Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist Ultra Edition 01 by Hiromu Arakawa

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eesh25's review against another edition

4.0

2020 Reread!

It's been a while since I read this one and, when I finally got around to continuing the series, I decided a reread was in order. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Did I mention how hilarious this manga is? Not sure if I appreciated that last time but I laughed through most of it this time around. Ed's reactions are priceless. And I love the "Gloom" panels. Also, the story is great. Can't wait to see where it's heading.

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I would advise that this "review" not be taken too seriously. This is the first time I've read a manga—or anything comic book-like, for that matter—and don't really know what makes a good manga, so this post could possibly be nothing more than meaningless rambles. Consider yourself warned.

This series follows the Elric brothers—Edward and Alphonse. When we first see them, it's as a teenage boy sitting beside a suit of armor. Turns out the teenage boy is Edward, a very powerful alchemist (science magician, you might say) and the suit of armor is his younger brother, also a powerful alchemist. Both of them lost parts of their bodies (or, in Alphonse's case, his entire body) because of a spell that went horribly wrong. Now they're trying to get those bodies back.

My brother, who's watched the anime and was the one to recommend the manga, has told me that getting their bodies back is the main mission. And at first, that seemed a little... inadequate, though it is quite dire for Alphonse. It's still a worthy cause and, I've since discovered, it's a direction rather than the main plot.

It's very important, don't get me wrong, but there are many other characters—friends, foes and allies—and many other big and small plot points. Getting their bodies back is like the thing that's a consistent arc that leads them to all other things. It's very smart on the writer's part. It provides another layer of coherency, as well as a purpose to the series. It's a focus point. I've read many books/series that could benefit from such a thing. And for a series that's not exactly short, it's great that it exists from the beginning.

These three volumes (or one volume, if you see it as an omnibus) has mostly been an introduction. Each chapter has it's own story, yes, but the point is to familiarize the reader with the world and some of the major players and plot points. And it's done very well, without overwhelming the reader at all.

I really enjoyed reading it. I'll admit that I was wary at first, thinking that I'd be completely lost with all the pictures and so few words, but I got used to it pretty quickly. Still, it's very different from a novel, the scene transitions more like a movie; it just wasn't difficult to read like I was afraid it would be. Plus my brother helped. He informed me of things like how there are some panels that are solely for comic purposes and not to be taken too seriously, like Edward blowing his top at even the hint that someone's calling him short.

I don't have any complaints except that I was sometimes confused as to who was talking, but that might be more about me than the manga, so if you're planning to try manga for yourself, this would be a good series to start with.

sovngarde's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 stars

Watching half of the og anime and then reading this was interesting. This felt more fast paced at times. I feel the anime improved upon some things the manga glossed over and over dramatized things that didn’t need to be for these first few arcs.