FMA vs. FMA: Brotherhood

[4RM3D]

I think Brotherhood is better mainly because it stayed close to the original manga. The first FMA diverged off the manga and became a little clichè.

Saying you like Brotherhood more because it's closer to the Manga, isn't a relevant argument unless you actually like that version more than the original series. But I can see where you were heading with this. For me it is the exact opposite. I have never read the manga, but it seems Brotherhood didn't translate (into an anime) as well as I had hoped, even though it is closer to the original.

Let's compare the two...

Fullmetal Alchemist
+ Has two interesting episodes cut out of Brotherhood **
+ A better and more focused story around the Elric Brothers

- The Homonculus arc never fully fleshed out

** The two episodes being: the alchemist exam and Edward Elric vs. Roy Mustang

Brotherhood
+ Better fleshed out world
+ Introduction of new (and awesome) characters
+ More awesome fight scenes

- Chaotic and fragmented story
- Deus Ex Machina (or as I would like to call it Evangelion complex)


That's all I can recall at the moment.

I like both series, but I still like the original more. The real killer is the chaotic, fragmented story with Deus Ex Machina thrown into the mix.

 

[madwarper]

Manga > Brotherhood > FMA

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying FMA is bad.
It's just that the manga is SO much better, and Brotherhood is better simply for following the manga.

This is one thing that puzzles me about anime based on manga. When the of the anime has gotten up to the point of the latest manga, either one of 3 things happen;
1) The anime spins off and turns out to be something completely alien from the direction the manga takes (ie. FMA, Elfen Lied).
2) There's a bunch of (usually horrible) filler while the anime waits for the manga to produce more volumes (ie. Bleach, Naruto).
3) Very rarely, the anime is put on hiatus until the manga produces more volumes (ie. Inuyasha).

 

[Osaka117]

Both series had things I liked, and things I didn't like, and in the end I ended up liking both series almost equally. But Brotherhood is ahead by a little due to one main point; there's a lot more focus on secondary characters, good and bad.

Don't get me wrong, Ed and Al are good characters, I just liked the secondary characters like Mustang, Armstrong, and Hohenheim way more. Even Barry the Chopper was around longer in Brotherhood, which I thought was awesome. They all got more badass, had more lines, and had bigger and better fight scenes than in the original which I really appreciated.

But special mention goes to King Bradley, since he rapidly rose to being one of my favorite anime villains of all time through his shear badassery. He rarely did anything in the original, and acted as if he was completely disinterested in the happening events, not very leader like. But Brotherhood made him into the badass he was supposed to be. He always had something awesome to say, and was even funny from time to time. And when he got pissed off, oh boy you better clear out because he'll fuckin end you big time. The scene where he returns to Central after the train thing (trying to be vague to avoid spoilers) is one of my favorite anime moments of all time.

 

[Frozengale]

I think Brotherhood sucked assssss.
The original was darker and more meaningful. You really felt for the villains and they werent just bosses to be beaten, especially where the homunculi were concerned. Father as the villain was horrible and his defeat cliche, everyone bands together to take him down, blegh. What he wanted didnt even make sense, he took everyone souls and yet they were still able to fight him, the fuck?. Brotherhood had way too many aesops(ms armstrong/izumi) and was way too preachy and made some characters lame, especially scar and truth.
Brotherhoods ending was also kinda bullshit.

Brotherhood just seems to happier and sillier, which really kills the times it means to be more dramatic. Plus it goes way too fast and slow in all the wrong places. And the soundtrack is no comparison.


But I did like the Ling character, but thats not enough, especially with the introduction of several characters I hated. In fact Bro. has way too many characters and unnecessarily gives spotlight on them.

...wow you basically just said everything that I was thinking, even the point about Ling. Ling always had one of the most interesting dynamics with Greed since they had similar goals but different ideals.
Glad someone else thought that the villains were more relatable in the first. I found it kind of silly how they tried to humanize a few of them later on, and all I could think the entire time was, "The first one never had to TRY to humanize them, they already were human."

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

The original anime had better characterization, pacing, and better "oh shit!" moments, while Brotherhood had the more cohesive and well written story. Don't get me wrong, The original's story was alright, but it really fell apart during the last few episodes.

And don't even get me started on the sequel movie.

 

[snagli]

Brotherhood, easily, mostly because of the Humonculi. The backstory of the Humonculi in Brotherhood is a lot more interesting and WAY more important storywise. In FMA, the Humonculi are important in how the whole Philosopher Stone business came to be, but in FMA: Brotherhood, the caused it. They are the reason of all the bloodshed, and not some byproduct of human transmutation. Besides, which Pride/Wrath/Sloth version is better? A demon child-ruthless dictator-giant sleepyhead, or a bad father-whiny brat-watery mother? Come on.

Also, bigger story overall, especially the whole Xing stuff, rather epic.

 

[agrajagthetesty]

The manga is way better than both. The original anime was good, but I found the art style too colourful and shiny, and wasn't fond of Dante as a villain (uninteresting, unconvincing, not especially tied in to anything that had happened earlier in the series). I liked Brotherhood for its being closer to the manga, but I was bothered by the overly-speedy pacing, especially towards the beginning of the series, leading to events and characterisation being skimmed over. That issue really weakened Brotherhood for me. So when I'm recommending the series to people, I just say to read the manga and give both animes a miss.

 

[IamQ]

Brotherhood had more character developement. Characters changed and stuff happend. Because the manga wasn't done when the 2003 series was made, they didn't do much with the series once they had to make stuff up.

Brotherhood, no contest, Brotherhood surpasses the original in every positive aspect. It's got better pacing, better music, better animation, better voice cast, and above all a better story.

Some people will say the original had a better intro arc, but that is false. The original's intro arc was riddled with filler episodes that in no way contributed to anything.

EDIT:

Also the original lost even more points due to Dante being the worst villain I have ever seen in an anime of this genre. Such a pointless conflict at the end.

LIES! ALL BLATANT LIES!

I'm kidding, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I much preferred the original's slower, more methodical pacing and darker tone to Brotherhood's constant humor delivered at utterly inappropriate times. Honestly, Brotherhood's seeming unwillingness to have a truly serious episode in the first third of the series hurt the series greatly in my eyes, so much so that I almost completely stopped watching. However, I persevered and am glad that I did.

As much as I like both (my avatar has always been a picture of Ed), both have noticeable and unfortunate flaws that keep them from being the beacon of perfection that I would have liked them to be.

Really? I always thought that the 2003 series had way more humor. I mean, where do you think the mini-skirt thing came from? Brotherhood had humor, but unlike the first one, it didn't have entire filler episodes dedicated to humor only. It always had episodes that either fleshed out characters, or progressed the story.

 

[applesandoranges]

edit

 

[honestdiscussioner]

Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Each series brought it's own good set of cards to the table. Brotherhood's pacing was more in-line with an actual transition from manga to anime, and there's good and bad sides to that. Brotherhood had a lot of characters that the original anime did not have, such as the characters from the North, or the people from Xing. Bradley was way more of a badass, Kimley turned out a bit better, and Ed and Al's relationship with Winrey was done a bit better.

The original was able to takes its time a bit better though, establish what it was about, and really hit home some of the more dramatic aspects of the series. Even though in Brotherhood, Mustang obsesses over Hughe's death and gets his revenge, in a way, Hughe's death was far more meaningful and poignant in the original. The show had more of a dramatic and philosophical feel to it, and it came off as questioning what it means to be human. Even though there is so much more going on in Brotherhood, the original feels much deeper, which is unsurprising as the smaller cast lets you focus in on the individuals a lot more. There scene where Ed has to dig up his mother's corpse is far more emotional than when he digs up the being they created to see if it was there mother.

So if you want to compare the two series, we have a deep, meaningful story vs. a sweeping epic adventure. That's how I see it.

 

[NubiJuan]

I had to drag myself through the first 7 episodes of the original thinking at what point would it be okay for me to wave the white flag and say I do not like this. really it was just a giant "eh" when I had come in expecting the greatest thing ever. so I will try brotherhood and see if that suites me better.

 

[bindelt]

I think they are both amazing. Not easy to make a sense for the first time to watch brotherhood, I watched three times. It does make sense, just don't know how to tell the feelings.

 

[Korten12]

Loved Brotherhood a lot more, I loved the original anime, but after I finished it then read the manga, I saw how much the original was missing.

 

[CODE-D]

I think Brotherhood sucked assssss.
The original was darker and more meaningful. You really felt for the villains and they werent just bosses to be beaten, especially where the homunculi were concerned. Father as the villain was horrible and his defeat cliche, everyone bands together to take him down, blegh. What he wanted didnt even make sense, he took everyone souls and yet they were still able to fight him, the fuck?. Brotherhood had way too many aesops(ms armstrong/izumi) and was way too preachy and made some characters lame, especially scar and truth.
Brotherhoods ending was also kinda bullshit.

Brotherhood just seems to happier and sillier, which really kills the times it means to be more dramatic. Plus it goes way too fast and slow in all the wrong places. And the soundtrack is no comparison.


But I did like the Ling character, but thats not enough, especially with the introduction of several characters I hated. In fact Bro. has way too many characters and unnecessarily gives spotlight on them.

...wow you basically just said everything that I was thinking, even the point about Ling. Ling always had one of the most interesting dynamics with Greed since they had similar goals but different ideals.
Glad someone else thought that the villains were more relatable in the first. I found it kind of silly how they tried to humanize a few of them later on, and all I could think the entire time was, "The first one never had to TRY to humanize them, they already were human."

Yeah in the original the homunculi were brought into existence by the sins of their creators. They were more than just superhuman monsters to be beaten, it was their very existence that should have haunted you because they reminded you of what you have done and facing them meant a lot more like the brothers facing their mom. Mustang facing Bradley was awesome and Ill take that over Bradley slashing tanks(which is just ridiculous).

The animation is lighter and they have a bigger budget I guess to do more but less is more if you do it right.

Characters like ling, lon fon are great but way too many are introduced that really arent necessary and seemed forced there to teach us lessons.

Also I just love that the other side of the gate was our world and how Ed and Al acted. Ed satisfied with the price he paid as long as his brothers okay on the other side and Al following in his brothers footsteps to set things right. And it felt more realistic, Mustang and Wenrys reaction to seeing Ed again, awesome. Also there were Nazis and a Dragon(envy....aka the other elric brother) and even Hitler showed up. Then the brothers being on the other side of the door to save the world sits rights with me( it didnt then but does now) because a new journey starts to make it back one day.

And the soundtrack.

Also anybody saying they liked brotherhood because it was closest to the manga is wrong in so many ways, just cause it follows the source material more does not equal better.

 

[yman15]

I've only seen parts of the first series but I did see brotherhood completely (not the avatar) and from my experience brotherhood kept my attention the original did not sadly enough.

 

[Easton Dark]

I'm sorry, but I don't see the original series having a tank fleeing from a man.

And it sure didn't have this
Brotherhood wins so hard.

 

[scorptatious]

I watched the original and read the manga. I loved them both. Haven't watched too much of Brotherhood yet though. And I never got around to it seeing as it follows the plot of the manga. So I'll pretty much know what's going to happen.

I'll probably get around to watching someday.

 

[mcnally86]

So I've been a long time fan of Full Metal Alchemist, and I finally decided to watch the Brotherhood series. I watched the entire thing and I thought it was pretty good but it just wasn't as good as the first FMA Anime in my eyes. I've been looking around on sites and what not and I see that most people oddly enough like Brotherhood more then they do the first Anime. And I just can't understand it really. Brotherhood was full of Deus Ex Machina and nothing really seemed to make sense or fit together well.

I'm just curious why people seem to think Brotherhood is so much better then FMA, and is there anyone else out there that thinks that Brotherhood, while good, just can't compare to the first series?

Because brotherhood is like the manga. That seems to be the benchmark of goodness. But really I think a story should be adapted for anime anyway but I think there are more manga purists against me. I really like Hellsing the series but it had little to do with the manga at the end. Now there is "Hellsing: Ultimate" which is manga based and in my opinion horrible. There is a lot I don't like about it but the main problem is silly faces and gags. Thats great to have little asides in books and it wont detract much from the overall mood but when you have people making manga faces in the middle of gun battles with zombies you show suddenly looses all serious points. If they kept the silly shenanigans to the end credits it would have been much better. The was this one bit where this guy showed his nervousness by growing a big head and getting sweat drips. In a manga I understand this to get emotions across, but in the show they could have done it all with tone of voice.

Anyway back to brotherhood. I felt that if I had not seen the other FMA first I would have not been able to keep up with brotherhood. On the other hand Brotherhood has the panda in it and people like pandas.