Fullmetal Alchemist #9 ★★★☆☆

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Title: Fullmetal Alchemist #9
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 184
Words: 9K

From FMA.fandom.com

Chapter 34: The Footsteps of a War Comrade

Chapter 35: The Sacrificial Lamb

Chapter 36: Alchemist in Distress

Chapter 37: The Body of a Criminal

“Ed, Al, and Winry return to Central Command, but only bad news greets the Fullmetal Alchemist and his friends, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes has been murdered-and Second Lieutenant Maria Ross is the prime suspect! While Maria awaits an uncertain fate in jail, the living suit of armor bearing the soul of serial killer “Barry the Chopper” breaks free of the military and goes on a rampage. Now, the mysterious Homunculi must come out of the shadows to deal with this mess before their monstrous conspiracy is exposed. But for Colonel Roy Mustang, Mae Hughes’s former best friend, it’s not about the truth; it’s about revenge…”


You know, I’ve figured out just why I am having such a hard time with this manga. The manga-ka keeps sending us down little side trails, sometimes in great detail and with a sense of outrageous silliness, that don’t have anything to do with the main plot. It simply infuriates me. It’s not a constant thing, but it happens enough to interrupt my enjoyment of the main storyline.

I think the anime creators did a fantastic job of that and that is why I enjoyed the anime so much. Even though they didn’t have the ending at that time, they still told a fantastic story with very few offshoots. I just wish this particular manga would cut the fat.

I am seriously thinking of reading more volumes in a row so I don’t have to deal with interruptions as much. But just pack them all into one review, so kind of how I used to do manga reviews back in the day. Not sure that is actually a good solution, but it’s that or dnf the series and I really want to see how things turn out.

★★★☆☆

Gear (One Piece #40) ★★✬☆☆

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: Gear
Series: One Piece #40
Arc: Water Seven #9
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 225
Words: 10K

From Wikipedia:

“Casualties”

“Power Level”

“Enies Lobby Main Island Express”

“Fired”

“Demon Lair”

“Luffy vs. Blueno”

“Signal the Counterattack”

“There Is a Way”

“Unprecedented”

“Gear”

“Gear Two”

The Straw Hats lay waste to Enies Lobby, defeating anyone who tries to keep them from Robin. As the rest of the crew deals with the less formidable guardians of the island, Luffy goes ahead and calls out to CP9. Only one member of CP9, Blueno, agrees to fight him, remembering how quickly Luffy was defeated in their last encounter. As the battle progresses Luffy demonstrates his ability to use one of CP9’s abilities. After using his “Gear Two” and before demonstrating his “Gear Three”, Luffy defeats Blueno and calls out to Robin that he is there to rescue her.


This could have been a fantastic volume. It was one massive battle as the Straw Hat Pirates and Frankie’s “family” came to rescue Robin and Frankie from the stronghold of the World Government. I could actually follow most of the action, which isn’t a given with how swirly the manga-ka usually does his battles. I also thought how the various crew members getting stronger was well done. Even Usopp, excuse me, I mean “Sniper King” is getting better at surviving extinction level events. And Luffy’s battle with one of the CP9? It went fantastically.

But.

There were simply too many double paged spreads. That might work in a paper magazine or even in a tankouban (the manga you see in a bookstore) just fine. But I’m reading this digitally, on my computer. And my options are to either shrink to a 2 page spread (and lose a ton of details and possible what the characters are saying) or to stick to 1 page at a time and have to flip back and forth to get the full picture of the action as it is spread across 2 pages and goes from top to bottom. It was incredibly frustrating.

In the manga-ka’s defense, digital wasn’t nearly as big when this was originally published. But I’m reading it now, not 13 years ago. And even then, trying to open a tankouban fully usually meant breaking the spine or having details on the inner edge being lost to view. SO NOT GOOD. THEN OR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! HERE ME RAWWWWWWR!

Therefore I am going to be inventing time travel so I can send Oda-sensei this review, so that he flipping knocks it off. There’s no need for double page spreads. Period. And if he continues them, well, then you’ll know the REAL reason why Kyle Reese and the T800 went back in time.

★★✬☆☆

Fullmetal Alchemist #8 ★★✬☆☆

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 #8
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 180
Words: 9K

From FMA.fandom.com

Chapter 30: The Truth Inside the Armor

Chapter 31: The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail

Chapter 32: Emissary From the East

Chapter 33: Showdown in Rush Valley

Bonus Chapter: Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel

“The Raid on the Devil’s Nest becomes a slaughter, as government troops led by the Führer President himself, King Bradley-exterminate the half-human forces of the Homunculus Greed. But will Ed and Al survive the battle unchanged? As Greed is sent to meet his maker, foreign travelers arrive in Amestris, having crossed the great desert from the eastern country of Xing. Their names are Mei and Ling, and they’ve come for the Philosopher’s Stone …and a secret even the Elric Brothers never imagined…”


We do meet the creator of the homunculi and he destroys one who has rebelled. We find out for sure that King Bradley is indeed a homunculi, but one that can age and apparently have children.

Other than that, this was just a complete slog. I mean, I was bored almost to tears and couldn’t wait for it to end. That is NOT the feeling I want when reading an action manga. Well, whatever. I just don’t care at the moment.

★★✬☆☆

Scramble (One Piece #39) ★★★✬☆

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: Scramble
Series: One Piece #39
Arc: Water Seven #8
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 207
Words: 10K

From Wikipedia:

“Sea Train Battle Game”

“Ramen Kung Fu”

“You’re Not Alone”

“The Honorable Captain T-Bone”

“Plastic Surgery”

“Necessary Evil”

“Scramble”

“The Supermen of Enies Lobby”

“I Got It!!”

“The Big Showdown on the Judiciary Island”

As they move through the train looking for Robin, Sanji, Usopp, and Franky deal with the lesser members of Cipher Pol. Although they find her, Robin does not allow herself to be saved. CP9 captures Franky again, kicks Sanji and Usopp from the train, and continues on to Enies Lobby. Sanji and Usopp wait along the tracks, and reunite with Luffy and the others when they go by. They arrive at the judiciary island soon after CP9 does and engage the forces of the world government in order to get Robin back.


This was an absolute action packed volume. To the point where there were pages where I didn’t even bother trying to figure out the details of what was happening because all that mattered was that several characters were fighting. I have to admit, I am not a big fan of how Oda-san draws his action scenes. He might know exactly what he’s trying to convey and can see it himself, but for me, it is just a big swirly mess.

The crew keep increasing in power and I have to say, I really like Usopp becoming the Sniper King. And Luffy’s reaction to him is hilarious. Luffy thinks he’s a super hero because he wears a cape, hahahahaa. Good stuff.

With more info about the World Government, this world is really starting to remind me of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe, ie, there is no good side and power is all that matters. The CP9, the supposed arbiters of Justice, are as corrupt, ruthless and unprincipled as any pirate villain we’ve seen so far. At this point, I’d throw my hat into the pirate ring just to oppose them, they’re that bad. It doesn’t speak well of the WG that they employ and condone such characters.

This volume ends with the Straw Hats and Franky’s gang having broken into the Island where Robin is going to be judged. All of the CP9 are there as well as 10,000 WG marines. So I expect the fights will be continuous and non-stop in the next volume as well.

★★★✬☆

Fullmetal Alchemist #7 ★★★★☆

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 #7
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 187
Words: 9K

From FMA.fandom.com

“Where did Alphonse Elric go during the few short minutes he was wiped from existence, body and soul? From a secret lair in the city of Dublith, a group of outcasts kidnaps Alphonse to find the alchemical secrets of his creation! It’s up to Ed (and a certain housewife) to go into the Devil’s Nest and rescue his brother. But the criminals of the Devil’s Nest aren’t exactly human either. Now, Al must fight a homunculus-an artificial human being- and the streets of Dublith will run red with blood…”


This was good! We finally get some serious butt kicking going on by lots of various people, so it’s not just State Alchemists ka-blooey’ing people or Scar exploding bodies. We get chimeras, successful ones, unlike the poor girl and her dog a few volumes back. It did make me question WHY the alchemist that did that to his wife and then daughter wasn’t brought onto the project for the successful chimeras. Felt like sloppy story telling.

But Al, the big suit of armor brother, getting “kidnapped” and allowing it to happen for a chance to get a body back, well, he shows a lot of brains. And then when Ed comes rampaging in to take on the homunculus, we find out a LOT more about homunculi in general and we see why Ed is a state alchemist at such a young age. He’s not only powerful but also very smart.

Then we have President Fuhrer King Bradley getting involved. Once he overhears that there’s a homunculus involved, not only does he send down Major Armstrong (the biggest and handsomest State Alchemist) with a battalion of shock troopers, but he makes an appearance himself and almost single handedly takes down chimeras and the homunculus, without batting an eye. It’s easy to see the power he has harnessed has allowed him to become the leader of the country. But it’s also revealed that he has the symbol of the ourobouros (the snake eating its own tail) on his eye and so far, only homunculi have had that symbol. So either it can be used for other purposes OR Bradley himself is a homunculus. With the order to exterminate the nation of Shamballa, and therefore its attendant priests with their unique power (as we’ve seen through it’s misuse by Scar), coming directly from Bradley, it would appear that the power of Shamballa is something that the followers of the ourobouros fear. My vote is that Bradley is a homunculus. Which means he’s ultimately evil and if that plays out, I hope he gets his.

Knowing my luck though, the manga-ka will pull an old fashioned switch-a-roo and reveal some info that changes everything at the worst possible moment. So I’m not placing my dollar just quite yet.

Ahhh yes, the art. Blah, blah blah. The symmetry was totally blah, blahh but I found the use of different pen styles blah, blah, blah. In short, blah, blah blah unless you’re really into that stuff and then I’d probably have to say blah, blah, blah, but just like with Bradley getting my vote for being an evil homunculus, don’t hold me to blah, blah, blah because it might just change to blah, blah, blah at any time. That’s the wonderful thing about art, it can totally blah, blah, blah.

★★★★☆

Rocketman!! (One Piece #38) ★★★★☆

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: Rocketman!!
Series: One Piece #38
Arc: Water Seven #7
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 207
Words: 10K

From Wikipedia:

“Reactivation”

“Bingo”

“Departing Soon”

“P.S.”

“Ebb Tide”

“Aqua Laguna”

“Kokoro”

“Rocketman!!”

“Sortie!”

“Sniper King”

After the Straw Hats recover from their injuries they discover that Robin has sided with the government in order to save the rest of the crew from destruction. CP9 captures Franky and Usopp and takes them and Robin to Enies Lobby, the government’s judiciary island, using a sea train. Sanji sneaks on board in an effort to save them, freeing Usopp and Franky before continuing on to Robin. The rest of the Straw Hats, the loyal members of Galleyla, and Franky’s friends, follow on a sea train of their own, unimpeded by the Aqua Laguna.


Man, this was a great entry. The flashback finished up pretty good and we got right back in the action of Luffy and the Strawhats.

Turns out Robin was doing everything she did, not only to satisfy her curiosity about True History, but also to protect the Strawhats from a big confrontation with the World Navy, one which they could not have survived. While it gave me that “rabbit out of a hat” vibe, it did fit in with everything that has gone on before. Plus, it makes Robin much more sympathetic.

We find out that the CP9 is run by a character that had a run-in with Franky and Mr Iceburg years ago and that he has a personal grudge in this whole matter. And the members of the CP9 sink the Merry-Go and take Robin, Usopp and Frankie prisoner for sentencing at a scary World Navy place. So everybody else mounts a rescue mission.

Considering how the CP9 put the total beatdown on the Strawhats previously, it is going to be interesting to see what strategies they come up with to counter the difference in power. Or if they will just power up (make the Mario noise when he gets the star power). We do get a taste of that right at the end. And I think it deserves it’s own paragraph.

Sanji, the karate cook, has jumped on the train carrying the prisoners. He rescues Usopp and Franky and they end up on the top of the train. Sanji tells them what Robin has done and his plans to rescue her. Usopp, who had quit the crew and fought a very one sided dual with Luffy earlier, declines to participate as he’s no longer part of the Strawhats. So he starts to go away. Immediately, a World Government soldier finds Sanji and Franky on the top of the train and is about to shoot them when the soldier is knocked off the train by a “metal star” and a masked hero calling himself Sniper King tells Sanji and Franky that he’ll help them. Of course, it’s Usopp with a mask and cape on, and it’s silly and ridiculous and yet I totally understood it. Usopp is remaking his identity as a pirate and is starting to create The Man, The Myth, The Legend. Now, how long this will go on is questionable and will Usopp truly change or just become plain old Usopp again once he reconciles with the Strawhats, I don’t know. But I really like that the manga-ka is willing to go down this route. Usopp was never my favorite character from the get-go, but so far, he is the character that the manga-ka has used the most in a wide variety of ways. He is the Everyman of the crew, with no powered up abilities and as such his portrayal, in all of the various ways, seems the most genuine. I kind of hope that Sniper King sticks around but I’m not expecting it.

Finally, there are sometimes individual pictures, whether as part of the story or as just little one offs included, that encapsulate the spirit of One Piece. The following is one such picture. It is from the inside cover and it shows the whole gamut of emotions that make up the Strawhats. This is One Piece in a snapshot.

★★★★☆

Fullmetal Alchemist #6 ★★★★☆

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).

★★★★☆

Tom (One Piece #37) ★★★☆☆

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: Tom
Series: One Piece #37
Arc: Water Seven #6
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 229
Words: 11K

From Wikipedia:

“Six Powers”

“Fighting Power”

“Ordinary Citizens”

“The Warehouse Under the Bridge”

“Klabautermann”

“Tom’s Workers”

“The Legendary Shipwright”

“Sea Train”

“Spandam”

“Mr. Tom”

“Cutty Flam”

The Straw Hats arrive on the scene and find Robin with CP9. Although she claims to want nothing more to do with them, Luffy and company attack CP9 so that they can talk to her. They are quickly defeated, and CP9 departs to look for Franky. As the Aqua Laguna approaches, Franky has given Usopp and the Merry shelter. Soon enough CP9 arrives looking for Franky and his blueprints. Because his teacher, entrusted him with the blueprints years earlier, and forfeited his own life to insure Pluton never fell into the government’s hands, Franky refuses to reveal their location.


The World Government wants the strongest ship and is willing do anything to get it. The showdown between CP9 and Luffy is so one sided that it’s not even funny. He gets tossed around like a broken rag doll. It was getting rather interesting when suddenly the last half of the volume is an extended flashback about 2 of the side characters who are linked to this power ship.

That was rather dull. It was the usual “wah, wah, we wanna be powerful and argue like kids” story about 2 boys growing up. I’m sure it gave world building fans an orgasm, but I want to read about Luffy and the Straw Hats and everyone else is incidental. I don’t need to know about side characters. The focus shouldn’t BE on side characters. As such, this little (big really, because it was close to 120 pages) flashback not only didn’t work for me, but it actively annoyed me. The flashback hadn’t finished up by the time this volume ended, so I already know I have to deal with it in the next volume. And I’m sure I’ll be finding out how Franky became a cyborg. Not that I care one bit.

I really did enjoy the parts with the Straw Hats. Usopp has an extended showing here where he talks to Franky about he knows the Merry Go (the ship) is doomed but that he can’t accept it and that’s why he keeps trying to repair her. I think Franky finally gets through to him but I obviously won’t know because of that flipping flashback! And Luffy and Zoro are totally beaten down but not dead, so how will that resolve? WE DON’T KNOW BECAUSE OF THAT FLIPPING FLASHBACK!!!

Yeah, not real happy with that half of the volume.

★★★☆☆

Fullmetal Alchemist #5 ★★★☆☆

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 #5
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 190
Words: 9K

From FMA.fandom.com

Ed, Alphonse, and their mechanic Winry go south in search of Izumi Curtis, the master alchemist who taught the brothers how to use alchemy. But in the boomtown of Rush Valley, an encounter with a pickpocket turned them down a different path in search of an auto-mail blacksmith whose handiwork is the best that Winry has ever seen. Then the action flashes back to the past to show how Ed and Alphonse first learned alchemy…”

Chapters

Chapter 17: The Boomtown of the Broken Down

Chapter 18: The Value of Sincerity

Chapter 19: I’ll Do It for You Guys!

Chapter 20: The Terror of the Teacher

Chapter 21: The Brothers’ Secret


I have a feeling this series is going to run at the 3star rating more times than not. At least until I get into new territory where I don’t vaguely recall stuff from the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime.

There was nothing at all bad about this volume. But there was nothing that made me laugh. Or cry. Or get excited. Or mad. Or depressed. It just kind of rolled along. I know I’ll read the whole series, because I’ve never actually known the ending (the original anime was produced before the manga was ended, so they made up their own ending) and I want to know it. But I can’t say I’m super excited when this rolls around to read.

Eh, whatever. I’ll plug along.

★★★☆☆

The Ninth Justice (One Piece #36) ★★★★★

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: The Ninth Justice
Series: One Piece #36
Arc: Water Seven #5
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 209
Words: 10K

From Wikipedia:

“Protectors of the City of Water”

“Coup de Vent”

“Rumors”

“The Woman Who Brings Darkness”

“Demon”

“The Messengers of Darkness”

“Cipher Pol No. 9”

“Opposing Force”

“Sleepers”

“The Ninth Justice”

The Straw Hats are on the run and Robin is nowhere to be found. In order to determine where her allegiances lie, the Straw Hats decide to break into Galley-La’s headquarters to find her. To their surprise, they are not the only ones laying siege to Galley-La; a masked group has already infiltrated the headquarters looking for the blueprints to the ancient weapon Pluton. After finding the blueprints and discovering that they are fake, the masked individuals approach the recovering Iceburg. They remove their disguises, revealing themselves as Robin and some of the workers of Galley-La. Members of the secret government organization, Cipher Pol #9, they joined Galley-La to gain Pluton for the government’s use. After speaking with Iceberg, they learn that the real blueprints are with Franky, a shipwright and friend of Iceberg.


HOLY TOLEDO AND HOLD THE BBQ SAUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Oh my goodness. I am astounded and amazed. After what I experienced in the previous volume, I didn’t know what to expect. Misaki was talking to me in the comments and assured me that most of the points I brought up were answered at some point and it made me laugh because this volume answered a lot of them.

This had all the twists. This had all the turns. And I didn’t see a single one coming. Now, to be fair, most of the time I’m so straight forward that even a simple misdirection is enough, like fake throwing a tennis ball for a dog to go chasing. But this was Pure Awesomesauce. One a scale of 1-25 on Awesomesauce’ness, I’m giving this a 23.

I was REALLY annoyed that all the shipwrights started hammering on the Straw Hat pirates without giving them a chance to state their case, but once the big reveal happened, it totally made sense. Of course, finding out that some of who I thought were fine, upstanding and powerful citizens turned out to be stooges of the world government was like a kick in the nuts. Governments are inherently corrupt and attempt to draw power to themselves and those who buy wholeheartedly into them become corrupt as well. Doesn’t mean there aren’t good people, but if they stay there they will be corrupted, much like the One Ring corrupted Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo and even Samwise.

Luffy gets beat all over the place here. He gets beaten by the Shipwrights. He gets beaten by Frankie. He gets beaten by the CP9 (the super secret world government black beyond black covert ops team). And he’s still kicking and hollering to beat the band at the end. I love this guy!

Remember, read it Right to Left

★★★★★