Hiromu Arakawa

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 2

Sarah Sammis

After having watched the first anime version of Fullmetal Alchemist last year I decided to read the manga series. While I enjoyed the quicker pace of Volume 1, that same quick pace caught me off guard in this volume.

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 2 covers the entire arc of Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist. In the 2003 anime Shou Tucker and his daughter are introduced over the course of a couple episodes. Here the entire plot takes half the volume.

While that brevity does cut out a lot of the cornball sappy filler it also lessons the shock value of how Shou Tucker is accomplishing his alchemy. It's a look at the awful things parents sometimes do to their children for petty reasons.

Meeting Shou Tucker is one of the first tests of the Elric's brother's conviction to undo their mistake without committing further crimes against the natural order of things. They could easily become another Shou Tucker were it not for their strong moral conviction.

Kirsten Simkiss

This volume of Fullmetal Alchemist is the first big moment of heart break. You want to make FMA fan cry? Show them a picture of the Nina/Alexander chimaera. It’s a small plot arc, but it really does make an impact. The rest of the volume continues on, introducing the Elric boys to Scar and continuing the background plot of the seven deadly sins.

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 2

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