Fullmetal Alchemist mangaka's Daemons of the Shadow Realm reportedly receives anime adaptation

Modified Oct 15, 2024 23:59 GMT

Tuesday, October 15, 2024, saw a television anime adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist mangaka Hiromu Arakawa’s Daemons of the Shadow Realm series reportedly confirmed as in production. The alleged report comes from X (formerly Twitter) user and reputable general anime and manga news source @SugoiLITE (Sugoi).

While Sugoi’s sources typically aren’t mentioned, their track record in first announcing anime adaptations which are then given more concrete confirmation later on is an impeccable one. Likewise, many are taking this as an all-but-official confirmation that Hiromu Arakawa’s return to the small screen will be via the Daemons of the Shadow Realm adaptation.

Fullmetal Alchemist mangaka returns to anime via reported Daemons of the Shadow Realm adaptation

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As mentioned above, while Sugoi’s information is typically reliable, they often fail to mention any sources whatsoever. This is likely due to a necessity in prioritizing the secrecy of their sources, especially considering how accurate they appear to be. Likewise, fans of Arakawa's general works and of the Daemons of the Shadow Realm manga itself are celebrating the news.

Based on Sugoi’s track record and assuming this info is correct, fans should get another reported confirmation from other online leak sources in the coming months. This will likely cite something along the lines of a website domain being registered, or a leaked manga publishing magazine announcement.

In this case, such a leak would come from Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan, which is where Arakawa’s manga is serialized.

However, as mentioned above, this is speculative due to the fact that there’s no telling if the information is officially confirmed or not, and this process being based on Sugoi’s prior leaks. It’s very possible that a different scenario altogether could play out for news regarding Arakawa’s coming anime adaptation. One such possibility is Sugoi’s leak being the only one before an official announcement.

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Assuming Sugoi’s information is correct, fans shouldn’t expect the anime to formally premiere anytime soon. If production has only started relatively recently prior to Sugoi’s tweet, then a 2026 premiere seems most likely given typical production schedules.

However, this will also depend on which studio picks the series up, making a late-2025 premiere possible in theory. Again, this is all speculative as of this article’s writing.

Arakawa began the serialization of Daemons of the Shadow Realm in Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan in December 2021. The manga is still ongoing and regularly serialized in the magazine today, having been collected into eight total compilation volumes. As of this article's writing, five have been translated into English, with the sixth and seventh releasing in the coming months.

Hiromu Arakawa is best known for her Fullmetal Alchemist manga series, which was also adapted into a television anime on two separate occasions. The Brotherhood adaptation is widely considered both one of the best anime of all time and one of the best starter anime of all time. Arakawa’s manga ran from 2001 to 2010, also in Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan.