What Fire Emblem mangas have you read (and did you enjoy them)

[Jotari]

So as I've noted on some other threads, I've recently read the 12 volume Shadow Dragon manga (or rather Book 1 Mystery despite the name) by Maki Hakoda. And I really enjoyed it. We have a thread about remaking Shadow Dragon again and the only reason that is an idea anyone would consider is because we've never really seen the Archanean characters act out their own story. It's always been a somewhat minamilist approach. Well this manga delivers on that concept. Characters have arcs, confront villains in one on one battles, strategize taking key points and scheme against the heroes. It has a lot of really great ideas adapting the game and isn't lacking in fanservice. Two examples in particular I liked is some references to Gaiden's magic system and whenever characters strategize over a map it's a recreation of the chapter maps from the game. I'd really recommend it for Archanea fans who haven't tried it. The whole thing can be downloaded from Serenes. Unfortunately the story ends when Marth reclaims Altea, which is a shame as I feel the author put a lot of effort into building up Michalis in particular (who is mostly all tell and no show in the games). Also would have been nice to have seen Tiki.

The only other Fire Emblem manga I've read is the Gaiden one shot. Which is a bit scattered. They tried to squeeze the entire story into one volume which makes it a pretty dense and confusing read. It is interesting to see how people saw the characters of Gaiden back in 1993 though.

If I were to guess, it seems the most popular Fire Emblem mangas are the Binding Blade one (which managed to get referenced in the actual Binding Blade via some weapons) and two different (?) Genealogy mangas. One I think is kind of silly and the other has loads of sex scenes? Maybe, those are my scattered memories of stuff people have said.

What Fire Emblem mangas have you read and how did you enjoy it? The series has a tonne of mangas but I feel like the community doesn't really consider them much.

[Ycine]

The only one I remember reading is the Binding Blade one.

I don't remember much of it but I do remember enjoying it. Gave me "Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken" vibe.

[indigoasis]

I've read the first half of Mitsuki Oosawa manga, the one with the sex and this phenomenal panel (minus the caption):

Spoiler

and it's pretty good. Granted, I haven't read it in at least a few years, nor have I yet to finish it since then, but I think it generally does a good job of contextualizing the relationships between characters compared to what the game was able to do, and it builds upon that pretty well. A lot of characters also end up far more fleshed out than what they were in FE4, so if you're looking for more out of certain characters than what the original game or any other supplementary material has done, then I'd give it a read.

Of course, as far as adapting FE4's pairing system, there were some pairings that were set in stone for the story, and I think the pairings chosen make sense. There were also a couple of characters from the game that were cut from the manga, as well, but it doesn't really detract from anything. Overall, though, I'd say it's a great adaptation and definitely worth checking out.

[Etrurian emperor]

I dabbled into the Genealogy manga a bit. It was decent enough and the writer had some good ideas. They had a proper handling on Azelle and Lex too. However I grew rather annoyed by the habit of making every village aside from Chagal a tragic one. It especially annoyed me with Reptor since I think it misses the point. That Reptor is capable of caring for Tailtiu to some degree and be uncomfortable about facing her, yet still being so evil and class obsessed that he spits her out regardless is one of the more interesting things about him. It shows that even Reptor has parental feelings but without it changing anything about him being a complete dirtbag. In fact that he's willing to murder Tailtiu despite loving her arguably makes him worse. 

[Jotari]

3 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I dabbled into the Genealogy manga a bit. It was decent enough and the writer had some good ideas. They had a proper handling on Azelle and Lex too. However I grew rather annoyed by the habit of making every village aside from Chagal a tragic one. It especially annoyed me with Reptor since I think it misses the point. That Reptor is capable of caring for Tailtiu to some degree and be uncomfortable about facing her, yet still being so evil and class obsessed that he spits her out regardless is one of the more interesting things about him. It shows that even Reptor has parental feelings but without it changing anything about him being a complete dirtbag. In fact that he's willing to murder Tailtiu despite loving her arguably makes him worse. 

You said villages instead of villain XD

Honestly of all the villains in Genealogy Chagall is probably one of them that should be seen as most tragic. He's still a villain, of course, bastard killed his father and started picking the fight with Sigurd. But by Chapter 3 he is facing the destruction of his country in the face of an expansionist empire that is already occupying and abusing half his country and offers nothing but false promises for freedom.

[King Marth 64]

I did read the finished reading the Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Manga, Gaiden manga, Genealogy Manga (it was called "Light Inheritor" that mainly focuses on Seliph), and the Binding Blade Manga. I did left off the Genealogy Manga (the one done by Oosawa) and the other one that is a 4koma version, I haven't finished reading the other ones.

Edited July 12, 2023 by King Marth 64

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, King Marth 64 said:

I did read the finished reading the Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Manga, Gaiden manga, Genealogy Manga (it was called "Light Inheritor" that mainly focuses on Seliph), and the Binding Blade Manga. I did left off the Genealogy Manga (the one done by Oosawa) and the other one that is a 4koma version, I haven't finished reading the other ones.

Which did you like best?

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I have vague memories of skimming through the FE6 prequel thing on the night I first heard of its existence. I think I'd be more interested in any supplementary materials for the Kaga games though. Did Echoes have anything? Could have been a way of introducing the mysterious paladin Conrad without giving away his identity. Dude needed more context.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Zapp Branniglenn

[Magenta Fantasies]

I’ve read the Fates and Awakening 4koma manga, and while I somewhat enjoyed them, they’re hit or miss in both art and writing.

I’ve also read The Crown of Nibelung, a Fates manga that stars Leo. It took me a long time to find it, and it was a forgettable letdown. Both the art and the writing were underwhelming. I really like Leo, but his perspective doesn’t add much insight to the story. I would’ve rather read a manga about Conquest’s storyline from his perspective than Revelation’s. Also, I was incredibly disappointed with how almost everyone else in the cast is ignored and only has a few appearances. Elise gets the worst treatment; I hated seeing her de-aged and how she became useless in the story. I forget if Felicia, Flora, Lilith and Jakob even appeared for more than a cameo. Even Corrin doesn’t feel that important to her own story. Most of the interesting events happen off-page and Leo hears about them in passing. There are some interesting bits of worldbuilding scattered throughout (e.g. Nohr is going through a famine, and sorcerors are trying different spells to make the ground more fertile,) but it doesn’t make up for the overall blandness of this manga.

 

I didn’t know there was a Shadow Dragon manga until very recently (and that it was hosted on Serenes Forest, no less!) I’m currently on Volume 3 and I’m really enjoying it. I always liked the Archanea cast, so it’s satisfying to see them get their own character arcs and side scenes. I particularly liked Merric’s arc and the side scenes with Julian and Rickard. I’m not sure why those two were de-aged, but unlike with Elise, it weirdly doesn’t bother me. Julian and Rickard becoming younger doesn’t detract from what I like them. They’re still a great comic relief duo.

[Etrurian emperor]

All in all I don't think any Fire Emblem manga is up to snuff. There are some good ideas in each one but most of them are kinda ''B tier'' manga who don't quite get the budget or quality to reach their potential. There's also some really weird decisions on what Fire Emblems get a manga and which ones don't. 

Genealogy has some very good character moments but the theme undercuts the manga. If any Fire Emblem should not have the theme that every villain(minus chagal) is a tragic one then it would be Genealogy. 

Gaiden is a weird case. The era of Gaiden where the characters were all blank slate did have a manga, but the adaption where Echoes got a fleshed out cast didn't get a manga for some reason. It did get a ''gag manga'' but that's not quite the same. To some extend that goes for Shadow Dragon too. No manga seems to have made use of the more crystallized characterizations the DS era gave the Archeneans. Though the original manga being pretty decent might have made that less of a priority. 

I can't imagine what the idea behind the Binding Blade Manga was. It seems perfectly decent but a Binding Blade manga that focuses on some weird oc that barely crosses over with the main cast is bizarre. It had a very nice depiction of Chad but that just reinforces the idea that maybe going for the regular cast was the better option.

Engage's manga has the most ''B tier'' feel to it. The events all seeming so intensely rushed implies its written on a shoe string budget. 

The Tellius games are very weird absentees for a manga adaption. POR is pretty much a shonen story already so if any FE made perfect sense for a manga its POR.

Even weirder then Tellius is Three Houses. Its about as big as Fire Emblem has ever been, with a cast that most fans would beg to see further explored but for some reason a manga never came. Having a slice of life manga detailing school life and missions would both flesh out the cast, make use of the school setting and avoid pesky choices about which route the manga would take. Three Houses seemed tailor made for a side manga but for some odd reason that was the game Nintendo decided to skip on.

The reliance on gag manga's reek of wasted potential too. The 3ds era when Fire Emblem really caught fire saw each of its game get a gag manga rather than anything more substantial. I get that its probably cheaper and more efficient to have such a manga, but its also inherently limiting. Awakening, Fates and the aforementioned Echoes could all benefit from a real manga adaption covering some events rather then several chapters of ''lol Conrad's a dork behind the mask!'' in a row. 

 

4 hours ago, Magenta Fantasies said:

I’ve also read The Crown of Nibelung, a Fates manga that stars Leo. It took me a long time to find it, and it was a forgettable letdown. Both the art and the writing were underwhelming. I really like Leo, but his perspective doesn’t add much insight to the story. I would’ve rather read a manga about Conquest’s storyline from his perspective than Revelation’s.

Artistically Leo's a very odd choice for a staring character. He's not quite on Hinoka's level but in general Leo is a much less important character to the plot than Xander and Takumi. And as Corrin's sibling he doesn't really have the most intense emotions or biggest arc to justify a particular focus on him. One of Leo's more active moment in the plot is intruding on Izumo and murdering Zola two out of three times, but precisely this scene got cut from a Leo centered manga. 

I guess some things could be done with Leo. Him maneuvering in the shadow to do the dirty work his siblings don't want to do. But the game most often expresses this in Leo's killing of Zola who doesn't appear in the Leo manga.

And if one must write a Leo manga then revelations is the worst of the three routes to pick because Leo is at his least relevant there. He doesn't as directly oppose Corrin or vents his emotions to them as in Birthright, nor is he a consistent ally as in Conquest. 

Cynically speaking Leo could have been chosen to appeal to a particular female demographic. Leo always had plenty of fangirls but he's about on par with Takumi in that regard who's bigger role in the narrative would have made him a more logical focus.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Etrurian emperor

[Acacia Sgt]

I've only skimmed them for the most part. Though the 4Koma I have read them in full. Currently I am keeping up with the Engage manga. It's very enjoyable... and it totally stole one of my fanfic ideas. 

Personally, I am more curious about the novelizations, not just the manga.

[Metal Flash]

I`ve read the Mitsuki Osawaa FE4 manga, the Awakening 4koma manga and the Fates 4koma manga.

The Osawaa manga is a mixed bag. Some of the changes are neat, like having Deirdre, Ayra and Aideen deal with Macbeth, but it also demonized Eldigan`s wife in favor of having him love his half-sister. I mostly enjoy it, but find some parts rather weird.

Meanwhile, the 4koma comics are hilarious, with some great art to boot. Enjoyed both immensely.