"Actually so embarrassing"— AI Fullmetal Alchemist artwork has anime fans with shocked at how wrong it is

Modified Jul 23, 2024 08:29 GMT

Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the most respected and, inarguably, one of the most influential anime series to have reached mainstream popularity in the last few decades. While the original anime ended in 2010, many still consider it the best anime ever made, even when compared to more recent releases.

Recently an AI artwork shared on the social networking site X has managed to become the main topic of disussion in the fandom, especially due to its numerous inaccuracies in depictions of the main protagonists.

Fullmetal Alchemist's AI artwork is riddled with mistakes

Expand Tweet

The story primarily follows Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric, who both lost parts of their bodies while trying to revive their mother through alchemy. Edward lost his left leg, and Alphonse lost his entire body when the revival of their mother failed. To save his brother, Edward sacrificed his right arm to bind Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor.

As a result, Edward was left with his left leg and right arm severed, which were then replaced by metal prosthetics, earning him the moniker Fullmetal Alchemist.

Recently, an AI-generated artwork sparked discussion among fans due to its inaccuracies. The artwork depicted both of Edward's arms as metal prosthetics, which contradicts the story's significant detail that only one of his arms is a metal prosthetic.

Fan reaction to the inaccuracies

Expand Tweet

Few fans have come forward to mention how this inaccuracy is very embarrassing, especially since Edward's arms are hugely tied with his character and essentially served as a reminder of their earlier actions of trying to do human transmutation.

A few fans also jokingly started mentioning how the AI must've taken away another one of Edward's arms as payment for "transmuting art." A few other fans also mentioned how this must've been the cost of human creativity that was taken by the AI from Edward.

"Mot the ai taking both his arms," another fan mentioned.

"Instead of taking the leg they took bro both arms 😭," another fan wrote.

"For what could equal the cost of human creativity?," one fan mentioned.

Edward and Alphonse as shown in Fullmetal Alchemist anime (Image via Bones)

Another fan mentioned how, along with taking away an additional arm from Edward, the AI had also made a mistake in depicting the seal on Alphonse's right shoulder, which was supposed to be a rather slender-looking cross with a snake, but in the AI artwork, it resembled a conventional cross more.

A few other fans also mentioned how this entire situation might just be a commentary on the price of relying on AI for artwork and the AI taking away parts of the original subject, which is very coherent with the themes of Fullmetal Alchemist stating the laws of equivalent exchange.

"Edward aside, the seal on Alphonse's shoulder isn't supposed to look like a cross," another fan mentioned.

"The cost of relying on AI, it'll take away parts of the actual subject to give you a result. Pretty poetic," one fan wrote.

The Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime had been the highest-rated anime for almost an entire decade and was recently dethroned by Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.