Daemons of the Shadow Realm Had to Be the Opposite of Fullmetal Alchemist, Creator Says

Daemons of the Shadow Realm is winning the hearts of its viewers and already earning comparisons to its predecessor, Fullmetal Alchemist. However, creator Hiromu Arakawa has revealed that she chose to go in the opposite direction for the series despite already possessing a formula for success.

In a behind-the-scenes interview published by Square Enix in their Inside Square Enix video series, Arakawa noted that she took a drastically different approach in setting up the story in Daemons of the Shadow Realm.

This was because she wanted to prove there are other creative ways to develop a successful narrative, leading her to bypass her established formula. “I suppose I had a formula for success, but I wanted to see if there were other approaches as well,” Arakawa said.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Had to Be the Opposite of Fullmetal Alchemist, Creator Says — Yuru from Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime holding an arrow between his teeth

In Fullmetal Alchemist, core worldbuilding elements such as alchemy, the motivations of the main characters Edward and Alphonse Elric and other details were well-defined by the end of the first volume. However, in Daemons of the Shadow Realm, the series breaks away from this structure by keeping readers in the dark regarding key details, essentially putting them in the same boat as the main character, Yuru.

“The protagonist is caught up in a situation he doesn’t understand. And so I put the reader in the same situation as well, not understanding what’s happening, what Daemons are, and so on. I wanted to put them in Yuru’s shoes — whether he’s being carried along by events, or pushing them forward himself. That was my intention with the first chapter, and that’s why it turned out like it did,” Arakawa said.

Although both Fullmetal Alchemist and Daemons of the Shadow Realm feature siblings as the main protagonists, the similarities between the two series largely end there. Unlike the science-based alchemy systems, Daemons of the Shadow Realm is heavily inspired by the occult and Japanese yokai, leaning further into dark fantasy.

This is due to Arakawa’s own long-standing interest in these concepts, with the author utilizing them so she could create a new story using resources she already possessed instead of starting entirely from scratch.

Gabbie and Asa in Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime — Gabbie and Asa in Daemons of the Shadow Realm

This shift has not hindered how well Daemons of the Shadow Realm has been received. As of July 2026, the manga has officially surpassed 7.5 million copies in circulation with the release of Volume 13. The anime series adaptation by studio Bones, which premiered in April 2026, has also garnered strong reviews from viewers, while also entering the top 10 streaming charts in Japan for the first half of this year.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm is now streaming on both Netflix and Crunchyroll for viewers in North America, and is currently broadcasting its second cour.