Customer Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 15

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I feel that vol 15 is really the best that has come out of Arakawa yet. We know everybody so well by now that the story really packs a major punch. And I'm excited for the next one (hurry up with it!).

In volume 15 we get one big, huge, volume long flashback. But, don't worry, every moment is worth it. We hear about what the war in Ishbala was like for Mustang and his men and we get to see Hughes again! We also get some Mustang/Hawkeye back story. The scenes depicting the war were brutally realistic and heart breaking. The gravity of the war and it's affect on both sides and in every rank was dealt with in a very serious and realistic manner. The parallels between this war and World War II were very obviously drawn, even down to the mass extermination and human experimentation. War is hard and cold and makes monsters out of us all.

The Ishbalan side of the story is also covered with more back story on Scar and his family and also on what really happened with Winry's parents. Seeing how all of these characters were influenced by what happened during the Ishbalan Campaign that we have heard so much about and seeing how it made them into the characters we know them as today was sobering. They all lost something in that war: friends, loved ones, their home, their country, their integrity, ideals, but most importantly their innocence, and their naivety.

I think what affected me the most, more than the powerfully drawn art, the sober and serious storylines or the real life parallels to modern day warfare was the author's note at the beginning of this volume. If you normally skip those I recommend that this time you don't.

Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist vol. 15 (ViZ, 2006)

An entire volume told in flashback, as we see a number of the cast members during the War of Ishbal. It seems that some of the characters we'd previously thought of as good have dark sides to them, and vice versa. A lot of character development, a decent amount of action, and a lot of fun. Series continues to be strong. ****

I've been reading this manga since volume one and it continues to not disappoint in both art and story. Volume 15 is for the most part a flashback to the civil war in Ishbal, which was the turning point in the lives of many of the main characters. A great volume overall, with a large Omake section as well.

Volume 15 goes into a lot of detail about what happend in Ishbal which is a much better story then the one in the anime.