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))

hmm how should I put it,

the story is original, that's the best

the character development is enjoyable & fun to follow

its sense of humor and story flow is very very good, I read 20 books and I find this series never disappoint me in any book


but what needed to take a note is the author consistently stick to the story's rule : it's an equivalent trade. She made a very creative plot with this very concept, now that's what I called consistent manga

read.it.now, you won't wanna miss it, I assure you

i prefer the manga. it is better than the plot on anime, sorry.
one of the shonen manga who didnt drag (such as Conan, One Piece or Naruto--sorry, i didnt like Naruto but i like the other two.)
i kinda get it why someone said felt like let down in chapt 44 or so-- when Lin came, it wasnt that nice, but as the chapter goes, awesome.
i didnt believe the mangaka is a girl. i thought the cow was a male all along.

it's a somewhat original manga, with a good amount of plot twists. but aside from that, I got bored many times while reading this manga. not the best out there, but a good option. try it.

FMA started like average shonen: our protagonist are brothers who are well versed in alchemy (FMA's version of 'super power'/'magic') and the story is about their adventure to restore their worn out body. So what makes it good?

First, unlike other shonen, in FMA our MC doesn't get ridiculously powered up. Throughout the series, each and every battle is fought and won by wits and the skills that come from understanding of 'Alchemy'.

Second, it's has stable and well constructed scope. FMA's world evolves in a certain scope, a country. Consequently, it makes you see some key characters time and again, but in return you almost never wonder like 'who in the earth is this character?' or 'why does this story has an awkwardly placed character'.

Third, it has steady pace. While the ultimate mission is to recover their bodies, in the journey, our MC find that their goals align with greater mission to save people. From fights that they have experienced they gained knowledge that will be useful in the next ones. The secrets revealing time is perfect, it will keep you excited to see the continuation of the story.

Four, characters. Aside from MC, FMA has really well defined set of characters: the army, the homonculus, and renegade. The set and design of characters build a really well relationship, it allow us to have lightheartening comedy from time to time, or heartbreaking moment when someone dies.

Overall, FMA is good read. This manga also ended well, which is something because sometimes good story is spoiled by bad ending. This was not the case with FMA. Recommended read for anyone.

This series should be read by everyone. I've always loved this series, and it has a special place in my heart, but I feel that this experience should be shared. If you happen to come across this manga for the first time, read it. It will not disappoint. The characters, plot, and other elements have all been carefully thought out and carefully portrayed. If you want a series with fantasy elements, this is it. If you want one with action and adventure, this is it. If you want extremely likable characters, this is it too. If you want reliable and strong female protagonists, look no further. Everyone, even the villans, are well shaped and likable. The plot is unique and highly addictive, not to mention philosophical, spiritual/emotional, and somewhat political. READ IT NOW!

... Last updated on August 29th, 2014, 7:02pm

I think this is square enix's best manga ever. What else could I say? This is so good that I'm at lost as where to begin describing its greatness...WOW. The story is dark, and yet there is light in it. Simply amazing.

Ten of Ten. Absolutely. This manga is like, one of those great mangas that you should DO read before you die! Im not exaggerate it, just... bwah! One of my favourite.

You can't compare this manga to any popular manga, i mean, this is not categorized as popular manga, meaning that you can just read it anytime (if you get what i mean). i dont know, i just want to find some words to praise this manga.. okay, so.. Bwah!!

Both manga and anime are good. Funny... Sad... Thrilling... Thank you for creating such a great manga, Hiromu Arakawa sensei!

Okay, so... is it just me, that want to know if there exist such alternative ending for this manga.. Is Hiromu Arakawa sensei ever thought of some alternative ending? i dont know...


Anyway. Just Read. Like, READ.

This manga is the best of best!!! OMG never thought i would like a manga this much

All the characters are like-able!! Even the bad ones are amazing, especially Envy :3 !!
The art is perfect! And the plot is AMAZING! so rare to find a plot like this one....
I wonder where Arakawa-sensei found this awesome manga =)
I mean it, this manga won't give you a headache like most Shoujos do!

Truly, this is the best manga ever! IT deserves a 10/10
Between, do watch the anime!!
Recommended!!

Well... I just finished this manga and decided to write a comment. Mostly just to state my experiences with "Fullmetal alchemist" ^^

You think the beginning is just the usual and the characters showing up won't be of any use anymore - scratch that, not even the chimera-girl in the beginning was forgotten. This is quite unusual and to be honest, I love it. Every character has its own role - and is absolutely needed. And furthermore: They aren't just forgotten when their arc is over. In some way they resurface - and that's the fun part. It makes the whole story complete and adds to its plot.
Needless to say, the characters are freaking loveable. That's a bit unusual for me to say nowadays about characters in a shounen manga, but hey, what can you do? It could maybe be due to the hilarious espressions and actions of them, because of their personalities and their fights. But you should just check it out for yourselves - you'll most likely like our little, easily irritatable alchemist-kid Ed, the big sweet cat-loving and slightly naive amor Al, the date-and-woman-loving Roy Mustang with his over-serious gun-fighting sitter Riza, the feared-by-all-housewife and her hubby and and and. But heck, that alone can't describe those charas. Check out the manga for that!

But it's not the characters or the art style - it's quite nice by the way and it gets better the longer it goes on (and there's (character) growth visible) - that makes FMA what it is today: It's the plot.
It's slightly surprising. At the beginning it was hard for me to get into FMA, but the longer it went on, and especially when I past the point where the old anime finished, I got hooked. I loved the anime before - but for some reason I still had a problem to continue reading the manga since many elements were familiar and maybe because I thought some other elements would be similar as well.
Haha, I should have known better. Stupid me, all that was similar was the beginning. It went on a different turn then and took me along with it ^^ I got hooked. And finished the manga quite fast as well. To tell the truth, I really enjoyed FMA. And of course, why not? FMA knows how to be convincing with a clear, pretty art style, also great characters and an amazing plot.

I would just like to leave a last note: Even if you aren't convinced by this manga at the beginning, keep on reading. Things change. The characters grow up, you can see them mature and this also in an visible way. Things you may hated at first could change - but if you just hate the characters and wish them all death, it may be better to cease reading.
But honestly, if you aren't exactly obsessed with a genre not listed up there, you should just give FMA a try. Who knows, maybe it will become you new favourite manga? At least it has the potential!

... Last updated on June 24th, 2011, 6:19pm