[Manga] Chapter 31 : The Serpent that is Swallowing Its Tail

[Yebyosh]

Well I'm pretty sure some people have already read it, courtesy of me having uploaded it on Sunday. But it is already out.

Chapter 31, the post-conclusion of the Greed arc. Read what happened to Greed. The title of the chapter is the description of Uroborus, so naturally the emphasis of this chapter would be on the Homunculi who bear the Uroborus tattoos. Interested?

Go to the following link to find out...

http://www.anime-source.com/banzai/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=680

[Guido]

This is perhaps the most revealing chapter in the manga saga. My eyes couldn't believe what they saw:

Spoiler:

-Unlike the anime, they are or were not previous Homunculi which ocuppied the spot as sins. I mean the manga Greed met and knows about manga Lust, that means there was no previous Lust in the manga.

-The Führer's Wrath, and Sloth is a 10 ft. hulking humanoid; Greed also knew and met Sloth, but he had never seen Wrath.

-He finally shows up (still his face concealed in the shadows) the 'Father' to the Homunculi. Needs of a kinda weird machinery-gear contraption in order to maintain himself alive.

-What astonishes me about Wrath is that he's a Homunculus made to age like a human being, and being a Homunculus, is he able to conceive children naturally?

[Rattus]

Chapter 31 summary: Everyone dies, the end of FMA.

Sorry, should that have been in [spoiler]?

Spoiler:

Compare Chapter 31 page 21 with Chapter 20 page 1... both have long hair, the same beard, and the same face shape.. either the sins father is Hohenheim (in some form) or he looks very very similar :-\ On a side note, is that a picture of the inscriptions on "The Gate" that he's reading?

Anime/Manga divergence side note: Unless "Father" is speaking metaphorically, it seems the manga homunculi DO have souls, in direct opposition to the anime homunculi (where it seems to be implied that lacking a soul is what makes them so evil and merciless..?)

So, we've known all manga long, the big cookup Father and the Homunclui are working towards is "in the final stages", and involves sacrificing alchemists, it seems... still no word of what though (anime Envy's constant referrals to "him" probably mean there's an anime Father too? Presumably up to the same scheme? (the ultimate goal of which surely isn't making a philosophers stone, that's just a (required component?) part of it? Perhaps casting doubt on Envys "I want to be human" spiel.))

So the other questions raised this time: What exactly did they do to Greed (melted him down for reabsorbtion) and WHY? What is Sloth up to? And where's Pride? (or is he "Father"?!)

GJ and thanks as always Yebyosh

Afterthought: For anyone who's interested in the chapter title...

[yami-chan]

Holy crap!!This chapter 0wneed a lot..
i couldn't believe my eyes..

Spoiler:

That 'Father' guy didn't look a bit like Honnenhime?

and also..how's that Fuhrer has a kid? Homunculi can have children?

[Palani]

All I can say is yet nother piece of great work,

Still offering help BTW

[Guido]

This is my 100th post, and I can't believe that long has passed since I became member. Yipee!!!

On-Topic:

Spoiler for Rattus:

Pride is the mother of all sins

[Dark Epyon]

Originally Posted by Guido

This is my 100th post, and I can't believe that long has passed since I became member. Yipee!!!

On-Topic:

Spoiler for Rattus:

Pride is the mother of all sins

One of my friends mentioned this at school (he is also a member here). It seems this person could be it OR another sin. It could though turn out that this person is the long await ...

Spoiler:

Elric father

[ZeroKun]

ok im confused

Spoiler:

I thought Fuhrer's secretary was Sloth, who is that huge guy then? O_o

[The Prophet]

Spoiler:

Sloth. The anime took a few... creative liberties, shall we say. I'm not even sure if manga Fuhrer HAS a secretary that will be of any importance. Also, I'd like to say that Selim is unbearably cute. Like young Al.
...
He's doomed.

[Inuzuka]

Questions,(This may be irrelavent to this threafd sa my questions are to do with previous chapters)
1.Greed-Can he feel the pain when he is attacked by people in his normal form?
2.Wrath mentioned how he got to 'this' position(President/king)when he was 'killing' Greed,so does his position and power have anything to do with his Sharingan?(haha)
3.Did wrath adopt his son?
4.Why does Greed say that Envy was a 'inferior' creation?(Was i because he really was?Or did he(Greed) want to piss him off?)
5.Wrath-A)Why can Wrath age?
B)Is Wrath really a Homoculus?(Just a speculation on my part,becuase Greed did seem pretty shocked when he saw an old Wrath)

[Rattus]

1.Greed-Can he feel the pain when he is attacked by people in his normal form?
Either homunculi don't feel pain, or just don't bother about it, it seems. Definately none of them have ever flinched in the anime (except when Greed dies, maybe), and to the best of my knowledge, the manga.

2.Wrath mentioned how he got to 'this' position(President/king)when he was 'killing' Greed,so does his position and power have anything to do with his Sharingan?(haha)
From what I understood, the eye is how he managed to survive so well in the battle field (and earn a reputation for himself?).

3.Did wrath adopt his son?
Hmm, not sure if Manga Wrath was always a homunculus, or if the family came from when he was human.. He says he's 60, but we don't know if that includes the time before he turned.

4.Why does Greed say that Envy was a 'inferior' creation?(Was i because he really was?Or did he(Greed) want to piss him off?)
I don't think we know. Envy was created before him (or at least made a sin), so maybe Father's refining his work..

5.Wrath-A)Why can Wrath age?
See above- maybe Father's refining his work, making better sins; maybe he deliberately made him that way so he could fill his roll running the military (non-aging Furher would look kinda suspiscious )

B)Is Wrath really a Homoculus?(Just a speculation on my part,becuase Greed did seem pretty shocked when he saw an old Wrath)
All signs point to yes.

[Rattus]

http://www.anime-source.com/banzai/m...id=716&page=26

Greed: "I'm going to have a look at the gates first, brothers and sister!"

Yebyosh, what's the literal translation of the original text? Is it at all possible Greed's referring to the sins' master plan in some way (involving the gate), or is he just alluring that he's going to pass through it again when he dies? (Since none of them will have seen it since they were created).


Sloth.. underground with bloody knuckles and chains... do we think he's pulling something, or tunneling somewhere?


..and sod the spoiler tags, if you've read this far into the topic, you should have read manga 31 by now. :P

[Yebyosh]

Originally Posted by Rattus

http://www.anime-source.com/banzai/m...id=716&page=26

Greed: "I'm going to have a look at the gates first, brothers and sister!"

Yebyosh, what's the literal translation of the original text? Is it at all possible Greed's referring to the sins' master plan in some way (involving the gate), or is he just alluring that he's going to pass through it again when he dies? (Since none of them will have seen it since they were created).

どんなもんか　先に行って　見ててやるぜ　兄弟！！

I interepreted it as (literally ) "What kind of gate/problem, Go first, see I'll do, siblings!!" and refined it to what you had quoted. (Of course those with better proficiency in Japanese are free to correct me for any mistakes).

So with reference to the previous panel where he's comparing the liquid's temperature as lukewarm compared to Hellfire, it is decided that what he was saying here was referring to Hell itself. In other words, it is a parting speech to his Homunculi siblings that he'll greet them in Hell when they are the next to go, i.e. Gates of Hell (not the Gate that Ed saw when he encounters the Truth).

Originally Posted by Inuzuka

1.Greed-Can he feel the pain when he is attacked by people in his normal form?

Yes, but Homunculi have a very high threshold of pain. Normal attacks are generally pinpricks to them. Killing blows might be 'just' painful enough to register but would not incapacitate or stun. Greed had commented on the pain to his head when Ed smashed his head against the floor (Chp 28).

Originally Posted by Inuzuka

3.Did wrath adopt his son?

Quite likely no. It is more likely that in keeping with the "shock" revelation of the Fuhrer being a Homunculus that can age, the mangaka would let him be able to father children as well. Hence Selim should be Bradley's own kid (though from the depiction, it would appear Selim was fathered by Bradley when Bradley was in his late 40's to early 50's).

Originally Posted by Inuzuka

4.Why does Greed say that Envy was a 'inferior' creation?(Was i because he really was?Or did he(Greed) want to piss him off?)

Quite likely yes, he was. In the way that a prototype is considered inferior to a newer model. I suspect that Envy is the first Homunculus created by the Father. The telling evidence being that his siblings do not know what his/her real form is (though one wonders why the Father doesn't bother to tell Envy... perhaps he is taking amusement at his creation's misfortune or he couldn't care less?).

Originally Posted by Inuzuka

5.Wrath-A)Why can Wrath age?
B)Is Wrath really a Homunculus? (not Homoculus)(Just a speculation on my part,becuase Greed did seem pretty shocked when he saw an old Wrath)

Yes, he is a full-fledged Homunculus Mark 2000 Type IX whereas Greed might be a Homunculus Mark 1800 Type II . It is quite likely that if the Father decided to make another Homunculus, it would be a model better than Wrath, almost a superhuman (whatever a human can do, that model should be able to do it and better and more as well).

[Rattus]

i.e. Gates of Hell (not the Gate that Ed saw when he encounters the Truth).

Damn Absolutely no clue as to what the master plan is all about (tho it needs special human sacrifices... every "candidate" so far has been an alchemist, haven't they? I can't remember if it's only been alchemists that have seen "the truth", but I suspect not, I think Roy was named as a potential sacrifice at some point.

Maybe the manga/anime masterplan is different... the anime sins don't seem too interested in keeping the Elrics alive, other than pushing them towards the philosophers stone.

[Yebyosh]

Originally Posted by Rattus

Damn Absolutely no clue as to what the master plan is all about (tho it needs special human sacrifices... every "candidate" so far has been an alchemist, haven't they? I can't remember if it's only been alchemists that have seen "the truth", but I suspect not, I think Roy was named as a potential sacrifice at some point.

So far the people "nominated" as Human Sacrifices are

1. Tim Marcoh (Chp 8)
2. Alphonse (Chp 31)
3. Izumi (Chp 31)
4. Roy Mustang (Chp 34)

Hmmm... did I leave anyone out...
Anyway, note that they are pretty talented Alchemists... (also that material body seems to be not a requirement)

Originally Posted by Rattus

Maybe the manga/anime masterplan is different... the anime sins don't seem too interested in keeping the Elrics alive, other than pushing them towards the philosophers stone.

With the way the anime had been going for quite some time, I would certainly say they are different.

[Inuzuka]

Originally Posted by Inuzuka

Questions,(This may be irrelavent to this threafd sa my questions are to do with previous chapters)
1.Greed-Can he feel the pain when he is attacked by people in his normal form?
2.Wrath mentioned how he got to 'this' position(President/king)when he was 'killing' Greed,so does his position and power have anything to do with his Sharingan?(haha)
3.Did wrath adopt his son?
4.Why does Greed say that Envy was a 'inferior' creation?(Was i because he really was?Or did he(Greed) want to piss him off?)
5.Wrath-A)Why can Wrath age?
B)Is Wrath really a Homoculus?(Just a speculation on my part,becuase Greed did seem pretty shocked when he saw an old Wrath)

6.Sins-Why did 'father' make Greed to be so greedy?If so,does this imply that the various Sins also have main personality traits that have similarity to their names?

Originally Posted by Yebyosh

Quite likely yes, he was. In the way that a prototype is considered inferior to a newer model. I suspect that Envy is the first Homunculus created by the Father. The telling evidence being that his siblings do not know what his/her real form is (though one wonders why the Father doesn't bother to tell Envy... perhaps he is taking amusement at his creation's misfortune or he couldn't care less?).

-Sadism?
(*Thanks for answering my first 5 questions,Yebyosh and Rattus.And thanks,in advance as well for answering the sixth.*)

[Rattus]

I'm pretty sure Ed has been nominated too, by way of Envy after the 5th Laborotory incident.

[Fighter Volk]

I think what Yebyosh said about Envy being the first would make sense - not only for the 'forgotten original form' reason - but also, remember when Greed called Envy inferior? This may be because Father was still experimenting and didn't perfect the art until, say, Gluttony or Greed.

[Antonik]

Where can i get the manga?