Fullmetal Alchemist (Japanese: 鋼の錬金術師 Hepburn: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi?, lit. "Alchemist of Steel") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine between August 2001 and June 2010; the publisher later collected the individual chapters into twenty-seven tankōbon volumes. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution. Set in a fictional universe in which alchemy is one of the most advanced scientific techniques, the story follows the Elric brothers Edward and Alphonse, who are searching for a philosopher's stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life using alchemy.
  The manga was published in English by Viz Media in North America, Madman Entertainment in Australasia, and Chuang Yi in South Korea. It has been adapted into two anime television series, two animated films—all animated by Bones studio—and light novels. Funimation
dubbed both television series and films into English and released them for North America; these were distributed in other regions by several
other companies. Viz Media localized the light novels, and Funimation and Destineer have localized the video games. Original video animations, video games, supplementary books, collectible card game and a variety of action figures and other merchandise have been based on the series' characters.