Fullmetal Alchemist Creator’s Next Manga Flips Ed and Al’s Relationship

The creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa, is back with a new fantasy manga, “Yomi no Tsugai,” following another sibling duo. The official title release came right after the manga announcement back in July but just in time to celebrate Fullmetal Alchemist‘s 20th anniversary.

Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist began serialization in Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan from 2001 to 2010. The story follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, young Alchemists searching to find the Philosopher’s Stone after losing their limbs to Alchemy to revive their mother. The manga would gain two anime adaptions, with 2003’s Fullmetal Alchemist and 2009’s Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. A  Netflix live-action movie would also come seven years after the manga’s end and would earn criticism by the original anime director Seiji Mizushima. As Hiromu Arakawa’s first debut manga, the mangaka would move on to create new series like slice-of-life manga Silver Spoon.

In early July, Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan officially announced the mangaka’s upcoming fantasy series with only a rough sketch visual. Now, in celebration of Fullmetal Alchemist’s 20th anniversary on July 12th, Square Enix released an official celebration website with the new manga title Yomi no Tsugai and color key visual. In addition, the Twitter account Manga Mogura RE also revealed the synopsis of the manga as “A boy & his imprisoned sister are uncovering the secret of a mysterious village.”, a story sounding remarkably similar to Arakawa’s first sibling paring.

The new key visual features the two siblings in a back-to-back stance. The first sibling is striking an eerie resemblance to Amestrian brothers Edward and Alphonse, which may prove to be a clue for the setting of the series. The second sibling is in all-black attire with black hair and an eye patch, insinuating the character to be the imprisoned sister. Below the siblings are the Yin and Yang symbol furthering the brother and sister’s stark differences in physical appearances.

The Square Enix website also shared the Fullmetal Alchemist 20th Anniversary art book with illustrations from Hiromu Arakawa and overlooking the manga’s 20 years. The artbook also comes with a special edition book with a special DVD on the making of Fullmetal Alchemist, releasing on December 18th. The series by Fullmetal Alchemist’s creator will debut in the January issue of Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan, releasing on December 10th.

Source: Square Enix / Manga Mogura RE