Fullmetal Alchemist

offical website: http://fullmetalalchemist.com/

Fullmetal Alchemist is an ongoing Japanese manga and anime series, manga written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa .The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution. The setting is placed in a fiction universe, in which alchemy is the most advanced scientific techniques known to man, the story follows the brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric (Al), who want to restore their bodies after a disastrous failed attempt to bring their mother back to life through alchemy.

The anime was put into a 54 episode series by bones, and then a sequel film to conclude the series, late Fullmetal Alchemist gave another sequel television series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Many spin-off novels, OVAs (original video animations), drama CDs, soundtracks, and video games have been made from this series. A collectible card game, multiple supplementary books, and action figures, ect. based on the characters of the series have also been released.

The manga has been licensed Viz Media for publication in the United States, with twenty-two bound volumes released currently. Although there are no major differences with the Japanese version, some pages have been edited to avoid minor references to western theology.

Fumimation Entertainment has dubbed the anime episodes in the United States and Canada, and has also released them in all English-speaking DVD regions. The English version of the film was shown in a small number of U.S. theaters on August 25, 2006 and was later released on DVD. Funimation and Destineer have also been releasing the video games from the series.

Japan, the Fullmetal Alchemist manga had sales of over 30 million volumes sold as of 2008. The English release of the manga's first volume was the top-selling graphic novel during the year 2005.

Plot
Edward and Alphonse Elric (Al) are two alchemist brothers searching for the legendary Philosopher's Stone, a powerful object which would allow them to recover their bodies, in which they had lost with an failed attempt to bring there deceased mother back to life. After their mother's death, Edward became determined to bring her back through the use of alchemy, an complex science in which objects can be created from raw materials. They researched Human Transmutation, a forbidden art in which one attempts to create or modify a human being. However, this attempt failed, ultimately resulting in the loss of Edward's left leg and Alphonse's entire body. Edward wanting to save his brother, gave up his right arm as well, to transmit Al's soul, which Al's soul was placed in the body of armor (see above). A few days later, Roy Mustang, an alchemist,visited the Elric brothers, and told the brothers to join the State Military of the Country, as he could find a way to recover bodies. After that, Edward's left leg and right arm were replaced with automail, a type of advanced prosthetic limb, created for him by his close family friends Winry Rockbell and her grandmother Pinako.

Edward then became a State Alchemist, an alchemist employed by the State Military of Amestris, which infamously annihilated most of the Ishbalan race in the past decade. Being a state alchemist enables him to use the extensive resources available, but turns into "dog of the military". Mustang, allows the brothers freedom to look for the Philosopher's Stone as part of Edward's research.The brothers set off in search of the Philosopher's Stone as a means to restore their bodies. Throughout their journey, many enemies are made, including those who are willing to do anything to obtain the Philosopher's Stone.

As the story progresses, Edward and Alphonse discover the vast expansion of Amestris was the result of the homunculi, who created and secretly control the State Military. The homunculi and much of the high-ranking military officers are commanded from behind the curtains by the creator of the homunculi, a man simply known as "Father" who gained immortality by creating the Philosopher's Stone by tricking Hohenheim centuries before the series' timeline. He plans to use Amestris as a gigantic transmutation circle in order to transmute the entire country for reasons unknown to the Elrics. When Edward and Alphonse discover Father's plans, they, along with other members of the State Military, set out to defeat him.