by shounen_lover on September 20th, 2006, 3:51pm

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User rating of this review - 4.8 out of 5
Story/Plot - 5 out of 5
Characters - 5 out of 5
Drawing Style - 4.5 out of 5
Enjoyment - 4.5 out of 5
Overall - 5 out of 5

Click here for series information

Plot/Story

Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric are out on a journey to locate the Philosopher's Stone, a powerful stone capable of powerful alchemy. When they were young, their mother had died. Because they loved her, the siblings performed forbidden alchemy, which resulted in the lost of one of Ed's arms and one of Ed's legs, and the body of Alphonse Elric. Luckily, Ed managed to seal Al's soul in a suit of armor, and a friend of his called Winry managed to make automail for to replace Ed's arm and leg. As they set out on their journey, they encounter the military, numerous people, and enemies who are also searching for what they want...

The story is quite interesting overall. The depth of the plot is fascinating, especially for a shounen manga. The depth of the little things is also quite amazing.

Characters

The characters are all very likeable. Each character has a unique personality and ambition. The two main characters are:

Edward Elric: Edward Elric, or Ed, is the main character of the manga. He is a fifteen-year old State Alchemist, making him a prodigy. Although he is fifteen, he is often mistaken as a child or is called very small. This often enrages Ed and will say ridiculous things about what the person said, even if the individual never said it.

Alphonse Elric: Alphonse Elric, or Al, is the sibling of Ed. He lost his body while reviving his mother. Al is very caring, unlike his older brother. He is fourteen years old.

Drawing Style

The drawing style is very good, but I think that the humans are somewhat odd looking, but not too much. The humans are still well-drawn Everything else, from the background to the minor details, excel.

Enjoyment

I personally would give it a five, but I decided to make it 4.5 due to the fact that few people may not enjoy the depth of it. It's very interesting, but also very deep.

Overall

Fullmetal Alchemist is recommended to anyone who likes shounen. It's a different kind of shounen manga, but it still is very good. It's quite popular, although manga like Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach are still much more popular. Anyone who likes manga with some depth to it, Fullmetal Alchemist isn't a bad choice.

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