full metal? sort of...

If you've been following me on twitter, you probably read that I tweet about "FMA" a lot. Any anime geek would immediately know I'm talking about "Fullmetal Alchemist". But I don't think a lot of my readers are anime geeks, so I'll explain in one sentence: Fullmetal Alchemist is the best manga I have ever read in my life! I finally started watching the first series (only loosely based on the manga), and became hooked. Then I watched the new series (which just came out last year, more stringent on being loyal to Hiromu Arakawa's manga) "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood", and fell in love for the 3rd time.

The story is unlike any other--dealing with the idea of alchemy, two brothers and the power of a "God". After watching the first episode, I commented "Oh my god, how cuuuuuute!!! A huge piece of armor with the voice of a 10-year-old boy!!!" I quickly discovered it was not that cute, this seemingly dark and profound story. There is a perfect balance of comic relief that keeps me gigging though.

The main character, Edward Elric, has an arm and leg made of automail (metal prosthetics), due to unfortunate circumstances. Upon seeing this, I realized it was similar to other media I've seen with characters using prosthetic limbs, or being part cyborg. FMA is different though because most media we see this type of technology is some sort of post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk environment. FMA is set in a world parallel to ours, shortly after the Industrial Revolution, in which civil wars across the country allowed for the prosthetics business to boom.

Sculpted metal parts aren't uncommon in the fashion scene either, albeit those parts aren't as practical as Edward's arm.

Although...if you were to break these parts while engaging in some sort of dangerous activity, you probably wouldn't have a cute blonde girl hurl a wrench at you.

Tetsuo from "Akira", Jax from Mortal Kombat
image via lesroquetes.com, image via fdmk.net

From Harper's Bazaar Singapore
image via fashiongonerogue.com

Barret Wallace from FFVII
image via dothack.free.fr

I can't leave out the Dior couture show from Fall 2006
detail images via style.com


Detail from Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2007, Dior Couture Fall 2006, Somarta Fall 2008

D&G, Dior images via style.com, center image via coutorture-blog.onsugar.com

I couldn't find the credited designer for this arm piece;
Dazed&Confused magazine (one of my favorite editorials of all time)
first image via trendhunter.com


Yuima Nakazato, the one and only Thierry Mugler
images via yuimanakazato.com, alifeofstyle.com


Lady GaGa's "Paparazzi" video showcases a load of Thierry, and his metal-sculpted parts.

I only included partial-cyborgs / images of metal parts, not entire robot, bionic, metal, or concealed suits. Hence you do not see Robocop, the Bionic Woman, Ghost in the Shell, Battlestar Galactica, Astroboy, Appleseed, Casshern (and so forth) in this post...

If you're interested in viewing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, subbed episodes are free online on hulu.com.