Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

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If you've played Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, this manga is a must-read masterpiece. If you haven't... well, let's just say don't even try. It won't make any sense at all.

It's a manga adaptation of that Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu for the SNES, so it takes the characters and the plotline and tells it all at a fluid and steady pace, with plenty of Romance to go around and excellent character design and development. Overall the art isn't the best I've seen, but it remains true to the game characters, so that's nice. Plotwise, the plot of Seisen is incredibly confusing, and even after ... playing the game I can't really follow it entirely, BUT this manga more than makes up for that with engaging character moments.

Seisen is famous for its "Lover" system, and the manga capitalizes on that. Characters do pair off with one other person, so... you might be disappointed who they end up with, or you might be thrilled. Personally, this manga made me fall in love with certain pairings, but there are others I wish had gotten more attention.

I am eagerly anticipating Generation 2!

Premise: this review only covers the 1st generation.

As far as videogame adaptations are concerned, this manga is a masterpiece in my opinion. Aside from adapting the game extremely well, it expands upon the story and its characters, also making most side characters and villains (even those who didn't deserve it) more sympathetic. This is especially true in the case of figures such as Lachesis and Levin, who undergo some of the best character development I've ever seen in manga, establishing them as my favourites in this adaptation.
A nice little touch I love is how the author found creative ways to deal with some of the ... enemy leaders, other than the game's repetitive 'kill boss, conquer castle' approach.

The story itself is a mess, but if you get to understand it, it's all the more enjoyable.
Yes, there are those incest undertones and a whole arc dedicated to it, however, this is FE 4, so it was to be expected. Besides, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like how they handled the Eldigan-Lachesis subplot; if you really don't mind the incest topic, then their story will hit you as hard as Cuan hits enemies in-game: like a truck (which is what happened to me); otherwise, you'll just be turned away.
Unlike the game, where you get to decide the romantic pairings except 2 of them (won't spoil which ones I'm talking about), there are 'set couples' in the manga (this was unavoidable), some which you may like, others which might not exactly be your cup of tea.

Where the story of the first generation really reaches it's climax though, is its ending: I'm not going to spoil anything major, but I'll just say that this is where the whole theme of characters struggling against their own destiny unfolds in a spectacular fashion. Despite all he's been through and all he's lost, or maybe exactly because of that, Sigurd still doesn't resign himself to his fate, and instead draws his sword like a total badass! Definitely an improved version of the game's gen 1 ending.

Overall, this manga is currently my favourite, and a must-read for people who've played the game and, why not, for those who haven't, too; it will all add to your surprise value.