After both suffer physical damage -- brothers Edward and Alphonse battle nefarious forces to try to reclaim their bodies in this supernatural anime. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. Fullmetal Alchemist, #1) by Hiromu Arakawa — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists.
I have become a skeptical reader over the years. It's because I've read A LOT. I was the kid who could read over 1. I know because I counted.
So I learned about plots, characterization, and all the things authors can do to make reading a pleasant experience. Unfortunately, after a while, you become so knowledgeable of the meta- world that you lose sight of the treasure within the tale. Frequently I pick up a fantasy or science- fiction novel off a shelf and think, . It was good, but it didn't stand out to me too much at first. Books one and two didn't excite me all that much, and in fact I was a little offended by some of the content. Maybe you don't have that problem, but if you do share my lack of . Hiromu Arakawa created a world of alchemy, something that makes me want to be an alchemist because it's just so amazing.
She wrote in characters with heart- wrenching back stories and wonderful personalities. I have developed a strong opinion of every single character in the series, something that few authors can really get me to do. We've got an incredible cast with wide personalities, and they're all so incredibly distinct. I squeal over Armstrong, squeal over Mustang and Hawkeye, and most of all, squeal over the relationship between Edward and Alphonse.
There are two things that make this series absolutely fantastic beyond belief, and the first is the brothers and emotional depth we see there. The relationship between Ed and Al is incredibly poignant, heart- breaking, and heart- warming. They have gone through an incredible amount in their lives, and you feel it just as strongly as they do. Watch American Patriots stream in english with english subtitles in 2160p. I don't know that I could be any more invested in characters than this. We see loyalty, love, and perseverance.

How Ed defends Al gets me every time. This brings me to the second incredible thing that distinguishes FMA from anything else I have read: the depth in the story. We aren't just in for action (though we've got a lot of that), romance (though there's certainly the . Online streaming Vape Warz with subtitles 2K more.
We get a whole set of deep questions. The characters aren't just alchemists - they ask WHY they do it, if it's worth doing it, when it's worth doing it, what they should do with it. WMorals come up everywhere - when is it okay to kill people, if ever? How should we deal with sacrifice?
How do we treat human souls? When does someone stop becoming human?
We're bashed with questions over sacrifice, genocide, utilitarianism versus deontology.. You don't just have an adventure when you read FMA, you have a real experience that leads you away changed and.. You can even check out the first half of #2.
I completed the series (I give a warning before I start on volume- specific comments). Happy reading.- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -I decided to reread the first two volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist because: 1. I hadn't read them in a while.
I plan to continue reading the series about now. The library didn't have book three in. So. As a second read- through, I would say the series is much better. In fact, I just bumped it up from three to four stars. Or maybe it's because I read the book in slightly a different light. The first two books contain a lot of philosophical analysis concerning religion. I do not inherently consider this a bad thing; contrarily, the first two chapters in which a very cult- like society is realistically formed intrigued me during my re- read.
I mean, it has all the standards one might psychologically expect: a strong, egotistic leader whom everyone follows without question, the claims of being a direct representative from God, a closed community, a desire for power amongst the authorities, etc. So that was sort of fun to analyze. But then - to continue onto book two (I might as well when on this train of thought) - we meet Scar, who even uses some possible vague scriptural references such as . Maybe that's me, maybe that's just the first two books..
It's not that Hiromu Arakawa does not have valid points concerning religions' dangerous facets, it's just very flinchingly one- sided at the moment. To clarify that ramble: maybe that's why I rated the first book three stars at first. Now let's get onto the good stuff.
Rereading it, I found a bit more enjoyment in the dialogue and personality of the characters (first reread, it took me until book two to get the hang of it all). And there are some interesting moral questions brought up in this series that I find intriguing.. And the alchemy setting is well- done, particularly about the cost of trying to transmute humans. Very nice. I think it's hard to review manga based on just the first volume, so I think my opinions will become more relevant the further along I go in the series.
Which, so I hope, will be further than book two this go- round!- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -Original review: As a first book in a series, it doesn't really particularly stand out - except that you can see a lot of potential where it is going. The second book of the series is where I started to really get into the storyline (because this one, like many first books, is such an introduction you can't really claim too much of a significant storyline).