Fullmetal alchemist

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Fullmetal alchemist
Original title 鋼 の 錬 金 術 師
transcription Hagane no Renkinjutsushi
Fullmetal Alchemist Sacred Star of Milos (cropped) .png
genre Adventure, science fantasy , shonen
Manga
country JapanJapan Japan
author Hiromu Arakawa
publishing company Square Enix
magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan
First publication 2001 - June 11, 2010
expenditure 27
Anime television series
title Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Original title 鋼 の 錬 金 術 師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST
transcription Hagane no Renkinjutsushi FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST
Country of production JapanJapan Japan
original language Japanese
Year (s) 2009-2010
Studio Bones
length 25 minutes
Episodes 64
Director Yasuhiro Irie
music Akira Senju
First broadcast April 5, 2009 - July 4, 2010 on MBS , TBS

First publication in German
August 10, 2015 on Clipfish
synchronization
Film adaptations
Fullmetal Alchemist (TV series) (2003)
Fullmetal Alchemist - The Movie: The Conqueror of Shamballa (film) (2005)
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (film) (2011)
Fullmetal Alchemist (real film) (2017)

Full Metal Alchemist ( Jap. 鋼の錬金術師 , Hagane no Renkinjutsushi ) is a manga Japanese illustrator Hiromu Arakawa from the years 2001 to 2010. The series was among others twice as Anime - television series with the titles of Full Metal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Adapted as a feature film Fullmetal Alchemist - The Film: The Conqueror of Shamballa (2005) and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (2012).

The series is about two brothers who, while trying to resuscitate their dead mother with alchemy , lose their bodies or parts of it. They then strive to regain their original bodies and search for the Philosopher's Stone . In doing so, they get caught up in a conspiracy within the military and the consequences of a past war.

content

world

Fullmetal Alchemist is set in a world where alchemy is used as a natural science . The country of Amestris, in which the action takes place almost exclusively, is similar to Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.

How alchemy works and technical standards

With the reactions of alchemy, the transmutations , the alchemists can transform matter largely as desired. But they have to follow certain rules, such as the concept of the equivalent exchange ( 等 価 交換 , Tōka Kōkan ). According to this, the result of an alchemical reaction must have the same mass as the starting material, it represents a kind of conservation law . For transmutations one also needs a transmutation circle , which serves to concentrate the energy for the reaction. These circles are different depending on the transmutation. The only way to circumvent the laws of alchemy is to use the Philosopher's Stone ( 賢者 の 石 , Kenja no Ishi ). Therefore, attempts have been made to make it for centuries. The creation of the stone requires the sacrifice of human life.

With the help of a transmutation, matter can be freely formed. As a result, a chimera is also possible, a hybrid being that has been transmuted from different living beings. When a person is transmutated, the gate of truth appears to the alchemist . This gives him the ability to form a transmutation circle just by joining the palms of the hands and to be able to carry out alchemical reactions. However, the alchemist has to pay a high price for this.

In addition to alchemy, there is an advanced technique for prostheses, the automail . These are made of metal and can be used as exoprostheses as well as endoprostheses . The prostheses are connected to the nerve fibers of the human body and can be controlled directly by the brain.

Political conditions

A field marshal general leads Amestris in a military dictatorship . Parliament is powerless and the military that resides in Central City is omnipresent. Alchemy takes place primarily under military supervision as a clandestine science. State alchemists who acquire this title by passing a difficult examination report directly to the General Field Marshal. They are therefore also part of the military and take on assignments or are integrated into the military apparatus. In the event of war, all state alchemists are obliged to go into battle.

Ten years before the start of the plot, a war was taking place in the east of the country aimed at ending the Ishbarian uprising. These had rebelled against alchemy because of their different beliefs and mistrust. This war first used state alchemists and unfinished Philosopher's Stones, resulting in the complete destruction of the city of Ishbar. The Ishbarians then spread across the country and lived on in small communities. A specialty of the Ishbarians are their dark skin and red eyes.

action

Childhood of the Elric brothers

The brothers Edward (also Ed ) and Alphonse (also Al ) Elric live with their mother Trisha Elric in the small village of Resembool. Her father Van Hohenheim had long since disappeared when Trisha died in 1904. Edward was ten at the time and his brother Alphonse was nine. Edward decides that they will revive their mother with alchemy they already have mastered. To do this, they learn from the alchemist Izumi Curtis . When trying to resuscitate her several years after her mother's death, Edward loses his left leg and Alphonse his entire body. Edward uses alchemy again and sacrifices his right arm to tie Alphonses soul to armor and thus save him from death. He achieves this with a blood seal , a transmutation circle made from his own blood. Thanks to her technical and mechanical talent, Winry Rockbell , the brothers’s friend, can replace Edward’s right arm and left leg with Automails. She is an orphan because her parents were killed while working as doctors in the Ishbar war. She now lives with her grandmother Pinako Rockbell .

The brothers give up trying to resuscitate their mother, but keep exploring alchemy to get their bodies back. Ed now wants to become a state alchemist so that they can access the military's research facilities. He completes the exam without any problems because the transmutation of her mother gave him the ability to do alchemy without a transmutation circle. Edward received the status of a state alchemist and the title "Fullmetal Alchemist". He is at the level of a major, his superior is the state alchemist Roy Mustang, the "Flame Alchemist". It owes its name to its ability to ignite flames with gloves. Mustang, a colonel by rank, promotes Ed and is also popular with other subordinates. He wants to become head of state himself in order to end the dictatorship. As a state alchemist, Edward soon became widely known for his skills and helpfulness to common people. During their travels, Ed and Al hear rumors about the Philosopher's Stone and hope that it will help them restore their bodies, and from now on they look for the stone or a method to make it.

Travels of the Elric Brothers

The brothers are manipulated on their journey by the homunculi, artificially created human-like beings, each with special skills, who work for a person named father. In addition, they repeatedly meet Scar, who wants to take revenge on the state alchemist for the war in Ishbar and believes he is acting on behalf of his god Ishbara. Individual service members support the brothers; for example, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes of the Intelligence Service, a close friend of Roy Mustang, often gives them tips. Mustang often takes advantage of Ed to upgrade his own position in the military, but also takes care of him. The "Strongarm Alchemist" Major Alex Louis Armstrong is forced upon Ed as a protector. When the brothers want to do research in a disused army laboratory, they are confronted with "inspired" armor, comparable to Alphonse who watch over there for the homunculi. You will also meet the Homunculi Envy and Lust here. After escaping from the laboratory, the brothers go on a journey again with Winry. Shortly thereafter, the Homunculi murder Lieutenant Colonel Hughes without the brothers knowing about it.

In the town of Rush Valley, famous for its auto mechanics, Winry resigns and starts an apprenticeship. The brothers soon meet their old teacher Izumi, who is initially angry about her attempt to transmute their mother. She, too, had performed a human transmutation to reanimate her stillborn child and lost part of her internal organs in the process. But finally she advises the two of them. When Ed leaves shortly afterwards to be assessed by his superiors, Alphonse is kidnapped by a group of human chimeras led by Homunculus Greed. Edward, the Field Marshal General who spied on Edward, and his troops fight the kidnappers to free Alphonse. When the General Field Marshal kills the Chimera Martel in Alphonses armor, he regains the memory of the gate of alchemy through their blood. Now he can also do alchemy without a spell. Greed is killed by his father soon after, because he broke up with him.

The brothers travel to Winry in Rush Valley to have Ed's automobile repaired. There they meet Ling Yao, a prince who came with two bodyguards from the Xing far to the east. He too is looking for the philosopher's stone in order to attain eternal youth. After a brief battle, despite Edward's dislike of him, he travels with them to Central City. Soon after, a subordinate of Armstrong was accused of murdering Maes Hughes through a manipulation of the homunculi. Mustang fakes their death on the run, but when the Elric brothers learn of the deaths of Hughes and Ross, they initially lose their trust in Mustang. The homunculus Lust dies during a fight between the homunculi and the subordinates of the colonel, Ling Yao and his bodyguards.

Meanwhile, Edward travels east with Armstrong to the ruins of the city of Xerxes in the desert. There he meets Fu, a bodyguard of Ling Yao, and learns that a wise man from the west brought alchemy to Xing, just as a wise man from the east brought alchemy to Amestris. When Edward returns to Resembool, he meets his father Hohenheim there. But he still despises him for leaving his mother alone. Following a tip from his father, he digs up the remains of the being he created with Alphonse using human transmutation, and finds that it was not his mother. After talking to Alphonse about it in Central City, they conclude that Alphonses body still exists somewhere and, like the armor in the research lab, has only been separated from the soul. They come up with the plan to irritate Scar and thus lure the homunculi out. Now, however, they learn that Scar killed Winry's parents in the Ishbar War. This soon leads to a fight between the brothers Elric and Scar as well as Ling Yao and the Homunculi. When Winry happens to watch the fight, she also learns that Scar killed her parents. With the help of an Eastern girl, Mei Chan, Scar escapes; Ling Yao and his bodyguard Lan Fan barely survive the fight, and they catch the Homunculus Gluttony. Like Ling, Mei is in search of immortality for her ruler.

When everyone, together with Colonel Mustang, wanted to interrogate outside the city of Gluttony, Ling Yao told them that the Field Marshal General was also a homunculus. Gluttony can free himself and can devour everything in his anger. When Envy arrives, he, Edward and Ling Yao are devoured by Gluttony and end up in a seemingly endless dark room. Gluttony and Alphonse want to bring them back and go to father, who lives in secret rooms under Central City. At the same time, Colonel Mustang wants to use his knowledge to take action against Field Marshal Bradley. But the general staff is involved in the conspiracy, Mustang is arrested and his subordinates are transferred separately to other posts. Since Mustang is needed for the plans of the homunculi, he is left alive; Riza Hawkeye becomes Bradley's adjutant, effectively a hostage to keep Mustang at bay. Mustang learns that Bradley, as one of many, was trained as head of state, but only he survived the implantation of the Philosopher's Stone and thus became a homunculus. In Gluttony's belly, Envy explains to Edward and Ling that they are in some sort of second gate of truth that father created in Gluttony long ago. After an argument with Envy, Edward comes up with the idea of ​​transmuting himself to get them back. With souls from Envy's Philosopher's Stone, he opens a “gate of truth” and meets Alphonse's body. Finally Edward shows up with Envy and Ling in front of Gluttony, in a room below Central City and in front of Father. This first heals all the wounds of the brothers, but then a fight breaks out against the homunculi and father. They lose this because father can stop their alchemy. Ling is injected with a Philosopher's Stone by his father, so that Ling becomes the new Homunculus Greed. Then Scar and Mei Chan appear, who, unlike Ed and Al, can transmute. But they too have no chance against father, Mei Chan is seriously injured and rescued by Al, who hides her in his armor. Scar escapes and meets Dr. in the catacombs. Marcoh telling him about the Ishbar War.

When Edward and Alphonse are at the General Field Marshal's with Mustang, they learn that Mustang's employees have been transferred. Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye becomes Field Marshal General's personal assistant, from whom Edward learns more about the war in Ishbar. Bradley blackmailed Edward with Winry to remain a state alchemist. Mei soon goes back to Scar and, together with Marcoh and the former mine owner Yoki, they look for the alchemical documents that Scar's brother left behind. The state alchemist Kimbly, who committed the massacre in Ishbar, is released from custody at the behest of the Field Marshal. He has allied himself with the Homunculi and is supposed to find Marcoh and Scar, who have traveled north. Edward and Alphonse are sent by Armstrong to Briggs North Redoubt, the country's northern defensive fortification commanded by his sister Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong. They are now also looking for Mei to learn more about Xing's alchemy.

In the fortress of Briggs, the Homunculus Sloth emerges from the underground, digging a tunnel. He is frozen as there is no other way to defeat him, and Edward and Alphonse are captured as suspects. They tell Olivier Armstrong and her confidants all about the homunculi and the conspiracy. When they listen to General Raven together, the group learns that the conspirators need the many dead from the wars of Amestris for the production of the Philosopher's Stone and that they “draw” a huge spell over the whole country. When the reconnaissance party sent into the tunnel does not return, Raven orders the homunculus to be let back in and the tunnel to be closed. He is killed by Olivier, who joins the fight against the conspiracy. Meanwhile, Mei and Marcoh find Scar's brother's notes. When Bradley learns that the Elric brothers are in Briggs, he sends Winry there along with Kimbly to put pressure on them. Edward tells Winry that she came as a hostage, whereupon she also wants to support the brothers. You are supposed to search for Scar together with Kimbly and finally find Scar, Mei, Marcoh and Yoki. Without Edward, Scar and his group flee with two chimeras who have joined them, with Winry as an alleged hostage. Alphonse joins them later. Kimbly then wants to kill Edward, but he can escape with the help of two other chimeras. Olivier Mira Armstrong now pretends to be part of the army leadership conspiracy. She is ordered to Central City and sets up her headquarters in her family's villa to support the others against the army leadership when the time comes.

Meanwhile, Riza Hawkeye learns that the son of the Field Marshal General is the Homunculus Pride, who also killed the reconnaissance party in the tunnel. She passes this information on to Mustang, with whom she is still in secret contact. At this time Izumi Curtis meets Hohenheim, who helps her and from whom she learns that he had once freed the original homunculus. At that time Hohenheim lived in Xerxes as a slave and was taught by the Homunculus in the bottle. Eventually this led to the destruction of Xerxes; Hohenheim and the Homunculus, now father, had become living stones of the wise and brought alchemy to other regions. Since then, Hohenheim, with the souls of the residents of Xerxes within, has been immortal. That tormented him until he finally found Trisha, who comforted him. Now father, the homunculi and the military conspiracy are doing the same thing to Amestris as they did to Xerxes. The generals want to achieve immortality and world domination. Hohenheim travels to the desert town of Reole, where the Elric brothers have been before, and meets Al, Winry and the others there. On their way to Reole, they defeated Envy, locked them in a jar and sent them to Xing with Mei. At the same time, Greed breaks away from father again and allies himself with Ling, who lives on in his body. Greed / Ling meets Edward and the two chimeras and the four join forces. Edward and Ling, Alphonses group in Reole, Olivier Armstrong with their unit, Mustang and his men and Grumman, Mustang's friend and commander of the East, secretly arrange to take action against the conspiracy in the spring.

Fight the conspiracy

On the appointed day, Grumman arranges an explosives attack on the Field Marshal General, who is traveling. Edward and his group must first fight against the homunculi Pride and Gluttony, who have brought Alphonse into their power. With the support of Ling's bodyguards and Hohenheim, they can stop the Homunculi and the Kimbly who will join them later and move on to Central City. Pride, now devouring Gluttony and Kimbly, follows them soon after. Meanwhile, Mustang and his people and together with Olivier Armstrong are putting on a coup d'état, and father has taken over the command of the army after the attack on the Field Marshal General. In Central City a street fight breaks out between the capital troops and the putschists, in which the Homunculi also take part. Mustang's comrades-in-arms succeed in convincing the Field Marshal's wife to occupy the radio and thus gain the authority of interpretation over the people. Mustang, Hawkeye, Edward, Scar and Hohenheim penetrate the secret rooms under Central City and encounter an army of zombie-like homunculi. While Hohenheim surrenders to his father, the others meet Envy, who lied to Mei and was brought back and released by her. Together they defeat him; out of shame and disgust that they don't just kill him or each other out of hatred, Envy kills himself. At the same time, Olivier's troop with her brother and Izumi kill Curtis Sloth and a fight breaks out between Hohenheim and father.

The General Field Marshal has now reappeared at the seat of government and is interfering in the fighting. Greed / Ling and Olivier Armstrong's team oppose him. You can almost defeat him and Bradley falls into the moat of the fortress. A scientist and his soldiers attack Scar, Mustang and Hawkeye, while Edward and Alphonse continue to go to father and Hohenheim. When Pride and Bradley join, the others have nothing to oppose and Mustang is forced to perform a human transmutation. He loses his eyesight and becomes the last of the five victims that father needs for his transmutation. This should take place for the solar eclipse that is imminent. Father has already devoured Hohenheim for this purpose. While a fight between Scar and Bradley and the brothers, Mustang and May against Father and Pride begins in the underground rooms, the Ishbarians take action all over the country. They are supposed to change the effect of the huge transmutation circle drawn in the land of Amestris. First of all, Father's plan succeeds and he can withdraw their souls from people and thus absorb the power of God himself into his body. But with the shadow of the solar eclipse and the preparations that have been made, Hohenheim can free the souls of the Amestiers again. Father must now make a great effort to retain the power of God within himself, and the fighting breaks out again. Scar manages to kill Bradley, and Edward is able to incapacitate Pride. In the fight against father, now on the surface, everyone attacks him at the same time with all their might. Father becomes weaker, although he now has divine power, loses all souls in him, can no longer hold divine power within himself and disappears. But in order to save Edward during the fight by giving him back his arm, Alphonse transmutes himself. To bring his soul and body back, Edward transmutes himself as well and gives Alphonse his own "gate of truth" in exchange for Alphonse's soul and body. Now he can no longer use alchemy himself, but gets his brother back.

After the conspiracy and father have been defeated, Mustang and his allies set about building a better state. Ling, his bodyguard and Mei return to Xing together with a Philosopher's Stone. Since all the souls in him were consumed in the fight, Hohenheim soon dies, happy that his torment is over. Edward and Alphonse go on a journey to further research alchemy, and Winry and Edward become engaged.

Conception

The series tells the development of the two brothers from children to adults under adverse circumstances and contains a lot of comedy on the one hand, but also tragic and dramatic scenes on the other . It shows the expulsion and deportation of the Ishbarian people and deals with the problem of cloning through human transmutation. The military is also parodied and depicted critically. Despite many tragedies, the emphasis is constantly on the will to live, so that the reader or viewer does not have to despair over the situation. That's why funny scenes always follow.

The concept of the story roughly corresponds to that of the hero's journey . Initiation, crossing the first threshold of hesitation, and the journey of passing tests take up most of the action. The world and its design cannot be culturally assigned precisely and therefore offer the target groups in the various countries in which the series was marketed their own opportunity to interpret and access the work.

Jason Thompson sees the manga as being inspired by Star Wars as well as by the United States' involvement in the Near and Middle East; The first volumes of the series were written during the period of the Afghan war and the Iraq war .

Representation of the military

Edward's superior Mustang embodies an honorable soldier who wants to help his subordinates and the people. He also uses Edward to do this, but helps him very often. At the end of the television series, he puts a coup against the General Field Marshal and introduces a democracy. He also regrets what he did in the Ishbar War, such as the crackdown on child soldiers. In the Mustang environment there are characters that are just as funny, like the enthusiastic father and husband Maes Hughes, who wants to show every colleague a picture of his daughter, or Riza Hawkeye, who is constantly worried about her colonel and takes care of him. It's similar with Armstrong, who raves about his strengths and his family's tradition.

The Field Marshal General ( 大 総 統 , daisōtō - sōtō is the Japanese translation for the designation of Adolf Hitler as Führer or Benito Mussolini as Duce and can then be translated as “Great Leader.” However, the term is borrowed from Chinese, where it means President, here then “Grand President.”) King Bradley often appears calm and calm and never seems to lose control. At the same time he often secretly runs away; for example, after a visit from Ed's sickroom, he climbs through the window or looks inappropriately happy and carefree. In the German dubbing of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood , King Bradley is addressed with the title "Großer Anführer".

Homunculi

Symbol of the Homunculi ( Ouroboros )

The homunculi bear the typical characteristics of the sins after which they are named. All of them have the ability to regenerate amputations. They get the energy they need from their Philosopher's Stone, which is used up as a result. They were created by a character that the Homunculi call "Father", he calls himself " Homunculus ". Hohenheim addresses him as "little person in a piston". Like Hohenheim, he has extremely strong alchemical skills, which is due to the fact that he has a philosopher's stone in him.

Envy (dt. Envy ) can change the appearance of his body freely, his alleged true form has the appearance of a dog-like monster. Its actual true form, however, is that of a very small eight-legged creature with a vertical mouth. In this form he still has the ability to take over people and mindless homunculi. Gluttony (dt. Gluttony ) can eat anything and is affectionate. Greed (dt. Greed ) can his skin with carbon , as hard as diamond , plate and is concerned about its independence. Lust (dt. Lust ) can lengthen her fingernails into stabbing weapons, she is later killed by Roy Mustang. Pride (dt. Arrogance ) is Selim Bradley, the adopted son King Bradley. He has the ability to extend his shadow and can use it as a weapon. He is the most powerful and oldest of the seven homunculi, his true form is that of a very small baby with a third eye on its forehead. King Bradley is Wrath ( anger ). It is the only homunculus that can age and has one eye with which it can see and react very quickly. Sloth (dt. Inertia ) is a very large homunculus, which has an extremely resistant skin and can move quickly, but then imprecisely. His job is to dig a tunnel, even though he would much rather sleep, which is why Pride is constantly monitoring him.

There are also weak, mindless homunculi. They are very thin with white skin and only one eye. Although these homunculi are immortal, they cannot regenerate. They attack their victims and try to eat them.

Naming the characters

The homunculi were named after the seven deadly sins . The name "Hohenheim" is based on Theophrast von Hohenheim . Hohenheim, called Paracelsus, was a doctor, chemist and alchemist.

Mustang and other members of the military are named after World War II fighter planes . Mustang, for example, was the name of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft . His friend Maes Hughes received the surname from the aircraft pioneer Howard Hughes .

Emergence

Hiromu Arakawa originally planned Fullmetal Alchemist as a story with only one chapter. The editor in charge of the publishing house wanted her to develop the idea. Nevertheless, individual events were already determined in advance, but only integrated into the plot later. Other characters that were supposed to have only a small role were later expanded, such as Barry the Chopper in the manga.

The topic of the equivalent exchange was determined at the beginning. This theme is also an important part of the life of the Mangaka, who came from a farming family in Hokkaidō , in which it was said: "Those who do not work get nothing to eat." In Hokkaidō, especially in rural areas, it is common to demolish a house when moving away. Ed and Al also burn their house down when they travel. This symbolizes their homelessness and loneliness.

publication

The Manga Fullmetal Alchemist appeared in Japan monthly in the manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan of the publisher Square Enix (formerly Enix) from July 2001. On June 11, 2010 (issue 7/2010), chapter 108 was published as the last due to the Due to the great demand in issue 9/2010, this issue was unusually reprinted after the sale. The chapters have been summarized in 27 volumes and since June 2011 a Kanzenban edition has been published in a slightly larger A5 format, which so far comprises 11 volumes.

From May 2005 the anthologies were also published in North America, from September 2006 to April 2012 in German by Planet Manga . All 27 volumes have been published. Since November 2019, Altraverse has been publishing a new edition in which three volumes are combined into one. In the USA, the first volume by Fullmetal Alchemist was the best-selling manga in 2005 according to Nielsen Bookscan. The manga appears in Singapore, Poland and France, among others.

Adaptations

Anime

The manga was first implemented in 2003 in the form of the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist . The plot develops differently than in the original. From halfway through the 51 episodes, she breaks away from the manga and comes to an end of her own. At the time of production, the story of the original did not go beyond this point of the plot, the first five volumes. On July 23, 2005, the film Fullmetal Alchemist - The Film: The Conqueror of Shamballa , which follows on from the end of the series, was released in cinemas. On March 29, 2006 the OVA series Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Premium Collection was published, which consists of four independent short stories.

From April 5, 2009 to July 4, 2010, MBS and TBS ran a second, true-to-original film adaptation called Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Fullmetal Alchemist , which comprises 64 episodes. The production of Bones was directed by Yasuhiro Irie , the character design was created by Hiroki Kanno and the artistic director was Takeshi Satō . Repetitions followed at Animax . In the USA it was marketed as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood , the English version was offered via various streaming services . There are also translations into French, Spanish, Korean, Italian, Russian, Tagalog, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and Chinese. The German version was published from November 2014 to July 2015 on DVD and Blu-Ray by KSMFilm.

The plot of the second adaptation is closely based on the original. Nevertheless, the first episode introduces the world of the series in a self-contained story of the fight against an insurgent alchemist, which does not appear in the manga. Then the first five volumes of the original, which were already implemented in the first series in 27 episodes and together with filling stories, are dealt with in twelve episodes. The narration is faster than in the first anime and is more like that of the manga. The character design has been changed slightly compared to the first film adaptation and the manga, and weird super-deformed-style scenes have been taken from the comic that were left out in the previous anime.

A four-part OVA was also released for the second series. In Japan these appeared on August 26, 2009. The four parts each tell the background story of a minor character. In addition, short episodes were published as additional material on the DVDs of the television series. These implement Yonkoma strips that accompanied the chapters of the manga and parody the main story. In June 2011 the film Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos ( 鋼 の 錬 金 術 師嘆 き の 丘ミ ロ スの 聖 な る 星 , Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Mirosu no Seinaru Hoshi ) in Japanese cinemas.

synchronization

In the second film version of the manga, the speakers of which are listed in the following table, the speakers from the first series were largely used again in both the Japanese and German dubbed versions.

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) German speaker
Edward "Ed" Elric Romi Park David Turba
Alphonse "Al" Elric Rie Kugimiya Vanya Gerick
Winry Rockbell Megumi Toyoguchi Demet Fey
Roy Mustang Shin'ichirō Miki David Nathan
Riza Hawkeye Fumiko Orikasa Gabriele Wienand
Van Hohenheim Unshō Ishizuka Olaf Reitz
Envy Minami Takayama Julien Haggége
Gluttony Tetsu Shiratori Renier Baaken
teller Iemasa Kayumi
father Jochen Langner
Lust Kikuko Inoue Ilya Welter
Greed Yūichi Nakamura Gregor Höppner
Great leader King Bradley Hidekatsu Shibata Erich Rauker
Selim Bradley Yuko Sanpei Rieke Werner
Sloth Fumihiko Tachiki Hans Bayer
Scar Kenta Miyake Stefan Schleberger

music

The music for the series was composed by Akira Senju , and orchestral pieces and choral songs are used. The songs were used for the opening credits:

The titles used for the credits are:

  • Uso ( ) from SID
  • Let it out by Miho Fukuhara
  • Tsunai Da Te ( つ な い だ 手 ) by Lil'B
  • Shunkan Sentimental from Scandal
  • Ray of light by Shoko Nakagawa
  • Rain from SID
  • Hologram by Nico Touches the Walls
  • Tobira no Mukoue ( 扉 の 向 こ う へ - English " To the Other Side of the Door ") by Yellow Generation

Radio plays

Likewise, two series of were radio play - CDs issued. The first series, consisting of three parts, offers another take on the manga. Here the Elric brothers are given the voices by different speakers than in the anime.

The second series consists of two episodes, each with two parts, which were included in two Shonen Gangan editions in 2004.

Concerts

At the Tales of Another Festival in Tokyo and Osaka in December 2004, various pieces of music from the anime series were played and voice actors reported on the production. The festival was well attended with over 30,000 fans. On April 27, 2005, a DVD of the festival was released in Japan.

Novels

Makoto Inoue ( 井上 真 ) wrote six light novels that tell subplots of the series. Alexander O. Smith translated the first five into English and Viz Media published them in the USA.

In addition, three novels based on the plot of the role-playing games Tobenai Tenshi , Devil of the Red Elixir and Kami o Tsugu Shōjo were written. The first is from Makoto Inoue, the other two from Jun Eishima . The three novels were only published in Japan, none of the novels in German.

Video games

Square Enix produced the three role-playing games Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Tobenai Tenshi ( 鋼 の 錬 金 術 師 翔 べ な い 天使 ) (Dec 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Devil of the Red Elixir (Sept 2004) and Hagane no Renkinjutsushi 3: Kami o Tsugu Shōjo ( 鋼 の 錬 金 術 師 3 神 を 継 ぐ 少女 ) (July 2005). These are based on the plot of the series and are partly to be classified in the storyline, but also contain four new characters. The first two role-playing games were also sold outside of Japan. In August 2009 Square Enix released a fourth game for the Wii entitled Fullmetal Alchemist: Prince of the Dawn .

Bandai released the two role-playing games Fullmetal Alchemist: Stray Rondo and Fullmetal Alchemist: Omoide no Sonata for Game Boy Advance and the role-playing game Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy (July 2005) for Nintendo DS . The latter was also released outside of Japan. It spans the whole storyline of the series and also includes seven mini-games. In addition, the fighting game Fullmetal Alchemist: Dream Carnival (August 2004) was published for PlayStation 2 and also marketed internationally.

The US-American computer game developer Destineer brought out a self-developed game for Fullmetal Alchemist for Nintendo DS in the USA on December 15, 2006; in July 2007 another one based on the card game is to follow.

On June 11, 2010, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was released for the PlayStation Portable in Germany by Namco Bandai .

Card game

Press Pass Inc. also produced a trading card game for Fullmetal Alchemist , which has been sold since 2005. Since then, six expansions have been released so far, the last of which in February 2007.

reception

The manga was awarded the 49th Shogakukan Manga Prize in the Shōnen category in 2004 and the Seiun Prize in the Best Comic category in 2011 . In addition, the manga was nominated twice for the Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize: In 2004, he had to admit defeat to Kyōko Okazaki's Helter Skelter , and in 2011 he won the Young Artist Prize .

Simon Ward describes the manga in 1001 Comics as a “fast-paced action spectacle for kids”, in which “social issues are repeatedly raised, such as injustice between rich and poor or the commercialization of religion”. The world of the series unfolds a "pronounced video game character". Jason Thompson also emphasizes the successful theming of questions of morality and religion. The story begins like a typical story with a mixture of action and adventure with interspersed comedy, but the plot becomes more and more powerful the more it unfolds.

The German magazine AnimaniA praised the series as a captivating adventure with a “colorful mix of genres, sophisticated characters, imaginative settings and a clear drawing style” that is popular with both male and female readers. After the first, the second film was also received positively. The anime benefits from the higher narrative speed, especially in the comedy elements that are more common than in the first TV series. The super-deformed scenes from the manga are also well implemented. Only the treatment of the already filmed part in only twelve episodes seems "a little too hasty". The slightly changed character design brings out the facial expressions better and the design and animation are on the same high level as the first film adaptation. The soundtrack “always hits the right note”.

Individual evidence

  1. Review. AnimeG.de, archived from the original on January 22, 2008 ; Retrieved July 27, 2007 (from the Internet Archive).
  2. a b c Interview with Hiromu Arakawa. (No longer available online.) Anime-source.com, archived from the original on Aug. 6, 2007 ; Retrieved July 27, 2007 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.anime-source.com
  3. Angela Drummond-Mathews: What Boys Will Be: A Study of Shonen Manga. In: Toni Johnson-Woods (Ed.): Manga - An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives . Continuum Publishing, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2938-4 , pp. 70 f.
  4. Jason Bainbridge and Craig Norris: Hybrid Manga: Implications for the Global Knowledge Economy. In: Toni Johnson-Woods (Ed.): Manga - An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives. Continuum Publishing, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2938-4 , p. 246.
  5. Jason Thompson: Manga. The Complete Guide . Del Rey, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8 , pp. 115 .
  6. What Will Happen in Hagaren ?! Hiromu Arakawa interview. zomgfta.com, archived from the original on May 5, 2010 ; Retrieved October 4, 2008 (English, interview with Hiromu Arakawa (in the Internet Archive)).
  7. エ ヴ ァ 最終 回 で 雑 誌 ヤ ン グ エ ー ス 完 売 店 続 出! 超 異 例 の 次 号 再 掲 載 が 決定 !! . Kadokawa Shoten, June 7, 2013, accessed June 9, 2013 (Japanese).
  8. ICv2 2005 Manga Awards - Part 1. ICv2 News, March 1, 2006, accessed July 26, 2007 .
  9. a b c d AnimaniA. 08-09 / 2009, p. 46 ff.
  10. Big Names, Little Beings: New Games in June. Focus-Online, June 8, 2010, accessed January 9, 2013 .
  11. Simon Ward: Fullmetal Alchemist. In Paul Gravett (ed.) And Andreas C. Knigge (transl.): 1001 Comics You Should Read Before Life Is Over. Edition Olms, Zurich 2012, p. 752.
  12. Jason Thompson: Manga. The Complete Guide . Del Rey, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8 , pp. 58-59 .
  13. AnimaniA. 03/2007, p. 9.

Web links

Commons : Fullmetal Alchemist  - collection of images, videos and audio files