Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 5 [Paperback]

Hiromu Arakawa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2006

Accompanied by their bodyguard, Alex Louis Armstrong, our heroes seek out their closest childhood friend, Winry Rockbell, to fix their battered "auto-mail" bodyparts. Soon their quest for the Philosopher's Stone takes them to the great central library, where the Stone's formula may be hidden...if the mysterious figure named Lust doesn't get there first! But the secret of the Philosopher's Stone may be even more frightening than the beings who guard it...

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

· Soon to be a full-length anime movie coming in 2005! · The original manga behind the anime on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim!· Adapted into PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance video games! · A huge multimedia property from the mind of Hiromu Arakawa and the marketing muscle of Square Enix, Japan’s premiere game developer! · Action figures and merchandise now available! · Originally serialized in Square Enix’s monthly RPG manga magazine SHONEN GANGAN.

About the Author

Born in Hokkaido (northern Japan), Hiromu Arakawa first attracted national attention in 1999 with her award-winning manga Stray Dog. Her series Fullmetal Alchemist debuted in 2001 in Square Enix's monthly manga anthology Shonen Gangan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (January 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421501759
• ISBN-13: 978-1421501758
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Manga > Science Fiction

More About the Author

Born in Hokkaido (northern Japan), Hiromu Arakawa first attracted national attention in 1999 with her award-winning manga STRAY DOG. Her series FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST debuted in 2001 in Square Enix's monthly manga anthology Shonen Gangan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DO YOU HAVE THE TIME?...UH, WHERE'S MY WATCH!!??, March 5, 2006

By 

Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

Volume 5 of Fullmetal Alchemist takes a rest from the Philospher's Stone battles with Homunculi and serious angst of previous volumes to lighten up a little. Ed and Al travel with Winry to Rush City, a boomtown of the boondocks of the country, which despite its isolation has become a mecca for auto-mail engineers. Of course, you know Winry is slavering from the mouth when she enters its precincts! But then Ed's State Alchemist watch is stolen by a pickpocket and the chase begins. Ed and Al are journeying to find their old master, Izumi Curtis, the woman who trained them in their early years in the art of alchemy. They are hoping she might know something about the Stone. The problem is, she is so tough on them that the two brothers almost hope they won't find her! Especially when she finds out that they broke the strongest taboo of alchemy trying to bring their mother back to life.

Excellent excellent excellent book. These characters live and breath. Even their tough as nails master, Izumi, has some sadness in her life and takes the boys in as apprentices because they remind her of her own dead child who would have been their age. There are such depths here in the characterization and you really see what makes manga so special. Alchemist is at turns deadly grave, kinetic, mysterious, and funny....just like life. I get excited thinking where the plot can lead and contemplating the mysteries of the series that have not been revealed yet. Classic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The writer is a genious..., October 16, 2009

By 

T. Coleman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

Because she knew how it all ends, and it will end in Japan at the end of this year (2009). Start from the beginning and know that unlike mangas like 'One Piece' and 'Bleach', this is a tangled web of seemingly vague threads that slowly knit itself into a grand and terrible Epic that I'm biting tooth and nail for.

Stupid company in America is bleeding out the volumes at a horrifically slow pace and I doubt we'll see the end till half a year or more after the series ends in Japan!

5.0 out of 5 stars Scenes with Teacher seem forced in this one., August 17, 2010

By 

Elizabeth A. Hart (St Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

Volume five had some ups and had some downs. I loved reading about Rush Valley and getting to see this auto-mail mecca and the engineers (and people in need of them!) that lived there. Also reading about the story and the lessons learned by and from the pick pocket was good fun. Who knew one girl could give two alchemists so much trouble? And she does! It's great fun! The most powerful part of the book was where the boys learned the limits of alchemy and the wonders of the human condition as they got to attend the birth of a baby. The creation of a human life is something alchemy cannot achieve and was just one of the many ways the boys are truly humbled in Rush Valley.

The story gets a little shaky after the boys leave to meet their teacher and the book flashes back to when they first started learning alchemy, and why. I thought that the scenes with their teacher when they show up on her doorstep from Rush Valley were a little forced. They were obviously supposed to show us some of their teacher's beliefs and teachings without Ed and Al having to "tell" us them. But having random kids show up right at that time just so Teacher could solve their problems and show us the limits and proper attitudes towards alchemy that she likes to teach was almost more than could be believed. I wish that was done in a different way.

All in all another great addition to the Fullmetal Alchemist series. I enjoyed reading about the boys adventures - not to mention watching their interactions with Winry, Teacher and each other - and of course watching them eat their huge helping of humble pie that they have to choke down in every chapter of this volume!