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General Category => Entertainment and Media => Topic started by: [Sam] on February 01, 2008, 07:44:17 pm

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: [Sam] on February 01, 2008, 07:44:17 pm

OK, so I'm up to chapter 79, which I believe is the same point that our Japanese friends are currently up to.  (Yay scanlations)

This topic is for all brands of conversation about the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, not the anime, and it will contain spoilers.

So, anyway, 79's done and it seems Marcoh is dead.  I'm assuming that with the amount of damage Marcoh took in that fight, and with the way Scar stood over him to say he'd won that Marcoh won't be waking up.  In the meantime, Envy isn't dead - instead it's reverted to being this odd, tiny organism resembling something from a Metroid game.  Which is odd because Lust died the second her Philosopher's Stone was destroyed.  Envy's was destroyed by Marcoh and yet it's still seemingly alive as this... thing.

At the same time you have to wonder what exactly has become of Ed.  We last saw him being carried away by the two chimeras who defected from Kimbley and haven't heard anything about our main character since.

What are your views?

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 01, 2008, 08:48:23 pm

Never bothered to read the manga, just watched the episodes and (God why the hell was this even made) the aweful movie. So does the manga differ from the anime in some way? Such as continuing past where the anime ended, or adding more fluff to it or what.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: [Sam] on February 01, 2008, 09:03:23 pm

The anime finished early because the studio couldn't wait for the manga to end.  So they took the anime, which was roughly following the manga but still pissing all over it, and made their own ending and then produced Conqueror of Shambala to finish things off.

The manga is a lot deeper, a fair bit darker, and a lot longer, it's still going, being released a chapter a month in Japan.  I would seriously reccomend the manga as I feel the anime doesn;t do it justice.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: spacelion on February 01, 2008, 09:27:33 pm

At around episode 25 is where the story begins major deviation from the manga.  There's a plethora of different (and much more interesting) characters in the manga, and the story is much better, as well.
I love the FMA manga and I can't seem to find anywhere to download newer chapters, though.  I stopped around 70, I think, where Sloth shows up.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Ephiam on February 01, 2008, 09:47:56 pm

Spacelion, why don't you just read them online? Just go somewhere like Onemanga.com . They have all the chapters up to the latest one (along with a multitude of other Manga).


Anyway, I found FMA to be a truly great series. Definitly a must watch. It's story, it's characters, the music...it's all so good. I'm trying to buy all of the Manga, but I can't seem to find the beginning few volumes.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: [Sam] on February 01, 2008, 09:51:07 pm

I PMed SpaceLion a link to the place I use for my chapters.

As for the first few volumes... Amazon?

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Nessiah on February 01, 2008, 09:55:49 pm

I have some FMA mangas here before, sadly they were eradicated during the HD crash.
I miss them and reading them online makes me sad :(​(

I like the anime, but the manga is definitely better, and darker *_* I don't even know why I said I like the anime at first x.x
I wonder who THE FATHER is

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: [Sam] on February 01, 2008, 10:12:54 pm

Father created the homunculi as most people here know, but it was recently revealed that he began his life as an entity in a jar.  In the Xerxes region (the one that was destroyed when the last philosopher's stone was made).  Hohenheim started life as a slave in the same place as this entity was kept.  Father, in entity form, introduced himself to Hohenheim, gave him his name and taught him to read, write, and even taught him alchemy.

Eventually, the king of Xerxes wanted to know how to attain immortality, so the entity had him task his people with creating the giant transmutation circle.  Everyone in Xerxes bar Hohenheim was killed, and Father took on Hohenheim's physical form, which is why they look the same.  Hohenheim's 'monster' inside him, is actually part of Father, Hohenheim is by no means a homunculus, but he's not mortal either.

That's as much as has been revealed.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Swordfish on February 03, 2008, 07:46:02 pm

So what manga chapter coincides with FMA anime 25 so i can pick it up and read it without having to go from the beginning?

EDIT: nvm, ill just read from chapter 25, seams to be ok so meh :P

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: spacelion on February 04, 2008, 01:51:19 am

Just read from the begining, the whole thing is vastly different overall. :P

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 04, 2008, 01:55:48 am

Sweet, I was so sad when the anime ended and I wanted more.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: WarV on February 04, 2008, 06:36:08 am

Yes, I thought the anime was great, but then I read the mange and found out that the anime was not so great after all. Alot of things seems to make more sense in the mange then they did in the anime.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 11, 2008, 11:11:49 pm

Ok, I've read the first 4 volumes of the manga and I'm kind of disappointed. Sure the manga added a little bit more back story, but not enough to make up for the lack of story.

Mainly: didn't have the Barry the chopper back story, didn't have the Slicer brothers wanting to die and one of them killing themselves (adds more to how Al is feeling), Had Tucker dying?! Wtf, didn't have the fake Elric Brothers (I think they were pretty early in the Anime), didn't show the scene of Greed becoming free when the 5th Lab fell, didn't show Envy "coming back to life" as the priest and showing everyone that he was alive and turning the dead birds back to life, didn't show Rose's boyfriend in the first episode, didn't have Ed talking with General Grahn as he died, didn't have Scar coming to "save" Al from Barry's armor, Scar seems much more evil and almost diabolical in the manga, I'm probably missing more but you get my point. Also, keep in mind that I'm only half way through Volume 4 and it has this many changes

Now maybe some of the things I listed were for filler, but they still added much more to the story.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: yamata no orochi on February 12, 2008, 01:05:11 am

Don't worry.

Hidden content (Click to reveal)

Barry the Chopper proves to be quite important in later volumes, and he's developed a bit more. Keep reading--the beginning is comparable in scope to the manga, but around the end of volume seven, the plot takes a completely different direction and around volume ten, the stakes are multiplied by around a hundred...

Besides, Envy bringing the birds back to life in the second episode of Fullmetal Alchemist is a plothole, anyway. Homunculi can't use alchemy, remember?

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: spacelion on February 14, 2008, 07:58:07 am

Aztec, everything you listed is a bunch of filler that has nothing to do with the overall story at all, pretty much.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 14, 2008, 03:12:34 pm

But those things I listed added so much more feeling to the story, so IMO it adds a lot to the way the story unfolds. So, so far, the Anime > Manga. Hopefully it'll get better by Volume 7, but they way yamata worded it kind of confused me. "but around the end of volume seven, the plot takes a completely different direction" So it goes in a different direction from the anime? I guess it couldn't be a bad thing, because if it was exactly the same as the anime it wouldn't be worth reading (for me anyway). So I'll have to see where it goes. But still all those things I listed added more feeling to the story, and having experienced them through the anime and then taken away in the manga kinda disappoints me.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: WarV on February 14, 2008, 09:40:23 pm

Quote from: Aztec on February 14, 2008, 03:12:34 pm

But those things I listed added so much more feeling to the story, so IMO it adds a lot to the way the story unfolds. So, so far, the Anime > Manga. Hopefully it'll get better by Volume 7, but they way yamata worded it kind of confused me. "but around the end of volume seven, the plot takes a completely different direction" So it goes in a different direction from the anime? I guess it couldn't be a bad thing, because if it was exactly the same as the anime it wouldn't be worth reading (for me anyway). So I'll have to see where it goes. But still all those things I listed added more feeling to the story, and having experienced them through the anime and then taken away in the manga kinda disappoints me.

I don't think your 100% getting it. Its the anime that goes away from the manga. The Manga was first so those fillers were added to the story. Its not like they were taken away, they where never there in the first place.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 14, 2008, 09:54:27 pm

No, that's the thing, I do get it. I know the manga was first >_>, But because I watched the Anime long before I read the Manga it feels like the story is watered down to me so far. So, again IMO, the Anime > Manga so far. So I'll just keep reading and see how it turns out, maybe I'll change my opinion after I've read farther along.

EDIT: Sorry if I came off as harsh, but the previous posts I made are from my perspective.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: MysteriousWanderer on February 14, 2008, 11:11:38 pm

Marcoh didn't even die by the way.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Ohlichris on February 14, 2008, 11:24:24 pm

Well it is a monthly manga, meaning the pace might be a bit quicker. Take 666 Satan for example (it's featured on the same magazine as FMA by the way): Lot's of people agree that the last chapters went to fast story-wise.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 14, 2008, 11:30:18 pm

Quote from: MysteriousWanderer on February 14, 2008, 11:11:38 pm

Marcoh didn't even die by the way.

I never said Marcoh did die. :)​

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: MysteriousWanderer on February 15, 2008, 01:21:25 am

I meant the topic starter but okay.

The anime and the manga started to split ways early on in the anime but it still followed somewhat until the middle. I like the anime, it was what got me into full metal alchemist  in the first place. The gate concept in the anime confuses the heck out of me though!

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 15, 2008, 01:43:18 am

Quote from: MysteriousWanderer on February 15, 2008, 01:21:25 am

I meant the topic starter but okay.

The anime and the manga started to split ways early on in the anime but it still followed somewhat until the middle. I like the anime, it was what got me into full metal alchemist  in the first place. The gate concept in the anime confuses the heck out of me though!

It confused me a little bit too at first.
The way I see the gate is as a combination of limbo between two worlds and ultimate power and knowledge. The thing that binds the alchemical world to the Gate are the laws that Ed and Al talk about (equivilant exchange, no human transmutations, and whatnot). If you break the laws, then you are drawn in and shown and essentially given "ultimate power", but in return you lose something (body parts, brothers, etc.) and most importantly (in the case of human transmutation) your deeds spawn a Homunculus. I can explain how the two different worlds interact and stuff, but it says how in the anime.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: WarV on February 15, 2008, 02:09:32 am

This is a big manga spoiler to those who haven't read that far yet.

The gates in the manga seem to represent a persons mind, acting as a connector between the body and the soul. I am guessing that the thing that requires payment is in fact a persons soul, since in the case of both Al and Ed, the thing keeps what it has taken the body. Human transmutation seems to be a calling forth of a soul, but from what I have seen since there are two different gates for both Al and Ed, there must be one gate for each soul so you are unable to call forth someone else soul since you can't enter their own mind/gate.

Homunculus seem to be artificial souls, not just the bodies themself since in the last chapter we just found out you can easily make human bodies. I am guessing all the Homunculus we have seen are just parts of the Father who we don't have a clue as to how he was made. I know there is a few loop holes, but I was writing this up fast.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: MysteriousWanderer on February 15, 2008, 03:36:25 am

Yeah the gate concept in the manga makes a lot more sense than it does in the anime.
What I don't get in the anime is how you can die, but SOMEHOW appear in our world after you pass through the gate with no alchemy powers. But then Ed was seen dying in our world and appeared back in their world so I guess it's impossible for people to really die?!?!

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: Dale Gobbler on March 25, 2008, 01:26:51 am

Alright guys, I finally almost finished the Manga (well, I'm up to latest Volume anyway). It's pretty fucking awesome. Though the Anime will always have a place in my heart, the Manga was just as good as all of you said it was and more. The character development was magnificent and was way more than expected. The minor changes that I listed earlier really were minor compared to the grand scheme of the Manga and all the changes that took place. Also, things were much better explained in the Manga and made more sense like the Gate/Truth and Homunculus (made more sense that they were created monsters that liked the way they are, instead of longing to be human and being "replicates" of transmuted humans like in the anime. I was longing for more after the end of the Anime, and eventually made the mistake of watching the Movie (the movie really soured the wonderful experience I had with the Anime and made we wish I had never seen it), and the Manga is just what I was searching for. So, thanks to [Sam] for making this thread that actual led me to read the Manga, and thanks to everyone's input. :D

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist - WARNING! SPOILERS!
Post by: [Sam] on March 25, 2008, 01:34:54 am

No problem.  Eagerly awaiting the next chapter now that Ed's back in action