Full Metal Alchemist

[NapoleonXIV]

Does anyone watch this? It's currently the most popular anime in Japan, I hear. It's more of an AH fantasy than a conventional AH, since the POD seems to be so far ago that the world bears little specific resemblance to our own. But it is definitely AH, in that it is a 'period piece' from a period that never existed.

 

[Albidoom]

Could also be some form of Future History (Somehow recovered humanity long after World War >3 or something like this) at least, it appeared to me like that to some degree.

 

[Count Dearborn]

My cable company recently put in Cartoon Network, and I watch it. I think it is an alternate version of post-WWI. It could also be a parallel world.

My definition of a parallel world is one where history is similar, but the countries and historical figures are different.

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

Not a bad show, although I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy...

I'd say it is AH, but the POD is far back enough to make some of the laws of physics substantially different, although this universe has developed somewhat similarly to OTL in a few respects. This must be one of those dimensions where magic works...

 

[Adam]

Yeah its actually a parallel world. Their alchemist 'magic' is powered from the bloodshed of our world's WW1.

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

It sort of reminds me of Rifts...

Still, why didn't earlier genocides trigger an opening of the Rifts? I mean, WWII should have been more than enough...

 

[KJM]

It sort of reminds me of Rifts...

Still, why didn't earlier genocides trigger an opening of the Rifts? I mean, WWII should have been more than enough...

WWII took place over several years. The daily death toll wasn't all that high, IIRC.

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

Hmm...all right. Still...I think it was something like 10,000 a day at one point...and during WWI...well...look at the bloodshed there...

In other news...

 

[Hermanubis]

Fullmetal Alchemist as AH? Never thought of that before…

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

Quite a few other anime series would also qualify. I'd say Patlabor for starters...but that's honorary. Since it's fairly plausible, I'll give it to them.

 

[The Sandman]

Yes, it's AH. The POD is that, at some point in the middle ages, someone succeeds in creating a Philosopher's stone. Since then, the lives of people in our world have been used to power alchemy in the FMA world. The fact that the FMA storyline takes place at the same time as WWI is just a coincidence.

 

[RealityBYTES]

Yes, it's AH. The POD is that, at some point in the middle ages, someone succeeds in creating a Philosopher's stone. Since then, the lives of people in our world have been used to power alchemy in the FMA world. The fact that the FMA storyline takes place at the same time as WWI is just a coincidence.

Fascinating. Hmm. Does our world realize its lifeforce is being used to power alchemy in a parallel reality? And if so, what the heck are we doing about it? I don't like the idea of "vampires" from another reality using our lifeforce to power their corrupted existence.

Heh. It's bad enough here without them in the equation!

RealityBYTES

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

What do you think happens as the 20th century drags on? I mean, 188 million genocide and warfare-induced deaths...hmm...that's going to have an interesting effect, don't you think?

 

[NapoleonXIV]

Fascinating. Hmm. Does our world realize its lifeforce is being used to power alchemy in a parallel reality? And if so, what the heck are we doing about it? I don't like the idea of "vampires" from another reality using our lifeforce to power their corrupted existence.

Heh. It's bad enough here without them in the equation!

RealityBYTES

Or rather, what are we getting in the equivalent exchange?

 

[The Lurker]

It sort of reminds me of Rifts...

Still, why didn't earlier genocides trigger an opening of the Rifts? I mean, WWII should have been more than enough...

world war two hasn't happened yet in that timeline-- FMA is set parallel to the 1920s.

The Manga and anime versions of the FMA story differ in some pretty big ways as far as characters and overall history and how much of alchemy in their world is powered by our-world bloodshed, and there's a few allusions to people having gone back and forth between worlds before.

One of the reasons I LOVE FMA is because it doesn't have as much of the distintly japanese cultural baggage, it seems fresher.

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

world war two hasn't happened yet in that timeline-- FMA is set parallel to the 1920s.

The Manga and anime versions of the FMA story differ in some pretty big ways as far as characters and overall history and how much of alchemy in their world is powered by our-world bloodshed, and there's a few allusions to people having gone back and forth between worlds before.

One of the reasons I LOVE FMA is because it doesn't have as much of the distintly japanese cultural baggage, it seems fresher.

I was referring to WWII trigerring a "Rifts" event.

But anyway, I'd be willing to say that a US Army armored division could probably wipe the floor with any fighting force, spellcasters or not, it encountered in FMA's world...hell, in most fantasy worlds! If one could somehow get across, and a stable portal was opened, and the logistics were taken care of and they had air support...jeez! Dead knights and dragons for kilometers around...or whatever it happens to be...

I had a bizarre dream along those lines. US recovers alien relic, opens portal to parallel world where magic works, President Bush goes on TV and announces the US is invading, and before you know it, the parallel earth is under US occupation...of course, it's harder than it looks, since they can improvise IEDs fairly well in those parts for some reason...

'Nother story, though.

 

[NapoleonXIV]

I was referring to WWII trigerring a "Rifts" event.

But anyway, I'd be willing to say that a US Army armored division could probably wipe the floor with any fighting force, spellcasters or not, it encountered in FMA's world...hell, in most fantasy worlds! If one could somehow get across, and a stable portal was opened, and the logistics were taken care of and they had air support...jeez! Dead knights and dragons for kilometers around...or whatever it happens to be...

That might be so, if you don't have one guy in a purple robe who can make all your guns jam tight with a gesture, pull the airplanes from the sky and summon your soldier's hearts right out of their chests.

I've actually seen that scenario used in a story once. Our hero is an astronaut who lands on a world where Magic Works. He keeps being frustrated by the fact that he can't get any of the new inventions he gives the benighted denizens to operate, and they keep wondering why he's so ignorant of even the simplest spells that are necessary to make things function.

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

Here's the thing: said purple robe guy has a very poor understanding of said components and can't apply the force in the neccesary fashion. Also, he has very limited range...finally, you can always just nuke him.

That's what happened in the dream: there was this one very powerful spellcaster, so they just pulled back a few dozen kilometers (he only had about 500 m range, max, and he could only move at a walking pace) and detonated a B83 (set to the maximum yield of 1.2 megatons, of course) 600 meters above him. They delivered it with a B-1B...

 

[NapoleonXIV]

Here's the thing: said purple robe guy has a very poor understanding of said components and can't apply the force in the neccesary fashion. Also, he has very limited range...finally, you can always just nuke him.

That's what happened in the dream: there was this one very powerful spellcaster, so they just pulled back a few dozen kilometers (he only had about 500 m range, max, and he could only move at a walking pace) and detonated a B83 (set to the maximum yield of 1.2 megatons, of course) 600 meters above him. They delivered it with a B-1B...

Whereupon the bomb dematerializes and reappears in the middle of your own troops, then explodes

Why would a wizard have a limited range? Or be limited to walking

Now true, that is one of the main questions that can be placed to magic users. If you can do all this stuff why don't you? why do you let the Army, hero etc even get close? so yes there must be a range limitation, but 500m seems both small and arbitrary. And then, you can also have magic shields and stuff etc..

Also, how would stealth fighters like to deal with attackers that were truly invisible?

That is a VERY good idea that the wizard must understand the thing before he can stop it. Interesting story element.

 

[Romulus Augustulus]

Actually, the inverse-square law applies to magic, too...if you want to increase area of effect, it gets more and more difficult as the area of effect increases...

And no, the bomb didn't dematerialize. It exploded and vaporized the wizard and the US Army had no problem from then on. Hell...the people of that world practically worshipped the invaders as gods from that point on...

And spellcasters tend to be too rigid-minded to be able to adapt like that. Psychological side effect of magic use...it's got other nasty side effects, too, like increased incidences of birth defects and cancer...it's rather like a hazardous chemical or some form of ionising radiation that way...