Story 9 – Growing Up
Edward Elric Growing Up
Fullmetal Alchemist has a lot of comedic scenes and jokes. Most of it are focused on Edward’s height, cute insecurities, and personality. Contrary to his noticeable personality is his way of overcoming and becoming from a strong independent boy to a man who accepts his own weaknesses and never backs down.
In the first part of the story, we find Edward trying to find the answer to bring their original bodies back. As the story goes, he learns his own weakness even though alchemy gives him advantages and strong power. He learns that being an alchemist doesn’t mean that you have the power to surpass God or play with human lives. Alchemy is like a fire, if used wisely it will give you light in the dark path. However, if used wrongly, it could hurt and burn you.
Edward learns this from his experience with Human Transmutation. He also meets alchemists who tries to overuse their alchemy powers like Shou Tucker who played and ruined the life of his own family with the use of alchemy. Or Tim Marcoh who told him that he cannot benefit anything using a Philosopher’s stone, and about the downsides of alchemy. From his experience from seeing a mother gave birth, Edward realizes the great things that humans can do naturally without alchemy. Giving another life is what Edward calls AWESOME. He knows that alchemy cannot create life. To him, as much as he tries to develop his knowledge of alchemy, giving birth is something magical.
This is awesome. It is so awesome. That’s so cool. It’s a real live baby!
It’s a birth of a new life! What alchemy has been unable to do after hundreds of years of research – creating a living human.. a woman can do it in 200 days!
Human beings are awesome.
– Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 5
Edward was able to overcome his weaknesses. Although he still dwells on the death of Nina, a girl who both brother’s weren’t able to save, Edward was able to accept that being a human doesn’t mean you are weak and powerless, but being a human means is being able to accept your decisions and finding happiness from it. This is what makes Edward my favorite hero. He not only stands on his own perception of life, but can make others realize that being a human is the greatest thing. Like the Homunculus Envy, who thinks that humans are weak and despicable and easy to manipulate. Edward was able to read into Envy’s real feelings and made him realize that how much humans are beaten down or discouraged they still find their own way to stand again and finds strength from each other.
.. no matter how often we get beaten down.. become discouraged.. lose our way.. come close to falling.. and even if we know that it’s for superficial reasons.. we keep fighting on. We find strength from each other. That’s why.. you are jealous of humans.
– Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 23
Edward is not only a genius and talented kid, but he is a great person inside. For sure Alphonse knows and see the great things about his brother Ed, and the reason why he follows Edward without any question. Fullmetal Alchemist is about overcoming oneself which you can see from following Edward’s adventure in the story. Doesn’t this make you realize that the title of the series fits the entire theme of the story? :)
Even if I don’t have alchemy. I still have everyone.
– Edward Elric, FMA Brotherhood ep. 63