Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Series)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Hiromu Arakawa's same-named manga series, adapted into an animated television series directed by Yasuhiro Irie^【1】. Unlike the previous adaptation, this series faithfully follows the complete narrative structure of the original manga. The story is set in a world where alchemy is central, and it objectively explores philosophical and political themes through the journey of two brothers seeking to restore their lost physical forms.

^{Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Trailer (}mubi⁾

The primary setting of the series, Amestris, is an authoritarian and militarized state that expands its borders by annexing neighboring smaller nations, governed by a leader bearing the title of "Führer". The foundational principle of this world is alchemy, the science of understanding, disassembling, and reconstructing matter, governed by the fundamental law of Equivalent Exchange. According to this principle, to create or obtain something, an equivalent amount of matter or value must be sacrificed or destroyed. Military personnel in the Amestris army who use their alchemical abilities for the state, often as human weapons in warfare, are known as State Alchemists.^【2】

^{Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (}IMDB⁾

Edward and Alphonse Elric are brothers who lose their mother to a fatal illness. In an attempt to resurrect her, the brothers perform Human Transmutation, a practice strictly forbidden in alchemy. Due to the law of Equivalent Exchange, the attempt fails catastrophically: Edward loses his left leg, and Alphonse loses his entire physical body. Edward sacrifices his right arm to bind his brother’s soul to a suit of armor. With mechanical prosthetics (automail) fitted by childhood friends, Edward becomes a State Alchemist to access the military’s resources. Together, the brothers embark on a quest to find the Philosopher’s Stone, an object believed to transcend alchemical laws and restore their bodies. Their search leads them to uncover a vast conspiracy hidden within the upper echelons of the military and the dark history of the state.^【3】

^{Elric Brothers (}IMDB⁾

• Edward Elric: The protagonist, known as the "Fullmetal Alchemist", who possesses mechanical prosthetic limbs (automail); his primary goal is to restore his brother’s body.
• Alphonse Elric: The younger brother who lost his entire physical form and has his soul bound to a large suit of armor.
• Winry Rockbell: A childhood friend of the Elric brothers and an engineer who maintains Edward’s automail prosthetics.
• Roy Mustang: A colonel specializing in fire alchemy who aims to become the next Führer and transform Amestris’s military system into a democracy.

^{The First Homunculus (Dwarf in the Flask), who calls himself "Father" (}IMDB⁾

The Homunculi are artificial beings deliberately created by Father, each containing a Philosopher’s Stone. Although they cannot perform alchemy independently, each possesses unique extraordinary abilities. Named after the seven deadly sins, these seven entities are:

• Lust (Lust): A being who bears the Ouroboros tattoo on her chest and wields the "ultimate spear" ability, extending her fingers to cut through anything. She is destroyed early in the story by Roy Mustang.
• Gluttony (Gluttony): An accidental creation of "Father" during his attempts to construct the "Portal of Truth". He carries a copy of the portal within his stomach, trapping everything he consumes. His saliva is acidic, his jawbones are immensely strong, and his Ouroboros tattoo is on his tongue. He is emotionally attached to Lust and follows her commands.
• Envy (Envy): A being capable of assuming the appearance of any person and deriving pleasure from killing others, such as in the murder of Maes Hughes. Created by "Father" from the souls of the Cselkcess people, his true form is massive and contains the silhouettes of those souls. His Ouroboros tattoo is on his left leg.
• Greed (Greed): A character who desires everything solely for himself and betrays the other Homunculi. He can rearrange the carbon atoms in his body to form the "ultimate shield". After being killed by Wrath, he is recreated by "Father" and begins sharing his body with Lin Yao, who seeks immortality. His Ouroboros tattoo is on the back of his left hand.
• Wrath (Wrath): The military leader of Amestris, known as Führer King Bradley. His Ouroboros tattoo is on his left eye, which he constantly keeps hidden.
• Pride (Pride): The Homunculus concealed beneath the guise of King Bradley’s son, Selim. His true form resembles the appearance "Father" had before acquiring a human body: a mass of black smoke and eyes, capable of moving through shadows.
• Sloth (Sloth): A gigantic and muscular being who finds everything meaningless and exhausting. Nevertheless, he is tasked with carving a massive transmutation circle beneath Amestris.^【5】

^{Philosopher’s Stone (}IMDB⁾

In the narrative, the Philosopher’s Stone serves as a central metaphor for absolute power and political corruption. The fact that the Stone is created by sacrificing the souls and blood of living humans illustrates how state and political power are built through violence and genocide. Amestris’s governance as a military dictatorship, its continuous invasion of neighboring nations, and its systematic extermination of the Ishvalan people directly parallel real-world authoritarian and militarist regimes, particularly Nazi Germany. The narrative examines the argument that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" within a fictional framework.^【6】

The series incorporates numerous symbols from Western (Greco-Roman) and Japanese mythology. The Ouroboros (serpent or dragon eating its own tail) tattooed on the Homunculi symbolizes infinity and cyclical renewal in alchemy, the monster Echidna in Greek mythology, and the giant dragon causing earthquakes and tsunamis in Japanese myth. Hybrid creatures formed by the biological fusion of humans and animals derive their names from the Greek mythological Chimera. The double-snake staff (Caduceus) worn by the main characters is the symbol of Mercury (Greek Hermes) in Rome, while in Japan it represents paradise and cyclic renewal.^【7】

The series subverts entrenched patriarchal systems through specific characters. Olivier Armstrong, the only female commander in the Amestris military, embodies a cold, "survival of the strongest" philosophy, possesses masculine traits, and asserts her place within military hegemony by wielding a sword (a phallic symbol). Characters such as Izumi and Riza also transcend the passive female role by actively participating in combat. Conversely, Alex Armstrong, who exhibits an exaggerated hyper-masculine physique, challenges dominant masculine norms through his frequent emotional displays, excessive sentimentality, and deep appreciation for art.^【8】

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is one of the most effective tools in Japan’s "Cool Japan" (soft power) strategy within international cultural diplomacy. Although anime employs Western elements in its settings, plot, and names, it embeds Japanese and Asian philosophical values at its core, subtly engaging foreign audiences with Eastern culture. This soft power success is reflected in verifiable statistics: the series holds a 9.25 rating on MyAnimeList^【9】 and a 9.1 rating on IMDb based on 244,000 votes^【10】. It was selected as the sixth best anime of 2010 by Animage magazine, won three awards at the Behind the Voice Actors Awards for voice acting performances, and received four nominations. Events such as Anime Expo and Japan Expo, which attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors in cities like Paris and Los Angeles—for example, 230,000 attendees in France in 2013^【12】—demonstrate the economic and diplomatic scale of the creative industry, of which this series is a prominent part.