Hiromu Arakawa
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's "Monthly Shōnen Gangan" "shōnen" manga anthology magazine between July 2001 and June 2010; the publisher later collected the individual chapters into twenty-seven "tankōbon" volumes. The steampunk world of "Fullmetal Alchemist" is primarily styled after the European Industrial Revolution. Set in the early 20th century, in a fictional universe in which alchemy is a widely practiced science, the series follows the journey of two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are searching for the philosopher's stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life using alchemy.