The manga starts off by telling you that 'a lesson without pain has no meaning', which pretty much gives you the idea what the entire thing is going to be about. FMA is the most beautifully constructed manga I've ever read in my life. And never have I managed to find any other series as intriguing as this one. It just naturally draws you in and you feel like you're lost in the world of alchemy. I am not very familiar with how military works or what a military rule is actually like, but reading FMA never made me feel like I cannot understand a particular scene because of the lack of background knowledge. It's also a huge thanks to the translators who did an amazing job translating the series.
The manga maintains a perfect pace all the way to the end. I didn't find it rushed or dragged, which in itself is a very big accomplishment. There are some of the very good series which disappoint you with their endings, but good for us, FMA doesn't. Everything ends well and none of the characters are neglected.
The portrayal of the main characters as well as the side characters deserves all the praise in the world. I couldn't bring myself to hate any character at all, not even the bad guys. Every character had their own importance and it was all brought together with excellence. FMA goes on with a teaching while building up the sci-fi fantasy world. It leaves you thinking about most of the dialogues the characters have said, and even their actions. I absolutely love every single female character in here. They are so very strong and so very independent and so very cool. The main characters, Ed and Al, don't have some sort of inborn super strength that makes them stronger than the rest. They're just kids. And the mangaka actually makes you feel that they're just kids, yet not your normal ones. You can easily tell a strong character if you spot one. Almost every action has a reason behind it and you will easily manage to find that reason if you think carefully.
The very concept of alchemy is superb. It teaches you about give and take, about equivalent exchange. FMA teaches you about the 'truth' that lies within you, it tells you that the world exists because you do and vice versa.
It shows you what greed and longing can take away from you through all the characters who performed human transmutation and lost what they wanted the most. I also like the idea of all the homunculus being named after human sins. But in the end, what they long for is what you didn't expect. Say, Greed thought that he wanted money, women, power... But what he was truly seeking for were 'friends'. And then again, Envy was actually envious of humans.
Every single person in the FMA world have a reason to exist and they serve their purpose in the story. There're some laugh out loud funny moments but also incidents that might make you cry. There's the feeling of love and the bonding between family that this manga describes perfectly.
All in all, I love FMA. I absolutely agree that nothing is perfect, but by no means do I wish to point out the flaws in this series when I love it to this extent.
100% recommended!
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