Fullmetal AlchemistFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fullmetal Alchemist
Cover of the first Japanese manga volume published by Square Enix, featuringAlphonse and Edward Elric.
钢の錬金术师(Hagane no Renkinjutsushi)
Genre Action, Adventure,Science fantasy
Manga
Written by Hiromu Arakawa
Published by Enix (2001-2003)Square Enix (2003-2010)
English publisher AUSMadman EntertainmentNAViz MediaSGChuang Yi
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan
Original run July 12, 2001 –June 12, 2010
Volumes 27 (List of volumes)
Light novel
Written by Makoto Inoue
Illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa
Published by Square Enix
English publisher NAViz Media
Original run February 28, 2003 –April 22, 2010
Volumes 10 (List of volumes)
Anime
Fullmetal Alchemist (2003 anime)Conqueror of Shamballa (2005 film)Brotherhood (2009 anime)The Sacred Star of Milos (2011 film)
Anime and Manga portal
Fullmetal Alchemist (Japanese: 钢の錬金术师 Hepburn: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi?, lit. "Alchemist of Steel") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine between August 2001 and June 2010; the publisher later collected the individual chapters into twenty-seven tankōbon volumes. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution. Set in a fictional universe in which alchemy is one of the most advanced scientific techniques, the story follows the Elric brothers Edward and Alphonse, who are searching for a philosopher's stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life using alchemy.

Synopsis[edit]See also: List of Fullmetal Alchemist charactersSetting[edit]
Fullmetal Alchemist takes place in an alternate Medieval-themed history, in the fictional country of Amestris (アメストリス Amesutorisu?). In the world, alchemy is one of the most-practiced sciences; Alchemists who work for the government are known as State Alchemist (国家錬金术师 Kokka Renkinjutsushi?), and automatically are given the rank of Major in the military. Alchemists have the ability, with the help of a Transmutation Circle, to transmute almost anything they desire via their souls. However, when they do so, they must also give up something physically personal of theirs, as stated under the Law of Equivalent Exchange. The only thing Alchemists are forbidden from transmuting are humans. Doing so will not only cost a person a part of their body and create a black, inhuman mesh, but also be confronted by Truth, a God-like being who tauntingly regulates all alchemy use. They are also thrown into the Gate of Truth, where they receive an overwhelming dose of information, but also allowing them to transmute without a circle. It is possible to bypass the Law of Equivalent Exchange (to an extent) using a Philosopher's Stone, a red, enigmatic crystal. However, Philosopher's Stones can also be used to create Homunculi, artificial humans named after the seven deadly sins. Homunculi have numerous superhuman abilities unique amongst each other, and look down upon all humanity. With the exception of Wrath, they do not age and can only be killed via the destruction of their Philosopher's Stones. There are also several cities throughout Amestris. The main setting is the capital of Central City, along with other military cities such as the Northern City of Briggs. Towns featured include Resembool, the rural hometown of the Elrics; Liore, a city tricked to follow the fictional religion of Letoism; Rush Valley, a town that specializes in automail manufacturing; and Ishbal, a conservative-religion city that rejects alchemy and was destroyed in the Ishbalan Civil War instigated after a soldier (actually the Homunculus Envy) shot an Ishbalan child. Outside of Amestris, there are few named countries, and none are seen in the main story. The main foreign country is Xing. Heavily influenced by China, Xing has a complex system of clans and emperors, as opposed to Amestris's government-controlled election of a Fuhrer. It also has its own system of alchemy, called Alkahestry, which is more medical and can be bi-located using kunai; in turn, it is implied that all countries have different forms of alchemy.

Backstory
Though they desire a quiet life in Resembool, Edward Elric and his younger brother, Alphonse, lose both of their parents when their father, Van Hohenheim, leaves home and doesn't return, and their mother Trisha Elric dies in a plague. After living with childhood friend Winry Rockbell and her grandmother Pinako, the Elrics learn alchemy via housewife Izumi Curtis. They decide to try and perform a Human Transmutation on their mother, but consequently, Ed loses his left leg and Al his entire body. Ed then does it again by sealing Al's soul to a suit of armor at the cost of his right arm. As Ed recovers, Roy Mustang, a State Alchemist and veteran of the recent Ishbalan Civil War, and his assistant Riza Hawkeye, offer Ed the chance to be a State Alchemist under the former's command, with Al accompanying him, in exchange for the ability to search for a Philosopher's Stone, which could restore the Elrics' bodies. After receiving metal prosthetics called automail made by Winry, Ed accepts and leaves with Al for Central City, under the codename of "Fullmetal Alchemist", becoming famous worldwide as the youngest State Alchemist ever.

Plot[edit]
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (August 2015)
Following a few investigations over the next three years and a brief confrontation with a serial killer named Scar from Ishbal, the Elrics track down the research notes of Tim Marcoh, a reclusive doctor who once made Philosopher's Stones. Decoding the notes, they discover, to their horror, that Philosopher's Stones are made by sacrificing humans, and that Marcoh did it to several innocent Ishbalans at a now-abandoned laboratory. The Elrics briefly check out the laboratory, but discover it guarded by two Homunculi, Lust and Envy. At a dead end, they decide to visit Izumi, leaving their notes to Mustang's best friend,Maes Hughes, while Winry moves to Rush Valley. But during research of the notes, Hughes is shot dead by a disguised Envy. While the Elrics are visiting Izumi, they are confronted by renegade Homunculus Greed, but are saved by Amestris's ruler, King Bradley. Greed is subsequently captured by the Homunculi, disembodied, and memory-wiped.

The Elrics visit Rush Valley, where they meet Prince Lin Yao from Xing, who wants a Philosopher's Stone to make him Emperor, as the people of Xing believe it grants immortality. The Elrics and Winry reluctantly take him to Central and learn of Hughes' death. Later, Ed is tricked by his squad mate, Alex Armstrong, into traveling to the ancient ruins of Xerxes and getting his support for Mustang in investigating the mysterious circumstances of Hughes' death. On his way home, he discovers Hohenheim has returned, but angrily ignores him. Meanwhile, as he is investigating the Homunculi with Al and Hawkeye, Mustang kills Lust. When Ed returns home, he, Al, and Lin plan to catch a Homunculus (to interrogate it and then take its Philosopher's Stone) by luring out Scar, forcing them to act. In the ensuing fight, Winry discovers that Scar murdered her parents, and Lin discovers that Bradley is actually the Homunculus Wrath. They eventually capture the Homunculus Gluttony, but Scar escapes with the help of his reluctant accomplice and Lin's half-sister, May Chang, who also covets a Philosopher's Stone. Gluttony eventually breaks free and accidentally swallows Ed, Lin, and Envy. As Gluttony's stomach is a loose reconstruction of the Gate of Truth, Ed uses a Human Transmutation to get them out, only to find Al's body, functional and sentient but incredibly malnourished, at the actual Gate of Truth. Meanwhile, Mustang discovers that almost all of Central's non-Alchemist forces are allied with the Homunculi, in the belief they will gain immortality, but is exposed. Wrath threatens to kill Hawkeye and Winry if Mustang and the Elrics respectively leak any info.

While Ed allies with Greed/Ling, who regained his memories, Al and his group arrive in the city of Liore, where they discover Hohenheim is visiting. Hohenheim reveals to Al that, 450 years prior, he was a slave from Xerxes whose master took Father, who at the time was a black mesh stuck in a flask, from the Gate of Truth using Hohenheim's blood. Father convinced the Xerxes king into creating a Human Transmutation circle to give him immortality, but instead it granted Hohenheim said ability, gave Father his body, and killed everyone else in Xerxes. Father now plans to do the same thing on "The Promised Day" with Amestris, which will grant him omnipotence. Al reveals this to all the other main characters, who make preparations.
Seven months later, after returning Winry home, the characters began to make final plans, during which Gluttony and Kimblee getting killed by Pride. Mustang's forces stages a coup de tat on Central, allowing Ed's group to infiltrate Headquarters. During the battle, Envy, Sloth, and Wrath are killed, and Pride is incapacitated. When they reach Father, he activates the nationwide Transmutation circle, but Hohenheim undoes it at the cost of his life. Everyone fights Father, but he retains much power, resulting in Greed's death and Ed losing his automail arm. To give Ed a fighting chance, Al sacrifices his soul for Ed's regular arm with Human Transmutation, and Ed destroys Father's Philosopher's Stone. Ed performs another Human Transformation to bring Al's soul and body. Everyone returns home, but over the next two years, they begin new journeys, with Ed and Al traveling the world to learn new forms of alchemy.

Production
After reading about the concept of the philosopher's stone, Arakawa became attracted to the idea of her characters using alchemy in the manga. She started reading books about alchemy, which she found complicated because some books contradict others. Arakawa was attracted more by the philosophical aspects than the practical ones.[1] For the Equivalent Exchange (等価交换 Tōka Kōkan?) concept, she was inspired by the work of her parents, who had a farm in Hokkaido and worked hard to earn the money to eat.

Arakawa wanted to integrate social problems into the story. Her research involved watching television news programs and talking to refugees, war veterans and former yakuza. Several plot elements, such as Pinako Rockbell caring for the Elric brothers after their mother dies, and the brothers helping people to understand the meaning of family, expand on these themes. When creating the fictional world of Fullmetal Alchemist, Arakawa was inspired after reading about theIndustrial Revolution in Europe; she was amazed by differences in the culture, architecture, and clothes of the era and those of her own culture. She was especially interested in England during this period and incorporated these ideas into the manga.

When the manga began serialization, Arakawa was considering several major plot points, including the ending. She wanted the Elrics brothers to recover their bodies—at least partly.[3] As the plot continued, she thought that some characters were maturing and decided to change some scenes.[2] Arakawa said the manga authors Suihō Tagawa and Hiroyuki Eto are her main inspirations for her character designs; she describes her artwork as a mix of both of them. She found that the easiest of the series' characters to draw were Alex Louis Armstrong, and the little animals. Arakawa likes dogs so she included several of them in the story.[4] Arakawa made comedy central to the manga's story because she thinks it is intended for entertainment, and tried to minimize sad scenes.

During the development of the first anime, Arakawa allowed the anime staff to work independently from her, and requested a different ending from that of the manga. She said that she would not like to repeat the same ending in both media, and wanted to make the manga longer so she could develop the characters. When watching the ending of the anime, she was amazed about how different the homunculi creatures were from the manga and enjoyed how the staff speculated about the origins of the villains.[1] Because Arakawa helped the Bones staff in the making of the series, she was kept from focusing on the manga's cover illustrations and had little time to make them.

Themes
The series explores social problems, including discrimination, scientific advancement, political greed, brotherhood, family and war.[6] Scar's backstory and his hatred of the state military references the Ainu people, who had their land taken by other people.[1] This includes the consequences of guerrilla warfare and the amount of violent soldiers a military can have.[7] Some of the people who took the Ainu's land were originally Ainu; this irony is referenced in Scar's use of alchemy to kill alchemists even though it was forbidden in his own religion.[1] The Elrics being orphans and adopted by Pinako Rockbell reflects Arakawa's beliefs about the ways society should treat orphans. The characters' dedication to their occupations reference the need to work for food.[8] The series also explores the concept of equivalent exchange; to obtain something new, one must pay with something of the equal value. This is applied by alchemists when creating new materials and is also a belief the Elric brothers follow.[3][9]

没中文吗

水的好

有种考试看英语阅读题的感觉