History Creator / HiromuArakawa

Hiromu Arakawa (荒川 弘 ''Arakawa Hiromu'', born May 8, 1973) is a Japanese mangaka from Hokkaidō best known for creating ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Born and raised on a dairy farm, Arakawa spent several years helping out her family farm while taking painting lessons after graduating high school before moving to Tokyo to become a manga assistant, to Hiroyuki Eto of ''Manga/MagicalCircleGuruGuru'' fame.

* MoodWhiplash: ''Nobody'' else does it quite like she does... You'll frequently find several swinging moods in the same ''scene'', let alone the same chapter, yet she makes it all work. She often includes the use of SuperDeformed or otherwise [[ArtShift Art Shifted]] caricatures for emphasis: it's a trademark. And, beware all ye the BishieSparkle and WingdingEyes: the uses are many and various... and, not all of them are uniquely humorous.

* {{Shonen}}: Most of her works are this, though they have more mature themes and are BloodierAndGorier than most.
* ShownTheirWork: ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' shows that she did a lot of research on both alchemy (famous alchemists, theoretical alchemic laws, uses for Philosopher's Stone) and chemistry (human composition, conservation of matter). Any breaks from them seem to be either RuleOfCool, RuleOfFunny, or the alchemists in question knowing what they're doing (more so than can be shown with just a few images and some relatively small speech bubbles).

* CreatorsOddball: Most of her works are action/fantasy with brutal fight scenes. ''Silver Spoon,'' however, is a SliceOfLife, with animals dying instead of humans. Despite this, ''Silver Spoon'' is now her second most popular work, and Arakawa has said this was intentional since she wanted to challenge herself by writing a more realistic work.

** Arakawa has also stated that the plight of the Ishvalans in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' was inspired by the Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan and Russia; the Ainu are the original inhabitants of her native Hokkaido.

* GenreAdultery: Most of her works are action/fantasy with brutal fight scenes. ''Silver Spoon,'' however, is a SliceOfLife, with animals dying instead of humans. Despite this, ''Silver Spoon'' is now her second most popular work, and Arakawa has said this was intentional since she wanted to challenge herself by writing a more realistic work.

* MoustacheDePlume: Her real name is Hiromi, but she writes under the name "Hiromu", which is a [[GenderBlenderName more gender-neutral]] version of her name. She hasn't been very secretive about her gender otherwise, since she mentions things like being pregnant on her blog more than once.

Hiromu Arakawa (荒川 弘 ''Arakawa Hiromu'', born May 8, 1973) is a Japanese mangaka from Hokkaidō best known for creating ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Born and raised on a dairy farm, Arakawa spent several years helping out her family farm while taking painting lessons after graduating high school before moving to Tokyo to become a manga assistant[[note]]to Hiroyuki Eto of ''Manga/MagicalCircleGuruGuru'' fame[[/note]].

* ReclusiveArtist: Zigzagged; it's very difficult to find an actual photo of her, as opposed to the bespectacled cow she always draws herself as. However, while she's reclusive about her appearance, she's quite willing to talk about herself and her life, particularly in {{Omake}}. Heck, ''Noble Farmer'' is basically her autobiography!

* ''Manga/YomiNoTsugai'' (2021-ongoing)

Hiromu Arakawa (荒川 弘 ''Arakawa Hiromu'', born May 8, 1973) is a Japanese mangaka from Hokkaidō mainly known for ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Born and raised on a dairy farm, Arakawa spent several years helping out her family farm while taking painting lessons after graduating high school before moving to Tokyo to become a manga assistant[[note]]to Hiroyuki Eto of ''Manga/MagicalCircleGuruGuru'' fame[[/note]].