One of my fav manga ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the story line, characterization, and art are AMAZING.
love love love it! an epic series!
i almost die of laughter because of the comedy part in this manga.
Hiromu Arakawa is one of the best mangaka >.<!!
no wonder she is the richest female mangaka because of this manga and anime.

... Last updated on October 19th, 2010, 9:25am

If you're looking for a shonen manga to read, look no further. I could go on and on about how good it is, but let's put it this way: if you want to read a good manga, this is it. Take a shonen manga and remove the formulaic battles and allow the plot to drive itself with only having battles as part of the plot rather than making the battles drive the plot, and this is what you get.

If you don't like this manga, then I cant' imagine a manga you would like. The only bad thing about Fullmetal Alchemist is that you may never be able to enjoy another manga, because everything is garbage compared to FMA.

... Last updated on October 15th, 2010, 7:59pm

Probably one of the only ones on my reading/completed list that accurately deserves the 10 I give it.

dannyboy95 has said all that was on my mind, but I just want to add that this has made its way to the top of my favorites.

I have been chasing this manga eight years ago and I can say every minute was worth the wait, especially with the end. You get manga which goes on forever and the mangaka just end with a shitty ending which makes you think, what was all that for? But this one I promise, is perfect from beginning to end. And to be honest, I find it down right depressing that I won't be seeing anymore of the characters in this manga. It has been a great run.

This is the best manga I have ever read, and probably the best manga I will ever read. Very nice storyline, many twists and surprises that come at you right when you flip to the next page. Every bubble in every panel on every page is a miracle to me. Honestly, I started reading this manga really late, in time for the last chapter to be revealed. So yeah, I basically went through all 27 volumes in less than a month.
But it was worth my time.

Fantastic story. Many love this manga and many more will.
I especially reccommend it to those who enjoy sci-fi.

Everyone's already said what's on my mind about FMA manga here. So I really don't know what to say. This is probably the only manga I'm going to give a perfect 10. BECAUSE IT'S THAT GOOD.

EDIT:

What it has:
-The plot is absolutely thrilling. You will love every moment of the story. It's filled with subplots, and they all tie together beautifully in the end.
-Action. Lots of it. Even I'm not a fan of action, and I throughouly enjoyed it.
-Humor...tons and tons and tons of humor. Mostly, the humor doesn't come from the words, but from the art style concept. It's hilarious and some things will make you laugh. Hard.
-Emotional moments. I cried about fifty times while I was reading it. You will, too.
-Relationships among characters. Friendship is a major one, familial love, and super adorable romance.
-Science. You have no idea how wonderful of a combination magic and science can be. It actually MAKES SENSE. The author has certainly done much research.
-Themes/messages. Simply beautiful. There are about a million morals in this story.

Why is it any better than other mangas out there?
1. It's not any of those annoying, long, arc-filled mangas that never seem to end. It's complete, and it will stay that way.
2. The battle scenes aren't pointless. Every single battle scene contributes to the plot/story as a whole.
3. THE PLOT HAS MANY AWESOME TWISTS AND TURNS BUT IT ALL MAKES SENSE.
4. There aren't any stupid fillers. Just like the battle scenes, every chapter contributes to the story. It's amazing how thorough every detail is, and it's obvious the author took her time to plan/write it all out. And yes, the author is a girl. Leading to the next point...
5. The female characters. Ohh. The female characters. All of them are just...KICKASS. No damsel-in-distresses, no helpless-but-cute Mary-Sue's...noooo, none of that. You will find many, MANY females that are fiesty and strong. All of them (the main ones) have flaws, all of them are developed, all of them are dynamic, and all of them play a specific role in the story. Speaking of characters...
6. THE CHARACTERS! I could write a whole novel describing the characters in FMA. They're all so dynamic, so brilliantly characterized! You have the main characters, the side characters, the villains, the ones that aren't good or bad, the civillians, the kickass, the ambitious...everything! What's so amazing about them is that there is SUCH a variety to the characters that you will come to know and love. They all even LOOK different. All of them. Every one of them is special in his or her own way, and every one of them play a speficic part to the story. You can go onto detail describing the personalities and/or backstories of these characters and also how they change and develop. Even the villians are hard not to love.
7. Shounen manga is filled with action here, action there. But what you'll find in FMA that's a bit different is that it has a lot of warmth. Meaning that "love" and "friendship" (like in Harry Potter), however cheesy they might sound, are the main messages. Among the action and the plot and the I've-gotta-save-the-world and whatnot, you've also got wonderful side relationships among the characters. With this warmth comes many, many emotional moments.
7. THE ENDING. That's all I'm going to say.

You will come to LOVE this manga. Anyone can. So go ahead and start reading!

... Last updated on January 30th, 2011, 6:16pm

It's been a week and few days since Arakawa-sensei's released the final chapter of FMA. The day after viewing the 107th chapter I went back to chapter 1 and read it all over again from the beginning since the plot started to blur for me after months of waiting for the next chapter. Only then did I realize that this manga indeed, is the greatest anime-manga franchise of the 2000s. One Piece and Naruto certainly do not deserve this title since One Piece started in 1997 and Naruto in 1999. FMA started in 2001, and was still able to stand tall before those two fat giants.

After feeling completely satisfied after reading the final chapters (Which sadly, wasted a lot of paper with its everlasting action scenes), I wondered, "Why does this series leave me so content?". I've come up with many answers, but the gist of it is this.

The characters were all alive, and most importantly their position in the plot was secure and comprehensible. For series like Bleach and Naruto, some characters just pop out of nowhere and you are never sure whether this guy actually matters or is just another hobo. In FMA, you know the who, what, where, when, why and hows of the characters, and you could actually memorize most of them. This made the series more alive, and the plot progression seem as if they are based around those characters.

Another great thing about the series is that all the arcs are linked together, and the link is not forced. The brother's goal is still in place and going, and as each arch unfolds the brothers get closer and closer to their goal - returning to their original bodies. There are no plot holes and the puzzles all come together in the end. It's like the Harry Potter of Shounen manga, everything just makes sense.

Over all that, what left me most satisfied was the theory of "Equivalent Exchange". Arakawa-sensei created an omniscient law that not only alchemy, but the flow of nature abided by. The everyday motivational line of 'no pain, no gain' was brought to a more philosophic and sophisticated level and implied to the world of Full Metal Alchemist. Without this theory, FMA would've meant much less. The Elric Brothers had to discover the basis of Equivalent Exchange and truly understand through their journeys that this law was not only restricted to alchemy, but to the world and universe that surrounds them. Much like how the audience also learned that this rule can be just as easily exemplified in real life where you cannot gain anything without sacrificing something of equal or greater value.

"But once you overcome that sacrifice and make it your own, you will gain an irreplaceable fullmetal heart".

We look forward to your next masterpiece! Arakawa-sensei!

... Last updated on June 25th, 2010, 7:46am

Plot: 9
Development: 10 Content: 9 Depth: 9 Skillful use of twists: 9 Lack of Fan-service: 8
Skillful use of fanservice: 10 Lack of cliche: 6 Skillful use of cliche: 8 Originality: 8

Characters: 8
Development: 10 Use of Dynamic characters: 8 Use of Static characters: 9 Depth: 8
Lack of Cliches: 6 Skillful use of cliches: 7 Involvement/impact of side-characters: 9

Point scale as u can guess is 1-10. I am quite a critic, so the impression this manga left on me is rather surprising since usually with shounen u wouldnt expect such good quality of plot and character without sacrificing just to get sales.
In conclusion......yes READ IT......and yes its worth multiple rereads, since it will still be good.

I will miss this manga, (hopefully i'll reread it in the future) its just an absolutely brilliant story. everything right from the beginning to the end flowed nicely, it was definitely a well thought out story i'm so sad to see it end. i hope there will be more mangas like this because i absolutely LOVE Full metal Alchemist!!

RECOMMENDED TO ANYONE ((READ IT YOU WON"T REGRET IT))

Take away most of the cliches.Take away the hero being overpowered,suddenly gaining new powers in the eve of battle,take away prolonged 10 plus chapters of never ending battels,take away the good guys always winning, take away prolonged talks about friendship, take away stupid filler chapters, take away a mangaka who drags on his manga for the sake of profit and you have Full Metal Alchemist. This manga is one of the best shounen manga out. The mangaka was in full control from start to finish vividly describing all the characters and letting us know fully about the plot and typing up all the loose ends throughout the manga. The mangaka stuck to her own rules, and truly made this manga shine. This is an awesome manga and not enough can be said about how good it is. For shounen fans, this is a must read.