As I was thinking about the different circles, and the sins that are being punished my mind went to my second favorite anime series, Full Metal Alchemist (Death Note is my favorite, in case you were curious). Full Metal Alchemist (FMA) is set in a universe where alchemy has advanced as science, instead of physics (how sweet is that!). The story of the anime follows two brothers Ed and Al who go on a journey to try to restore their bodies because Al lost his whole body and had his soul trans-mutated to a suit of armor while Ed lost a leg and an arm while trying to bring their mother back to life through alchemy, a forbidden use of alchemy.
What does this have to do with Dante's Divine Comedy you might be asking?
For one, Ed and Al live in a country ravaged by war and persecution and they know their journey will not be an easy one. From reading Inferno we see that Dante also describes Florence as a place also ravaged by persecution, as he himself was exiled and when he starts his own journey he too realizes that this will not be an easy journey.
In FMA there is also a character named Dante! But the twist is that Dante is a woman and she is pure evil and the main antagonist of the story. She is manipulative, and very vindictive against those who cross her. I think the reason why she is named Dante is because she is the master of the homunculus, which are artificial humans that are brought into existence through alchemy when someone tries a human transmutation. So when someone tries to bring someone back to life, a new existence occurs, and these are the homunculi. In FMA Dante seeks out the homunculi and gives them strength and convinces them to help because she can make them into full humans. This is an interesting relation as the hommunculi are the seven deadly sins in FMA and in Dante's Inferno, Dante takes control of these sins through his writing and uses them to enact punishment to the souls of those who had committed these sins. The fact that the hommunculi want to become humans is also a reference as some of the people we see in Inferno want to gain their true forms and seek for something better that they were not able to achieve in real life.
In FMA the homunculi are each named after a deadly sin and are depicted as amoral, sociopathic, and pure evil. They are exactly what we expect from the sins: they kill, tempt the greedy, use others to kill people, and manipulate everyone. This is a pretty good depiction of the sins that we encounter in Inferno and how those found in Inferno allowed himself/herself to be manipulated by the sins.
Another reference to Dante's Inferno is that after Dante in FMA created Pride, she places him into the position of Fuhrer and uses him to start wars and cause destruction for her own personal gain. In this regard I viewed FMA's Dante as Pope Boniface VIII who used his power to set up the people he wanted in power, like supporting the Guelphs and exiling Dante.
I also saw Fuhrer Bradley who is actually Pride in FMA as the Holy Roman emperor who Dante describes ad having a pride issue because he wanted to have his image depicted as that of Christ on earth. Pride in FMA similarly goes by the title "God's Guardian Angel".
Lust in FMA is also similar to Francesca in Inferno as Lust desires to become human as the show comes to its conclusion. This is similar to Francesca who tells Dante that the lustful wish for something more that they were not able to achieve on earth. Another similarity is that Lust is killed in FMA by Mustang in a manner similar to how Dante describes lust in Inferno. When Lust finally dies, he body disintegrates and is taken up by the wind similar to how the lustful in Inferno are spun around by the never ending wind.
This is a link to watch Lust die. Kind of gruesome. Also I read somewhere that this is also representative of the way in which Lust is treated in Purgatorio because there flame is used to clear away lust, so I'm looking forward to that moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV9vBz5gc5Q
Wrath in FMA also loses his hands as they are ripped off which could be a reference to Dante's depiction of the angry who rip each other apart over and over again.
Gluttony in FMA is also depicted as ignorant and having very little mental ability, similar to how Dante depicts Cerebus in inferno.
There is also a Virgil-like character in FMA depicted by Roy Mustang who tutors and guides Ed at different times in the show. Ed also admired Mustang, similar to how Dante admires Virgil.
Based on this we can see that there are many instance of similarities between FMA and Dante's Inferno.
No comments:
Post a Comment