Where to Start with Hiromu Arakawa
— Fullmetal Alchemist or Silver Spoon

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If you are reading Hiromu Arakawa for the first time, open volume 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist. Aim for volume 6 to begin with. That is where the full story of “that day,” when the brothers broke the taboo, comes out, so you will know whether it suits you without planning on all 27 volumes.

It is easy to get lost. In Japan, the finished Fullmetal Alchemist runs to 27 volumes and Silver Spoon to 15. The ongoing Daemons of the Shadow Realm (Yomi no Tsugai) has reached 13, The Heroic Legend of Arslan 25 and the essay manga Hyakushō Kizoku 9. Those five alone add up to 89 books. This year has also been busy. The first season of the Daemons TV anime ended in September 2026, a second season has been announced, and volume 14 is due in Japan on November 12. Arslan volume 25 came out in Japan on October 8, and Hyakushō Kizoku volume 9 on April 24.

The best places to start

Pick the starting point closest to what you are in the mood for. You do not need to follow everything in order.

If you cannot decide, we recommend Fullmetal Alchemist. It is finished, so there is no waiting for the ending, and the plot is clear: two brothers set out on a journey to win back what they lost.

Books that are easy to mix up

With Arakawa’s work, going by the title alone can get you the wrong book. Here are the common mix-ups first.

Fullmetal Alchemist: volume 6 tells you if it’s for you

Fullmetal Alchemist ran in Monthly Shōnen Gangan from the August 2001 issue to the July 2010 issue, for 108 chapters. Two brothers fail at human transmutation while trying to bring their dead mother back to life, and set out on a journey to get their own bodies back. In English, Viz Media published all 27 volumes under the same numbers, from May 3, 2005, to December 20, 2011 (English release dates).

If you watched the anime, it depends which one

There are two TV anime, and their stories differ. If you have “seen the Fullmetal Alchemist anime,” check which one you saw.

If you have only seen the 2003 series, part of the manga is a story you do not know. Reading from volume 1 shows you exactly where the two split. There are also two anime films. Conqueror of Shamballa (2005) concludes the 2003 series, and The Sacred Star of Milos (2011) takes place around chapter 45 of the manga, according to Japanese Wikipedia. The live-action films are the first one from 2017 and the two final parts from 2022, The Revenge of Scar and The Final Alchemy. In Japan, the Fullmetal Alchemist 20th Anniversary Book is there for after you finish reading.

Silver Spoon: the first peak comes by volume 4

Silver Spoon ran in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from issue 19 of 2011 to issue 52 of 2019. It is a story set at an agricultural high school in Hokkaido. Yuugo Hachiken flees a private middle school in Sapporo for Ooezo Agricultural High School, where farm work and dorm life throw him around. According to Japanese Wikipedia, the school is modeled on Obihiro Agricultural High School, and the story is said to draw heavily on Arakawa’s own experience.

The serialization became irregular from 2014, and volume 14 came out in August 2017 and the final volume 15 in February 2020. All the books are available now, so there is no need to wait the way readers did then. In English, Yen Press published all 15 volumes under the same numbers, from February 27, 2018, to September 22, 2020 (English release dates). If you buy used Japanese copies, note that some volumes, such as volume 3, also came in special editions with a silver spoon. The TV anime aired in 2013 and 2014, 11 episodes each, and a live-action film came out in 2014.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm: start at volume 1

Daemons of the Shadow Realm (Yomi no Tsugai in Japanese) has been running in Monthly Shōnen Gangan since the January 2022 issue. It follows Yuru, a boy living in a village deep in the mountains, and his twin sister Asa, who carries out a “duty” inside a cell. When the village is attacked, Yuru heads into the outside world.

In English, Square Enix Manga & Books publishes the series under the same volume numbers. Volume 1 came out on April 25, 2023, and volume 11 on August 11, 2026, so 11 volumes are out as of November 8, 2026. Volume 12 is scheduled for January 12, 2027 (all English release dates).

The first season of the TV anime aired for 24 episodes from April 4 to September 19, 2026, and a second season has been announced. We could not find an official statement of how far into the manga the first season went. If you are looking for where the anime leaves off, the safe choice is to start from volume 1 and treat the first few volumes as a reread. In Japan, volume 6 also came in a special edition with a booklet.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan: match it to the novels

Arakawa’s The Heroic Legend of Arslan adapts the novels by Yoshiki Tanaka and has been running in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine since the August 2013 issue. Arslan, a 14-year-old crown prince who loses the royal capital in a defeat, gathers companions and tries to win his country back. Chapter 1 is a prologue that is not in the novels.

For readers who have read the novels first, here is the correspondence given on Japanese Wikipedia. One novel works out to about three volumes of the manga, and volumes 12 and 15 each cover parts of two novels. The novel titles below are romanized from the Japanese.

We could not confirm the correspondence after volume 19, so it is not listed. The novels run to 16 volumes in Japan, with part one through volume 7 and part two from volume 8. If you just want to try it, volume 3, the end of Ōto Enjō, is a good stopping point. In English, Kodansha USA began publishing the manga in print and digitally on August 19, 2014, and the English Wikipedia volume list uses the same numbers as Japan. The latest English volume we could confirm is volume 23 (September 2026). The TV anime is based on Arakawa’s version: 25 episodes in 2015 and the 8-episode Dust Storm Dance in 2016.

Hyakushō Kizoku fits in between any other series

Hyakushō Kizoku (literally “The Noble Farmer”) is an essay manga about Arakawa’s real experience of farming in Hokkaido for seven years before becoming a manga artist. It began in Un Poco in 2006 and moved to Wings after that magazine stopped. It is not a continuing story, so you can read one book between long series. Some topics overlap with Silver Spoon, so the two are fun side by side.

JManga published it digitally in English in 2012, but that service announced its closure in March 2013, and we could not confirm a current English edition, so a search on Amazon.com may turn up only Japanese editions. Watch out for volume 8.1 if you are buying print. It is a book with a DVD released in April 2025, and the e-book holds only its booklet. If you are reading the main run in order, volume 9 comes after volume 8. The TV anime ran for three seasons from 2023 to 2025, and a fourth has been announced.

Fullmetal Alchemist: which edition to buy

Fullmetal Alchemist has the most editions of any Arakawa work. If you are unsure, we recommend the standard edition in 27 volumes. The tables in this guide use its numbers.

The breaks differ from edition to edition, so do not switch editions partway through. The exception is the 3-in-1 edition, which keeps the standard edition’s order three volumes at a time.

If you have room for more

When you finish, go back to the roots

Hiromu Arakawa was born in Hokkaido in 1973 and grew up on a farm with dairy cows and crops. After Obihiro Agricultural High School, Arakawa spent seven years helping with the family business while continuing to submit work. In 1999, “Stray Dog” won the grand prize at the 9th Enix 21st Century Manga Awards (listed on English Wikipedia as the 9th 21st Century Enix Award), leading to a debut in Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Arakawa has cited respect for the manga artist Suihō Tagawa. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Fullmetal Alchemist, and from August to September an exhibition combining it with Daemons of the Shadow Realm was held at Matsuya Ginza in Tokyo.

Whichever starting point you choose, one book is enough to begin. If it’s tonight, open volume 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist. The first book will tell you what the brothers lost.