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Reviewed by Joy Kim The fifteenth volume of Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist takes readers several years into the past, as Lieutenant Hawkeye tells Ed about the Ishbal campaign. For anyone unfamiliar with the series, Fullmetal Alchemist is the story of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who attempt to resurrect their dead mother using alchemy. The ritual goes wrong; Ed loses his arm and leg, while Al loses his entire body and now exists as a soul bonded to an empty suit of armor. And when the Elrics search for the fabled Philosopher’s Stone to restore their bodies, they ultimately find themselves on the trail of a larger conspiracy involving alchemy and their nation’s long and violent history. Earlier chapters have already shown that the choices made by Colonel Mustang and others during the Ishbal campaign continue to haunt the present. Hawkeye’s account here reinforces that theme by providing the painful detail that other references to that bloody conflict have left out. In the process, the extended flashbacks temporarily shift the focus away from Ed and Al and onto the supporting characters, mostly those in the state military. Not every series could pull off such a stunt without leaving readers dissatisfied, but Fullmetal Alchemist manages the feat with aplomb. The bond between the Elric brothers may be the heart of the series, but mangaka Hiromu Arakawa has created such a compelling fictional world that it’s not even remotely boring to spend four chapters with the supporting cast. “I can speak only of my own experience there,” Hawkeye tells Ed, yet her narrative pulls in almost all of the state military characters, especially the alchemists. The characters’ experiences and actions during the conflict—based in part, according to an author’s note, on interviews with World War II veterans—are as grim as one might as well expect from a series like this one, which has never pulled its punches about the horrors of war. Hawkeye’s character arc is both a highlight and a weakness of the volume. Her account explains her deep loyalty to Mustang and his utter trust in her strength. At the same time, Arakawa is still primarily defining Hawkeye through her relationships with men—Mustang and, to a lesser extent, her father. In this, Hawkeye’s story is typical of Arakawa’s treatment of female characters in the series. Many of them are strong and complex, but they inevitably seem to be defined by their connection to one of the male characters: they are always someone’s daughter, mother, or follower. That said, Fullmetal Alchemist is still much better than most shonen series on the gender front. It at least features several compelling female characters, which is more than far too many series can claim. The English adaptation by Jake Forbes is smooth and fluid, with no obvious infelicities that pull the reader out the story. The art is consistent with previous volumes, easy to follow even during the action sequences. Arakawa does an excellent job of showing how the characters are changed by their war experiences through their expressions and bearings. Finally, be sure not to miss the extras at the end of the volume. As usual, Arakawa takes a lot of glee in mocking her own creation, and the results are hilarious. Best of all, the preview for volume 16 suggests that the story’s continuation will be just as eventful as what’s come before. Comment on this review of Fullmetal Alchemist v15 on the Manga Life Forums. |
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