I'm loving this manga series! My favorite new character in this volume is Sheska, the bookworm who saves the day.

So . . . what this volume taught me: Jesus got there first before Edowado Elarico and got the Philosopher's Stone through the equivalent exchange principle of alchemy, a life for a life, blood for blood.

I made the above comment in jest to my Cub after the shock Edward goes through when he believes he'll get the coveted Philosopher's Stone. This volume is a volume of shocks, for the number of revelations it drops on readers. There are far too many complications for a seemingly unassuming plotline about two boys playing with fire and getting burnt in the process, which is what I expected this manga to be. Not that I'm complaining about the complications, I do like complications in my plots, especially when they're complications with difficult moral dilemmas. And this series has plenty, Edward is constantly finding new consequences of what he has done.

But, on the other hand, it's also the volume where we learn the Elrics have a family. Of sorts! Granny Pinako and Winry are aggressively cute, emphasis on "aggressively." I'm especially interested in Winry's arc to come after that bit Granny dropped about her origins. Methinks she'll clash with a certain someone from the same background...

I have commented before, in private, about the weird villains this series seems to have. I wasn't as baffled as most when they were introduced, thanks Catholic school, because it was too obvious to me they are the Seven Deadly Sins, but despite that obviousness, even I did briefly fall for the trap and hilariously thought back in Volume 1 that Lust was simply Arakawa's parody of Jessica Rabbit. Hey, don't laugh at me! Just look at her appearance.



If you can't see this is a dark version of Jessica Rabbit, then you're blinder than a bat trying to read manga on a tiny screen. I am beginning to like Lust, she is promising as a villainess. I also harbour a suspicion as to why she is apparently the chief Deadly Sin in this story, and it cracks me up to think of it because of the irony. (In Catholic theology, Lust is the "minor" amongst the Seven Deadly Sins, I am convinced Arakawa knows this and is playing with the ironic implications on purpose.)

Besides the harsh truths and revelations, I think this volume is like a love letter to nerds. See what Edward tells the memory bookworm girl:

I think being so passionate about something is a talent in itself.

With this simple phrase, Edward (or rather Arakawa) has brightnened many an Otaku's day, don't you think? The more jaded part of me wants to counter that it goes both ways, passionate fixations have positives and negatives, but I believe the series' premise itself is already kind of a commentary on that, directly and indirectly. Both protagonists and villains have the "talent" of single-mindedness here.

I don't know how the author is managing it, but the story so far is such a delicate mix of hopeful and cynical, serious and silly, comical and depressing. That it ends with a side story making fun of the endless "Who Would Win?" discussions every fandom has had at least once was just perfect, too.

And Mustang would win, naturally.

This manga is weird because it gets darker and darker when you'd least expect, but then it's also a little bit childish. It's good though.

sento i traumi che aleggiano e la cosa non è rassicurante però sono tutti la mia vita