Fullmetal Alchemist Manga [END]
Warning: Do not click if you haven’t read the last chapter of FMA. Post contains thoughts of the journey and its end.
It’s with a very heavy heart, I said goodbye to Fullmetal Alchemist Manga few days back when its last chapter came out. What to say about a masterpiece that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying since last 3 years?
All good things must come to an end and that is what happened with FMA’s legendary run. I seriously shed a tear of joy for all the character development and so many plot developments I was rooting for. The good thing is that this would soon be animated and end on 4th July, 2010 with Brotherhood. This is a double treat for all the fans that have been entertained by the series throughout these years.
The best thing about FMA is not only its story but the alive characters. The story is definitely fantasy but their relationship with each other is as real as you and me. Of course, it’s not serious all the time and the lulz and growth of characters with time is what makes this a classic. For example, Ed started off with a height complex and always went over the brink whenever called chibi, almost Shizuo-ish with madness. It never helped that he was rejected by Winry in their childhood game of who-will-marry-Winry for similar reasons. Well, what do you know? He grew out of that!
Who does not love Alphonse? Whose soul has been anchored in armor? His and Ed’s continuous struggle made this series golden with never giving up in worst circumstances. Even with all the sadness, these two made us laugh and cry with joy and empathy. Who would not get the childhood shattered with an unimaginable sorrow? Rather than going down with it, the two brothers persevered with sheer determination alone. Not to mention and array of strong supporting characters like Izumi Curtis, Roy Mustang, Hawkeye, Hughes, Havoc, Fuery, Breda, Falman, Armstrongs, Scar, Marcoh, the Xingese (Lin, Ran Fan, Fu-jisan, Mei and even Xiao-Mei) and many many more.
It’s easy to create good guys but what about the bad guys? The depth of character of all homunculi, their struggle to survive and cunning. There was not a single character even on the bad side that could’ve been called shallow or filler for a bad face. From Barry the Chopper to Shou Tucker, everyone had their own axe to grind and agendas to fulfill. All homunculi were well-conceptualized characters that had solid ends and of course not all of them were bad, Greed came very close to become almost lovable.
After all that hard work of continuous second-guessing, sub-plots and clashes with Father’s minions, the Elric brothers finally were not only able to find the truth to the Philosopher’s Stone but the reason to go on and persevere. When it seemed all would fail, the fabulous end shown by sheer determination of a group of protagonist was simply EPIC! The last chapter needs standing ovation and a bow to Arakawa sensei’s long and hard slog coming to fruition.
My favorite moments: Er… Picture SPAM!
I for one would miss this story and would love to read more from Arakawa, Hiromu.
I might not continue with episodic review of FMA: Brotherhood but would post my thoughts by the end of series. Look forward to Ani-stats of May in a day or two. Till next time, Ja ne~
About Kyokai
The Boss lady of Metanorn, who makes it all happen. An animanga enthusiast, who watches/reads almost anything that strikes her fancy. Just beware of her Death Perception and always keep her happy. Regularly found at @KyokaiTM & #[email protected].
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
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POWUH: iLurker with 17 comments
> All homunculi were well-conceptualized characters that had solid ends and of course not all of them were bad, Greed came very close to become almost lovable.
Eh. Sloth and Pride were pretty rubbish, as was Lust. Gluttony wasn’t too great either (with an entirely unsatisfying attachment to Lust).
Wrath was terrific, but if you didn’t love Greed at the end for his epiphany, then you, my friend, have a ‘fullmetal heart’ (and not in the good sense!).
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Imagine them as the seven deadly sins and you would get where I’m coming from. Sloth was laaazy, Pride, Lust, Envy and Gluttony were pretty annoying. I can find you people who loved Lust and Envy to the point of revering but I just loved to hate them.
Wrath had a league of his own and of course Greed was interesting as hell from the start and his ending sacrifice was heartwarming to say the least. Check, I did mention him specifically and loved his character since he was introduced in the Beasts of Dublith. ^^;
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
Howdy, your site is on air in the radio! Good job mate. Your posts are truly great and bookmarked. Regards
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
IMO the ‘all of me’ part deserves a mention, doesn’t it? I thought it was both hilarious and endearing (although, way to drag your feet ppl!)
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Actually, it does, how could I skip over that scene while writing this? Let me add it right now!
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
I liked how they mentioned Nina Tucker and how she played a huge part in the Elrics’ future decisions regarding alchemy.
Edward and Truth’s interaction was pretty awesome as well.
I did a look at how the story of FMA as a whole can inspire people to do better in life. You can check it out at: http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/692223552/endoffma
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
Hello! I loved the ending ♥ With some minus WTF moments tough… anyway, do you plan to make a post about the summer season? It is outhere, but I like your post, so I’ll wait until you show it 🙂
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 23 comments
It was just so good..T-T
That’s all I can say. What a journey that was…
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
Heya¡Âmy very first comment on your site. ,I have been reading your blog for a while and thought I would completely pop in and drop a friendly note. . It is great stuff indeed. I also wanted to ask..is there a way to subscribe to your site via email?
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
Got any more?
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
I didn’t like the ending that much. Kinda boring (I STILL LOVE THE SERIES) I would’ve loved more mystery in the ending.
BUT overall FMA is a fucking masterpiece! 😀
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
I was alright with the ending, some parts I really liked but I have some mixed feelings about the final arc as a whole.
I didn’t find Father that menacing of an antagonist. I think what I liked about him initially was his apathy and ambivalence, so when he started getting so excited about becoming ‘god’ it turned me off of his character big time.
The whole thing with Greed came off a bit corny but it wasn’t too bad.
Like what was mentioned in the post, Mustang taking that philosopher’s stone didn’t sit well with me either. It didn’t help that just a few pages earlier we saw Ed rejecting the use of a philosopher’s stone for personal reasons, which makes Roy seem incompassionate for accepting one without a second thought. On top of that, I found the concept of him being permanently blinded intriguing in a lot of ways. Mostly I wanted to see how he would overcome it. I also felt it detracted from the impact of him being blinded for it to be reversed a mere 6 chapters later.
I felt ripped off that Mustang didn’t get more spotlight in the final chapter. To me he is almost as important to the series as Ed, yet him taking the philospher’s stone is the only real coverage he got in this ending. I’m just glad he and Riza got so much attention in chapters 102-106 or I would have been majorly disappointed. (Wouldn’t have minded some extra pages for Ling and Lan Fan in here either, but oh well).
And I’m sorry, I like Scar and all, but it seriously bothers me that he just gets to go live this great life in Ishvala without ever facing penalty for his crimes. He killed what, at least a dozen state alchemists and MPs for self-righteous purposes, and doesn’t face any consequences? I’m willing to accept this because it is entirely believable that Olivier would overlook Scar’s past in light of his usefulness, but I’m not willing to accept that this is justified from the perspective of a reader.
So yeah, there were some things that bothered me about this ending. I felt it was a tad predictable, and worked out a little too well for the good guys (Although admittedly, that goes well with the concept of “overthrowing equivalent exchange” that Al presents at the end of the chapter). Despite all this and some other things that bugged me, I I still liked this ending, and that says it all for how I feel about Arakawa’s writing and this series in general. This has been and may well always be my favorite manga. Hats off to Arakawa for a spectacular series. I look forward to that next work indeed.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
Hello from Vyatka River!!! Thank you for information! It?s a good idea for next full revision…
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
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