. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for early review.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

What an awesome way to commemorate twenty years of FMA. Not only is this a beautiful physical edition, but you can really feel the love and joy of having created something that so many people have enjoyed. Arakawa's little bovine avatar guiding us through the very beginning, through books, light novels, radio dramas, animations, and live action is such a treat. Seeing all of the original and subsequent voice actors leave little notes and thank you messages for her is so super sweet. I think my favourite part of the collection was the little comic where we learn about Izumi's alchemy training, and that there are still rumors of a wild woman on that mountain. All fans of any form of FMA should pick this up and get a dose of the behind the scenes excitement.

Fullmetal Alchemist is probably my favorite anime, and maybe my favorite manga. I was so excited to get this, and I really want to buy a physical copy to go next to my Fullmetal Editions of the manga. It looks sleek, has incredible artwork, and I will always love anything and everything that the great Hiromu Arakawa publishes.

As a huge FullMetal fan, this was a pleasure to read, especially the addition of unseen materials, this is a great book to add to any manga collectors shelf

Perfect for any FMA fans. Some interesting behind the scenes and histories of the books, show, games and live action interposed between short manga panels and boards. Although I wish we had more on some of the stories!

This book doesn't work as an ebook, however, I loved being able to see deeper into the FMA world. I'll read anything that centers around Ed and Al.

Fullmetal Alchemist’s 20th Anniversary Edition is pure fandom add-on. It’s kind of just a collection of many additive stories and posters for the series accompanied by some commentary and congratulations regarding FMA being 20 years old.

And for what it is, I loved every second of it.

This series was such an amazing one for me, my first foray into Anime in general. And it’s stuck with me through the years that I actually owned this book well before it was published in the United States and well before it was translated into English. A lucky chance layover in Japan and a book purchase later, it was sitting on my shelf.

I have to say, being able to read it in English without the use of a phone translator was nice.

It’s not really the sort of book that you want to reread over and over again as there isn’t much story to it. I’d much prefer to pick up the actual manga over this book just about any day of the week. But I’m excited to have it on my shelf and so thrilled at the journey Arakawa’s work has had over the years.

I may also have to try out those video games at some point in the future, since I hadn’t yet stumbled upon the series when those were released.

This is a great book for any die-hard fan of Fullmetal Alchemist. It has some new comics, artwork, and a collection of other FMA media. It's really nice revisiting a favorite manga of mine. It will make a nice gift for any FMA fan, and works well as a coffee table book.

If you love Fullmetal Alchemist this is an obvious choice! Covers everything from the manga to the anime to the movies etc- lots of things in this were new to me so it was truly enjoyable to read through them!

If you are in any way a Full Metal Alchemist fan, you'll love this. It has a wealth of knowledge and art from the series creator. It even has some side stories that never got released in the US. So check it out if you love FMA!

This is a perfect collection of supplemental material that otherwise would have been hard for the English reading audience of Full Metal Alchemist to access. Promotional material from exhibitions in Japan, for the spin off video games and audio dramas are collected in the book as well as some lovely reflections from the creator Hiromu Arakawa and those who took part in the work in it's various forms. I've just started rereading the original series and the characters have stuck with me from when I was a child into my adulthood. I particularly enjoyed the bonus story that fills in what Lt. Havoc was doing after the incident that happens to him in the main story, he's always been a favourite of mine. I look forward to a 30th Anniversary book down the line too.

Perfect for any fan of the series! Arakawa does it again with beautiful illustrations that any fan will love. The 20th edition will make a great gift for any Fullmetal Alchemist fan, especially those who love extra content about the culture and characters of Amestris.

What's in the Collection?

A better question would be what's not included. This book has everything you could hope for Fullmetal anniversary collection. There are vignettes and small comic pieces which feature some of Fullmetal Alchemist's cult-favorite characters. There are prequel mangas for the PS2 and Wii video games and other short stand-alone manga stories. There is also a detailed timeline, notes from Hiromu Arakawa, and letters from those involved with the manga and anime. Finally, the book concludes with a new, exclusive prose story. This book is filled with Fullmetal bits and pieces you won't find collected anywhere else.

Review:

This collection is filled with manga, notes, and colorful art. The details in this collection are just exceptional. If you're a hard-core fan of Fullmetal Alchemist, this is a must-have book. There are rare bits included that would be difficult, if not impossible, to track down another way. On top of that, there's an excellent exclusive prose story. You would win the Holidays if you gave a hardcover copy of this collection to the anime or manga fan in your life.

Full review will post 12/11/23 on Back Shelf Books at the following link: https://backshelfbooks.com/2023/12/11/manga-review-fullmetal-alchemist-20th-anniversary-by-hiromu-arakawa/

Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the most well-written manga out there and this anniversary book is a great celebration of it. It is filled to the brim with bonus chapters--I'm especially grateful that this includes prelude chapters to all of the video games--with reflections from Arakawa-sensei along the way. It really gives a sense of how much time has passed since the beginning of the series and how far the series has come since then. There's a section where the seiyuu for Brotherhood (and a few that have been with the series since the 2003 anime adaptation) give their appreciation to FMA and Arakawa-sensei and that really got to me. This book is a love letter to FMA and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan!!

Love FMAB and so happy to see something new for this franchise. I’ve always loved the art for this series and connected so much with the Elrich brothers!

This book is a treasure trove for any Fullmetal Alchemist fan! It includes a wide variety of really cool content, from essays and commentary from the mangaka, tie-in writers, and others who worked on the series, cute comics showing the behind the scenes process, side stories, pictures of book covers and advertisements from the past 20 years, and more! My students love the Fullmetal Alchemist series - they're always eagerly waiting for someone to turn in the next volume so they can snap it up - so this seems like it would be a great buy for our library!

It's amazing to me that it's been 20 years since Fullmetal Alchemist was first published. My first introduction was with the first anime and it's come to be one of my most favorite series in both tv shows and books.

This book celebrates the past 20 years of Fullmetal Alchemist and gives insight into side stories and accompanying media that's come from the original manga. It's wonderful that even though so much time has passed, we are still getting to learn more about the world of Fullmetal Alchemist!

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

It’s been 20 yrs since my favourite manga series of all time was released and this book is the perfect mix of nostalgia and Easter eggs of in serialised content.

I was delighted to get the arc of this book and will 100% be getting a hard copy.

For a series that was published 20yrs ago to still have so much hype surrounding it is a credit to the author arakawa, the achievements she has made are all completely deserved and then some. The series has impacted so many people and is a testament to her.

If you loved the series or the anime this is the perfect companion book to get.

This is the perfect gift for any fan of Full Metal Alchemist (manga, original anime, and Brotherhood). The panel comics were especially interesting to me as many were new, especially the Blind Alchemist one. Arakawa is so talented and I'm glad FMA took off in the US that we continue to get merchandise such as these fan books translated 20 years later. However, it's been 2 years since the 20th anniversary, so some of the event information and information in general is a little outdated.

Thank you Netgalley and Viz for the opportunity to view an eARC and to provide honest feedback.

Any fan of Fullmetal Alchemist will absolutely love this, the perfect addition to any fans collection.

Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my favorite pieces of media, like, ever. I absolutely adore the world, story, characters... it has all stuck with me for a long time. Hard to imagine that I first watched the 2003 anime adaptation over ten years ago now. And the series itself is twice that long!

This book is a beautiful compilation of the series as a whole, covering nearly everything from the original manga, to the anime, movies, and even video games. I thought I knew a lot about this series before, but there is some content in this book that I have never seen before. It really makes me admire this series even more than I already did, especially the dedication of manga's author/artist, Hiromu Arakawa. This woman is seriously my hero. This series was really ahead of its time, and it is all due to her and her incredible dedication to telling a moving narrative.

All in all, this book really made me want to rewatch the series. It was a joy reading about this world again!

To end, here is a quote from Atomu Mizuishi, the actor for Alphonse in the live action movie, that I think humorously sums up my thoughts on this compilation, and on this series as a whole:

"A surprisingly large number of people around me said, 'Fullmetal is the bible.' It must have drawn them in... I know it drew me in."

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!