Full Metal Alchemist (Mostly the manga)

As always, there might be spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Ah, Full Metal Alchemist. I remember this anime being the second or third anime I ever watched. I enjoyed it a great deal. There was plenty of action, and an underlying mystery behind everything. Not to mention, Edward Elric had that clap thing. Now, at this point in time (around 2003 or 2004), I hadn’t read the manga. In fact, I hadn’t read any manga at all. I didn’t start really reading until maybe a month or two back in an attempt to expand my horizons. Naturally, Full Metal Alchemist was one of the first on my list. Going into the manga, I thought I had a good grip on what was going to happen plotwise. I was dead wrong. The manga was quite different from what I had seen in the anime. It was better.

The biggest difference between the FMA the anime (the original) and the manga is the plot. From what I remember of the anime, the plot revolved around reviving their mother and getting their original bodies back. The manga follows that same basic concept. The secondary plot (the homunculii creating a giant Philosopher’s Stone) is still there as well. The plot is explored in greater detail in the manga, however. Ed and Al, of course, are searching for a way to retrieve their original bodies. There’s an entire conspiracy within the government to manufacture Philospher’s Stones for use in war (not to mention plenty of Nightmare Fuel when the manufactured soldiers are involved). There’s also a plot crafted by Father’s, the creator and leader of the homunculii, to use Amestris (the entire country) as one giant transmutation circle to create his own philospher’s stone. The latter is handled exceptionally well, with very subtle foreshadowing. In general, there’s a lot going on, and the manga does a really good job of tying it all together.

The characters are explored in greater detail as well. Roy Mustang is still the magnificent bastard we know and love, but he isn’t completely a bastard. Armstrong is naive, Envy’s an asshole, etc. The manga really does the main characters’ distinct personalities justice, and also takes the time to flesh them out. It also introduces new characters that weren’t in the old anime, such as Ling and his crew, Major General Armstrong (his sister), and Father. They’re not forced on us, as the manga has more than enough time to introduce them to the reader and tell their stories.

The art is actually pretty decent. The backgrounds are awesome, but that comes as no surprise to me, considering the fact that the manga sees a monthly release. My only real gripe is the way the characters are drawn; they’re sort of…chibi-ish. This makes things even more weird (for me) when serious shit goes down (imagine, if you will, a serious Bugs Bunny repeatedly igniting the air around Elmer Fudd…okay, okay, it’s not that cartoonish). Still, I couldn’t picture them looking any different. To me, it’s just…off-putting at times, but it’s not necessarily bad. If it was presented by anyone other than Hiromu Arakawa, I wouldn’t buy it.

All in all, I would recommend this manga for anyone just getting into…well, reading manga. If you already read manga, take a look at this one. You won’t be disappointed. Also, there’s a new(ish) FMA anime out called Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. It follows the manga panel for panel (well, everything except the first episode does). If you’d rather see the animated version of the manga, check it out at AnimeCrazy.net.

In other unrelated news, I’m going to attempt reading through Twilight. I don’t like the book or anything; I just haven’t seen how bad (or, god forbid, good) it really is. It’s easy to listen to someone tell you about how bad a shit-encrusted bathroom smells in passing; it’s infinitely worse to be the janitor, who has to experience it firsthand.