Contains spoilers for Daemons of the Shadow Realm chapter 9!
The latest series from Fullmetal Alchemist's mangaka Hiromu Arakawa, now known in English as Daemons of the Shadow Realm, bears a few similarities to her most famous work, but its newest chapter has taken one of that series' most iconic moments and flipped everything about it - even visually.
Since both Fullmetal Alchemist and Daemons of the Shadow Realm are action-based fantasy manga, they're bound to share some things in common, and that goes double for Arakawa's trademark themes of family, perseverance, and sacrifice. While FMA was about two brothers, Daemons tells the tale of a pair of twins, the girl Asa and the boy Yuru. Both stories start in a small, bucolic town and involve their protagonists striking out on their own after a traumatic incident, unsure of who to trust and caught between groups vying for their allegiance.
In Fullmetal Alchemist, after an attempt to revive their dead mother with alchemy goes awry, similar to Ed's experience in Fullmetal Alchemist: she was captured and killed by assassins trying to bring about a prophecy centered on the twins, which led her to a strange metaphysical place.
In a void of pure black, she follows a path of bleached-white bones which lead her to a giant, floating skull, where she meets a being who offers her a second chance at life. This being, known as Break, has a particular power it is willing to entrust Asa with, but this will make her an even greater target to those who would use it for their own evil ends (and indeed, this power is why she was killed. Accepting this as the only way to return to life, she is able to use the power to kill her captors and escape.
Break's World, which is said to be at the border between life and death, bears quite a few similarities to the Gate of Truth. Break is stark white, giving him a sharp contrast with the black void, quite like the Truth. While Ed wound up at the Gate trying to save Al after their own mistake, Asa meets Break and makes her deal to save herself and hopefully prevent Yuru from meeting the same fate. Truth wasn't exactly malicious, but it certainly wasn't an ally; Break, on the other hand, seems a bit more trustworthy, if only because it seems to pity Asa's situation. The chapter also establishes that there's another similar being named Seal, which has some prophesied connection to Yuru.
So far, Daemons of the Shadow Realm has maintained a lot of what fans loved about Fullmetal Alchemist, while still establishing a distinctly different setting, tone, and world. This new contrast offers a solid connection between the two franchise's beginnings, so it'll be fascinating to see how and where the story now spins off in its own way. With an official English release now underway, international fans of Fullmetal Alchemist can finally give Daemons of the Shadow Realm a try, and decide for themselves if it still has everything they loved about Hiromu Arakawa's work.
