Post Modern Case Study

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, 2004)

Full Metal Alchemist is a Japanese anime series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. Set in a fictional universe based around life after the European Industrial Revolution alchemy is the most advanced scientific technology known to man.

“Alchemy is a science where one understands the structure of matter, breaks it down, then rebuilds it. However, it is not an all-powerful technique, as one cannot create something out of nothing. If one wishes to gain something one must present something of equal value. This is the concept of equivalent exchange and the fundamental basis of alchemy.”

The story follows two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who want to restore their bodies after they performed human transmutation in an attempt to bring their mother back to life, a tabooed alchemy. I believe that Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2004) is post modern as it uses ideas such as hyper reality, pastiche, identity crisis and what it is to be human, it also brushes upon grand narratives by suggesting that God is not an almighty figure within this world, episode 63 is a perfect example of this.

Episode 63: The Other Side of the Gate

Firstly, throughout FMA pastiches the idea of the Philosopher’s Stone, a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver, and has also been believed to be useful for rejuvenation and even achieving immortality, which has been used repeatedly throughout the history of literature. In FMA it is also referenced as The Great Elixir, and is created through mass genocide of cities, to create a single stone for a single person’s immortality. Many stones were created by ‘Father’ a man who was created through a philosopher's stone and a man called Van Hohenheim, the Elric brother’s father. The use of the philosopher's stone, this poses the question “What is it to be human?” as those who have been created via a philosopher's stone are known as Homunculi, and believe themselves to be the perfect creation as they have only one of the seven deadly sins and an ‘immortal’ life, and humans to be an inferior race, however in order for the Homunculi to be created something of equivalent value has to be presented as they are created through Human Transmutation.

Both Eastern and Western fashions have been pastiched within FMA, two characters Lin Yao and Xiao Mae wear very striking clothes, which don’t quite fit in with the western ‘Amestris’ fashion. Xiao Mae’s bright pink kimono and little black pumps and white socks make her easy to spot as foreigner, as well is Lin’s male kimono is formal and less noticeable. Western fashion is as expected, with trouser and smart shirts, and formal uniform for those who are part of the Army.

FMA poses an identity crisis within its episodes as a humonculi is created through Lin’s body and a philosopher's stone using one of Father’s seven deadly sins Greed. However Lin’s body is taken over by Greed, but his soul is strong enough to fight off Greed from taking his body over completely, resulting in Lin and Greed sharing the body. Throughout the series, Lin manages to overcome Greed allowing him to give useful information to Edward, however in the end Greed and Lin decide to work together to obtain a philosopher's stone to become Emperor of Xing, suggesting the Greed is also working with Lin’s deadly sin of greed, this makes it unclear as to whether it is Greed who is striving to gain everything, or Lin’s passion for his country in becoming Emperor, as they both work together as one. In episode 63, Father is on his last legs and has no more philosopher's stones to keep him alive, striving for Lin’s body, he grabs the philosopher's stone from inside of him, extracting Greed from Lin’s body. During this scene Lin fights to keep Greed within him, however Greed believes it is better for him to leave Lin’s body to keep him alive. This goes against Greed’s greedy nature implying maybe he has learnt about what it is to be human.

A hyper real world, The Gate of Truth has been created for a number of occasions, one is when a person performs human transmutation, and they are judged on what will be taken from them for equivalent exchange. This happened at the beginning when Ed has his left leg taken from him, and Al his life taken, however in order to restore Al’s soul, Ed sacrifices his right arm and attaches Al’s soul to a suit of armour. In episode 63 Al sacrifices his soul and ask The Truth within the hyper real to give his brother back his right arm in order for him to fight Father. In this world, Al’s soul is reunited with the body he left for years; his body has become weak and deprived. Once Father has been defeated, Ed uses a human transmutation circle to open The Gate Of Truth where he asks to sacrifice his knowledge of alchemy for his brothers body. The Truth allows this and congratulates him as Ed has learnt that he does not need alchemy to solve things and to be the perfect human. It is unsure as to whether The Gate Of Truth is a world where one can live, as Al’s body was withering away after years of starvation within The Gate of Truth, it is unsure how much longer his body would be able to live without a soul.

What makes us human? Within FMA it is believed that one with a soul is a human, and that the body is simply capsule to carry the soul. This is suggested through Alphonse who has his soul attached to armour. His brother once said to another with a soul attached to armour “If I kill you and reject that you are human, am I not rejecting my brother as human.” Suggesting that the soul is what makes us human.

Father attempted to become the perfect human by getting rid of the seven deadly sins; Wrath, Greed, Pride, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy and Lust. Out of these he created the humonculi, who believed that they were a perfect race and the obtained only one deadly sin, as well as immortality, however their immortality did not last long once the philosopher's stone within them was destroyed, this suggests that maybe it is our is the seven deadly sins which make us human, and we need all seven to have human qualities.

In conclusion I believe that Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2004) is post modern as it uses pastiche to imitate the idea of a philosopher's stone for immortality which we has been repeated through history in all types of literature, as well as its use of ideas from western and eastern cultures. It also addresses and identity crisis among the characters and questions the idea of split personalities. The hyper real world questions the audience’s perception of life after death and whether we all have a Gate of Truth, I believe that something which questions an audience’s existing knowledge is post modern. This is also done with the questioning of human qualities and immortality as the audience is left with the thought “why am I human?’ for this reason I consider Full Metal Alchemist: Brother (2004) to be a perfect example of post modernity.