'Fullmetal Alchemist' Releasing Completed Art Book in U.S.

Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the most popular manga and anime series out there, [...]

By Nick Valdez

Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the most popular manga and anime series out there, and soon fans will have a brand new way to enjoy the series even more.

Viz Media will soon be releasing a special art book for the series collecting over 280 pages of illustrations and other cool art.

Viz Media will be releasing The Complete Art of Fullmetal Alchemist on November 13, and it's going to be something fans of the series want not only for its massive collection of art, but also has a great front cover featuring many of the series' favorites that would look great on a bookshelf or coffee table. UPDATE: The book is available to pre-order on Amazon now.

With this artbook finally getting an English language release, this will be yet another celebration of the fan-favorite series. The franchise also got a live-action adaptation earlier this year. The film can now be found streaming on Netflix, but the film wasn't well received across the board. It was incredibly popular with fans, but critics of the film found it to be trying too hard to encompass as much of the series' original material as possible. Still, this artbook will be a refreshing way to absorb Arakawa's great art.

Fullmetal Alchemist was originallycreated by Hiromu Arakawa for Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine in 2001. The story follows two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who learn alchemy in order to bring back their deceased mother. After a terrible miscalculation, however, the two brothers pay a terrible price with Alphonse even losing his body and linking his soul to a suit of armor. As the two boys search for an alchemy that will restore their bodies to their original forms, they join the military and deal with a whole host of new political, ethical, and moral issues.

Bones' first attempt in 2003 successfully ran for 51 episodes, but was marred by fans for its pacing issues and deviations from the original source. Bones produced a more faithful adaptation in 2009 with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and most fans assumed the live-action film would parallel this series since it was pretty much beat for beat with the original source.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.

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