9/10

Alchemists from other countries... THE NERVE!!!!!!!

Gah, another epic plot twist I did NOT see coming!! I mean, I got the feeling one specific character was pretty bad to the bone so to speak, but I didn't realize HOW bad. Very shocked, but in a good way, though I definitely DON'T like his character! Plus, something tragic happens to another character and was pretty bummed because I really liked that character.

We get to meet some new characters though and really enjoyed how one of them is going to bring some good humor! I feel she is going to be SORELY disappointed when she realizes that her imagination is not going to meet reality.

This is a review of the entire series.

Fullmetal Alchemist takes place in the fictional country of Amestris which is heavily based on the Industrial Revolution. Amestris is a unitary state under the rule of a parliamentary republic, run by state alchemists that serve the king utilizing the mystifying arts of alchemy. Alchemy is the power to alter the physical world utilizing its natural elements, performing magic and miracles in the form of science. Alchemy follows the law of equivalent exchange, you must sacrifice something that is of equal value to what you create. You must sacrifice a life to create a life, you must extinguish one flame to ignite another, you have to sacrifice one home to build another, etc...

After being abandoned by their father as children and subjected to watching their mother die, Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse once attempted to utilize the power of alchemy to bring their mother back from the grave, ignoring the dangers of creating a life by offering something of equal value. Edward loses an arm and a leg while Alphonse loses his entire body; his soul placed in a hollow suit of armor that can't feel the touch of others. As neither of them sacrificed their lives in their entirety, the exchange failed and the boys created an abomination in place of their dead mother.

After burning their own home down and dealing with the abomination they created, Edward and his brother enlist themselves in the military to atone for their sins and learn more about the many secrets of alchemy; potentially learning how to recover their original bodies in the process. While serving in the military, the brothers begin to realize how the wonders of alchemy can be abused for nefarious purposes. Immortal life can be gained by sacrificing hundreds of innocents souls, wars can be staged and foreign nations can be annihilated under false charges, human experimentation aided by alchemy can lead to unnatural mutations, the world of alchemy is more dark and dangerous than either of them could've bargained for.

Fullmetal Alchemist grew on me the longer I read it. When I first started reading, it seemed like it was going to be generic shounen material, but it gets deeper and darker the further it goes on. The way it handles political and religious corruption, the dangers of advanced states abusing their technology and resources at the expense of foreign nations caught in the turmoil, and the sad futility of revenge are all very well done.

The characters all bear the weight of what alchemy is capable of. Edward and Alphonse carry the burden of abusing alchemy for selfish purposes. Their master Izumi loses her womb after attempting to resurrect her dead child. Scar takes many lives after his entire country is desecrated and gets trapped in a pointless cycle of revenge. Roy and Riza endure the regret of committing brutal war crimes for the sake of protecting their own nation. Alchemy creates and destroys in equal measure and no one is free from the consequences of tipping the balance.

The fight scenes are flashy and exciting without being too over-the-top because of the dangerous limitations that alchemy involves. The law of equivalent exchange keeps the power scaling in check and adds plenty of tension to the action. The female characters are especially well done, all of them are strong and unique in their own way. The lead heroine Winry being a skilled mechanic, Riza being an honorable warrior of the military, Olivier Armstrong as cold and vicious as the snowy fortress she guards, and that's just a few of them.

The villains are an interesting parody of the seven deadly sins. Each of them represent the darkness and regrets of each of the main characters and they can only be conquered by coming to terms with their own flaws and sins. The characters having to overcome their personal demons to take on the greater demons trying to overthrow the world from the shadows made the struggles of every single person in the story feel personal. Every character, no matter how minor had their moments to shine. Everyone had a vital role to play and the camaraderie between friend and foe alike never felt cheesy of forced.

Unlike most shounen series I've read, the final arc was my favorite. A lot of long-running shounen series have a habit of being dragged out, losing touch with what made them great or breaking their own rules in messy, plot-hole-filled final arcs that leave a lot to be desired. Fullmetal Alchemist has no lose ends, all characters have complete arcs where they learn and grow from their dark pasts, the romance and comedy are handled well without relying on cheap fanservice, the action scenes are great but they don't overshadow the plot and the final chapters tie everything together beautifully. It's not my favorite manga by any means as I usually tend to favor seinen, but it's definitely one of the greatest stories to ever come out of the shounen demographic in my opinion. The ending is a tearjerker but it left me in good spirits.

***

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Volume 8 of Fullmetal Alchemist is the first firm step on the road that leads the manga away from the plot developments of the first anime series. It introduces characters and a new way of doing alchemy that weren't shown in the first series but are shown in Brotherhood.

First and foremost there is the kingdom of Xing which is looking for the secret of immortality. Competing half siblings, Prince Ling Yao and Princess May Chan come across the border on separate quests to find a gift that will make their clan immortal and therefore the strongest of all the Xing clans.

Meanwhile, Ed after all his doubts about his past, regains his memories. With them comes the certainty that he and Al must continue to look for a way to undo their mistakes. There's also an added urgency that he might be a ticking time bomb. How long, he wonders, can a soul stay separate from a body before both begin to rot?
This volume includes a map of Amestris and the surrounding countries. Amestris like Baum's Oz is placed in the center of things, with four countries, one in each of the cardinal directions and a desert or wasteland area separating of them from Amestris. Central, the capital, sits in the middle just like the Emerald City. Just as the Wizard was a false leader, so of course is Bradley, except he won't leave in a balloon if he's asked nicely.

*se cruje los nudillos*

Ay, lo que me ha gustado esto desde el primer momento. La premisa es interesantísima: dos hermanos han trangredido los límites de sus habilidades y eso ha provocado que uno pierda su brazo y su pierna y el otro el cuerpo entero (Moraleja: NO DEJÉIS A LOS NIÑOS SOLOS). Y, aunque te lo cuentan así, es después cuando van construyendo toda la historia de trasfondo y contexto.

Uno de sus puntos fuertes son los personajes. Ed es encantadoramente agresivo, no tanto como para no empatizar con él, Al es un solecito y no deja que te olvides de que sólo tiene 14 años. Mustang. MUSTANG, ESTOY ENAMORADO DE TI. Bueno, no, espera. Izumi. Lo siento, Mustan, pero me quedo con Izumi, es maravillosa. Winry es genial. Hawkeye es genial. Hughes (ni olvido ni perdón) es genial. Los villanos son geniales. 66 es divertidísimo, Envy intrigante, Lust da muy mal rollo, Gluttony da muy mal rollo, Scar es interesante...

Otro punto fuerte son los arcos. Va intercambiando arcos de aparente transición para presentarte personajes o ahondar en flashbacks, con acción y aventuras que, en un par de ocasiones, derivan en un dramote de aúpa que saca las lágrimas (Nina, otro ni olvido ni perdón). Se hacen tan amen0s que a veces ni siquiera distingues el final de un arco con el inicio del siguiente hasta que el personaje lo verbaliza.

Me creo los intereses románticos. Son tradicionales, como se pueden ver en cualquier otro manga, pero es que están bien construidos. No tengo la necesidad de señalar al personaje adyacente que tiene más química con el prota que el interés romántico del prota para decir la obvia realidad: Winry y Edward son perfectos, Mustang y Hawkeye son perfectos. La maestra y su esposo son perfectos. Hacía mucho que no topaba con ese tipo de "toppings" ajenos a la trama principal que fuesen tan interesantes o entretenidos.

En fin, que me ha gustado muchísimo más de lo que me esperaba inicialmente y es muy muy recomendable.

Me encanta que haya nuevos personajes, más revelaciones, y su vez más misterio *_*
Y creo que éste es el volumen con el que más me reí hasta ahora XD

I had been concerned about the pacing of events after reading much of what came later in the anime happen more quickly in the manga version.

However, the broadening of the scope provides for some intriguing possibilities. Another good addition to the series.

More reviews at Rondo of a Possible World: YA Book Reviews  

Action-packed, thickening plot, three-dimensional characters, and humor drizzled on each character, Fullmetal Alchemist is a book that should definitely be read by all. Left me with tears in my eyes and a warm heart for every character that you meet along Ed and Al's long journey.

"Lo único imposible es lo imposible". Y en verdad, parece que es así. La historia de los hermanos Elric va profundizándose, mientras se van mostrando vestigios de una trama aún más oscura de lo que parecía.
Se cierra el arco argumental del Greed (Codicia), de forma genial, con gran dosis de acción, presentando un giro que no se espera, la presentación de alguien que parece mover los hilos: El Padre.
Mientras, los hermanos Elric se enfrentan a un grupo de personas que vienen de otro país y que al parecer buscan algo que también buscan los hermanos. Un conflicto de intereses se viene.
Buen conjunto de mangas que mantiene el ritmo de acción y aventura de los anteriores.

This time we get to see the "Father" of the Homunculus group. More mystery shrouds over their origin and objective. The only thing that is clear that everybody is after Immortality from Philosopher's Stone. It seems to be the new buzz to become immortal. We also get introduced to a whole bunch of new characters from a different country named Xhing. The image Mei has of Ed in her mind and her motivation to meet him, made me laugh out loud. Actually there were quite a lot of laugh out loud moment in this volume. At the end of the volume a strong adversary is moving towards Central. Also the Elric brothers along with Xhing and Winry plans on going to Central. Colonel Mustang is already there investigating the Army's involvement with Philosopher's stone and Soul Transmutation. It is surely going to get chaotic in Central.

Panel u kome se Alfons i Edvard igraju sa mačićima je sam po sebi dovoljan da kažem da sam svim srcem voleo ovaj broj “Čeličnog alhemičara”.

Adoro *.* Letto in una seduta, questo volume ha il giusto mix di azione e comicitá！Le espressioni di Ed e Al nei momenti comici sono inpagabili！Al ora è in grado come il fratello di usare l'alchimia senza l'utilizzo del cerchio, e Ed si sente “minacciato” nel ruolo di fratellone piú saggio. Ho amato la vignetta dove pesa le caratteristiche che li contraddistingue！
Per non parlare di tutte le volte in cui Ed arriva da Winry con il braccio rotto per farglielo nuovamente aggiustare xD Diciamo che Winry non la prende mai troppo bene！Ahah adoro tutto di questo manga. Tutto！