Full Metal Alchemist
From Animepedia
(diff) ←Older revision | Current revision | Newer revision→ (diff)
Fullmetal Alchemist, commonly abbreviated as FMA or Hagaren by fans, is a manga series created by Hiromu Arakawa and serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan. It has also been adapted into an anime TV series and Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa|a movie sequel, as well as several spin-off novels and video games.
The manga is still running in Japan, and 14 volumes have been released so far. The anime, on the other hand, is finished, and consists of 51 episodes and a full-length movie sequel. Both incarnations (the manga and the anime) have seen massive popularity in both Japan and North America; last year the anime was voted #1 best liked anime of all time in Japan in a September 2005 TV Asahi web poll. It was put down for #1 again for 2006 in a recent poll.
Contents |
Manga
Chapter guide
Note: Viz's official English translation titles through Chapter 37, unofficial Japanese translations thereafter.
1. The Two Alchemists
5. The Alchemist's Anguish
9. House of the Waiting Family
13. Fullmetal Body
17. The Boomtown of the Broken Down
22. Masked Man |
26. To Meet the Master
30. The Truth Inside the Armor
34. The Footsteps of a War Comrade
38. Counterattack, Signal, Fire
42. Father in Front of the Grave
46. Distant Backs |
50. Inside the Stomach
54. The Fool's Struggle
58. Footsteps of Ruin
62. Beyond the Dream
Gaiden: The Blind Alchemist
Gaiden: Tales of a Master
Gaiden: Simple People
Gaiden: His Battlefield Once More |
U.S. edits
So far the content of the manga released by Viz in the United States does not differ much from the original material. The only edit so far is one panel from volume 8 showing the Homunculus Greed tied (in crucifixion style) to a cross-shaped stone slab. In the U.S. version the stone was redesigned to become round-like, probably to avoid references to Christianity.
Anime
Production broadcast history
The animation studio BONES (studio) adapted the manga into a 51-episode anime series, produced by Sony's anime production unit Aniplex, which ran on Japanese television from October 4 2003 to October 2 2004. A one-hour Original Video Animation, Fullmetal Alchemist: Reflections, was released in 2005. Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa was made by the same studio, and theatrically released in Japan on July 23 2005. The film serves as a sequel to the TV series. In March 2006 a DVD featuring 3 brand new OVAs as well as the "State Alchemists vs the seven Homunculi" feature that was previously shown only at Universal Studios Japan in Tokyo was released on DVD in Japan.
As there was a limited amount of manga material available to adapt at the time of production, the storyline of the anime diverges from that of the manga around the middle of the series (around the end of book 6/start of book 7). The anime's later story and conclusion by BONES is different from the manga, which is still ongoing. This divergence in story from the manga source material, however, was planned from the beginning of production, and was not done "just because" the anime caught up with the manga source material.
DVD releases
The DVDs of the anime have been licensed by various companies for different languages and regions (refer to infobox on right). Some known firms releasing the DVDs are:
- Aniplex, the original producers of the anime series, across Japan (Region 2) and Taiwan (Region 3)
- Asia Animation, across Hong Kong (Region 3)
- Focus Filmes, across Brazil (Region 4)
- TIGA, across Thailand (Region 3) - 17 volumes with 3 episodes each
- FUNimation, across North America (Region 1), R4(MX, SA)
- Madman Entertainment, across Australia (Region 4)
- MVM, across the United Kingdom (Region 2)
- Odex, across Singapore (Region 3)
- Panini Video, across Italy (Region 2)
The 51 episodes in the series are divided into 13 DVD volumes (both for the Japanese and US releases, at least, and presumably for releases in other regions as well). On the original Japanese DVDs, volume 1 consisted of the first two episodes, volume 13 contained the last five, and all of the volumes in between had four episodes each. FUNimation's English DVDs all have four episodes each, except for the last, which has three.
- Volume 01: The Curse (Ep. 1-4)
- Volume 02: Scarred Man of the East (Ep. 5-8)
- Volume 03: Equivalent Exchange (Ep. 9-12)
- Volume 04: The Fall of Ishbal (Ep. 13-16)
- Volume 05: The Cost of Living (Ep. 17-20)
- Volume 06: Captured Souls (Ep. 21-24)
- Volume 07: Reunion on Yock Island (Ep. 25-28)
- Volume 08: The Altar of Stone (Ep. 29-32)
- Volume 09: Pain and Lust (Ep. 33-36)
- Volume 10: Journey To Ishbal (Ep. 37-40)
- Volume 11: Becoming The Stone (Ep. 41-44)
- Volume 12: Truth Behind Truths (Ep. 45-48)
- Volume 13: Brotherhood (Ep. 49-51)
All thirteen DVD volumes, as well as the movie, The Conqueror Of Shamballa, have been released in the United States. A limited special edition of the movie is set for release on November 14, 2006. MVM has released the first seven volumes in the UK; volume eight is set for release in October with volume nine following in November and the movie The Conqueror of Shamballa in 2007.
Opening Quotes
- Episode 2-36, 38-42: Alphonse Elric: "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth."
- Episode 37: Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye: "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. Here at Central Headquarters there was a group of brave soldiers all willing to make that sacrifice in the name of peace. This is a tale of love and courage, a tale of the Flame Alchemist Colonel Mustang and his loyal team."
- Episode 43-50: Edward Elric: "The Philosophers' Stone: those who possess it, no longer bound by the laws of Equivalent Exchange in Alchemy, may gain without sacrifice, create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it."
- Note: FUNimation's 11th DVD volume incorrectly uses the first monologue (episodes 2-36) at the beginning of episode 43. Both the Japanese and American TV airings use the correct monologue.
Opening and end themes
- Openings
- "Melissa" by Porno Graffitti (Episodes 2-13, also used as ending for episode 1)
- "Ready Steady Go" by L'Arc~en~Ciel (Episodes 14-25)
- "Undo" by Cool Joke (Episodes 26-41)
- "Rewrite" by Asian Kung-fu Generation|Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Episodes 42-51)
- "Ready Steady Go" and "Rewrite" are the only openings playing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim because of a deal with L'Arc~en~Ciel and Asian Kung-Fu Generation to promote their songs. The DVD releases from FUNimation include all openings in their original places and format.
- Endings
- "Kesenai Tsumi" (Indelible Sin) by Nana Kitade (Episodes 2-13)
The alternate title used by some fansubbers is "Unerasable Sin", which is also the title given to it on the American release of the first soundtrack but not on the American DVD releases.
- "Tobira no Mukou e" ("To the Other Side of the Door") by YeLLOW Generation (Episodes 14-25)The alternate title used by some fansubbers is "Beyond the Door"
- "Motherland" by Crystal Kay (Episodes 26-41)
- "I Will" by Sowelu (Episodes 42-50)
- Episode 51 - This is the only Full Metal Alchemist episode that doesn't end with music. Alphonse reads: "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth. But the world isn't perfect, and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange does not encompass everything that goes on here, but I still chose to believe in its principle: that all things do come at a price, that there's an end and a way, that the pain we work through did have a reward, and that anyone who's determined and perseveres will get something of value in return, even if it's not what they're expecting. I don't think of Equivalent Exchange as a law of the world any more. I think of it as a promise between my brother and me. A promise that someday we'll see each other again."
- Each of the theme songs were performed by artists under Sony Music Entertainment Japan's label, whose anime distribution unit, Aniplex, handled the production and music for the series.
- All the ending theme songs and animation on Adult Swim are edited down for time. The DVD releases from FUNimation include the unedited full endings.
- Episode 51's ending is from the english version.
- In Japan, some time after the series' end, all four opening and all four ending songs were released together in a single CD titled "Fullmetal Alchemist Complete Best", including a special DVD containing the series' creditless openings and endings. An American music-only version of "Complete Best" was released recently.
- The ending of episode 25 consists of a piece of very short music from the series followed by "Tobira no Mukou e" ("To the Other Side of the Door"). The end credits for the episode on DVD are presented on a black background.
- The bombing of London by zeppelins in episodes 49 & 50 is accompanied by a music track titled "Unmei," also known as the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
- Episode 51 includes two performances of a piano piece called "Wakare no Kyoku", also known as Frédéric Chopin's Etude in E major op.10 no.3. The first performance, a piano solo, begins when Lt. Hawkeye begins to cry over the body of Gen. Mustang (whom she believes to be dead) and continues through Envy's disappearance into the gate. The second performance, piano accompanied by oboe, begins when Winry sees Alphonse and Izumi off on their train through Edward's packing for his journey to where he can study rocketry with Hermann Oberth.
- The composer of Fullmetal Alchemist is Michiru Oshima.
