Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 21

President Bradley is the target for an assassination plot.  The State Alchemist and the Orders have all been decided, rebels against the Government.  Ed and Al have been separated, but are reunited by unpleasant means.

Highlights

Edward Elric along with Greed are traveling to Amestrat to try to stop it from being destroyed on the "Promised Day".  Meanwhile, Roy Mustang is gathering allies and waiting for the government to fall, so that they can take its place.  They finally meet up after doing some research, and are now preparing for battle.

As for Alphonse, well, he's not completely functional at the moment.  His body has been taken over by the homunculus Pride.  Pride then attacks Al, Greed, and their companions, who happen to be chimera.  In the spur of the moment, Al causes the lights to go out form the nearby town, and the whole area goes completely black.  Pride, who needs light to battle, is at a disadvantage, and so is Al and Greed.  Lucky for them, one of the chimera is part lion, and can see in the dark.  So, he goes off to get Pride.  Then, Gluttony  show up.  He, as you should know already, as super smell, and can smell Al and Greed in the dark.  Things don't look go for Al and Greed, when they are saved by some of Lin Yao's (Greed ate Lin's soul) followers, Lanfan and Old man Foo. Greed lets Lin's soul take control of their body, and Lin and Lanfan fight Gluttony.  Can Al and Greed get past Pride and Gluttony before the lights come back on?

Overall

This volume follows the basic format as the previous volumes.  It's smooth and makes perfect sense, while maintaining it's moments of humor.  Al didn't seem to be much of a character in this volume, which was a letdown.  Yes, he is in it, but even when he is possessed, there is not real sense of his general importance.  Greed however, is heavily played upon, with the mental bond of Lin and Greed beginning to form.  The battle with Pride and Gluttony is pretty interesting when it comes to art.  There is some really cool action frames that are really well done.  

Overall, this volume is doing its job for keeping up the series.  The battle scenes are slightly more interesting then usual, but the overall volume did seem a bit weak with plot development.  Probably because it is pretty short.  I still love this series.

ComicsOnline gives Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 21, 4.5 out of 5 Hyacinths.