Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 24

Ooh, I finally get a sense of excitement from the series as the final battle seesaws back and forth and sacrifices are made Buccaneer: "Old timer . . . let's walk that bastard to hell . . . together." Foo: "Yes . . . that's kind of you . . . ". Once again, it really boosts the book when Edward and Alphonse barely show up at all, though they -- and 30+ characters -- do get crammed in here around the big action scenes.

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 24 by Hiromu Arakawa mostly takes place in the huge military complex in Central. It is essentially one long drawn out battle as part of the final battle on the day of the eclipse.

King Bradley has gone beyond awesome to unbelievable with his "triumphant" return. His death on the train was so cool so having him stubbornly show up to pull a Bender and "kill all humans" just cheapens things.

Meanwhile the Armstrong siblings have to get over their differences to destroy Sloth. Sloth has been mostly skulking under ground for the series so his battle scenes lack dramatic punch. Sure he's big and fast (when he wants to be) but he's not as interesting or as well established as the other homunculi.

I've seen the end of show more Brotherhood so I plan to finish the manga to see how it plays out in print. The anime's ending is well worth these couple volumes of filler. show less

The finale continues in Volume 24 as Hohenheim confronts the dwarf in the flask, now a powerful homunculus striving for more, hoping to end this last battle before it has a chance to truly begin. The surprise Hohenheim has up his sleeve is both awe inspiring amazing and completely heartbreaking. What the dwarf in the flask has up his sleeve though might prove too much for Hohenheim to face alone.

The battle above ground isn't going much better. The palace is captured and victory seems to finally be at hand, but we should know better by now as the rug is pulled out from under us. King Bradley survived his assassination attempt and is now set to turn the tide. A battle ensues that involves devastating causalities and surprising show more reappearances of old friends to try and stem the onslaught as the military attempts to recapture the palace.

What none of them seem to realize is they are nothing but pawns in plans to completely demolish the entire nation to grant immortality to the upper echelons in the corrupt Amestris government. Our heroes even lose sight of this end goal and in getting lost in the battles with the immortal dolls, the central soldiers, and various homunculi they risk forgetting what they are really up against. The cliffhanger ending reminds us all there is much, much more to come. show less

I still like the story progression, but there's less character development in this volume and more fighting. I'm still enjoying the overall story arc, but I think my favorite individual volumes are always going to be the earlier ones.

Onward!

Man these books are ramping up for the conclusion. And there are still a handful of volumes left!

I think the one problem with the manga format is that long fight scenes really start to lose focus. Entire volumes of nothing but fighting are ... hard to read. Still worth it though.

Random thing that blew my mind:

Paracelsus (/ˌpærəˈsɛlsəs/; 1493/1494[1] – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim[10]), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.

There's not really much to say at this point. If you've read this far, you're going to finish it. So just a few awesome scenes. Warning, potential show more spoilers.


Chapter 96: Two Strong Women



Man Sloth just keeps going...



Heh. Strongarm Alchemist Armstrong is wonderful. Watch out Izumi!



She's a housewife AND an alchemist. It's a minor plot, but I really feel it coming to a head here.



It's true you know. It's not only our virtues that make us human... but also the terrible things we can do and that we fight against.

Chapter 97: The Two Philosophers



... that way lies madness. But it does explain a bit about why he seems so distance.



Woman power! Izumi and Major General Armstrong are pretty badass. And an interesting contrast against one another.



ZU ZU ZU... Father is bizarre. It's interesting how much it's form and Pride's look the same.

Chapter 98: Greed Without Limits



... he blocked a sword with his abs. That is all.

Chapter 99: Eternal Rest

Man these fights are getting crazier and crazier. Crazy fight time. Suicide bomber (failed). Stabbed (succeeded).

And then ... I’m not sure what even happened. Oh no teacher!! show less