Customer Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 16

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After all the action and drama of volume 15, 16 feels like a calm in between storms. For the most part the first half concerns the main characters (of which there are quite a few by now) re-evaluating their goals and deciding where to go next. The second half has more action, including a standoff between Scar and Kimblee on a moving train. We are also introduced Major General Oliver Mira Armstrong and her subordinates for the first time as Ed and Al arrive at fort Briggs in the frozen north. And there's a cliff hanger at the end with a few pages of the rarely seen homunculus Sloth.
Overall it's not the best volume I've read but a solid one, and I'm enjoying reading this series as much if not more than watching the anime.

In volume 16 it is back to the action after the volume long flashback last time, but first there is going to be a change of scenery. The brothers want to pursue May and Scar to ask them about how the perform their type of alchemy, referred to as the purification arts. Things still start with a slow disengage from the heavy, raw and emotional revealings of the previous volume, but once the boys skip town things begin to take on a sense of urgency.

I really enjoyed how the characters that took part in the Ishbalan campaign claimed responsibility for their actions and had some very stunning and heart breaking insights and advice for the next generation. I also liked how despite everything there still seemed to be some hope at the end or at least some sign of reckoning and yet resolution for these characters. Life can hand you crappy circumstances, and you can make bad decisions while dealing with them, but as long as you own your past you have a chance to move on to try and make things right.

I also loved that we got to see the north. All we have learned about the area before was from the brothers' rough, tough, no nonsense Teacher who trained up there as a student. Now we get to see an entire new landscape and learn about an entire new part of Amestris, not to mention a new cast of characters! Ed and Al are in way over their head, again, but being up north could reveal more clues than even Ed and Al originally suspected.

Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 16 (ViZ, 2007)

The two-volume-long flashback is (finally!) over, and we can get back into the action with the Elric brothers, Roy Mustang, Scar, the homunculi, and everyone else. Ed and Al find themselves shipped off to the far north in order to look for help finding out more about the alchemy of Xing, while Scar continues his quest for Dr. Marcoh--but what does he actually want with the good doctor, anyhow? The action is back and better than ever. Wonderful stuff, this, and we were long overdue for a new volume in the series. Great to have it back. ****