Fullmetal Alchemist is Now the 25th Best-Selling Manga of All Time
After 25 years, Fullmetal Alchemist has entered the top 25 best-selling manga.
On July 11, 2026, on its 25th anniversary, Fullmetal Alchemist is confirmed to have reached the 90 million sales milestone.
And just in time, this makes Fullmetal Alchemist the 25th best-selling manga of all time, tied with Captain Tsubasa (1981-2024).
It is also the best-selling series from Square Enix, with Apothecracy Diaries’ manga adaptations and light novel coming in 2nd place at only half the amount, 45 million copies sold as of December 3, 2025.
This year has seen the promotion of Hunter x Hunter into this upper echelon with its 100 million sales milestone.
After 5 years, we finally have an update on Fullmetal Alchemist’s sales.
Previously in July 6, 2021, the figure was over 80 million copies sold after 20 years.
On the same day, Hiromu Arakawa’s latest series, Yomi no Tsugai (Daemons of the Shadow Realm) has reached 7.5 million copies sold.
After Fullmetal Alchemist concluded, Arakawa wrote Silver Spoon, a series for Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday (the same magazine as Detective Conan or Case Closed and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End) that went on from April 6, 2011 to November 27, 2019.
As of February 2020, this sold over 17 million copies after 15 volumes
Aside from Yomi no Tsugai, Arakawa has worked on two other manga.
She adapted The Heroic Legend of Arslan novel series (originally went on from 1986 to 2017) into a manga since July 9, 2013, spanning 24 volumes and selling 10 million copies as of September 2025.
Her second manga is an autobiographical work, Hyakushō Kizoku, a manga about her own life, which began on December 28, 2006 for Shinshokan’s manga magazine Un Poco and later Wings, and is still ongoing with 9 volumes, even selling 4.1 million copies as of December 2023.
In total, Arakawa’s manga catalogue has netted over 130 million copies, reaching numbers similar to Naoki Urasawa, the author of Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto and many more manga.
Arakawa is currently 53 years old.
About Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist is a manga written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa for Square Enix’s Monthly Shōnen Gangan from July 12, 2001 to June 11, 2010, with 27 volumes and 108 chapters.
Fullmetal Alchemist was adapted by Bones twice, first, a mostly original story titled Fullmetal Alchemist in 2003–2004, and second, a retelling that faithfully adapts the original manga in 2009–2010 titled Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Fullmetal Alchemist is the story of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who seek a way to restore their bodies after a terrible accident when they attempted to bring back their mother with Human Transmutation.
Source: Twitter
“Fullmetal Alchemist” by Hiromu Arakawa has 90 Million Copies in Circulation for the whole series Worldwide! pic.twitter.com/D6IFbt4n2a
— Manga Mogura RE (Anime & Manga News) (@MangaMoguraRE) July 10, 2026
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