Fullmetal Alchemist Manga Volume 12 (Limited Edition).
May 9th 2008 23:07
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 2005 Square Enix/2007 Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd
Story & Art by: Hiromu Arakawa.
Translation: O.Keime.
Layout & Lettering: We Swee Pheng.
Cover Design: We Swee Pheng.
Cost: AU $15.95.
Anyone out there remember the Doctor Who story “The Talons of Weng Chiang”? The one that was set in Victorian London and featured a Chinese tong, a villain from the future whom the tong members believed was their patron deity and a mini mandarin that served the villain Magnus Greel and whom the Doctor called a Homunculus. This particular character was decidedly nasty and effectively served as Greel’s assassin, if memory serves me correctly (to borrow a line from Chairman Kaga of Iron Chef fame) Greel used the Homunculus to eliminate foes and rivals in the historical period from which he originated. No doubt by now you’re wondering just what the heck this all has to do with Fullmetal Alchemist Manga Volume 12, Iron Chef’s, mini mandarins etc. Well the big tie in is the phrase Homunculus, just as Greel’s sidekick is an artificially created humanoid there exists similar beings within the storyline of Fullmetal Alchemist, in fact they are the primary antagonists within the story. And like the mini mandarin they are also called Homunculus or to be correct Homunculi; as there is more than one.
No one knows who or what actually created the Homunculi or what precisely is their purpose in life, the only thing that is known is that somewhere on their bodies they bear the sign of the Ouroboros, a black winged dragon bitting its tail around a pentacle. This is the one identifying mark that distinguishes them from everyday normal human beings, although more often than not the Homunculi prefer to remain in their chosen forms which mark them as something different from the everyday world around them. At the time of the events that take place in this particular volume of this series two homunculi have already bitten the dust, Lust the curvaceous female homunculus was killed by Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist and Greed was also eliminated, currently the only active homunculi are Envy, Gluttony and Wrath.
Wrath is one of the main reasons for why the homunculi are able to get away with a lot of the things they do and why they are able to almost operate with a carte blanche within the society of Amestris, the land in which the story is based. To the populace of Amestris Wrath is actually Fuhrer King Bradley, the supreme commander of the military and the ruler of Amestris, though no one actually realises that this is the case. Nor is he precisely like any of his fellow homunculi, actually being able to pass himself off as a human where his fellows cannot. Still in spite of Wrath’s highly placed position within Amestrian society even he is not the absolute master, he is not the one pulling all the strings and in charge of the mysterious agenda that the homunculi are following.
Events open with a strange incident on a remote country road, far from all the drama that is taking place in the major city of Amestris. In a coach bound travelling a remote country road Hohenheim, the father of Edward and Alphonse Elric the two protagonists of this series, is a passage bound for an unknown destination. He engages in some pleasant conversation with one of his fellow passengers, a mother and her child, talking about his family and how he no longer needs to return their when bandits pick this very moment to hold up the coach. This is a serious error on the part of this bandit gang, as soon as they try to assert themselves things go horribly horribly wrong. Hohenheim attempts to reason with the bandits, asking them not to hurt anyone and things just go down hill from there but not in the way you’d expect. Eventually the forces of the local constabulary arrive on the scene, the driver and the rest of the passengers are all alive if a little distraught and the driver manages to tell the officers that the bandits just dropped their weapons and fled as if they’d had a terrible fright. And they did…
From the remote country locale the action moves back to an urban locale where Xing Prince Ling Yao and his trusty sidekick Lan Fen are involved with a confrontation with Gluttony and Wrath. This event has occurred as part of a plan hatched by Ling Yao and the Elric brothers in an attempt to try and capture one of the homunculi; unfortunately what seemed like a good plan at the start has become fraught with complications and hassles, the primary one being the intervention of Wrath. It seems Ling Yao and his trusty henchwoman can actually sense the presence of homunculi, something that people in Amestris seem incapable of, including state alchemists. Naturally Wrath views such an ability as troublesome and something that needs to be eliminated post haste before it causes any further complications in the agenda of the homunculi.
Meanwhile as all Ling Yao and Lan Fen are engage with the homunculi, the Elric brothers are engaged in a confrontation with the enigmatic and extremely dangerous Scar, a mysterious figure who was one of the survivors of the Ishbalan campaign. Scar has an arm with a mysterious tattoo on it that gives him tremendous abilities in combat and he has a grudge against all state alchemists, in fact whenever he can he seeks them out and kills them as part of some one man jihad against alchemists and alchemy. A lot of this is due to the many state alchemists that were involved in the Amestrian military during the Ishbalan war and who committed numerous atrocities. Of course Scar himself is not exactly a paragon of virtue, his hands are stained with the blood of innocents, namely that of two non combatant doctors who helped the wounded of both sides in the Ishbalan conflict and ended up paying for the aid with their lives.
Eventually though the conflict has to be called off as Ling Yao manages to take Gluttony prisoner and this has been the main aim all along between the various parties involved. Scar is simply a side issue, though even when it does look like he is about to be taken out of the picture aid in the form of a mysterious young girl, Chan Mei and her pet panda. Yes a pet panda, but not one that is all cute and cuddly, this little fellow has very sharp teeth and an attitude to match. Mission successful the team beat a swift retreat with the timely aid of Lt Riza Hawkeye, cunningly disguised and with a fast car at hand.
It seems as if the nature of the homunculi and their insidious plot is about to be unravelled, but unfortunately Gluttony appears to be more of a handful than his captors could possibly believe. Even bound with steel cables and recovering from a wound that would have instantly killed a normal person, thus demonstrating the amazing regenerative capabilities of a homunculus, Gluttony breaks free and he is not a happy camper. Previous shots of Gluttony in this manga and other volumes have generally shown him to be a rollie pollie chappie with a stupid grin and desire to consume things be it food, objects or people. Now his monstrous nature actually comes to the fore as he breaks free and literally cuts loose against his captors. It looks as if Ling Yao and the Elric brothers are going to have to go through the whole mess again in order to figuratively put Gluttony back in his box, but it’s just not their day as another player arrives on the scene just to add an extra note of discord into proceedings.
Once again Hiromu Arakawa and her team have produced another intrigue filled, action packed and edge of the seat style manga that totally captivates. As soon as it arrived on my doorstep I couldn’t get it out of the box quick enough and I sat and read it right their and then on the spot, packing invoice and packing paper scattered to the seven winds around my room. No doubt you’re also wondering what makes this a limited edition manga? Actually I wondered that myself, it does come with an extra volume – FMA 4 Panel Alchemania which is essentially twenty nine pages of four panel strips off amusing side stories involving the various characters in the series. Apart from this particular extra then only other thing that makes it different from other volumes is that this particular one has been published in Singapore by Chuang Yi Publishing using environmentally friendly wood free paper.
Considering the price that this comes in (AU $15.95) this work is actually better value than most best selling paperback novels available in any book store, book stand or newsagents. Oh sure you can get novels now and then for less than ten dollars in a bargain basement kind of deal at various places but I usually find that most if not all of them are usually real lemons. With good manga you know what your getting and Fullmetal Alchemist is at the top of the pyramid as far as manga quality is concerned. Do yourself a favour, grab a copy of this volume and enjoy…
Story & Art by: Hiromu Arakawa.
Translation: O.Keime.
Layout & Lettering: We Swee Pheng.
Cover Design: We Swee Pheng.
Cost: AU $15.95.
Anyone out there remember the Doctor Who story “The Talons of Weng Chiang”? The one that was set in Victorian London and featured a Chinese tong, a villain from the future whom the tong members believed was their patron deity and a mini mandarin that served the villain Magnus Greel and whom the Doctor called a Homunculus. This particular character was decidedly nasty and effectively served as Greel’s assassin, if memory serves me correctly (to borrow a line from Chairman Kaga of Iron Chef fame) Greel used the Homunculus to eliminate foes and rivals in the historical period from which he originated. No doubt by now you’re wondering just what the heck this all has to do with Fullmetal Alchemist Manga Volume 12, Iron Chef’s, mini mandarins etc. Well the big tie in is the phrase Homunculus, just as Greel’s sidekick is an artificially created humanoid there exists similar beings within the storyline of Fullmetal Alchemist, in fact they are the primary antagonists within the story. And like the mini mandarin they are also called Homunculus or to be correct Homunculi; as there is more than one.
Events open with a strange incident on a remote country road, far from all the drama that is taking place in the major city of Amestris. In a coach bound travelling a remote country road Hohenheim, the father of Edward and Alphonse Elric the two protagonists of this series, is a passage bound for an unknown destination. He engages in some pleasant conversation with one of his fellow passengers, a mother and her child, talking about his family and how he no longer needs to return their when bandits pick this very moment to hold up the coach. This is a serious error on the part of this bandit gang, as soon as they try to assert themselves things go horribly horribly wrong. Hohenheim attempts to reason with the bandits, asking them not to hurt anyone and things just go down hill from there but not in the way you’d expect. Eventually the forces of the local constabulary arrive on the scene, the driver and the rest of the passengers are all alive if a little distraught and the driver manages to tell the officers that the bandits just dropped their weapons and fled as if they’d had a terrible fright. And they did…
From the remote country locale the action moves back to an urban locale where Xing Prince Ling Yao and his trusty sidekick Lan Fen are involved with a confrontation with Gluttony and Wrath. This event has occurred as part of a plan hatched by Ling Yao and the Elric brothers in an attempt to try and capture one of the homunculi; unfortunately what seemed like a good plan at the start has become fraught with complications and hassles, the primary one being the intervention of Wrath. It seems Ling Yao and his trusty henchwoman can actually sense the presence of homunculi, something that people in Amestris seem incapable of, including state alchemists. Naturally Wrath views such an ability as troublesome and something that needs to be eliminated post haste before it causes any further complications in the agenda of the homunculi.
Meanwhile as all Ling Yao and Lan Fen are engage with the homunculi, the Elric brothers are engaged in a confrontation with the enigmatic and extremely dangerous Scar, a mysterious figure who was one of the survivors of the Ishbalan campaign. Scar has an arm with a mysterious tattoo on it that gives him tremendous abilities in combat and he has a grudge against all state alchemists, in fact whenever he can he seeks them out and kills them as part of some one man jihad against alchemists and alchemy. A lot of this is due to the many state alchemists that were involved in the Amestrian military during the Ishbalan war and who committed numerous atrocities. Of course Scar himself is not exactly a paragon of virtue, his hands are stained with the blood of innocents, namely that of two non combatant doctors who helped the wounded of both sides in the Ishbalan conflict and ended up paying for the aid with their lives.
Eventually though the conflict has to be called off as Ling Yao manages to take Gluttony prisoner and this has been the main aim all along between the various parties involved. Scar is simply a side issue, though even when it does look like he is about to be taken out of the picture aid in the form of a mysterious young girl, Chan Mei and her pet panda. Yes a pet panda, but not one that is all cute and cuddly, this little fellow has very sharp teeth and an attitude to match. Mission successful the team beat a swift retreat with the timely aid of Lt Riza Hawkeye, cunningly disguised and with a fast car at hand.
It seems as if the nature of the homunculi and their insidious plot is about to be unravelled, but unfortunately Gluttony appears to be more of a handful than his captors could possibly believe. Even bound with steel cables and recovering from a wound that would have instantly killed a normal person, thus demonstrating the amazing regenerative capabilities of a homunculus, Gluttony breaks free and he is not a happy camper. Previous shots of Gluttony in this manga and other volumes have generally shown him to be a rollie pollie chappie with a stupid grin and desire to consume things be it food, objects or people. Now his monstrous nature actually comes to the fore as he breaks free and literally cuts loose against his captors. It looks as if Ling Yao and the Elric brothers are going to have to go through the whole mess again in order to figuratively put Gluttony back in his box, but it’s just not their day as another player arrives on the scene just to add an extra note of discord into proceedings.
Once again Hiromu Arakawa and her team have produced another intrigue filled, action packed and edge of the seat style manga that totally captivates. As soon as it arrived on my doorstep I couldn’t get it out of the box quick enough and I sat and read it right their and then on the spot, packing invoice and packing paper scattered to the seven winds around my room. No doubt you’re also wondering what makes this a limited edition manga? Actually I wondered that myself, it does come with an extra volume – FMA 4 Panel Alchemania which is essentially twenty nine pages of four panel strips off amusing side stories involving the various characters in the series. Apart from this particular extra then only other thing that makes it different from other volumes is that this particular one has been published in Singapore by Chuang Yi Publishing using environmentally friendly wood free paper.
Considering the price that this comes in (AU $15.95) this work is actually better value than most best selling paperback novels available in any book store, book stand or newsagents. Oh sure you can get novels now and then for less than ten dollars in a bargain basement kind of deal at various places but I usually find that most if not all of them are usually real lemons. With good manga you know what your getting and Fullmetal Alchemist is at the top of the pyramid as far as manga quality is concerned. Do yourself a favour, grab a copy of this volume and enjoy…
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