The Fall 2023 Manga Guide

Fullmetal Alchemist 20th Anniversary Book

What's It About? 

Celebrate the legacy of Fullmetal Alchemist with this tribute to the iconic manga about two brothers' quest to reclaim their bodies torn apart by alchemy. This collection contains all of author Hiromu Arakawa's companion manga drawn to commemorate the series' adaptation to other media, as well as extensive reflections from Arakawa and the talented individuals who brought Fullmetal Alchemist vividly to life in anime, film, video games, novels, and more.

Fullmetal Alchemist 20th Anniversary Book has a story and art by Hiromu Arakawa. Translation by Jan Mitsuko Cash, with touch-up and lettering done by Steve Dutro. Translation for Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Four-Panel Comics is by Lillian Diaz-Przybyl with touch-up and lettering by Jeannie Lee and design by Adam Grano. Editing is by Hope Donovan. Published by Viz Media (October 24, 2023).

Is It Worth Reading?

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Rating:

Fullmetal Alchemist 20th Anniversary Book is hard to appreciate in a vacuum as it is more akin to a collector's edition that you would find in a bookstore or online. While chapters in this book harken back to the main Fullmetal Alchemist manga series, they're not a necessary read, with many of them acting as in-between chapters or “what if” scenarios. Some chapters are just short strips ripped right from the original publications. Some of them build off of previously established material from the original manga, like the chapter that focuses on Ed and Al's teacher training to be an alchemist, inspiring her rather brutal teaching methods. The book's first chapter is also a harrowing and dark reflection of what Ed and Al personally went through. Everything else in between, though, are little excerpts and interviews with various staff that worked on different elements of the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.

Fullmetal Alchemist is a classic that holds up tremendously well to this day. There was a time when it dominated almost every major anime-related forum on the internet. As a fan myself, there is a lot of novelty in flipping through this to remember about a time when I watched the original 2003 anime when it was airing on Adult Swim when I collected and read the original manga in high school, and when I got excited with the rest of the anime community when Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood came out. It was nice reading up on what the manga's author and the different production staff members thought about the series as a whole.

My favorite section was when creator Hiromu Arakawa reflected on what it was like experiencing her work adapted into animated form during both instances and how the animation staff added to the material she already laid out. If you're someone like me who grew up with this franchise, this is worth adding to your collection or library. Who knows, it might make you sit down and rewatch the series again after so long.