Full Metal Alchemist

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  Link: Episode 1 & Episode 32 & Episode 33 (They are all also on Netflix)
  
  Full Metal Alchemist is an anime/manga. In the first anime version of FMA, the ultimate antagonist is a woman named Dante. Throughout the series, the protagonist, Ed and his brother Al encounter creatures called homunculi (they're basically evil supernatural people who take on the appearance of a dead person). Each homunculi is named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
  
  At first it is assumed that all of these beings are just evil, plain and simple. But as the series continues, some of the homunculi show different colours, so to speak. They're not all allies, working together, and some of them even end up helping Ed and Al at some point. This shows that although they are sinful, their sins are not always in poor taste. Sometimes they sin in pursuit of greater truth or further someone else in their goals. It's not black and white, good and evil, and that is why, as Dante Alighieri showed in the Inferno, some sins are worse than others, but even sinners have humanity.
  
  Dante Alighieri's portrayal of the seven deadly sins is multifaceted. In inferno, circle two is Lust, in Dante's eyes, the least damning. Circle three has the Gluttons, circle four is Greed, and five is Wrath. Not all of the seven sins are in the Inferno, but in Purgatory, there is a mountain that has seven levels that each correspond to the sins.
  
  The homunculi that represent each sin also physically represent the sin: Gluttony is a fat, unintelligent thing that is an epic eater. Lust is a sexy lady. Wrath is a little boy who is kind of wild and does what he wants. Greed is man obsessed with what others have (he's greedy). Sloth is the president's secretary. Envy is able to change forms into any other person he wishes. Pride, the most interesting, is an imposing man who happens to be essentially the president of their country.
  
  When they first meet Dante, she is a sweet old lady who is a great pharmacist and alchemist and loves to help people. In the next episode, Dante reveals her belief that the world has so much suffering and conflict and malice, "and it consumes all that it comes in contact with and will smolder until people put an end to all this fighting,"very calm about misfortune and death. (I wonder if this is a commentary on Dante Alighieri's beliefs.) In episode 34, Ed discovers Dante's dead body, but in episode 44 it is revealed that Dante is the mastermind and leader of the homunculi, and is able to take on different bodies. She is centuries old. Maybe this is a commentary on Dante Alighieri's ability to transcend time and effect people's way of thinking hundreds of years later.
  
  Additionally, "The Gate" referenced in FMA leads to the "other side" which I think is an allusion to the gate through hell. It makes sense, because through the gate is a dark, evil place and is filled with souls that have no hope. Once you pass through the gate, you have no hope of returning from where you came. "Abandon hope all who enter here."I immediately thought of Fullmetal Alchemist when we started talking about the Inferno and the sins and even the gate. I'm interested in seeing if more connections can be made as we read more Inferno and get into Purgatory.
  
  The following episode titles are the more obvious allusions to Dante's Inferno:          
  
  

  • Sin (Episode 31)
    Dante of the Deep Forest (Episode 32)
    
    

    In this episode Ed and Al encounter Wrath, Envy, Sloth, Greed

    
    Theory of Avarice (Episode 34)
    
    

    Ironically, the death of the character Greed

    
    The Sinner Within (Episode 36)
    The Other Side of the Gate (Episode 49)