is a Japanese
manga series written and illustrated by
Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in
Square Enix's
Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine between August 2001 and June 2010; the publisher later collected the individual chapters into twenty-seven
tankobon 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.