Manga
Main article: List of Fullmetal Alchemist chapters
This panel from volume 8 shows some of changes in the graphics Viz Media made in their English release of Fullmetal Alchemist (left) versus the original (right)
Written and drawn by Hiromu Arakawa, the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series is serialized in Square Enix's monthly manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan. It began its serialization in January 2001 and is still ongoing, with a new chapter in every issue. The individual chapters are also published in bound volumes by Square Enix. The first volume was released in January 2002 and as of April 2008, nineteen bound volumes have been released.[36] Viz Media began releasing the manga in North America in May 2005; as of March 19, 2008, sixteen English-language volumes have been released.[37]
So far the content of the manga released by Viz in the United States does not differ much from the original material. As of August 2007, the only edit that has been made is to a set of twelve panels from volume 8, depicting the Homunculus Greed tied to a cross-shaped stone slab in crucifixion style. In the U.S. version the stone was redesigned to become round in each panel,[38] as commented by Viz to avoid references to Christianity. This change in the manga was made with the approval of Hiromu Arakawa.[39]
[edit] Anime
Main article: List of Fullmetal Alchemist episodes
The animation studio Bones adapted the manga into a 51-episode anime series, directed by Seiji Mizushima and co-produced by Bones, Mainichi Broadcasting System and Aniplex with character designs by Yoshiyuki Ito and scripts by Sho Aikawa, which ran on the Mainichi Broadcasting System, TBS, and Animax in Japan from October 4, 2003 to October 2, 2004,[40] with a 6.8 percent television viewership rating.[3] The English dub of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime debuted on the Adult Swim block of the United States cable channel Cartoon Network in November 6, 2004.[41] A year and a half later, Canada's YTV began airing it on March 3, 2006.[42]
The anime's later story and conclusion by Bones is different from the manga, which is still ongoing due to a request by Hiromu Arakawa.[1] During the making of the anime, Hiromu Arakawa was present in meetings to give the staff insight in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, though she did not actively take part in any writing for the TV series.[35]
A movie sequel, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, was made by the same studio, and premiered in Japanese theaters on July 23, 2005.[43] A series of five Original video animations (OVAs) were also released. Most of them are noted to have little to no plot continuity. These OVAs also include a live action segment with Alphonse Elric travelling around a city. In March 2006 a DVD featuring these OVAs was released in Japan with the name of Fullmetal Alchemist: Premium Collection.[44]
[edit] Soundtracks
Cover of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa Original SoundtrackAll of the music for the Fullmetal Alchemist soundtrack was composed and arranged by Michiru Oshima,[45] who won the 5th Tokyo Anime Award in the category "Best Music" for Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa.[46]
TV Animation Fullmetal Alchemist Original Soundtrack 1 was released on March 24, 2004 in Japan and contained thirty-three tracks, incluiding several of the background sounds used during key points in the main series and the first opening and ending theme songs.[47] The Russian track "Brothers" (Russian: Братья, Bratja; Japanese: Burācha) was also recorded in English by Vic Mignogna, the voice actor who played Edward Elric in the series.[48]
TV Animation Fullmetal Alchemist Original Soundtrack 2 was released on December 15, 2004 and contained thirty tracks.[49] TV Animation Fullmetal Alchemist Original Soundtrack 3, released on May 18, 2005 contained twenty-seven tracks, including Song of Parting, a classical piece written by Felix Mendelssohn, as is Symphony no. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven.[50]
Fullmetal Alchemist - Complete Best and Fullmetal Alchemist Hagaren Song File -Best Compilation- are compilations of the soundtracks that were released in Japan on October 14, 2004 and December 21, 2005, respectively. A bonus DVD, included only on the U.S. release, contains a music video for Nana Kitade's "Indelible Sin".[51] Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie Conqueror Of Shamballa OST, which contained forty-six tracks, was released on December 21, 2005. All of them are tracks used in the featured film Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa.[52]
During the month of December 2004, "Tales of Another Festival" was staged in Tokyo and Osaka, featuring performances by several of the musical artists from the television series as well as narrations by the voice actors and actresses.[53] A DVD of the concert entitled Fullmetal Alchemist Festival - Tales of Another was released in Japan on April 27, 2005.[53]
[edit] Novels
A series of six Fullmetal Alchemist Japanese light novels, written by Makoto Inoue, have been published by Square Enix.[54] The novels are licensed for an English-language release by Viz Media in North America, with translation by Alexander O. Smith[55] Although Hiromu Arakawa did not write the novels, she did illustrations for them, including covers and frontispieces.[56]
The novels are spin-offs of the manga series and follow the Elric brothers on their continued quest for the Philosopher's Stone. The first novel, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand, would be later animated as the episodes eleven and twelve of the anime series.[57] The fourth novel also contains an extra story about the military called "Roy's Holiday".[58]
# Japanese English
Release date ISBN Release date ISBN
1 February 2003[59] ISBN 978-4-7575-0871-2 October 4, 2005[60] ISBN 978-1-4215-0155-0
Chapter list:
Prologue
Golden Hair
Silver Eyes
Crimson Water
Epilogue
The Phantom of Warehouse 13
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand (砂礫の大地, Sareki no Daichi?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
2 September 2003[61] ISBN 978-4-7575-1029-6 February 21, 2006[62] ISBN 978-1-4215-0222-9
Chapter list:
The Borderlands Train
The Odd Terrorists
Lively Lodgings
The Abduction of Edward
Separate Battles
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Abducted Alchemist (囚われの錬金術師, Toraware no Renkinjutsushi?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
3 April 30, 2004[63] ISBN 978-4-7575-1198-9 May 16, 2006[64] ISBN 978-1-4215-0402-5
Chapter list:
The Colonel's Conspiracy
Paradise Below
Unequivalent Exchange
The Truth
The Valley of White Petals
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Valley of White Petals (白い花の舞う谷, Shiroi Hana no Mau Tani?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
4 October 29, 2004[65] ISBN 978-4-7575-1315-0 October 16, 2007[58] ISBN 978-1-4215-1397-3
Chapter list:
Under the Faraway Sky
Roy's Holiday
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Under the Faraway Sky (遠い空の下で, Tōi Sora no Shita de?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
5 June 30, 2005[66] ISBN 978-4-7575-1471-3 December 18, 2007[67] ISBN 978-1-4215-1431-4
Chapter list:
Prologue
The Banned Book
Thicker than Blood
Meetings and Encounters
A Mistaken Wish
Keep Moving On
Epilogue
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Ties That Bind (それぞれの絆, Sorezore no Kizuna?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
Roy Mustang
6 March 22, 2007[68] ISBN 978-4-7575-1984-8
Chapter list:
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: A New Beginning (新たなはじまり, Arata na Hajimari?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
Winry Rockbell
Novelizations of three of the PlayStation 2 games—Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel, Curse of the Crimson Elixir, and The Girl Who Surpasses God—have also been written; the first was authored by Makoto Inoue and the rest by Jun Eishima.[54] None of these have been translated for distribution outside Japan.
# Japanese release date Japanese ISBN
1 July 30, 2004[69] ISBN 978-4-7575-1247-4
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel (翔べない天使, Tobenai Tenshi?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
Armony Eiselstein
2 December 24, 2004[70] ISBN 978-4-7575-1345-7
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Curse of the Crimson Elixir (赤きエリクシルの悪魔, Akaki Erikushiru no Akuma?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
3 November, 2005[71] ISBN 978-4-7575-1570-3
Volume title:
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Girl Who Surpasses God (神を継ぐ少女, Kami o Tsugu Shōjo?)
Cover characters:
Edward Elric
Alphonse Elric
Sophie Belkman
[edit] Drama CDs
There has been two series of Fullmetal Alchemist audio dramas. The first volume of the first series, Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1: The Land of Sand (砂礫の大地, Sareki no Daichi?), was released before the anime and tells a story similar to the first novel. The voice actors of the Tringham brothers worked later in the anime with the same characters, while the Elric brothers have different voice actors.[72] Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 2: False Light, Truth's Shadow (偽りの光 真実の影, Itsuwari no Hikari, Shinjitsu no Kage?) and Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 3: Criminals' Scar (咎人たちの傷跡, Togabitotachi no Kizuato?) are stories based on different manga chapters with the addition of other characters, such as Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Alex Louis Armstrong and Maes Hughes.[54]
The second series of audio dramas, available only with purchases of Shōnen Gangan, consists of short stories.[54] There are two stories in this series, each with two parts. The first, Fullmetal Alchemist: Ogutāre of the Fog (霧のオグターレ, Kiri no Ogutāre?), was included in Shōnen Gangan's April and May 2004 issues, while the second story, Fullmetal Alchemist: Crown of Heaven (天上の宝冠, Tenjō no Hōkan?), was found in the November and December issues.[54]
[edit] Trading card game
Main article: Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game
A Fullmetal Alchemist trading card game was first published in 2005 in the United States by Joyride Entertainment.[73] Since then, six expansions have been released. Cards for this game were sold in booster packs and as decks. The physical game was retired on July 11, 2007;[74] Destineer released a Nintendo DS adaptation of the game on October 15, 2007.[75]
The Fullmetal Alchemist trading cards have been highly popular in the United States. A "Roy Mustang, Master Manipulator" card was sold for $100 because of its rarity; the previous record for a card was $91 for a "Lust, Femme Fatale" chase card, sold in an auction.[76]
[edit] Art and guidebooks
The Fullmetal Alchemist franchise has several artbooks for the manga and the anime; two manga artbooks called The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist (イラスト集 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, Irasuto Shū Fullmetal Alchemist?) were released by Square Enix and later by Viz Media.[77] The first contains illustrations made between May 2001 to April 2003, spanning the first six manga volumes, while the second has illustrations from September 2003 to October 2005, spanning the next six.[78] For the anime, three artbooks with the name of The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Anime (TVアニメーション鋼の錬金術師 ART BOOK, TV Animēshon Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Artbook?) were released in Japan, while only the first was released by Viz Media.[79]
The manga also has three guidebooks; each of them contain timelines, guides to the Elric brothers' journey, and gaiden chapters that were never released in a manga volume.[78] Only the first guidebook has been released by Viz Media, under the name of Fullmetal Alchemist Profiles.[80] An anime character guide book called Fullmetal Alchemist Anime Profiles (TV Animation Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Kyarakore, Fullmetal Alchemist Anime Profiles?) was released Japan as well in the United States.[77] A series of five fanbooks have also been released with the name of TV Anime Fullmetal Alchemist Official Fanbooks (TVアニメ 鋼の錬金術師 オフィシャルファンブック, TV Anime Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Ofisharu Fan Bukku?) containing each one information of the anime as well as several interviews with the staff of the series.[78]
[edit] Video games
Video games based on the Fullmetal Alchemist world have also been released. The storylines of the games often diverge from those of the anime and manga and also feature new characters. Square Enix has released three RPG titles—Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel, Curse of the Crimson Elixir, and The Girl Who Surpasses God—and one fighting game, Dream Carnival, for the PlayStation 2; Bandai has released two RPG titles, Fullmetal Alchemist: Stray Rondo and Fullmetal Alchemist: Omoide no Sonata, for the Game Boy Advance and one, Dual Sympathy, for the Nintendo DS; and Destineer released a game based on the trading card game in North America for the Nintendo DS.[81][82] Of the seven games made in Japan, Broken Angel, Dream Carnival, Curse of the Crimson Elixir, and Dual Sympathy have seen international release; the others have not been released internationally.
Funimation licensed the franchise to create a new series of Fullmetal Alchemist related video games to be published by Destineer Publishing Corporation in the United States.[83] Destineer released its first Fullmetal Alchemist game for the Nintendo DS, a translation of Bandai's Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy, on December 15, 2006, and has commented that this will be the first of many titles that they plan to release.[84] On February 19, 2007, Destineer announced the second game in its Fullmetal Alchemist series, the Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game. This title was released October 15, 2007.[75]
[edit] Other merchandise
Action figures, busts, and statues from the Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga have been created by leading toy companies. The primary of these companies are Medicom and Southern Island. Medicom has created high end deluxe vinyl figures of the characters from the anime. These figures are exclusively distributed in the United States and UK by Southern Island.[85] Southern Island has also released their own action figures in 2007 of the main characters. These figures and a 12" statue were scheduled to release in 2007. Southern Island has since gone bankrupt, putting the figures on permanent hiatus.[86]
[edit] Reception
As of March 2008, the Fullmetal Alchemist manga has sold over 30 million volumes in Japan.[4] The series is also one of Viz Media's best sellers, appearing in several polls.[87] The manga also appeared several times in the "USA Today Booklist".[88][89] The English release of the manga's first volume was the top-selling graphic novel during the year 2005.[5] Along with Yakitate!! Japan, the series won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 2004.[90]
Fullmetal Alchemist has generally been well received by critics. Though the initial volumes were felt to be formulaic, critics noted that the series grows in complexity as it progresses. Arakawa was praised for being able to keep all of her character designs unique and distinguishable, despite them many wearing the same basic uniforms.[91] The characterization of the protagonist Edward balances between being a "typical clever kid" and "a stubborn kid", successfully allowing him to float between the series more comical moments and its underlying drama without seeming false.[92] Reviewers celebrated the development of the characters in the manga, with their beliefs actively changing during the story forcing them to grow in maturity.[93]
Fullmetal Alchemist has every right to be among the most successful properties to hit the States in recent memory. The narrative power of Edward Elric's story rivals that of any literature currently in print. The journey he takes is action-packed, but is also filled with moments of humor, success, failure, warmth, and despair. All these things come together to make a story filled to its considerable depth with realistic moments and characters. The precision in storytelling here is ridiculously good. Arakawa knows exactly where she is going from the very first page, and what an excellent first page it is.
—Melissa Harper, Anime News Network[91]
The anime premiered in Japan with a 6.8 percent television viewership rating.[3] In 2005, TV Asahi, a television network in Japan, conducted a "Top 100" online web poll and nation-wide survey; the Fullmetal Alchemist anime adaptation placed first in the online poll and twentieth in the survey.[7][94] In 2006, TV Asahi conducted another online poll for the top one hundred anime, and Fullmetal Alchemist placed first again.[8] Fullmetal Alchemist was also a winner in the American Anime Awards in several categories. These include "Long Series", "Best Cast", "Best DVD Package Design", "Best Anime Theme Song" ("Rewrite", by Asian Kung-Fu Generation), and "Best Actor" (Vic Mignogna, Edward Elric's English voice actor). It was also nominated in the category of "Best Anime Feature" for Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa.[9] The series also won most of the Twenty-sixth Annual Animage Readers' Polls. The series was the winner in the "Favorite Anime Series", "Favorite Episode" (episode seven), "Favorite Male Character" (Edward Elric), "Favorite Female Character" (Riza Hawkeye), "Favorite Theme Song" ("Melissa", by Porno Graffitti), and "Favorite Seiyū" (Romi Paku, Edward's Japanese voice actor).[6] In the "Tokyo Anime Fair", the series also won in the categories "Animation Of The Year" (Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala), "Best original story" (Hiromu Arakawa, author of Fullmetal Alchemist) and "Best music" (Michiru Oshima).[46]
I don't know any shows that are any better than Fullmetal Alchemist. I didn't even know anything about the show when I was cast, but unbeknownst to me, I've stumbled into a great show and a great character, so I couldn't be happier.
—Vic Mignogna, Anime News Network.[95]
Reviewers compared the popularity of the series with the ones of popular games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.[96] The designs of the characters have been praised remarking they are almost unique. Flashbacks has been criticized to be annoying as they are repeated several times.[97][98] Others reviewers compared the series with an Odyssey and part tragic coming of age story. The plot and the music have been celebrated to be almost rich.[97] The anime has also been praised for having a good balance between action, comedy and deep moments and remarked the emotional core of the development of the two main characters.[99] However, the anime has also had negative reviews in which the large number of sentimental scenes in the series have been criticized, considering them an abuse to make the people who watch it cry. The ending also had a negative review noting that the beliefs of Edward did not change at all as he tried once again to bring somebody back to life.[100]
The soundtracks of the series have also been reviewed. Reviewers praised the fact there are different styles of musics as well as a large number of artists that makes every song enjoyable. The music of the backgrounds has been noted to never distract anybody who listen to it from the story and that are always pleaseant to hear.[96] The first opening theme and ending theme have been considered the best tracks of the series remarking that they make a good combination of anime and song.[101]
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