Fullmetal Alchemist is a fantasy manga set in the early 20th century in a country called Amestris in an alternate-historical Earth with technology dating from early 20th century Europe. In this alternate world, the exaggerated science of alchemy is heavily used in conjunction with acretian soul wanderers, but takes on a further fantastic element not seen in real-life alchemy. Real-world alchemists attempted to transmute gold and diamonds from lesser metals. In the fictional world of the series, alchemy becomes the science of transmuting matter into a different form of that same matter (following the rule of equivalent exchange) through the use of transmutation circles—based on real-world science, yet also magical, with seemingly infinite uses. Talented alchemists may apply to take a State Alchemist test to join the Amestris military's State Alchemists.
Edward and Alphonse Elric were children living in the rural village of Resembool in the country of Amestris. Their father Hohenheim (Hohenheim of Light in the anime and Van Hohenheim in the manga), a talented alchemist, had left home when Edward was very young and Alphonse was still an infant. Years later, their mother, Trisha Elric, died of a terminal illness. After their mother's death, they lived with Winry and her grandmother until finding a teacher to teach them alchemy. After completing training, they came home with the intent of reviving their mother with the transmutation circle they found in their father's notes and made the attempt soon after acquiring the circle. However, this attempt failed, resulting in a twisted mass of flesh and bone at the cost of Edward's left leg and Alphonse's entire body. In a desperate effort to save his brother, Edward sacrificed his right arm to affix his brother's soul to a suit of armor. After that, Edward's left leg and right arm are fitted with two sets of Automail, a type of advanced prosthetic limb. In the original Japanese, the term "Fullmetal" is used to describe a person who is stubborn. In the series it is often attributed by minor characters to Ed's automail arm and leg, or Al's armor body. In the sixth manga volume, as well as episode 8 of the anime, it is revealed that when an alchemist becomes a State Alchemist, he or she is given a special title. Edward's title was Fullmetal, making him the Fullmetal Alchemist.
A State Alchemist by the name of Roy Mustang arrives during the failed human transmutation. After seeing their skill at alchemy, Mustang suggested that the way for the two boys to achieve their goals would be to become State Alchemists and work for him. Spurred on by the man's proposal, Edward set out to become a State Alchemist, enabling him to use the resources available to State Alchemists to discover a way to restore what he and Alphonse had lost. The brothers eventually learn of the Philosopher's Stone and set off in search of it as a means to restore their bodies. Along the way they discover secrets about the Philosopher's Stone they never wanted to know, and find others who seek it as well, doing almost whatever they can to get their hands on it.
The brother's motivations, especially having to do with their use of alchemy, change throughout the anime. This indicates, among other things, the two brothers' maturing attitudes and outlooks on life. In the prologue scenes when Ed and Al's mother is alive, their primary goal for the use of alchemy is to make their mom and friends proud and happy. After their mom dies, they delve into more complicated alchemy to bring her back to life. After this fails horribly, they strive to regain their bodies by way of the alchemical Philosopher's Stone. Later in the series, their primary focus begins to shift subtly from regaining their normal bodies to remaining together as brothers. The latter reason is particularly prominent in the movie adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist, The Conqueror of Shamballa.
One unique characteristic of Fullmetal Alchemist is that the stories of the manga and anime separate soon after the encounter with Greed, and weave vastly different tales. The most prominent of the differences is the primary antagonist. In the anime, this is a woman known as Dante. A previous lover of Hohenheim, Dante and he were masterful alchemists and perfected methods for making the Philosopher's Stone and a form of immortality in which their souls jump to a new host body every time their current vessel began to age. However, Hohenheim soon fell in love with another and left Dante, taking with him the perfected Philosopher's Stone formula. Although Dante is still able to jump from body to body to preserve her youth, she is able to spend less and less time in each body as it decays faster with each jump, so she seeks the stone's formula to sustain her power when the small amount she had when Hohenheim left begins to run out. Dante is the leader of the homunculi, and though she did not create all of them, she sustains them by feeding them imperfect shards of the Philosopher's Stone. She uses them to spur Edward and Alphonse into finding the complete Philosopher's Stone formula for her.
The main antagonist of the manga series is a man known simply as "Father". Evidence suggests that he, like Dante and Hohenheim in the anime, has perfected an immortality formula, and is possibly a citizen from the ancient desert civilization of Xerxes. Found in the manga series as ruins, this civilization is believed to have had great alchemical and technological prowess, but suspiciously, all of its inhabitants disappeared in one night. Unlike Dante, Father is the creator of all the homunculi in the manga series, and commands them from behind the curtains of the High Command of the country Amestris, which, King Bradley (the homunculus Wrath in the manga) later reveals to Roy Mustang, was created by Father. It is suspected that Father plans to use Amestris as a gigantic transmutation circle to create a Philosopher's Stone, but the homunculus Envy hints that, although close, it is not the whole truth. Regardless, Edward and Alphonse become mixed up in Father's plans, and end up becoming prime "human sacrifices" for whatever Father has in store.
No comments:
Post a Comment