Hiromu Arakawa

The death of the Colonel guy was very contrived, especially with the wife and kid and it being shortly after his daughter's birthday. I laughed at his funereal lol.

Still, the volume was very funny so I'll give it that. The little brother asking his older brother if his memories were artificial was sweet, but their reasoning on why they aren't is because they "feel" real and I'm not fully convinced by that. For a series on transmutations (alchemy), I'm surprised at how much of an anti-transhumanism stance the author has.… (more)

I enjoyed reading this manga, but it does paint a rather brutal depiction of life, despite the pleasant countryside. This accurately shows what rural people must endure, caricatured as a close, ragtag, and hardy bunch.

- You can't think about what your dream is, it comes naturally. Even when you have a dream and the means to achieve it, you also need the resolve to go through with it. Those without a dream, who do not have the resolve to pursue any ambition, will live like the runt of the litter: no longer fighting, acquiescing to small, lowly positions.
- A meaningful life isn't defined by how much energy you put into it, but by the number of contributions you've made. Hachiken, a city boy, invested too much energy into is studies and was burnt out from having a dream; Komaba has a dream of going to college and being a baseball player, but his family can't afford such ambitions and he needs to tend his family's farm as her single-mother solely supports it. They also use this reasoning to support the efficiency of factory farming as, even when a chicken can no longer lay eggs, they are still used for their meat.
- We are thrown into the world by chance, to either be useful or killed. Still though, there are some that leave many great contributions and are loved by all.… (more)

I'm either too dumb or there's no way to stitch a theme out of these stories. Each chapter of this volume (and really, all of the volumes so far) offered short, episodic fables and it is hard to derive a greater sense of meaning out of them altogether. Personally, I like my stories to be meaningful. I don't hate this but I wish it was more.

- Engineers and scientists tease each other for being different types of nerds
- People profit off of suffering. For every limb blown in war, a prosthetic is produced; for every serial murderer, a detective anticipates their promotion. "Turn misfortune into gain."
- You should have self-confidence and persevere! Even if you don't believe you have talent, the fact that you are still trying is a talent in itself!… (more)

I liked this more than volume 1, but I'm not sure how to feel about it. The overall point of this volume showcases the weakness of us, faulty humans. We can be ignorant and hurt others, and even those of science are not above these shortcomings. It made for a decent read but I wouldn't consider it ground-breaking, personally-touching material.

- Scientists are not the government's dogs or the devil, they are simply human beings. They have shortcomings and regrets: militaristic creations, costing the lives of many people; human testing for the desperate sake of results; and defying the laws of science to return what was lost.
- Everything falls under the laws of science. Science is a part of reality, and thus death is a part of science.
- Certain evangelics despise science as unnaturally architecting God's world. This may play into the idea that humans are foolish as they easily succumb to dogma and bloodshed. History repeats itself.
- To be alive means to have an opportunity to improve the lives of others. To abandon your life so willingly is beyond forgiveness.
- Military is a scam where you're lured by its benefits, but find that you must become a human weapon.… (more)