FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST (VOLUME 21)

The Green Lantern

follow this blog

12 followers

94 daily readers

rank of 2185

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST (VOLUME 21)

September 8th 2010 23:24

Category: Manga

Publisher: Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd
Story & Art by: Hiromu Arakawa
Translation by: O Keime
Cover Design: Nicole Ng
Interior & Lettering: Nicole Ng
Cost: AU$14.95

So behind the military high command of the nation of Amestris there lurks in the shadows an ancient conspiracy that is frightening in its intentions and nature. Bad enough that the very leader of Amestris; Fuhrer King Bradley is one of the homunculi, the one known as Wrath, but the creator of the homunculi, the enigmatic individual known as Father is overseeing it all. A vast runic circle has been formed using the blood of various individuals, Drachman soldiers in the north and various others at other key points of the compass. But for it all to work and this hideous agenda to come to fruition it requires a certain something else...the promised day, the time when the heavens are in a certain alignment. Much like the old Hermetic maxim of As Above So Below.

This means that those arrayed against the Homunculi and their allies have time, but precisely how much time is not determined. They cannot afford to wait too long or else they will lose their chance to thwart the machinations of their enemy. Colonel Roy Mustang and his followers, Edward Elric and his crew which includes the Homunculus Greed, General Garand and his soldiers along with the soldiers of the Northern garrison, all of them are poised to make their move the problem is when to make that move. Coup d’état’s are such fragile things – they can be intricately planned and have the right resources and right personnel but like comedy it’s all in the timing and if the timing is bad or miscued it can all go so horribly wrong.
Essentially this is where we see the first opening moves made against the remaining homunculi; Sloth, Wrath, Pride, Gluttony and Father. Although it seems that even though the anti-homunculi coalition are working to a timetable there are those within its ranks who are more interested in pursuing their own agendas, that they’re putting everything at risk by moving to their own timetable when things look a little bit too risky. General Garand, commander of the Eastern garrison falls very much into this camp. Leading his forces in a military exercise against the forces of the Northern garrison he is very much a part of the impending coup. But the immediate presence of Fuhrer King Bradley aka Wrath at the scene of the exercises puts a crimp in plans as far as he’s concerned.

What to do what to do, it seems that Bradley is given an advance warning of the nature of the coup that is being planned. A disenfranchised general gives him warning of what exactly is going on, the fact that even as he, Bradley, sits here watching Garand and the men of Briggs go through play acting on the field of battle the coup is taking place in Central itself. Mustang has somehow mobilised his assets and his making his play to become Fuhrer, an ambition that he has long since held since the earliest days of his career. Deciding to play things cagey and not take too many risks Bradley decides that a swift return to Central would be the best move to make, boarding a train he leaves behind the military exercise...
Elsewhere though another member of the homunculi is taking an interest in a certain duo of alchemists, the brothers Elric no less. Aided by the rollie pollie yet decidedly diabolical Gluttony Pride has managed to capture Alphonse and is using him as bait to draw out Edward. Kind of like one of those angler fish that lives in the abyssal depths of Marianna Trench in the Pacific Ocean. Precisely what Pride’s agenda is in pursuing this angle of attack is as yet undetermined, perhaps he just wants to beat the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother or maybe he fills that this is the means to best prevent interference in ‘Father’s’ grand scheme. Time will no doubt tell.
In some ways Pride is similar to Envy in that his real form is nothing like the guise that he frequently wears when at large in public. To the world at large Pride appears as the son of the Fuhrer; Selim, who for all intents and purposes looks very much like a young boy of primary school age. The problem is that Selim has looked like that for at least thirty or more years...not normal even in a land where alchemists are a reality. This however is just the facade of Pride; its real form is that of an amorphous mass of shadow filled with yawing hungry mouths, leering eyes and numerous tiny grasping hands. It looks like something from the writings of HP Lovecraft, the spawn of Nyarlathotep or possibly Azathoth...
Shadows are Pride’s greatest ally and in area where it is night time yet there are plenty of light sources from a nearby township he has the advantage, ready to leap out from the shell of Alphonse and inflict some serious carnage on our fearless Fullmetal. And backed up by the juggernaut of Gluttony, how can his fiendish scheme possibly go wrong I hear you ask...well to put it simply Greed. Having joined forces with Edward in his new body of a former prince of Xing, Greed can easily sense the presence of his fellow homunculi. And once Ed takes care of the light problem then it’s no problem for Greed to be able to deal with matters.
But when all is said and done can Edward, Greed and co dilly dally fighting against Pride? Conversely can Pride himself waste time clashing with these foes when the agenda of ‘Father' is nearing its fruition? It seems that the Fullmetal Alchemist series is heading towards a climatic showdown, where the forces vying for their own agendas will clash and who knows who will prevail or what the shape of things will be when the dust settles. Ms Arakawa has certainly dealt a tasty treat in this manga and no doubt she’s saving the best for last. Of course in the case of the end of volume comics that could be regarded as a given. No doubt about Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 21 is another finely crafted work filled with action, suspense, horror and humour...my advice embark on an equivalent exchange and get yourself a copy...

Vote