Where did Alphonse Elric go during the few short minutes he was wiped from existence, body and soul? From a secret lair in the city of Dublith, a group of outcasts kidnaps Alphonse to find the alchemical secrets of his creation! It's up to Ed (and a certain housewife) to go into the Devil's Nest and rescue his brother. But the criminals of the Devil's Nest aren't exactly human either. Now, Al must fight a homunculus - an artificial human being - and the streets of Dublith will run red with blood...
Hiromu Arakawa (author: 荒川弘) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師 Hagane no renkinjutsushi). Her real name is Hiromi Arakawa (荒川弘美).
Arakawa was born and raised on a dairy farm in Hokkaidō. She thought of being a manga artist since she was little. After graduating high school, she took oil painting classes while working on her family's farm. During that time, she also created dōjinshi manga with her friends and drew yonkoma for a magazine. After eight years she moved to Tōkyō and started out as assistant writer for Hiroyuki Etō. Her debut as manga artist is in 1999 with STRAY DOG. In 2001 she started working on her famous and award winning series Fullmetal Alchemist, that soon gets a successful anime adaptation. Other works include Silver Spoon (銀の匙 Silver Spoon, Gin no saji Silver Spoon).
I've spent two volumes of reviews talking about the plot, and four more talking about assorted characters; it's time to tackle the protagonists.
Edward and Alphonse Elric. For all that they have their own personalities, they pretty much have to be discussed as one entity. About a year apart in age (the author never quite specifies), Ed has vague memories of a blond man walking out the door, whereas his little brother doesn't remember their father at all. Having grown up surrounded by their father's alchemy texts that he left behind, they educated themselves at a very young age. After their mother's death, they decided to throw themselves into alchemy in order to revive her, certain in the way of young people that impossible, forbidden things are just sour grapes on the part of those that failed.
They are, of course, proven wrong.
The horrific, inside-out thing they recieved in lieu of their mother was paid for in their own flesh and blood when they inadvertantly opened the way to Truth, A.K.A. God, the Universe, the All and the One, and a mirror of all who interact with it. All unasked, they were granted intimate knowledge of alchemy and the universe, and the understanding of how to perform alchemy without an array. In exchange, Al lost his entire body, and Truth claimed Ed's left leg. Ed immediately made another bargain in order to get his brother back: his right arm for the knowledge of how to bind Al's soul to their world.
When Colonel Roy Mustang comes by in search of the Elric brothers he's heard rumors of, in the hopes of recruiting them for the military, he's terribly surprised to find an eleven-year-old boy down two limbs and silent for the guilt, and his ten-year-old brother inhabiting the empty shell of a seven-foot-tall suit of antique armor.
The driving force of Ed's life becomes the quest to rectify his mistake (he won't hear a word of Alphonse's culpability—he's the older brother) and regain his little brother's body and, a distant second, to get back his own missing limbs. He decides to get automail limbs, regardless of the detrimental effects it has on a growing body, and in spite of the pain of the surgery, which involves wiring directly into the exposed nerve endings without aenesthesia, and, furthermore, determines that the standard three-year adjustment period of physical therapy will only take one year. He makes good on his word, too.
Edward is determination in a tiny package, with a hair-trigger temper in regards to his height (the weight of the automail having stunted his growth), a strong sense of justice, and an inclination to massive attacks of guilt when it turns out that he can't fix a given situation.
For his part, Al is the calm, collected, responsible one. He's also the one desperately grateful for anyone (other than his brother) treating him like a child, as a seven-foot-tall suit of armor is quite intimidating, decidedly weird, and has people avoiding him. Consequently, he's terribly lonely.
He's more interested in repairing his brother's missing limbs than in regaining his own body, as he feels guilty for having gone alone with Ed's plan. He's also a soft touch, and has a tendency to rescue cats when his brother isn't looking, no matter how often Ed makes him get rid of them because they can't care for a pet while they're traveling.
His respect for life is intense, probably as a result of not being able to experience his own, and manifests in some odd ways. He cautions people not to shoot at him for fear the ricochets will injure his attackers. He'll defend the people attempting to attack him because he doesn't want anyone to get hurt. Al is an insanely good person, but still betrays the odd human quality that keeps him grounded and real.
Between the two of them they make amazing main characters; I challenge anyone to read this series and not fall in love with these boys.
Greed is an excellent villain with understandable motives and many sympathetic characteristics - in fact he might not have been a villain at all if the brothers had not insisted on antagonizing him. Nice special ability, too, and a good opportunity to show off how clever Ed is.
There's other things to like in this issue, particularly the first signs of Alex Louis Armstrong's - up until now a one-note joke character - backstory and eventual growth, as well as another cool twist right at the end.
wy nie rozumiecie ja szukalam tego tomu w warszawie, katowicach i milionie innych miast blisko mnie, az weszlam do yatty krakowskiej — przepraszam, jest moze fullmetal alchemist? — niestety mamy tylko jeden tomik... — blagam niech to bedzie 7 — to tom 7 — moj BOZE
Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 7 embodies everything what I like with reading action manga: it has non-stop action, has the perfect balance of humor and drama, and it leaves you craving for more.
Juggling through so many plot elements (the homunculus, ouroboros, the Ishbalan war, and the Philosopher's stone) with finesse is such a great feat. This certainly proves that Hiromu Arakawa is a master storyteller.
For those who have read this volume, let me say something that we all agree upon: .
This one was so cool. Ed goes to give his test but then Al gets kidnapped by some people and we later find its one of the sins aka Greed and his henchmen and they have taken him and s it falls on him to escape but then trade of info and Ed comes to the rescue and the majority of the volume is them fighting these people. Also Military has followed them and while Ed is fighting others, King Bradley vs Greed s going on for the rescue of Al!
This was a great volume and had high octane action scenes, revelations, moments of greed literally and Ed making choices that will determine the direction of his character going forward and I really like some scenes with King Bradley just showing the difference in their powers. The author continues to shed light on the villainous and dark side of the series in great ways. The art gets so much better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
MY god that was such a great volume!! So many new developments and omg that ending! This series is consistently well-written and full of well-developed and amazing characters. I love the Elric brother's teacher Izumi so much... especially when she shows up at the Devil's Lair (with a loud declaration that she is a housewife because you go girl breaking down the stereotype that housewives are weak), beats the shit out of everyone and throws an unconscious guy at Alphonse, yelling at him for being stupid enough to get himself kidnapped. WHAT A GREAT MOMENT! Honestly though I couldn't handle the ending of this volume with that reveal about King Bradley and the eye. I told myself I was only gonna read one volume a day but with an ending like that it is impossible for me to just sit here so on to volume 8 I go!
Well now, how many times do I have to kill you before you die? Este manga en cuanto a la historia va lento pero seguro. Acaba de empezar la acción y siento que va a ser la punta de un gran iceberg. La maestra de los hermanos Elric es uno de los mejores personajes, una pena que sea un poco menospreciada.
Weird tone shift as a quasi-comical kidnapping turns bloody. Despite all the action, Arakawa makes time for lots of fun and funny character moments. The series is really hitting its stride now.
So far volume five has been my favorite volume, but this comes to a SUPER close contender for a second favorite because I loved EVERYTHING about this volume! It was deeply engaging and action-packed!
While Al might have gotten "kidnapped," I really loved seeing him being in the spotlight here briefly! We see his courage in doing what HE can to help regain his memories as well as see how he CAN hold his own in fights too.
But whoaaaaa buddy when Ed comes on the scene! Those angry yelling scenes were top notch and felt a lot of emotions in this volume! Plus, having the angry yelling from their Master was hilarious and awesome too! I really really love her and her husband! They are an epic duo and always enjoy reading them on page.
THEN THE PLOT TWIST!! HELLO I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!!! Makes A LOT more sense and feel a certain character is a lot more dangerous then he was before! *nervous laughter*
Lastly, I should feel it be noted that I'm not one to like villains, but I really like Greed. LOL!
Second lastly, I'm always excited when Alex Louis Armstrong comes on screen because he's always fun to read too!
A new homunculus surges out of the shadow and wishes to profit from Ed's absence to extract information from Al on illegal transmutation. While Izumi and Ed both attempt to save Al from his kidnappers, the military tag along to storm the Devil's Nest. Mangaka Hiromu Arakawa continues to brilliantly juggle comedy, drama, and action. The story ends on a brilliant plot twist regarding King Bradley.
Alphonse se topa con extrañas quimeras que nacen a partir de homúnculos y partes animales, ya que su líder, un sujeto sumamente poderoso llamado Greed, quiere conocer el secreto de la transmutación, aunque Al no recuerda mucho de ello pues quien realizó esa tarea fue Edward muchos años atrás. Así que este grupo de quimeras lo secuestra y busca la manera de sacarle información.
Eventualmente la maestra Izumi va a rescatarlo, pero Alphonse permanece entre las garras de aquellos sujetos y terminan por proponerle a Edward intercambiar información con respecto a sus “propios secretos”. Por supuesto el alquimista se niega y comienza una nueva batalla para recuperar a su hermano.
Ya para el final del volumen llega el führer, King Bradley, con un grupo selecto de subordinados del ejército, y lucha contra Greed, quien parece tener problemas para vencerlo, aun con su cuerpo quimérico capaz de regenerarse casi instantáneamente.
Yo recomiendo tener el siguiente volumen a la mano porque termina con un cliff-hanger para morirse.
Нова порция приключения за братята Едуард и Алфонс Елрик, гарнирани с леко изчанчено, типично по японски, чувство за хумор; нови сериозни врагове в лицето на хомункулуса Алчност и бандата му, нови разкрития за вече познати персонажи - президента Брадли...
I love it. I don't have much to say about it because for me there is nothing to complain about, but let's just say it made me go back into reading comic books because it is literally so freaking good. And I will love my friend forever for bullying me into reading those because I love it.
So much happens in this volume that I can't even begin to explain. There are small clues about what's going on with the Sins, but it's all still too little to know what. The action scenes in this were just amazing, I was on the edge of my seat (well, not literally, I was slouched in my seat, but figuratively, yes!). There was a little less humour because this was pretty action packed, but I still had to chuckle on a few occasions. This series just keeps going strong!
Why does it end in the biggest cliffhanger though, and now I can't read the next one for three days?!
If you're not reading this series yet, shame on you! Get to it!
In questo volume conosciamo un nuovo omuncolo, Greed. Lui e la sua banda rapiscono Al perchè vogliono conoscere il suo segreto. Ho adorato la parte in cui Izumi va nel covo per cercare di salvarlo e combatte senza alcuna difficoltá contro tutti gli omaccioni presenti. È davvero tosta, la adoro!(ahah vogliamo parlare della scena “Who are you?” “A HOUSEWIFE”. Sono morta dal ridere xD) Quindi è la volta di Ed che deve andare a recuperare Al, ma decide di non scendere a compromessi con i cattivi, anche se questo potrebbe portarlo a ottenere forse le risposte che cerca. Respect! Mi è piaciuta la spiegazione alchemica della composizione del corpo di Greed!Rende il tutto molto più realistico!
I dislike the serious fight scenes in these books, and unfortunately, this book was 3/4 fight scenes. The only reason I don't like them is because the style of the fights doesn't tell me who is winning. And I find that REALLY irritating.
Oh man the action scenes and reveals in this one are huge.
One thing that's been bugging me so far is the inconsistent spelling of Ishval/Ishbal. This is almost definitely a translation thing and a not an actual fault but its annoying. Is it Ishval or Ishbal? Is it because I've read a few original editions and a few Fullmetal editions that is coming up different? I don't know at all.