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Full metal Alchemist is a Japanese anime television series loosely adapted from the original manga series of the same name by Hiromu Arakawa. Comprising 51 episodes, it was produced by the animation studio Bones for Mainichi Broadcasting System and Aniplex, and directed by Seiji Mizushima. It was broadcast on MBS in Japan from October 2003 to October 2004.
As in the manga, the series follows the adventures of brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are searching for the Philosopher's Stone so they can regain the bodies they lost in a failed attempt to bring their dead mother back to life. During production, Arakawa requested an original ending for the anime that differed from the manga, which was still ongoing at the time. This led to the series deviating into an entirely original storyline direction halfway through its run. The first anime series concluded with a direct sequel film, Conqueror of Shamballa, released in 2005. A second anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which faithfully adapted the entire storyline of the original manga, was broadcast in 2009.
Plot
See also: List of Fullmetal Alchemist characters
The first half of the anime's plot adapts the first seven volumes of the manga. However, the plots severely diverge from each other by the middle of the story, specifically around the time where Roy Mustang's friend Maes Hughes is murdered by the homunculus Envy in disguise. Dante, a former lover of Hohenheim and mentor to the Elric brothers' teacher, is the series' central antagonist. Centuries ago, Hohenheim and Dante perfected methods for making the Philosopher's Stone and achieved immortality by transferring their souls and intellects into other bodies as they age. Hohenheim was eventually overcome with the guilt of sacrificing lives to make the Stone and left Dante. Although Dante can still jump from body to body with the last stone she and Hohenheim created, she is not willing to risk the rebound of creating one herself. She thus uses the homunculi to encourage Edward and Alphonse, along with other equally desperate Alchemists to create another complete Philosopher's Stone for her.
When Scar creates the Philosopher's Stone, at the cost of his life as well as the lives of 7,000 soldiers, he infuses it into Alphonse's metal body, which leads to Alphonse's kidnapping. Edward tries to rescue him, but is killed by Envy. However, Alphonse uses the Philosopher's Stone to revive his brother but disappears in the process, along with Envy, who fails to stop him. Dante tries to escape, but she is killed when the homunculus Gluttony, whose mind she had earlier destroyed, fails to recognize his master. After being revived, Edward risks his life to bring back his brother and finds himself in Munich, while Alphonse recovers his original body. Determined to reunite with Alphonse, Edward becomes involved in rocketry research, intending to use that technology to return to his home world. The story concludes in the film adaptation Conqueror of Shamballa, in which Edward's search attracts the attention of the Thule Society, which seeks to enter his homeworld—believing it to be Shamballa—to obtain new weapons to help them in World War II. Dietlinde Eckhart, a member of the Thule Society, enters the other world and tries to destroy Amestris. She is defeated by the Elric brothers, who decide to stay in Germany.
Production
During the development of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Arakawa allowed Bones to work independently from her, and requested they produce an original ending different from that of the then ongoing manga. She did not want to repeat the same ending in both media, and wanted to continue writing the manga to develop the characters at her own pace. When watching the anime's ending, Arakawa stated that she was amazed about how different the homunculi creatures were from her manga and enjoyed how the staff speculated about the origins of the villains. Although she was not fully involved in all aspects of the 2003 series, she was directly involved in the production of it at a storywise standpoint, and as shown in the extras of Volume 8 of the manga. She helped the anime's development team with consultation for the characters and telling the overall story she had planned for her manga, helping them fill in some of the gaps to create the anime original ending of the 2003 series. Because Arakawa was involved in the development of the anime, she was kept from focusing on the manga's cover illustrations and had little time to illustrate them.
Broadcast and release
Main article: List of Fullmetal Alchemist episodes
The animation studio Bones adapted the manga into a 51-episode anime series. It was directed by Seiji Mizushima, written by Shō Aikawa and co-produced by Bones, Mainichi Broadcasting System and Aniplex. Character designs by Yoshiyuki Itō. The anime premiered on MBS, TBS, and Animax in Japan from October 4, 2003; it ran until October 2, 2004, with a 6.8 percent television viewership rating. During the making of the anime, Arakawa was present in meetings to advise the staff about the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, though she did not write for the television series. The series has been released as thirteen DVDs from December 17, 2003, to January 26, 2005, in Japan by Aniplex. During January 2009, Bones released a "DVD box archives" of the anime. It includes the first anime of fifty-one episodes, the film, the CD soundtracks, and guidebooks from the series.
The English dubbed version of the anime was produced by Funimation and debuted on Adult Swim in the United States on November 6, 2004. Canada's YTV began airing it on March 3, 2006. In the United Kingdom, the anime was broadcast by Rapture TV and AnimeCentral. Animax Asia broadcast the series in the Philippines, India, and South Asia. Funimation Entertainment released the series as DVD volumes between February 8, 2005, to September 12, 2006. Funimation later re-released the series into two DVD volumes in 2009 and again in 2010. In the United Kingdom, MVM Films distributed the first eight volumes of the series; however, Funimation gave the rights over to Revelation Films. Anime Limited now holds the rights in the UK, and they have released the series in both an ultimate and regular collector's edition Blu-Ray. There were plans for a UK DVD release, but these have been put on-hold as of June 2017. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment originally released the series on 13 volumes, before re-releasing the series in two DVD volume collections, and later on Blu-ray in a boxset.
A series of five original video animations (OVAs) were also released. Most of these are side stories and do not expand on the plot. In March 2006, a DVD featuring these OVAs was released in Japan as Fullmetal Alchemist: Premium Collection. Funimation acquired and dubbed the "Premium Collection" in late 2008 for English release. The DVD was released in English on August 4, 2009.
Film
A film sequel to the 2003 series, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, was produced by Bones and premiered in Japanese theaters on July 23, 2005. The film follows Edward Elric's attempts to return to his homeworld, having lived for two years in our world—which exists in a universe parallel to his own—while Alphonse is equally determined to reunite with his brother. Funimation released the English DVD on September 12, 2006.
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