FMA vs. Brotherhood - A Rant

You do have some good points and I have to admit that I somewhat agree with you.

Let's see... I first found my way into the series with volumes 1-3 of the manga. I went on to watch the first series + movie before furthering myself into the manga-verse.

Many complain and badmouth anime1 because it greatly deviates from the original manga, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy both versions of their tale, albeit the former not as much as the latter. To have two terrific versions of the Elric Brothers' journey is more than a dedicated fan can ask for.

I understand and agree with - to an extent - your sentiment on how FMA1 'tells a story' and Brotherhood is just 'a chain of events'. I mean, the first anime offers a bit of a darker view on things, certain characters don't develop to their full potential, and the ending is weak, but it's still a good story! On that note, the movie may have disappointed fans, but as Vic Mignogna - Ed's English VA - puts it, it truly does represent the meaning of their story. Sacrafice.

Brotherhood moves much too briskly and doesn't delve as deep into the story and characters as the manga and first anime do. It skips over small details that, to put it truthfully, make the tale... whole.

Fullmetal Alchemist is an outstanding story and I don't feel it's altogether what it COULD be. Don't get me wrong. Animation is great - though I could do with toning down Ed's hair color a tad bit, OP/ED themes are wonderful, and to see some of my favorite manga scenes come to life on the small screen is appreciable... but there's still something missing. FMA doesn't come to life as it did through anime1 and the manga.

As Dearheart here has, I've tried to love Brotherhood; I honestly, with all my heart have. I'll keep watching, to see more of my favorite manga happenings in motion, and I eagerly await Vic, Travis, Caitlin, and the others' reunion... It's just that, to me , it'll never mean as much as the manga or perhaps even anime1.

Sora

Even though this was posted 3 months ago, the recent comment is fresh.

I'll add some input as I'm a huge fan of the first anime.

To put it bluntly, I still haven't started watching the new version even though FMA ranks in my top 3. This is solely because It's the ONE anime EVER to make the English voices better than the Japanese. I refuse to watch nearly any anime in English, but this one is is the exact opposite. Vic Mignogna's voice acting is seriously a masterpiece. The voice acting pulled me in when i was young (FMA was around when i was about 15 (20 now)) on Adult Swim, and my brother and I literally spent every saturday night watching it for months, even reruns, even now if it's on we'll partake. It's that good.

Now, they brought it back, but unlike most anime series having a sequel, this is a reiteration, and I'm plenty excited for it. As I said, I'm waiting till April 2010 for the English to come out before enjoying more FMA, however, what you've said disheartens me.

I began watching FMA for the story; the emotional attachment - the feeling of sadness when you watch Hughes die, the joy of Ed and Al triumphs, and the silly situations they get into; it all played into an amazing adaptation of the series. From what you both seem to be saying, it's not so much there this time (I'd blame the director on that, though Yasuhiro Irie is quite well known for his works) and that really puts a damper on my mood. FMA without the engaging story is just...incomplete. Hopefully when I get around to it it doesn't disappoint - there are far too few animes with a unique, original plot that present it as well as Fullmetal Alchemist did. Most of the anime I've watched has been very good (Just finished Gundam 00), but it has that sort of cliché, "i'm the hero of justice" sort of feel. The only series that really took that idea to a totally unique feel was Death Note, another favorite. Finding a great series (or even game, FFX anyone?) is just too hard in today's world. Truly, it is.

So what was I talking about...ah, right: FMAbrotherhood-notasgood-bigdowner

=/

Introduced to FMA by the anime, fell in love with the manga.
My thoughts after watching Hagaren 2:
Ep 1-Tedious,trying too hard, and Ed was much cuter in the first series. Still love his voice and adore his grouchiness.
Ep 2-4--- Uh, I know this already...
Ep 5- Hehehe, funny Ed and Al scene. Loved it.
Ep 6- It's getting better...
Ep 7- And better...
Ep 8-14--- And better...
Ep 15- Ah, heck, I'm hooked. The Xingese are here! It's gonna get exciting! Ed's cute but he's still more bishounen in the first series. And ahhhh, Mamoru Miyano!
Ep 16-20--- Holy sh*t!!! This is awesome!
Ep 21-29--- Yes! Plot, plot and more plot! Plus EdWin!
Ep 30--- Ackkk! What will happen? Checkmate!
Ep 31-40--- Okay, so hands down, this is waaayyy better than the first series! I'm so happy they followed the manga. But Ed is still cuter in the first series although the art for this anime is more manga-like.
Ep 41- Oh no! Ed! Al!
Ep 42-45 The plot thickens! And I seriously like the fight scenes.
Ep 46- I TAKE IT BACK! ED IS RIPPED! Kyaaahhhhhh! Forget the first series, this is brilliant! Well, it did follow the manga after all. And did I mention that Ed is just yummy!? I think he's getting taller too.
Ep 47-48-- Next! Next! Where's the next ep??? Ehhh, I can't wait! I gotta read the manga .... ch 104! Ehhhhh....? What? Where's 105? Raws? Okay, I'll take it!

And that about sums it up. After watching this, I cannot go back to the first series. It's still good but THIS is canon and this is brilliant.

I can't help but agree with all of this.

I was excited about the new FMA because FMA1 was my first anime ever. (besides Pokemon, if you'd count that). And it always gave me that heartwarming feeling. But the new one just doesn't do the same thing. Everything seems to go too fast, and I don't really find it all that funny.Plus because it goes so fast, you don't get that same ...connection? And it's sad. :C

There are still some cool things about Brotherhood that I like. But. It's just not the same.

Did you ever play Fable, and then buy Fable: The lost Chapters? All of you seem to be really biased by your previous experience with FMA, and therefore it is understandable that you may be disillusioned with a remake and retelling of the story. Its the difference between reading the Sword of Shannara first and then feeling like Lord of the Rings wasn't as good as it could have been, and reading LOTR first and thinking the Sword of Shannara wasn't as good as it could have been.

I really super enjoy FMA brotherhood. I really dislike FMA1. The style and storytelling techniques used in FMA brotherhood were my first experience with FMA and I find them MUCH more agreeable. I didn't even like FMA conquerer of Shambala. I think that take just goes down a road that is unacceptable...I dunno rediculous and too real.

In their own right, they are both excellent shows.

And its interesting to gauge how a previous experience with something of one version can influence a remake. Like how some (or most) people hate the newer Planet of the Apes after having grown up with the original. You see my point probably.

Original FMA kicks brotherhoods ass, even if it follows the original manga I really enjoyed the first show much more than brotherhood... like everyone else says its a chain of events lack of little details that I miss it seems so much more rushed in alot of ways. Im still happy they decided to make brotherhood but i still like the the first anime much better.. the jokes dont fit into brotherhood as well as they did in the original anime some stuff is funny some stuff makes me wanna strangle myself.

Thank you for your article! I started watching Brotherhood's first 3 episodes and I just couldn't take anymore. I watched the other series and movie, but never felt like spending buckets of money buying the novels. Maybe I abandoned Brotherhood too soon, but it made me feel like I was being taken for a ride (as in, ripped off). It felt like a rush job that was basically telling me "you saw the first show, we don't have to cover this again". The characters shared their innermost desires and philosophies at the drop of a hat, and in moments that didn't warrant it.

In the end what made me stop watching was the feeling that I was being taken advantage of; the feeling that FMA had just become a franchise. It felt like the creators were making money off die-hard fans by creaing a watered down version of FMA (even if it was the original manga storyline, that's no excuse for bad directing).

Also, I felt like the show went to the "gate scene" way too quickly. The dialogue with the mysterious kid character at the gate made me want to puke, it was soooo cliche. Everything was spelled out with no suspense and no time for anything to sink in.

To me, the original FMA was a model show; as Dearheart said, not just a good anime, a good show. Many anime shows don't give you much of an ending, but FMA is different. The ending was one of the best I had ever seen; in any medium. It revealed the answer to a mystery that most viewers would write off - where does alchemist energy come from? We are so used to anime characters creating energy balls out of thin air and we think nothing of it. The decision to intertwine the FMA world with our own not only grounded it in a sort of Newtonian mysticism, it brought the consequences of our own world's history into the story. Bravo, truly a magnificent ending.

As for humor, I would challenge the entire concept of "comic relief". My question is always "Relief from what?". Why do show creators assume that I need to be "relieved"? I like drama, suspense, and action, Show creators don't have to be apologetic about their serious shows by inserting humor into off scenes. Comedy is great too, but I have no problem with a show being serious 100% of the time.

I loved both. But for plot and humor, brotherhood wins hands down. Especially now that it's almost ending. I hope all of you who have said they love the first and hate the second have at least watched the second. If not, don't sell yourself short. Watch it, skip the first few episodes if you must but watch it until the end. It gets better and better. One thing I can say they did right for both series is that Ed and Al are completely in character for both. But in Brotherhood, Al definitely comes into his own more.

Of course, the manga kicks both animes asses.

thank you so much! Personaly from a writers standpoint the fma anime (dubbed) is better then both the manga and brotherhood. I also find it ironic they titled it brotherhood when the focus is much less on brotherhood then the original anime. both the art and storryline for brotherhood are very much infeirior to the original anime whitch was an epic masterpiece is all aspects.

"In the end what made me stop watching was the feeling that I was being taken advantage of; the feeling that FMA had just become a franchise. It felt like the creators were making money off die-hard fans by creaing a watered down version of FMA" soooo so true

i think that FMA had a better story and i LOVED the connection between the characters and what happened. but i think why i loved it the most waz bc the story waz sad and show how much everyone would do something for them like ed and al sacrificing each one another and it waz just badazz how they actually tells you watz beyond the gate and how you can use alchemy and the ending waz like wow but still bad bc eds in the other world but that wat makes its awesum!!!!

And the movie of shamballa i think it waz cool but pretty messed up how ed n al go back to the other world n leave winry:( n few people got 2 see ed 2!

this is why fma botherhood is good tho is bc the art is really amazing and how you go to alot a places like the north and had more humor n people 2 but it missed the feelings like de first one which i really like!!!the ending waz like a happy ever after which it waz cute how ed n winry had babies n it waz great

FInal Statement:to me the 1st series waz way better 2 me.! but both are a great storie. but i think the only reason they made a second one is bc they wanted a story were ed had his arm n al n have winry so it like botherhood waz like the good version were everything ends upgreat while the 1st still haz many hardships to do so it just all WOW!

personally, i think FMA Brotherhood is alot better. Sure, if you only watch the first 13 episodes it rushes alot. But i don't think thats a fair judgement. I do agree that it needed more time to work on the beginning of the story, there was just way too much content to fit in comfortably in 64 episodes, so they had to shorten the beginning a bit to allow for an epic ending that you may never see since you never gave it a chance. Its true that FMA Brotherhood is alot more.... shounen. That's what it is. Its not a bishounen or shojo type anime. They don't try to make it really emotional and depressing, with Ed crying like every 3 eps. And they don't try to make the characters (e.g. Ed) all super bishie cute, with flowing long hair and a perfect face.

I watched the first anime before FMA brotherhood or even the manga. I grew very attached to the storyline, and tried justifying the subpar ending. I mean, they spent 30 eps focusing on the beginning of the story. A manga is allowed to do that, because there is no limit to the number of chapters that can be produced. An anime on the other hand, has an episode budget, which in the case of FMA1, was 51 episodes. If they spent 30 episodes on the beginning of the story, what happens to the plot? Anime producers realized they only had 20 episodes to cover the rest of the story. Inevitably, the plot got nuked and the anime team made up a whole bunch of characters on the spot.

This is what i don't get. People routinely criticise that FMA brotherhood skipped alot of details in the beginning of the story, and rushed though the first 13 eps. But nobody seems to criticise or even address the ending of FMA1. I mean, there was almost no character or plot development after episode 35. They started awkwardly jamming old characters into the story instead of trying to make a compelling original plot, certainly not as good as the original but at least better than what they were left with. The homunculi don't seem to have a particular objective, and this dante character never really makes her intentions clear. FMA1 basically gave no details on anything, leaving the viewers confused and dazzled. But people seem to ignore this, saying, OH, FMA1 was better because it was more of a bishounen than a shounen anime, the ending (e.g. the entire second half of the series) sucked but the rest was good. I don't see how you could possibly justify that FMA1 is better if you ignore a huge part of the series. That doesn't make sense.

Then i decided to take a look at the manga, and it just blew me away how much they went into the plot, stretched alchemy to its limits, and made the most of the fma world and characters and even expanded them far beyond what the anime had. Try and fit that into 64 episodes. YA. Now you know why the beginning was rushed.

I think i have made my point. If you have watched the entirety of FMA brotherhood, and still don't like it, then thats a whole nother thing all together. but at least give it a fair chance, past episode 15 at least. Anyways i agree that FMA brotherhood is a bit rushed but this is a series far from generic, and in my opinion, vastly superior to FMA1.

God you people are trite! Why does the first 10-15 episodes of "brotherhood" feel rushed? ...Duh cuz FMA1 followed the manga, at least in the beginning. "Brotherhood" was made cuz the first series really sucked once the writers started making their own stuff up. I mean my god did anybody watch "conqueror of shamballa?" It was awful.

"Brotherhood" has no need to redue what was done, quite well, in FMA1; except tell FMA1 went off on some shitty storyline. So conseqently "brotherhood" fills in the gaps where FMA1 went wrong. First half of FMA1=GOOD, second half FMA1=BAD, really F***ing bad!!!

"Brotherhood" is genious, pure genious. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say none of you made past part 1 of "Brotherhood." Well watch the full series then cast judgment. Pretty much FMA1, the fisrt half, is a precursor to "brotherhood." OMG the ending is SO awesome its so damn awesome. Or i guess you people prefere the whole FMA1 portal to Earth ending haha. Wow really a portal to Earth? So lame.

Wow, really? Assuming YOUR opinion is the only correct one and everyone else is stupid if they don't agree and happened to like the other ending? Now THAT'S even lamer.

And FYI, I HAVE watched the whole Brotherhood series, and yes I thought the ending better, but I still stand by a lot of what I originally said in this rant. >__> Stupid Brotherhood elitists...

*post was ignored :(

lol brotherhood elitists.... anyways, what didn't you like about fma brotherhood? i could clear the air about some stuff if there was some confusing parts

cuz i can give a long long long list of the things i didn't like about fma, and i make some valid points, so don't write me off just yet

I can tell you many things I didn't like about Brotherhood, and I too can make valid points, but I'm going to save it for my next soapbox.

Look, dude. It's not that Brotherhood was confusing, or that it was more "shounen", or that I "just didn't get it". I just didn't care as much for it as much overall as I did the original anime. It's that simple. I already explained why in my rant, as did the people who commented. Did you read any of it?

Now the MANGA on the other hand...I liked it every bit as much, and more in some ways. But again, that's just my personal taste.

And you can rattle off as many things as you want about why you didn't like FMA...but it won't make a lick of difference to me. I'm sorry if I'm sounding rude or defensive here, but Brotherhood being "better" than FMA is not a fact. It's an OPINION, and not everyone agrees with it. And I wish some of you would try to wrap your brains around that concept.

Again, I'm sorry if I'm sounding rude. I'm just tired of the "stupid Brotherhood elitists" shoving their opinions down my throat and acting like I'm some stupid idiot for not agreeing. =(

lol ok ok i respect your opinion. i can see why you would dislike brotherhood, since you do like the manga. brotherhood does have less heart in it, it seems a little more like an action thriller type series than either the manga or fma1, and lacks emotional depth at time. i did not care for the cartoony humor either. however i prefered the artwork to fma1, personally because it makes ed look more badass. the music score was more dramatic and well rounded, storyline and characters IMO were more developed and dynamic but i guess if you look at the cast of characters on fma1 they were pretty fleshed out too, but i just didn't like how none of the supporting characters really played a role, like havoc, breda, falman, and armstrong, who were only there for comic relief. Also badass characters like ling and olivier weren't included. hmm... maybe i should just start my own rant about what i didn't like about fma1. anyways i respect your opinion, i was just giving my two cents on the topic. BTW I DID read the article

Hey, it's cool. And I respect your opinion too. =) And truly, I can understand why some people don't like FMA1. Like I said in my rant, it did have many flaws.

It's just so...frustrating! It's like I have a love/hate relationship with both series, lol. In a perfect world, the music, emotional depth and smooth directing of the first series would be combined with the artwork, character development and storyline of the second series to make the perfect FMA adaptation. Alas, it will never happen. =(

I guess I'll just have to settle for ignoring certain parts of both, lol.

Oh my GOD! You are my new best friend!!!! Those are my EXACT thoughts about Brotherhood and the original series! Ahh! I love you! Lol its good to know someone agrees with me!! Another problem I have with Brotherhood is the voices for the Xingese, they just don't sound like I imagined them to.

I like both the FMA1 and the Brotherhood... but the Brotherhood is the best. Every episode is wonderful and if you watched the 1st to the last episode, you will understand the real meaning of Brotherhood and appreciate on how the story ends well. If you will watch and understand it clearly, you can feel the sadness, despair, anger, revenge, care, love and happiness of the characters...

I like the love team of Edward and Winrey in Brotherhood than Edward and ROse in FMA1. The characters is still funny in Brotherhood.

I respect all of your thoughts and comments about Brotherhood..... but for me i love the Brotherhood than the FMA1,.. :)

I have to disagree for a few reasons. I started by watching the 2003 anime and loved it until the end which lost all of the heart of the story. Your main reason for not liking Brotherhood is heart but the heart is there and it far exceeds the original anime later on in the series. The original started out with much more character depth but by the end it dropped off and got so absurd that i no longer enjoyed it. Brotherhood streamlines things that is true but the true feeling of the story grows with each episode. I felt so much more for the brothers and everyone else because by the end they were truly heartfelt and real people. The original anime had the feeling but lost and sense of humanity and thought-fullness in the end. Brotherhood easily exceeds the original anime in feeling, heart, meaning, and story.

o this is getting good! I'll give you some parts of my story, the original did have heart, esepcially the hole nina chimera incident, I could not shake the disgust off my mind, and kept on thinking about it the entire day. Anyays the original had its moment, but the ending.....ugh it comepletely dissapointed me...I as just so i dun no frustated, letdon, etc. that the brother didnt meet up, plus the jole rocket and coming to earth as a bit farfetched to say the least...the beginning for brotherhood as sketchy , but the ending plus the ne characters made up for it!I really agreed ith the ending, and briotherhood did have heart!Lots og ppl say that brother hood as ushed, ell the first 20 opisodes of fma1 as th beginning and the rest as so rushed! brotherhood as much less rushed and kepr to the storyline...no I dont ant any flames, this is just my opinion but again the ending for fma1 as horrible...brtherhood as slo in the beginning but it made up for it, the story line as also ay better! anyay like i said befor this as my opinion, i think one youve gron to love somehting, like my fma1enthusiuasts its had to love another adaption od the same thing... idnot no if that makes sense but I feel that ay alot for other animes...anyay plz gove briotherhood a hcnace it gets ay better, the beginning episodes are a bit eird, but it gets much better at the end!

I don't know what this person is talking about, other than not really watching fma2 without thinking about fma1. It makes sense, since its a retelling not a continuation to the first one. I prefer fma2 and I found it funny, and enticing. I will probably be disappointed in watching the first one to tell u the truth. The only reason I didn't watch the first one yet, is because they don't have one that is subbed, they only have dubbed version, but i finally found dual audio so I Should be fine. Oh and to all those people who will try to say oh the dub is good, fuck that. Watching anime with english dubs, is like watching spongebob in japanese, no thanks. Anyways I dislike the english voice actors, they sound like they are from the fucking country, I wish they would use people from New York, cus then the acting might be on par. But to be honest FMA2 had a great story, and characters, I doubt FMA will measure up to my view of FMA2

I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way, and I know it seems shallow, but...

I hate Brotherhood for one reason, and it's the art. Plain and simple, I find the show to be ugly.

I love FMA. I've been reading the manga, and I've seen... eh, a little bit of the first anime. (Was more a fan of the manga, only because I didn't have as much time to sit down to the anime.) I caught about five minutes of an episode of Brotherhood, and this was the exchange I had with a friend:

Me: Is this the new FMA anime?
My friend: Yeah, that's Brotherhood.
Me: *watches for a few moments* ...What the hell color is Ed's hair?
My friend: I... I don't know.
Me: This is just ugly. *watches a bit more* ...Okay, why are we watching this? Turn it off.

I'd watch it if it wasn't so godawful ugly and the animation style didn't look like it came straight out of Adobe Flash. I just caught a little bit of it on Adult Swim previews right now, and... yeah. I shuddered.

I know it sounds shallow, but... I have a hard time watching an anime or reading a manga if I don't like the art. I think of it as an all-in-one package, where all elements are of the same importance. FMA has a great story, and the manga (in its black-and-white, bold-lined art) looks awesome. The first anime, from what little I saw of it, holds the same -- different, but the same quality. Brotherhood? Yeah not so much.

I like fma brotherhood because there are tons of philosopher`s stones. and 71 episodes

well, i guess i will be the only one whose gonna say this- probably... i got inroduced to fma only through brotherhood. well, i knew there was a show called fma when i was small; before brohood released but i never gave it a chance.
well, o can't pick over either of them basically because as and when i watched brotherhood, i watched fma1 and read the manga... so i grew fond of both the series. it is, i think, the beauty of fma... two different stories that teach us their own respective lessons using the same characters. well, that is my opinion... but when it comes to really choosing over between fma and fmab... guess i would choose fmab cuz... it follows the manga and hiromu arakawa has had this story brewing in her head for over 9 years! so it had a lot of planning... but fma1... they had very less tym to sort out anything so the ending was a bit abrupt but still beautiful (anime ending). They also had a lot of tym to focus on the relationship of the brothers... they probably didn't give much importance to that in fmab mainly cuz they assumed the japanese audience already know of it since like practically the whole of japan has watched fma1... but, i think the relationship between the brothers was there in brohood but fma1 threw more light as they just expanded what was already in the manga (very very well) and just completed the story on their own... so, both the series deserve 10 on 10 according to me... but i didn't like the fact that they cut many things in brotherhood from the manga... like the whole dublith sequence (i can understand this case; they've already shown it in fma) and many ishval war scenes... AND they made a small drawing mistake in the last few episodes when everyone fight father... riza is shown holding roy's shoulder and chest in the manga whereas in brotherhood she is shown only holding roy's shoulder.... grrrr X( (i am a royai fan) well, this is my view and wholly my opinion. please respect it as i respect all of yours

I'm 31 episodes into Brotherhood and I hate it because the first series doesn't feel like a shonen anime, it felt like a good drama. Brotherhood feels like a shonen anime it really does and it pains me to see a well crafted fantasy-drama turned into another shonen anime. Also the world they live in, in Brotherhood doesn't feel as alive as the first series.

I can only say this.... I LOVE you for expressing in very good terms what I have been thinking!

Imma go on my own little rant :)
Well I think you do bring up a ton of good points. I agree, FMA does have more heart. It went more into depth about the character's lives.

The only trouble for me, is that it seemed...filled up with fillers I guess. I feel like Brotherhood never lost sight of what it really was about, what the whole point to it was. Some episodes of FMA had so much filler in them, and some of them I swear, it was like watching a Scooby Doo episode, it was all this weird mystery. I just feel like Brotherhood was better.

Although there were more characters in the first anime, I just liked brotherhood's characters more. Because the characters they DID have in brotherhood, they established them well. They showed Hoenhiem way more, and showed his past.
I also loved the kinda puzzle pieces in brotherhood, how there were legends that went along with it, not every mystery was just some little town they wandered into and made things all better.
Yes. FMA did have more heart to it, I understand what you are saying. It's just...the plot, the story in brotherhood just had less holes. I could understand it better.

The first time I watched FMA, I felt brain dead. I had so many questions and was so confused. I mean, yes I loved parts of what I'd seen, some of the fillers were hilarious, and I laughed and cried with it.

But brotherhood...I laughed and cried just as hard, but when it was over, it left more of a satisfied feeling. I felt better after watching it, like what I had seen had come to an end, like I went on the journey with them, and it made more sense to me.

I don't know why you guys are complaining about Brotherhood being rushed. It had 12 more episode than FMA. Besides some people talk about FMA like it was the original. Some said both the manga and Brotherhood sucked. You know, there was so much fillers and pointless characters in the last one. They replaced some of the best characters, or took them out. I didn't like the stories or fillers and especially the ending. Sure FMA had less time to do anything, but that doesn't make it good. It was like someone stole the characters and just did what they want with them. To me, FMA was as close as possible to copyright without being sued. That's how different they are.

We're not talking about FMA like it's the original version of the story; we never once said that. (Though it IS the original anime adaptation.) We're talking about it like we love it. And there's nothing wrong with that. People need to realize that Brotherhood being "waaayyyy awesomer cuz OMG IT FOLLOWS THE MANGA AND FMA SUCKS!" is not a fact - it's an OPINION. The manga happens to be my favorite, followed very closely by the first anime; but that doesn't mean they're the best and that Brotherhood is horrible. It's just my preference, that's all.

Just like FMA taking its time doesn't automatically make it good, Brotherhood completely following the manga doesn't automatically mean it's good, either. BOTH anime versions have a lot of flaws (Brotherhood was badly directed and insanely inconsistent, FMA had too many fillers and a crappy ending), and both have their strengths, too (Brotherhood had a stronger plotline and better artwork, FMA was wonderfully and smoothly directed and it had a better handle of the emotion in the story).

And I understand your frustration and how you feel the characters were "stolen" in FMA (they did start getting OOC towards the end...and goodness knows I've felt the same way countless times about a lot of the book-to-movie adaptations out there)...but please keep in mind that they'd run out of manga material to work with at the time, and that Arakawa herself requested that they made a different ending so the manga wouldn't be spoiled for her readers. Nobody stole anything. You don't have to like what the anime did, but if you're going to blame someone for making it so different, blame Arakawa. She may not have written the anime plot, but she still gave it the go-ahead. Personally, I think the first anime had guts to do what they did. Considering they didn't have any more material to build off of, they did a very creative, daring job of creating their own plot and coming up with their own interpretations of the Gate, humunculi, etc. Gotta give them some credit, at least...

No not you. You stated your point clearly and I some what agree with you too like the fact that both anime has flaws. The ending I was partially unsatisfied with the ending of Brotherhood. Can't tell you which part because it will spoil the anime. In FMA I liked how they included some of the extras from the manga. Anyways it all depends. Brotherhod was, in a way, more shonen than FMA.

Brotherhood is a piece of shit without even comparing it to the original fma.Character has no dept and all and everything was complete slapslick just like fable3. What the original fma did was to take away all the stupid shit the manga had and make a perfect fma in which they could have done if they didn't make some fucked up ending movie with al and had ed and winry fucking each other,plus having MUCH more episodes with main characters. Another important thing to note is brotherhood didn;t emthasize of the importance of relationship between the characters and their surroundings. The early 1900s setting should have a bigger role in everything rather then be a playground for some fucking random ninjas and alchemist to destroy things.

THANK GOD! I am not the only one who feels this way!!! I have recently been watching through Brotherhood since I was a huuuge fan of the original series. I find myself needing to converse or like in your case rant about this topic. I can't believe manga fan or not, that there are people who openly think brotherhood is better than the original series. I get that if you were a manga fan it differs from the story you know. But this is not manga. It's a show. Brotherhood lacks feeling, subtly, the dialogue is terrible compared to the original series and leaves nothing to ponder. Everything moves too fast, the characters have no depth, it seems as if all of the lines in brotherhood are just badly rehashed versions of the original since they didnt want to copy it exactly when they remade it (for the episodes that follow the same structure). Although there are some good action scenes where there should have been in the original I'll give it that. But even their expressions are too drastic at times and the characters always state things you should only be left to think about! I'm still watching through because I LOVED the original series and it deserves another chance and I want to see where they take the series. But overall, majorly disappointed. The only thing it's got going for it is more action scenes and most of the original voice actors.

Oh and reading over some of the other comments, I think that it's vital to have filler episodes. That's how you create deeper character's and although plot is vital and needs to be good, you need breaks. Filler episodes are the ones I found myself watching again and again. Plot you watch to see what happens and when it's done the ride is over. Any good show needs a healthy balance of plot and fillers. Brotherhood was heavy into the plot but lacked in almost every other aspect. Also, any show should have an air of mystery to it and keeping up with the story and formulating your own opinions is half of what makes it interesting. FMA gave you enough to piece it together yourself. Brotherhood seems like its for people who are brain dead as far as the dialogue goes.

ummmm I dis-agree with what people are saying the 2003 version sucked I don't care what people say one if you read the Manga than watch the 2003 version it take's them way to long add get to the simple facts as to where brother hood made it extermely great because instead of like 10 epsoide's of ranting all that ranting was within one episode and than your next episode was your fighting and after that your spoofs , FMA 2003 version also had a lot of useless charcters that only came in handy at the end of the seris witch in my opinion was stupid , as to peope who say that "FMAB doesn't have in depth charcters." if you can't see that fact that the charcters already so emotional and have alot of historey behind them so why add pointless things to something great ? witch is why FMAB / Manga is 40X what the 2003 anime will ever be

The point was manga aside. A lot of people that like anime shows haven't read the manga or even like manga for that sake. But I have continued to give Brotherhood a chance and it's getting a lot better. The original episodes and script were just much better then brotherhood episodes that match up. Past that I guess where brotherhood isn't avoiding trying to copy the original dialogue it gets better.

First of all DON"T KILL ME for what I'm about to post, It's just a bunch of my *observations and opinions*: >___<
I have seen both versions but I saw FMAB (fma2) first.

1. Yes, FMAB might have been rushed in the beginning. And that's probably because you are used to seeing it go slow. Cuz when I saw FMAB, I did NOT find it rushed or anything. In fact I found FMA1 a bit slow. So this criteria CANNOT be used as a comparison factor.

2. Believe it or not, FMAB did make me cry and gave me goosebumps. Nina's death, Scar's past... IT triggered in me emotions that were stronger than in FMA1.
FMA1 is a bit like One piece...in the sense, it does make you cry and draws out a lot of emotions, but after a point I found it illogical. It's just *like* adding characters. The characters of FMA1 are likeable like Luffy, Ichigo,etc... They are lovely to watch. But beyond a point, its just cramming things. But, *I FEEL* FMAB brought out the characters more beautifully, as in an epic tale. Their characters evolved in a more honest and appealing way than in the original. But of course, to another person, this may not be the case.

3. FMA1 is really good. Except, its not about alchemy. Well mostly not. It seems to have swayed a lot from the original concept which could have been beautifully continued. (And it was in 2009) And thanks to FMAB, I'm almost convinced that alchemy exists. Since FMA1 swayed from this theme by a mile, I was disappointed.
Now one of you readers is gonna say, "I DC!! FMAB SUUCKS! FMA1 ROCKS!" To them , "IDC either."

May I compare FMAB to Cowboy Bebop? (which I haven't seen recently but I heard its similar.)

4. I'm not sure whether FMAB is more shounen. (Shounen is characterized by action,true, but more so by fan-service and slap-stick humor) I personally do not like too much humor that doesn't fit. I'm not sure which humor I like more...
FMA1 has good humor but it doesn't fit sometimes.
FMAB is a bit of silly humor. (Not as good as the rare god-complex lines =3 )
So I think FMA1 slightly wins in this aspect if you like sophisticated humor.

5. IS FMAB anime or poetry? (I write poetry :P ) Philosophy is SIMPLY Amazing! Quote:-
"Envy: Would you refuse to set fire to a piece of coal just because it was a plant millions of years ago?
Father: I wanted not be bound by anyone! What is wrong with wanting freedom? (Along with his Nietzsche’s philosophy)
Greed: Why do you humans differentiate between "Good" and "Bad" greed? Aren't they all just desires?
Truth: I am 'truth', 'one', 'all', 'universe', 'god' and 'you'.
(Advaitha philosophy)
ED: We are the 'ones'. The universe is 'all', made up of infinite 'ones'. Without one, the other cannot exist. All is one. One is all. " Arakawa is brilliant.

Don't forget Kimbley the amazing philosopher and Briggs (Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest) I hope you might agree with me that FMAB Kimbley is more refined-badass than the original.
Sorry but to me, Dante sucks in comparison to father. Everything about him is better.

To conclude, I'd like to quote from a review, which I agree with:

FMA1:
Suspense: Hardly a dull moment.
Plot: Nice storyline.
Characters: Believable in their motivations. Truly enjoyable.
Comedy: Awkward slapstick humor.
Logic: Some illogical plot details.
Yes it's awesome on the same level as one piece or bleach. But to me, FMAB is more of a grand epic poetic artwork that somehow makes it difficult to judge with the others. O__O

FMAB:
Brilliantly highlight the characteristics of the main characters.
Music: For the most part good; in some instances beautiful.
Main characters: Always true to their personalities and characteristics. Evolve uniquely.
Action scenes: Masterful
Symbolism: Is this anime or poetry?
Plot: Brilliantly structured. The level of detail is amazing.
The final scene: Words cannot adequately describe it's splendour.



In MY OPINION,
FMA1 is a very nice anime to watch. It's really good and I mean it.
But FMAB is more of a masterpiece. It almost eliminated the weaknesses of FMA1 to make a truly amazing piece of art.

QUOTE:
"What truly separates FMAB from FMA1 is the way in which it explores profound philosophical themes. The level of depth in FMAB's story is astounding. It avoids any form of fillers, unlike FMA1, and uses every single one of its episodes effectively. Take any episode out of FMAB and it will be missing a vital organ in its body."

SORRY FOR THE LONG RANT!!
To end it, I'd say which anime is better depends on you.

If you're a person who likes philosophy and want well-fitting logic, if you believe in poetically weaving a tapestry of intricate details and complex plots, if you like the big picture, it's FMAB. (haha! lame words I use) :P

If you're a person who loves drama and humor, if you want strong feelings and emotions triggered regardless of logical fallacies, it's FMA1. (May NOT APPLY TO ALL)

Perhaps we shouldn't worry about which 1 is better? Rather, we must learn to accept that they're quite different in most aspects and cannot be compared. It's like asking what the best color is. Let's appreciate the fact that each series created a large number of fans and was able to stand on its own without shadowing the other.

P.S. DONT KILL ME!!!

Haha...
any1 noticed? Most of the people who prefer FMA over FMAB are ones who have grown up with it.
(Sometimes, people's brains deceive them into thinking they're giving everything a fair chance, when they are accustomed to something already. Not possible.

Best is to make a person watch FMA1, get his views, erase his memory, make him watch FMAB, get his views. :P

Reasons why I think Brotherhood is better than FMA:
-A full story with a centralized plot, proper introductions, story arcs, side story arcs, rising actions, turning points, climax, falling actions, and conclusions. No thread is left untied.
-Dynamic characters with lives and stories of their own. Protagonists are clearly defined and truly complex, and their relationships to other characters are logical and practical. There are no unnecessary elements, nor is anything left poorly explained.
-Details are well-integrated into the story. Example: Amestris' historical background.

I am a person who has NEVER READ THE MANGA FOR FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST EVER EVER EVER!!! I'm ashamed to admit this, but after watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I don't feel like I need to.

I am one of the many kids who grew up at the age of 13 watching Adult Swim just for shows like Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, AND Fullmetal Alchemist. I didn't hear the original Japanese dubbing, and I didn't even KNOW there was a FMA manga.

I tell ya, for a guy who loves cyberpunk, FMA definitely had a matching level of complexity. I didn't notice the weak character development or have any plot for comparison. So to me, the original FMA animation was deep, alive, complex, and... just awesome.

Once they stopped airing FMA on Cartoon Network, I kinda put a 5 star label on it and moved on. Found out there was a manga and shrugged it off, and then a couple years later I find out they're remaking the anime.

So I sit down after a while and start watching the first episode, Japanese dub. Let me tell you, I thought it was CRAPTASTIC! WHY IS BRADLEY A SAMURAI?! HE IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THAT COOL!!! Honestly, I absolutely hated the first episode. I wanted to return to the Lior stories because I wanted to see Rose, again.

Of course, the series heard and granted my wish immediately. To my surprise, I am sorely disappointed by Brotherhood. What was a beautiful and romantic story arc in Fullmetal Alchemist becomes a character introduction element in Brotherhood. The entire plot of condensed and summarized as a PLOT DEVICE!

I could go on about the parts of Brotherhood which completely infuriate me and distance me from the series because of the expectations I have from FMA. Youswell becomes nothing more than an explanation for why an inherently random character named Yoki appears to be slinking about like a rotten worm (although I really was fond of the way they went into it like it didn't really have any effect on the storyline).

I am going to agree with the critics that Brotherhood is rushed and clumsy. However, it's worth pointing out that the parts which are rushed are story elements which are mostly explained in the original animation. I already knew the Youswell and Lior story arcs, and so because I was expecting them I absolutely hated seeing them reduced to nothing more than a flashback or lame bossfight.

I am also going to agree that, despite it's flaws, the characters of the original FMA were MUCH MORE ALIVE!!! LUST HAD A BACKSTORY!!! OMG!!! People like Lust and... and... who else...?

Honestly, I was disappointed that Lust was reduced to a secondary character in Brotherhood. I absolutely wanted to recall the whole lover story arc from FMA. But do you realize how many other characters become elevated? GLUTTONY ISN'T JUST A MINDLESS EATING MACHINE!!! HE'S LIKE AN INNOCENT KID GETTING BULLIED BY HIS SIBLINGS!!!

KING BRADLEY HAS HIS OWN BACKSTORY!!!
ENVY ISN'T SOME RANDOM JOKE OF A HOMOSEXUAL!!!
But seriously, what was up with Sloth? Sloth went from the most tragic story element to even less than a plot device. And it wouldn't have been as bad if the series could just let him suck in silence. No, they try to make us empathize for a giant circus freak who can move really fast and likes to say "It's a drag..."

Pinako evolves from a plot device into a living, breathing character. I actually WANT to read about Pinako having her own romance, after watching Brotherhood.

Bradley stops being generic Hitler-based villian number 1 to this cold-hearted, emotionless puppet who longs to live a human life without strings. You can really taste the sharp contrasts between his original humanity and his ruthless homunculi nature.

I never liked Envy. I just thought he was gay. In fact, I used to think Envy's preferred body was female. FMA never clarified it clearly enough in my memory. But when Envy died in Brotherhood, I cried. I cried for a little worm.

I am offended that anyone would consider the humor in Fullmetal Alchemist to be generic and "dippy". My favorite comedic moment in the entire series is when Alphonse remembers the Truth. As soon as he did, I immediately realized that he would be able to perform alchemy using himself as a transmutation circle. I thought to myself: There goes Edward's only advantage as an older brother.

As if to say "Good job, you figured it out," the series takes a brief moment of seriousness to say that Ed's ego got a little shorter that day. The rest of the series is full of humorous tidbits like this. And sure, there are one too many jokes on Ed's reaction to being called short, but I think the depth and timing of the jokes (which I rarely find inappropriate) compensate for the shallowness of certain inside humor.

FMAB is just amazing. It definitely has a stronger plot. That was the whole point of the second series. But it sacrifices an immersive, detailed witness for an emotional yet as-a-matter-of-fact account. Brotherhood is "Big Picture", as some say.

But even though Brotherhood pays less attention to minor details which we may have fallen in love with as youths, it directs a full orchestra of depth and meaning. More things make sense. Brotherhood doesn't tell you how you're supposed to feel. It depicts a chain of events and gives you the chance to empathize yourself. It makes you work harder (maybe a little too hard) to understand the emotional conflict going on.

I don't think Brotherhood has any flaws. FMAB takes FMA and reorganizes it. The universe is so much bigger. It's no longer as important to know about little things like Youswell. Secondary characters are SECONDARY CHARACTERS. They don't just suddenly steal the spotlight for filler time and get their own short story (like Lust, or Yoki, who doesn't even reappear in the second series).

I don't understand how anyone can think that Brotherhood isn't telling a story. I don't know what you mean when you say that the original FMA had characters who were more vibrant and alive. Winry's cries in Central as she shuddered in Edward's arms while Alphonse chased a fleeing Scar absolutely broke my heart. And Ed's strained expression right before the credits made me think "This is what revenge brings." And then, a soft, gentle voice pushed me over the edge... "Let it all out... Let it all out..." I couldn't stop crying for 2 hours after that episode.

And it's not like that's the only redeeming moment in Brotherhood. Does Brotherhood even need redemption? Rather than comparing Brotherhood to FMA, I'm going to compare FMA to Brotherhood.

FMA pros... I can't even think of any, now. Oh, wait, the soundtrack. It's charming.

FMA cons:
-No plot. I'm not even going to say a "weak" plot. The story completely derailed. It stopped being about Edward and Alphonse and became more focused on this thing where... Rose gets pregnant and shuts up... Woo~
-Bland, boring characters. Forget the fact that none of the characters develop at all. The entire series is filled with cliche. OF COURSE YOU WOULD MAKE UP A CHARACTER NAMED DANTE. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS.
-Unbalanced characters. Why does Lust have more background exposition than Edward Elric himself? Why is Alphonse nothing more than a walking suit of armor called Edward's lttle brother?

In fact, after forcing myself to reconsider FMA and FMAB in the course of writing this comment, I've decided that FMA is complete trash and I don't even know why I liked it. Brotherhood is superior in every way. Many of the so called "flaws" which we attribute to Brotherhood are in fact storytelling "strengths" which are relevant to how we understand a story.

Allow me a Parthian Shot: How is the original FMA anime philosophical... AT ALL?

So... equivalent exchange is ending up in Germany at the height of the holocaust? Shambala... so, the people who die in our world fuel the alchemy in Amestris. That's pretty depressing. Not in a good way. Oh, and Hitler wanted to become immortal. We can't forget about Hitler. PARALLEL UNIVERSE!!! WOO~


Whereas in Brotherhood...

I kind of feel stupid for spending the entire series wondering what Ed sacrifices to get Al back. He sacrifices his ALCHEMY. WHAT?!

I could double the size of this comment just by elaborating on the philosophy which is so obviously present in Brotherhood. What Brotherhood basically told me was: Forget the truth; throw it away, it doesn't matter. And I just laughed. IT'S SO OBVIOUS! It's been right HERE this entire time! And it makes COMPLETE sense!

Ok I read the manga 1st something actually is very rare. Lazy peeps... The manga beats the anime for story wise. I just finished the 1st anime. It pwns the whole WW2 stuff.

Brotherhood_Awesome graphics, kick-ass scenes, the actual plot, epicness

FMA1- Exciting as in NEW STORY YAYYYY! It was fun seeing a new twist.

Havent started brotherhood but watching end on [AS]. All I can say is Manga>FMA1 but FMA1 was a thrill ride.

i think that brotherhood lost ALL emotions. Like when hughes died,it didn't even show him dying,and noone felt any feelings for him. the original showed what happened,and showed his family and friends crying at his grave. It made me cry. but in brotherhood,i would just sit there and stare. not cry,or anything. I would feel bad for hughes,but wouldn't cry,because all the emotions were snatched away from the new series. FACT= almost 100 % of the voice actors from fma1 left when brotherhood was made. It's not that i hate fmab,i just don't like it. i respect it,but don't like it.(i respect any anime)

plz don't take my comment offensively! (from above) it was only a short rant---that's all

That's okay. But as far as the voice-actors go...are you talking about the Japanese or English? Because most of the English voice actors DID return for Brotherhood...even Aaron did, though he couldn't voice Al because his voice got too low. (Gotta love puberty, lol.) But they still found a place for him...he got to voice Young Hohenheim! How awesome is that?? *geeking out!* =D

Also, Brotherhood DID show Hughes dying (and the grave scene, too). It even added him saying goodbye to Gracia and Elysia as he died. But I still agree that the emotion didn't feel as strong. So frustrating... =(

I agree with several of your comments, but I also think FMA:B was more of a service to the fans than a means for drawing in brand-new viewers.

A lot of the difficulty in delivering the story (resulting in this "chain of events") derives from the exposition. In the beginning of FMA:B, they basically went through two episodes of FMA to cover the same content in "Part 1", the first 13 episodes.

The way I see it, it's possible to watch the first third of the original FMA and then skip over to brotherhood at the crossing point (ignoring occasional, subtle inconsistencies). This develops the background at a comfortable pace and with more depth, and I think it gives the remainder of the story more weight:

The way to do it is watch the original FMA through episode 17 (skipping the filler #4, 10-12), and then jumping right into FMA:B from #7. The transition is quite smooth, actually.

Read more about it here! http://www.raficus.com/2010/07/fma-animme-­con­ver­gen­ce.­htm­l

Okay You have listed many good points indeed. The truth of the matter is that I too watched the first anime series before Brotherhood. I was first introduced to FMA though the manga series. I started watching the first anime series because I didn't have time to read the manga. After reading volume three I stopped reading the manga because I thought that the two stories would tell the same tale. Well I was wrong. So I started reading the manga again and after a while I started watching Brotherhood. And I have come to find that I find Brotherhood ever better then FMA. It tells the original tale. The one I wanted to watch. Don't get me wrong! I love FMA! But when compared to Brother and the manga it's just one long parallel universe fanfiction version of Fullmetal Alchemist. That is my opinion.

@ dearheart- i heard al's voice in fmab,and it sounded like a girl.(a little one) no-affense.and faullman(luitennant) looked very different and sounded like an old man.(i watched part of one and heard this) yet again..no-affense.(and for the rest of this fun-sized mature opinion rant) and there was this girl i never seen before,and some boys.i just think the original is the best,because it had feeling and actually made me cry 4 times.(2 times on the edge) and in brother hood i just dropped my tissues. i find it great that i get to hear these opinions,cuz i get to know evry one better,i also have 100% respect for every opinion here.I accept differenses! :) i just missed the sad part where nina died,along with her dog. it wasnt included. and *random,srry!* noone on the fma club likes shou tucker,thats why I tried to make an fma club,so evry one can start new and base it only on the show,but i heard of one of my friends' club of "fma1" getting erased. so i just hope noone took affense to this,and godbless you all!=)

Okay, this is going to take a while. xD I'm going to give out my opinion, and I'm not enforcing it, of course. :) And this is like a long ramble, I doubt anyone's going to read this. xD

Simply put: I like FMA: Brotherhood much better than 2003 FMA.

Why?

Alright, we'll start with the good qualities of 2003 FMA. First, it was captivating. Its mysteries were enthralling, and it kept me on the edge of my seat (such as that whole Trisha-Sloth thing, etc). I loved that. Also, the comedy was wonderful, and the general movement of the scenes was well directed. The art was pretty, but I didn't like Edward's face too much, he looks too much of a bishounen to me.

While the first anime was captivating, it didn't quite end as I'd hoped for it to end. I mean, some things were left unexplained, and the ending just depressed me even more. Of course, you really can't have a series without some things not explained by the end, but here, they were some major things...it didn't explain as clearly and left me unsatisfied.

Let's talk about Brotherhood and the whole rushing mess. Most people on here comment about how it's rushed, but that is completely unfair when you judge it from the first few episodes. Of course the first episodes are going to be rushed compared to the vastness of the story in order to be squeezed into 64 episodes. It does slow down after the 14th episode, when it diverges from the first anime.

Onto my favorite part: characters. Now, I know most people worship the fact that the first anime does justice on characterizing Ed and Al and giving characters like Hughes more screen time, but I'm one of those who prefer many side characters coming into play with the main characters (because I have an attachment to side characters xD I find it boring to just deal with main characters...I want to know about everyone else, too!). With Brotherhood, it had exactly what I wanted. Every single character related to each other in one way. EVERYONE CONNECTS AND IT IS MIND BLOWING. /takes a deep breath. (random note: It's like Harry Potter! So many characters and they all have a major role /HP and FMA are my two soul mates...). And I like the fact that you could pick out one random minor character and go on lengths talking about that person. What makes Brotherhood different from other animes/stories is that every character mattered. In fact, I'm going to quote someone (talking about the manga, but goes for Brotherhood as well):

"The characters were all alive, and most importantly their position in the plot was secure and comprehensible. For series like Bleach and Naruto, some characters just pop out of nowhere and you are never sure whether this guy actually matters or is just another hobo. In FMA, you know the who, what, where, when, why and hows of the characters, and you could actually memorize most of them. This made the series more alive, and the plot progression seem as if they are based around those characters.

Another great thing about the series is that all the arcs are linked together, and the link is not forced. The brother's goal is still in place and going, and as each arch unfolds the brothers get closer and closer to their goal - returning to their original bodies. There are no plot holes and the puzzles all come together in the end. It's like the Harry Potter of Shounen manga, everything just makes sense." - dannyboy95

Each had a specific part to the story, and they played it out very well. Not only that, but Brotherhood did the females justice. Ohmy, I almost cried when the females had a major part to the story in a shounen anime. Winry, Mei, Riza, Lan Fan...each of them contributed to their own way, totally revolutionizing the whole "useless female character" theme. I like the fact that Winry can be a strong, mature girl and still be a home-girl at the same time...ah, but that's a different story. :D

Let's go onto the whole "Brotherhood had no emotion" aspect. Okay, guys, I'm going to tell you something that might leave you speechless: I did not cry once in FMA-1. *waits for rotten tomatoes to be thrown* xD Why? Because while the emotional scenes were truly emotional, I was more horrified and shocked than in tears. The Hughes death part, I think, did make me tear up but only on the verge of crying...ah, but I can't remember too well, it was a long time ago. However, in Brotherhood, I cried many, many times...even when I wasn't supposed to. OH, the blasphemy! I don't see how fans can say that there weren't emotional scenes in Brotherhood...for example, the scene with Ed crying out to Al during his second visit to the gate drove me to cry buckets of tears. Two scenes that were specifically emotional but not-supposed-to-make-you-cry-but-I-did--an­ywa­y were the ones were Ed and Al promise to each other that they'll find a way. The first one after Winry yells at Al for questioning Ed's honesty, and the second where Ed comes back from his meeting with Hohenheim (the episode where Winry notices Ed's bigger back...which leads me to say, I love how the characters grow physically as well as mentally...Ed has a huge transformation from the beginning to the end...as well as Winry). Those scenes made me tear up so bad! D': And along with many, many, MANY others. Seriously. Brotherhood was SO tear-inducing, I don't know what y'all are talking about. xD

Okaaay, now about the comedy. I'm sorry, but I ADORE slapstick humor. xD It's probably my favorite kind of humor. 'Tis the reason why I adore Brotherhood. First, let me say something. FMA: Brotherhood is the kind of anime series where you can re-watch the episodes for laughs and giggles and sometimes tears. I have watched episode 15 about fifty times just because of the humor. It's the kind of anime where everything just cheers you up, brightens your day. Even if they AREN'T filler episodes, they still are re-watchable...because of how amusing and how satisfied each episode makes watchers (I can't watch filler episodes in FMA-1 x_x bad memories). I couldn't do that with FMA-1...every episode would leave me just even more depressed. D: Now, about the humor. If I asked my six-year-old sister what her favorite part about Brotherhood was, she'd reply, "Ed's funniness of course!" (Now, admittedly, she's only six...not old enough to understand somethings but STILL xD). Every time we watch an episode and Ed has his funny antenna moment, we pause the video and laugh for five minutes straight (exaggerating, but you get the idea). :'D It's that amusing to us. Maybe it's only us, though. ^^;

Lastly, overall, the whole reason why I love Brotherhood more is because it's lighter, more optimistic than FMA-1. I'm not one of those who dwell into misery, depressing, and emotional animes. I'm more of let's-be-emotional-but-create-an-optimiist­ic-­ton­e out of it. Meaning that even from the start, Ed and Al had that one goal: to get their bodies back, and by overcoming obstacles along the way, they were able to do so. That idea gives me (and others) hope that maybe if we work hard, we can reach our goals (as cheesy as that sounds xD). The whole message of FMA-1 is just the opposite - you can't always get what you want. But in Brotherhood, you already have that idea with the whole bringing-back-people-from-the-dead. I think, that the Elric brothers deserved to have a happy ending...it depressed me to think of in the first anime...the brothers went through all that hardship...just to have more hardship? /heavy hearted sigh. In Brotherhood, they went through that and reached their goal...ending the epic story perfectly...predictable, but what'dya expect? More drama? No, thank you.

I could talk about the symbolism for hours...but just look at previous posters' posts. That's definitely enough. :D

<3

I'd like to quote some stuff from previous posters:

"I don't understand how anyone can think that Brotherhood isn't telling a story. I don't know what you mean when you say that the original FMA had characters who were more vibrant and alive. Winry's cries in Central as she shuddered in Edward's arms while Alphonse chased a fleeing Scar absolutely broke my heart. And Ed's strained expression right before the credits made me think "This is what revenge brings." And then, a soft, gentle voice pushed me over the edge... "Let it all out... Let it all out..." I couldn't stop crying for 2 hours after that episode. "

THIS. THIS. THIS SO FREAKING MUCH.

"I kind of feel stupid for spending the entire series wondering what Ed sacrifices to get Al back. He sacrifices his ALCHEMY. WHAT?!

I could double the size of this comment just by elaborating on the philosophy which is so obviously present in Brotherhood. What Brotherhood basically told me was: Forget the truth; throw it away, it doesn't matter. And I just laughed. IT'S SO OBVIOUS! It's been right HERE this entire time! And it makes COMPLETE sense!"

OH I LOVE YOU. SO MUCH. <3

FMA Brotherhood, despite having shitloads of flaws, is based on one of the best manga ever, and therefore wins by default. It's much more superior, if only for utter lack of plot holes which plagued the 2003 anime.

Brotherhood had far better characters, with better development and it chained other plots together better. A lot of the relationships, motives etc in the 1st anime were just thrown out there. There is also a sense of closure in Brotherhood, which we didn't receive from the 1st anime. I also like the fact that Mustang was able to retain his dignity in the ending, and that it also had closure for the Ishvalans who the 1st anime totally forgot about. Most of all, the ending was in a way bittersweet, both Greed, and Hohenheim both died, but it was overhall very happy and positive, which is better than the needless angst in the original anime ending.

In terms of the actual series climax, the coup against Father's puppet government and all the ensuing battles was much more entertaining then Dante's quest for immortality. That being said, the original FMA anime is also a classic that deserves recognition.

Notto sound arrogant or anything, but Brotherhood is clearly better because it actually makes sense. Like in FMA Scars brother gave up his arm to save scar but you see him later in the series and he has two arms and there both his. While as Brotherhood he gives up his arm and he has no arm.

See some of you have no idea what your talking about. Like some of u say it has no heart. That's a lie. Brotherhood has plenty of heart. And like someone earlier said (in my own words) you guys say it rushes while FMA sticks to the beggining for thirty episodes and has to cram the rest in for 21 episodes. So when u make opinions know wat you're talking about first.