Manga Reviews: Fullmetal Alchemist - Journey's End

Wow. When I woke up this morning I had no idea the new Fullmetal Alchemist chapter was going to be out. Then I realized, that this was the last chapter. The manga was ending. I was both excited and depressed. Depressed because I wouldn't be getting any new chapters, excited because I could finally get the resolution of all the plot threads and see where the characters ended up. Those of you who have been following the series know that for the past few months it has been quite obvious that the end was near. You'll also have noticed that for over the past two years or so the chapters have been at their strongest, ending with epic cliffhanger after epic that left us hating the rest of the month. Arakawa-sensei really proved that she was a master of rising conflict and outdoing herself with each new chapter. So does the finale match up to the strong run over the past many, many months?

It does. This chapter is over 100 pages long and easily ties up everything that needs to be tied up, while ending on a note that doesn't suggest that everything is done. In fact I think it is one of the better endings I've read in a while. It doesn't answer all the questions, and even the big ones are left unanswered, but everything is wrapped up in a way that lets the reader know that everything turns out alright, without pandering to us by categorically answering every question. Important character arcs are finished, while others still have a journey ahead of them.

Granted, I kind of would like an answer to certain questions.

JUST TELL US ALREADY!!! GRAAH!!

Am I sad the series ended? Yes. Did it give me the ending I wanted? Absolutely. Even in its more cheesy moments, I loved this ending, and am glad that we finally have an alternate ending to the ending of the first anime. For now, once I have the money and catch up on the other series I am collecting I'm going to start reviewing the series volume by volume, like I'm doing for Naruto. So expect that sometime in the future. I can't make any promises about when this will be though, as currently I have no money for extra expenses, and when I do I have to be sparing with what I spend it on. And I have a lot of books and comics I want to buy.