Fullmetal Alchemist 21

Hiromu Arakawa – Viz – 2009 – 23+ volumes

There is really only one important thing that happens in this volume.  It’s hinted at on the cover, but I did not see it coming, which is both interesting and refreshing (though, sometimes, in better stories, I do miss out on clues like this).  Pride finally starts attacking the characters, but, you know, he’s just a little kid.  So he has to use someone bigger to attack both physically and emotionally.  It made me love the series a little more for how sad it made me.  The complete consequences of this are not shown in this volume, but… I have a feeling that it’s not a worst-case scenario, because what kind of ending would that be?

I was a little disappointed with Ed’s reunion with his father, but only because Al’s reunion last volume gave me such high hopes.  I should have expected a little less this time, but… come on, my suit of armor?  Classic.  The humor recovered nicely when Pride noted that Ed was his role model, since, you know, Pride is just a little kid, and Ed is so short, and for whatever reason, the short jokes have still not gotten old.

Aside from those two large chunks of plot, most of the rest of this was exposition and what appears to be preparations for the final battle.  Arakawa pretty much confirms that this is the final stretch, though since the series is still running, I have no idea how long this final battle will last.  Probably a long time, because there has been a lot of work put into getting things to this point.

Really, I could care less about the fate of the country.  I just want to see what happens to Ed and Al.  I’m growing a little impatient, but as long as the fights continue to be amusing and relatively epic, preferrably involving homunculi, I think I will be okay with the way things are.

Also, I loved the “I make this look good” quote on the very last page of the volume.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but… Men in Black?  I was very amused.

Anyway, the plot has been so well-laid at this point that yes, of course I’m going to keep reading until the end, because I’m extremely caught up with everything all the characters are doing, not just Ed and Al.  The only thing is that I know that I’ll probably have a few slow volumes like this with lots of fights and politics happening.  Actually, I’m expecting a lot of that out of the ending of the series, but I know I will be rewarded with a gigantic alchemy fight between, at the very least, Hohenheim and Father, and Ed and Al and their teacher, if I’m lucky.  I’ll be waiting for that day with a smile on my face.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.