A few of the things I've read lately

[laceblade]

I think most people with even a slight pulse on the comics/anime industry have heard of the series Fullmetal Alchemist. If you haven't, check it out! A steampunk setting in which two brothers who have committed the ultimate sin set out to get their original bodies back.

I have now read through volume 16, and hope to catch up to the current issue in the near future.

But the reason I wanted to blog about the series is this! If you watched and loved the anime series, I highly recommend checking out the manga. While the series begin almost identically, the anime series diverged from the manga and made up its own ending, as the manga was still on-going. It wasn't a bad ending, as you might be able to tell, I quite liked the anime.

BUT. THE MANGA IS SO GOOD, YOU GUYS! If you liked the anime and want to see Mustang & Co. in the Civil War with Ishbal?! ALL OF VOLUME 15 IS A FLASHBACK TO THAT SHIZ!!

Additionally, Arakawa has some of the most hilarious omake pages at the end of each volume that I've ever seen. She'll take very dramatic and emotional parts that happened in that volume and make hilarious jokes. I think my favorite bonus story was Al as a baby, and Ed as a little kid, slapping him in the face right in front of their mom and then running away, like little kids do. Arakawa's previews for future volumes are also awe-inspiring and EPIC.

In my search for shounen series that I like, Fullmetal Alchemist is the hands-down winner (although I feel like lavendersleeves told me that this was seinen? Wikipedia says shounen!). Perhaps this comes as no surprise, because it's one of few shounen manga written by a woman, and strong women are EVERYWHERE in this series. I love it! The women aren't needlessly annoying! They are physically strong! They are not submissive! Their breasts aren't exaggerated beyond recognition!

But mostly, what I love is that the series is tightly plotted, the characters are emotionally believable, and the story is endlessly intriguing.

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I've also read The New York Four by Brian Wood, illustrated by Ryan Kelly. A few of my friends rave endlessly about Brian Wood (and before you freak out, yes, I already have a lot of his other stuff on hold at the library). New York Four is basically a Western one-shot version of shoujo manga. It's all about people living in a city, and their relationships to one another. So....I didn't really see anything special about it. Sure, I liked it, but if you read this and loved it, I highly recommend Ai Yazawa's NANA. Likewise, shoujo manga fans might appreciate this rare example of a Western comic written for teenage girls.

were_duck decided to make a YA section at our local feminist bookstore after the untimely demise of DC Comics' Minx line (More information on that here), and I'm trying to read what kind of stuff Minx carried, so I'm more knowledgeable on the subject.



EDIT: There are spoilers for the Fullmetal Alchemist anime in the first thread of comments. You have been warned!

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think FMA is considered shounen. I like the anime, but there were bits (and entire plotlines) that annoyed me, and all the parts that annoyed me were from where they diverged from the manga.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I can see how things would be annoying. I have a few friends (including my boyfriend!) who simply stopped watching entirely, but I didn't think it was THAT bad.

I'm excited for the new anime series, though. Have they confirmed that it'll be following the manga more faithfully now? Will they start over from the beginning?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

If I ignore the entire Rose plot, the treatment of Winry (esp. regarding her parents' deaths) and the Ishbalans turning on Scar, i do much better.

I think the general belief is that the new anime will follow the manga, but I don't thinkt here's been official confirmation yet.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

OMG I forgot they brought Rose back!

Actually, I'm probably due to rewatch the anime, because I don't remember your latter two points at all.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

1) Winry's dealing with her parents' deaths was all about Mustang and his angst. Her dealing with it had nothing to do with her story, and was all about his self=forgiveness. (As compared to the manga, where it's all about her.)

2) The Ishbalans literally randomly kick Scar out. The anime barely even tries to give a reason, it just needs him to be a loner outcast again.

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

do you want me to take a photo of the spine of the magazine? It's seinen! Shounen is younger stuff--Naruto and Inu Yasha, for example.

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

ANDS!!! The new season of the anime is now slated for April 2009! Plus I have this neat angsty postery thing. I don't realy have any fangirly stuff on the walls in my new apartment, but I might have to make an exception for this.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

OMF I AM SO EXCITED!!

Do you have a camera? You should totally take a picture of it!

I still have those posters of Ed and Mustang you sent from Japan when the Shamballa movie came out. It cycled through Steph, and then to Gordon, and then he gave them to me for Christmas last year. BWAHAHA.

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

...omf, it *is* shounen. How on earth did I think otherwise? Was I looking at another magazine and superimposed the image in my memory? Did the magazine change? Not sure, but Gangan is not read by EMS students, who do read shounen jump and shounen sunday.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

O SNAP!!

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

BUT! The mystery is solved. I most certainly studied the kanji (that is, looked at and pondered, not with flash cards or dictionaries) while waiting in line at a bookstore. While Hagaren is published in Shonen Gangan, I was probably looking at a copy of Young Gangan, which is slightly different, but they have some of the same stories/ characters (for example, Zombie Loan runs in Young Gangan, but you'll still see Zombie Loan characters on the Shonen Gangan cover or prizes--Gangan always comes with free prizes. ^_____^)

[britrock37.livejournal.com]

OMF....you're exactly right about the FMA manga. All of it. I completely agree with every point you made. I have v.17 sitting in the living room and I have to read it soon. And it's awesome.

The series was started after only 2 volumes (maybe 3?) of the manga came out so even those who have seen the series will be in for surprises.

And the omake pages are the shiznit. My favorite is the volume where Mustang and Falman are talking about Lust's boobs (not in the omake, in the manga proper) and part of the omake pages is a conversation between Arakawa and her editor where she asks him if the boobs can stay. I seriously laughed ridiculously loud while reading it on the train.

Everyone who likes manga should do themselves a favor and try reading FMA!!! I even got my co-worker (a 38 y/o male with NO anime/manga experience at all) hooked on the FMA manga. Sometimes he calls me at work and we talk about manga instead of work things. I enjoy that.