Which do you prefer FMA or FMA Brotherhood?

[Malyssa Rahl]

It would be far easier to list what is the same between them. Which is... Mostly just character names and the fact that Al is a suit of armor and has Pinocchio issues (wants to be a real boy)

[KaoclazmMJR]

Though cool, the thread is about the animes, not the mangas. And FMA Brotherhood was fairly faithful to the manga

Sorry about that but the purpose of my post was to demonstrate that there are very few differences between the source material (the manga) and Brotherhood. Whereas a list of the differences between the 2003 anime and the manga would be very, very long to say the least.

I'm not hating on the original (although some of the unnecessary character pallet swaps such as Rose and Scar's brother tick me off) I was just trying to be helpful

[hwmah]

I love FMA Brotherhood more than FMA. Because FMAB have a happy ending..

[KaoclazmMJR]

I love FMA Brotherhood more than FMA. Because FMAB have a happy ending..

I know! My favorite end pic was the one of Falman's family cause his son and daughter have the exactly same face as him pasted on their bodies and they all look strikingly similar to Brock from Pokemon!

[AOIsama]

Actually, there are a lot of difference. From the plot, the characters and most especially, the ending. If you still haven't watched both, I suggest you only watch Brotherhood. But if you want to compare the too, you can watch them both but I suggest you watch the original series first, then the Brotherhood, that way, you'll be more amazed on their difference and on how more magnificent the latter is from the former.

[Koby]

Actually, there are a lot of difference. From the plot, the characters and most especially, the ending. If you still haven't watched both, I suggest you only watch Brotherhood. But if you want to compare the too, you can watch them both but I suggest you watch the original series first, then the Brotherhood, that way, you'll be more amazed on their difference and on how more magnificent the latter is from the former.

I'd almost consider recommending people to only watch the original because Brotherhood is only superior in artwork and story. Everything else such as character development, drawing you into the world, emotion, etc.. was vastly superior in the original and mostly non-existent in Brotherhood. Brotherhood had a serious pacing issue and problematic comedy moments in the middle of what otherwise could have been decent drama (they severely misplaced the comedy and that ruined it). Brotherhood even assumes you've seen the original so it skips over important details in the beginning and other details it rushes through. One of the most important scenes of the original

Hughes death

was extremely sad and heartfelt because they really developed his character and made you love him. However in Brotherhood you're like who the fuck is this guy and why should I care about him? I almost laughed about his passing in Brotherhood while I was sad about it in the original. It just goes to show how badly done Brotherhood was.

[RikuoAmero]

I'd almost consider recommending people to only watch the original because Brotherhood is only superior in artwork and story. Everything else such as character development, drawing you into the world, emotion, etc.. was vastly superior in the original and mostly non-existent in Brotherhood. Brotherhood had a serious pacing issue and problematic comedy moments in the middle of what otherwise could have been decent drama (they severely misplaced the comedy and that ruined it). Brotherhood even assumes you've seen the original so it skips over important details in the beginning and other details it rushes through. One of the most important scenes of the original

Hughes death

was extremely sad and heartfelt because they really developed his character and made you love him. However in Brotherhood you're like who the fuck is this guy and why should I care about him? I almost laughed about his passing in Brotherhood while I was sad about it in the original. It just goes to show how badly done Brotherhood was.

Koby, go into the Torrents section, and look for FMAUnited. It's a torrent that someone put up, where he edited the original and Brotherhood into one series. I've watched it all and it works, I actually managed to complete Brotherhood where before I couldn't continue it because of the lack of character development.

As for Hughes death, its a plot hole in Brotherhood.

In Brotherhood, he looks up a map of Amestris and somehow deduces the shape of the National Transmutation Circle, due to his knowledge of the nation's past battles and wars, despite the fact he's not an Alchemist. A non-Alchemist like him shouldn't have been able to figure out what all the wars in Amestris's history meant

[Dan Den]

Yeah the same goes here Koby, that scene was a bit strange for me. So far right I'm watching episode 14 and I an see they skipped a vast amount of fully introducing the characters I mean

The homoculars in the original it took time to fully show who they were and so fourth in Brotherhood they reveal the King Bradly so quick, and Greed wasn't even introduced until now.

But other than that I like where the story is going so far it's starting to feel new and that's good cause I'd hate to re-watch the new version of the series again and the events that take place are quite similar.

One more thing Lust isn't as Lustful as she was in the original.

[RikuoAmero]

Yeah the same goes here Koby, that scene was a bit strange for me. So far right I'm watching episode 14 and I an see they skipped a vast amount of fully introducing the characters I mean

The homoculars in the original it took time to fully show who they were and so fourth in Brotherhood they reveal the King Bradly so quick, and Greed wasn't even introduced until now.

But other than that I like where the story is going so far it's starting to feel new and that's good cause I'd hate to re-watch the new version of the series again and the events that take place are quite similar.

One more thing Lust isn't as Lustful as she was in the original.

I remember seeing Episode 1 of Brotherhood for the first time, and going "What the fuck is going on! Who are all these people? Are they military? Is that a giant suit of armour?" Basically, Episode 1 introduced more than half of the main cast all at once, which is a bad thing, because you're bombarding the viewer with information. The original series introduced Ed, Al, Rose, Cornello, Lust and Gluttony. There were of course a few other minor characters, but the first two episodes only dealt with six characters. Simply off the top of my head, I'm gonna list the characters I remember seeing from Brotherhood 01: King Bradley, Roy Mustang, Ed, Al, Brigadier General Grong (did I spell that right? The Iron Blood Alchemist), Alex Louis Armstrong, Father (we get a glimpse of him), Hughes, his daughter. These are all important characters and they're all stuffed into a single 20 min episode, so of course it would be impossible to give them all the screen time they deserve, but they're there anyway.

And you're right about Lust. Original series Lust, when I watched as a teenager, nearly made me cream my pants every time I heard her voice. It's the same voice actress in both series (Laura Bailey), but she doesn't sound so goddamn sexy in Brotherhood.

[Weeddragon]

Yes, I fully agree.

I know my post may have sounded a bit overly harsh... but the way they handled FMAB.. you ABSOLUTELY MUST WATCH FMA FIRST. :/ Then watch Broterhood. Trust me you will not be able to enjoy Brotherhood without seeing the original to fill in the missing pieces and understand and feel for the characters.

i disagree completely, well not completely to the first post, your right some things were rushed and cut out. But pretty much was a faithful adaptation. What FMA didnt have was an actual good ending.....it was totally an unaccomplished ending. You watch FMA and it was majorly character development based but nothing happened. there would be episodes where they just talk with other people. Changing character designs and stuff...Maybe its just me who doesnt like when they 'create' random stuff. I ahted Soul eaters ending cause they changed from the manga, and i wasnt a fan of(i do not hate)FMA but i thoroughly enjoyed FMAB. I think it was honestly better, no character was useless in the entire plot. Though actually it might be because i watched FMA years before i actually watched brotherhood so you actually might be right. I do not however, agree that you cant enjoy Brotherhood without watching FMA, cause it is a pretty awesome series

[Koby]

i disagree completely, well not completely to the first post, your right some things were rushed and cut out. But pretty much was a faithful adaptation. What FMA didnt have was an actual good ending.....it was totally an unaccomplished ending. You watch FMA and it was majorly character development based but nothing happened. there would be episodes where they just talk with other people. Changing character designs and stuff...Maybe its just me who doesnt like when they 'create' random stuff. I ahted Soul eaters ending cause they changed from the manga, and i wasnt a fan of(i do not hate)FMA but i thoroughly enjoyed FMAB. I think it was honestly better, no character was useless in the entire plot. Though actually it might be because i watched FMA years before i actually watched brotherhood so you actually might be right. I do not however, agree that you cant enjoy Brotherhood without watching FMA, cause it is a pretty awesome series

I disagree with your entire post. The creators of Brotherhood gave a big 'FUCK YOU' to people who were new to the series and left out many key details and cut many things out. They removed nearly all emotion, screwed up the drama scenes with misplaced comedy, forgot all about character development, rushed the pacing through the entire series. Sure it feels they accomplished more in Brotherhood but that's because it was non-stop rushing. The entire thing was a rush-job. Brotherhood should have been 100+ episodes and been fleshed out properly but it wasn't. It's inferior to the original in all aspects except for storyline and artwork, and you must watch the first one before hand to really understand part of what happens.

For example Brotherhood skips a certain arc, but then talks about that arc and characters that were in it later in the series. If you didn't watch the original that entire scene is lost on you. There are MANY scenes like that in Brotherhood.

I stand by my original statement that FMA = 9/10 and FMAB = 7/10 and that I'd have to say you MUST watch FMA first and I'd almost have to say don't bother with FMAB.

I haven't tried out Rikou's suggestion of the fan-made FMA United, but that might possibly be the best way to watch the show.

Though honestly Brotherhoods ending is the generic cliched unoriginal typical shounen-style ending that we've seen a hundred times.

[Weeddragon]

I disagree with your entire post. The creators of Brotherhood gave a big 'FUCK YOU' to people who were new to the series and left out many key details and cut many things out. They removed nearly all emotion, screwed up the drama scenes with misplaced comedy, forgot all about character development, rushed the pacing through the entire series. Sure it feels they accomplished more in Brotherhood but that's because it was non-stop rushing. The entire thing was a rush-job. Brotherhood should have been 100+ episodes and been fleshed out properly but it wasn't. It's inferior to the original in all aspects except for storyline and artwork, and you must watch the first one before hand to really understand part of what happens.

For example Brotherhood skips a certain arc, but then talks about that arc and characters that were in it later in the series. If you didn't watch the original that entire scene is lost on you. There are MANY scenes like that in Brotherhood.

I stand by my original statement that FMA = 9/10 and FMAB = 7/10 and that I'd have to say you MUST watch FMA first and I'd almost have to say don't bother with FMAB.

I haven't tried out Rikou's suggestion of the fan-made FMA United, but that might possibly be the best way to watch the show.

Though honestly Brotherhoods ending is the generic cliched unoriginal typical shounen-style ending that we've seen a hundred times.

I disagree, simply put, i found regular FMA to be boring. I enjoy when the main character is actually strong, which in Brotherhood he was...but in majority of fights in FMA he lost or had to run away. i also dont understand how the ending is typical shounen-style...

They ended it with Ed not having his powers....people died, people suffered hardships and not everyone accomplished their goals what ending is like this that is shounen?....and FMAs ending was....welp....Ed's gone and were done see ya later kids (im not counting about the movie, just the series)

[Koby]

I disagree, simply put, i found regular FMA to be boring. I enjoy when the main character is actually strong, which in Brotherhood he was...but in majority of fights in FMA he lost or had to run away. i also dont understand how the ending is typical shounen-style...

They ended it with Ed not having his powers....people died, people suffered hardships and not everyone accomplished their goals what ending is like this that is shounen?....and FMAs ending was....welp....Ed's gone and were done see ya later kids (im not counting about the movie, just the series)

I feel for you if you thought FMA was boring. The only reason Brotherhood was made was because of how popular FMA was, and for good reason. It had all the character development, emotion, and drama you could ask for. If anything you should have found Brotherhood boring since it had none of that.

As for the ending of Brotherhood being the generic cliched unoriginal typical shounen-style ending that we've seen a hundred times... I'm talking about the whole way the ending went down, mostly with the typical one-up-manship we saw with the final battle. Also you ignoring the movie for the ending of the first would be the same as ignoring the last 5 episodes of Brotherhood. It's just ain't right.

But atlas this isn't going anywhere and we're just disagreeing completely, so I see no point in continuing to repeat myself over and over. I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees the problems with Brotherhood though. If the original hadn't been made first then Brotherhood would have only been seen as an average series, but the popularity of the original series has rolled over to it whether it deserves it or not.

[Weeddragon]

I feel for you if you thought FMA was boring. The only reason Brotherhood was made was because of how popular FMA was, and for good reason. It had all the character development, emotion, and drama you could ask for. If anything you should have found Brotherhood boring since it had none of that.

As for the ending of Brotherhood being the generic cliched unoriginal typical shounen-style ending that we've seen a hundred times... I'm talking about the whole way the ending went down, mostly with the typical one-up-manship we saw with the final battle. Also you ignoring the movie for the ending of the first would be the same as ignoring the last 5 episodes of Brotherhood. It's just ain't right.

But atlas this isn't going anywhere and we're just disagreeing completely, so I see no point in continuing to repeat myself over and over. I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees the problems with Brotherhood though. If the original hadn't been made first then Brotherhood would have only been seen as an average series, but the popularity of the original series has rolled over to it whether it deserves it or not.

Thats something we both agree on =) (the end of your post)

[matidiaolo]

My opinion is that FMA is much better than Brotherhood. It's clear (if you've seen both) that Brotherhood rushes too much in the beginning, wasting a lot of character bonds and emotions. In addition, later on it drags the story so much, introducing more characters, making the ones presented in FMA less important.

It seems like Brotherhood has more, of less quality..

I could go on saying about the ending, or the villain - my opinion is the same. However i'll say about the homonculi: the way they are presented in FMA is really well done, their motives..Not to mention that my favorite lust dies fast in Brotherhood..

[RikuoAmero]

My opinion is that FMA is much better than Brotherhood. It's clear (if you've seen both) that Brotherhood rushes too much in the beginning, wasting a lot of character bonds and emotions. In addition, later on it drags the story so much, introducing more characters, making the ones presented in FMA less important.

It seems like Brotherhood has more, of less quality..

I could go on saying about the ending, or the villain - my opinion is the same. However i'll say about the homonculi: the way they are presented in FMA is really well done, their motives..Not to mention that my favorite lust dies fast in Brotherhood..

I agree about the homunculi. In FMA, they're used as a great storytelling device because they're the result of failed human transmutations. They also have clear goals of their own. In Brotherhood, they were basically shat out of Father, thus meaning that they're less multi-dimensional. They were instead clear villains, in that really child-like simple way of thinking "They bad, me good, must kill them!" After all, I even felt something for Envy, who in the original was basically abandoned by Hohenheim and wanted revenge. Brotherhood Sloth didn't even have a character at all, he was just...there. So, when Ed in Brotherhood goes to fight him, you as the viewer are going "Yeah, yeah, new bad guy of the week, same old same old, come on, let's get this over with so we can get to Father". Basically, a wasted character and a waste of time.

But compare that with original anime Sloth and suddenly it becomes more exciting and dramatic. She's the result of his transmutation! She looks like his mother and is even haunted by her memories. How is he going to kill her? Is he actually going to? How will this encounter affect him?

[d-dawg]

FMA Brotherhood has a "Brotherhood" in it! Although idk why its called that because all I see are girls I think called Sisterhood!

[totrinh]

i liked them evenly. i just simply thought fma was more funny, and cute. But fmab its more detail on the story line then fma, and i was happy with the ending.

[Shirotora]

I liked FMA Brotherhood better for several reasons. First of all, Edward turned too, well, whiny for me. In Brotherhood they seemed to make the people in the military more hardened, as military officials should be. The plot seemed more real to me, less of a far-fetched fantasy adventure than a more could-actually-happen-in-another-world story (if that makes any sense at all).

[Dazzep]

I liked FMA until the episodes 25 or so because the story started to become weird, but I loved Brotherhood when I watched it, I think Brotherhood should've been more like FMA and expand all the characters, and it would've probably had more episodes… but I really loved both. I have no favorite.