If you're an anime fan or pay attention to Japanese pop culture news, you may remember that Netflix released a live action Fullmetal Alchemist film back in 2017...to mixed results.

Despite a savvy end credit scene that suggested potential future installments, I - and I'm pretty sure most anime fans - were surprised to hear that the first film's middling success didn't signal the death knell of the live action franchise.

Instead, we're getting two sequel films this summer: Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter - The Avenger Scar and Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter - The Last Transmutation, releasing on May 20th and June 24th respectively.

The trailer was released March 15th (and I somehow only knew about this because of this article about how a bunch of K-Pop fans mistook the film's lead Ryosuke Yamada on the FMA poster for ATEEZ's Yeosang).

First off, respect Ryosuke Yamada and his spot-on portrayal of multiple vertically-challenged live action-adapted anime protagonists.

Second, wait, what is the live action Fullmetal Alchemist team going to do with the two sequel films?

FMA is notoriously complicated, with its intricate world-building, extensive supporting cast, high-minded philosophical themes, and unique magic system. And, with how the first film ended, I'm not sure even I can confidently outline how the sequel films will conclude - and I'm a fan of both the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime and 2009's follow-up/re-do Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Putting aside the idea that FMA may have been better served as a live action series than a film trilogy, in honor of Ryosuke Yamada's 29th birthday, here are some ideas that I'd like to see based on what's been revealed in the sequel films' trailer and the "PERFECT GUIDE #1 STORY" that was uploaded to the Warner Bros. Japan YouTube channel.

(For future reference, if your movie is so hard to understand that you need to prep your audience with, not a recap, but a basic run-down of what they should expect to see, something is horribly wrong.)

What I Expect to See in the 'Fullmetal Alchemist' Sequel Films

1. An Expanded World That Includes Fan Favorites from the Country of Xing

One major aspect that differs between the 2003 original Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the introduction of nations outside of Amestris, primarily that of the China-inspired Xing. In addition to a different form of alchemy called alkahestry, Xing is also the home of fan favorite characters like Mei Chang, Xiao-Mei, Lan Fan, Fu, and my personal favorite, Ling Yao.

From the trailer, I saw glimpses of all of the Xing characters, including Ling Yao's iconic bright yellow outfit and Mei Chang's pink outfit and adorable buns hairstyle among the rest of the more dusty-looking production design. From this, I'm expecting that the live action movies are set to adhere more strongly to the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and thus, the manga's storyline.

2. ...But Probably Little to No Diversity to Reflect Newly Introduced Characters' Backgrounds

As mentioned before, Xing is a fictional country that seems pretty obviously inspired by China. Their country is governed by an emperor who rules over fifty hereditary clans. He takes multiple concubines and all his decedents fight for succession. The warriors from Xing also fight with martial arts. So yeah, seems like a shorthand for China.

However, despite this, judging from the released cast list, these characters are not played by Chinese actors, for the most part. With the exception of Mei Chang, who will be played by Long Meng Rou - a Chinese actress whose claim to fame seems to stem from her being a doppleganger for popular Japanese actress Yui Aragaki - none of the actors playing Xing characters seem to be of Chinese descent.

But perhaps this is to be expected. When you have characters with names like Edward Elric, Alex Louis Armstrong, and Roy Mustang, all played by Japanese actors, it's already a boon that we got Long Meng Rou in the mix at all. Contrary to Hollywood anime adaptations, when you have presumably Japanese characters played by white actors, it's customary to see the opposite occurring in Japanese anime adaptations featuring characters that may not be originally written as Japanese.

3. SCAR! And His Revenge/Anti-Conquest Tale Regarding His Brother and the Ishvalan Civil War

One of the most interesting and complex characters of the FMA-verse is Scar, an Ishvalan War survivor on a revenge mission and also the titular "Avenger" in the first of the two films Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter - The Avenger Scar. In the films, popular actor Mackenyu Arata is set to play Scar.

In the anime, Scar is initially introduced as an intimidating villain who targets state alchemists, believing that they were behind the death of his brother and extermination of the Ishvalan people. However, as we learn more about the Ishavalan point of view, he becomes a much more sympathetic character, and through him, we ponder how one should deal with shouldering unspeakable amounts of hate. Can one truly be redeemed after doing so much harm?

Scar's journey post-Ishvalan Civil War is also interesting because he ends up using the very alchemy that his perceived enemies use to hunt them down and kill them.

Things take a more tragic turn as we learn that this method of execution tears Scar up inside, because alchemy and alkahestry are considered heresy to the Ishvalan religion.

Having Scar feature so prominently in the next live action installment signals the live action films' willingness to engage in the more heavy and complex themes of the anime and manga. It's now common knowledge that the Ishvalan Civil War and racial tension is based on Fullmetal Alchemist manga author Hiromu Arakawa's own experience learning about how her ancestors displaced and then married the indigenous Ainu people in Hokkaido, Japan.

With such intense real world inspiration, it'll be interesting to see how the live action films handle this part of Fullmetal Alchemist's epic tale.

4. Rumination on the Nature of Truth through the Character of Father/Van Hohenheim

The Fullmetal Alchemist live action film trailers also give us the first glimpses of Father/Van Hohenheim and the Dwarf in the Flask. These characters touch upon perhaps the most intensely philosophical topic from Fullmetal Alchemist: The nature of Truth and God.

Even the most hardcore Fullmetal Alchemist fan may have trouble explaining this part of the show. Intensely metaphysical, FMA's rumination on the nature of truth involves Father's terrifying plan and his quest to become a superior being that's close to God - and also Edward Elric's sacrifice of his Gate of Truth and his ability to use alchemy to bring his brother Alphonse's body back to the human realm.

Everything's super abstract and highly symbolic, and definitely gives FMA fans plenty to chew over.

Ultimately, it's clear that this aspect of the manga and anime will also feature prominently in these live action sequels. Though I'm a little worried about how the live action filmmakers can tackle this topic clearly with less time, but I respect the live action films' ambition!

5. More than Three Homunculi

In the first live action Fullmetal Alchemist film, only three of the seven homunculi - personifications of the seven deadly sins - appear: Envy, Lust, and Gluttony. Created when Father cut out his seven sins, each of the homunculi are artificial humans powered by philosopher stones, in which Father has stored these aspects of his humanity.

Considering that Envy, Lust, and Gluttony are the homunculi that figure prominently in the beginning of the anime and manga, the fact that only three of the seven were included in the first live action film makes sense.

However, in the trailer, we catch glimpses of the other four homunculi as well, signaling their impending involvement in the Elric brothers' live action journey. (Considering that my favorite character in the entire series is Ling/Greed, I'm completely on board with that!)

6. Briggs' Fortress, Olivier Mira Armstrong, and the Badass State Military in the North

In yet another arc in the anime, the Elric brothers travel north and meet the badass state military at Briggs' Fortress led by Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong, the tough-as-nails older sister of Alex Louis Armstrong. We see Olivier in all her blonde-haired glory in the trailer as she stands imposingly on fortress ramparts.

The Briggs arc is one of my favorites due to its testament to human fortitude and wealth of lovable characters whose humanity you truly come to respect. However, the Briggs arc also deals with a government plan to create immortal super-soldiers, which was already depicted in the first Fullmetal Alchemist live action movie.

Due to the first live action film prematurely tackling the immortal super army idea, I'm not sure how this Briggs section will play out now. If I had to venture a guess, I'm assuming we'll only get the part where Sloth carves a part of the massive Amestris transmutation circle.

We'll see!

7. The Government Conspiracy Where We Learn that A Giant Transmutation Circle Was Carved To Sacrifice the Whole of Amestris

Speaking of the giant transmutation circle, we also see a horrified Edward Elric pouring over a map with a giant transmutation circle drawn on it in the trailer. This image, and Olivier's line mentioning "Yakusoku no Hi" - or the more familiar "Promised Day," for English-language FMA fans - signify that the two live action sequels will seek to tackle Father's grand master plan of using the government to turn the entirety of Amestris into human sacrifices, so he can ascend to a level close to God.

For Father's plan to work, there are many, many pieces put in place over the course of the 64-episode anime. Certainly, this signals the live action trilogy's ambitions, and I'm interested to see how much of the plan actually makes it to film.

8. Edward Elric Giving Up His Alchemy to Restore Alphonse's Body

By extension, if we're going to see Father's plan come to fruition, then we're also going to see the climactic scene when Edward Elric gives up his alchemy to restore Alphonse's body.

From the beginning, the series hinges on a promise Edward gives Alphonse: That no matter what, he's going to figure out a way to give Alphonse his body back, after the two suffered losses when attempting human transmutation to bring their mother back from the dead.

And now, we're going to see that promise pay off in the live action sequels!

Beyond the logical extension of plot, this part of the FMA story is acknowledged in the trailer by a shot of Edward pointing at Alphonse's body as he's dragged back through the Gate of Truth.

Edward's emotional sacrifice underscores not only the brotherhood theme between Edward and Alphonse, but also drives home FMA's major philosophical message: That humans don't need to strive beyond their level - they're fine being the best version of humanity they can be.

9. A Lot of Passing References That Fans Will Get, But Not Feel Satisfied By

Fullmetal Alchemist is honestly one of the most complex and well-written stories I've ever been exposed to with a wealth of characters and storylines that all feel organic and well-woven together. However, since the live action sequels only have the space two two-hour movies, there's no way that each of these characters and storylines will be satisfactorily handled.

Instead, I suspect that many of the characters will show up briefly and then disappear until they're needed in the finale. This makes these characters little more than cameos that FMA fans will recognize, but not feel completely content with.

Juggling a huge cast is always tough for any filmmaker, but what the Fullmetal Alchemist live action team are trying to accomplish seems like an almost impossible task.

10. All Too Much Shoved into Two Two-Hour Movies

Movies can only do so much within their runtime.

From what I can see in the trailer, it looks like the Fullmetal Alchemist live action sequels are trying to grasp at as much of the FMA story as possible. Because of this, I fear that the live action films will become like a speed run of significant FMA milestones.

We've already seen how speeding through storytelling guts the emotional impact of Fullmetal Alchemist. When Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was released, it's clear that the creative team assumed that viewers had already seen the 2003 original anime. Thus, the first 13 episodes speed through the events that were already covered by the 2003 anime.

While I understand Brotherhood's desire to not waste people's time by showing something people have already seen before, speeding through events resulted in the 2003 anime's version of these events being the more iconic and emotionally impactful telling of them. When people think about Nina and the implications of using human transmutation to create a chimera, people are thinking about the haunting depiction in the 2003 anime, not the Brotherhood version.

This is why I'm afraid that the live action Fullmetal Alchemist films will also fall under the same trap. By speeding through the events of the most epic FMA story arcs, the filmmakers run the risk of robbing them of emotional impact. Audiences need time to sit in their emotions as they watch these heavier scenes, which is why the pacing will be essential to providing the needed gravitas.

I can only hope that the live action filmmakers take this into account instead of desperately trying to hit the anime and manga's most iconic scenes.

Now that you know that there are two live action Fullmetal Alchemist sequels coming out this summer, are you excited to see them? Do you think my predictions will be correct? Let's celebrate Ryosuke Yamada's 29th birthday with thinking up FMA conspiracies together!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter - The Avenger Scar hits theaters May 20th, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter - The Last Transmutation will be released June 24th.

For more entertainment news and commentary, check out Enstarz! We bring you the latest on your favorite celebrities, TV shows, and films.

Tags

Netflix