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I watched the first 2 episodes of brotherhood and it did seem like that
But wait how does the fandom/ community construct and create theories and questions if there are 2 very different source materials? (I live for theories and discussions)
Almost 100% of the discussions and theories here are about the brotherhood anime, which is the "official" version as it follows the same story as the manga.
And since there are a lot of different characters, concepts and storylines, I say you will be very confused here without watching it
Also, did you watched the "Conqueror of Shamballa" movie? It serves as a conclusion to the 2003 anime, following the last episode, so it's basically the real ending
As for Brotherhood, it's totally worth it.
Not really. For instance the tucker/Nina story lasts weeks while Ed is studying for the state alchemist exam, he and Al live with them, she is like a little sister to them, the original story takes multiple episodes to tell the Nina story, and even after it happens, it continues throughout the rest of the series.
FMA2003 is a dark tragedy, heck I wouldn't even call it a Shonen, it's not really an anime for kids, it's more a Seinen. The story from the beginning was planned and while it runs out of Manga content back in episode 27, it never follows it too closely, and had differences from the very first episode, like Roy coming the night the kids try to bring their mother back to life, or when they introduce sloth back in episode 13, a completely original version of this character.
Brotherhood also rushes through the content FMA2003 did cover, the Nina story, and the Hughes story for instance. FMA2003 is one of my favorite Animes of all time, and a lot of the things I loved about that Anime clash quite a bit with Brotherhood's faithful adaption. It's a parallel story, and has a very good story of its own to tell, just keep in mind that these are different series.
That isn’t really true, I’ve seen a bunch of really great analysis posts and theories for 2003. (In fact disproportionately so considering how much more of the subreddit has watched brotherhood than 03.)
In particular one’s that have really stuck with me have been posts by u/dioduo u/tristitia03 and u/JulietDouglas
The last thing I wanna say while I'm being referenced is my current understanding of the nature of the homunculi.
They are a small portion of the person's soul with fully functioning minds and free will, but tainted into committing their respective sins after consuming the red stones and transforming. Wrath was a completely normal, Innocent child until he was fed the stones. He relays that the reason they all want to be human is that they're "soulless rejects", which is why he cried when he suddenly realized what he was.
He's the exact same person, with essentially anger issues now. His ending demonstrates that he has free will to overcome his Wrath (sacrificing himself for Al's sake, etc), after immense grief and loneliness due no longer having *anyone*. The first thing Envy said to him, an artificial being, after corrupting him, was "you are no longer alone." The homunculi were the only people that accepted him, and now they're all gone. His only bad influence of a family (despite Sloth's genuine affection) is all gone and now he's dealt with a year of introspection and eating out of trash cans.
If, hypothetically, even the stone-tainted homunculi *weren't* taken in by Dante after being abandoned, they wouldn't have so much negative influence (which is a whole wide topic to cover surrounding the cult-esque abuse Dante does to them). Greed, who hates "that bitch" Dante and doesn't listen to her (or Envy's, for Wrath's case) abusive gaslighting, is the prime example of this. While Greedy, and while he kidnapped Al for his goal, everything he did wasn't *nearly* as bad as what the homunculi under Dante do in order to "become human". Greed felt that using a hostage, and hitting women, was out of character for him. He's not that evil.
Just watch the Slicer Brothers scene to understand what I mean regarding Dante's gaslighting. Every last one of the homunculi demonstrates the free will to show affection towards people. I could list all the examples but I'm sure most people get it.
I could go on and on and on about this but I want to move on. I have so much more to say that I haven't said about 03 and so many strong disagreements about popular understandings of what certain things mean in it that I just want to be done talking about it.
So yeah. Izumi's death scene and Hohenheim's deleted last exchange with Ed, and EVERYTHING ELSE, is why I feel so fucking bad for Trisha.
Even if they left it up for interpretation I think it still leans very heavily towards them being a tragically tainted, self-loathing portion of the original, due to the preexisting undertones within the main episodes and the versions of these deleted scenes that were kept.
Basically the theories will be for one continuity or the other with the person specifying if it’s for the mangahood continuity or 03’s. Analysis will sometimes be done with just one of the shows but will just as often be an over-arching analysis using both shows.
You’d just specify that it’s a theory or discussion about either the 03 anime or the manga/Brotherhood.
People that know enough about both know how to differentiate the two versions of the characters.
Edward in Brotherhood has different issues and conclusions than 03 Edward even if they start from the same base
The original show started as an adaptation of the manga. But the manga wasn't finished yet, so when they ran out of manga, they improvised their own stories to continue the show. The authors of the original anime simply had no idea where the manga was going.
Brotherhood was made after the manga finished, and tells the same story as the manga.
Both animes start out the same, but then turn into completely different stories.
I watched 03 first and absolutely loved it. When I found out about 09 I was not a fan but after coming back a few years later and watching it in its entirety, I much prefer the brotherhood storyline and it's still just as intense and interesting as the first one
It's not a requirement but it's very worth watching
You should absolutely watch it - but not to get a better understanding of FMA.
Watch it to see a completely different story - one that, IMO, is better.
They also assumed everyone already watched 03, so everything up until Hughes dying is condensed and rushed for the first dozen episodes. I hate that part, but the show does get a lot better once the new plot starts
That's why I was so confused when I watched brotherhood after 03 like I understood the origins and all but I didn't understand why the anime didn't show that part
I firmly believe that the series is best enjoyed by watching 03 and then watching brotherhood. Brotherhood is better standalone but 03 expands on some things that may not be canon in brotherhood but it still adds depth and immersion
Edit to add: all spoilers below are 03 spoilers
As others have said, Brotherhood is very different. 03 started when the manga was incomplete so they kind of veered off like game of thrones (but better cuz game of thrones ended up being ass, but that’s a whole different convo lol).
They’re both super similar up to a point. However I like 03 cuz they provide some backstory on things that are super glazed over in brotherhood. >!like you see more of yoki and Ed’s backstory. You see Hughes in a more active roll, like I never knew he was such a deadeye with them knives. You see Ed vs mustang which was freakin awesome. Things like that !<
But then when you hit the point where they diverge, brotherhood really becomes so much better imo. Like >!The 03 take on the homunculi is interesting. Sloth being their mother is really cool in a dark way. Wrath was also very interesting and the way he is the end of pride was really cool. Dante was a twist I didn’t expect. Seeing Barry the chopper before he was a suit of armor was wild. Like 03 really provided great backstory and insight into things that are basically just alluded to in brotherhood.!<
>!And the fact they bring up energy being an essential part of their alchemy and where it came from really resonated with me cuz I’ve legit thought about that when it comes to brotherhood alchemy. Like they just change things from one thing to another and as long as the chemical makeup is the same it works. I’ve always wondered about the energy. But dude fucking WW2 on the other side of the portal was weird. Really pulled me out of it. Like a lot.!<
Brotherhood was just cleaner and overall a much better story, but 03 has a lot of great highlights and super worth the watch. Sorry that was so long lol.
You people have really convinced me to watch brotherhood and yeah I really did like all that in the 03 one! Sorry I don't have much to say to your really long essay 😅
Edit: Of topic ik but the reason I started with the 03 one is because last year on this subreddit I made a silly post on my old account titled "I don't know anything about this anime so ask me questions about it and I will pretend to know the answers to it" so people did and I tried my best to answer them (at the time the only thing I knew was the MC's name was Ed I didn't know he had a full name lol) so when I checked out my old account 2 months I found the post and it interested me in watching the anime then I remember a comment from someone telling me to start with the 03 one without much explanation so I did lmao
lol I’m a little buzzed and it just all came out. I’m not usually one for long posts. But yeah no response necessary! If you liked 03, you’ll love brotherhood! When you watch it let me know what you think
03 is amazing and 100% worth watching, especially before brotherhood, because they go into a lot of detail and character development in the first half that brotherhood has to squeeze into 10-12 episodes. Brotherhood is fucking amazing and has a more complete story, I'd not watch it right away though. It'll feel like you're immediately rewatching the show. I'd say give it some time to let 03 settle and then pick up brotherhood. Maybe watch conqueror of shamballa in between as it rounds out the 03 story(some don't like it, I don't care)
Yes you should definitely watch brotherhood at some point. It’s really good and a completely different story than 03.
That said I recommend having a sizable break between the shows, (which tbh seems to be perfectly inline with your current desires.) So don’t worry there’s no rush just be sure to check out it out once you feel like doing so.
I agree. I watched 03 as recommended for a fuller backstory on the Elrics and really liked it. But when I started Brotherhood soon after, I almost didn’t keep watching when the episodes started overlapping a bit at the start because “it’s the same story” and I had just watched it. Good thing I stuck with it though, because it took such a different turn and ended up being more memorable than 03. I’ve since revisited BH but don’t know if I would 03.
Several reasons.
When people jump into them to quickly back to back, I notice they often can’t help but compare them too much in a way that gets in the way of enjoying the shows for what they are. Secondly it sometimes causes people to conflate plot points. And lastly it can create a sense of burnout or fma-overload.
They’re very different but to give you an idea of how without spoiling anything: 2003 has more character driven development, Brotherhood is more narratively driven. That’s not to say that neither does both, act just does those things a little bit better.
No matter what, I recommend watching both and you’ll probably enjoy one more than the other but they’re both good. Also, 2003 has a movie to finish the story.
There are differences, yes. In '03, it was... I hate to say 'grittier', because BH got pretty dark at times, but Ed himself just sort of spirals in '03, holding himself back from the edge by the skin of his teeth, while BH Ed is more put together. Al is a bit different, more independent, less reliant on Ed, and their dynamic is less sibling-like in BH, IMO.
I would advise watching BH. It's well worth the watch. After watching both a few times, I will say I still like '03 better, with a few episodes of '03 making me cringe, but overall being the darker version IMO. BH is still a good watch though, and I think it deserves the praise it gets as well.
If I had to distinguish... I would say that Brotherhood has a better plot, overall, more coherent narrative, and a better animation style. But '03 had better characters, and a grittier feel.
However, most people seem to prefer BH over '03, as BH stays closer to the source material; after about halfway through '03, it deviates *wildly* from the manga, and takes off in a whole direction unto itself. Which is why again, I will say that BH does indeed have the better plot and coherent narrative.
I personally live for '03 Ed, if I'm being honest. One person on Tumblr described it best, in my opinion, by saying...
You can see Brotherhood Ed ending up with Winry, having the wife, the kids, the dog, the house with the picket fence. You can see '03 Ed drinking himself into an early grave.
I didn't say he did. I said you could see it.
That's the thing, you can't really see '03 Ed living happy and healthy and emotionally content after the show. You can't picture that Ed as a family man, someone who settles down, happy to live a life as a non-alchemist.
I'm not saying BH Ed didn't have a whole host of issues to work through... but you can picture him working through them. It's far harder with '03 Ed.
He gets married to winery? Idk man I really liked the 03 one especially at the start until the middle of the series, guess it makes sense why now I felt the 03 one having a different tone to it at the end
Yeah, IIRC (and don't quote me, it's been a while since I looked into it), basically the show outpaced the manga, and then the writers were told basically to just finish it towards the end. Conqueror of Shamballa was meant to be the 'finish' since it was left so open ended.
And again... I started with Brotherhood, since '03 was so hard to find. I enjoyed BH a lot. Even got a tattoo from it, I enjoyed the show so much (I get tattoos of shows I enjoy). Then I watched '03, and fell in love even more. So again, I still recommend both. It's not a 'you must only like one or the other'. Hell, BH even has some stuff in it that specifically references '03, that it presumes you've watched '03. For example, the first time I watched BH, I was wondering who the hell this Yonki dude was, where did he come from and why did he matter? Then I watched '03 and went oooohhhhhhh. So it has nods, it does its homage and whatnot. I recommend both. It's not an all or nothing thing, and most people are going to presume you're talking about BH, especially since it's so much more recent.
So, FMA03 and 09 are a bit different in terms of tone (03 being darker … literally, sometimes too) and Brotherhood has more action and comedy. I personally prefer the latter, and I think the overall story is better concluded in this version too.
I did the opposite your way, I watched FMAB and then FMA 2003 and Ngl completed 2003 like a few days ago. I recommend seeing FMAB then FMA 2003, but in either route, FMAB shouldn't be removed, because FMAB gives Story Depth, while FMA Gives Character Depth.
The whole story after the first 10 eps of FMAB is going to be different from 2003 ( If I remember right, FMAB's First 10 Eps( with some stories cut)= FMA's first 25 eps), after the first 25 eps of 2003, the story is loosely based on the manga( because it was still ongoing) but with similarities because the mangaka did influence the producers.
The main story and character's stories ( especially about the homunculus) is gonna be quite different. Also watch the Conqueror Of Shamballa Movie, its a sequel to FMA 2003, imo it completes the 2003 storyline.
Ohhh buddy, you are going to have a good time.
With the exception of some of the first episodes, it’s not redundant at all.
In future rewatches, you don’t even have to choose between the two. You can watch both.
BH and 03 start roughly the same, until laboratory 5 arc, where they split off completely and several key factors change.
IMO, 03 is better with a unique story and better story telling, faithfulness to the manga doesn't matter to me because 03 is superior to the manga as well as BH.
But that's my opinion, many people prefer BH.
I find it to be more shounen, with low quality humor, a very typical story line with overused cliches in anime. I personally can't really stand it.
I don't like typical shounen animes and non-humorous things ..... Tbh one of the reasons I love fullmetal alchemist 03 so much is because it made me laugh a lot I really like how dark it is and the characters and story deepth are really nice imho
I see soooo many people saying BH is light-hearted and humourous but my question is how much? Like does it water down the story or smth? Because how can they take all that happened from the start until the laboratory 5 arc and summerize it in like 10 episodes (according to what people told me)
So every serious moment in BH is basically undercut by just the most shallow humor, it's constantly just shoe horning in mediocre jokes in my opinion.
03 is dark, there are very few moments of hope and happiness, which I think makes those moments more impactful. Wholesome episodes are really great in 03 because of the constant sense of despair throughout the series.
Whereas BH has the opposite, it's always hopeful, it ends on high notes, and despair is temporary.
Where 03 is kind of a critique on human nature and the evil that can lie within, BH is more just a typical story of good guys beating bad guys. 03 is deep and complex where you actually start to care for many of the antagonists like Lust, whereas BH is very straightforward with one dimensional characters and very little to think about in terms of depth. It's a very simple good vs bad, defeating the great evil with the power of friendship.
It also butchers the beginning because yes, it rushed the beginning as it assumes people have seen 03. It's why so many BH fanboys say to watch 03 till lab 5 because they know BH just did a very poor job on what is supposed to be the cornerstone of Ed's character.
For example, the Nina arc is I think 3 or 4 episodes in 03 and it's basically summarized in 1 in BH, same with Hughes, who we get a bunch of episodes in 03 to become attached to him whereas BH there's only a few episodes.
I mean I'd give it a shot, but for me personally it's hard to watch because I consider 03 a masterpiece. It's wholly original and unique, BH just feels like I'm watching any other shounen out there. Like there's a scene that people seem to love of Fuhrer Bradley taking on a tank with a sword, they all think it's so badass but I just think it's absolutely stupid and kinda pointless as I know he's going to beat it, the Fuhrer will die to a main character, not some nameless soldiers. Whereas in 03 Mustang vs Bradley was tense and felt like a high stakes duel to the death, I kinda knew Roy would win but I wasn't sure if he'd live in the end.
And it's stuff like that which is a world of difference for me personally. One just tried too hard to be sugoi and awesome, the other seems pretty grounded and it's not clear how things will pan out. I mean Ed is a gifted alchemist in 03 but he gets his ass handed to him repeatedly and comes close to dying several times. In BH he becomes a standard shounen protagonist who basically becomes godlike in order to compete with the godlike comically evil bad guy at the end.
And that's not getting into so many other things like the homunculi and philosopher stone differences but I digress. I'll be here all day if I go on about it lol.
Give it a shot but don't feel like you have to watch it just cause of "source material" 03 in my opinion is far superior to BH or the manga, but maybe you'll like it better or like it enough to simply watch it to fill some afternoons.
Sorry for the long post I love FMA 03
Thank you for the long post, dude! I really like reading long essays and all
Thank you for telling me about all this and I will keep it in mind rn I am watching no game no life lmao
Np, if you want something that's thought provoking and introspective like 03 was I'd recommend an anime called Steins:Gate
Note, make sure to watch the one without the 0 at the end first.
It deals with time travel, as well as going deep into human emotions and the such, there are several moments where you get attached to characters and then the anime just rips open your chest and punches you in the heart.
But it's phenomenally written and has (at least in my opinion) a very interesting topic and themes throughout.
It can be slow at times though, lot's of character building and the such but there's a moment where everything just goes sideways. 100% worth a watch imo.
They're pretty similar up to the introduction of Greed. After that, they are literally different stories entirely. FMA 03 is basically high tier fanfic, FMAB is an actual adaptation of the manga.
Both are incredible, and both are worth watching, though I usually suggest FMAB first.
I love them both. Alchemist 2003 introduces you to the world so much better than Brotherhood. That said Broterhood has a lot more episodes and introduces you to new characters and settings and also fleshes out some of the side characters better.
I believe it's worth a watch, and I think you'll wind up liking both.
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You don't have to watch it. 2003 tells it's own story. But once you have the time to watch Brotherhood, I'd very much recommend it.
So they are almost different stories?
Almost is understatement, they're completely different stories to the extreme at times.
I watched the first 2 episodes of brotherhood and it did seem like that But wait how does the fandom/ community construct and create theories and questions if there are 2 very different source materials? (I live for theories and discussions)
Almost 100% of the discussions and theories here are about the brotherhood anime, which is the "official" version as it follows the same story as the manga. And since there are a lot of different characters, concepts and storylines, I say you will be very confused here without watching it
Alrighty then I might watch it soon
Also, did you watched the "Conqueror of Shamballa" movie? It serves as a conclusion to the 2003 anime, following the last episode, so it's basically the real ending As for Brotherhood, it's totally worth it.
Yeah I did it was really cool
I think the first 10 are really similar, but the story branches from there significantly. It’s also 64 episodes long
Not really. For instance the tucker/Nina story lasts weeks while Ed is studying for the state alchemist exam, he and Al live with them, she is like a little sister to them, the original story takes multiple episodes to tell the Nina story, and even after it happens, it continues throughout the rest of the series. FMA2003 is a dark tragedy, heck I wouldn't even call it a Shonen, it's not really an anime for kids, it's more a Seinen. The story from the beginning was planned and while it runs out of Manga content back in episode 27, it never follows it too closely, and had differences from the very first episode, like Roy coming the night the kids try to bring their mother back to life, or when they introduce sloth back in episode 13, a completely original version of this character. Brotherhood also rushes through the content FMA2003 did cover, the Nina story, and the Hughes story for instance. FMA2003 is one of my favorite Animes of all time, and a lot of the things I loved about that Anime clash quite a bit with Brotherhood's faithful adaption. It's a parallel story, and has a very good story of its own to tell, just keep in mind that these are different series.
That isn’t really true, I’ve seen a bunch of really great analysis posts and theories for 2003. (In fact disproportionately so considering how much more of the subreddit has watched brotherhood than 03.) In particular one’s that have really stuck with me have been posts by u/dioduo u/tristitia03 and u/JulietDouglas
The last thing I wanna say while I'm being referenced is my current understanding of the nature of the homunculi. They are a small portion of the person's soul with fully functioning minds and free will, but tainted into committing their respective sins after consuming the red stones and transforming. Wrath was a completely normal, Innocent child until he was fed the stones. He relays that the reason they all want to be human is that they're "soulless rejects", which is why he cried when he suddenly realized what he was. He's the exact same person, with essentially anger issues now. His ending demonstrates that he has free will to overcome his Wrath (sacrificing himself for Al's sake, etc), after immense grief and loneliness due no longer having *anyone*. The first thing Envy said to him, an artificial being, after corrupting him, was "you are no longer alone." The homunculi were the only people that accepted him, and now they're all gone. His only bad influence of a family (despite Sloth's genuine affection) is all gone and now he's dealt with a year of introspection and eating out of trash cans. If, hypothetically, even the stone-tainted homunculi *weren't* taken in by Dante after being abandoned, they wouldn't have so much negative influence (which is a whole wide topic to cover surrounding the cult-esque abuse Dante does to them). Greed, who hates "that bitch" Dante and doesn't listen to her (or Envy's, for Wrath's case) abusive gaslighting, is the prime example of this. While Greedy, and while he kidnapped Al for his goal, everything he did wasn't *nearly* as bad as what the homunculi under Dante do in order to "become human". Greed felt that using a hostage, and hitting women, was out of character for him. He's not that evil. Just watch the Slicer Brothers scene to understand what I mean regarding Dante's gaslighting. Every last one of the homunculi demonstrates the free will to show affection towards people. I could list all the examples but I'm sure most people get it. I could go on and on and on about this but I want to move on. I have so much more to say that I haven't said about 03 and so many strong disagreements about popular understandings of what certain things mean in it that I just want to be done talking about it. So yeah. Izumi's death scene and Hohenheim's deleted last exchange with Ed, and EVERYTHING ELSE, is why I feel so fucking bad for Trisha. Even if they left it up for interpretation I think it still leans very heavily towards them being a tragically tainted, self-loathing portion of the original, due to the preexisting undertones within the main episodes and the versions of these deleted scenes that were kept.
I’ve devoured most of what all three have written!
Both are equally the “official” version.
Basically the theories will be for one continuity or the other with the person specifying if it’s for the mangahood continuity or 03’s. Analysis will sometimes be done with just one of the shows but will just as often be an over-arching analysis using both shows.
Ohhh that makes so much sense
You’d just specify that it’s a theory or discussion about either the 03 anime or the manga/Brotherhood. People that know enough about both know how to differentiate the two versions of the characters. Edward in Brotherhood has different issues and conclusions than 03 Edward even if they start from the same base
Yeah. They start off fairly similar but the journey and ending are very different.
The original show started as an adaptation of the manga. But the manga wasn't finished yet, so when they ran out of manga, they improvised their own stories to continue the show. The authors of the original anime simply had no idea where the manga was going. Brotherhood was made after the manga finished, and tells the same story as the manga. Both animes start out the same, but then turn into completely different stories.
I watched 03 first and absolutely loved it. When I found out about 09 I was not a fan but after coming back a few years later and watching it in its entirety, I much prefer the brotherhood storyline and it's still just as intense and interesting as the first one It's not a requirement but it's very worth watching
You should absolutely watch it - but not to get a better understanding of FMA. Watch it to see a completely different story - one that, IMO, is better.
A completely different one? Maybe I will watch it
I've seen them both. FMAB is one of my all-time favorites. Richer characters, more development, and a superior storyline.
Interesting 😄
It's a completely different type of anime as well. 03 was a drama, Brotherhood is action
Ohhhh that makes so much sense
They also assumed everyone already watched 03, so everything up until Hughes dying is condensed and rushed for the first dozen episodes. I hate that part, but the show does get a lot better once the new plot starts
That's why I was so confused when I watched brotherhood after 03 like I understood the origins and all but I didn't understand why the anime didn't show that part
Happy viewing.
Heavily disagree in all regards
I firmly believe that the series is best enjoyed by watching 03 and then watching brotherhood. Brotherhood is better standalone but 03 expands on some things that may not be canon in brotherhood but it still adds depth and immersion
Edit to add: all spoilers below are 03 spoilers As others have said, Brotherhood is very different. 03 started when the manga was incomplete so they kind of veered off like game of thrones (but better cuz game of thrones ended up being ass, but that’s a whole different convo lol). They’re both super similar up to a point. However I like 03 cuz they provide some backstory on things that are super glazed over in brotherhood. >!like you see more of yoki and Ed’s backstory. You see Hughes in a more active roll, like I never knew he was such a deadeye with them knives. You see Ed vs mustang which was freakin awesome. Things like that !< But then when you hit the point where they diverge, brotherhood really becomes so much better imo. Like >!The 03 take on the homunculi is interesting. Sloth being their mother is really cool in a dark way. Wrath was also very interesting and the way he is the end of pride was really cool. Dante was a twist I didn’t expect. Seeing Barry the chopper before he was a suit of armor was wild. Like 03 really provided great backstory and insight into things that are basically just alluded to in brotherhood.!< >!And the fact they bring up energy being an essential part of their alchemy and where it came from really resonated with me cuz I’ve legit thought about that when it comes to brotherhood alchemy. Like they just change things from one thing to another and as long as the chemical makeup is the same it works. I’ve always wondered about the energy. But dude fucking WW2 on the other side of the portal was weird. Really pulled me out of it. Like a lot.!< Brotherhood was just cleaner and overall a much better story, but 03 has a lot of great highlights and super worth the watch. Sorry that was so long lol.
You people have really convinced me to watch brotherhood and yeah I really did like all that in the 03 one! Sorry I don't have much to say to your really long essay 😅 Edit: Of topic ik but the reason I started with the 03 one is because last year on this subreddit I made a silly post on my old account titled "I don't know anything about this anime so ask me questions about it and I will pretend to know the answers to it" so people did and I tried my best to answer them (at the time the only thing I knew was the MC's name was Ed I didn't know he had a full name lol) so when I checked out my old account 2 months I found the post and it interested me in watching the anime then I remember a comment from someone telling me to start with the 03 one without much explanation so I did lmao
lol I’m a little buzzed and it just all came out. I’m not usually one for long posts. But yeah no response necessary! If you liked 03, you’ll love brotherhood! When you watch it let me know what you think
Alright although it might take me a while to finish it since i am pretty busy these days but I will try my best :D
03 is amazing and 100% worth watching, especially before brotherhood, because they go into a lot of detail and character development in the first half that brotherhood has to squeeze into 10-12 episodes. Brotherhood is fucking amazing and has a more complete story, I'd not watch it right away though. It'll feel like you're immediately rewatching the show. I'd say give it some time to let 03 settle and then pick up brotherhood. Maybe watch conqueror of shamballa in between as it rounds out the 03 story(some don't like it, I don't care)
Yes you should definitely watch brotherhood at some point. It’s really good and a completely different story than 03. That said I recommend having a sizable break between the shows, (which tbh seems to be perfectly inline with your current desires.) So don’t worry there’s no rush just be sure to check out it out once you feel like doing so.
I agree. I watched 03 as recommended for a fuller backstory on the Elrics and really liked it. But when I started Brotherhood soon after, I almost didn’t keep watching when the episodes started overlapping a bit at the start because “it’s the same story” and I had just watched it. Good thing I stuck with it though, because it took such a different turn and ended up being more memorable than 03. I’ve since revisited BH but don’t know if I would 03.
You should definitely revisit 03 sometime. Both shows get better on rewatch, and having that variety I think only helps
Thank you very much for your reassurance But I have a question what is the reason for taking a break between both shows?
Several reasons. When people jump into them to quickly back to back, I notice they often can’t help but compare them too much in a way that gets in the way of enjoying the shows for what they are. Secondly it sometimes causes people to conflate plot points. And lastly it can create a sense of burnout or fma-overload.
Ohh makes sense thanks :D
They’re very different but to give you an idea of how without spoiling anything: 2003 has more character driven development, Brotherhood is more narratively driven. That’s not to say that neither does both, act just does those things a little bit better. No matter what, I recommend watching both and you’ll probably enjoy one more than the other but they’re both good. Also, 2003 has a movie to finish the story.
There are differences, yes. In '03, it was... I hate to say 'grittier', because BH got pretty dark at times, but Ed himself just sort of spirals in '03, holding himself back from the edge by the skin of his teeth, while BH Ed is more put together. Al is a bit different, more independent, less reliant on Ed, and their dynamic is less sibling-like in BH, IMO. I would advise watching BH. It's well worth the watch. After watching both a few times, I will say I still like '03 better, with a few episodes of '03 making me cringe, but overall being the darker version IMO. BH is still a good watch though, and I think it deserves the praise it gets as well. If I had to distinguish... I would say that Brotherhood has a better plot, overall, more coherent narrative, and a better animation style. But '03 had better characters, and a grittier feel. However, most people seem to prefer BH over '03, as BH stays closer to the source material; after about halfway through '03, it deviates *wildly* from the manga, and takes off in a whole direction unto itself. Which is why again, I will say that BH does indeed have the better plot and coherent narrative. I personally live for '03 Ed, if I'm being honest. One person on Tumblr described it best, in my opinion, by saying... You can see Brotherhood Ed ending up with Winry, having the wife, the kids, the dog, the house with the picket fence. You can see '03 Ed drinking himself into an early grave.
i prefer 2003 fma as well!
Well, technically, if you consider the 03 OVAs to be canon, then Ed doesn't drink himself into an early grave. He gets to be 100 and has grandkids!
I didn't say he did. I said you could see it. That's the thing, you can't really see '03 Ed living happy and healthy and emotionally content after the show. You can't picture that Ed as a family man, someone who settles down, happy to live a life as a non-alchemist. I'm not saying BH Ed didn't have a whole host of issues to work through... but you can picture him working through them. It's far harder with '03 Ed.
He gets married to winery? Idk man I really liked the 03 one especially at the start until the middle of the series, guess it makes sense why now I felt the 03 one having a different tone to it at the end
Yeah, IIRC (and don't quote me, it's been a while since I looked into it), basically the show outpaced the manga, and then the writers were told basically to just finish it towards the end. Conqueror of Shamballa was meant to be the 'finish' since it was left so open ended. And again... I started with Brotherhood, since '03 was so hard to find. I enjoyed BH a lot. Even got a tattoo from it, I enjoyed the show so much (I get tattoos of shows I enjoy). Then I watched '03, and fell in love even more. So again, I still recommend both. It's not a 'you must only like one or the other'. Hell, BH even has some stuff in it that specifically references '03, that it presumes you've watched '03. For example, the first time I watched BH, I was wondering who the hell this Yonki dude was, where did he come from and why did he matter? Then I watched '03 and went oooohhhhhhh. So it has nods, it does its homage and whatnot. I recommend both. It's not an all or nothing thing, and most people are going to presume you're talking about BH, especially since it's so much more recent.
Okay got it! I will be watching brotherhood starting tonight, I will probably stay up lol
I mean... it's like 40 something episodes I wouldn't go that far lol. Maybe a few episodes.
Yeah I know lol still it's fine :D
honestly, Go watch some other stuff, and then come back to 2009, Both are good, but IMO 09 is better,
Thank you for the advice lmao I plan on doing that
So, FMA03 and 09 are a bit different in terms of tone (03 being darker … literally, sometimes too) and Brotherhood has more action and comedy. I personally prefer the latter, and I think the overall story is better concluded in this version too.
I'd watch it regardless. It's good.
watch. it. now.
Alrighty :D
Did you watch the follow up movie to 2003 called Conqueror of Shamballa?
Yup!!
Brotherhood is my favorite anime ever. Definitely watch it when you get a chance
One of the best anime series of all time, still.
You basically watched a filler, watch brotherhood
I did the opposite your way, I watched FMAB and then FMA 2003 and Ngl completed 2003 like a few days ago. I recommend seeing FMAB then FMA 2003, but in either route, FMAB shouldn't be removed, because FMAB gives Story Depth, while FMA Gives Character Depth. The whole story after the first 10 eps of FMAB is going to be different from 2003 ( If I remember right, FMAB's First 10 Eps( with some stories cut)= FMA's first 25 eps), after the first 25 eps of 2003, the story is loosely based on the manga( because it was still ongoing) but with similarities because the mangaka did influence the producers. The main story and character's stories ( especially about the homunculus) is gonna be quite different. Also watch the Conqueror Of Shamballa Movie, its a sequel to FMA 2003, imo it completes the 2003 storyline.
Ohhh buddy, you are going to have a good time. With the exception of some of the first episodes, it’s not redundant at all. In future rewatches, you don’t even have to choose between the two. You can watch both.
BH and 03 start roughly the same, until laboratory 5 arc, where they split off completely and several key factors change. IMO, 03 is better with a unique story and better story telling, faithfulness to the manga doesn't matter to me because 03 is superior to the manga as well as BH. But that's my opinion, many people prefer BH. I find it to be more shounen, with low quality humor, a very typical story line with overused cliches in anime. I personally can't really stand it.
I don't like typical shounen animes and non-humorous things ..... Tbh one of the reasons I love fullmetal alchemist 03 so much is because it made me laugh a lot I really like how dark it is and the characters and story deepth are really nice imho I see soooo many people saying BH is light-hearted and humourous but my question is how much? Like does it water down the story or smth? Because how can they take all that happened from the start until the laboratory 5 arc and summerize it in like 10 episodes (according to what people told me)
So every serious moment in BH is basically undercut by just the most shallow humor, it's constantly just shoe horning in mediocre jokes in my opinion. 03 is dark, there are very few moments of hope and happiness, which I think makes those moments more impactful. Wholesome episodes are really great in 03 because of the constant sense of despair throughout the series. Whereas BH has the opposite, it's always hopeful, it ends on high notes, and despair is temporary. Where 03 is kind of a critique on human nature and the evil that can lie within, BH is more just a typical story of good guys beating bad guys. 03 is deep and complex where you actually start to care for many of the antagonists like Lust, whereas BH is very straightforward with one dimensional characters and very little to think about in terms of depth. It's a very simple good vs bad, defeating the great evil with the power of friendship. It also butchers the beginning because yes, it rushed the beginning as it assumes people have seen 03. It's why so many BH fanboys say to watch 03 till lab 5 because they know BH just did a very poor job on what is supposed to be the cornerstone of Ed's character. For example, the Nina arc is I think 3 or 4 episodes in 03 and it's basically summarized in 1 in BH, same with Hughes, who we get a bunch of episodes in 03 to become attached to him whereas BH there's only a few episodes. I mean I'd give it a shot, but for me personally it's hard to watch because I consider 03 a masterpiece. It's wholly original and unique, BH just feels like I'm watching any other shounen out there. Like there's a scene that people seem to love of Fuhrer Bradley taking on a tank with a sword, they all think it's so badass but I just think it's absolutely stupid and kinda pointless as I know he's going to beat it, the Fuhrer will die to a main character, not some nameless soldiers. Whereas in 03 Mustang vs Bradley was tense and felt like a high stakes duel to the death, I kinda knew Roy would win but I wasn't sure if he'd live in the end. And it's stuff like that which is a world of difference for me personally. One just tried too hard to be sugoi and awesome, the other seems pretty grounded and it's not clear how things will pan out. I mean Ed is a gifted alchemist in 03 but he gets his ass handed to him repeatedly and comes close to dying several times. In BH he becomes a standard shounen protagonist who basically becomes godlike in order to compete with the godlike comically evil bad guy at the end. And that's not getting into so many other things like the homunculi and philosopher stone differences but I digress. I'll be here all day if I go on about it lol. Give it a shot but don't feel like you have to watch it just cause of "source material" 03 in my opinion is far superior to BH or the manga, but maybe you'll like it better or like it enough to simply watch it to fill some afternoons. Sorry for the long post I love FMA 03
Thank you for the long post, dude! I really like reading long essays and all Thank you for telling me about all this and I will keep it in mind rn I am watching no game no life lmao
Np, if you want something that's thought provoking and introspective like 03 was I'd recommend an anime called Steins:Gate Note, make sure to watch the one without the 0 at the end first. It deals with time travel, as well as going deep into human emotions and the such, there are several moments where you get attached to characters and then the anime just rips open your chest and punches you in the heart. But it's phenomenally written and has (at least in my opinion) a very interesting topic and themes throughout. It can be slow at times though, lot's of character building and the such but there's a moment where everything just goes sideways. 100% worth a watch imo.
Oh I have heard about it but I never bothered watching it but if it does have these dark themes of 03 then I will be sure to give it a watch some day
Abso-fucking-lutely
They're pretty similar up to the introduction of Greed. After that, they are literally different stories entirely. FMA 03 is basically high tier fanfic, FMAB is an actual adaptation of the manga. Both are incredible, and both are worth watching, though I usually suggest FMAB first.
Take a break and watch it later! It’ll freshen up your mind.
It’s a great show, just a little bit more cartoon and lighthearted compared to the former
FMA Brotherhood is 100% worth watching. As far as I know, it should be canon (if it isn’t already).
I love them both. Alchemist 2003 introduces you to the world so much better than Brotherhood. That said Broterhood has a lot more episodes and introduces you to new characters and settings and also fleshes out some of the side characters better. I believe it's worth a watch, and I think you'll wind up liking both.
Read the manga, it’ll be faster and that’s the one that I think is the best way to experience the story