The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Anime [Hardcover]

Hiromu Arakawa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2006

Fullmetal Alchemist began as a manga series in Japan and quickly exploded into a world-wide anime hit. The cool and stylish artwork of the television program has now been compiled into a prestige format, hardcover book for both collectors and fans. Art inspired by the anime, along with initial character designs, cel art, and production notes--all this plus an interview with Yoshiyuki Itoh, the character designer for the anime. Face it true believers, it doesn't get better than this!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Hokkaido (northern Japan), Hiromu Arakawa first attracted national attention in 1999 with her award-winning manga Stray Dog. Her series Fullmetal Alchemist debuted in 2001 in Square Enix's monthly manga anthology Shonen Gangan.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421507668
• ISBN-13: 978-1421507668
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #526,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I like this better than the manga art books, June 16, 2009

By 

Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Anime (Hardcover)

Length:: 0:14 Mins

This is the art book for the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist. If you're looking for the manga art book, there are The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist and The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist 2.

Full single and double page coloured character splash pages fill the book. There are no video screenshots, if there are, I must say I can't recognize them.

As the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa didn't draw any of the illustrations in this book. They are all done by the animation artists. The result is a very clean and polished look, typical of Japanese anime. Also, the colours here are more saturated, but that's got to do with the medium. As I like the anime very much, I prefer this book over the manga art books.

At the end are a few pages of line drawings with the finished frame as comparison. There is an interview with the character designer Yoshiyuki Ito.

This book is not really that expensive and I think it's worth the money if you're a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist who happens to collect art books.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice, but not as expected, October 10, 2006

By 

Angela McClelland (Wheeling, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Anime (Hardcover)

This is a gorgeous book that any fan of the anime will love, but it didn't contain what I had expected.
This book has full color illustrations in the anime style. In other words, what you have seen on posters, wallscrolls and the like. There isn't anything like screenshots, but original art in the anime style.

What I HAD been expecting where character, background, and item reference art, such as what would have been used in the production of the anime. The closest to that is a small section with lineart from art in the book, as well as a 'how they do it' section on the steps they take to make the images.

This is a book every Fullmetal fan will love, but I was just expecting a little more from the production aspect of the show, not just images they use in calanders and such.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Must Have for Fans!, December 23, 2011

By 

JMH - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Anime (Hardcover)

The book is absolutely beautiful! I was surprised when it arrived and discovered that the book was hard cover, and going at a decently low price. Although while most of the pictures are easily found on the web, it's wonderful to have them printed in good quality and the publisher's did the colors of the anime justice (this was important to me because I fell in love with the rich colors). They are beautiful and eye catching and just as richly done. Be warned for those who don't like the traditional Japanese method of reading right to left, because this is how the book is printed. As huge fan of animation and of the show itself I had to add it to my collection.