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Hiromu Arakawa Draws New Fullmetal Alchemist Manga for Live-Action Film Screenings
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The "Hagaren Fan Event" announced on Monday that Fullmetal Alchemist manga creator Hiromu Arakawa is drawing a "special-edition comic" that people who attend theatrical screenings of the live-action film in Japan will receive. The work will be the first new manga that Arakawa has drawn for the franchise in seven years.
The "Hagaren Fan Event" was part of a promotional world tour for the upcoming film, and the film's staff previously revealed that the event would have a "surprise" announcement. Anime Expo was the first stop on the promotional tour on July 3. The next stop on the tour was Paris' Japan Expo on July 7, with Sori and lead actress Tsubasa Honda (Winry Rockbell in the film) attending. The crew then headed back to Japan to participate in the "Hagaren Fan Event" on July 12, coinciding with the anniversary of the manga's serialization, where they again revealed new footage and the film's character visuals. The actors from the film, as well as anime voice actresses Romi Park (Edward Elric) and Rie Kugimiya (Alphonse Elric) were in attendance.
In addition, the "Hagane no Renkinjutsushi-ten" (Fullmetal Alchemist Exhibition) art exhibit will be held at Tokyo Dome City Gallery AaMo from September 16 to October 29 and at Osaka Nankō ATC Museum from November 3 to November 30. The event will mark the film's release and be the first large-scale exhibit of keyframes for the franchise. The exhibit will also screen special commercials and have an exclusive voice guide.
The live-action film will open in Japan on December 1. The film's official Twitter account posted a new visual in April. Warner Bros. Japan also began streaming the film's second English-subtitled trailer in April.
Fumihiko Sori (live-action Ping Pong) is directing the film. On adapting the source material, Sori said, "I want to create a style that follows the original manga as much as possible. The cast is entirely Japanese, but the cultural background is Europe. However, it's a style that doesn't represent a specific race or country." Regarding the faithfulness of the adaptation, which has characters of non-Japanese ethnicity, the director said, "There will never be a scene in which a character says something that would identify him/her as Japanese."
The film stars Ryōsuke Yamada (Hey! Say! JUMP member and live-action Assassination Classroom's Nagisa) as Edward Elric, Tsubasa Honda (live-action Blue Spring Ride's Futaba) (pictured top right in image to the right) as Winry Rockbell, and Dean Fujioka (live-action Happy Marriage!?) (pictured bottom left in image to the right) as Roy Mustang. Other cast members include:
Fumiyo Kohinata as General Hakuro
Ryuta Sato as Maes Hughes
Misako Renbutsu as Riza Hawkeye
Natsuna as Maria Ross
Natsuki Harada as Gracia Hughes
Yo Oizumi as Shou Tucker
Jun Kunimura as Doctor Marco
Yasuko Matsuyuki as Lust
Kanata Hongou as Envy
Shinji Uchiyama as Gluttony
Kenjiro Ishimaru as Father Cornello
Italian newspaper La Nazione previously unveiled photos of the film's shooting in the Italian town of Volterra in June. Filming ended on August 26.
The film tells the story in one complete film. Ed is being aged up to 20 years old; he was originally 15 in the manga. Alphonse will be rendered in full CG.
Arakawa published the manga from 2001 to 2010 in Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan, and Viz Media released the series in North America and describes the story:
In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother's bodies...the legendary Philosopher's Stone.
The series inspired the Fullmetal Alchemist television anime series in 2003 and its sequel film, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa, in 2005. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, a second television anime series based more closely on the original manga's story, debuted in 2009. A spinoff anime film, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, premiered in 2011.
Source: Comic Natalie
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