#fullmetal alchemist meta

[sassydefendorflower]

It's actually so important to me that the first time we see Ed actually cry in Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood and Manga) - apart from the automail surgery - is when Hohenheim offers him his life to bring back Alphonse.

Throughout the entire story Ed doesn't cry because of his misguided love-filled promise to Al. No matter how horrible their odds, no matter how traumatizing their journey, Ed refuses to cry. He comes close. So, so close. When Izumi tells them it's okay to be sad, offering comfort after a long time without. After Nina dies and Ed and Al let the rain wash away their sorrow. When Hughes dies and guilt becomes an even heavier cloak weighing their shoulders down. When death comes knocking on Ed's door and he decidedly sends it packing.

Ed laughs and rages and smiles and screams.

But he doesn't cry.

Just because Al can't.

Ed was eleven when he made that promise. He was a child suffering through something truly horrific when he promised himself and the world that he wouldn't cry as long as his brother wasn't allowed to do the same.

Which is painful to watch - especially since it tells us that Ed knows how much crying is a part of life. He gave something up, not out of some misguided idea of masculinity, but because he knew it would be a sacrifice to keep himself from crying. A punishment since his brother could no longer offer his tears in the face of sorrow.

But by the end of the story Ed has cried. And it's not tears of joy, like the ones he promised Winry. No, Ed is angry when he cries - and Alphonse is no longer there.

In a way Ed kept his promise to Al - he only cried when the person he made this promise to (be it silent and secretive) was gone.

As far as they knew Al was dead.

But that truth alone didn't bring tears to Ed's eyes, though it certainly shattered his heart and made him quiver in desperation. No, in the end it was Hohenheim who finally allowed Ed to spill tears kept locked away for four long years.

And I love it.

I love that Hohenheim trying to do something truly loving, something completely selfish, something absolutely sacrificial was the thing that pushed Ed over the edge.

Because Ed never forgave his father for leaving, but by the end of the story he understands why he left.

Because Ed is so unbelievably angry with this man who abandoned him, and he still cares for him - partially because he knows Alphonse does.

Because Ed was never forced to forgive Hohenheim, but we still know that Hohenheim loves his children and his wife and would do everything for them.

Even, no, especially if it means dying.

And Ed can't take it.

So many others have died by this point, they are all painted in blood and pain, and Ed has lost his only constant - and now his father wants to make an ultimate sacrifice?

No.

So, Ed gets angry. And he cries. And he saves Al on his own - with the help of all of his friends, and Hohenheim.

Because no matter Ed's feelings on the man who gave him life, he doesn't want to see anyone else die. He doesn't want anyone else's blood on his hands.

And he wants Hohenheim to get a chance to be a rotten father - because at the end of the day Hohenheim is someone worth crying over even, no, especially by the boy who promised he wouldn't cry.

(there is something to be said about Hohenheim crying on their family portrait, only to be mirrored by Ed grinning while holding his own child - there is something to be said about Hohenheim willingly offering his life, only to be stopped by the tears running down his son's angry face - there is something to be said about Ed's anger and Hohenheim's soft grief and their shared past)

[cuchufletapl]

There's. Something. About the fact that the Flamel Symbol in FMA was ascribed to the three human characters that willingly committed alchemy's greatest taboo and lost (a part of) their bodies as a result.

As I understand it (and I should do more research on it, so take this with a grain of salt), in real-life, historical alchemy, the Flamel Cross is pretty much analogous with the philosopher's stone. And because western alchemy wasn't just about the science but rather had a strong religious component to it, the philosopher's stone itself was never really about obtaining gold in the most literal sense (as a valuable metal for monetary reasons); it symbolises the achievement of spiritual and physical perfection. (And excuse me for being pedantic for a second, but I feel like it's relevant here to know the etymology: in Latin, perfectus -a -um means "finished", "complete".)

Edward, Izumi, and Alphonse aren't whole, they lost a part of themselves in trying to do something that was out of their reach (Al in particular is physically nothing), and yet from the very beginning of the story they're the closest to illumination, they met god (essentially) and knew the knowledge of the world.

I don't believe Arakawa ever told us when Izumi got her tattoo (the extra chapter about her past as an alchemy apprentice has her cleavage completely covered), but I would venture that she got it after her failed human transmutation. There is nothing in the manga to suggest that she did it earlier, at least. Meanwhile, Edward and Alphonse definitely started wearing it after they tried to resurrect their mother — or, more accurately, after they set out on their journey to restore what they lost.

We are never told the reason why they decided to take on Izumi's emblem, interestingly enough. We don't even see them make the decision, they just start wearing it from one page to the other. Chronologically, the first time that we see Ed wear his red coat is in chapter 23, when he travels to East City to take the State Alchemist exam. However, in the one panel where he has his back towards the reader, his arm is positioned in a way that hides the symbol. Al isn't present for the exam, and the next time that he appears, at the beginning of chapter 24, when they burn down their childhood home, we're not shown his left shoulder — only the right. Nevertheless, we could infer that he already had painted the Flamel on, like we can infer that Ed's coat had it as well, and infer we shall!

I read someone here point out how both Al and Ed carry things of the people they love with them, giving the Flamel as one example of it. (I'd quote them properly, I know I reblogged it at the time, but I can't find the post.) And while I'm sure that's part of the reason, an homage to their master, I can't help but think that it isn't a coincidence that Izumi's symbol specifically resonated with them.

Again, we're never told what the Flamel means within the universe of FMA, it's there but not mentioned, a subtle literary symbol — but given that Arakawa had other real-life alchemical symbols in the series mean the same thing that they meant historically... well. Ed and Al are alchemists, after all, so they would know that the Flamel Cross represents spiritual perfection.

I think that the Watsonian and Doylist explanation for the Flamel is the same here — Ed, Al, and Izumi chose in-universe to wear the Flamel for the same reason that Arakawa chose to identify them with that symbol.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting at here, to be honest. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. I don't quite have a conclusion to offer. This is why I don't usually do meta lol

But it just feels like it means something, to have these characters, who were overtaken by their grief and punished for their hubris by taking away their bodies, be identified with a symbol of completeness.

[thephilosophersapprentice]

I don't think Ed could have run from Scar after Scar destroyed his automail.

Not only would he have to adjust his balance to suddenly not having that weight on one side, he also seemed to be very out of it.

The arm being suddenly destroyed was a serious disruption to his system, even if it didn't hurt (which it probably did.) I don't think Ed had the coordination to get up and run away again.

[word-v0mit]

My hot take is

Fullmetal Alchemist had wayyyy too many visual gags and most of them were unnecessary. At worst they cheapened the emotional impact of the scene. Looking at you, Havoc/Mustang/Lust battle.

[tetitous]

Upon my first viewing of FMAB I do remember that after ep 1 I was straight up considering not watching the rest, because I fell in love with 2003 and one of its greatest strenghts is the beginning, so seeing that they completely replaced it with something 100% original that was as subtle as a brick really felt discouraging.

In the end Brotherhood was relatively enjoyable but it simply cannot dethrone what was going on in 2003 in my mind, I think the begining just felt so off it left something sour in my mouth, whereas 2003's clumsy but honest continuation left me asking for more.

The idea that some people want to skip 2003 overall still remains one of the weirdest things to me: you get to have more of your favorite show and instead you just want people to forget it exists? When it's the reason the other adaptation exists in the first place??

Nevermind the context for FMAB, you should watch Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 because it should be considered a major piece of animation history on its own. Back then, we were at the beginning of digital animation, and FMA was one of its pioneers. It was one of the most beautiful pieces of animation of its time that wasn't made with traditionnal cell animation.

Look at the framing, the lighting, the music. 2003 is genuinely amazing looking if you can handle the 4:3 format. Some of the people who worked as young animators for FMA later became legends of the scene. It's a masterpiece. A messy, beautiful, redefining and mistreated masterpiece, and I will always stand by that.

Evangelion has a super messy ending. People still treat it as a masterpiece. But FMA 2003 gets none of the credit it rightfully deserves. If you are interested in animation, do yourself a favor, watch 2003. Even if you end up not liking it, there will still be something for you to find in it. There is real artistry there, it's worth trying at least.

Okay but the weirdest thing about the whole "Brotherhood is better you should skip 03" discourse that's become commonplace now, it sort of forgets the world Brotherhood came out in and why you should watch the original Fullmetal Alchemist. When Brotherhood came out, the original Fullmetal Alchemist was one of the most beloved and most watched animes of all time. Brotherhood assumes you the audience have already seen it because of course you have, everyone has seen it, so it skips important information and speeds the story up because it doesn't want to bore you with things you already know. Have you ever wondered "hey why does the first episode of Brotherhood kind of suck, and why am I being introduced to like 50 new characters, and why are they acting like I know what the hell an alchemist is?" It's because Brotherhood thinks you've seen 03.

The first 7 or so episodes of Brotherhood constitute dozens of chapters in the manga, and the first 25 or so episodes of the original Fullmetal Alchemist. The Nina Tucker episode in Brotherhood, in FMA 03 takes up nearly three episodes. Yoki gets a backstory in 03 and it's genuinely one of the best episodes and taken directly from the manga and Brotherhood glosses over it because: duh, you've already seen it. And so if you skip the original you miss out on dozens of really great character building episodes like Ed and Al meeting Hughes for the first time and getting to spend a whole episode helping him free a train from terrorists, or Ed and Roy having a duel that expands on the relationship they have, or episodes where the brothers just help out random people in towns before the major story gets going.

The original also paces itself quite a bit better than Brotherhood and is more in line with the mangas storytelling. In the manga we don't find out about The Gate until nearly two dozen chapters in, and the same goes for the original anime. Like, that's a twist reveal in those stories, and it's weird that the most watched series is the one where they tell you all about The Gate in the first two episodes because they assume you've already seen the original show.

What's more, people don't know that Hiromu Arakawa helped write for the anime while she was still in the middle of writing the manga, and as a result was inspired to write scenes in Brotherhood that the anime did first. That scene of Edward getting impaled by a falling beam? Directly inspired by a similar scene in the original anime. There's a lot of little instances of that and they're great when you can recognize parallels and things in Brotherhood that are direct references to the original anime, but people don't notice any of that anymore. Because the original anime is just an automatic skip these days, and it's a bummer because people don't realize what a giant it was back before Brotherhood was released. They treat it as *bad,* not realizing it was one of the most beloved anime of its time and the problems people take issue with have a lot more to do with personal taste than any kind of actual flaw in the writing. Brotherhood was never meant to dethrone it, and the original anime was always supposed to be part of the viewing experience which is why those first few episodes of Brotherhood are so fast paced. So like, please stop telling people Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 is a skip, or it's bad, or you don't need it because Brotherhood is better. Regardless if you think Brotherhood is better or not, the original wrote Brotherhood's check. It was huge, it was beloved, and Brotherhood is *banking* on the knowledge you've seen all of it and loved it. And trust me when I say there is so much to love about the original series. It's still my favorite branch of the FMA franchise, and it's worth your time, I promise you.

[fantastic-nonsense]

infuriating that it's been 15+ years and so many people still get Roy killing Lust wrong

"it's ironic that Lust was killed by a womanizer" "Lust was killed by a man who lusted after power" NO! Lust was killed by a man who did it because of love.

It's ironic that she was killed by a man who uses his (false!) public reputation as a womanizer to conceal the fact that he is one of the most steadfastly loyal people in Amestris. It's ironic she was killed by someone whose entire motivation revolved around gaining the power to help others. It's ironic that he killed her for threatening his people.

Lust was killed because Roy refused to let Havoc die, because he refused to let Riza throw away her life. He killed her because he refused to die without making sure the people he loved were safe. Lust was killed because of love. That was the point.

[weirdoldmanhoho]

I know it's kind of exaggerated as a joke to say that FMA ends with Ed "punching God" but it's actually really thematically important that Father is not, actually, a God

for all his power, for all of the souls he sacrifices to create Philosopher's Stones, he can never actually achieve Godhood and that's the point

in fact one of the BIGGEST themes in FMA is how ultimately impossible and also disastrous it is for mortal beings to play God, whether that comes in the form of trying to reverse death, using alchemy to experiment with and twist human beings, or seeking immortality

Ed and Al trying to reverse the natural process of death, Father Cornello making himself a god in the eyes of his followers, Shou Tucker playing with his daughter's life in the name of creating a new creature, the attempt to create life leads to the main villains of the series, the king of Xerxes's search for immortality leading to the destruction of his nation, Father's plan to create more Philsopher's stones leading to constant bloodshed, the implication that the emperor of Xing's search for immortality could do the same to Xing, etc. etc. etc.

every single character that tries to play God faces consequences - either for themselves or for others - and Ed is only able to reverse his and Al's consequences because he finally recognizes that alchemy can't ever make him more than human. "Well done, Edward Elric," Truth says after he expresses this - as a direct opposition to his introduction in the Cornello arc, in which he claims that alchemists are the closest thing there is to God

and Father goes through the exact opposite. Father ultimately doesn't fall to Ed but to Truth, because he NEVER gives up his arrogance, and Truth punishes him for it.

[sassydefendorflower]

I’m glad Maes Hughes died.

He’s a fan favorite character and I enjoy him a lot too, but I think fundamentally he’s a character who has to die. His role in the narrative is to haunt it.

I might be even more of a weirdo because I enjoy his manga characterization over his Brotherhood or ‘03 portrayal, but I love the idea of Hughes being someone the Elric brothers barely know - someone we, the audience, barely see.

Until he dies.

Because suddenly he’s everywhere. He was Roy’s friend and Armstrong’s superior officer and Winry’s acquaintance and Elicia’s father - and he was the soldier both Ed and Al knew, but didn’t actually know, that got killed because of them anyway.

In the manga Winry stays at Hughes’ place, but Ed and Al enter his house for the first time after they found out he died. For them, it’s not about losing a friend (though I am sure they liked him just fine) because that story is already Roy’s - for them it’s about realizing that this plot they’ve involved themselves in kills people that aren’t actually directly involved at all to begin with. It makes sense for their allies and friends and loved-ones to be targeted by the antagonists - but a soldier who mostly joined in because he was at the right (or wrong) place at the right (wrong) time? That’s not supposed to happen. And that’s what makes Hughes’ death so hard on them.

(and poor Elicia - abandoned children without their fathers were always a weakness of Ed’s)

But Roy? Yeah... he suffers. From the moment of Hughes’ dead on, Roy is haunted by it. By him. His best friend follows him everywhere. We see it in the way Roy only involves himself in the plot because Hughes figured something out and Roy is desperate for answers. He hunts down the homunculi to save this country, sure, but mostly so he can burn his best friend’s murderer to the ground. When Riza talks about winning against the Führer and their military dictatorship, she talks about all of them, not a hint of revenge coloring her vision - but Roy? It is telling that it isn’t a greater ideal that makes him torture Envy, but the agony of his best friend’s death.

The thing that almost breaks Roy is Maes.

No.

It’s Maes’ memory haunting the narrative.

And isn’t that beautiful?

The tragedy of it all, the horror, and the realization that Roy Mustang never really recovered from the War, that his friends are the only think keeping him in one piece, the fact that Roy Mustang is a Hero and a Monster and a fallible human capable of love.

Maes Hughes has to die to remind all of us of what Roy Mustang is capable of: love, loyalty, devotion.... and the slaughter and torture of numerous people.

His ghost is haunting the narrative - and for that I love him.

[thephilosophersapprentice]

Actually coming back to this! Armstrong fights like this. He's probably the one who taught Ed. (Though I'm still holding out for boxer!Breda. Listen that man needs more love)

[cuchufletapl]

Crazy that Izumi called her employee at the meat shop and said something to the effect of, "Hey, I know I'm only giving you a couple hours notice but I've got two kids that I'm going to ditch in Yock Island for a month to test them, could you hide there and watch over them covertly to make sure they don't die. I'll pay you extra if you also put on a komainu mask and terrorize the shit out of them." And then Mason, the otherwise completely normal butcher's assistant, was like, "How did you know this was my life's dream," and went off to live in the wilderness and attack children for thirty days and nights.

[thephilosophersapprentice]

I noticed something interesting about the final battle against Father in Fullmetal Alchemist (the manga and Brotherhood). Late in the battle, when Father's starting to wear down, he goes after Ed specifically to try to take Ed's soul for a stone, out of everyone else present.

We saw earlier in the final battle that Father didn't have much of a problem taking the souls of other people, though the fact that Ed was pinned down might've made him an easier target. On the other hand, something about Ed made him a more attractive target to Father when previously he was taking the souls from Briggs soldiers. Was it something to do with the way Ed utilized himself as a philosopher's stone previously, and/or weaponized his soul to defeat Pride?

On top of that, Ed's soul is still a worthwhile target for Father, even though Ed has used it as a stone before. Maybe this is a self-answering question, but just how much is Ed's soul specifically worth?!

[mayhaps-a-blog]

You know I do think it's interesting how strongly Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) makes the point that bringing someone back from the dead is inherently selfish.

I've seen it elsewhere but not nearly as unequivocally and plainly put. First, we have Majhal in episode 4 - an alchemist so obsessed with bringing back his dead love, he completely fails to notice that she survived and returned to him. And even once the truth is revealed... he rejects her, since she's not the ~perfect girl~ from his memories, but an old woman - an actual person, with an actual life.

And if you missed it there, we then meet Tucker, so obsessed with keeping his lifestyle and success as a State Alchemist he does, you know, that. And then he goes on to become obsessed with bringing her back - but not her, not really, as he straight-up tells Ed in the 5th laboratory - he wants the girl from his memories, the perfect, unchanging doll.

Both times, we see that those obsessed with bringing someone back from the dead aren't interested in bringing back a person, with thoughts and feelings and their own independent life to live - no, they want their idea of that person, the glowing angel who could never change, never grow, and never go wrong. And that also goes for Ed and Izumi too - Ed was so obsessed with bringing his mother back that he ignored Pinako, ignored the family that took him in, and selfishly put his brother's life at risk... for which he paid the price. Izumi lost her ability to have future children, any of them, stuck on a dream on the child she could have had. Both didn't want that mother/child - they wanted their loved ones, the ones they dreamed of, not the ones that were actually there.

Most times resurrection is brought up in media, it's with the lesson that "oh, the cost is too high", "oh, you're disturbing their rest", "oh, they don't come back right." It's rare to see it put so clearly, so obviously, so horrifically that actually, no, even the fact that you attempt it - even the fact that you want to - is an inherently selfish act, that turns your back on life and the living to chase a dream that may not have ever existed.

It's an interesting take on the whole idea, of death and life and memory and obsession. For all that 2003 dropped the ball on the ending, I do love the development they gave to the characters!

[word-v0mit]

What other anime in recent memory ended with a coup, where the existing power system was directly challenged? Mustang et al literally overthrew the evil corrupt government and Arakawa was so real for that.

Recently I've heard some people don't like how FMA handles fascism or more like how it handles the characters affected by it or the characters who are working for the state. That it's anti-radical, liberal centrist jargon. I think it's still pretty good though and one of my all time faves, even if couple things I would have done a bit differently

I would not have done anything differently.

Audiences today want Marvel movies where the heroes and villains are announced at the beginning. They want good and evil with no nuance. They want righteous revolutionaries who are 100% ideologically and politically perfect. They want heroes who only use violence in a way that the narrative frames as wonderful and liberating.

Fullmetal Alchemist does not deliver that.

Colonel Mustang is a war criminal. The story never apologizes for his war crimes. Those crimes are there on his resume and they are never scrubbed away. He even manipulates and recruits two child soldiers. So audiences don't like that he orchestrates a revolution against the fascist shadow government. They didn't want him to be the one to do that because he's not a character that you can romanticize.

Scar's cause was righteous. But his terrorism was completely ineffective and did not help his people. He became obsessed with murdering a child soldier while neglecting the needs of Ishvalans. The fascist shadow government actually helped Scar because they wanted to kill powerful and disloyal alchemists. Scar could do that for them. His terrorism was useful to the very forces he was fighting against. Obviously, audiences who want righteous radical revolution stories are not going to like that.

Amestris's revolution is eventually carried out by a collection of people who were once on several opposing sides. And internet leftists don't like that because of course they don't.

[qs63]

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but all of team Mustang's codenames are borrowed from girls working at Madame Christmas' bar.

This is Vanessa, the girl whose name was assigned to Falman.

That means there's an actual Elizabeth — with whom Roy would talk to over the phone, and go on "dates" with — who is not Riza. That's exactly what makes the codenames effective. At any point Roy can just go on that fishing trip with the real Elizabeth to throw off anyone suspicious.

Also, all the selected girls' names share one or more of the Japanese syllables (kana character) with the person they have been assigned to:

Name (Japanese spelling)

Riza (ri-za) = Elizabeth (e-ri-za-be-su)

Jean (jya-n) = Jacqueline (jya-ku-ri-i-n)

Breda (bu-re-da) = Braidykins (bu-re-i-di-ki-n-su)

Vato (va-to) = Vanessa (va-ne-s-sa)

Kain (ke-i-n) = Kate (ke-i-to)

Poor Breda is the only one whose codename is related to his last name instead of his first name.

[metamatronic]

happy new year. im sleepy and this made me laugh.

orginal below cut:

[word-v0mit]

FMA 2003 is awesomely unhinged especially with how it came up with the homunculi origins!! They're all failed human transmutations, which is an incredible dramatic device holy shit.

It also had this really good Mustang moment and it was so real for that

You're right about the ball gowns tho lmao

i miss how feral Edward Elric is. i only watched fma last year but i miss having an absolute feral main character. i think brotherhood is better, very well written no loose ends, but i love the batshit idea of sending your weird 15 year old to pre ww1 germany. its like this kid already doestnt trust the government lets give him pre-nazi nazis. 2003 is difficult to watch bc of the anime ball gowns.

I like 2003 too. I watched it before Brotherhood came out so it has the nostalgia factor (among other reasons). But looking back, it was balls to the walls crazy.

I wonder if Brotherhood-only fans know anything about it. Like the fact that Ed ended up going through the gate and landing in pre-Nazi Germany? Which is how Adolf Hitler is considered a minor FMA villain

Or that the homunculus wrath was Izumi’s dead son who she had tried to revive via human transmutation? And that he has Ed’s lost arm and leg?

Or that Ed and Al’s attempt to bring back their dead mother ended up the creation of a homunculus?

Or that Shou Tucker survives and becomes a chimera, desperately working to bring back his dead daughter but failing and creating lifeless Nina dolls?

Brotherhood might have more genocide, but 2003 is hands down creepier and unnerving. Pretty sure Ed and Al are way more traumatised in this version too