Not too long ago, I read a post on another blog about how much better the Full Metal Alchemist manga is than the anime.  After reading the parts of the post that did not contain spoilers (at least I tried–I think I accidentally read a few small spoilers), I decided to take a look at the manga online.  After reading the first 37 chapters I came to the conclusion that she was right – the manga is much better!

I liked the anime but about two-thirds through the story it started to meander.  The end of the anime was less than satisfying and then the movie spent way too much time in “the other side” for my taste.  It turns out that half of the story in the anime is not even in the manga.

The first part of the anime sticks pretty closely to the manga, although it does take a few liberties.  But around the point that Dante is introduced (a character that, as far as I can tell so far, does not exist in the manga) the stories diverge sharply.  Furor Bradley (President Bradley in the ReadManga translation) is much more powerful and better represented in the manga.  The humunculi are far more ruthless and less sympathetic in the manga, but more interesting as dark, disturbed characters.  Roy Mustang is more effective and also has less control over the Elric brothers.  Archer, a character I did not like in the anime, does not even exist.  Have I convinced you yet?

Anyway, I went to Barnes and Noble today to see if they had the Hellsing Vol. 8 manga.  Since they did not, I bought the Full Metal Alchemist Vol. 1 instead.  Eventually I’ll get around to buying all of them, but first I’ll finish reading the online versions.