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Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 27
The Final Chapter! With the help of Hohenheim and their allies, the Elric brothers launch a desperate final attack against the homunculus “father.” But to claim victory, some may have to make the ultimate sacrifice. And when the dust clears, will a happy ending await our favorite characters in the final volume of Fullmetal Alchemist?
210 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2011
About the author
Hiromu Arakawa
369 books2,756 followersHiromu Arakawa (author: 荒川弘) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師 Hagane no renkinjutsushi).
Her real name is Hiromi Arakawa (荒川弘美).
Arakawa was born and raised on a dairy farm in Hokkaidō.
She thought of being a manga artist since she was little. After graduating high school, she took oil painting classes while working on her family's farm. During that time, she also created dōjinshi manga with her friends and drew yonkoma for a magazine. After eight years she moved to Tōkyō and started out as assistant writer for Hiroyuki Etō.
Her debut as manga artist is in 1999 with STRAY DOG. In 2001 she started working on her famous and award winning series Fullmetal Alchemist, that soon gets a successful anime adaptation.
Other works include Silver Spoon (銀の匙 Silver Spoon, Gin no saji Silver Spoon).
Her real name is Hiromi Arakawa (荒川弘美).
Arakawa was born and raised on a dairy farm in Hokkaidō.
She thought of being a manga artist since she was little. After graduating high school, she took oil painting classes while working on her family's farm. During that time, she also created dōjinshi manga with her friends and drew yonkoma for a magazine. After eight years she moved to Tōkyō and started out as assistant writer for Hiroyuki Etō.
Her debut as manga artist is in 1999 with STRAY DOG. In 2001 she started working on her famous and award winning series Fullmetal Alchemist, that soon gets a successful anime adaptation.
Other works include Silver Spoon (銀の匙 Silver Spoon, Gin no saji Silver Spoon).
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July 4, 2024
Update Three Days Later: Yes, the Cub and his circle of FMA addicts are right, I succumbed to the temptation and am back into the fanfiction waters. But I've learnt my lesson from my younger and stupider years, so I'm not reading certain stuff and am far more choosy (and wise!) now.
____________________________________
Update Two Days Later: I think the withdrawal got worse. I'm now craving fanfiction for a certain pair of characters, something I've not felt in a decade and a half... Clearly, I urgently need something to invest in before I get lost in the AO3 fanfic rabbit hole again.
Which characters those are, I'll leave for you to guess!
___________________________________
Update Next Day: First day without this series, and I'm already suffering from withdrawal symptoms! I grabbed my Kindle this morning and searched for the next volume, forgetting that there's no Volume 28.
And as any withdrawal sufferer, I went to Google to see if Arakawa plans to ever write a sequel, or a prequel (I'll accept anything, even a non-alchemist story set in the same world), and I'm sitting here crestfallen because there's none.
But she said she would like to revisit the world eventually. Small consolation.
But there are videogames with different stories involving the Elrics. Smaller consolation because I'm no gamer.
But there's live-action films in Japan. Tiny consolation because I don't wanna watch that.
What am I going to do with my life? I even grabbed a non-fic book about trad Japanese architecture to try and help the symptoms. Shogun's next season better be released before I die.
I'm about to concoct some scheme to write to Arakawa and suggest she do a slice-of-life collection of stories involving our faves, the Elrics, Mustang, Hawkeye, Iron Barbie... But who would be as good a villain as the Seven Deadly Sins, you ask? Well, there's Totally Not Russia (Drachma), so why not? Besides there's also Totally Not China (Xing) to provide a few scares for our characters, too. Or simply don't have a Big Bad, just a buncha problems to deal with. There's lots of possibilities.
Just . . . go back to Resembool, Arakawa-san, please?
___________________________________
Last volume of this great series, and I'm both satisfied and dissatisfied.
But above all, I'm sad. I spent one whole month reading this, going up and down with the rollercoaster of emotions it elicited every day, and talking and ranting about it to my Cub. I've not had such a reading experience in a very long time, in part because I've not been this invested in a story for just as long. I'm maybe past the age when you give yourself in body and soul to a story, or maybe I've changed a lot as a reader that it's no longer easy to have me this invested.
I'm satisfied because this had a neat wrap-up. I'm dissatisfied because it didn't wrap up certain things the way it should have. It did not leave plotholes or loose ends on the important themes and arcs, but some minor aspects were passed over. Of course, it's unavoidable for a series to have this kind of oversight present for some things, unless authors were to write endings with every single little thread and arc, which isn't desirable, or even good for a story as much as fans would like to know everything.
I had said in my review for the penultimate volume that I hoped FMA had a Scouring of the Shire post-ending, and it does. But it's not very detailed or spans much time, we mostly see the beginning of reconstruction. Basically a clearing of the rubble after a world war, so it's impossible to see much unless Arakawa had continued the series for at least a half a dozen volumes more, which I don't think she'd have liked to. The series could always use a sequel, or a prequel or three, but even one more volume would've probably killed the impact of the ending.
Nonetheless, Arakawa could've been a wee bit more expansive on certain characters. Like, what's going to become of Havoc? Are Hawkeye and Mustang going to be in a relationship now or continue to live pretending under that superior/subordinate statu quo? Why don't we see the boys mourning their father? How did Pinako know about Hohenheim's true nature? Why are Armstrong and Mustang back to soldiering in the boonies instead of remaining at Central and being prepared to be the next leaders? How was the thought process of Mrs Bradley to accept Selim in spite of him being a homunculus? Why didn't Edward and Winry kiss in that dreadful declaration of love? Come on, woman! I'm not asking you to write me a detailed tale of how Scar rebuilt Ishbala or how many wives the former idiot prince has in his seraglio now that he's the idiot emperor! All I'm asking is to maybe write one more panel or three 'splainin' these niggling nits I'm picking!
But, on the other hand, it's not good to not leave readers with some unanswered questions and some loose or loosely-tied threads so they can have material to crackpot and theorise and argue and fill in the gaps with headcanons and fanfictions, is it? Some mystery is necessary. And besides, I can always talk these and other doubts and annoyances with my Cub, be it my objections to the theological mess of this series or the lack of a fade-to-black kiss.
It's been a great pleasure, because of the plot and because of the company I had whilst reading. That is, for me, what makes a book memorable for good.
Now, I'll just go quietly process the ending and look back on previous volumes, and laugh at the hats eaten and the pottery shattered, and bother my Cub with questions. Maybe I'll go explore the FMA fandom's haunts, read their own reactions and crackpottery, and nod in agreement at the need for Arakawa-san to write us some prequel if she won't give us a sequel. There's still more coming! It's not ave atqve vale to FMA yet, but a see you again soon.
____________________________________
Update Two Days Later: I think the withdrawal got worse. I'm now craving fanfiction for a certain pair of characters, something I've not felt in a decade and a half... Clearly, I urgently need something to invest in before I get lost in the AO3 fanfic rabbit hole again.
Which characters those are, I'll leave for you to guess!
___________________________________
Update Next Day: First day without this series, and I'm already suffering from withdrawal symptoms! I grabbed my Kindle this morning and searched for the next volume, forgetting that there's no Volume 28.
And as any withdrawal sufferer, I went to Google to see if Arakawa plans to ever write a sequel, or a prequel (I'll accept anything, even a non-alchemist story set in the same world), and I'm sitting here crestfallen because there's none.
But she said she would like to revisit the world eventually. Small consolation.
But there are videogames with different stories involving the Elrics. Smaller consolation because I'm no gamer.
But there's live-action films in Japan. Tiny consolation because I don't wanna watch that.
What am I going to do with my life? I even grabbed a non-fic book about trad Japanese architecture to try and help the symptoms. Shogun's next season better be released before I die.
I'm about to concoct some scheme to write to Arakawa and suggest she do a slice-of-life collection of stories involving our faves, the Elrics, Mustang, Hawkeye, Iron Barbie... But who would be as good a villain as the Seven Deadly Sins, you ask? Well, there's Totally Not Russia (Drachma), so why not? Besides there's also Totally Not China (Xing) to provide a few scares for our characters, too. Or simply don't have a Big Bad, just a buncha problems to deal with. There's lots of possibilities.
Just . . . go back to Resembool, Arakawa-san, please?
___________________________________
Last volume of this great series, and I'm both satisfied and dissatisfied.
But above all, I'm sad. I spent one whole month reading this, going up and down with the rollercoaster of emotions it elicited every day, and talking and ranting about it to my Cub. I've not had such a reading experience in a very long time, in part because I've not been this invested in a story for just as long. I'm maybe past the age when you give yourself in body and soul to a story, or maybe I've changed a lot as a reader that it's no longer easy to have me this invested.
I'm satisfied because this had a neat wrap-up. I'm dissatisfied because it didn't wrap up certain things the way it should have. It did not leave plotholes or loose ends on the important themes and arcs, but some minor aspects were passed over. Of course, it's unavoidable for a series to have this kind of oversight present for some things, unless authors were to write endings with every single little thread and arc, which isn't desirable, or even good for a story as much as fans would like to know everything.
I had said in my review for the penultimate volume that I hoped FMA had a Scouring of the Shire post-ending, and it does. But it's not very detailed or spans much time, we mostly see the beginning of reconstruction. Basically a clearing of the rubble after a world war, so it's impossible to see much unless Arakawa had continued the series for at least a half a dozen volumes more, which I don't think she'd have liked to. The series could always use a sequel, or a prequel or three, but even one more volume would've probably killed the impact of the ending.
Nonetheless, Arakawa could've been a wee bit more expansive on certain characters. Like, what's going to become of Havoc? Are Hawkeye and Mustang going to be in a relationship now or continue to live pretending under that superior/subordinate statu quo? Why don't we see the boys mourning their father? How did Pinako know about Hohenheim's true nature? Why are Armstrong and Mustang back to soldiering in the boonies instead of remaining at Central and being prepared to be the next leaders? How was the thought process of Mrs Bradley to accept Selim in spite of him being a homunculus? Why didn't Edward and Winry kiss in that dreadful declaration of love? Come on, woman! I'm not asking you to write me a detailed tale of how Scar rebuilt Ishbala or how many wives the former idiot prince has in his seraglio now that he's the idiot emperor! All I'm asking is to maybe write one more panel or three 'splainin' these niggling nits I'm picking!
But, on the other hand, it's not good to not leave readers with some unanswered questions and some loose or loosely-tied threads so they can have material to crackpot and theorise and argue and fill in the gaps with headcanons and fanfictions, is it? Some mystery is necessary. And besides, I can always talk these and other doubts and annoyances with my Cub, be it my objections to the theological mess of this series or the lack of a fade-to-black kiss.
It's been a great pleasure, because of the plot and because of the company I had whilst reading. That is, for me, what makes a book memorable for good.
Now, I'll just go quietly process the ending and look back on previous volumes, and laugh at the hats eaten and the pottery shattered, and bother my Cub with questions. Maybe I'll go explore the FMA fandom's haunts, read their own reactions and crackpottery, and nod in agreement at the need for Arakawa-san to write us some prequel if she won't give us a sequel. There's still more coming! It's not ave atqve vale to FMA yet, but a see you again soon.
October 4, 2016
One of the best manga in the world! Even if I haven't read all the manga, I can surely say it.
God! Who transmuted all these onions into tears? But don't worry, Edward. It is tears of joy!
This one month of my life was a great journey into fantastic alchemy worlds! Hiromi Arakawa did wonderful job with this manga! She is now one of my favorite mangaka!
The powerful parts of this manga:
1. Incredibly solid and well-executed idea, story! So complex and beautiful!
2. Wonderfully drawn and memorable, lovable characters! Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Winry Rockbell, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Ling, Lan Fan, May Chang, Scar, Olivier Armstrong, Alex Armstrong, Maes Hughes, Van Hohenheim, Izumi Curtis-my favorite characters! The side characters who gave the story great development! Even the homonculi and "father" were well-developed evil characters.
3. Gorgeous artwork!
4. The experiences I had with the manga, lessons I have learned. The theme of friendship, truth, knowledge, love, brotherhood, help, mercy, forgiveness... The bad and good sides of seven deadly sins...
5. The ending! You know the story is very good that the ending makes you cry even though it is a happy ending. I don't want to left this world! The story, doubtless, will live with me forever.
Now it is time for the favorite quotes:
Humankind cannot gain something without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. This is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange.
A lesson without pain is meaningless. For you cannot gain anything without sacrificing something else in return, but once you have overcome it and made it your own...you will gain an irreplaceable fullmetal heart.
“Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs. So get up and use them. You're strong enough to make your own path.”
“It’s ironic that as scientists that don’t believe in god, were the ones that are closest to god.”
“Greed may not be good, but it’s not so bad either. You humans think greed is just for money or power, but everyone wants something they can’t have.”
“Your hands weren't meant to take peoples lives. They were meant to save them.”
“A king is no king without his people, but a people without their king would be lost as well."
“I think being so passionate about something is a talent in itself.”
“Life will come to an end, a return to dust from which we came... The spirit becomes memories living in the minds of people.”
God! Who transmuted all these onions into tears? But don't worry, Edward. It is tears of joy!
This one month of my life was a great journey into fantastic alchemy worlds! Hiromi Arakawa did wonderful job with this manga! She is now one of my favorite mangaka!
The powerful parts of this manga:
1. Incredibly solid and well-executed idea, story! So complex and beautiful!
2. Wonderfully drawn and memorable, lovable characters! Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Winry Rockbell, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Ling, Lan Fan, May Chang, Scar, Olivier Armstrong, Alex Armstrong, Maes Hughes, Van Hohenheim, Izumi Curtis-my favorite characters! The side characters who gave the story great development! Even the homonculi and "father" were well-developed evil characters.
3. Gorgeous artwork!
4. The experiences I had with the manga, lessons I have learned. The theme of friendship, truth, knowledge, love, brotherhood, help, mercy, forgiveness... The bad and good sides of seven deadly sins...
5. The ending! You know the story is very good that the ending makes you cry even though it is a happy ending. I don't want to left this world! The story, doubtless, will live with me forever.
Now it is time for the favorite quotes:
Humankind cannot gain something without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. This is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange.
A lesson without pain is meaningless. For you cannot gain anything without sacrificing something else in return, but once you have overcome it and made it your own...you will gain an irreplaceable fullmetal heart.
“Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs. So get up and use them. You're strong enough to make your own path.”
“It’s ironic that as scientists that don’t believe in god, were the ones that are closest to god.”
“Greed may not be good, but it’s not so bad either. You humans think greed is just for money or power, but everyone wants something they can’t have.”
“Your hands weren't meant to take peoples lives. They were meant to save them.”
“A king is no king without his people, but a people without their king would be lost as well."
“I think being so passionate about something is a talent in itself.”
“Life will come to an end, a return to dust from which we came... The spirit becomes memories living in the minds of people.”
May 8, 2022
" One who accepts and understands the flow of power, and constructs using that knowledge...is called an alchemist. The world is basically functioning according to this flow life and death of humans are part of this as well. That's why you should never, ever try to revive human being. "
Se me hace super raro, no lo voy a negar. He terminado Fullmetal Alchemist. Después de todos los años que me decía que tenía que leerlo vengo a acabarlo después de 10 años. Menos mal que me puse en serio, porque si no igual habrían pasado 10 años más y me seguiría diciendo lo mismo.
“Race, ethnicity, gender, class…any type of prejudice on the battlefield can only lead to weakness and an increase in casualties. No matter what happens, no matter who is standing by your side, as long as you wear this uniform…you must be prepared to move quickly and decisively as you carry out your superior's order. We must be A SINGLE FORCE! Let nothing weaken our resolve!"
Ahora mismo, lo único que siento es en parte un alivio tremendo y por otro un vacío en mi corazón. Pero bueno, esto ocurre siempre que termina una saga de muchos capítulos o tomos. Han sido 27 tomos nada más ni nada menos. Lo único que soy capaz de decir ahora mismo es que me alegro de haberlo leído en esta etapa de mi vida. Ha sido un manga que ha merecido mucho la pena leer. Es una gran obra que se merece los elogios y su fama.
Si es cierto que no me han gustado todos los tomos por igual. El principio se me hizo un poco denso, pero la autora lo quiso así. Ella quería tomarse las cosas con calma y preparando los hilos de esta gran historia.
"Please stay a part of this family. Don’t isolate yourself and become distant and please don’t hurt yourself with labels like « monster »"
La idea es muy buena. Lo que si que me costó entender un poco es que este manga esta considerado un shonen cuando para mi creo que se podría catalogar también como un seinen. Para mi has sido mucho más profundo de los otros mangas shonen que te encuentras por ahí. Pero en fin eso es lo de menos.
En cuanto a la ambientación, si no me he equivoco, tampoco he buscado al respecto la verdad, creo que la autora se ha basado en la Europa del siglo XX sobre todo en el período de entreguerras para esta historia y añadiéndole un toque steampunk.
Respecto a la historia, no pienso decir nada. Creo que para aquellas personas que deseen leerlo, deberán leerse la sinopsis del primer tomo e ir averiguándolo por ellos mismos, porque si no creo que perdería toda su gracia.
"You did it because you didn't want to be reminded of your mistake! You wanted to escape from the painful memories. You thought you could erase all traces of your actions, didn't you?"
Ahora sí, el punto fuerte de estos mangas es sin lugar a dudas los personajes. Están super bien creados y muestran lo peor y lo mejor de la naturaleza humana. Sobre todo, destacar los personajes femeninos, son lo mejor de la serie, sin duda. Me inclino ante ellas, incluso las envidio. Ojalá pudiera hacer la mitad de cosas que son capaces de hacer, lo juro.
Lo único con lo que no estoy de acuerdo ha sido con el final. Me explico. Los últimos tomos me han parecido buenos, sin embargo, creo que me esperaba un final mucho más apoteósico y un recorrido del final de cada uno de los personajes, en vez de centrarse más bien en los protagonistas. Sin embargo, a pesar de todo ha estado bien. El manga se queda con 5 estrellas de 5 porque de verdad ha estado muy bien.
"The spirit becomes memories, living in the minds of people. Everything changes the sames as with human life.".
Se me hace super raro, no lo voy a negar. He terminado Fullmetal Alchemist. Después de todos los años que me decía que tenía que leerlo vengo a acabarlo después de 10 años. Menos mal que me puse en serio, porque si no igual habrían pasado 10 años más y me seguiría diciendo lo mismo.
“Race, ethnicity, gender, class…any type of prejudice on the battlefield can only lead to weakness and an increase in casualties. No matter what happens, no matter who is standing by your side, as long as you wear this uniform…you must be prepared to move quickly and decisively as you carry out your superior's order. We must be A SINGLE FORCE! Let nothing weaken our resolve!"
Ahora mismo, lo único que siento es en parte un alivio tremendo y por otro un vacío en mi corazón. Pero bueno, esto ocurre siempre que termina una saga de muchos capítulos o tomos. Han sido 27 tomos nada más ni nada menos. Lo único que soy capaz de decir ahora mismo es que me alegro de haberlo leído en esta etapa de mi vida. Ha sido un manga que ha merecido mucho la pena leer. Es una gran obra que se merece los elogios y su fama.
Si es cierto que no me han gustado todos los tomos por igual. El principio se me hizo un poco denso, pero la autora lo quiso así. Ella quería tomarse las cosas con calma y preparando los hilos de esta gran historia.
"Please stay a part of this family. Don’t isolate yourself and become distant and please don’t hurt yourself with labels like « monster »"
La idea es muy buena. Lo que si que me costó entender un poco es que este manga esta considerado un shonen cuando para mi creo que se podría catalogar también como un seinen. Para mi has sido mucho más profundo de los otros mangas shonen que te encuentras por ahí. Pero en fin eso es lo de menos.
En cuanto a la ambientación, si no me he equivoco, tampoco he buscado al respecto la verdad, creo que la autora se ha basado en la Europa del siglo XX sobre todo en el período de entreguerras para esta historia y añadiéndole un toque steampunk.
Respecto a la historia, no pienso decir nada. Creo que para aquellas personas que deseen leerlo, deberán leerse la sinopsis del primer tomo e ir averiguándolo por ellos mismos, porque si no creo que perdería toda su gracia.
"You did it because you didn't want to be reminded of your mistake! You wanted to escape from the painful memories. You thought you could erase all traces of your actions, didn't you?"
Ahora sí, el punto fuerte de estos mangas es sin lugar a dudas los personajes. Están super bien creados y muestran lo peor y lo mejor de la naturaleza humana. Sobre todo, destacar los personajes femeninos, son lo mejor de la serie, sin duda. Me inclino ante ellas, incluso las envidio. Ojalá pudiera hacer la mitad de cosas que son capaces de hacer, lo juro.
Lo único con lo que no estoy de acuerdo ha sido con el final. Me explico. Los últimos tomos me han parecido buenos, sin embargo, creo que me esperaba un final mucho más apoteósico y un recorrido del final de cada uno de los personajes, en vez de centrarse más bien en los protagonistas. Sin embargo, a pesar de todo ha estado bien. El manga se queda con 5 estrellas de 5 porque de verdad ha estado muy bien.
"The spirit becomes memories, living in the minds of people. Everything changes the sames as with human life.".
October 24, 2011
Always love you Ed, you too Al. You both will be ok, won't you? Take care now. Say hi to Winry and Grams. If you guys run into Hohenheim, don't be too harsh. He's old, and broken hearted, and only have one life to live. So be gentle, right. And Ed... drink your milk!! You do want to grow taller, don't you?!? ;p
I wonder, what will happend General Amstrong? Will she and Mustang fight for "The Chair"??!? Naaayy... she isn't that political type anyway. She's back to north I guess. Haha...Major Alex got the mansion anyway... that a scene worth seeing.
And Roy.... It's not cheap to be where you are right now, so don't take it for granted, OK!!! Oh yeah, you should listen to Riza more often, she was your eyes once, she will always be your eyes. And guns. And conscience too. And I think Havoc will be ok soon, he always has that strong will. Soon you'll get your full team back again.
---Psstt..... had he already knew that Scar still alived??? No?!? Where is he anyway, scouting women on Madame Christine bar's again, I figure. What? Ohh, really? He's visiting Colonel Huges grave. Wow, that's very decent manner of him. *suprised*---
Hope Dr Marcoh finally got his peace among those people. He earns it. With Mustang covering the aid from central and Lin's trading line from east, people of Ishvar should be on it's own in no time. They have good leaders and always in high spirits.
I heard that Lin became Emperor at the end. Some times I thought of that last Philosopher's Stone. What greatness -or sadness- will it brings to him and his family? Hmmm... but he also got a she-warrior next to him, he would do just fine.
Meilin and her "black and white cat" were soo cute, weren't they? I'll bet she will become a very beautiful and cheerful princess someday. Hey Al..., you're lucky guy..... *_^
Bubye everybody. Nice meeting you all. *waving and smile*
**sigh**
I wonder, what will happend General Amstrong? Will she and Mustang fight for "The Chair"??!? Naaayy... she isn't that political type anyway. She's back to north I guess. Haha...Major Alex got the mansion anyway... that a scene worth seeing.
And Roy.... It's not cheap to be where you are right now, so don't take it for granted, OK!!! Oh yeah, you should listen to Riza more often, she was your eyes once, she will always be your eyes. And guns. And conscience too. And I think Havoc will be ok soon, he always has that strong will. Soon you'll get your full team back again.
---Psstt..... had he already knew that Scar still alived??? No?!? Where is he anyway, scouting women on Madame Christine bar's again, I figure. What? Ohh, really? He's visiting Colonel Huges grave. Wow, that's very decent manner of him. *suprised*---
Hope Dr Marcoh finally got his peace among those people. He earns it. With Mustang covering the aid from central and Lin's trading line from east, people of Ishvar should be on it's own in no time. They have good leaders and always in high spirits.
I heard that Lin became Emperor at the end. Some times I thought of that last Philosopher's Stone. What greatness -or sadness- will it brings to him and his family? Hmmm... but he also got a she-warrior next to him, he would do just fine.
Meilin and her "black and white cat" were soo cute, weren't they? I'll bet she will become a very beautiful and cheerful princess someday. Hey Al..., you're lucky guy..... *_^
Bubye everybody. Nice meeting you all. *waving and smile*
**sigh**
July 17, 2012
"A lesson learned without pain is meaningless."
Excuse me, if anyone needs me I'll be the pile of feelings in the corner.
Excuse me, if anyone needs me I'll be the pile of feelings in the corner.
March 24, 2021
A fine enough ending for a pretty darn good series.
My main criticism of the book is also one of its assets: it is too overstuffed with engaging characters -- 50 of them in this big climax!. The ensemble is so large and the story revisited them all so regularly, that the main characters got lost in the shuffle and the book lost focus. And the creator obviously loves them all too much, keeping the final body count ridiculously low for a series that features a four-volume final battle with military engagements and super-powers.
Still -- despite that one page -- I enjoyed reading the series and will definitely be seeking out more of Arakawa's work.
My main criticism of the book is also one of its assets: it is too overstuffed with engaging characters -- 50 of them in this big climax!. The ensemble is so large and the story revisited them all so regularly, that the main characters got lost in the shuffle and the book lost focus. And the creator obviously loves them all too much, keeping the final body count ridiculously low for a series that features a four-volume final battle with military engagements and super-powers.
Still -- despite that one page -- I enjoyed reading the series and will definitely be seeking out more of Arakawa's work.
October 2, 2016
Hace una semana que terminé de leer este fantástico manga, y mi idea era escribir una reseña general explicando lo que sentí en toda la historia, pero cada vez que lo intento, sucede esto:
Las palabras se esfuman de mi mente, y sé que siempre va a ser así cada vez que quiera describir mis sentimientos por este manga. Así que, como una imagen vale más que mil palabras, creo que este gif lo resume todo:
Cada vez que hablo, pienso, leo, veo y escucho sobre este manga, no puedo evitar que me broten corazones, y eso se debe a que desde un principio me atrapó por completo. Lo sé, fui una presa fácil y caí rápidamente en sus redes, pero tengo muy buenas razones que me justifican.
Una de ellas es que se nota que Hiromu Arakawa desde un principio tuvo muy en claro hacia dónde quería que fuera la historia, y les dio mucho protagonismo a personajes que yo creía que no eran tan importantes, pero que al final cada uno de ellos contribuyó a todo el desarrollo y sobre todo al final de este manga.
Otra de las cualidades que tuvo a favor esta historia es que los personajes están desarrollados de una forma que hacen que uno se encariñe con ellos y que uno comprenda los momentos duros que tuvieron que pasar, sobre todo en la parte de la guerra y las consecuencias que eso tuvo en las vidas de determinados personajes. Me encanta porque me hizo dar cuenta de ciertas cosas que jamás había notado o sobre las cuales no había pensado antes.
El final me sorprendió porque algunas cosas se desarrollaron de manera distinta a lo que yo creía que iba a suceder, pero me gustó mucho que fuera así. Aunque tengo que mencionar que hubo un detalle que la mangaka nunca respondió y que considero que hubiera sido importante que lo hiciera para que yo y muchos más no nos quedáramos con la incógnita.
En fin, a pesar de eso, creo que este manga es perfecto se mire por donde se lo mire, y voy a estar enamorada de él hasta el final de los tiempos :P
Si bien me duele que se haya terminado tan rápido, todavía me queda ver el anime, así que tengo Fullmetal Alchemist para rato. Woohoo!!
Las palabras se esfuman de mi mente, y sé que siempre va a ser así cada vez que quiera describir mis sentimientos por este manga. Así que, como una imagen vale más que mil palabras, creo que este gif lo resume todo:
Cada vez que hablo, pienso, leo, veo y escucho sobre este manga, no puedo evitar que me broten corazones, y eso se debe a que desde un principio me atrapó por completo. Lo sé, fui una presa fácil y caí rápidamente en sus redes, pero tengo muy buenas razones que me justifican.
Una de ellas es que se nota que Hiromu Arakawa desde un principio tuvo muy en claro hacia dónde quería que fuera la historia, y les dio mucho protagonismo a personajes que yo creía que no eran tan importantes, pero que al final cada uno de ellos contribuyó a todo el desarrollo y sobre todo al final de este manga.
Otra de las cualidades que tuvo a favor esta historia es que los personajes están desarrollados de una forma que hacen que uno se encariñe con ellos y que uno comprenda los momentos duros que tuvieron que pasar, sobre todo en la parte de la guerra y las consecuencias que eso tuvo en las vidas de determinados personajes. Me encanta porque me hizo dar cuenta de ciertas cosas que jamás había notado o sobre las cuales no había pensado antes.
El final me sorprendió porque algunas cosas se desarrollaron de manera distinta a lo que yo creía que iba a suceder, pero me gustó mucho que fuera así. Aunque tengo que mencionar que hubo un detalle que la mangaka nunca respondió y que considero que hubiera sido importante que lo hiciera para que yo y muchos más no nos quedáramos con la incógnita.
En fin, a pesar de eso, creo que este manga es perfecto se mire por donde se lo mire, y voy a estar enamorada de él hasta el final de los tiempos :P
Si bien me duele que se haya terminado tan rápido, todavía me queda ver el anime, así que tengo Fullmetal Alchemist para rato. Woohoo!!
February 14, 2017
First off: some preliminary awesomeness
Entering into this series, I did not know fully what to expect. I’d heard the title passed around a lot between my various social groups. When one of my friends, who owned books 1-10, lent me the first copy, along with the first copy of Rurouni Kenshin, I definitely found Kenshin more appealing. I made it through FMA volumes 1-2, thought, “Meh, it’s okay, but I don’t like where this is heading,” but, because I had book 3 close at hand, figured I might as well give another volume a shot.
I’m not quite sure when I was hooked, but I know by the time I finished volume 4, I was flying through the books and could not get enough.
I’ve never been a fan of most of the villains in FMA, beyond Lust, who was pretty cool, Envy, and sometimes Greed. Most of the time, the homunculi unsettled me. I mean… they just had this terrible vibe running through them, an atmosphere that choked me through the pages of the manga book. Especially Gluttony. Don’t get me started on Gluttony. On my list of least favorite bad guys, he hits near the top. Scar wasn’t a pleasurable read, either, especially because I feel like I get a lot of crap for my religion as a Christian, without reading an author’s interpretation of a crazy heretic going around killing people in the name of God.
At the same time, the extraordinary unlikability of the villains did not dissuade me from the story. Many times, authors write villains that we want defeated, but who are still really cool, and we’re like, “OH YEAHHHHH DARTH VADER IS SO AWESOME!” I’m not going to say that Gluttony was cool – he was repulsive – but this was a fresh perspective from the typical villain we see. I HATED THOSE VILLAINS, and watching the Elric brothers and company pummel them was still something I could get satisfaction out of, even if I preferred not to see any of the homunculi’s faces. Point being, Arakawa still scores points for making really, really memorable villains.
What really made the series was the emotions behind it, particularly the emotions of our two main protagonists. Quickly we learn the bond between Edward and Al. Once you get their backstory, you’re never the same. “OH MY GOSH THIS IS AWFUL!” is pretty much the best way I can describe my emotions… and every single time I rewatch or reread these scenes, I get incredibly invested in the storyline. And how Arakawa plays with their emotions – their ambitions, their sadness, their darkness, their regrets – is incredibly realistic, incredibly poignant, and incredibly powerful to readers. The relationship between Ed and Al is so tangibly close that I just had to keep reading.
Below: auugggghhh my emotions
Of course we’ve got numerous other characters. And Arakawa does an incredible, incredible job demonstrating their distinct personalities. Even characters that don’t show up in the panels as often as the others still give readers a distinct impression and very clear glimpse of their personality. How many people were extremely upset at Hughes’ death? *raises hand - ME ME!* There’s totally a reason behind that. Or when Riza’s throat gets slit near the end? A tear leaked for me on that one for sure, along with what I’m pretty sure was an angry scream at the author.
When you start getting physically involved with the book series you’re reading, you know it’s great. That it’s a classic and deserves to be read and remembered. FMA is beloved with a fanbase for a reason. It captures emotions that much.
Now the ending (obviously, spoilers). It wasn’t wholly what I expected, though it wasn’t wholly what I didn’t expect, either. Let’s assume you understood that poorly-worded sentence and let’s get on with this…
I wanted the ending to be more poignant.
More sacrifice.
I might just be evil or something, but I wanted to experience an overabundance of feels. Killing someone could have done that. Even simply extending the ending could have done that. But we rushed through the critical moments where Riza was DYING, Alphonse was GONE, and Ed gave up his ALCHEMY. All those events are huge and should have caused me a lot more anguish than I felt. By the time Ed gave up his alchemy, I didn’t feel it was as awfully wrong as it should have been. After all, he’s the Fullmetal Alchemist. I should have been screaming, “NO! WHAT??? YOU CAN’T DO THAT?” But I wasn’t. It didn’t feel climactic enough.
After all, he gave up his arm the first time for his brother’s soul. Giving up alchemy seems rather counter-climactic. Combine that with the rushed scene, and it wasn’t quite as effective and emotional as it could have been.
That being said, I still felt great satisfaction reading the last words of Hiromu Arakawa’s marvelous series. I squealed when Winry saw Alphonse and Ed healed (I think I reread that about three times the first time through). I liked that Ed still had a missing leg. I felt battle-worn and a bit shell-shocked just like the characters, having gone through (what was it? six? seven???) an enormous amount of volumes that were packed basically non-stop with action. We certainly ran up to a high climactic point; the plot was smooth; and there were some fun twists throughout.
Coming away from this series, I will always have an emotional reaction whenever someone says, “Costs an arm and a leg.” What a beautiful brotherhood, what a beautiful adventure I experienced. Thank you, Arakawa, for a series well-written and a series well-read.
Entering into this series, I did not know fully what to expect. I’d heard the title passed around a lot between my various social groups. When one of my friends, who owned books 1-10, lent me the first copy, along with the first copy of Rurouni Kenshin, I definitely found Kenshin more appealing. I made it through FMA volumes 1-2, thought, “Meh, it’s okay, but I don’t like where this is heading,” but, because I had book 3 close at hand, figured I might as well give another volume a shot.
I’m not quite sure when I was hooked, but I know by the time I finished volume 4, I was flying through the books and could not get enough.
I’ve never been a fan of most of the villains in FMA, beyond Lust, who was pretty cool, Envy, and sometimes Greed. Most of the time, the homunculi unsettled me. I mean… they just had this terrible vibe running through them, an atmosphere that choked me through the pages of the manga book. Especially Gluttony. Don’t get me started on Gluttony. On my list of least favorite bad guys, he hits near the top. Scar wasn’t a pleasurable read, either, especially because I feel like I get a lot of crap for my religion as a Christian, without reading an author’s interpretation of a crazy heretic going around killing people in the name of God.
At the same time, the extraordinary unlikability of the villains did not dissuade me from the story. Many times, authors write villains that we want defeated, but who are still really cool, and we’re like, “OH YEAHHHHH DARTH VADER IS SO AWESOME!” I’m not going to say that Gluttony was cool – he was repulsive – but this was a fresh perspective from the typical villain we see. I HATED THOSE VILLAINS, and watching the Elric brothers and company pummel them was still something I could get satisfaction out of, even if I preferred not to see any of the homunculi’s faces. Point being, Arakawa still scores points for making really, really memorable villains.
What really made the series was the emotions behind it, particularly the emotions of our two main protagonists. Quickly we learn the bond between Edward and Al. Once you get their backstory, you’re never the same. “OH MY GOSH THIS IS AWFUL!” is pretty much the best way I can describe my emotions… and every single time I rewatch or reread these scenes, I get incredibly invested in the storyline. And how Arakawa plays with their emotions – their ambitions, their sadness, their darkness, their regrets – is incredibly realistic, incredibly poignant, and incredibly powerful to readers. The relationship between Ed and Al is so tangibly close that I just had to keep reading.
Below: auugggghhh my emotions
Of course we’ve got numerous other characters. And Arakawa does an incredible, incredible job demonstrating their distinct personalities. Even characters that don’t show up in the panels as often as the others still give readers a distinct impression and very clear glimpse of their personality. How many people were extremely upset at Hughes’ death? *raises hand - ME ME!* There’s totally a reason behind that. Or when Riza’s throat gets slit near the end? A tear leaked for me on that one for sure, along with what I’m pretty sure was an angry scream at the author.
When you start getting physically involved with the book series you’re reading, you know it’s great. That it’s a classic and deserves to be read and remembered. FMA is beloved with a fanbase for a reason. It captures emotions that much.
Now the ending (obviously, spoilers). It wasn’t wholly what I expected, though it wasn’t wholly what I didn’t expect, either. Let’s assume you understood that poorly-worded sentence and let’s get on with this…
I wanted the ending to be more poignant.
More sacrifice.
I might just be evil or something, but I wanted to experience an overabundance of feels. Killing someone could have done that. Even simply extending the ending could have done that. But we rushed through the critical moments where Riza was DYING, Alphonse was GONE, and Ed gave up his ALCHEMY. All those events are huge and should have caused me a lot more anguish than I felt. By the time Ed gave up his alchemy, I didn’t feel it was as awfully wrong as it should have been. After all, he’s the Fullmetal Alchemist. I should have been screaming, “NO! WHAT??? YOU CAN’T DO THAT?” But I wasn’t. It didn’t feel climactic enough.
After all, he gave up his arm the first time for his brother’s soul. Giving up alchemy seems rather counter-climactic. Combine that with the rushed scene, and it wasn’t quite as effective and emotional as it could have been.
That being said, I still felt great satisfaction reading the last words of Hiromu Arakawa’s marvelous series. I squealed when Winry saw Alphonse and Ed healed (I think I reread that about three times the first time through). I liked that Ed still had a missing leg. I felt battle-worn and a bit shell-shocked just like the characters, having gone through (what was it? six? seven???) an enormous amount of volumes that were packed basically non-stop with action. We certainly ran up to a high climactic point; the plot was smooth; and there were some fun twists throughout.
Coming away from this series, I will always have an emotional reaction whenever someone says, “Costs an arm and a leg.” What a beautiful brotherhood, what a beautiful adventure I experienced. Thank you, Arakawa, for a series well-written and a series well-read.
August 11, 2017
I DID IT! I finally did it! I finished the entire series omg. That was such a fun journey and I loved it so much. I'm gonna do a full series review of FMA on my channel soon so stay tuned for that. To summarise though: wow.
November 1, 2024
Romanian review: Am început seria aceasta de manga cu așteptări mari, știind că anime-ul care o adaptează este anime-ul cu cea mai mare notă pe Imdb. Având în vedere că o notă de peste 9 pe Imdb nu este de ici de colo, era normal să mă aștept la ceva extrem de bun- o capodoperă de nivelul Game of Thrones. Ei bine, începutul m-a surprins neplăcut; nu a fost prost, dar după primele câteva volume, mă întrebam dacă are rost să continui, pentru că mi se părea o serie ok, dar neimpresionantă. Acum, după ce am terminat-o, bănuiesc că ceea ce m-a făcut să continui a fost din volumul patru. Practic, de la acel eveniment începe cu adevărat povestea. Ar fi fost o mare greșeală să renunț la o călătorie atât de minunată, cu personaje de care am ajuns să mă atașez și de care mi-a părut rău că trebuie să mă despart la sfârșit. Că tot am ajuns la personaje, personajele au fost extrem de interesante și trebuie să vorbesc puțin despre ele.
În primul rând, mi-a plăcut că, în ciuda faptului că Edward și Alphonse sunt personajele principale, autoarea a reușit să scrie povestea astfel încât cei doi nu au fost genul acela de copii neexperimentați care salvează lumea de unii singuri- în fiecare luptă sunt ajutați de luptători maturi, mult mai experimentați- dar au avut totuși o contribuție importantă la înfrângerea antagonistului. După părerea mea, contribuția cea mai mare în lupta finală a avut-o tatăl celor doi, Hohenheim, ceea ce mi s-a părut mult mai potrivit.
Când a apărut prima dată Ling Yao, mi s-a părut enervant puțin spus- mi s-a părut extrem de enervant, totul până când , iar din acel punct, devine extrem de interesant.
Scar mi-a plăcut de la bun început. Inițial a fost foarte misterios, iar când misterul a început să dispară, am început să mă atașez de el și să-l susțin.
Colonelul Mustang este la început vag interesant, apoi începe să-ți capteze interesul, iar după ce , ajungi să-ți dorești să-l vezi îndeplinindu-și obiectivul final.
Și am ajuns și la King Bradley. Bradley este categoric cel mai badass personaj din toată seria. Voi încerca să fiu cât mai vag pentru a nu da spoilere. Bradley este tipul de fuge-tancul-de-mine badass.
Mi-a plăcut și umorul, pe care autoarea a știut să-l introducă astfel încât să nu strice momentele tensionate- glumele legate de înâlțimea lui Ed sunt amuzante de fiecare dată și, scriind această recenzie, mi-am dat seama că lipsesc cu desăvârșire în ultimele aproximativ cinci volume, ceea ce este perfect, pentru că situațiile sunt atât de tensionate, încât glumele ar fi stricat totul.
Finalul a fost satisfăcător, însă mi-aș fi dorit ca autoarea să omoare ceva personaje în lupta cea mare pentru ca miza să se simtă mai reală.
În ciuda personajelor interesante, a luptelor epice, a umorului de bună calitate și a unei povești extrem de reușite, nu am putut să-i dau niciunui volum cinci stele din două motive:
1. Luptele, oricât de epice ar fi, nu se înțeleg suficient de clar din desene- anime-ul este mult mai reușit din punctul acesta de vedere.
2. Deși povestea a fost bună, nu este atât de extraordinară și de impresionantă, încât să o consider de cinci stele, sunt momente extrem de bune și momente puțin prea convenabile.
Pentru mine, "Fullmetal Alchemist" a fost o călătorie lungă și superbă, pe care mă bucur că am ales să o fac, fiind baza a ceea ce pot să numesc în acest moment anime-ul meu preferat.
English review: I started this manga series with high expectations, knowing that the anime adaptation holds the highest IMDb rating for an anime. Considering that a score above 9 on IMDb isn’t easy to achieve, I naturally expected something extraordinary—a masterpiece on the level of Game of Thrones. Well, the beginning actually disappointed me; it wasn’t bad, but after the first few volumes, I was questioning whether it was worth continuing, as it seemed like an okay but unimpressive series. Now, after finishing it, I think the thing that kept me going was the in volume four. It’s from that moment that the story truly begins. It would have been a big mistake to quit such an amazing journey, with characters I grew attached to and was genuinely sad to part with at the end. Speaking of characters, they were incredibly interesting, and I have to talk about them a bit.
Firstly, I appreciated that, despite Edward and Alphonse being the main characters, the author wrote the story in a way that didn’t make them those inexperienced kids saving the world on their own—they’re consistently helped by mature, much more experienced fighters in every battle—yet they still play a meaningful role in defeating the antagonist. In my opinion, the biggest contribution in the final battle was made by their father, Hohenheim, which felt much more fitting.
When Ling Yao first appeared, “annoying” would be an understatement—he was extremely irritating, at least until , and from that point on, he becomes immensely interesting.
I liked Scar from the very beginning. He was initially very mysterious, and as that mystery started to fade, I began to relate to him and root for him.
Colonel Mustang is vaguely interesting at first, then he grabs your attention, and after , you’re dying to see him fulfill his ultimate goal.
And now to King Bradley. Bradley is by far the most badass character in the entire series. I’ll try to stay as vague as possible to avoid spoilers, but Bradley is the kind of guy who “tanks run away from.”
I also enjoyed the humor, which the author skillfully used without detracting from the tense moments—the height jokes about Ed are funny every time, and I realized writing this review that they’re completely absent in the last five volumes, which is perfect because the situations are so intense that jokes would have ruined everything.
The ending was satisfying, though I would have preferred the author to kill off a few characters in the big battle to make the stakes feel more real.
Despite the interesting characters, epic fights, great humor, and an exceptionally well-done story, I couldn’t give any volume a full five stars for two reasons:
1. As epic as the fights are, they’re not always easy to understand in the drawings—the anime does a much better job in this regard.
2. Although the story is good, it isn’t quite as extraordinary or impressive for me to consider it a five-star work—there are extremely good moments and some that are a bit too convenient.
For me, "Fullmetal Alchemist" was a long and beautiful journey, one I’m glad I chose to embark on, serving as the basis for what I can now call my favorite anime.
November 29, 2018
My final review for Fullmetal Alchemist might go to some spoiler territory in terms of the emotions I felt towards the ending of the manga. Before that let me just say first that Hiromu Arakawa has crafted a literary piece that can be enjoyed by many generations to come. The steampunk European theme has that classic appeal that is timeless, pair that with some over-the-top alchemy action with a healthy doze of humor.
Now about that last volume, spoiler territory alert!
Volume 27 ends spectacularly and beautifully to the point of closing all stories, both the main and subplots, rather too conveniently. There's no room for that sort of bittersweet feeling at the end. It sure is just my opinion and after all, FMA has always been optimistic and never really went deep dark.
There were also some explanations that if you have been used to anime and manga, are way too familiar and cliched. Arakawa is surely a master storyteller with how she executed the mangas final art, but never really deviated from the tried and tested "happily ever after" ending.
I am not saying that FMA ended bland and mediocre, it just treaded through overly familiar grounds.
I have had quite an experience with Fullmetal Alchemist. It is a really a must-read manga. The quality is consistently good and readers will immediately fall in love with the lore, the characters, and of course the Alphonse brothers.
Now about that last volume, spoiler territory alert!
Volume 27 ends spectacularly and beautifully to the point of closing all stories, both the main and subplots, rather too conveniently. There's no room for that sort of bittersweet feeling at the end. It sure is just my opinion and after all, FMA has always been optimistic and never really went deep dark.
There were also some explanations that if you have been used to anime and manga, are way too familiar and cliched. Arakawa is surely a master storyteller with how she executed the mangas final art, but never really deviated from the tried and tested "happily ever after" ending.
I am not saying that FMA ended bland and mediocre, it just treaded through overly familiar grounds.
I have had quite an experience with Fullmetal Alchemist. It is a really a must-read manga. The quality is consistently good and readers will immediately fall in love with the lore, the characters, and of course the Alphonse brothers.
January 18, 2023
Sometimes wowed, sometimes bored, many times laughed, sometimes cried (inside). Although, something seems untold, the conclusion could have been better and LONGER, but all in all, it was a good journey :')
November 16, 2021
ALPHONSE 😭😭😭
I honestly don't think there could have been a more perfect ending. Wow.
And that epilogue?? DEN I LOVE YOUUUU
I honestly don't think there could have been a more perfect ending. Wow.
And that epilogue?? DEN I LOVE YOUUUU
August 31, 2023
A satisfying ending overall! Can’t believe it’s over.
October 14, 2014
The brilliant ending to this brilliant story has stuck with me for weeks now. (Spoilery discussion of ending to follow!)-- My initial reaction upon reading it was a little mixed--overall, I loved it, but at first I wondered if it was a bit TOO happy. All the main characters survive and more or less get what they've worked towards, and after such a long, convoluted story where so many incredibly dark things happen, I was anticipating a darker or less overtly happy ending. After thinking it over, however, I do believe this is the best possible way it COULD have ended.
Too often an "epic" ending is equated with "lots of characters you care about die," and while death can be a worthy plot device, when used to power the ending to a tale it can also come across as a lazy technique to get an emotional reaction from the reader (I'm looking at you, JK Rowling). Arakawa does something very brave and special here--she tells the story she wants to tell, and doesn't stray from the moral she wants to impart, and as a result is courageous enough to give us a happy ending that still heavily involves loss. The ending also reinforces the central theme of optimism about humanity and the importance of friendship while managing not to shy away or dilute the moral complexities Arakawa has explored throughout the series.
Thus Scar still hates Amestris, but he is willing to focus on rebuilding now instead of destroying, sacrificing the quest for vengeance that has motivated him for so long. The Fullmetal Alchemist must voluntarily give up his alchemy, is never going to get his leg back, but still manages to find peace. Roy will spend all his life trying to atone for the evils he committed during the war, and who knows if his efforts will ever be successful, but we know enough of his character to know that he WILL give his all and that's enough. It's mentioned earlier in the series how the bravest thing one can do is live, not die, and that's reflected in the characters here and how they pull together both during and after the final battle.
I also absolutely love that the series ends with the brothers deciding to travel again, showing that their adventures--despite all the horrors they experienced--have taught them to be curious about the world and to want to explore it on their own terms. It's bittersweet to see them journey separately, but also another great storytelling choice since both boys have grown up so much, they CAN separate now and explore independently and trust each other to be safe and we can trust them too.
As the story ends, the characters have never felt more alive. We can say goodbye because we can sense the story is going to continue, in hope, long after the last page of the book. Bravo to Arakawa for this masterpiece. The ending feels utterly earned and this is certainly a story I will return to again and again and which I can already tell I will only love more and more each time I read it.
Too often an "epic" ending is equated with "lots of characters you care about die," and while death can be a worthy plot device, when used to power the ending to a tale it can also come across as a lazy technique to get an emotional reaction from the reader (I'm looking at you, JK Rowling). Arakawa does something very brave and special here--she tells the story she wants to tell, and doesn't stray from the moral she wants to impart, and as a result is courageous enough to give us a happy ending that still heavily involves loss. The ending also reinforces the central theme of optimism about humanity and the importance of friendship while managing not to shy away or dilute the moral complexities Arakawa has explored throughout the series.
Thus Scar still hates Amestris, but he is willing to focus on rebuilding now instead of destroying, sacrificing the quest for vengeance that has motivated him for so long. The Fullmetal Alchemist must voluntarily give up his alchemy, is never going to get his leg back, but still manages to find peace. Roy will spend all his life trying to atone for the evils he committed during the war, and who knows if his efforts will ever be successful, but we know enough of his character to know that he WILL give his all and that's enough. It's mentioned earlier in the series how the bravest thing one can do is live, not die, and that's reflected in the characters here and how they pull together both during and after the final battle.
I also absolutely love that the series ends with the brothers deciding to travel again, showing that their adventures--despite all the horrors they experienced--have taught them to be curious about the world and to want to explore it on their own terms. It's bittersweet to see them journey separately, but also another great storytelling choice since both boys have grown up so much, they CAN separate now and explore independently and trust each other to be safe and we can trust them too.
As the story ends, the characters have never felt more alive. We can say goodbye because we can sense the story is going to continue, in hope, long after the last page of the book. Bravo to Arakawa for this masterpiece. The ending feels utterly earned and this is certainly a story I will return to again and again and which I can already tell I will only love more and more each time I read it.
July 27, 2022
I'm not sure how many times I cried when reading this final volume.
It WELL exceeded my expectations even though I'm not sure I had any, but this volume was everything I had hoped for, plus so much more! Yes, there were heart-breaking moments of loss, but none of it was in vain. (I do NOT like character deaths for ANY reason, so for me to still feel happy with this final volume speaks a lot to me personally how wonderful this volume was.)
But ALLLLLLLLL!! Seriously, I know Ed was the one who is the main character, but honestly Al really stole a strong part of the show. I definitely cried!
Also I feel its important to note that the previous volume was one I really struggled with due to all the talk of "truth" and "god" and how lost I felt in understanding what it all meant. This volume clarified so much and really helped me understand and so thankful for that! In fact, I'm glad I DID keep reading (which I had planned to anyway) because it was a powerful moment and I am SO thankful for shonen manga and how there is always an emphasis on friendships. *sobs*
Speaking of me sobbing, Greed/Lin was SO good even if totally ripped at my heart!
While this is NOT a romance manga, I LOVED the romantic moment we got! It was perfection and really true for these two.
Van was amazing and was so touched by his part of the story. <3
The side story was also very very very good and was moving too!
To wrap up, the ending was literally perfect. There is nothing lacking in the ending, nothing I would want different. I will deeply miss these characters because these characters honestly have worked up to some of my all-time favorites and look forward to rereading this series again.
But in the meantime, I'm deeply thankful I read it!
Highly recommend!!
It WELL exceeded my expectations even though I'm not sure I had any, but this volume was everything I had hoped for, plus so much more! Yes, there were heart-breaking moments of loss, but none of it was in vain. (I do NOT like character deaths for ANY reason, so for me to still feel happy with this final volume speaks a lot to me personally how wonderful this volume was.)
But ALLLLLLLLL!! Seriously, I know Ed was the one who is the main character, but honestly Al really stole a strong part of the show. I definitely cried!
Also I feel its important to note that the previous volume was one I really struggled with due to all the talk of "truth" and "god" and how lost I felt in understanding what it all meant. This volume clarified so much and really helped me understand and so thankful for that! In fact, I'm glad I DID keep reading (which I had planned to anyway) because it was a powerful moment and I am SO thankful for shonen manga and how there is always an emphasis on friendships. *sobs*
Speaking of me sobbing, Greed/Lin was SO good even if totally ripped at my heart!
While this is NOT a romance manga, I LOVED the romantic moment we got! It was perfection and really true for these two.
Van was amazing and was so touched by his part of the story. <3
The side story was also very very very good and was moving too!
To wrap up, the ending was literally perfect. There is nothing lacking in the ending, nothing I would want different. I will deeply miss these characters because these characters honestly have worked up to some of my all-time favorites and look forward to rereading this series again.
But in the meantime, I'm deeply thankful I read it!
Highly recommend!!
June 19, 2021
The final battle is here and they fight the homunculus and its epic as its everyone vs him and then Edward takes the center stage and the way he defeats him is epic and he meets the truth and realizes what is and saves his brother. In a way this manga has been about a guy trying to save his brother and it was an emotional moment when Al comes back and then the epilogue chapters that followed with everyone and what it all really means about helping people and all. Al, Ed and Winry and all get a happy and great ending!!
Thank you for this manga Hiromi-sensei probably one of the greatest mangas ever and the messages in the end are such great ones and taught me a lot and also inspired. Just epic. :)
Thank you for this manga Hiromi-sensei probably one of the greatest mangas ever and the messages in the end are such great ones and taught me a lot and also inspired. Just epic. :)
December 31, 2016
Genel olarak oldukça güzel bir seriydi, tamamen özgün değildi, alışkın olduğumuz çok yönü olsa da Hiromu Arakawa ortaya çok güzel bir iş çıkarmış. Ben seriyi çok sevdim, parça parça incelenirse bolca hata bulunabilir ama genel resim oldukça iyi bence. Keyifli zaman geçirmek için ve kafa dağıtabilmek için birebir. Mangaya ilginiz varsa bu seriye mutlaka göz atın derim.
Ayrıntılı yorum için; http://yorumatolyesi.blogspot.com/201...
Ayrıntılı yorum için; http://yorumatolyesi.blogspot.com/201...
June 8, 2020
4.5 of 5 stars
January 1, 2020
Annnnd that's it... It's over 🥺
I've enjoyed every volume so much. What a brilliant series.
Longer RTC later.
Now I need to finish watching Brotherhood!
I've enjoyed every volume so much. What a brilliant series.
Longer RTC later.
Now I need to finish watching Brotherhood!
July 26, 2020
Growing and learning are integral to any good story. You can give us all the high stakes you want, all the world-ending threats and enormous special effects and explosions and giant CGI robots beating up one another - but if no one learned anything or grew as a person, then how big of a deal could any of it really have been? Why did they care about it to begin with, and by extension, why should the reader?
If there's a story that better encompasses these truths, than Fullmetal Alchemist, then I can't on top of my head think of one. Besides the enormous amounts of learning and growth and redemption just about every character in it (except one, more of him later) gets to doing, it has two particular plot points that really rub it in.
First - the villain. The antagonist of a story should ideally be the opposite of the protagonist in many ways - their dark reflection, so to speak. The Elrics struggled and suffered over the course of the story, came close to dying numerous times, visited the deepest emotional nadirs imaginable, and through all of that they came out stronger and better and more learned, by the end of things almost sages in their own right, and even as the story ends they aren't done! To contrast this, Father is like one of those internet scams come to life, performing this One Weird Trick to cheat himself into near-divine power... then spends centuries sitting in a cave and barely interacting with humans at all, his eyes set on an even bigger con where once again he has a whole country's worth of other people doing all the heavy lifting for him. And where Father's near-unlimited power is in truth stolen from other people, his alchemy just copied from the lessons of once-living Xerxian sages; the Elrics adamantly refuse to use the Philosopher's Stone as a short-cut, and Edward in particular constantly learns and mimics alchemical techniques he picks up from those he fights. For a story that's all about learning and growing, such a petty thief, incapable of both things - after all, how can you learn anything if you think you know everything? - is really the perfect villain.
Second - Alphonse's resurrection, the final culmination of the journey, the reason they left on this trip in the first place. I think it's just very important to note that the way Edward pulled it off... he could in theory have done it at any point of the story, even right at the beginning. He needed no special knowledge or a particular piece of cryptic lore for this trick, nor did anyone tell him what he should do. He figured it out all on his own, and all he needed was a few years of immense hardship and growth to come to the right conclusion. I also like how Father cheated his way into ultimate power, while Edward after all his own hard lessons ended up giving up his own. Another bit of great contrast between the two.
There are a couple quibbles, though. First of all, Greed - a lot of his character arc and ultimate realization really would fit Lust much better. Lust is the one that concerns itself with the immaterial, after all, and would therefore contain to itself both power and friendship. Secondly, I'd have liked to see of Yoki a little bit more: his own story arc ended up an inconclusive stump, he never grew beyond a petty small-time villain and a butt-monkey, and he didn't even get a beard!
Still, overall this is one of my favourite stories out there. It has great themes, great action, great characters and story arcs. Any flaw I could bring up - any that I have brought up across all these reviews - is ultimately a nitpick.
If there's a story that better encompasses these truths, than Fullmetal Alchemist, then I can't on top of my head think of one. Besides the enormous amounts of learning and growth and redemption just about every character in it (except one, more of him later) gets to doing, it has two particular plot points that really rub it in.
First - the villain. The antagonist of a story should ideally be the opposite of the protagonist in many ways - their dark reflection, so to speak. The Elrics struggled and suffered over the course of the story, came close to dying numerous times, visited the deepest emotional nadirs imaginable, and through all of that they came out stronger and better and more learned, by the end of things almost sages in their own right, and even as the story ends they aren't done! To contrast this, Father is like one of those internet scams come to life, performing this One Weird Trick to cheat himself into near-divine power... then spends centuries sitting in a cave and barely interacting with humans at all, his eyes set on an even bigger con where once again he has a whole country's worth of other people doing all the heavy lifting for him. And where Father's near-unlimited power is in truth stolen from other people, his alchemy just copied from the lessons of once-living Xerxian sages; the Elrics adamantly refuse to use the Philosopher's Stone as a short-cut, and Edward in particular constantly learns and mimics alchemical techniques he picks up from those he fights. For a story that's all about learning and growing, such a petty thief, incapable of both things - after all, how can you learn anything if you think you know everything? - is really the perfect villain.
Second - Alphonse's resurrection, the final culmination of the journey, the reason they left on this trip in the first place. I think it's just very important to note that the way Edward pulled it off... he could in theory have done it at any point of the story, even right at the beginning. He needed no special knowledge or a particular piece of cryptic lore for this trick, nor did anyone tell him what he should do. He figured it out all on his own, and all he needed was a few years of immense hardship and growth to come to the right conclusion. I also like how Father cheated his way into ultimate power, while Edward after all his own hard lessons ended up giving up his own. Another bit of great contrast between the two.
There are a couple quibbles, though. First of all, Greed - a lot of his character arc and ultimate realization really would fit Lust much better. Lust is the one that concerns itself with the immaterial, after all, and would therefore contain to itself both power and friendship. Secondly, I'd have liked to see of Yoki a little bit more: his own story arc ended up an inconclusive stump, he never grew beyond a petty small-time villain and a butt-monkey, and he didn't even get a beard!
Still, overall this is one of my favourite stories out there. It has great themes, great action, great characters and story arcs. Any flaw I could bring up - any that I have brought up across all these reviews - is ultimately a nitpick.
June 14, 2017
And i finally finished it. What an amazing manga it was, i feel happy and kind of sad at the same time for finishing Fullmetal...
I liked all the characters but i don't have a particular favorite, may be Mustang for being the manly man and mini skirts ! lol The plot build up nicely, at the begining kind of wandered around with 2 mini stories that Ed and Al saved a little town from the rule of an evil priest and couldn't save a poor little girl who was turned in to a chimera by his messed up alchemist father... (That was dark, Fullmetal can be dark for a shounen at some parts like the chimera little girl and ishbalan genoside. ) and went on from there to big picture (the father of all homunculus's schemes and big evil plan) in a linear way. It was a nice ride.
Fullmetal had some classic shounen elements like never give up and importance of relying on good friends who love you and you love them back. Frinedship is magic ! in short lol you can find these in every shounen... And i was even rolling my eyes to them, even when i was a little kid... lol
I really like the consept of Alchemy, the equvelant exchange and how you create all kinds of things by it (except living beings) the transmutation circle desings were all very cool, i really liked them. The character desings were simple but very disctingtive. Fullmetal Alchemist is a true manga classic up there with The king of all things shounen Dragon Ball for me. Really well done.
Farewell fullmetal...
I liked all the characters but i don't have a particular favorite, may be Mustang for being the manly man and mini skirts ! lol The plot build up nicely, at the begining kind of wandered around with 2 mini stories that Ed and Al saved a little town from the rule of an evil priest and couldn't save a poor little girl who was turned in to a chimera by his messed up alchemist father... (That was dark, Fullmetal can be dark for a shounen at some parts like the chimera little girl and ishbalan genoside. ) and went on from there to big picture (the father of all homunculus's schemes and big evil plan) in a linear way. It was a nice ride.
Fullmetal had some classic shounen elements like never give up and importance of relying on good friends who love you and you love them back. Frinedship is magic ! in short lol you can find these in every shounen... And i was even rolling my eyes to them, even when i was a little kid... lol
I really like the consept of Alchemy, the equvelant exchange and how you create all kinds of things by it (except living beings) the transmutation circle desings were all very cool, i really liked them. The character desings were simple but very disctingtive. Fullmetal Alchemist is a true manga classic up there with The king of all things shounen Dragon Ball for me. Really well done.
Farewell fullmetal...
October 3, 2021
What a journey it has been. Beautifully paced, without ever venturing in absurd ideas, mangaka Hiromu Arakawa delivers a fantastic finale with all the grace and care you'd expect from her. Expect to embrace your emotions as these brilliantly and carefully developed characters see themselves at the brink of their mental state, doing everything they can to fulfill promises made. The most quintessential themes of this series, from sacrifice to friendship, are also excellently explored here in all of its subtle intricacies.
As per the law of equivalent exchange, once again revisited in this finale, fans obtain the rewarding end they were due for the time they invested into this franchise.
A better ending could not have been obtained for this series.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
As per the law of equivalent exchange, once again revisited in this finale, fans obtain the rewarding end they were due for the time they invested into this franchise.
A better ending could not have been obtained for this series.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
June 25, 2021
Just one thing left for me to say
https://youtu.be/-hLryBwWTiM
Needless to say I'll be listening to this song and this song alone for the next 48-72 hrs.
I can't believe this is over
😢😢😢
https://youtu.be/-hLryBwWTiM
Needless to say I'll be listening to this song and this song alone for the next 48-72 hrs.
I can't believe this is over
😢😢😢
December 27, 2023
Я отправляюсь ввысь, чуть выше самой высокой вершины Бриггских гор. Встретимся там.
October 22, 2020
Ahhh, this was such a bittersweet ending!!
June 2, 2024
acabou 😭😭😭😭😭
December 10, 2016
I loved this series. I loved the world Arakawa created, I loved the characters, the details, the way in which everything fit together in a lovely puzzle.
I remembered some characters so well that, even though I've watched FMA: Brotherhood (which is really fateful to the manga series), I was surprised by how soon they died - I kept remembering them dying later, because surely I couldn't remember someone so well if they'd only been around for, like, five minutes? Yet they're remembered and missed and mentioned. Their deaths leave gaping holes in the surviving characters' lives, and they live on through memory.
It's always clever and touching, it manages to surprise you and make you think, "That's over the top, isn't it?", until you realize that there's a very good reason why everything settles the way it does.
It's also really funny, and the humor works well with the story - it's also fun to see when a running gag (Mustang's obsession with women) gets turned into an actual plot point (he likes people seeing him as a playboy for a particular reason). Also, the extra funnies at the end of volumes are really worth it.
I loved the ending, too. Epic battles are hard to do right, but Arakawa manages it - it's epic, and clever, and personal. It's a clash of characters, intelligence, ideology. And the way everything gets resolved works just great for me.
One of my favorite manga series of all time. Maybe my absolute favorite.
I remembered some characters so well that, even though I've watched FMA: Brotherhood (which is really fateful to the manga series), I was surprised by how soon they died - I kept remembering them dying later, because surely I couldn't remember someone so well if they'd only been around for, like, five minutes? Yet they're remembered and missed and mentioned. Their deaths leave gaping holes in the surviving characters' lives, and they live on through memory.
It's always clever and touching, it manages to surprise you and make you think, "That's over the top, isn't it?", until you realize that there's a very good reason why everything settles the way it does.
It's also really funny, and the humor works well with the story - it's also fun to see when a running gag (Mustang's obsession with women) gets turned into an actual plot point (he likes people seeing him as a playboy for a particular reason). Also, the extra funnies at the end of volumes are really worth it.
I loved the ending, too. Epic battles are hard to do right, but Arakawa manages it - it's epic, and clever, and personal. It's a clash of characters, intelligence, ideology. And the way everything gets resolved works just great for me.
One of my favorite manga series of all time. Maybe my absolute favorite.
November 22, 2016
I think its now safe to say, this is the best manga till now. How everything was tied up neatly and it ended in such a fulfilling way that it won't leave you with an empty feeling inside. It's OK to just take your time and enjoy life as it passes by. If you hurry with everything in life, you won't have the opportunity to explore the immense beauty of it lying right in front of you. Alchemy might give you motion, but it will take away the emotion. With equivalent exchange Ed turns out to be the every day average Joe, but he won't miss the alchemy. Cause he has a new goal to look forward to. Give back to those who lost their dear ones, leave no regrets, go on a journey to bring back a greater knowledge. Eventually all birds must leave their nest and fend for themselves.
January 17, 2012
A strong ending to overall a great adventure manga. Most manga in the same teenage adventure genre have become like American superhero comics or in other words never-ending stories that doesnt mean as much without an actual ending.
Arakawa didnt get greedy and milk it for 500 volumes and FMA is a rare mature quality manga for its genre.
Arakawa didnt get greedy and milk it for 500 volumes and FMA is a rare mature quality manga for its genre.
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