Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist (Japanese: 鋼の錬金術師, Hepburn: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, lit. "Alchemist of Steel") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan shōnen manga anthology magazine between July 2001 and June 2010; the later collected the individual chapters into twenty-seven tankōbon volumes. The steampunk world of Fullmetal Alchemist is primarily styled after the European Industrial Revolution. Set in the early 20th century, in a fictional universe in which alchemy is a widely practiced science, the series follows the journey of two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are searching for the philosopher's stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life using alchemy. The manga has sold over 80 million volumes worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series. It received the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category in 2004, the UK's Eagle Award for favorite manga in 2010 and 2011 and the Seiun Award for best science fiction comic in 2011. The English release of the manga's first volume was the top-selling graphic novel during 2005. Reviewers from several media outlets positively critiqued the series, particularly for its character development, action scenes, symbolism, and philosophical references.

Plot
Edward and Alphonse Elric live in Resembool with their mother Trisha and father Van Hohenheim, the latter having left without a reason. Trisha soon dies from an illness. After finishing their alchemy training under Izumi Curtis, the Elrics attempt to bring their mother back with alchemy. The transmutation backfires, and Edward loses his left leg while Alphonse loses his body. Edward sacrifices his right arm to retrieve Alphonse's soul, binding it to a suit of armor. Edward is invited by Roy Mustang to become a State Alchemist (to research a way to restore their bodies) and undergoes a painful medical procedure which grants him prosthetic automail limbs. Edward becomes a State Alchemist, with the title of Fullmetal Alchemist. The Elrics spend the next three years searching for the mythical Philosopher's Stone to achieve their goals.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Excellently written story and premise in which two brothers have to find The Philosopher's Stone in which they have to get their bodies after failing to revive their deceased mother from the dead.
 * 2) There are many likable characters on this manga such as Edward and Alphonse Elric, Winry Rockbell, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Alex Louis Armstrong, Maes Hughes, Ling Yao, May Chang, and Izumi Curtis.
 * 3) Great Antagonists such as the Homunculi and Solf J. Kimblee.
 * 4) The series explores many themes such as social problems, including discrimination, scientific advancement, political greed, brotherhood, family, and war.
 * 5) *For example Scar's backstory and his hatred of the state military references the Ainu people, who had their land taken by other people.
 * 6) Amazing Art style especially as the series progresses.
 * 7) It spawned two Anime Adaptations.
 * 8) Well written Character Development:
 * 9) *Edward begins the series dependent on alchemy and doing everything himself. By the end of the series he has learned to depend more on his friends and share his burdens
 * 10) *Scar starts out the series hell-bent on getting revenge on the State Alchemists for the genocide of his people, and is willing even to kill children for that purpose. Towards the end of the series, he's grown so much that he ends up helping to talk down one of the State Alchemists he was hell-bent on killing from losing himself to blind hatred and vengeance — exactly what Scar was at the start of the series.
 * 11) *Lan Fan starts out an emotionally volatile bodyguard who is basically ready to slit someone's throat at the slightest inkling of any disrespect or threat to Ling, even his younger sister May who is technically one of his rivals to the Xingese throne. By the end, she's reeled back a lot of her temper, and most profoundly, directly asks Ling to end the 50-clan rivalry in Xing when he becomes Emperor.
 * 12) Amazing fight scenes such as Roy vs Lust, Scar vs Wrath, Pride vs Everyone, Roy vs Mustang, and Everyone vs Father.
 * 13) Emotional Moments such as Maes Hughes's death, Nina Tucker being turned into a Chimera, and Edward and Alphonse finally getting their bodies back.
 * 14) Amazing ending in which as previously stated that Edward and Alphonse finally get their bodies and along with everyone else helping to defeat Father, as well as Edward and Winry's Equivalent Exchange.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some Characters are unlikeable such as Shou Tucker who turned his daughter into a Chimera.

Trivia

 * 1) At the end of the Manga there's usually a in Memoriam in which any character who dies in a certain volume in sent to heaven the only exception is Shou Tucker who is sent to hell.

Reception
Along with Yakitate!! Japan, the series won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category in 2004. It won the public voting for Eagle Award's "Favourite Manga" in 2010 and 2011. The manga also received the Seiun Award for best science fiction comic in 2011. Arakawa also received the New Artist Prize in the fifteenth Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes for the manga series in 2011. Fullmetal Alchemist ranked 3rd on the first annual Tsutaya Comic Awards' All-Time Best Section in 2017.

In a survey from Oricon in 2009, Fullmetal Alchemist ranked ninth as the manga that fans wanted to be turned into a live-action film. The series is also popular with amateur writers who produce dōjinshi (fan fiction) that borrows characters from the series. In the Japanese market Super Comic City, there have been over 1,100 dōjinshi based on Fullmetal Alchemist, some of which focused on romantic interactions between Edward Elric and Roy Mustang. Anime News Network said the series had the same impact in Comiket 2004 as several female fans were seen there writing dōjinshi. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Fullmetal Alchemist ranked No. 9.

The series has become one of Square Enix's best-performing properties, along with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. With the release of volume 27, the manga sold over 50 million copies in Japan. As of January 10, 2010, every volume of the manga has sold over a million copies each in Japan. Square Enix reported that the series had sold 70.3 million copies worldwide as of April 25, 2018, 16.4 million of those outside Japan. As of July 2021, the manga had 80 million copies in circulation worldwide. The series is also one of Viz Media's best sellers, appearing in "BookScan's Top 20 Graphic Novels" and the "USA Today Booklist". It was featured in the Diamond Comic Distributors' polls of graphic novels and The New York Times Best Seller Manga list. The English release of the manga's first volume was the top-selling graphic novel during 2005.

During 2008, volumes 19 and 20 sold over a million copies, ranking as the 10th and 11th best seller comics in Japan respectively. In the first half of 2009, it ranked as the seventh best-seller in Japan, having sold over 3 million copies. Volume 21 ranked fourth, with more than a million copies sold and volume 22 ranked sixth with a similar number of sold copies. Producer Kouji Taguchi of Square Enix said that Volume 1's initial sales were 150,000 copies; this grew to 1.5 million copies after the first anime aired. Prior to the second anime's premiere, each volume sold about 1.9 million copies, and then it changed to 2.1 million copies.

Fullmetal Alchemist has generally been well received by critics. Though the first volumes were thought to be formulaic, critics said that the series grows in complexity as it progresses. Jason Thompson called Arakawa one of the best at creating action scenes and praised the series for having great female characters despite being a boys' manga. He also noted how the story gets dark by including real-world issues such as government corruption, war and genocide. Thompson finished by stating that Fullmetal Alchemist "will be remembered as one of the classic shonen manga series of the 2000s." Melissa Harper of Anime News Network praised Arakawa for keeping all of her character designs unique and distinguishable, despite many of them wearing the same basic uniforms. IGN's Hilary Goldstein wrote that the characterization of Edward balances between being a "typical clever kid" and a "stubborn kid", allowing him to float between the comical moments and the underlying drama without seeming false. Holly Ellingwood for Active Anime praised the development of the characters in the manga and their beliefs changing during the story, forcing them to mature. Mania Entertainment's Jarred Pine said that the manga can be enjoyed by anybody who has watched the first anime, despite the similarities in the first chapters. Like other reviewers, Pine praised the dark mood of the series and the way it balances the humor and action scenes. Pine also praised the development of characters who have few appearances in the first anime. In a review of volume 14, Sakura Eries—also of Mania Entertainment—liked the revelations, despite the need to resolve several story arcs. She also praised the development of the homunculi, such as the return of Greed, as well as their fights.