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Hiromu Arakawa

Author of Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 1

306+ Works 22,460 Members 265 Reviews 20 Favorited

About the Author

Series

Works by Hiromu Arakawa

Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 1 (2002) 1,778 copies
Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 2 (2002) — Author — 1,074 copies
Fullmetal Alchemist (3-in-1 Edition), Volume 1 (2002) — Author — 444 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 1 (2011) 156 copies
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 1: Ecbatana Is Burning (2014) — Illustrator — 134 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 2 (1662) 95 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 3 (2011) 85 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 4 (2011) 81 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 5 (2010) 72 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 6 (2013) 69 copies
Hero Tales, Volume 1 (2007) — Illustrator — 66 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 7 (2013) 64 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 8 (2013) 62 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 9 (2013) 61 copies
The Heroic Legend Of Arslan, Volume 5: Internal Conflicts (2016) — Illustrator — 57 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 11 (2011) 56 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 10 (2011) 55 copies
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 6: Blood Ties (2016) — Illustrator — 55 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 12 (2014) 51 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 13 (2015) 46 copies
Silver Spoon, Volume 14 (2017) 43 copies
Hero Tales, Volume 2 (2008) — Illustrator — 40 copies
Hero Tales, Volume 3 (2008) — Illustrator — 36 copies
Fullmetal Alchemist Box Set (1672) 35 copies
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 12: Pars Is Burning (2020) — Illustrator — 34 copies
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 10: Tremors Of Truth (2019) — Illustrator — 32 copies
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 15: Only One Shah (2021) — Illustrator — 24 copies
Hero Tales, Volume 4 (2009) — Illustrator — 23 copies
Hero Tales, Volume 5 (2010) — Illustrator — 15 copies
Fullmetal Alchemist #07 (2007) 5 copies
SILVER SPOON T.15 (2020) 4 copies
Fullmetal Alchemist 26 (2012) 2 copies
Fullmetal alchemist. 3 (2007) 2 copies
Fullmetal Alchemist (2005) 2 copies
Das Band der Unterwelt 03 (2023) 2 copies
Fullmetal Alchemist 09 (2007) 2 copies
The ancient magus bride 4 (2017) 2 copies
三国志魂 上 (2012) 1 copy
Full Metal Alchemist (2017) 1 copy
Stray Dog 1 copy

Associated Works

The Land of Sand (2005) — Illustrator, some editions — 222 copies

Tagged

action (518) adventure (352) alchemy (757) anime (154) brothers (152) comedy (107) comics (458) ebook (79) fantasy (1,594) fiction (795) FMA (151) Fullmetal Alchemist (860) graphic novel (531) graphic novels (380) Hiromu Arakawa (175) humor (69) Japan (92) Japanese (243) magic (178) manga (5,795) manga: shounen (73) military (215) Philosopher's Stone (88) read (480) science fantasy (124) science fiction (383) series (174) seven deadly sins (71) shounen (1,352) shounenmanga (69) slice of life (68) steampunk (433) série Full Metal Alchemist (74) to-read (291) translation (96) unread (79) Viz (408) war (66) YA (97) young adult (146)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Arakawa, Hiromu
Legal name
荒川弘
Arakawa, Hiromi
Birthdate
1973-05-08
Gender
female
Nationality
Japan
Country (for map)
Japan
Birthplace
Tokachi, Hokkaidō, Japan
Places of residence
Hokkaido, Japan
Tokyo, Japan
Occupations
dairy farmer
illustrator
writer
Organizations
Square Enix
Awards and honors
Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (New Artist, 2011)

Members

Reviews

The death of the Colonel guy was very contrived, especially with the wife and kid and it being shortly after his daughter's birthday. I laughed at his funereal lol.

Still, the volume was very funny so I'll give it that. The little brother asking his older brother if his memories were artificial was sweet, but their reasoning on why they aren't is because they "feel" real and I'm not fully convinced by that. For a series on transmutations (alchemy), I'm surprised at how much of an anti-transhumanism stance the author has.… (more)
 
Flagged
AvANvN | 7 other reviews | Nov 3, 2023 |
I enjoyed reading this manga, but it does paint a rather brutal depiction of life, despite the pleasant countryside. This accurately shows what rural people must endure, caricatured as a close, ragtag, and hardy bunch.

- You can't think about what your dream is, it comes naturally. Even when you have a dream and the means to achieve it, you also need the resolve to go through with it. Those without a dream, who do not have the resolve to pursue any ambition, will live like the runt of the litter: no longer fighting, acquiescing to small, lowly positions.
- A meaningful life isn't defined by how much energy you put into it, but by the number of contributions you've made. Hachiken, a city boy, invested too much energy into is studies and was burnt out from having a dream; Komaba has a dream of going to college and being a baseball player, but his family can't afford such ambitions and he needs to tend his family's farm as her single-mother solely supports it. They also use this reasoning to support the efficiency of factory farming as, even when a chicken can no longer lay eggs, they are still used for their meat.
- We are thrown into the world by chance, to either be useful or killed. Still though, there are some that leave many great contributions and are loved by all.
… (more)
 
Flagged
AvANvN | 2 other reviews | Oct 14, 2023 |
I'm either too dumb or there's no way to stitch a theme out of these stories. Each chapter of this volume (and really, all of the volumes so far) offered short, episodic fables and it is hard to derive a greater sense of meaning out of them altogether. Personally, I like my stories to be meaningful. I don't hate this but I wish it was more.

- Engineers and scientists tease each other for being different types of nerds
- People profit off of suffering. For every limb blown in war, a prosthetic is produced; for every serial murderer, a detective anticipates their promotion. "Turn misfortune into gain."
- You should have self-confidence and persevere! Even if you don't believe you have talent, the fact that you are still trying is a talent in itself!
… (more)
 
Flagged
AvANvN | 9 other reviews | Sep 9, 2023 |
I liked this more than volume 1, but I'm not sure how to feel about it. The overall point of this volume showcases the weakness of us, faulty humans. We can be ignorant and hurt others, and even those of science are not above these shortcomings. It made for a decent read but I wouldn't consider it ground-breaking, personally-touching material.

- Scientists are not the government's dogs or the devil, they are simply human beings. They have shortcomings and regrets: militaristic creations, costing the lives of many people; human testing for the desperate sake of results; and defying the laws of science to return what was lost.
- Everything falls under the laws of science. Science is a part of reality, and thus death is a part of science.
- Certain evangelics despise science as unnaturally architecting God's world. This may play into the idea that humans are foolish as they easily succumb to dogma and bloodshed. History repeats itself.
- To be alive means to have an opportunity to improve the lives of others. To abandon your life so willingly is beyond forgiveness.
- Military is a scam where you're lured by its benefits, but find that you must become a human weapon.
… (more)
 
Flagged
AvANvN | 17 other reviews | Sep 9, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

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Amy Forsyth Translator
Akira Watanabe Translator
Yuko Keller Translator
Jan Lukas Kuhn Translator
Markus Lange Translator

Statistics

Works
306
Also by
1
Members
22,460
Popularity
#944
Rating
½ 4.3
Reviews
265
ISBNs
783
Languages
16
Favorited
20
Touchstones
96

Charts & Graphs