A look at Manga- Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA) was written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was started in 2001 and ended in 2010, with 27 volumes and 108 chapters. As of 2014 FMA has sold 64 million volumes. And, when it was released in English it was the top selling graphic novel in 2005.
The story fallows two brothers Edwards and Alphonse Elric, or Ed and Al, on their quest to get their original bodies back. When they were younger their mother died leaving them all alone, since their father had disappeared years earlier. After her death the boy decide they are going to bring her back using Alchemy. Human transmutation is a taboo and forbidden. The boys do it any way. It doesn't work it makes something not even human. Ed loses his leg and all loses his body. Ed goes back in to get Ed back and gives up his arm, only able to get back his soul he attaches it to a suit of armor. Ed's arm and leg is rebuilt out of automail, by Winry and Pinako Rockbell.
Ed ends up joining to military as a state alchemist under Roy Mustang. His role as state Alchemist helps him and Al look for the philosopher's stone, so they can use it to get their original bodies back. Through out their journy they meet, Scar, one of the few surviving Ishbalans. They also meet the homunculi, a group of human like creatures that are controlling the country. They are all named after the seven deadly sins,
Ishbala is a country right next to the country of Amestris, the main setting of the story. A few years before the story takes place. Amestris stated a war in Ishbala and whipped out most of the Ishbalan population. Later in the story Ed finds out that the homuculi were the ones to blame. The homuculi are making a giant transmutation circle out of the country so that they can make an other philosopher's stone.
When Ed and Al find this out they go against the leader of the homuculi, Father. Roy's branch with the help of Briggs, the northen army of Amestris, all work with the Elircs to stop Father. This results in a large scale take over of central, the capital. And, a battle between the homuculi and Father vs. the military. Van Hohenheim, Ed and Al's father stops Father from transmuting Amestris.
Ed defeats Father with both arms, Al traded his soul for Ed's arm. When the fighting is over Ed then trades his alchemy to get Al back.


Ok, I'm just going to lay this out there now. I love this manga. It's my favorite. The anime is good and the story it made is decent but it's not the manga. Brotherhood, again did a good job but it rushed through the story so fast that you have no emotional connection to the characters, so the manga is the way to go. Mind you this is coming from some one who read the manga as it was being publish, in japan, and owns all the manga. I also own all of the first anime, brotherhood is next. I also, have my own pocket watch. Yes, I am an otaku. I really don't care. That is how much I love this series. And, let me explain why.
The story is great, I'm not going to say perfect or amazing.(I was tempted) The reason is just because I love this series, does not mean there are not flaws in it. The beginning is slow, it takes a while for the story to get going it takes about  chapter 6 that the story starts to pick up. Then it isn't till chapter 15 every one else gets involved with the events that are really happening in the underbelly of the country. That really isn't that long in the grand scheme of 108 chapters but each chapter is 50 some pages. The stuff before those chapters are good but at first they seem to have nothing to do with the main story. People that are in those chapters show up later on but are not very pivotal to the story.
I think what I really like about the story is, the fact that Ed and Al are trying to fix their mistake.
A thing that I also didn't like was you find out Ed and Al's ending but the rest of the characters only get one picture at the end of the manga. We really don't get to finish their story. And, you really do get attached to some of these characters.
When they were children they did not understand that there are consequences to every action that you take. They were both smart so they thought "oh well we know how to do it, we want it, so we should" that is a very childish thought. Many kids that are smart think this way, they do not have the experiences of adults that let them know " oh we shouldn't do that." I've noticed that many adults who were smart kids are now smart adults but they have never had that experience that shook their ideals. Ed and Al did. They realized that they are not all ways right, that just because something can be done it doesn't mean that it should be done. Also, they want to fix their mistake and they're willing to do what ever it takes. In the end they realize again that, that thought is still not realistic. There is no short cut. In order to get something you need to give up some thing. To Ed, Al is more important to any thing else in the world and gives up his alchemy. That shows mass character growth. When they tried to bring back their mom that wasn't even an option to them. This isn't even an option to Ed till the very end when he has completely lost his brother. The option was always there, he just never saw it.
I also really like that it shows a country that has been affected by war. From the people who fought in it to the people who lost family to it. It shows Winry who lost her parents, even though they were doctors, and how she then interacts with Scar. Also, the fact that she is always worried about Ed since he is in the military.
The characters are strong. I'm not stay that they are all tough and never show emotion. I'm saying they are strong. They get hurt emotionally and physically. They lose, they win, they fight. They have moments that they are all completely broken. And even thought they are at the end of their ropes, they keep going because they know they have to. All of them could have easily looked the other way, taken the easy way out, but they don't. They do what's right because it's right, not because it's easy. They give up their dreams so that others can have theirs and so that again the right thing is done. They also stand by each other. When things get hard, and they want to run away they don't. Every one stays and fights because that is what you should do.
What also makes all of the characters good in FMA is that, gender, age and race do not matter. Al and May are the youngest characters but they old there own through out the whole series. Fu is the oldest and again holds his own being one of the better fighters. Riza Hawkeye, Winry, and Olivier Mira Armstrong are all woman that work in a male dominated field. Riza is one of the best snipers, Winry is a master at automail, and Olivier is one of the most feared Majors in the whole military. They are not the best at what they do, but none of the characters are, but they are good. Hiromu Arakawa built characters and they are what really drive the story. She makes you care about all of them. And when you lose one you feel sad. When it's all over you breath a sigh of relief, because again you care.
One thing I haven't talked about is the art. I really like Hiromu Arakawa's drawing style. It's simple but still has detail when you need it. She also just comes up with great visuals. When Envy changes to his true form it's creepy, scary, gross and awesome all at the same time.
I highly recommend this series, it takes time to get started but it's worth the wait. If you want overly soppy romance this isn't the manga for you. But, if you want good story with good characters then this is the one for you.
Next week I'll be doing Azumanga Daioh.

~^.^