Premise
After trying to resurrect their deceased mother using forbidden alchemy, Edward and Alphonse Elric tragically pay the price of equivalent exchange with Alphonse’s body and Edward’s arm and leg. They are now on a journey to find the philosopher’s stone, a legendary artifact said to grant the power to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange, to restore their bodies to their original forms.
My Review
I will start by saying this first volume was amazing. Very beginner friendly and pulls you in to the premise and storyline on the first page. It is written mostly in a steampunk style. I freaking love steampunk! It is very Industrial Revolution with trains, advanced machinery, and child labor. (While Edward is not a “child,” he is a teenager.)
This series is classified as Shonen manga, which is intended for teenage male audiences. It’s fast-pace and a lot of action and adventure. It often has various humorous storylines, for Fullmetal Alchemist it is picking on Edward for his height.
We luckily get a third-person limited perspective, which means that we mostly focus on the Elric brothers’ point of view and we know what they know. The viewpoint occasionally goes to other characters but we do not get their thoughts. This is very nice, I like that we switch between what the Elric brothers are doing and what the villains are doing. It makes me feel important that I know stuff before the main characters do.
Hiromu Arakawa, the creator, masterfully shows us information instead of telling. We get introduced to the Elric brothers as they introduce themselves to townsfolk. Later, the same thing happens with another character. We get the information when the other characters do- well when they don’t know already.
I love Edward and Alphonse. They are such little chaos gremlins. Edward is laser focused on their mission and interested in anything that won’t help them achieve their goals. They are such good actors. Alphonse is a big metal marshmallow and I see Edward as a chihuahua, little, vicious, and smart. I love them already!
I found the premise absolutely fascinating and it did not disappoint. I feel like the pace in the first half was a little too fast, not a lot just a little. One thing I noticed and hope is explained is how Edward uses alchemy because Alphonse has to use a chalk circle and Colonel Mustang has a circle on his gloves.
I like how all the chapters flow together and corruption of power is a theme that connects all the chapters together very well. This volume also deals with the dangers of blind faith and shows how people can gain supporters that are so devoted to a bad cause that as long as the minions say this is ok and from the leader, the people won’t think for themselves.
I 110% recommend this series so far and recommend this if you like chemistry and alchemy. Like I said, this is very beginner friendly and I think many people who want to get into manga and don’t know where to start should start here.
That’s all for now, ’til next time.
Happy Reading!
Lily
