Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa

fullmetal alchemist 2003–4. TV series. (51 X 30 min.) Science fiction/fantasy. org Hiromu Arakawa (manga). dir Seiji Mizushima. scr Sho Aikawa. des Yoshiyuki Ito, Junya Ishigaki, Shinji Aramaki.

fullmetal alchemist: the conqueror of shamballa 2005. Movie. 105 min. dir Seiji Mizushima. scr Sho Aikawa. -jd

Two young brothers learn painful lessons about life, the universe, and everything as they search for the legendary Philosopher’s Stone in a tightly plotted drama about an alternate world where alchemy is the ultimate science.

Edward and Alphonse Elric are two teenage brothers who live in an alternate world not unlike that of early 20th-century Earth, but with a few significant differences. In their world, alchemy is the ultimate science, and with it, a trained alchemist can perform miraculous transmutations and transfigurations, changing matter from one form into another. Only one form of alchemy is forbidden—human alchemy, the alteration of human bodies. As children, Edward and Al had attempted to use human alchemy to resurrect their recently deceased mother. The attempt went horribly wrong, and in accordance with alchemy’s first law of Equivalent Exchange—to obtain, something of equal value must be lost—a high price was exacted. One of Edward’s legs was consumed and Al’s entire body was destroyed. Agonized and desperate, Edward made another alchemical trade, sacrificing his own arm to bind his brother’s soul to a nearby suit of armor.

A few years later, the Elric brothers have trained and studied to obtain the skills necessary to become government-sanctioned State Alchemists. However, only Edward takes the official test, lest the judges discover Al’s disembodied condition and realize
how he got that way. Thanks to his prosthetic “automail” limbs, Edward is given the nickname of “Full Metal Alchemist,” which becomes a source of constant confusion as everyone assumes the moniker refers to Al and his giant suit of armor. In between Edward’s official assignments, the brothers continue their private quest for the legendary Philosopher’s Stone, an object said to allow the user to disregard the law of Equivalent Exchange and perform transmutations without cost. With the Philosopher’s Stone, the brothers hope to restore their bodies to normal.

Through their travels, though, the Elric brothers discover that the Philosopher’s Stone carries a price of its own, and that the other alchemists who have sought it have all come to tragic ends. The brothers meet other spirits tied to artificial bodies like Al, the products of inhuman experiments to try to manufacture a Stone. They encounter chimeras, terrible hybrids of human and animal, and undead homunculi produced by human alchemy. Alchemical charlatans perform “magic” to spellbound audiences, and renegade alchemists use their powers for mischief and evil. Even their fellow State Alchemists are implicated when an assassin known only as Scar seeks revenge for the brutal suppression of an uprising in his home province of Ishbal. Edward and Al gradually learn that there was more to the tragedy of Ishbal than their government admits, and that the forces behind that massacre are maneuvering to bring on a new conflict in order to create the Philosopher’s Stone. When the brothers realize that they have been manipulated all along and that their own past actions have played a part in laying the foundation for the horrors to come, they have to make a choice between their personal quest for the Stone and putting a stop to the looming catastrophe.

The movie, Conqueror of Shamballa, is a sequel story that takes place after the events of the TV series. This time the action is set in our own world, in a pre–World War II Germany that is gradually turning toward the demagogic leadership of Adolf Hitler. Without alchemy to rely on, Edward has turned to studying the science of rocketry instead. But a secret cabal of scientists has learned how to practice alchemy from other emigrants from Edward’s land, and its members now hope to open a portal to that other world . . . Edward’s world. Since he is no longer the mighty Full Metal Alchemist, but merely an ordinary boy, there’s not much he can do to stop them. Edward will need the help of new friends as well as old to prevent a disaster that threatens to engulf both worlds.

Aside from the Conqueror of Shamballa movie, there were four very short (3–10 min.) straight-to-video episodes that were released on a single DVD in Japan, including a live-action segment featuring a realistic suit of Alphonse armor on the streets of Tokyo.

Although Fullmetal Alchemist takes place in an alternate reality where alchemists perform supernatural feats on a regular basis, the story is more realistic than fantastic. To the people of Fullmetal Alchemist, alchemy is an applied science rather than a form of magic, and it exists side by side with guns, cars, and radios in what is otherwise a relatively familiar setting. The clothing and props are plausible and practical, and the government-sanctioned State Alchemists wear a paramilitary ensemble of a navy blue greatcoat with gold edging and heavy black boots, rather than flowing robes and peaked hats.

The characters are rendered in a fairly standard anime style—oversized eyes on small children and young characters such as Edward and his childhood friend Winry, while villains, subcharacters, and adults get smaller and more realistic eye treatments—but the show deserves kudos for creating a large array of distinctive faces, gestures, and body types. As the main characters, Edward and Al stand out from the crowd even more. Edward has blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and golden eyes that are rounder and take up more real estate in his face than most of the other characters, but his pinprick pupils give him a wary, closed-off look that contrasts with the more welcoming and empathetic features of friendly characters like Winry. Instead of a State Alchemist’s official uniform, Edward wears a bright red duster over a black outfit, with white gloves and clunky boots. Al’s suit of armor is a little bigger than life-size, and looks like a very simple robot that, for some reason, wears a loincloth. The armor somehow manages to appear expressive despite a face that doesn’t move, although the animators do occasionally cheat by reducing his features to cartoonish squiggles, or altering the shape of his helmet’s eyeholes to indicate expression during especially tragic or comedic scenes.

The animation style is generally realistic. The combat sequences are exciting and occasionally bloody, and the characters react to the twists and turns of the plot with heartrending expressions of shock and grief. However, there are also occasional moments of comic exaggeration in which the characters morph into fast-moving glyphs or paper cutouts.

The movie essentially maintains the style of the TV series with a bigger budget. Heavier use is made of computer graphics, which ironically seem less convincing than the traditional 2D look of the TV series. The period settings of early 20th-century Earth are reproduced with careful historical detail.

Even among the highest ranks of anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist stands out for the tightness and elegance of its carefully constructed plot. Over the course of its fifty-one episodes, it sustains the kind of focus and narrative drive that are usually seen only in short series of a dozen or fewer installments. No plot point or character is introduced without a good reason, the most incidental of details eventually turn out to be significant, and even the handful of “filler” episodes contain plot-advancing material.

In the opening two episodes, the Elric brothers confront a fraudulent miracle-worker in the desert town of Lior. At first blush, everything that happens in Lior seems thoroughly generic. Edward and Al come across as typical anime characters with typical anime schticks—Edward’s overconfidence and touchiness about his height, the running joke about Al being mistaken for “Full Metal” because of the armor, confusion over which of them is the older brother. However, as an introduction to the world and characters, these episodes cover an amazing amount of material: the law of Equivalent Exchange, the taboo of human alchemy, the lure of the Philosopher’s Stone, and the tragedies that can result from the misuse of alchemic power. Not only do these themes continue throughout the series, but even the specific events that take place at Lior turn out to be vitally important to the overall plot. It’s an impressive feat of continuity, and the story builds smoothly and believably to a fantastic final confrontation.

The brothers’ past history and the terrible price they paid for breaking the taboo against human alchemy are both echoed by other alchemists who’ve similarly broken the rules. Sin and consequences are a main theme of the series—Edward and Al are seeking to atone for their past misdeeds, and for that very reason, they are all the more wary of others who seek to abuse alchemy for selfish purposes. The diabolical homunculi, soulless results of alchemical attempts to resurrect the dead, are even named after the Seven Deadly Sins—Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Pride, and Wrath—and serve as walking, talking agents of karmic retribution.

The law of Equivalent Exchange, which is reiterated over and over again in the opening narration, translates directly into a series of existential questions: Is life really fair? Does effort always pay off? Why do some people survive while others die, why do some succeed while others fail, why do some labor without reward while others seem to get something for nothing? In their search for the Philosopher’s Stone, our two youthful leads come face to face with the essential questions of life, birth, and death—where we come from, where we go when we die, whether life is ever truly lost or merely transformed. In Fullmetal Alchemist, the science of alchemy turns all of these philosophical questions into concrete problems whose answers are literally a matter of life and death.

Both the TV series and the movie incorporate an element of political commentary. The movie deals directly with the rise of the German Nazi party between the First and Second World Wars, while the TV series opts for a more allegorical route with its account of the Ishbal rebellion. The Ishbalans, dark-skinned and deeply religious, regard the practice of alchemy as a sin against their god, and their brutal suppression at the hands of the central government and its cadre of State Alchemists only leads to further reprisals and unrest. That we’re meant to see parallels to current world events is made quite clear by the design of the Ishbal temples and artifacts.

In Conqueror of Shamballa, the philosophical themes of the TV series are translated to a real-world setting in which they’re explored in a more down-to-earth fashion (for the first half of the movie, at any rate). Familiar faces from the previous story reappear in new roles, and the same lusts for power and revenge that drove the quest for the Philosopher’s Stone manifest themselves in the mystically inclined fascists of the Thule Society. By the end of the movie, Edward has resolved himself to taking responsibility for his new home, and pledges to do his part to change the world for the better rather than minding his own business—a lesson applicable to any time, place, or parallel world.

Fullmetal Alchemist is a series so rife with dramatic moments that it’s nearly impossible to pick out individual highlights, but the brothers’ attempt to bring their mother back from the dead is both horrifying and heartbreaking, and Alphonse’s voiceover explaining the law of Equivalent Exchange (echoed in the series’ touching final monologue) starts out every episode with a reminder of that moment as a photograph of the brothers and their mother, taken in happier times, burns.

Director Seiji Mizushima also directed Shaman King and Slayers Next. Production designer Shinji Aramaki directed Appleseed (2004) and wrote, directed, and created the mecha designs for the original Bubblegum Crisis series. Chimera designer Junya Ishigaki also designed mecha for the Xenogears and Xenosaga video games. Animation studio Bones also animated Cowboy Bebop, Eureka 7, and Wolf’s Rain.

The Fullmetal Alchemist manga is still continuing publication as of this writing, up to volume 15 in Japanese as of November 2006, and volume 11 in Viz Media’s English-language edition.

The animated series began airing on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block in November 2004 and aired the series’ final episode in March 2006.

The episode “The Truth Behind the Truths” shows Edward breaking into the top-secret Fifth Laboratory and encountering traps straight out of the 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The gate to the “other side” that appears in the story strongly resembles “The Gates of Hell,” a famous sculpture by Auguste Rodin.

There are three sets of opening and closing songs for the series, all with music by major Japanese recording artists: Porno Graffitti, L’Arc~en~Ciel, Asian Kung Fu Generation, Cool Joke, YeLLOW Generation, Nana Kitade, Crystal Kay, and Sowelu. L’Arc~en~Ciel returns for the movie, for both the opening and ending themes.

violence Fullmetal Alchemist treats violence realistically for horrific effect. There are bloody stabbings, shootings, burnings, and dismemberments. Whole villages are massacred, or die in the throes of disease, including children. “The Philosopher’s Stone” features a sadistic serial killer. Scar’s preferred method for assassinating State Alchemists is to make their heads explode. nudity Occasional nudity, but only of a nonsexual nature.