The city seems to be run by a man named Father Cornello, who has convinced the people of the town to follow him blindly. In the episode titled “City of Heresy”, the boys travel to a town called Leor, a place where we are faced with a strong criticism of religion itself.
Edward, the youngest state-sponsored alchemist in history, even calls alchemists scientists in the first couple episodes of the show. Although we established alchemy as “magic” earlier, it is more of a science. The most obvious of the philosophical questions is that of science versus religion. Okay, now that you’re all caught up, we can dive into the philosophy that gives the main protagonists trouble throughout the show. The boys embark on a tireless journey to find a way to get Alphonse’s body back. It goes horribly wrong, Edawrd loses his arm and leg while Alphonse almost loses his life, but his soul is saved and placed in a suit of armour by his brother. Things like carbon and nitrogen are put in the middle of a transmutation circle and the boys attempt transmutation. Edward states, “…you cannot gain anything without sacrificing something else in return.”. This technique uses a type of scientific law-based magic that uses the “law of equivalent exchange” in order to create a human through the components that make one up. There are monsters, magic, and a corrupt government primed to overthrow, but what happens when we take a look deeper into what the show itself was trying to convey? Brotherhood follows the story of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who try to bring their mother back to life using an alchemic technique called “human transmutation”. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has all the makings of an absolute classic in the sci-fi anime genre.