Customer Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 8

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As Volume 8 opens, Greed and his chimerae continue to be wiped out by military forces led by King Bradley, who appears to be a Homunculus himself. Is even Greed's carbon "Ultimate Shield" up to the task of defeating Bradley's flashing swords and "Ultimate Eye"? And which side will Ed and Al be on as they see all this blood being spilled around them? Meanwhile, Mustang and his crew get a break into their investigation into secret military experiments as they capture Barry the Chopper, a former serial killer whose soul was bonded to a suit of armor much like Alphonse. Two new characters emerge on the scene out of the far eastern country of Xing from two different walks of life. Both of them claim to be seeking the secret of immortality. Mei-Chan is a young girl whose skill with alchemy seems on a par with Ed and is accompanied by a miniature panda bear! The other is a prince named Ling, who travels in the company of fighting ninja and claims to be after the Philosopher's Stone, even though he doesn't know anything about alchemy.

What I like about this series now is that since last volume it has completely branched off from the anime series, so this storyline and characters are something I haven't seen. The mysterious mechanations of the Homunculi becomes more and more suspenseful as I wonder what their real plans are and how all these conflicts are going to end, especially with them in control of everything the military is doing. It's kinda like an Emperor Palpatine situation a la Revenge of the Sith, where the real enemy is actually running the whole show. I think one of the strengths of this manga is the humor. Arakawa never takes her book too seriously. The anime at times fills itself up with too much angst and tragedy while the manga takes a more balanced approach. The art is great and I'm excited to find out how the new Eastern characters are going to fit into the plot.

Fullmetal Alchemist is arguably one of the best titles out right now, and the story in this particular volume is when it starts to really take off. The only problem, and the one I knocked a star off because of, is the fact that Viz decided to quietly censor the content of this book for religious imagery, a fact they do not mention in this release. It's a relatively minor edit, but stains an otherwise perfect release.

This is probably the best installment to date. It adds more characters but tells us little about them, only adding to the evergrowing shroud of mystery that surrounds the Elric brothers. King Bradley, leader of the military, has revealed himself as a homunclus working for a mysterious "father" whose true identity is yet to be unveiled. A small girl named Mei, and a prince named Lin, both hail from the country of Xing and wish to learn alchemy from Edward Elric. These are all characters that we've only touched upon and are sure to go deeper into their character as more volumes arise. I for one, couldn't be more overjoyed by that fact.

The book was just as described and an excellent deal! Thank you very much, we will be sure to come back for more!

Definitely a very dark beginning for Volume 8. After the huge plot twist at the end of Volume 7 the rest of the fall out occurs in the start of Volume 8. It's very dark and very sinister and while some pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place many more questions remain unanswered. I also thought the soldiers at the beginning wondering who wasn't human (the chimeras and Greed or the alchemists and King Bradley) was very illuminating of where things are in the series right now.

The plot lightens up a bit after that as several new characters (and a whole new country!) gets introduced in the form of Xing. A country that uses a different form of alchemy that is more focused on the healing arts, and as a result thinks of alchemy in a very different way from the war-centric Amestris. Some very humorous scenes commence, especially the ones with the little girl Mei and her reaction on learning about Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Volume 8 was definitely a turning point in the series as new characters, new countries and a whole new viewpoint is brought into the manga. The moments of darkness offset with scenes of humor and witty banter that are true throughout the series really come to play in this volume. Another winning chapter in the Fullmetal Alchemist saga.