Anime fans (especially "Full Metal Alchemist" ones) rejoice! We'll be looking at live action film on the hit anime series that's set to hit theaters in Japan on Winter 2017. Will we be getting a Western release? Is the movie going to be any good like how the live-adaptation of "Rurouni Kenshin" surprised a good number of us? Or will it fall short like "Attack on Titan"?
Both teaser visuals and a video have been shown in the official website of the live adaptation of "Full Metal Alchemist". Both materials feature the very European-esque locales of the movie, the two Elric brothers, and taglines with one of them saying, "The Legend of The Brothers Begins from Here."
It's already confirmed that that 23-year-old Japanese idol group Hey! Say! JUMP member Ryosuke Yamada will be taking the role of protagonist Edward Elric, while his younger brother Alphonse will be rendered in full CG, due to his armored appearance.
In addition to that, the crew has already finished shooting in Japan in August 2016, while Warner Brothers Japan is set on distributing it in December 2017.
The site also announced that "Full Metal Alchemist" manga artist Hiromu Arakawa will be setting up an exhibition in the fall of 2017 to commemorate the release of the film, which is considered to be the the first and biggest event ever for the franchise.
According to earlier reports, live-action "Ping Pong" director Fumihiko Sori is said to be helming the film saying, 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."
"There will never be a scene in which a character says something that would identify him/her as Japanese," the director said in regards to the issue of the characters' non-Japanese ethnicity.
In addition to Ryosuke Yamada being the metal-armed protagonist of the series, live-action "Blue Spring Ride" actress Tsubasa Honda (featured on the top right in the image above) will take the role of the role of Winry Rockbell, the supporting mechanic friend of the Elric brothers. Dean Fujioka (from the the live-action "Happy Marriage!?") (on bottom left of the image) will be playing as Lt. Roy Mustang.
Here's the list of the other actors in the film:
For those who haven't heard of the "Full Metal Alchemist" series, here's a basic premise:
"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."
So far, there hasn't been any details on an international release yet, but Japan will get its release first on sometime on Winter 2017.
We'll be getting more details on the film this year soon. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, here's a trailer with subtitles thanks to YouTube channel Anime Live Reactions:
