Hiromu Arakawa

About

Hiromu Arakawa (荒川 弘, Arakawa Hiromu; born May 8, 1973) is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known as the creator of the manga series Fullmetal Alchemist (2001–2010), which became a hit both domestically and internationally, and was adapted into two anime television series. She is also known for Silver Spoon (2011–2019), the manga adaptation of The Heroic Legend of Arslan novels (since 2013), and Daemons of the Shadow Realm (since 2021).

== Early life ==
Born on May 8, 1973, in Tokachi, Hokkaidō, Japan, Arakawa was born and raised on a dairy farm with three elder sisters and a younger brother. She aspired to be a manga artist from an early age. Throughout her school years, she would often draw on her textbooks. After graduating high school, she took oil painting classes once a month for seven years while working on her family’s farm. During this time, she also created dōjinshi manga with her friends and drew yonkoma for a magazine. Arakawa moved to Tokyo in the summer of 1999.

== Career ==
Arakawa began her career in the manga world as an assistant to Hiroyuki Etō, author of Enix’s Mahōjin Guru Guru. Her own manga Stray Dog was published in Enix’s Monthly Shōnen Gangan in 1999. Stray…