Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga anthology magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan between July 2001 and June 2010; the publisher later collected the individual chapters in 27 tankōbon volumes.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.