Hi all,

So while I was on my way to and from Anaheim, CA for Disneyland - a total of 14 hours - and was rewatching FMA episodes the whole way, I paused on the beginning of episode 26 to read the text on a letter that would normally go by too quick as to be unreadable as is too common in the anime, and I read something that surprised me; Ed writes to Mustang about modern Britain! This led me to believe that FMA takes place in a world mirroring that of Earth, with similar countries, but then where does Amestris fit in? Is it a part of an already existing country?

Here's the letter:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e245/SS_...Britainnote.png

What do you guys think?

Discuss.

Plus, does this letter make any real sense at all (with regards to sentence structure etc.). Maybe it's just a bit too fancy an professional for me to understand

Hmm, interesting there. Seeing as Ed does pop up in Britain as his alter!self in episode... was it 49 or 50? One of those two, I'm sure! And he ends up there when he passes the Gate again, it makes it seem as if Amestris is the FMA world's Britain/UK

Although... I also feel that they're more like Germany. Marshall law rules, a very traditional society, etc. And I don't know if I'm the only one that this intrigued, but what about in CoS? When Ed speaks to everyone in the same language, nobody has a different accent, and when Al speaks, the Germans can all understand him, too. The leads me to believe that they're, in fact, 'German' in their world. How else could Ed and Al assimilate so quickly and flawlessly with the language and culture?


(Also, lol... my last argument just totally killed me inside. I swear it did... I write fanfics with Ed and Alfons, and... Alfons always has an accent. And speaks German, while Ed speaks Amestrian ('English'). But now, after actually thinking and talking about it... I feel like an utter moron for not realizing these things. "orz)

Yeah, I agree that Ed being transported to London makes it seem like Amestris and Britain are connected, but I too have always thought it seemed more Germanic what with all the things you mentioned and the most obvious - strong armies conquering "lesser" people, and the title of fuhrer.

That is a very good point I never thought about, the fact Ed and Al and Hohenheim can all easily speak with the Germans with no apparent accent difference does lead us to believe they are German... Also, a lesser proof might be that most of the Earth counterparts are located in Germany and not Britain... Maybe it's just the case that the gate happens to lead to Britain?

Ooh, ouch XD, that's too bad . Oh well, it's not like it is an obvious mistake to everyone who reads the fanfics (I just realized that sounds really sarcastic, but I swear its not!)

FMA uses a lot of nonsense writing, usually just nods to old bits of alchemy and it's history. Nothing to do with the plot, just a bonus for fans.

As for Artemis, it's based on Germany but not in a strict sense. Language things are just for plot convenience.

Yeah, in the other letters throughout the series a lot of the writing has been nonsense, but have generally fit in to the world, whereas the usage of Britain doesn't seem to fit exactly, or at least, doesn't fit into our view of the world. I think it could either be just a little fun bit of nonsense, or it could be a hint as to the world around Amestris - I mean, has Hiromu Arakawa come outright and said Britain doesn't exist in this world, or said that it has no relation geographically to Earth?

Yeah, maybe so, and it would be obviously more convenient to have them speak the same language, yet none of the people have accents either; I don't think accents would have been too hard to implement on some people...

Science Museum != Britain, just so you know.
It's very possible that Artemis just has it's own museum, just like it has that Military Library.

Oh ok, I think I see what you're saying. So you think the title of "Britain" might be just a little Easter egg? Yeah, that's probably right

Oh, wait! I didn't see the word Britain in the text. I just thought you were saying Science Museum must mean Britain.

SILLY ME.

But yeah, probably nothing meant by it other than filler text.

Amestris

I believe FMA took place in an alternate!Germany, since the gate from their area seemed to lead to Germany from there.

Haha, wow, I must have seemed like an idiot then .

But yeah, I probably agree that it was just Easter egg filler text.



Didn't the gate also at some point lead to London? Like when Ed first went to Earth? I do agree though, that Amestris is like an alternate Germany, for other reasons besides that one too.

Yes, when Edward passed through the gate the first time it led to London, England where his alter self was currently residing. This is purely speculation on my own behalf, but I believe that the gate leads to the place where one´s alter is residing. Remember that only Edward´s soul passed through the gate the first time. Edward´s soul was instantly "attracted" to the body of his alter who was currently living in England. I am guessing that the gate also led to England for Edward´s father as well. I am going on with the hypothesis that Hoenheim may have latter moved to Munich, Germany.
I do not believe that we are ever told where the gate led Edward the second time, but we can only speculate that he ended up in Munich, Germany and was probably found by his father. Edward´s body, mind, and soul were all able to fully pass through the gate this time around due to the fact that his alter was deceased, and his soul therefore had no "shell" to be attracted to. I am also guessing that the gate led the homunculus Envy to Munich as well. ( I do not know if the gate works differently for a homunculus who is not considered to be a human-being.)

In my personal opinion, Amestris seems closest to a rising Nationalist Germany. Amestris reminds me of Germany after the end of War World I, with key elements such as the subjection of the Ishbalans and the rise of a supreme Fuhrer. Amestris´subjection of the Ishbalans reminds me of the decisions made by German nationlist, the Thule sociey, and Hitler to eradicate people who they deemed unworthy of the "Master Race." The military government of Amestris spearheaded by a totalitarian Fuhrer also reminds me of the early workings of the Facist dictatorship in Germany. One of my dumber speculations that has led me to believe that Amestris is the alter-world of Germany, is the fact that Edward and Hoenheim are able to speak German fluenty, in that they can converse freely with the other citizens in Munich. (Then again, Hoenheim must have also been able to speak English as well...)

Still, Amestris also draws on various elements from Europe and the United Kingdom during their periods Industrial Revolution. For instance we see numerous forms of technology and even forms of architecture in Amestris and the FMA world as a whole that appear to mimic Europe and the United Kingdom.

- I agree with Popo that the text is an Easter egg, because it really doesn´t make sense. There are other Easter egg texts in the show as well; I remember reading that some of the texts are from old Dungeons and Dragons guide-books, and one text is actually a recipe to make waffles.

Wow. That was a huhreally (say it like it looks) good description, the best I've heard. Did you have it saved as a macro? (are there even macros here?) I already agreed with couple of those reasonings with regards to the government, but I had no idea even the architecture resembled Germany's. Also, that makes sense with regards to the souls being attracted to their counterparts meaning there is no real worldy "entrance" to the gate. It still is weird though, what do you think happened to the soul of the counterpart Ed? (and for that matter Hohenheim too) About your "dumber" reason, we speculated the same thing earlier in this thread, but Popogeejo pointed out it's quite possible they just spoke the same language for plot/continuity convenience. I think I actually remember the waffle recipe one .

This is true in other animes as well.

I was watching an old episode of Robotech and when the viewing screen pops in the command center, there is stupid copy about anything when you pause it.

Sometimes a grocery list or sometimes a bonus for fans.




Very good point, I do also agree that London was "soul" Ed's first destination through the gate - especially since the Zepellin were bombing the city (we know from history that Britain was horribly bombed by Germany, during WWI with Zepellin and with Lutwaffe during WWII).

So, When soul Ed shows up, he is actually alive in WWI London during a German air-raid - since Hohemheim was going to speak to Churchill, (Winston Churchill from Britain). However, why would Ed then show up in Germany later? - Also, do we ever find out how many years have passed between Ed's 2 visits in the gate?

For example by August of 1918, Germany all but abandoned the Zepellin attacks because the British were able to shoot them down...Shamabala movie is during 1923 and Ed has been in our world for 2 years (so since 1921) - does that mean there was a 2 year gap between soul Ed's first gate journey and the 2nd full Ed? Why a 2 yr gap?

Also, I agree that Amestris was supposed to be similar to the rise of Germany - especially with their "extermination" techniques (as the Nazis did with the Jews) and with Germany invading neighboring nations. However, I wish that Hitler was in power already when Ed went to Earth - then things really would have been coincided.

(a Fuhrer in charge of Amestris doing what he did for the "betterment" of the country and Hitler being in power, invading countries and setting up camps for the "betterment" of the Aryan race).