How Edward Elric From Netflix's Fullmetal Alchemist Should Really Look
"Fullmetal Alchemist" is a popular franchise that started as a manga series written by Hiromu Arakawa. The manga, which debuted in 2001 and ran until 2010, was later adapted into two anime series: 2003's "Fullmetal Alchemist" and 2009's "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood." Eventually, the franchise went live-action with a feature-length movie, released by Warner Bros. in Japan and on Netflix here in the United States. Critics strongly disliked it, but fans really approved, according to Rotten Tomatoes, which might explain its lukewarm 5.2 rating on IMDb. But that's to be expected when you make a box office feature film that appeals to a very niche audience.
The 2017 live-action "Fullmetal Alchemist" movie follows Edward Elric (Ryôsuke Yamada) through some of the most tumultuous years of his life. After his mother, Trish (Kaoru Hirata), dies, he attempts to use alchemy to bring her back from the dead, only for things to go horribly wrong. The alchemy accident also results in the loss of his arm, his leg, and his brother (Atomu Mizuishi). His missing limbs are replaced with alchemical limbs, which help him fight the forces of evil. With such a dedicated fanbase, the producers of the film knew they had to get the characters' looks just right — or risk alienating their core audience.
Here's how well they did when it came to transforming the titular character of the series from anime to live-action.
The Fullmetal Alchemist live-action movie is faithful to the manga and anime, with a few exceptions
For the most part, the 2017 "Fullmetal Alchemist" movie does a good job of getting Edward Elric's hair, height, and alchemical, metallic body parts as close to accurate as you can expect for a live action adaptation of an anime series. On the official Fandom page for the character, he is described as having "golden blond hair" which is "usually tied in a braid" and "bangs in the middle so that they frame his face on either side as they fall and, in the center of the parting, he leaves a single strand of hair sticking up like an antenna." Sadly, Ryôsuke Yamada's version of Edward fails to retain the antenna-like bangs, but he does still have a long single braid at the back of his head, and longer bangs at the front. Furthermore, the actor's hair appears more brassy than golden in the live-action movie, which is a bit of a misstep. But other than that, they made a good effort.
On that same Fandom page, Edward is also described as having golden eyes. In the movie, the actor's natural, dark brown eye color remains instead of fitting Yamada with colored lenses or doing any CGI editing to fix it in post-production. Another cosmetic that they didn't bother with was a "thin, horizontal battle scar just above his right eye." In the movie, though, aside from a few scrapes and bruises, the skin on his face remains fairly pristine.
Finally, both versions of Edward sport a black tunic with a silver clasp at the neck and a red cloak. The overall effect of this outfit seen in the 2017 movie is striking and helps audiences feel like they're watching a true recreation of the anime onscreen.