Arakawa Hiromu - Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 07-12 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

Ok, I am now completely addicted to the manga as well! For anyone interested, the anime follows manga vols. 1-5 very closely, with the addition of a few things. And then we hit vol. 7 and the anime and the manga part ways and everything is totally different, and yet, there are enough similarities to make things interesting.

Spoilers for the manga and all of the anime!

Uh... I don't even know what should go first!

Al remembers the gate! Al can now also do the handclap transmutations!

The entire thing with the Xing people was completely out of the blue, though I cheer for more fighting Chinese girls. Yay! Also, the panda is very cute and I snickered when it bit Ed.

So... King Bradley is Wrath! Heeey! And Sloth is some giant underground, and Hohenheim is directly responsible for making them and the homunculi have hearts of philosopher's stones! And I guess the homunculi really have absolutely nothing to do with human transmutation the way they did in the anime, especially given their hearts. Also, they seem easier to kill in the manga.

It's interesting, the manga has taken out some of what I thought were the most powerful moments of the anime: Ed in the 5th Laboratory choosing to use human beings to make the philosopher's stone or not, Ed's first confrontation with Barry the Chopper, Martel being killed in Al (less impact in the manga because there was less interaction between them), the oh-so-visible reminders to Ed and Al and Izumi of their sins in the forms of Wrath and Sloth. And there hasn't been much of anything about Scar's brother, except the brief flashback to Scar's brother protecting Scar from something, presumably Kimbley.

On the other hand, there are some great moments in the manga, one of my favorites being Winry holding a gun to Scar and having to choose whether or not to shoot. I'm a little sad that Scar is the killer and not Mustang, since it makes Roy a little less gray, but I love that Winry gets to do things more often in the manga. And she's got her apprenticeship going and everything!

The entire arc with Maria Ross being framed was neat, as was the escape.

And I giggled madly over Barry the Chopper's crush on Hawkeye, especially since he's much less creepy in the manga. Also, Hawkeye in general has been really kickass in the manga, even more than the anime (imho), and she was already pretty kickass in the anime. But I love her and Roy running those sort-of-covert ops, the surprise of Ed and Al when they see her sans uniform, sans updo, and I especially love the mutual scolding between her and Roy: "Don't you dare go in again and compromise the mission!" "Don't you dare give up if you think I'm dead!" Roy's much more of a good guy in the manga, particularly with the Maria Ross incident.

So I am hooked on the manga now, though I'm still not as emotionally invested as I was in the anime. I think it's because the manga has fewer of the dark moments that the anime does; there isn't that relentless sense that all actions will have consequences, no matter what. On the other hand, there are more women who get to do more things, and much less saintly mother imagery.

Just in case this is necessary: please don't spoil me for the manga!

Comments

[jessibot.livejournal.com]

I think all I can do is clap my hands together gleefully. Hurray that you're enjoying the differences, I have friends that haven't been able to make the jump from the anime and it's always a bit disappointing.

The girls (all of them) really do get a better deal in the manga, Winry in particular. She doesn't come off as clingy or useless, and she has her own life away from Ed and Al. That was sorely missing in the anime.

*grins* I can't wait till you get further into it.

[oyceter]

I am! I mean, sometimes I like what the anime did more and sometimes vice versa, but I like that they are so different. It's like watching two creative teams starting out at the same place and then resolving all the worldbuilding mysteries differently, which is fascinating.

I am SO GLAD the women get a better deal in the manga. Winry in particular is much cooler, though I'm a little iffy about the Winry/Ed that looks like it's in the works. Mostly though, I love that she's got her apprenticeship and her work and though she worries about Ed and Al, it feels different.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I also started liking the manga once it really diverged from the anime. It's very different, but it's also really plotty, and I'm still terribly confused about what's going on! I think I'm due for a reread.

[oyceter]

It's really interesting! It feels very different from the anime, which actually helped me like it more. The anime's such a complete creation in and of itself that it feels odd to want additions, but because the manga goes off in its own world, it feels more like two alternate universes existing together.