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 Part One: Spotlight: FullMetal Alchemist
Written by Park Cooper
I read issue 1 and I wasn’t super impressed.
I liked the emphasis on the moral aspect of an alchemist’s relationship to God and all, but the adventure got extra-typical in the second half of volume 1, and I had a bad feeling about it all, since that seemed to match the blah blah blah shut up factor I’d encountered when trying to watch an episode of the anime (which was very deep into the series... maybe I should have started at the beginning?)...
Then I read issue 2. It was better. More focusing on the main plot, getting right into it, which was just what was wrong with the second half of volume 1.
THEN I READ VOLUMES 3 THROUGH 14.
I had to. It’s good. Full Metal Alchemist is good. I admit it freely.
And so, to properly apologize, I give you this spotlight article on that which is FullMetal Alchemist (the manga).
FullMetal Alchemist
--Creator: Hiromu Arakawa (who for some reason always draws herself as a cow in the front matter and bones back extras).
--Company: Viz Media
--Original Company: As a matter of fact it was NOT Shonen Jump; it was brought to the world via Square Enix’s publication.
--Translator: Akira Watanabe
--Adaptation: It was Egan Loo for volume 1, but after that it’s been Jake Forbes through volume 14, baby, and I hope he never leaves. I am proud, as an adaptor (adapter?) to stand in the same category as Jake Forbes (whom I interviewed not so long ago—here’s the link: http://www.comicsbulletin.com/pb/119341696269044.htm ), and I know that Barbara feels the same way.
--Editor: Jason Thompson, 5 through 7, Urian Brown, 8 and 9, Andy Nakatani, 10 through 14, and Annette Roman, 14 (I only have 5 through 14 in front of me right now from the library).
By the time this article goes up, I will have posted my review of volumes 3 and 4 (possibly the same week), but here’s a link to my initial review of volume 1, so you can get caught up to date about what the series is about: http://www.mangalife.com/reviews/FullMetalAlchemistv1.htm
As for the rest that I’ve read:
Volume 5: The brothers arrive at the mecca for auto-mail engineers, and then travel on to meet back up with their alchemy teacher, a very tough female character whom I really like—things really pick up when she shows up.
Volume 6: We finally (but that’s okay! A drawn-out story can be a good story!) get, through flashback, the story of the brother’s early training and of exactly how they came to do a Bad Alchemy Thing trying to resurrect their mom from the dead, and what Edward saw when he did it, and, back in the present-day, the brothers find that someone who knows way too much about them is out to get them.
Volume 7: The brothers are caught in a trap, and while Edward is fighting for freedom, their teacher comes to rescue them.
Favorite moment: They’re trying to intimidate Alphonse. “There’s only ONE THING I’m afraid of,” says Alphonse. The room starts to rumble and shake as if elephants are stampeding in the hallway outside. The reader already KNOWS it’s the brothers’ teacher. “AND SPEAKING OF THAT THING... HERE IT COMES,” he adds.
This volume has especially cute extras in the back, like a story where one supporting character gets set up with the little sister of a particularly manly, musclebound supporting character. As dude #1 meets each of the family members, and they ALL remind him of his colleague, he’s afraid, very afraid. Then little sis comes in... and she’s sweet and shy. He’s delighted. “So, miss... uh... do you... have any hobbies?”
“The piano...” she shyly smiles, going over to the piano... How nice, he thinks.
She picks it up. “I like to pick up the piano sometimes...” He recoils in shock. (He wasn’t her type anyway... she’s hoping to meet someone as strong as she is...)
Volume 8: The President and the military turn up at the scene of all this, the President turns out to be an incredible badass, and a traumatic incident reminds Alphonse (for the first time since it all happened) what it was HE saw way back when the brothers did a Bad Alchemy Thing. Also, some new supporting characters you don’t care too much about are introduced.
Volume 9: Lots of conspiracy stuff, secrets within secrets.
Volume 10: There’s a big fight, and the good guys barely win. We find out a few more secrets, and then... The brothers’ Dad comes back!
Volume 11: This is when things start getting kicked up to a new level—Edward yells at his very strange father, and then Dad leaves. But before he leaves, Dad tells a supporting character he’s fond of: “Soon something TERRIBLE will happen in this country. Escape while you still can.” What the heck? Basically, Dad was away for a long time, working on something, and he was very happy, because his happy-plans all hinged on his wife being there for him when he got back. Now that he’s learned that she’s already died a few years ago, he’s very sad and doom-ed. Interesting...
Also, Edward figures out that just as you can’t really bring a dead person back from the grave, live bodies don’t just disappear—Alphonse’s body is out SOMEWHERE, still alive, waiting for rescue, and they just have to figure out how to find it and do so!
AND, we decide that since the brothers staying alive factors into the bad guy’s plans, the brothers will flush the alchemist-killer known as Scar out of hiding—to kill them! The bad guy’s’ll have to show up and save them, and then we can have a showdown... right? Not exactly!
Next Time:
The Conclusion, in which we shall answer:
--What's up with volumes 12 through 16, in a low-spoiler way?
--Is FullMetal Alchemist for my wife Barbara and why not?
--How many manga characters can you force to fight on the head of a pin?
--How is FMA not like Naruto and Hunter X Hunter?
All this and more discussion of Edward and Alphonse's freaky Dad.
Please look forward to next time.
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