Hiromu Arakawa facts for kids

Hiromu Arakawa (荒川 弘, Arakawa Hiromu, born May 8, 1973) is a famous Japanese manga artist. She is best known for creating the popular manga series Fullmetal Alchemist (from 2001 to 2010). This series became a huge hit in Japan and around the world. It was even made into two anime TV shows. She is also well-known for her manga Silver Spoon (from 2011 to 2019) and her manga version of The Heroic Legend of Arslan novels.

About Hiromu Arakawa

Hiromu Arakawa was born on May 8, 1973, in Hokkaido, Japan. She grew up on a dairy farm with her three older sisters and a younger brother. Arakawa dreamed of becoming a manga artist from a young age. During her school years, she often drew pictures in her textbooks. After finishing high school, she took oil painting classes once a month for seven years. At the same time, she worked on her family's farm. She also created her own fan-made manga, called dōjinshi, with her friends. She drew short, four-panel comics, known as yonkoma, for a magazine.

Starting Her Manga Career

In the summer of 1999, Arakawa moved to Tokyo. She began her career by working for Square Enix and helping another manga artist, Hiroyuki Etō. Her first published work was Stray Dog in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine in 1999. Stray Dog won an award called the 21st Century "Shōnen Gangan" Award. In 2000, she published one chapter of Shanghai Yōmakikai in the same magazine.

The Success of Fullmetal Alchemist

In July 2001, Arakawa started publishing Fullmetal Alchemist in Monthly Shōnen Gangan. This series had 108 chapters and finished in July 2010. All the chapters were collected into twenty-seven books. Many people say that Arakawa's art style and writing in Fullmetal Alchemist make the story's serious themes even stronger.

Fullmetal Alchemist was made into two different anime series by the studio Bones. When the first anime was being made, Arakawa helped with the early ideas. However, she was not involved in writing the script. Because of this, the first anime has a different ending than the manga, which Arakawa developed later. The series won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen (boys' manga) category in 2004.

When the second anime was nearing its end, Arakawa shared her plans for the manga's ending with the director. This allowed both the manga and the second anime to finish around the same time. Reviewers often point out differences between the manga and the anime. They say the manga is more "emotional," while the anime can be more playful. Arakawa's simple, darker style in the manga is different from the anime's more "cartoony" and colorful look. Generally, the anime is often seen as suitable for younger children, while the manga is more for teens and adults.

Later Works and Family Life

Arakawa is married and has three children. She had a daughter in 2007 and her third child in January 2014.

She lives in Tokyo and has published many other works. These include Raiden-18, Sōten no Kōmori (also known as Bat in Blue Sky), and Hero Tales. For Hero Tales, Arakawa worked with Studio Flag and used the name Huang Jin Zhou. She also designed the characters for the anime version of Hero Tales. She even drew the cover for the Japanese edition of the novel The Demon's Lexicon.

In April 2011, Arakawa started a new series called Silver Spoon in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday. Instead of creating another fantasy story like Fullmetal Alchemist, Arakawa wanted to challenge herself with a more realistic story. Silver Spoon quickly became one of Shogakukan's best-selling titles. An anime series based on it began airing in July 2013. Also in July 2013, she started her manga version of Yoshiki Tanaka's The Heroic Legend of Arslan novels. This series is published in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine.

Arakawa began her latest manga series, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, in Monthly Shōnen Gangan on December 10, 2021.

What Influenced Her Work

Arakawa says that Suihō Tagawa, who created Norakuro, is the "root of [her] style as an artist." She also learned how to arrange pictures and draw while helping Hiroyuki Etō. Other artists she looks up to include Rumiko Takahashi, Shigeru Mizuki, and the creators of Kinnikuman, Yudetamago. She is also a fan of Mike Mignola's art. Many people think Fullmetal Alchemist has elements of steampunk, a style that mixes old technology with fantasy.

List of Works

• Stray Dog (1999)
• Shanghai Yōmakikai (上海妖魔鬼怪, lit. Ghost Demons of Shanghai) (2000)
• Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, lit. Alchemist of Steel) (2001–2010)
• Raiden-18 (2005–2021)
• Sōten no Kōmori (蒼天の蝙蝠, lit. A Bat In Blue Sky) (2006)
• Hero Tales (獣神演武, Jūshin Enbu) (2006–2010)
• Hyakushō Kizoku (百姓貴族, lit. The Noble Farmer) (2006–present)
• Silver Spoon (銀の匙, Gin no Saji) (2011–2019)
• The Heroic Legend of Arslan (アルスラーン戦記, Arusurān Senki, lit. Arslan War Records) (2013–present)
• Daemons of the Shadow Realm (黄泉のツガイ, Yomi no Tsugai, lit. The Hinge of the Underworld) (2021–present)

Awards She Has Won

• 1999: 9th 21st Century Enix Award for Stray Dog
• 2003: 49th Shogakukan Manga Award, Shōnen category for Fullmetal Alchemist
• 2011: 15th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, "New Artist Prize" category.
• 2011: 42nd Seiun Award, "Best Science Fiction Comic" category for Fullmetal Alchemist
• 2012: 5th Manga Taishō Award for Silver Spoon
• 2012: 58th Shogakukan Manga Award, Shōnen category for Silver Spoon

See also

In Spanish: Hiromu Arakawa para niños