HAGANE NO RENKINJUTSUSHI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ActionHagane no Renkinjutsushi: FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST
ANIME ActionHagane no Renkinjutsushi
ONE SHOT ActionHagane no Renkinjutsushi: Prototype
ONE SHOT AdventureHagane no Renkinjutsushi 0
NOVEL ActionHagane no Renkinjutsushi
MANGA ActionHagane no Renkinjutsushi 11.5: Tabidachi no Mae ni

REVIEWS

• 

  MedakaOP

  92/100
  An unmissable manga that can appeal to everyone. A multi-layered classic with punchy scenes and characters.

  1) This critic will be full of spoilers be aware of it.
  2) I'll only talk about the manga, I didn't see the two adaptations.
  3) If you don't agree on a point, come to my profile it'll be fun to talk about it

  In the first place, Full Metal Alchemist (I'll call FMA now). Is a manga that I know for a really long time. It's the 1st manga I get in volume and the 1st series I complete.

  What I think about it ? A masterclass at a lot of level. It's a manga which mix perfectly real alchemy elements (Ouroboros, Homonculus, really sign in alchemy, ...) and fiction and make in coherent and entertaining. A manga where there are, for a series of 27 volumes, a high concentration of great character with and equal number of male and female strong character. Taking that into account FMA have a feminist aspect that we can't ignore.

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  I can't talk about FMA without mentioning the brother Elric one of the best duo I ever see with Zoro/Luffy and Gon/Killua. They are brothers who live with their single mothers, A mother who die when they are still really young. For tempting to made revive her. They lost, for Alphonse(AL), his whole body, and for Edward(Ed) his left leg. This was taken by the verity, an entity which punished the persons who think to be as powerful of god. It'll take every time the things we need the most. For children who need to feel warm of a mother, it'll take body part, for a mother who want to see her baby it'll take her right to make baby and for the person who look too much in the future he'll be blind. That always fair and never too much. ED and AL are really great characters we can easily relate to, especially if you're under 20. They made mistake and they know it. They'll try to fix it without made their entourage be hurt mentally or physically because of them. We have the example of the philosopher's stone which is made with the murder of people, they don't want to use it because. They don't want to use the death of people to fix their own mistake. I find this way to think pretty intelligent, and it can be adapted to your own life.

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  Besides these 2 brothers, there are in FMA a lot of secondary character which are fascinating in their own way. As I say before there as much male than female strong character and I love it. I'll only talk about my favourite character of FMA but there are a lot of average to pretty good character. 1st, and by far, Winry. The childhood friend of ED and AL. She is also the mechanic of ED for his arm and his leg. Winry is the closest person of the Elric brother they know each other since their birth. They support each other when winry's parent leave and die at the Ishbal's civil war and the opposite too when the brother lost everything. One of the best (for the beginning) friendship and love after with ED. For me Winry is one most important character for the brother. They want to find their original corpse for them but also for the persons who help them. They don't want Winry to worry about them and finally eat together that apple pie which is one of the goals of this manga. She is also the only character who can provide a power-up to ED, I'll talk about it after. Another great duo of this manga is Mustang/Hawkeye. They need each other to exist in this manga. They can't be dissociated. Mustang who learn the fire alchemy by the father of Hawkeye. He leaves all his search to Hawkeye with a tatoo on her back. We can't talk about them with mentioning the death of Hughes, which gave to us some really sad scene and give to mustang a will of vengeance really strong which almost lost him if Hawkeye was not there to save him of the madness which is contained in the fire alchemy. I can also talk about King Bradley, Olivia Armstrong or Lin which is super great character which we can talk about them hours and hours. I also wanted talk about Greed, for me have the best development in the ""bad guys"" team.

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  One of the things I love the most is the fact that the manga never stops and shows us in each chapter a new character or story element. I have never had the feeling during my multiple readings that the manga turns on itself. The reveal and plot twist of the plot is often very often done well, and the main villain (s) change very regularly helps a lot with that feeling. At first the main villain is Scar, then the various homunculi we meet on the trip to Amestris after that is Kimblee during the briggs arc, then the father at the end on the promised day. Another thing that accentuates this feeling is that the manga adds a new character with new information at the right time. I particularly think twice. 1st, volume 8. After the incident in the 5th laboratory. Ed's automail is broken, and then they have to go back to Rush Valley so Winry can fix her automail. At this point, we meet Lin and his bodyguard: Ranfan and Who. They are from Xing and they are also looking for the Philosopher's Stone to have Eternal Life. At the same time we also meet May, who also the Philosopher's Stone, who will join scar quite quickly. He adds a new great character, adds to the manga what he didn't have at exactly the right time. They also bring a new way of looking at alchemy, as for now, we're only seeing how Amestris uses alchemy for military or personal purposes. The second is the briggs bow, one of the best bow for me, an bow that brings a lot of new information to the reader. (father's plan, the last homunculus : sloth, all the major military authorities are with the father and want to sacrifice the population for their own sake). This arc will feature Olivia Armstrong, Miles: an Ishbal who is in the military or even Buccaner. During this arc we also have a new villain: Solf.J. Kimblee, who was introduced during Ishbal's Civil War flashback.

  ---

  When I talk about FMA, I'm also talking about major scenes, important enough to be known to everyone, even those who haven't watched / read FMA. The 1st scene takes place in chapter 5 where Shô Tucker, to pass his exam, transforms his daughter and his dogs into a chimera. For me, this scene traumatizes me almost as much as berserk (volume 13 you know). The dialogue between ED / AL and Shô tucker will remain in my memory for a long time. The second scene is the death of Hughes, Mustang's best friend with the funeral. These two deaths even if it is not the death of the "main" character will remain in memory during all the reading whether it is for the characters or for the readers. Hughes' death will be significant enough to drive Mustang into the madness of revenge.

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  The only main flaw I can say to this manga is Edward's lack of development on a physical level (yeah that's little flaw but I need to find at least one xD). Edward often loses his fight and on my first reading I still think he would learn the alchemy from Xing to counter Father's power. I have the feeling that it is the same since the 1st volume. His only real power-up is during the briggs arc where Winry made him an automail made for the cold, it's not really much, you can agree. At this level, Alphonse beat him. I try to find other fault but I can't see any. Did you see another negative point?

  ---

  In conclusion, a must to watch or read. Lots of crazy characters with real character development: ED / AL, Scar, Mustang or Greed for the most impressive. A not too long manga that can be read in 3 days if your fasting and maybe want to enjoy more in 1 month it can be done easily. Great plot twist. A pure classic for me.

  ---

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• 

  infinitely

  93/100
  Fullmetal Alchemist is an action-packed adventure with an amazing set of characters and an unforgettable story

  Fullmetal Alchemist

  Series experience: I watched Brotherhood a few years ago and (as of writing this) I am watching the 2003 anime

  Short review: Fullmetal Alchemist is little step up your average shounen action-adventure series, creating a unique world with memorable characters, lore, and legend. Following two young heroes, the story grows and our characters get entangled with creations and monsters beyond their imaginations. Not forgetting to pack the comedy (and a little bit of romance), the series mixes everything into a beautiful tale that will always be great to go back to.

  Full review:

  Warning: review contains spoilers

  I’ll have to say that out of all the manga I’ve read, Fullmetal Alchemist is so far the only one where I feel like every event is really connected to the others. From the beginning where everything is set up, instead of a linear direction where you feel like you’re following one hero up and down a path, FMA gives me that feeling of sitting on large bird that flies up slowly and reveals the entire landscape. I can hardly find faults with the plot - it’s not too fast paced, and it knows when it needs to end. There is never a moment you will be bored, and it’s exciting to uncover the bigger picture along with the protagonists.

  From the beginning where we have Ed and Al and the introduction of our basic concepts - The Philosopher’s Stone, transmutation, equivalent exchange - everything is weaved together in a way where things are not revealed too quickly for us to stomach, or too slowly that we would get bored. I think that what the manga has over both the 2003 and 2009 series is that here Arakawa tells the story how she likes - and that greatly gives us the pace we need. We get to feel every loss and every discovery with equal parts terror and wonder, making each reveal more and more interesting.

  One more of the best things about the series is the scope. We may begin our journey with a fourteen and twelve year old boy, but by the end we are witnessing the story of an entire nation. And all of this is revealed so artfully, letting us know bit by bit about the homonculi, the nationwide transmutation circle, and Father. This is told to us not only through Ed and Al, but eventually with the help of the Mustang Unit, the Briggs team, and even people from another country, Xing.

  Speaking of the characters, Arakawa did a great job of writing fleshed out ensemble characters. For such a large group, as a reader, I still ended up appreciating more than enough of my share of the cast. Maybe because Arakawa is a female author writing a shounen series but I felt the significance of most of the main characters in such a way that other mainstream shounen titles are unable to pull off. There is depth and growth in the love interests, the parent figures, and the villains. The lack of flat side characters makes Fullmetal Alchemist so refreshing. This is probably a personal preference as well but Arakawa writes some of shounen’s best female characters. She has stated that she grew up in a tough family and surrounded by strong women, and the influence shines in the characters such as Winry, Riza, Lan Fan, Izumi, Olivier, and Mei Chang.

  An issue I have with some manga is when the art style gets so similar I can’t tell characters apart. That is not an issue with FMA. Most of the characters are memorable and distinct, and the art showing us Amestris is beautiful as well. One thing that stands out in FMA is the humor - it has the usual shounen formula of injecting comedy to lighten the tone, and FMA has some of my favorite chibi versions of the characters. The balance between jokes and serious topics is not too wishy-washy, you feel the seriousness and humor in the right times.

  Overall, I’d recommend FMA in a heartbeat to anyone. It touches on heavy topics while keeping the perfect tone, has adorable comedy and art, lovable and relatable characters, and an exciting story that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire way. Not to mention the ending doesn’t feel as dissatisfying as a lot of the endings of other big name anime. FMA is smart, but it never lacks in heart. It’s not that lengthy, but you will be investing quite some time on it. No worries, though, as the principle of equivalent exchange states, you’ll be getting something in return. I promise you, what you’re going to be seeing is worth it.

  Plot 10/10
  Art 8/10
  Characters 10/10

  Overall personal enjoyment 10/10

  Top 3 fave characters

  Ed - a protagonist you’ll really support!! his love for his brother is heartwarming but the way he really shines is how human he is despite his status as a prodigy
  Roy - annoying at times but also his love for his subordinates really gets to you, the way he sticks to his principles is admirable and he’s the staple dark hero in contrast with our bright colored main one
  Riza - I love Riza because she’s not some Roy-lovesick puppy. she’s as intelligent (maybe moreso) and is so integral to everything coming together

  Others:
  Winry, Envy, Ling/Greed

  

  Thank you for reading!

  Review for the anime adaptation: Fullmetal Alchemist Review
  Review for the Brotherhood anime adaptation: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Review

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• 

  MikeSlav

  90/100
  A manga that is great in every aspect and is a short and enjoyable read for everyone

  __Introduction__

  Fullmetal Alchemist is an action/adventure/fantasy manga written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa from 2001 to 2010. It was published in the Monthly Shounen Gangan magazine. It consists of 27 volumes and 108 chapters.

  __Plot/Story__

  The plot of the manga is very simple to understand but is great enough that it doesn't feel boring or too basic at any point while reading it. Edward and Alphonse are two alchemist brothers who once attempted to resurrect their dead mother but made a horrible mistake during the process which left Edward with a missing arm and leg, and Alphonse with his entire body missing, having his soul stuck to a suit of armor in order to live. The two boys set out to find a way to reacquire their bodies. However, the story escalates very quickly beyond that goal, involving a group of human-like creatures called homunculi who are trying to achieve some mysterious goal. While reading the manga, there are enough twists involved to keep you engaged the entire way through and the ending is pretty satisfying.

  __Characters__

  Every character in the manga is very well written, from the main characters to the supporting cast. With the story switching focus to characters other than the two brothers, having a well written and interesting cast definitely helps. Each one has their own goals and seeing them try to accomplish them makes reading the manga even more interesting. To give two examples, some of my favorite characters are Roy Mustang and Scar. Roy Mustang is one of the protagonists of the manga aside from Edward and Alphonse. A veteran of a civil war, his goal involves trying to rise through the military ranks and become the President while constantly trying to keep himself from going insane and straying from the right path. On the other hand, Scar is introduced as a serial killer and a major antagonist in the manga, but as the series progresses, you see him question what he is doing and slowly become a major ally instead. There is of course much, much more to these characters than this couple of sentences, but like I already said, each one is very well written.

  __Art__

  The art of Fullmetal Alchemist is very simple and not something incredible like you would see in manga like Berserk or Vagabond. However, that simplicity is also part of its appeal. The art often switches from looking detailed in the serious scenes to looking goofy in the comic relief scenes. Apart from some instances, the simple art makes it very easy to understand what is going on in each panel, making the entire manga very easy to binge read. The way fights are drawn is really dynamic and the transitions from scene to scene are also done very well, that at some times, it's almost like you're watching an anime instead of reading a manga. Below are examples of both comic relief art and more detailed art. Some spoilers are there, so you've been warned. You can open the images in a new tab since they show up a bit too small.

  

  __Writing__

  Enough has already been said about the writing, but here is a couple of quotes from the manga.

  “Nothing's perfect, the world's not perfect, but it's there for us, trying the best it can. That's what makes it so damn beautiful.” ― Roy Mustang

  “A lesson without pain is meaningless. For you cannot gain anything without sacrificing something else in return, but once you have overcome it and made it your own...you will gain an irreplaceable fullmetal heart.”

  __Conclusion__

  In my opinion, Fullmetal Alchemist is an amazing manga that can be enjoyed by anyone. It's not a very long manga, but still manages to convey a lot of feelings and contain a lot of great and memorable scenes. Even if you might not like the entire cast, you will find yourself loving at least a couple of characters. A perfect example of a manga great in every aspect. I highly recommend it.

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