This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Fullmetal Alchemist #6
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 190
Words: 9K
From FMA.fandom.com
“The origin of the Elric Brothers! Once, Edward and Alphonse Elric were willing to do anything to become alchemists. But when they tried to use their newfound skills to resurrect their dead mother, they broke a taboo and encountered something more terrifying than death itself. Now, hardened by years of military training, Edward and Alphonse have returned to the woman who first taught them alchemy…but can she help them, or even forgive them?”
Chapter 22: The Masked Man
Chapter 23: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Chapter 24: Fullmetal Alchemist
Chapter 25: Master and Apprentice
Bonus Chapter: Roy Mustang’s Observation Diary
When I went to FMA.fandom and saw that tiny little synopsis, I was wondering why such a popular manga didn’t have some weeb who had completely filled it up. Well, it turns out that some weeb did, only they did it for each chapter instead of the whole volume. And there was NO WAY I was going to copy/paste 10+ pages of synopsis. What’s there is good enough as far as I’m concerned.
♪And it’s good enough for me♪
This was an entire book of flashback about how Ed and Al tried to resurrect their mother, lost their bodies and ended up in the military. We also get a glimpse into the history of Roy Mustang, the man who found them and how he ended up in Central with the group currently surrounding him.
During the failed resurrection ceremony, Ed meets some entity and a weird door that appears to contain nigh unlimited knowledge. Both entity and door would seem to be malignant, at least to me as a reader but it didn’t appear that Ed took it that way at all. Of course, he’s only 11 or 12, so he’s probably taking the entity at face value.
For a flashback, this was interesting. It directly tied into the main story line and didn’t feel like the manga-ka was fluffing up the page count at all. It had relevance to the story I was interested in (ie, the MAIN story. Take note One Piece, this is how and why you do flashbacks).
★★★★☆
LikeLiked by 1 person
My goodness, another youtube link.
Historians are going to think we communicated by yt video if they ever come across this blog 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think Alex and Dix are competing for the Fullmetal Youtubist crown.
You lost me at ‘lost their bodies and ended up in the military.’ as that seems a hard thing to do withough corporeal assistance, but whaddo I know about manga? 🤷♀️😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! They definitely are trying for that, that’s for sure.
The older brother lost his arm and leg and has metal replacements. The younger brother lost his entire body and the older brother managed to tie his soul to a big suit of armor.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well he sounds like an enterprising chap!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly. And that’s why the military snapped him up 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Plus it gets you another appearance by the Iron Sheik!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my goodness, what have I done?
LikeLike
glad FMA is finally improving for you! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
and I’m hoping it can stay at this level for a bit.
The mystery of their father and hte homunculi needs to be advanced…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I knew you were going to take jabs at Oda when it came to flashbacks hahaha Yep, these flashbacks here were pretty good indeed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Guess I’m getting predictable. I’m ok w that 🙂
So have you read fma then? I knew Ola had but didn’t realize you had.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahah yes I did, I finished revisiting the manga in 2021 and a bit before Ola. You were there to witness it too hahahaha
https://roarsandechoes.com/2021/10/09/fullmetal-alchemist-by-hiromu-arakawa/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, I’d completely forgotten. Ha!
LikeLiked by 1 person