check this out! It seems that there will be a new guide book for arakawa/FMA!!

Eureka magazine, Dec. 2010 Special "Arakawa/FMA" Edition

『鋼の錬金術師』 完結記念特集 (fullmetal alchemist Final Memorial Collection Book )

荒川弘が 『鋼の錬金術師』 によってデビューして十年、ついにその瞠目すべき物語が完結を迎えた今、荒川弘という広大な練成陣の構築式を明らかにする。それは少年マンガの新たなる 「真理の扉」 を開くことになるだろう。

For the content index of this issue (in Japanese) scroll down to this post below.

(You can view the larger pic on Amazon.jp also.)


release date: 27/11/2010, price: ￥1,300 Japanese yen.
ISBN978-4-7917-0216-9, from SEIDOSHA publishing company in Japan




..

Edited to add the pic of the cover and additional info. ~ Tombow

Thank you so much, hilary! ^^

According to the Amazon.jp link posted by hilary above, it says it's a "mook (Japanglish ^^)" (it's a magazine but it's a special edition and meant to be a "keeper" like a book) and it's a special Dec. 2010 issue (coming out on Nov. 27, 2010) of Eureka, the magazine for (I think) professional people in art, publishing, etc. that one time had a very long and very insightful interview with Arakawa before, and this time to commemorate the conclusion of Fullmetal Alchemist manga they are making a special edition!


My web connection is not very good right now and I can't go surfing Japanese sites for more info, but from what hilary posted above, it seems this special edition is focusing on Arakawa-sensei as the author of this awesome manga series. ^^

This sounds great, and I'm so looking forward to seeing the content of this special edition!


Wow, quite many FMA related publications are coming out around the last quarter of November, and it's right around the corner!
This is exciting! ^^





Program Note:
I split the posts from Original-Art/Illustration book for FMA:Brotherhood anime thread.

Thank-you for the new hilary and for the translation Tombow. Nice to see some focus on Arakawa herself, given the amount of time she put in to keeping us all entertained.

I checked Eureka site (jp), and this is what I found:

The main focus is definitely on Hiromu Arakawa.
Yes, it will be out on Nov. 27, 2010, and it will be 1,300 Yen.

　〜予定ラインナップ〜
【インタビュー】( )　荒川弘　［聞き手＝斎藤宣彦］
【論考】( )　伊藤博明　原克　早尾貴紀　大田俊寛　佐藤亜紀　藤本由香里　藤津亮太
　　　　　 ( )岩下朋世　雑賀恵子　中尾麻伊香　八代嘉美　星野太　入江哲朗 ほか
【資料】( )　『鋼の錬金術師』 全巻解題

Planned contents:
- Interview on Hiromu Arakawa by Nobuhiko Saitou (he is a book/magazine editor and has also written many books on manga)
- Articles of analysis by:
Hiroaki Itoh who is a professor at Saitama University in Middle Age European art, etc.
Katsumi Hara who is a professor at Waseda University in German literature, etc.
Takanori Hayao who is a fellow at Tokyo University in International Philosophy, etc.
Toshihiro Ohta who has the Doctorate in Religious Study and currently teaching at Saitama University
Aki Sato who is an award winning novelist.
Yukari Fujimoto who is an editor, a columnist, and also a professor at Meiji University, and author of several books on manga.
Ryouta Fujitsu who is an award wining columnist on anime
Housei Iwashita who is a fellow at Touhoku University who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Osamu Tezuka (famous manga artist)
Maika Nakao who is an award wining researcher (in History, Sociology, etc.) and currently in graduate study at Tokyo University
Keiko Saiga who has an assortment of academic background (Agricultural study, Literature, Sociology, etc.), and currently teaches at Oosaka Industrial University
Yoshimi Yashiro who is a Medical doctor and a professor at Keio University, and known for his knowledge and interests in anime & manga also.
Futoshi Hoshino who is a graduate of Tokyo University, and currently post grad at Tokyo University, and an artist/photographer
Tetsuro Irie who is a student at Tokyo Univeristy, and the managing editor of Config magazine.
- Plus info & analysis on all Fullmeta lAlchemist manga volumes


Whew, with my slow connection, it took me a long time to find out who those people are, since Eureka site is providing only the names of scheduled contributing article authors, but no bio for them. xp
... Some of the bio info I got above may not be current, and since my web connection is not at its best and I'm not doing any extensive research to confirm any of the info, and hence I'm not guaranteeing the accuracy of these info neither, but you get the idea that this one is going to be quite different from what we used to see as "FMA specials" in kid comic magazines.

Oh, my! Thanks a lot for the info and translations, hilary and Tombow!
Boy, I wish I saw this before I made my order for Volume 27... Then again, all these people are academics, I probably wouldn't understand anything they'll be writing XD
Looking forward to see the content somewhere around the web, then.

Still, great to see FMA celebrated and treated as "serious business", lol, anything manga-related where I live is considered downright childish.

Amber1003 heard that in the Eureka there will be a one-shot story which have been the base for FMA:

http://amber1003.deviantart.com/journal/36349647/

I so can't wait to read it!

AAAARGH I wish I read Japanese. I'm a reclusive, academically-inclined creature, who first fell in love with FMA for all the geek-boxes it ticked, and those articles by European history scholars and whatnot would make me extremely happy. Once again I'm at the mercy of other charitable Japanese-speaking people around here, I hope there's will be some equally smitten fan out there to find the time to translate at least some of those articles...

I say that, but I've never really thanked people like Tombow who find the time to give us amazing translations...I really love this forum! ^^

^ Aww, thank you for your kind words, Anomia Grey. ^^ Hopefully some of us can get to read it and translate it. ^^

And, since it's already out in Japan, we got the cover pic;



(You can view the larger pic on Amazon.jp also)

And, following is the content of this issue: (The part in green color is the special content for Hiromu Arakawa & FMA... Even the titles of the articles sound very intellectual/academic. xd I will try to decipher them later. ^^)

QUOTE

荒川弘
『鋼の錬金術師』 完結記念特集
定価1,300 円（本体1,238 円)
ISBN978-4-7917-0216-9

line2.gif
『ユリイカ　２０１０年１２月号』


■連載
　　私の昭和史　戦後篇・続１２　／　中村稔

■ 「即興」 の懐胎＊１２
　　「ロボット演劇」 とは何か？　／　佐々木敦

■世界コミックス最前線＊１５
　　次元漂流する絵画泥棒　ジェフ・スミスの 『ラズル』　／　小野耕世

■耳目抄＊２９６
　　半世紀の交友　／　竹西寛子

■詩
　　リトルリトル／死後　／　最果タヒ

特集＊荒川弘　『鋼の錬金術師』 完結記念特集

【二人の錬金術師】
“兄弟” たちの絆と闘争　『鋼の錬金術師』 と 『イムリ』 の共鳴　／　荒川弘×三宅乱丈

【Ａｒａｋａｗａ Ｔｒｉｓｍｅｇｉｓｔｕｓ】
荒川弘先生のこと　／　藤田和日郎
荒川先生男前伝説！　／　モリタイシ
だいすき、荒川先生　／　山中ヒコ

【ヘルメスの降り立ちし処(マンガ)】
“生き物の感触” を持った少年マンガ　『鋼の錬金術師』 がひらくパラダイム　／　藤本由香里
哀しみを背負うものたち　等価交換の不／可能性　／　雑賀恵子
『鋼の錬金術師』 から読み解く国家と民族　エルサレムにて　／　早尾貴紀
超人的ユートピアへの抵抗　『鋼の錬金術師』 とナチズム　／　大田俊寛
鋼の二つ名は伊達じゃない　錬金術師の実在論　／　入江哲朗

【パラケルススの剣(アゾット)を持して】
魂を受け容れるもの　一夜漬けに始まる少年マンガの骨法　／　荒川弘　［聞き手＝斎藤宣彦］
ウロボロスの彼方へ　『鋼の錬金術師』 における象徴的イメージ　／　伊藤博明
巧緻の愉楽　／　佐藤亜紀

【Ｌａｐｉｓ ｐｈｉｌｏｓｏｐｈｏｒｕｍ】
サイボーグ時代の終焉　錬成陣と構築式を血肉化する生体　／　小泉義之
二〇世紀型人工装具と機械鎧(オートメイル)　脱出不可能な身体表象としての 『鋼の錬金術師』　／　原克
変容と破壊をめぐる想像力　再来する錬金術師たち　／　中尾麻伊香
パラケルススの 「裔」 として　錬金術と幹細胞　／　八代嘉美

【「等価交換」 の向こう側】
二つの 『鋼の錬金術師』　マンガのアニメ化の時代の変遷　／　藤津亮太
マンガはいかにして 「人間」 を錬成するのか？　『鋼の錬金術師』 における 「身体」 と「内面」　／　岩下朋世
「等価交換」 のエコノミー　『鋼の錬金術師』 の経済学的パラダイム　／　星野太
Ａｌｃｈｅｍｙ ｏｆ Ａｃｃｏｕｎｔｉｎｇ への戸口　ホムンクルスのバランスシート　／　飯田一史

【錬金術書の暗号解読】
『鋼の錬金術師』 全巻解題　／　吉川浩満

■特別掲載
　　沈黙の韻律　戦後詩における中村稔という逆説　／　北川透

■ユリイカ２０１０年　総目次

■今月の作品
　　大崎清夏　宮沢いずみ　古﨑未央　竹下力　長谷部裕嗣　／　選＝伊藤比呂美

■われ発見せり
　　存在の密度　／　阿部真弓

Thank you hilary and Tombow!! You guys are amazing

I got my friend to buy it for me, hope she can get one for me (; w ; )/ Is Eureka a magazine or a book?

hihi, Hermes Trismegistus was a Hellenistic philosopher who left us the Emerald Tablet, a short set of instructions that later alchemists have regarded as the foundation of their art (and one of the many formulations of the 'one is all, all is one' idea). Sounds like a discussion of FMA and 'real-life' alchemy ^^

@LooneyLolita - You're very welcome. ^^ And, that would be great if your friend in Japan can get the magazine!

It is a monthly magazine called Eureka (ユリイカ), and hence it does contain some other regular monthly content also, but this is a special "keeper" edition featuring many articles analysing and writing about Arakawa-sensei and her manga series, Fullmetal Alchemist.
And, it's already in the bookstores in Japan. It is￥1,300 Japanese yen.
Publishing number is ISBN978-4-7917-0216-9, and it's from SEIDOSHA (青土社) publishing company in Japan.

I would KILL to have this!!! Oh my God, interviews with Arakawa AND in-depth analysis by all those people!!! I'm an English dork, so I would looooove to not only hear the author's thoughts, but the analysis from all those scholars...my inner dork is currently dying from the epic.

Honestly...I need to start learning Japanese, or I'll go insane. It was hard enough for me to mentally accept that the FMA Chronicles may never come to the US, but this on top of it...it's too cruel.

If anyone translates any of this, know that not only I, but all the other FMA fans, will worship for ever and for always and will always mention your name and your great deed at least once every Thanksgiving.

Oh God I hope thats true. I'd love to read the pilot.

Amber1003 has translated a few bits of the Arakawa interview in her journal:

(Warning, it contains series final spoilers!)http://amber1003.deviantart.com/journal/36623465/

^ Thank you, Michiyo-! And of course, thank you, Amber1003!

Oh gosh, after reading Amber's quick summary, I definitely would love to read this interview!

oh thank you!! *preordered

Hey guys, I got the Eureka magazine! I'd love to scan every page for you all - only problem is this "magazine" really is more like book (and a surprisingly long one at that!). If I were to scan it all, my copy would be in horrible creased out, flattened condition by the end... and my OCD compels me to avoid this. >_<

However, it turns out my local Kinokuniya here in L.A. ordered several copies in addition to the one I requested. They're charging $22.50 (import costs, I guess) plus tax for it. I thought about getting a second copy to scan and ravage, but am just a wee too broke at the moment for that.

Does anyone else want me to buy a copy and send it to them? O_O I'd be happy to, if you pay me back! Just thought I'd offer! But if no one bites, I will consider buying a second copy for scanning myself - it just depends on how work goes for me over the next couple weeks!

EDIT: By the way, after flipping through the book, I don't see any one-shot inspiration for FMA, unfortunately. There are a few random illustrations here and there (including ancient alchemical drawings and photos of advances in real-life mechanical limbs, as well as some drawings from FMA itself), but the vast majority of the book is text.

I'll be picking up my copy from Kino as well, but it'll be awhile before I can scan them fully.

I'll get mine on monday