dragontology Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Earlier this year, Netflix got both Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood back, complete with the final dozen or so episodes of Brotherhood that they never had before. And then last week, the bombshell dropped: they're gonna start streaming the live-action movie, which is only in Japanese and has only been shown in Japan (except for one exclusive showing in New York), next week. [Source] — but don't watch the trailer there, it's not subbed, watch this one — it's from the official page, and subtitled in English. Also, FMA fans, don't pause at 1:19 or click here. You've been warned! Quote Adapting anime series into live-action films hasn't always gone over well. If you look at Dragonball Evolution, you can see how badly a studio can fail at understanding such a franchise, so fans were understandably scared when Fullmetal Alchemist announced its live-action future. Thankfully, the flick was received pretty well for the most part in Japan. And, in a couple of weeks, Netflix will be bringing the film to U.S. fans. Earlier today, Netflix put up its list of incoming titles for February 2018. It was there the company confirmed Fullmetal Alchemist will be joining its service as a Netflix Original title. Fans will be able to binge the movie starting on February 19. This is not the first time Fullmetal Alchemist will screen in the U.S. Last year, Anime NYC hosted the film’s stateside premiere in November shortly after it screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival. So far, there have been zero plans to screen the movie in U.S. theaters for a limited run. For those unfamiliar with Fullmetal Alchemist, the series was first created by Hiromu Arakawa. The story follows two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who learn alchemy in order to bring back their deceased mother. After a terrible miscalculation, however, the two brothers pay a terrible price with Alphonse even losing his body and linking his soul to a suit of armor. As the two boys search for an alchemy that will restore their bodies to their original forms, they join the military and deal with a whole host of new political, ethical, and moral issues. There's more. Well, to the series. As to why there are two series. When the manga (Japanese comic book released as paperback, read right to left) was released initially, it was super popular and an anime adaptation was ordered up right away. The anime tried to use filler to give mangaka (author) Arakawa time to stay ahead, but they caught up and had to write the second half without her. Six years later, after the books had finished, the same people got back together (minus a couple cast members) and remade it as FMA Brotherhood. Only, they started with a new story for the first episode, the first 26 episodes from the first FMA were summed up in 9 episodes, and then the remaining 50-odd episodes covered the second half of the books. (There are 27 volumes of the manga. My wife owns all of them.) It's hard to explain to people a proper watch order. The second half of FMA 2003 is not canon, but it's also very good. I would not recommend skipping it because it deviates from the books. FMA 2003 had an animated film that followed, "The Conqueror of Shamballa." It was neither good nor bad, but it wrapped up the open ending to the series. Brotherhood's first 10 episodes were okay at best as they were rushed and good story elements were glossed over or outright skipped, but there were only 10 of them, and then the series gets so good, though after a couple dozen of them, it starts feeling a bit long. Brotherhood was also followed by an animated film, "The Secret Star of Milos," which was utterly terrible. It was a 2 hour episode from a series of 20 minute episodes, and it was not good. Its ending was fine without "Sacred Star" and in fact absolute — "Sacred Star" takes place sometime during the series (we don't know, and we don't have to know because it's a waste of time). The movie appears to cover about the first half of FMA 2003 or the first 10 episodes of Brotherhood. There's a huge thing that happens (fans know it as the "terrible day for rain") at that point and that might be where the film ends. There's another huge thing that happens about halfway to that point (the chimera scene) that is actually shown in the trailer (see above, but don't click the other link), so we know we're getting that (and it looks so good!). Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 so for non fans, is this movie any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I really wanted to see this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Supervisor Posted February 15, 2018 Supervisor Share Posted February 15, 2018 sweet, will definitely be checking this out in a few days. love Brotherhood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogurth Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I just can't stand live anime adoptions and I truly love anime. Loved FMA, both versions but I cringed watching this trailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George P Global Moderator Posted February 17, 2018 Global Moderator Share Posted February 17, 2018 It's kind of crazy the way the two FMA animes worked out BUT, you can read the manga first if you wanted, or just watch both anime series one after the other and keep in mind that the 2nd half of the first is non-canon, as is it's movie sequel. Personally, the canon ending, from the manga etc, is the better one IMO, really liked it. I'll be watching this once I get a chance, no harm no foul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragontology Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 I thought it was pretty good, rated it 8/10 on its own merits in the "last movie you watched" thread. On 2/15/2018 at 3:40 PM, Draconian Guppy said: so for non fans, is this movie any good? I think it might be better for non-fans who don't have a standard to judge it by, if you don't mind watching a 2h15m film in Japanese with English subtitles (I didn't). Fans will compare it to the anime and/or manga (and/or second anime series), but going in fresh, you'll get a lot of surprises. I'd be curious how a first-timer reacts to THAT scene... there's a shocking scene that I just laughed off and admired how they did it, because the shock factor has long since worn off and it's become a meme. I think it's worth noting that, 15/9 years later, Fullmetal Alchemist is still considered the gold standard of the anime world (with extra consideration given to Vic Mignogna's and Caitlin Glass's portrayals of their characters). This movie will ultimately just be a footnote. It's cool for fans, but it's not going to be a movie we look back on a decade from now and compare others to like we do with the FMA animes. Those are both on Netflix, too, and I hope people will see the movie and think it was good, and then go back and watch the anime and be blown away. On 2/15/2018 at 3:51 PM, Xenon said: I really wanted to see this. Now you can! (Assuming you have Netflix, that is.) Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brys Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 28 minutes ago, dragontology said: I thought it was pretty good, rated it 8/10 on its own merits in the "last movie you watched" thread. I think it might be better for non-fans who don't have a standard to judge it by, if you don't mind watching a 2h15m film in Japanese with English subtitles (I didn't). Fans will compare it to the anime and/or manga (and/or second anime series), but going in fresh, you'll get a lot of surprises. I'd be curious how a first-timer reacts to THAT scene... there's a shocking scene that I just laughed off and admired how they did it, because the shock factor has long since worn off and it's become a meme. I think it's worth noting that, 15/9 years later, Fullmetal Alchemist is still considered the gold standard of the anime world (with extra consideration given to Vic Mignogna's and Caitlin Glass's portrayals of their characters). This movie will ultimately just be a footnote. It's cool for fans, but it's not going to be a movie we look back on a decade from now and compare others to like we do with the FMA animes. Those are both on Netflix, too, and I hope people will see the movie and think it was good, and then go back and watch the anime and be blown away. Now you can! (Assuming you have Netflix, that is.) Friends made me read the manga recently - I wasn't too much into manga but I really liked it. I heard the first anime differed sensibly, haven't watched it. Does the movie have a lot of changes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragontology Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 48 minutes ago, Brys said: Friends made me read the manga recently - I wasn't too much into manga but I really liked it. I heard the first anime differed sensibly, haven't watched it. Does the movie have a lot of changes ? I haven't read the manga. Manga and comic books... affect me in some way. I can't get into them. I've tried. And I will keep trying. However, though my wife has in fact collected all 27 volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist, I've barely dented the first one. I've seen both anime series and both anime movies, though. The movie doesn't change things (except some weird casting issues), it just skips over a lot. For example, in the anime/manga, the character 'Barry the Chopper' gives Al the idea that he's not a real person and that Ed conned him into helping him. This was the case with Barry, he was created to serve, and he convinces Al that he was, as well. Barry's not in the movie, and Shou Tucker gives Al this idea instead. Shou Tucker also has an expanded role later in the movie I don't recall him having in the series. That, and a lot of characters were taken out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brys Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 1 minute ago, dragontology said: I haven't read the manga. Manga and comic books... affect me in some way. I can't get into them. I've tried. And I will keep trying. However, though my wife has in fact collected all 27 volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist, I've barely dented the first one. I've seen both anime series and both anime movies, though. The movie doesn't change things (except some weird casting issues), it just skips over a lot. For example, in the anime/manga, the character 'Barry the Chopper' gives Al the idea that he's not a real person and that Ed conned him into helping him. This was the case with Barry, he was created to serve, and he convinces Al that he was, as well. Barry's not in the movie, and Shou Tucker gives Al this idea instead. Shou Tucker also has an expanded role later in the movie I don't recall him having in the series. That, and a lot of characters were taken out. Ok, thanks, maybe I'll give that movie a watch if I have the time. On 2/17/2018 at 6:04 AM, George P said: It's kind of crazy the way the two FMA animes worked out BUT, you can read the manga first if you wanted, or just watch both anime series one after the other and keep in mind that the 2nd half of the first is non-canon, as is it's movie sequel. Personally, the canon ending, from the manga etc, is the better one IMO, really liked it. I'll be watching this once I get a chance, no harm no foul. A friend told me that the first anime was made before the manga was finished, with the general ideas from the original creator as to where the story should go, but that he could then write the rest of the manga with feedback from the anime, hence the big changes - I don't know if that's true or if it's an urban legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 5 hours ago, dragontology said: I haven't read the manga. Manga and comic books... affect me in some way. I can't get into them. I've tried. And I will keep trying. However, though my wife has in fact collected all 27 volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist, I've barely dented the first one. I've seen both anime series and both anime movies, though. The movie doesn't change things (except some weird casting issues), it just skips over a lot. For example, in the anime/manga, the character 'Barry the Chopper' gives Al the idea that he's not a real person and that Ed conned him into helping him. This was the case with Barry, he was created to serve, and he convinces Al that he was, as well. Barry's not in the movie, and Shou Tucker gives Al this idea instead. Shou Tucker also has an expanded role later in the movie I don't recall him having in the series. That, and a lot of characters were taken out. aight, so Ill take your word for it and watch it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 (edited) Saw this on Netflix. Not a big fan of sub titles so have not watched it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotenks98 Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Gonna check this out this weekend. I love most live action movies except for DeathNote. That was utter garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragontology Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 14 hours ago, Gotenks98 said: Gonna check this out this weekend. I love most live action movies except for DeathNote. That was utter garbage. Death Note was actually pretty good. I know a lot of people didn't like them making the characters white (or L black) in Death Note, same with Ghost in the Shell... or Dark Tower for that matter, but that's getting away from anime. I stopped caring about the politics behind casting a long time ago. Dark Tower was good (but a garbage adaptation of a great series), Death Note was good, Fullmetal Alchemist was pretty good, and I haven't seen Ghost in the Shell yet. This is judging the movies in a bubble, on their own merits, without giving any consideration to the source material. I just can't justify comparing an adaptation to the original work. When Stephen King's series Under the Dome turned into a dumpster fire (I think toward the end of the first season) King said something that stuck with me ever since. He said the adaptation is a new work based on the inspiration behind the old work, and if the new adaptation bothers you, read (or in this case watch) the original again. At first it made me mad, because I had personally invested so much time into reading that book, and it was quite long. It took a couple months to read, and I couldn't put it down. I felt like the television series owed me something — plus, it was so good to start out with. And it did have good moments. I'm glad it died before it got real bad, unlike Once Upon a Time, which I eventually had to drop. Good adaptations do exist, though. Stephen King's 11/22/63 was adapted very well by Hulu, and getting back to anime, Netflix's ERASED should be considered the gold standard in anime and manga adaptations, as it followed the manga more closely than the anime did. They both skipped the burning building in the first volume (as it was probably deemed unnecessary by both adaptations to establish Satoru's Revival power twice as the manga did), but the live series retains the manga's original ending. And whereas I thought Kayo was adorable in the anime, in the live series she keeps the broken, unapproachable look she had in the manga, which must have been incredibly difficult for an otherwise happy little girl to pull off. So when we see her smile, and her happiness breaks through, it's felt so much more strongly. Fullmetal Alchemist was more of an adaptation like Death Note or Dark Tower. They had a ton of content and tried to get it done in a single film. Death Note smartly skipped all the extra crap, knowing that the important plot was the stuff between L and Light. The girl was exactly as important as she needed to be, and L's replacements (M and N?) were never used. The Netflix adaptation was much smarter with what it needed to do than the anime, which should have been done in 12, not 35+ episodes. Dark Tower was a train wreck, taking 8 books and churning out a 95 minute, PG-13 movie that skipped nearly everything. FMA sort of splits the difference. Like Death Note, it tries to cram the meat and potatoes of the anime series into one film, but like Dark Tower, it leaves several key elements out. I'm still working through how I feel about it as an adaptation, but in that regard, it isn't pretty. As I've said, the only fair way I can judge it is on its own merits, which is why I rated it the way I did. On its own it was actually really good. But I'm afraid die-hard fans of the anime won't be so kind. One might say that at least they didn't whitewash the cast like they did with Death Note, but in fact they did the exact opposite. Fullmetal Alchemist could be retribution for Death Note and Ghost in the Shell. (Though Attack on Titan came out before any of them and did the same.) Here's a story that takes place in an alternate-universe Germany, and yet everyone's Japanese because... reasons? Or more likely budget. The Japanese studios don't have access to the pool of talented European actors for European roles, while Hollywood absolutely has access to a pool of talented Japanese actors for Japanese roles. Hollywood's reasons are more likely to be racist, while Japan's film studios act more out of necessity. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted February 21, 2018 Veteran Share Posted February 21, 2018 Here is my understanding of FMA and FMA brotherhood. Brotherhood was supposed to be more on the lines of the Manga, where FMA was created as the manga was being created and due to publication with the manga FMA was released ahead of the mange therefore doesn't follow the story line of the manga as well. This seem to agree with me https://the-artifice.com/fullmetal-alchemist-differences-between-the-2003-version-brotherhood/ As far as the movie goes, they are trying to bring the anime cheezieness to live action. It translates to bad acting. I thought what I saw was ok but would rather have an American adaptation without the cheesy anime live action adaptation. They can add comedy but leave the big eyes, over dramatic lines and expressions, and stars over their heads in the comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadishTM Veteran Posted February 21, 2018 Veteran Share Posted February 21, 2018 Saw the trailer for this on Netflix yesterday and while the special effects looked good, the acting shown was not so great - a bit overdramatic, only suited to anime Another brilliant anime that doesn't need a live-action film adaptation... Dysphoria 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysphoria Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Just now, RadishTM said: Saw the trailer for this on Netflix yesterday and while the special effects looked good, the acting shown was not so great - a bit overdramatic, only suited to anime Another brilliant anime that doesn't need a live-action film adaptation... 2nd that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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