Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 11

Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 11 (ViZ, 2005) [note: this review contains a major spoiler for vol. 10. If you haven't read it yet, don't read this review!] So now we know that King Bradley is Wrath, one of the seven homunculi. No one else does, but you know that since the reader now has the information, it's not going to be too long until the rest of the crew finds out. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we pause the action for a bit of character development (and burgeoning romance?) between Ed and Winry. It's not the best volume in the series, especially considering the one just before it, but it's a good one. *** ½

Edward has returned to Resembool to find out the truth about what happened the night him and Al tried to resurrect their mother all those years ago, but imagine his surprise when he finds his father, Van Hohenheim, a man he hasn't seen in 10 years, already standing at her grave! Ed blames his mother's death on his father, or at least he has a lot of anger towards him for dumping his kids and not being there when she was dying. It's been implied that perhaps she died of a broken heart. So the conversations between Ed and his dad are not going to be very pleasant. Meanwhile, Al, Mustang, and Xing deal with the aftermath of their battle with the Homunculi last volume which has left Havoc paralyzed from the waist down. When Mustang tries to contact Dr. Marcoh, the medical alchemist, for help in healing Havoc, he finds that the Homunculi too have an interest in the doc. And Scar is back in town, doing what he does best: killing State Alchemists! I wanted to comment on a problem I'm sure a lot of people are facing when reading this manga. I just finished watching the Fullmetal Alchemist movie last weekend after watching the TV series over the past year and a half. One problem I had in reading Volume 11 was trying to seperate the characters and events of the manga from the anime. For instance, Lust was taken out by Mustang in Volume 10 while she met a completely different end in the anime. Scar is following a different line of motivation and has picked up a sidekick. Dr. Marcoh is still alive while he was killed early on in the anime. I thought the Elric brothers had realized King Bradley was a Homunculi but in this volume it seems as though they don't know. Am I getting it confused with the anime again? So I think I will enjoy the manga more (Which, by the way, I think is superior to the anime) if I just go back and start reading from Volume 1 again, starting with a clean slate, without any inteference from the anime version. As for this volume, is no surprise that it has good art, great characters, and universal themes that touch everyone, as after 11 volumes, this has become the norm rather than the exception. One of the best series out there!

After action-packed volume 10, can Fullmetal Alchemist get any better? The answer is yes. Volume 11, while not as edge-of-your-seat exciting as volume 10, is still gripping and delivers a lot of punch. Ed goes to visit his mom's grave, only to find his dad there. Hohenheim left the family many years ago, and Ed hates his guts. When Hohenheim finds out that Ed and Al tried to resurrect their mom, he asks a very strange question: Was what they brought to life really their mom? Back in Central, Havoc has just found out that he's suffered spinal cord damage and will never be able to walk again. Mustang sends Breda to find Dr. Marcoh, in the hopes that he can help Havoc. Unfortunately, Breda finds that someone has beaten him to Dr. Marcoh; someone who looked exactly like Breda. Meanwhile, May Chang (who was Mei Xhang, back in volume 8; more on that later) is rescued from starvation by none other than Yoki. May Chang is still searching for Edward Elric, and she decides to travel with Yoki and Scar until she can pay off her debt to them. There isn't much actual action in volume 11 until the end, but there is a lot of character development. The reader finally discovers what happened to Al's body when he went through the gate, and what happens when an alchemist attempts a human resurrection. Lin has a much larger part, and we have a chance to learn his back story as well as his reason for being in Amestris. There aren't many pages of extras in this volume, but the "Edward Elric, Alchemist of the People" scene definitely makes up for that. The art is, as always, wonderful. Arakawa-sensei is very good at capturing human, or in some cases, inhuman emotions. My only problem with the volume is Viz's translation. Not only does Viz replace all the Japanese sound effects with English ones, but they have yet again proven their inability to proofread anything. Ed has a line where the verb is missing ("He just doesn't to be a parent, that's all."), there's a page where Winry's and Ed's lines are switched, and there's the totally nonsensical line "Mercy me!". Although it's pretty easy to tell what the characters are supposed to be saying, there's no reason for Viz to do such a sloppy job. Viz is also unable to decide on names. In the earlier volumes, it's the Ishvarlan war, but in the more recent volumes it's the Ishbalan war. Mei Xhang's name was also changed to May Chang in volume 11 for absolutely no reason. Once you pick a spelling, for the sake of your fans, stay with it! Other than that, volume 11 is an amazing addition to an amazing series. So, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and buy it!