This is one of those reviews, I didn’t expect to write. Currently, playing on Netflix is the live-action version of the manga/anime, FullMetal Alchemist and it is worth investing in. Nah, it’s better than that. It’s surprisingly good!
I say ‘surprisingly’ because most of the live-action translations of Japanese manga/ anime such as Death Note, Attack on Titan and Ghost in the Shell have failed miserably in the last couple of years. I think Fullmetal succeeds because it tells a story that doesn’t require the audience to have in-depth prior knowledge of the backstory.
Fullmetal tells the story of the young Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who have a natural talent for alchemy. The world they live in accepts alchemy as a legitimate science. Through alchemy, one can create anything they want by a process called ‘transmutation.’ But there are rules to this science. To gain something, you must give up something 
of equal or greater value (and mass). The young brothers learned this lesson the hard way when they tried to bring back their mother from the dead. Alphonse loses his body and Edward loses a leg and an arm in a last ditch effort to bind Alphonse’s soul to a suit of armor before he is lost for ever.
The brothers work for the state and together look for ways to restore themselves as they search for the Philosopher’s Stone. Edward has hired his childhood friend, Winry Rockbell to make and maintain his prosthetic limbs. In the anime, currently on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, older brother Edward at 12 years old is the youngest state alchemist in history. In the live-action version, the actors (and the characters) are older, but you still get the feeling that these are kids whose primary objective is to make themselves whole again.
The live action version hits all of the familiar points and scenes that you’ve seen in the anime. The actors, Ryosuke Yamada as Edward, Tsubasa Honda as Winry and Atomu Mizuishi as the voice of Alphonse click as the characters. If you’ve seen the anime, the actors are in character. If you haven’t seen the anime or manga, you’re in for a treat. The script pulls from rich source material and gets it right by not trying to tell 10 years of stories in 2 hours. They picked one or two threads and wove them into a compelling tale. In the end, the bond between the two brothers comes across loud and clear. That’s a tribute to the actors and the script and makes this a very good start to a franchise.
Fullmetal Alchemist is worth watching and is the best live-action adaption of Japanese manga/ anime in recent years. It’s not perfect, but it’s a joy to watch.
