on a plain

Source: http://natalie.mu/comic/pp/hagarenmovie02

“Fullmetal Alchemist” [Hagane no Renkinjusushi, or “Hagane”] is premiering on December 1st.  So, whose heart was beating faster than anyone else and called the movie “a celebration”? It was Hiromu Arakawa, the creator of the manga.  Previously, “Fullmetal Alchemist” had been adapted into other media formats such as anime and games, and to Arakawa, who seemed to be enjoying the “celebration” more than others, said “I can see a new [incarnation] of the work again!” As part of Comic Natalie’s special celebration with the release of [“Fullmetal Alchemist”], we interviewed this Arakawa. In addition to getting the scoop on the highlights of the movie, [she also had] a message for the passionate fans of the original work.

Yamada-san did a really good job bringing the comical action scenes from the manga to life

── Could you tell us your frank impression of the time when you know about the decision to adapt [your work] into live action? At the end of volume 15 of “Fullmetal Alchemist” released in 2006, there was a panel where everyone was speculating “What if [FMA] is made into a live action adaptation?”

When I heard about the live action adaptation, the first voice I made was “Hoo!” (laughs). When we were drawing the panel, I remember everyone was [just] noisily blurting out [whatever came to mind].  Although it had already been made into anime, games, etc, when I heard that it will be adapted to yet another medium, as the creator, I felt a wave of excitement that “I can see something new again!” I was looking forward to the completion of the film.

[T/N: I was hoping she would talk about the fantasy casting of Ed, but yeah, based on the published date, she / staff were thinking about a different Yamada.]

──The protagonist, Ed, is played by Ryosuke Yamada, a member of Hey! Say! JUMP.

Didn’t Yamada-san appear in “Grasshopper” (the movie was released in 2015)? So when Director Sori (Fumihiko) told me, “I want to cast Yamada-kun as Ed”, my first thought was, “Oh, that killer!” (laughs).

── (Laughs) Yamada-san was playing the role of a knife wielding killer in “Grasshopper.”

I thought Yamada-san’s movements in that movie were amazing. At his opening scene he was getting rid of a gang of thugs, the way he killed them was like a dance. Since [watching that movie], I absolutely think that he will be great with action scenes. The director also mentioned that, and actually, when I saw the [finished “Fullmetal Alchemist” movie], Yamada-san was even able to perform the action scenes in a comical way like they were in the manga. Ed in the manga rarely runs in a cool way (laughs). Yamada-san even conveyed that [detailed] movement strongly.

See the scene from Grasshopper here:

── Certainly, in the [early] scene where Ed was running, I thought “Oh, that’s how Ed runs!” Yamada-san himself seemed to be committed to [this style of] running; he said he was influenced by the manga.

There was a hasty desperation in the running, and he did it in a comical way just like the manga. Ed’s comical but great physicality was on full display in the opening action scene, and I thought, "He is as good as I expected, this guy!”

The “Leaving the job to the Specialists” Stance

── By the way, like Yamada-san, Tsubasa Honda-san who plays Winry and Hongo Kanata-san who plays Envy are also long-time fans of “Fullmetal Alchemist”.

Looks like it. That said, I feel bad that they might feel bound by the image from reading the manga.  Because I don’t not mind having them perform with their own interpretation [of their respective characters].

── Didn’t Arakawa-san give any orders to the cast or the director?

I checked the script that was submitted, but basically, I left [the making of the film] to the director. It’s just not how I do things, I think believe in “leaving the job to the specialists”. So I simply think, "I’m looking forward to the finished work.”  That was the case with the anime as well, but I feel that I should “apologize for being an author who does not work" (laughs).

── So it is best to leave the animation to the anime producers and the filming to live action producers.

Yes. I think that there is no need [for them] to worry about the original work separately.  So I said, “please do whatever you want.” I am the type that do not care about how the character looks visually as long as the [essence of the] character is expressed, so when I first saw Winry, who is originally blonde, I asked myself, "does Winry have to be blonde?”  Actually, when Winry’s blonde hair became brunette, it matched the background colour in the train scene, it looked like it fit right in!  If a character stands up [to the original] in a live action adaptation, I think that it is perfectly fine even if there are changes from the original.  That’s why Tucker-san (played by Yo Oizumi) who has a lot of hair also exists (laughs).  

── Ahaha (laughs).

I am interested in Oizumi-san because he is also from Hokkaido.  He is the star of Hokkaido (laughs).  In the movie, there were a lot of Tucker, when I saw it, I thought “Ooh, you have come out here.” It was also a highlight.

── How about the other cast?

I was shaken by Colonel Mustang’s (played by Dean Fujioka) coolness.  Hughes-san (played by Ryuta Sato) was still Hughes (laughs).  For Ed and Winry, it seemed that Yamada-san and Honda-san were already on good terms, so it was very good that they were able to make use of this delicious feeling. And as expected, the Homunculus group was amazing ….

── The degree of realization of the Homunculus group of Lust, Envy, and Gluttony was especially high.  When the visuals were revealed at the fan event, a loud cheer erupted from the crowd.

I never thought Matsuyuki (Yasuko)-san would accept [the offer] to play the role (of Lust) (laughs). Uchiyama (Shinji)-san conveyed the bad feelings of Gluttony, right? Hongo (Kanata)-san’s Envy also felt very cocky.  Jun Kunimura-san who played Marcoh did not appear a lot, but he attracted me with his subtle eye acting, which I thought was truly amazing. There were many cast members who usually played as a leading role portrays great supporting roles in this movie, it was truly a magnificent cast.

I purely thought “I want to see it”

── Although you said you basically left the live action adaptation to the director, how did the “Fullmetal Alchemist” that was shot from Director Sori’s point-of-view look through Arakawa-san’s eyes?

Link to ao3

Prompt for @moms-made-fullmetal-2019

Day 2-Birth

Rating-General

Riza was sitting on the couch as Roy was cooking dinner for her. She rubbed her pregnant belly as she smelled the food.

So, when the baby’s born what should we name him? Or her?“ Roy asked.

"Hmm, well if it’s a girl…I like the name Lily a lot. I haven’t decided on a boy name yet.”

“How about…Antonio Mustang? Or…Roy Mustang Jr.!”

Riza started to laugh out loud suddenly, she felt…wet?

She looked down and gasped as she saw the couch soaked. “U-um…Roy?”

“Yeah Riza?”

“I think my water broke.”

Roy turned really quiet all of a sudden and suddenly started to panic. “WHAT?! What do you mean your water broke?!”

“I mean the baby is coming.”

“Okokok, I’m gonna take you to the hospital and maybe we need some blankets o-or maybe even-”

“ROY JUST TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL DANGIT!”

Roy fearfully nodded and sped Riza to the hospital.

“How you doing?”

Riza started to yell as she felt the contractions starting and Roy just silently prayed that she would be alright.

“Ok we’re here!” He took her inside the hospital where they took them both into a room.

“Alright, just push Mrs. Mustang.” the doctor ordered.

As Riza pushed she let out a yell and started to crush Roy’s hand and he yelled out in pain.

And after five excruciating hours a loud crying was heard throughout the room and Riza gasped softly as tears of joy flooded her eyes.

A boy

As Riza held the newborn in her arms, she couldn’t help but awe at his chubby cheeks and how his tiny hand grasped her finger. She kissed his hand and looked at Roy whose hand was wrapped after Riza broke it. He was trying so hard not to burst into tears at the very moment and he kissed Riza’s forehead. As the baby blinked into his mother’s eyes, a soft yet sad smile came on her face.

Blossoms in the North

First post in QUITE a while :’) Wooden charms of these three will be available soon in my shop :>

Roy: I did.

Olivier Mira Armstrong: I would have called you a goddamn idiot.

One of my favorite things about FMAB is how it presents women. The women of FMAB are diverse and independent heroes and villains, and wow do they get their time to shine. FMAB refuses to adhere to sexual tropes often found in anime/manga, and aside from a few shots typical for the shounen genre, the women of FMAB are not sexualized. From Lan Fan and Maria Ross to Riza Hawkeye and Winry Rockbell, every FMAB woman is a complex, dynamic character with a  significant role in the plot. 

And for every woman that is sexualized, a man gets sexualized, too. FMAB has plenty of ab shots, and most of them come from Major Armstrong and are a big part of his comedic role. Major Armstrong, while he is a character used mostly for comic relief, is also a fantastic example of how FMAB handles physical and spiritual androgyny. Alex has the full pink lips, bright baby blue eyes, and long eyelashes of the Armstrong family. Additionally, he is almost completely hairless, a trait expected of modern women. He is also a huge absolutely ripped war criminal who all but defeated one of the most dangerous homunculi on his own. He’s terrifying. And yet none of us have ever once thought that while watching the series. Why? Because he also has a hair loop, is entirely silly, and has traditionally feminine features.

But that’s the thing– Olivier has those same traits. She has a hair loop and the Armstrong facial features that ARE JUST GENETICS, but she’s not big. She doesn’t need to be big to be respected by her men. The difference between them is how she demands respect. I’ll write a post later on that. She is confident and skilled, and the men she trains respect her not as a woman, but as a General. She makes it clear from the moment we meet her that her gender is not a box for her, and FMAB as a series sends out a very clear message on its views on toxic feminine and masculine gender roles.

In one scene, she embraces her sexuality and traditional femininity in order to get information from General Raven, and what happens? He sexually harasses her. 

It’s possible that she learned to reject traditional femininity in order to demand respect early on as she climbed the ranks of an extremely patriarchal military hierarchy for that exact reason, but we also see in her interactions with her family that she most likely has always been extremely tough, strong, and confident. And her rejection of traditional femininity is not a rejection of her own femininity or humanity (as embracing masculinity is so often portrayed as rejecting basic human functions like emotions). Olivier Armstrong is beautiful, and she knows it. Have you seen her flipping that long gorgeous hair around? 

She is also emotional and caring, displayed in how she looks after her men and grieves the loss of her good friend and soldier Captain Buccaneer.

As a woman, Olivier Mira Armstrong’s confidence and her take-no-crap attitude demands respect from every single person who crosses her path. As a General, her confidence and stability in who she is as a woman and person allow her to command armies in much greater battles.

Inspired by @atlaofcolor

Fma artists/writers/gifmakers/creators, please send us your work by 

- using the tag #fmaofcolor 

- tagging us @fmaofcolor

- or sending a link through the ask box 

We won’t repost any work that supports ships between family members or with large age gaps, and reserve the right to not reblog something if we’re not comfortable with.

IIIIIII got those fma feels

Reasons why this will always be Badass as Fuck:

Within seconds Riza has figured out this isn’t Roy. This is Envy. She and Mustang know each other that well, to the point she’s confident enough pointing a gun to an imposter within SECONDS. 

Like, they exchange less than ten sentences talking to each other, and she knows enough to point a fucking gun at him.

And she’s smirking about the fact she knows how to prove it’s an imposter.

She’s immediately ready to take Envy down with this trickery.

She already knows how to do it.

How to be badass and prove this ain’t Roy and take down this damn imposter.

It only takes one statement for Riza to fool Envy into revealing himself. ONE STATEMENT “The colonel calls me Riza” and Hawkeye has entirely outmanipulated our shapeshifting manipulator.

bait taken JUST like that, so easy

The reason her lie is believable is because of how close Mustang and Hawkeye are

how close everyone knows Mustang and Hawkeye are

to the point even enemies like Envy would think “oh they’re together that makes sense” 

to the point that when Riza tells Envy this lie, Envy doesn’t try to continue the facade and be like, “Well, how do I know you’re not Riza!Envy and lying to me??” Envy just goes “SHIT I FUKKED UP BAD” and flips

Riza knows that this will be believable and gets Envy to reveal himself, like, dayyyuumn woman

Envy’s immediate reaction is enough to prove beyond-all-shadow-of-doubt to Riza this is definitely-not-Roy. I mean, Riza already knew. But she just proved it. And so she shoots before Envy can evenreally transform out of the Roy appearance (in the manga, anyway)

That fast reaction

BANG

And then this calm “I lied”

like holy fuck that’s awesome

and then this fucking “Thanks for falling for it”

like fuck what she did was calmly tell Envy he fell for it and that she totally meant him to fall for it and that it was so easy for him to fall for it 

like that’s power

that’s POWER, Riza

all so calm and steady and in POWER Riza

and then this fucking “Now do me a favor and die”

NOW

DO

ME

A

FAVOR

AND

DIE

bambambambambambambambambamba BANG BANG BOOMMMM RIZA GUNNING ENVY DOWN LIKE A BADASSSSSSSSSS

WAY TO GO HAWKEYE!!!

WOOOHOOO

YYYYEEEAAAAAAHHHH

BOOM

BABY

FUCK YEAH [insert Al gif here]

GNGE:OGIWENG:OIN YES

ICONIC RIZA MOMENT IS FUCKING BADASS AND ICONIC YO

HGNGHGNGGNg;oeinrgoin [drowning noises]

[gargling noises continue

ghbnb

sng

bnwa

n

sh

arg;onh

fgngfffffffffffffffffffffllllllllleagnaero ginaerdddddddddddklegnlgn

I love this so much

I love Riza so much

I love how something

so simple as this