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Fullmetal Alchemist: Omnibus #5
Fullmetal Alchemist 3-in-1 Vol. 5
Bargain omnibus editions of one of the bestselling manga series of all time!
In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical ""auto-mail"" limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother's bodies...the legendary Philosopher's Stone.
Contains volumes 13, 14 and 15 of Fullmetal Alchemist!
In the midst of heated battle, Ed, Envy and Prince Lin of Xing are swallowed whole by the homunculus Gluttony. When they finally escape, they find themselves face-to-face with the “father” of the homunculi, who offers Lin immortality as the new Greed. Meanwhile, Colonel Mustang learns the military’s corruption goes all the way to the top, and the truth of what really happened in the Ishbalan War is revealed.
Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.
In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical ""auto-mail"" limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother's bodies...the legendary Philosopher's Stone.
Contains volumes 13, 14 and 15 of Fullmetal Alchemist!
In the midst of heated battle, Ed, Envy and Prince Lin of Xing are swallowed whole by the homunculus Gluttony. When they finally escape, they find themselves face-to-face with the “father” of the homunculi, who offers Lin immortality as the new Greed. Meanwhile, Colonel Mustang learns the military’s corruption goes all the way to the top, and the truth of what really happened in the Ishbalan War is revealed.
Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.
576 pages, Paperback
First published July 9, 2013
13 people are currently reading
581 people want to read
About the author
Hiromu Arakawa
336 books2,847 followersHiromu Arakawa (author: 荒川弘) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師 Hagane no renkinjutsushi).
Her real name is Hiromi Arakawa (荒川弘美).
Arakawa was born and raised on a dairy farm in Hokkaidō.
She thought of being a manga artist since she was little. After graduating high school, she took oil painting classes while working on her family's farm. During that time, she also created dōjinshi manga with her friends and drew yonkoma for a magazine. After eight years she moved to Tōkyō and started out as assistant writer for Hiroyuki Etō.
Her debut as manga artist is in 1999 with STRAY DOG. In 2001 she started working on her famous and award winning series Fullmetal Alchemist, that soon gets a successful anime adaptation.
Other works include Silver Spoon (銀の匙 Silver Spoon, Gin no saji Silver Spoon).
Her real name is Hiromi Arakawa (荒川弘美).
Arakawa was born and raised on a dairy farm in Hokkaidō.
She thought of being a manga artist since she was little. After graduating high school, she took oil painting classes while working on her family's farm. During that time, she also created dōjinshi manga with her friends and drew yonkoma for a magazine. After eight years she moved to Tōkyō and started out as assistant writer for Hiroyuki Etō.
Her debut as manga artist is in 1999 with STRAY DOG. In 2001 she started working on her famous and award winning series Fullmetal Alchemist, that soon gets a successful anime adaptation.
Other works include Silver Spoon (銀の匙 Silver Spoon, Gin no saji Silver Spoon).
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
July 22, 2024
This omnibus collects the best and worse volumes so far! Volume 14 tears it all up as a major conspiracy is revealed and the main characters have to navigate in a reality that has turned upside down; only to be followed by volume 15 that summarise the Civil War, but the recollection is prose heavy and one-dimensional with few twists or surprises. A 7 out of 12 Three Star read overall, but with a sense that the main story will really pick up from now.
Another 7 out of 12, Three Star jam :)
2024 read
Another 7 out of 12, Three Star jam :)
2024 read
September 26, 2017
This volume is the tipping point. This is the final share of explanations and this is were the story kicks into the final stretch.
Its almost impossible to not draw paralels between amestris and the nazi army. The battle, the philosophy behind them and the thirst for extermination. Still, I felt Arakawa did a great job exploring the soldiers perspective and the perversion of war.
Also, a good chapter for the homunculi and the introduction of Father.
The bonus chapter was really sweet and I wish we could see more moments of Honeheim as a father.
Its almost impossible to not draw paralels between amestris and the nazi army. The battle, the philosophy behind them and the thirst for extermination. Still, I felt Arakawa did a great job exploring the soldiers perspective and the perversion of war.
Also, a good chapter for the homunculi and the introduction of Father.
The bonus chapter was really sweet and I wish we could see more moments of Honeheim as a father.
April 8, 2025
Alexa, play "greedy" by Ariana Grande.
March 29, 2018
dare I say..... even better than the anime?
April 5, 2019
So good to be back to this story. I love everything about it. I love how Hiromu has this extraordinary ability to bring such great strong emotions with her drawings. I love the love, the pain, the difficulty of knowing what's right, wrong and duty. In this one volume in particular we tackle heavier storylines than before, our characters are growing and keep on reaching for their goals. It's as beautiful as ever, and then some more.
February 7, 2023
Over the hump, past the half-way mark, there's a light at the end of the tunnel, it's all downhill from here ... but not yet into the home stretch, eh?
Ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, crests and troughs, highs and lows ... such is the nature of many a long-running serials.
This round wasn't one of my favorites, although, to be fair, the pages turned quickly because the momentum was pretty good and I remained curious how each of the successive crises would be resolved. But, as the level of complexity increases, and the conspiracy merges with the ever-broadening elements of fantasy, I find myself less emotionally engaged. (Then again, I'm pretty deep into at this point....) At the same time, some of the backstories resonate (with me) more than others, as everyone (and I mean everyone) continues to evolve.
I expect different readers value different aspects of the enterprise, and ... in terms of variety ... it's hard to be critical here. But, knowing myself, I'm far more attached to the primary characters, the protagonist's inner-circle, the extended family-of-necessity, and slow to embrace the ever-expanding, wildly vacillating community of supporting cast, villains, allies, foils, friends, etc., regardless of how intriguing they may be.
Still, nothing I experienced in this volume convinced me not to buy and delve into the next.
Ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, crests and troughs, highs and lows ... such is the nature of many a long-running serials.
This round wasn't one of my favorites, although, to be fair, the pages turned quickly because the momentum was pretty good and I remained curious how each of the successive crises would be resolved. But, as the level of complexity increases, and the conspiracy merges with the ever-broadening elements of fantasy, I find myself less emotionally engaged. (Then again, I'm pretty deep into at this point....) At the same time, some of the backstories resonate (with me) more than others, as everyone (and I mean everyone) continues to evolve.
I expect different readers value different aspects of the enterprise, and ... in terms of variety ... it's hard to be critical here. But, knowing myself, I'm far more attached to the primary characters, the protagonist's inner-circle, the extended family-of-necessity, and slow to embrace the ever-expanding, wildly vacillating community of supporting cast, villains, allies, foils, friends, etc., regardless of how intriguing they may be.
Still, nothing I experienced in this volume convinced me not to buy and delve into the next.
July 22, 2025
Zelo dobro darilo,
hvala Zala
hvala Zala
January 10, 2021
The final volume in this installment is by far my favourite, and by far the hardest to read and stomach.
"The look in your eyes has changed."
"So have yours. They're the eyes of a murderer."
"Look squarely at the people you're killing. And don't forget them. Never forget them. Because they won't forget you."
August 13, 2019
Like Always... Fullmetal Alchemist lo mejor de la vida! Me encanta y siempre lo voy a amar ❤
September 11, 2021
4,5 stars
February 9, 2021
Diesen Band mag ich unheimlich gerne, weil er Rückblenden zu einem sehr wichtigen Ereignis in der Geschichte Amestris' enthält, die es dem Leser erst ermöglichen, die Handlungen und den Antrieb einiger Militärangehöriger und Staatsalchemisten besser zu verstehen. Man erfährt mehr über die Geschehnisse und Grausamkeiten, die sie erleben und ausführen mussten. Mehr sogar als im Anime. Nach meinem Empfinden konnten die vielschichtigen Gefühle auf dem Papier besser transportiert werden, als auf dem TV-Bildschirm.
November 26, 2018
I don’t know where to begin. Does it matter? Nope. Each of these volumes continued and exceeded the greatness that preceded it. Arakawa, you wild, creative wunderkind - you throw in the profoundly ridiculous manga funny with profoundly moving manga serious. And a little horror, and a little war time realpolitik.
Wow. This arch of the story seriously had me riveted. We find out a lot here, and it seems that the story is now about to take on a new wind in its sails. But, wait a sec, I haven’t ordered the next volume...(insert funny graphic)
Wow. This arch of the story seriously had me riveted. We find out a lot here, and it seems that the story is now about to take on a new wind in its sails. But, wait a sec, I haven’t ordered the next volume...(insert funny graphic)
December 24, 2021
The first two volumes of this bind-up were really good, but the third one completely blew me away and definitely upped the rating a lot. Volume 15 is raw. It is harsh and brutal and the way Arakawa writes the genocide of Ishval is heart-wrenching. Although it's a horrifying story, the craftsmanship really shines through in this volume - the pacing is really, really good in certain places and the panelling is straight up brilliant. The way Arakawa dwells in certain moments, the way she makes the reader sit with all the conflicting and uncomfortable emotions through her art and her writing, it's really skillful storytelling and it's obvious that she put great care into portraying this event in all its recognizable horror.
December 6, 2019
Series Info/Source: This is the 5th 3-in-1 volume in the Fullmetal Alchemist series and contains volumes 13-15 of the original series. I purchased this copy.
Story (4/5): The first part of the story is spent with Ed, Envy, and Prince Lin stuck in Gluttony’s stomach. They struggle to find a way out of this disgusting domain. I really enjoyed this part of the story and how we learn more about the homunculi and about the Father of all Homunculi. The second part of the story is spent mostly with Colonel Mustang as he struggles to figure out how high the corruption goes in the government. This leads to a flashback where we learn what really happened in the Ishbalan War. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first half, although the flashback to the war did provide a lot of interesting background.
Characters (5/5): I continue to really enjoy all the characters in this series. We meet a couple of new characters in the flashback and they are well done.
Setting (4/5): This volume jumps around a lot between different locations and settings. I still really enjoy the world created here, but felt like all the jumping around really disjointed things some.
Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): This continues to be a very well drawn manga series, lots of details. Some of the fight scenes in Gluttony’s stomach were a bit hard to follow and some of the complex battle scenes in the Ishbalan War flashback were also a bit tough to follow as well. I continue to enjoy how the story is put together and the dialogue is really well done too.
Summary (4/5): This was a solid continuation of the Fullmetal Alchemist but my least favorite of the series so far. There was just too much jumping around and too much time spent on politics. Hopefully the next volume will spend more time with Ed and Al and their quest for the Philosopher’s Stone.
Story (4/5): The first part of the story is spent with Ed, Envy, and Prince Lin stuck in Gluttony’s stomach. They struggle to find a way out of this disgusting domain. I really enjoyed this part of the story and how we learn more about the homunculi and about the Father of all Homunculi. The second part of the story is spent mostly with Colonel Mustang as he struggles to figure out how high the corruption goes in the government. This leads to a flashback where we learn what really happened in the Ishbalan War. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first half, although the flashback to the war did provide a lot of interesting background.
Characters (5/5): I continue to really enjoy all the characters in this series. We meet a couple of new characters in the flashback and they are well done.
Setting (4/5): This volume jumps around a lot between different locations and settings. I still really enjoy the world created here, but felt like all the jumping around really disjointed things some.
Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): This continues to be a very well drawn manga series, lots of details. Some of the fight scenes in Gluttony’s stomach were a bit hard to follow and some of the complex battle scenes in the Ishbalan War flashback were also a bit tough to follow as well. I continue to enjoy how the story is put together and the dialogue is really well done too.
Summary (4/5): This was a solid continuation of the Fullmetal Alchemist but my least favorite of the series so far. There was just too much jumping around and too much time spent on politics. Hopefully the next volume will spend more time with Ed and Al and their quest for the Philosopher’s Stone.
November 20, 2020
I've been putting this review off for almost a week. I considered writing a small one for GR, but I've written a proper review for all the other volumes, and I want to continue that till the end. Besides, we're over halfway there! Things are heating up, the team is coming together, and what's more important is that the main characters are more informed now. They know about the homunculus, and they know King Bradley is one of them—it took me until now to realize that his name was King and that he wasn't a king because I'm an idiot who conveniently overlooked the part where he's the fucking president!
Anyway... we start in the midst of a battle which has... an unexpected consequence, thanks to Gluttony's rage-a-thon. The good part of said rage-a-thon is that Gluttony is finally scary. That bad is also that he's scary. And really fucking powerful.
The first two volumes are in present-time. Both kinda deal with what happened during the fight against Gluttony. And we finally get a proper face-to-face with the villain! The third is a backstory volume. I've been told it's the last backstory volume, and I'm glad about that, but it was still one of the best volumes in this series. It was about the Isbalan war, which we've only heard about until now. And to see it like this, see the actions that the military took against Isbalans... It was genocide, plain and simple, and it was horrifying. Arakawa did an exceptional job of portraying it, all sides of it.
You know, seeing the war and the role State Alchemists played in it... I mean, the State Alchemists were the tipping point. It makes sense now why Scar hates them. I can even say that I don't blame him for wanting to kill most of them. Except that he also tried to kill two children. Ed might be a state alchemist, but wasn't even in the war! So yeah, I still don't like Scar. Or his god-complex. But I understand him more now.
And... I think that's all I wanted to say. It's hard to discuss these things without giving out spoilers. I don't even know what synopsis to give since I always go in without reading one. All I can say is that I love this manga and that these might have been my favourite three volumes so far.
Anyway... we start in the midst of a battle which has... an unexpected consequence, thanks to Gluttony's rage-a-thon. The good part of said rage-a-thon is that Gluttony is finally scary. That bad is also that he's scary. And really fucking powerful.
The first two volumes are in present-time. Both kinda deal with what happened during the fight against Gluttony. And we finally get a proper face-to-face with the villain! The third is a backstory volume. I've been told it's the last backstory volume, and I'm glad about that, but it was still one of the best volumes in this series. It was about the Isbalan war, which we've only heard about until now. And to see it like this, see the actions that the military took against Isbalans... It was genocide, plain and simple, and it was horrifying. Arakawa did an exceptional job of portraying it, all sides of it.
You know, seeing the war and the role State Alchemists played in it... I mean, the State Alchemists were the tipping point. It makes sense now why Scar hates them. I can even say that I don't blame him for wanting to kill most of them. Except that he also tried to kill two children. Ed might be a state alchemist, but wasn't even in the war! So yeah, I still don't like Scar. Or his god-complex. But I understand him more now.
And... I think that's all I wanted to say. It's hard to discuss these things without giving out spoilers. I don't even know what synopsis to give since I always go in without reading one. All I can say is that I love this manga and that these might have been my favourite three volumes so far.
August 25, 2019
Luckily for me, the next volume is already in my possesion, cause o my I am loving this series and I must keep reading it for the sake of my own sanity.
Arakawa put so much depth and thought into this story. She does not shy away from the gruesomness of war and makes you rethink everything you once believed to simply "be as it is".
Also, I love the extras in this one. Especially the short story from volume 14 was very cute.
Arakawa put so much depth and thought into this story. She does not shy away from the gruesomness of war and makes you rethink everything you once believed to simply "be as it is".
Also, I love the extras in this one. Especially the short story from volume 14 was very cute.
July 4, 2021
I rarely have read about a war in a manga, which has felt so realistic.
To see, that this war isn't such black and white but grey in grey and how cruel it was, is seriously bone chilling.
This is the tipping point and I can feel that we come closer and closer to the end.
To see, that this war isn't such black and white but grey in grey and how cruel it was, is seriously bone chilling.
This is the tipping point and I can feel that we come closer and closer to the end.
March 2, 2019
So dark, so real !
May 2, 2019
This book focuses a lot on the Ishbalan war which is a big part of the Fullmetal Alchemist lore and extremely important to the story overall. Knowing that I still found a good chunk of the end a little dull. The parts that went dull were overly graphic with their violence, like unnecessarily so.
October 28, 2019
Pārmaiņas pēc bez līķiem tagadnē. Šoreiz tikai par tiem, kas reiz karā gājuši bojā.
October 10, 2022
The world building was incredible in this volume. Understanding the big civil war and what happened in the past has put a lot of things into perspective. I really like Envy as a villain.
April 11, 2024
4,5/5
Holyyy was ging hier wieder alles ab?! Die Szenen mit Gluttony und Envy waren so krass!🤯 liebe diese Reihe so
Holyyy was ging hier wieder alles ab?! Die Szenen mit Gluttony und Envy waren so krass!🤯 liebe diese Reihe so
May 16, 2024
Chapters 68-51 🧡
July 28, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ I guess much needed background knowledge on the Ishbalan war but I was kind of expecting more.
August 27, 2024
god the ishbal shit is so fucked
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews