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In 2001, a boy wearing a mechanical armor and his brother with a full body armor, embarked on a search for sin. A journey of hope. Ten years later, the world was reborn from the ruins of destruction. Their journey continues, but they have bravely faced their own truths. This is a juvenile manga with steel in its name, and it always runs through the will and tempered spirit of metal. When most male young cartoonists began to slow down the rhythm with long-length battles, and when comiket women confirmed their presence on the new issue rankings, there is also a female cartoonist who has always insisted on deep issues about truth, straightforward and straightforward. Passionately tells the elegy of blood and tenderness, the epic of iron and flame. She writes with great strength, refutes militarism with war, satirizes the industrial revolution with civilization, and at the same time does not lose the delicate and tenderness of women. She will portray the friendship and spirit of young people lightly, as well as the tough waiting and ignorant love of girls. . This is a masterpiece worthy of BONES's two-time animation, enough to be regarded as a masterpiece to continue to influence the reading outlook of the next generation. When it finally marked the end of the play and gave readers a perfect answer with smiles and tears, the author would also like to take this article to thank Hiroshi Arakawa and "Fullmetal Alchemist" for bringing it Ten years of passion and touch, comprehension and contemplation.
Remake: how steel is made again
Looking back on the excellent animation in 2003, I have to mention "Fullmetal Alchemist". Seiji Mizushima’s eyes and beads, the then little-known "Steel" was put on the screen, high-quality production has won excellent box office and word of mouth, almost won the animation awards of the year, and soon launched The theater version, with unlimited scenery, is one of the masterpieces of BONES' heyday. The 03 edition of "Steel Refining" bears a lot of aura and has also caused Japanese animation craze overseas. It led us to get to know the original manga by Hiroshi Arakawa with a simple style and majestic content. This is a work that breaks the connotation of the barrier between juvenile and adult comics. The main line is no longer a confrontation that simply promotes friendship and hard work. It adds adult-oriented scientific and ethical speculation and political and military strategies. The juvenile is no longer a story. The only center, but a member of the war with one's own strength. When the 03 version started, the original work had just reached the eighth volume, and the huge setting had not yet been developed, so it had to be taken by Seiji Mizushima, who loves tragedy and blackening, to play freely. The 03 version has done a lot of emotional effort, the narrative is exquisite, the imagery is exquisite, and it often incites people to tears, but with the development of the original work, it has gradually been criticized by the original work-which is totally different from the original work's interpretation of alchemy. His political and military settings are only used to support a love tragedy, it is a bit wasteful, the tone is pessimistic, even the characters' personalities are slightly biased, and the interpretation of the gate of truth is too clever. Although the 03 version of the animation was well received and won a lot of audiences for this series, the original "Steel Refining" should tell a positive and hardcore story with stronger logic. The pure military romance and male sentiment are vividly displayed. It is rare that the same company has reproduced the same original work in a short period of time, not to mention that the previous work was already very good, but in 2009, when the "Steel Refining" comics were coming to an end, BONES suddenly said that we would cut the steel and retrain. , It can be seen how much attention is paid to "Steel Making".
Then, "Fullmetal Alchemist FA" was born, and it was rejected by the 03 version supporters at the beginning. More than half of the 03 version voice actors were replaced, and the painting style became the original simple and rough style, at twice the speed. The tempo of the movie is fast-forwarding off the most moving plot of the 03 version, which once aroused the resentment of the audience. But the pros and cons were immediately revealed in the divergence of the plot. After the rhythm stabilized, Irie Taeho and Onokikuan jointly restored a pure man’s "Steel". The plot is compact, the style is cold and simple, and it is not sloppy, and breaks through everything with passion. The barrier is very happy. In addition to being vigorous and thought-provoking, the sensational passages are also handled lightly and intriguingly. It takes a lot of introspection to challenge one's first-class masterpiece, and "Steel FA" easily proves that BONES not only has such awareness, but also has admirable strength and courage.
Original Sin: To go back to the past and move towards the future.
Their story takes place in a country called Armestris, bordered by the desert to the east and the great power of Dracuma to the north, ruled by the military headquarters led by the president, a military In a dictatorship, alchemy is the core of technology and culture. In this country that looks like a huge circle, many people have embarked on a difficult journey with their own destinations.
The Elric brothers were born and raised here, and they also broke the taboo indiscriminately here, using the hands and feet of the brother and the body of the younger brother as the price, and failed to become a dead mother. Fourteen should be a carefree age, but they faced the cruelty of the world early, burned their former residence, cut off their weakness and attachment and left their hometown, in order to recover their health, they were admitted to the national alchemist qualifications, looking for talents. The stone of the person. Roy Mastango, who guided the Elric brothers to the path of the national alchemist, also had his own plans. Having experienced the Ishwar War, he knew better than anyone about the corruption of the military, and vowed to climb up to the position of president to change Amestris from within. The death of his old friend Shuz strengthened his determination. Even if his confidant team was disrupted, and faced with the high pressure of his superiors and the threat of artificial people, he always designed the battle with the power of an adult with that cynical smile. Skar, the survivor of Ishvar, came to Central, and turned his back on Ishvar's god for revenge. He chased and killed the national alchemist with his arms that were broken down and refined into arrays, causing a bloody storm. Yao Lin, the prince of the Yao family of Xingguo, and Zhang Mei, the princess of the Zhang family, traveled thousands of miles across the desert, in order to inherit the throne to the legendary Golden Kingdom to find the immortal sage stone. They confronted vigilantly, and developed friendship through mutual understanding. On the way forward, they gradually discovered that what they were looking for was leading them to the most dangerous secrets of this country.
The abandoned refining formation underground of the Fifth Research Institute coincides with the pattern of the dome of the Xeruxes Ruins. The raw material of the sage’s stone is the terrible information of the living soul. Human violence prevented. The cyborgs use the sage’s stone as the core, and in the name of the seven deadly sins, they respect the mysterious old man underground as the father. They are extremely powerful and cannot be easily killed. The military department also began to draw in companions to exclude dissidents, and a group of greedy people for eternal power secretly created an immortal army. Huge monsters are digging in the ground, and the turmoil in turn imprints blood on the country along the border cities. The youngsters searched for the secrets and learned that they were fighting the sage’s stone itself-the villain who was born in the flask four hundred years ago, is planning to make a formation in the whole country of Amestris. , Use the souls of the people of the whole country as a passport to become a god-like complete existence and refine it into truth.
And they are just ordinary humans, with ordinary physical abilities and ordinary intelligence, they also cry because of weakness, their legs tremble because of fear, and they appear insignificant and humble in front of God. The god assumed a high-minded posture, took away the home where the Elric brothers depended for survival, and robbed Marstang's most precious sight. But humans still have to challenge the authority of God for the things that are cherished. It is because of the weak strength that we need to make a bond; it is because of the fragility of life that I want to live desperately. Even if they were given the right despair, they couldn't stop them from being able to walk straight with their feet locked in shackles, and their eyes to catch light in the dark. Human nature has too many weaknesses, but it is also full of infinite possibilities. Evolution, which is the unique superiority of human beings, is sufficient to support them to challenge the authority of God.
Bleeding: The political drama
"Steel Refining" in the sound of iron cannon differs from other boy cartoons in an important point, which is the political element throughout. It does not shy away from showing the face of wars and coups, and treats anti-dictatorship and anti-militarism as issues. Ishvar’s bloody slaughter was too shocking. In order to become a sage’s stone, too many kind-hearted people ruined their lives. The soldiers and alchemists abandoned the moral code to kill those who had no grudges against them. Compatriots of different races went to death one after another, which is undoubtedly the strangulation of human nature by the system and state machinery. The town of Lior was first trapped by a cult and then turned into ruins under the suppression of the military. It was innocent civilians who paid a heavy price. Hatred can only incite hatred. Human beings have existed for thousands of years, but they have never progressed in the vicious circle of violence against violence. At the price of bloodshed and sacrifice, it is often the ruthless desires of those in power who are satisfied. Leaders who use passionate slogans to call on the people to actively go to death always sit in high positions and enjoy their achievements. To mobilize the country to form a formation, only a handful of people's immortality aspirations are satisfied, but they are deprived of thousands of souls that should be independent.
Sometimes war is also an involuntary choice. In this world where the weak can eat, the concept of good and evil will become very vague, and power is the only criterion for measuring justice. Olivia, the ice queen who guards the Brickz Fortress, is a military madman. Facing the threat of Dracuma's perennial soldiers coming to the city, he believes in the evolutionary theory of survival of the fittest. As a general, you must take the lead and have a convincing personality. The principle of "not qualified to deprive others of the right to live" followed by the Elric brothers was only a naive insistence in the hearts of the Briquets soldiers. Their hands are covered with blood, because they cannot survive unless they kill the enemy. It's just that military power should not be a tool to trample on the weak, but a sword and iron wall to protect the people. The so-called protectors should have a mature will. They will never say death lightly, but if they need it, they will die without complaint.
When the war is over and peace comes, we have entered an era of self-reflection. Those who used killing in exchange for power began to repay their sins. The choice of the 03 and 09 editions of Mastang Dazuo went to two extremes. One gave up his position to be stationed in the frontier, while the other deliberately climbed to the position of brigadier general and did his best to change the country. Self-destruction is just a negative way of atonement. If you want to be forgiven, you must live to make up for your mistakes. Glory belongs only to those who march forward bravely. Living is a far superior choice than self-exile. It is a prerequisite for atonement. Above the blood and bones of countless people, those in power have the obligation to create a better era. The rejuvenation of countries and cities is like the decay of vegetation. It is not only an inevitable trend in human history, but also an eternal law of the cycle of positive and negative forces in nature.
Truth: Breaking the standard of equivalence exchange
Alchemy, as the origin of modern chemistry, was once all the rage in the Middle Ages. The core of the world view of "Steel Making" is alchemy, but it is slightly different from the alchemy in history. Alchemists boast that scientists use the energy of the earth’s crust under the spirit of “all is one, and one is all” to understand, decompose and reconstitute matter, and unconditionally abide by the principle of “equivalent exchange”, but what is the principle? They all look at the law of conservation of mass in physics. All the starting conditions seem to prove that the alchemy in "Steelmaking" is not only chemistry in a flask, but also an allegory of modern industry and technology. From this perspective, "Steelmaking" is indeed full of influences on Western industries. Reflections on civilization.
The story originated from the birth of two sage stones. Slave No. 23 in the city of Guxelkeses was drawn by the master to refine the villain in the flask. The villain in the flask gave him the name "Hohenheim" and the ability of alchemy, and taught the king to stay in the country. He painted the land and formed a formation, refined all the people into a sage stone, and reconstructed the bodies of him and Hornheim. On the ruins of Xelxes, the "man in the flask" left the flask, stripped off the negative character of the "seven deadly sins" and created new descendants of humanoids, who will continue to refine themselves into a new goal that completely exists. In Amestrilis, which has a larger area and a larger population. But Hohenheim was forced to accept the immortal body, and traveled far away, while talking with the painful and entangled souls in his body one by one, while re-searching for his own meaning of existence.
The quality and elements of the raw materials and refined substances must be exactly the same. This is the principle of equivalent exchange that alchemists abide by. It can be explained in any matter. After all, every battle and every constructive discovery must be Pay a cruel price. It is an unshakable iron rule, but it makes Edward uncomfortable, because it seems to persuade people to bear the loss without complaint. Human beings are so greedy. The pursuit of scientific and technological progress is to use the least consumption in exchange for the greatest results, that is, to break the norm of equivalent exchange. For this purpose, the Elric brothers set out to find the Sage's Stone.
After learning the truth about the Sage’s Stone, Edward suddenly realized that its cost was too great, and it violated the most basic bioethics and natural laws. Later, I couldn't help but question the legitimacy of alchemy. This kind of power is powerful and convenient, and it will give people a choice to lose themselves. Only people with strong spirits can control it. Almost all the people who have used the sage’s stone are lost in the whirlpool of power, while some people who do not understand alchemy insist on kindness and innocence, and do noble and immortal things. All kinds of people constitute the whole of the world, and each is a unique existence. The villain in the flask uses alchemy to turn them all into their own energy, as if to use technology to conquer nature, just any vain attempt to replace it. The personal behavior of the gods will eventually be purified and swallowed by the laws of nature. Just like the religion of Ishwal, everything is created by God and has its own meaning. No matter how powerful alchemists are, they can't make life, but mothers are still gestating children, making nature endless. Perhaps it was because he understood the limitations of alchemy that Edward was able to smile confidently at the truth. He exchanged the power of alchemy for his younger brother's life, and walked back to Lishpur, spending a lot of time and physical effort repairing the roof, although Trouble, but finally had time to appreciate the scenery that I hadn't noticed before. After that, they will continue to travel. One will go to the East to explore the origin of alchemy, and the other will go to the West to learn new knowledge. After experiencing too many losses and regains in front of the gate of truth, they finally understand that the only truth in the world is that there is no single truth, and somewhere in the unknown there must be an equation that can make the world a better place.
At the end of the story, there were still two things that broke the norm of equivalent exchange.
One is the soul. After going through hardships and hard work, not only can we get equivalent results, but we will also gain a strong heart and become a better person. And the other is love. The young girls exchanged romantic confession on the railway platform. I give you half of my life, and you want to give me 85 percent of my life. The golden rules and jade rules in the physical world have already been lost to the hearts of the people.
Remember: Never abandon the light of the soul
"Steel Refining" has accompanied us for ten years, condensing too many precious memories. Don't forget those lively characters, their sonorous words and deeds will always stir in our minds, reminding us how to become handsome people.
Don't forget those who sacrificed for the faith. Shuz, who always carries pictures of his wife and daughter; Fu and Albany, who fights his life to give an enemy a hundred times stronger than himself; still maintains his self-Kimbury in the storm of the soul; also loses his arms Defending the dignity of the king, Kim Bradley fell in a fighting posture; Gullid, who clamored for ambition no matter how many times he was destroyed. The afterglow of their lives illuminates this country, and may they rest in peace.
Don't forget the people who died with despicable thoughts. Luster turned to ashes in the flames of hatred. Enwei who committed suicide was trampled on by human sympathetic eyes. Gulatni who just wanted to fill his stomach but became his brother's food. Weepingly called to his mother to reincarnate Pride. Alchemists who were used and abandoned by the state for their own selfish desires, running dogs of the military. The pain and fear are over, and may their souls be silent forever.
Don't forget the person who has found meaning in life again. Hubble, who lost his legs, built an arms grocery store on his wheelchair. Marko, who had spent too much energy on the Stone of the Sage, was completely ruined and went to Ixuba to make atonement as a doctor. Quan, whose fertility dream was completely shattered, became an ordinary housewife, but had a pair of excellent apprentices like sons. They once wandered for pain and confusion, and after weathering the storm of fate, a new door will always open.
Don't forget the girl who became strong because of love. Lisa, who unconditionally guarded Mastang Dazuo, was his blind eye and the last barrier behind him. Lan Fang, who is willing to break his arm for the young master, was taught by his enemies how to be a king's companion. Wen Li, who is always cheerfully waiting for the return of the Elric brothers, is a supply station for the brothers' smiles, and a warm presence at home. They have given too much selfless love, silent, tough and innocent. I hope they can grow old with the people they like, and be well and happy.
Don't forget those who are advancing bravely in the whirlpool of power. Yao Lin ascended to the throne of King Xing with a broad mind that embraced all rivers. Olivia guarding the Fortress of Brickz. Roy Mastang, who seems to be cynical but ambitiously covets the position of President. They must become stronger, even if their hands are stained with blood, they have no time to stop. I hope they can return to the world a peaceful future one day, so that thousands of people can live and work in peace and contentment without having to endure the flames of war.
Don't forget the two sage stones that have been used for four hundred years to become a god or a human. The villain and Hohenheim in the flask have encountered the choice that humans have always faced. Grab more information and energy, challenge the authority of gods and truth, or enjoy a meaningful life, start a family, protect your children, and die peacefully in your hometown before the grave of your loved one. This is an eternal proposition for which they have spent four hundred years unable to get the correct answer.
Don't forget the painful destruction and merciless loss. The realm turned into nothing in an instant, the artillery fire and blood rain of Ishwar, the bloody massacre of the undead army, the painful whirlpool of thousands of souls weeping when the shadow of the solar eclipse enveloped the earth. There are also all the innocent and kind people who have died unjustly, the irreparable sins they have committed, the price of being forced to the other side of the door, and the tears of regret that are unable to shed in the rain. You must keep in mind the taste of pain and despair, don't escape, accept and defeat them positively, only in this way can you not be crushed by sorrow, and understand how precious the things you are trying to protect.
Don't forget the beginning of the journey, the small village named Lispur. The lively spring festival, the train whistle coming from afar, the flowers and grass on the mountains, the trees that we climbed together as a child, the gentle smile of my mother in my memory, and the apple pie made by Wen Li herself. There is a place where hope exists and a place to go back. No matter how tired the travel is, you can rest here and look at the beautiful scenery in the distance. Think about the warmth of the past and look forward to the bright and bright future. Get on the road calmly with strength.
Don't forget the two Steel Boys who have been advancing bravely in the prison. Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric. Their sin and journey, as well as strength and hard work, laughter and tears. The teenagers took the first step in the evolutionary journey when they left their hometown with their bags on their backs. They are destined to spend their entire lives on the road. If there is anything worthy of confusion and confusion, then take them on their backs and move forward, heading in the direction of hope. Cherish the new fetters and encounters, don't be afraid of those obstacles and trials, just simply believe that as long as you move forward, one day you will find your own truth.
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