Comments on: Full Metal Alchemist (anime/manga)

By: LovelyHue

LovelyHue — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:40:17 +0000

I agree that FullMetal Alchemist the anime is not the best ever. But the manga is. It is pure genius.

By: Ash

Ash — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:59:54 +0000

This is one of the few manga series that I read that is not shojo. Every single volume is no less than an A. Fabulous art, layouts, inking, characters, depth, and a thick plot. The graphic designer in me especially loves the layouts and inking. Fullmetal Alchemist is one of those series that is an A all around and I’m proud to have it sitting in between shojo manga on my shelves.

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:05:30 +0000

The manga is way better than the anime, but I feel like there are some pacing issues with both, personally. I also dislike the tendency towards monologuing and odd metaphors (You’re pus? Really?) that a certain villain had last time I checked.

But, I haven’t read the manga in about a year, even though I was up-to-date with the Japanese releases then.

By: Lewis S

Lewis S — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:11:49 +0000

I agree. I hate the anime. But i absolutely love the manga.

By: Nothayama

Nothayama — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:19:12 +0000

Well, I’ve read four volumes of the manga now, and although I’m not totally won over, I can say that I like it a lot better than the anime. This might seem like weird praise, but I found it to be one of the least annoying manga I’ve ever read. I felt that the anime suffered from overdone jokes and misplaced angst and moralizing, but the manga seems to have smoothed that all out. I’m not going to say I’m fully behind it — I don’t find the main villains terribly interesting, at least not yet, and some of the angsty bits didn’t make much sense (so Al thinks he isn’t real all of a sudden? Because a crazy murderer told him so? A guy who’s just a soul stuck in a suit of armor has so many things he could angst about, and this is what’s bothering him?)

I’m having trouble getting my hands on volume 5 right now, but once I read more of the manga I may have more to add to the review.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 22:48:30 +0000

You make a good point, Alexa–NotHayama and I have read very, very little of the manga. Usually we mention that in a Mini Review, and I’m not sure why we didn’t here. I’ll keep your comments in mind.

By: Alexa

Alexa — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 05:03:57 +0000

Urg. Yeah the anime is bad. But I wish you wouldn’t say this is a review for the anime AND the manga because the manga has a totally different plot line. I think around episode 7 the plot for the anime goes off in a sharply different direction and character development dies. Suddenly Al and Ed continually try to sacrifice their lives for one another (even though in the manga they’ve both agreed not to because without the other getting their bodies back is near pointless) Seriously the plot is TOTALLY different the bad guy becoming some woman named Dante and bringing in the modern world (wtf?!). It also brings dead/single chapter characters back to become largely involved with this plot (urg Tucker is DEAD and in bringing him into the story over and over again (relying on the success of emotional impact the short plot line had in the manga) KILLS the emotional impact the few manga scenes with Nina in them) . Also the anime really REALLY makes it seem like Ed is gay for his brother D: Which is TERRIBLE. I never understood the pairing until I saw the anime and the overplayed emotion between them -_-;

The manga still revolves around the humuculous and Roy’s plans of revolution and the authoress has made the military aspects so deep (planning each character/plot line out carefully beforehand and drops hints about each character FAR before we see them making it far more realistic) that it really becomes epic. Though I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it is a revolution of shonen manga like other people it is amazingly different then the usual BEAT BAD GUY THEN BEAT BIGGER BAD GUY aspect of the usual shonen and deserves to be both respected and not in any way related to the anime.

As the FMA MANGA livejournal states: “We don’t hate the anime, we just pretend it doesn’t exist”

By: Eunice

Eunice — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:48:24 +0000

While I’m glad I saw the whole show, I’m also VERY glad I didn’t actually invest money in buying it, because I know I’ll never watch it again. Like Lianna said when it’s good it’s very good, but it shoots itself in the foot too often to reach “great” status.

But I’d still say that it _is_ worth finishing.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:59:51 +0000

Everyone I’ve spoken to has told me the same thing, but the supposed brilliance of the second half of the series (and the moments of brilliance in the first half) still can’t cancel out FMA’s substantial flaws. That’s why I said the series can justify a large fanbase, but can’t in good faith be hailed as “The Greatest Anime Ever.” I’ll probably watch the rest someday, but there are plenty of things out there I’d rather read/watch that don’t take 50% of their episodes to get really good.

By: LadyUranus

LadyUranus — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 05:47:28 +0000

Will you watch the rest? I promise you, it lives up to its name. I’m super-picky about anime (especially shonen) and FMA is a brilliant gem.