purist fans of the manga. Currently, with the existence of Brotherhood, the more purist fans can enjoy a series that hues closer to Arakawa’s classic work. However, the first anime series also exists as this breakthrough series that gained worldwide mainstream and crossover popularity with its remarkable storytelling that felt like a more genuine reflection of humanity and the real world. A good way of looking at both shows is that Fullmetal Alchemist is a more realistic take on Arakawa’s manga, and the more faithful Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime is more like a superhero story. While the stories differ, both are relevant, and each has great characters and unforgettable storylines. Fans can enjoy both, or one or the other. Regardless, Bones’ departure from the original manga, creating a unique ending and series, benefited the franchise as a whole. It granted the franchise its own identity, and people discovered the anime series when it aired on Adult Swim, making it a worldwide phenomenon. That continued when the Brotherhood series debuted some years later. Both purist fans and casual fans can find something to love between the two series, making it one of the most successful and beloved anime franchises of all time.
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