Well. It was bound to happen sooner or later. [intro] I’ve already talked a little bit about
Fullmetal Alchemist on this channel. The link will be in the card
and in the description, but fair warning, it is a very old video
featuring some very mediocre art. I think I also mentioned Edward specifically in…
possibly the first video I ever did on disability? So it’s more than sensible to do
a video on the series as a whole, now that I actually kind of know what I’m doing. Kind of being the operative term there. So, Fullmetal Alchemist is a manga written by
Hiromu Arakawa that ran from 2001 until 2010. There’s also some light novels, which I will not
be talking about because I’ve never read them. It was first adapted into an anime in
2003, long before the manga was finished. If you’re at all familiar with anime this is
a dilemma I’m sure you’ve run into before. Because it was so premature as an adaptation, it had to continue the story beyond
the material it had to adapt. So naturally the story of the 2003 anime
veers wildly off-course from the manga. I won’t be talking about it, either. Mostly because I never finished watching it. The second anime series,
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, started in 2009 and follows
the manga much more faithfully. Though it’s not without its flaws, either. Because the 2003 series already existed,
Brotherhood took a speed-run kind of approach to the first few arcs in the manga,
resulting in some awkward side-effects. Like the fact that they had to introduce Yoki as
if he was a recurring character when he became relevant to the plot again after they placed the
story he was introduced in entirely off-screen. They also shuffled around the
order of events a little bit for the first few episodes of the
anime vs. the start of the manga. It’s not unforgivable, but it does result
in some issues I had with the pacing but didn’t fully understand
until after I’d read the manga. See, the anime starts with two whole
episodes of setup and backstory. On a certain level I appreciate their decision
to start the series with the Elrics fighting against someone trying to destroy Central
Command, for the full-circle feel we get in the end when it turns on its head and now
they’re the ones fighting the Central Forces. But from a pure story perspective, the
way the manga does it is much better. We get one single one-page flashback
to the human transmutation disaster, just enough to get us curious, then
we get dumped directly into Leore. For one thing, this allows the
audience to discover who the Elrics are alongside the characters around them. Furthermore Leore is, naturally,
because Arakawa knew what she was doing, the perfect place to kick off this tale. It comes packed with so many extremely
natural points of exposition. It’s themes and plot beats are perfect
to introduce both the base concept of this world we have found ourselves in, and the
brothers themselves, along with their backstory. The following story introduces Yoki
and the concept of military corruption, and only then do we actually
meet Mustang and his crew in a story wherein a General becomes a
target hostage during a train-jacking. It just flows much better than the anime. But on the other hand the anime is a
lot better around how it talks about Ed’s disability from the jump. In the manga Ed uses his and Al’s bodies as a tool of horror to try and dissuade Rose from
the idea of bringing a human back to life. Meanwhile in the anime, Father Cornello
tries to use the brothers in a similar vein but flipped to his benefit and
Ed just… ignores him, essentially. Doesn’t even dignify his ableist
prodding with a response. And whenever he and Al talk
about getting their bodies back, everything about how Ed talks
makes it so clear that he’s only going along with the idea of getting
his arm and leg back for Al’s sake. Sure, part of it is a misplaced
sense of penance, but that’s the kind of internalised ableism that is honestly
extremely realistic from a character like Ed. At the end of the day he’d still be fine if
he could only restore his brother’s body. That’s really the reason I’m
so chill with this storyline, because to me it’s been clear since
day one that Al is the true focus. So let’s talk about Al, actually. He’s a human soul, bound to a suit of armour. He can think and speak and move, but he can’t
feel anything, he can’t eat, and he can’t sleep. And, as we find out later, the longer he stays in
the armour, the more likely it is to reject him. Taking especially that last bit into account the
closest parallel to something in the real world would be a prolonged illness, one with an extremely slim but not
non-existent chance of recovery. Even the conversations Ed and Al have about
what Al will do once he has his body back sound like that. The way they speak, especially Ed, he sounds like he’s trying to keep up a
positive attitude in a near hopeless situation. Which, I mean, he is, so… This reading is only further
strengthened when we actually get a look at Alphonse’s body inside the portal. It hasn’t remained in stasis, nor has
it grown in any kind of healthy way. When Alphonse eventually does get his body back- Or, in our analogy, when he crests the hill
and enters the path to certain recovery- It is not an easy road. His body is emaciated and weak
beyond belief from years of neglect. His recovery is going to take time, and we see this clear as day in things like
how he needs to rest on his return to Resembool, how just the effort of walking from the train
station to the Rockbells’ is clearly monumental. But, of course, Alphonse is not the
only Elric relevant to this discussion. So we’ve gotta talk about Edward. Now, his case is a lot more cut and dry. He’s disabled in a way that is very
much possible in the real world, despite his advanced prosthetics. On the subject of automail,
though, this is one of the very few cases I’ve seen where this kind
of prosthesis has realistic drawbacks. In every other setting where a character gets
a prosthetic that functions nearly identically to their lost limb the plot stops there and the
writers act like they can just forget about it. Automail, on the other hand, is heavy, and
expensive, and extremely painful to install. The weight of Ed’s arm possibly
contributed to stunting his growth, too. The standard model can’t be taken into
climates that are either too cold or too hot, for fear of complications because you have
metal attached to your literal nerves. Not to mention they’re extremely complex machines which need highly skilled mechanics
to ensure they remain functional. There are valid reasons to chose
automail over a standard prosthesis, but they have to be weighed
carefully against these drawbacks. It’s a much more realistic and nuanced take on this kind of thing that
most other media I’ve seen. What the manga does better than
the anime here is it actually shows that the Rockbells don’t just make
automail, they also make regular prosthetics. But in the end Ed still regains
his flesh-arm, doesn’t he? This is true, and it is kind of bullshit,
but it’s, like… a milder tier of bullshit? Not as bad as it could have been? Ed getting his arm back was due to
an extremely heat-of-the-moment, rash gamble by Al to undo the transmutation
that sealed his soul to the armour. The arm Ed gets back, however, is rail-thin
and weak, just as Alphonse’s entire body. Beyond that, he had his automail on and
fully attached when Al did the transmutation, leaving Ed’s shoulder chock full
of metal that should not be there. He, just like Al, has a
long road to recovery here. Even at peak condition, with the scarring and the
extremely delicate surgeries he no doubt had to go through to remove the remnants of his automail,
I doubt his shoulder will ever be the same. That and the fact that his leg stays amputated
is the reason I’m fine with this ending for him. Well… that and in drawing his brother
back out of the Portal of Truth, Ed essentially swapped one disability for another. It’s just that the other disability
is more of the fantasy variety. Because, to get Alphonse back,
he essentially amputates his own Gate of Truth, the thing
which allows him to do alchemy. And this Gate isn’t unique to
the alchemists in the series. Everyone in this world can do
alchemy. It’s a science one can study. Ed can still study the texts, but he will never
again be able to do anything concrete with them. So I’m gonna go ahead and say that, in
a universe where alchemy is a thing and everyone could do it if they wanted to, not being
able to do it at all would count as a disability. Is it a stretch? Eeh, maybe
a little, but I’ll take it. So, as far as Ed and Al are concerned, the
series does an overall pretty good job. But they’re not the only disabled characters. Which is honestly great because I so rarely
run across series where there are so many that I might actually just
forget to mention one of them. TTS: Like Captain Buccaneer. I can’t believe I forgot about him when
he personally tears my heart out of my chest every time I re-watch Brotherhood. I am a failure and a fraud. Narration: We have supporting characters like Paninya,
Lan Fan once she cuts off her own arm to distract Bradly, Izumi Curtis the Elrics’
Alchemy teacher, 2nd Lieutenant Jean Havoc, and Colonel Roy Mustang himself. I don’t have much to say about Paninya
from a disability point of view. She’s a bilateral above-the-knee amputee and
her adoptive father made automail for her. Which he also outfitted with what is essentially a
tiny canon and a sword because… why not, I guess? In her own words her automail gave her a new
lease on life, but she was also put through an intensely painful surgery without her consent as
an incredibly young, already traumatised child. I can’t imagine that didn’t
leave some scars on her psyche. Still she’s such a minor character
that these questions will just… have to remain questions, sadly. But just in case I need to clarify this: No,
putting kids through invasive, traumatising, not medically necessary surgeries without
their consent is not a good thing. Ever. It’s great that Paninya is happy with
the results now that she’s grown up, but that doesn’t make the initial
action any less fucked up. Especially considering there are
other, less invasive options. Like I’ve already said, regular
prosthetics exist in this world. And the flashback scene in which we witness the
start of her adoption is absolutely horrifying. I know it’s the point that Dominic is
gruff and seems mean but he mean well. That doesn’t make seeing a
full grown man callously pluck a disabled homeless child away from
her only mobility aid any easier. Lan Fan is… well, she’s a harsh but not entirely unrealistic view of what some
people go through upon becoming disabled. Especially if this disability is, as it
almost was for her, a career-ending injury. She sees automail as her only hope. Later in the series we also see her push
her new automail far beyond what she should be doing with it, considering she’s
still in the very early healing process. That’s just in general realistic, I know so
many disabled people who have just learned to shut up and try to push through when the best
option for them is actually to slow down and rest. Truth be told, I am one. I’m working on
it, but it’s not an easy habit to kick. Ironic fact, as I am recording this I am
having one of the worst pain days I’ve had in ages and I’m still standing up in a closet… Which is not a good idea, and I recognise that,
but I’m still gonna finish recording this. [sigh] Thankfully she gets her happy ending,
serving at Ling’s side as his loyal shadow. Presumably her automail also heals fine despite
her less than wise choices during the series. Izumi Curtis is, however, the most personally
relatable disabled character to me in this entire series. Sure, we’re not even close when it comes to
what kind of disabilities we have, but still. Izumi lost part of her internal organs after
she tried to bring back her stillborn child. As you can imagine, this has caused her some issues. Such as throwing up blood
and requiring a lot more rest than before. And apparently some trouble breathing as well. The scene where she’s sitting in bed
resting because her body has it out for her is extremely relatable, and
I just love her in general. She’s disabled, she’s an
extremely badass alchemist, and she’s a housewife. These
are not conflicting statements. God I love her. And her
husband. And their relationship. Just everything about the Curtises is delightful. But of course I do have to discuss
what happened when Izumi met Hoenheim. Again here we run into the problem of abled people
deciding they know what’s best for disabled people and forging on full steam ahead
without so much as a by-your-leave. Hoenheim meets Izumi, realises what her problem
is, and without even telling her what he’s about to do sticks his hand through her stomach to
do what is essentially a reparative surgery. He doesn’t cure her, he can’t give
back what the Truth took after all. But he likely added a not insignificant
number of years to her life expectancy and I’m sure the fact that she
can breathe easier and probably won’t be throwing up blood
anymore is a relief to her. This would be a fine, honestly
a great outcome for her if not for the complete lack
of informed consent. Again. That’s two characters now that that’s happened to. Technically three, if we count Ed with his arm, but I feel like there were
extenuating circumstances there. Including but not limited to the fact that getting his flesh-limbs back was ostensibly
part of his quest this entire time. So, in short, I love Izumi, I love that
she’ll probably live longer because of this, super don’t love how it went down. Jean Havoc is one of the characters
who becomes disabled during the story. Lust stabs him, resulting in a spinal injury. As you can imagine, for a military man,
this is indeed a career-ending injury. He retires to go work for his
family’s general goods store, and we don’t see much of him until
the final confrontation in Central where it turns out he supplied the guns and ammo
in the truck that Rebecca and Maria roll up in. Which is amazing, I love that for him. Since he’s such a minor character there’s not
really much I can say about him right up until the thing the anime does which the manga does not
which I am never going to stop being mad about. See, in the manga, in the final
chapter, we see some photos of Havoc going through physical therapy. In the anime however, apparently
that isn’t a good enough ending. No in the anime Mustang has to insist
that Marcoh use the Philosopher’s Stone to insta-heal Havoc and honestly
I am even more upset by this after learning that he was already on the
road to some kind of recovery in the manga. I would still be upset even if he was just
a full-time wheelchair user in the end, but at least then I could kind of
understand where the anime was coming from. In a fucked up, ableist sort of way. And of course I have saved the worst for last. I’ve already talked about
Roy in length in the video I linked at the start of this one,
so I won’t dive too deep here. Suffice it to say, I despise the ending he got. He spent a total of maybe a
week being blind and seemed perfectly willing and determined to adapt but no. Once again, that’s not good
enough, and in strolls Marcoh with the Philosopher’s Stone and I am this
close to tearing my hair out in frustration. All in all, FMA is surprisingly good about
how it handles disability in general. It has multiple disabled characters as well as
showcasing different kinds of disabilities. Sure, amputees dominate the narrative, but they’re
not the only kind of disabled people we see. And there are even some neurodivergent characters. Well, there’s Sheska. And while she’s
kind of a stereotype so far as being the probably-but-we-won’t-say-it autistic person with
an encyclopedic memory for their special interest who is so fixated on it that she gets
fired from her job, at least she’s here. I mean Winry, Ed, and Al have all
always read as some kind of ND to me, but that’s probably just me projecting so I’m
not going to give the story any points for that. And we have a couple characters on the
good-guy team with facial differences. Sure, one of them got his as
a method to hide his identity and has some… interesting things to say about it Marcoh: No. This is the face a
man like me deserves to wear. And the other was introduced to us as a
serial killer but… it’s something, at least? Unfortunately the Gold-toothed
Doctor also exists, so… Before I wrap this up I have just one final
thing I want to consider and that is… Well… Do we count Nina, post the absolute nightmare
her garbage can of a father put her through, as disabled? I’m… kind of inclined to say yes? If she’d continued to grow, she
would have grown in a body that has to walk on four legs and doesn’t have thumbs. Her speaking ability was also clearly impacted. I’m unsure if her stilted speech was because
she was trying to talk with entirely different anatomy or because of some kind of traumatic brain
injury that happened during the transmutation, but either way I would say that
yeah… Nina counts as disabled. And that means we do indeed have
the murder of a disabled child out of a fucked up sense of mercy
on our hands, which is… horrible, but unfortunately not entirely
outside the realm of possibility. It might also be why I’m so desperate for
a good fanfic where she gets to grow up and learn to function in this extremely fucked up
new reality that her sperm-donor forced on her. Fullmetal Alchemist stumbles over
some unfortunate tropes in places. I mean, given the fact that at least three of
the disabled characters we meet in the story are disabled because they went through
the Portal of Truth and it took a toll, it could easily have tipped over into a
‘disability as punishment’ style narrative. But it never did, at least not the way I see it. Mostly because all of the people who have
committed the taboo who we meet did so out of desperation and grief and they’re never
presented as deserving of any sort of punishment. And then also the fact that other
disabled characters exist around them. And of course as far as bad tropes go it falls
flat on its face at the very end with Mustang, but in general there’s more positive than
negative here. It’s really rare that we get a series with more disabled characters than
I can count on one hand, but FMA did it. And somehow there are still anime bros
out there who don’t think an anime with a disabled protagonist could work. Fancy that. Thanks for watching this video, if you liked
it consider liking it and maybe subscribing, I will be back here Thursday after next. Bye. [rustic music]
