the 03 one was so fucking unique. Like it didnt feel like a big bad boss. It was just life happening and two brother living in it. Just going through the motions trying to do the best they can.
@@laymansterms1776yeah, evil people are. They lack emotional maturity which is why they do evil. They’re detached and stupid, no matter how “smart” they are. Their lack of emotional maturity is always their downfall. Same can be said about the fmab villains. The homoculous think they’re so smart because they don’t care about anyone or anything and see humans as weak for doing so. But at the end, none of them want to die and the point of sins is that it’s people that lack emotional intelligence to overcome those bad human traits that act like that. Who acts the most selfish, mean, petty, bitter, hungry, greedy, than kids and emotionally immature folks? The whole point of fmab and fma is that those who try to shed their humanity will always fail
Right on! FMA is a victim of its own success, and its really kind of sad because hardly anyone discovers 2003 anymore, so it has become a hidden gem, which would have been unthinkable because it used to be the #1 most popular anime. I've rewatched both series multiple times, and the more I watch, the more I prefer almost everything in the original.
What? You are entitled to your own opinion but do you honestly think people are unable to find 03 FMA? Majority of FMA fans think Brotherhood is superior, and that's that, get over it. There are no absolute facts when interpreting/enjoying art.
@@ollipantsukka7211 almost no one who discovered FMA for the first time after 2009 when Brotherhood came out, has seen the 2003 version. Everyone knows that it exists, but no one gives it a chance because they all start with Brotherhood and then they don't bother going back to watch 2003. When brotherhood initially came out, it shot to the top because of recency bias, because the fans got to see their favorite characters with souped up animation, and because of the "following the manga closer is automatically better" purists. And because of its success, everyone looking to watch FMA is more inclined to skip 2003 and just watch FMAB
@@Requinix17 Haha so BH is trash due to "recency bias" and rides only on hype of 03 and yet somehow is more liked? And your nostalgia does not affect your judgement of 03. Great! Keep telling yourself that. Why is 03 fan base so toxic that they can't make a video about it without trashing BH? The first half of this vid was great but you just have to trash brotherhood with ridiculous reasoning I might add referring to a comment I made on this vid.
@@ollipantsukka7211 I never said brotherhood was trash lol, there's no need to get upset over some critical scrutiny. BH appeals to a different demographic than 2003. I like brotherhood, but not for the same reasons I like 2003. And my point about almost all new FMA watchers not even bothering to check out 2003 because of BH's recency and relative popularity still stands
Yea, this video really resonated on why I've always preferred the 2003 series. I enjoy both storylines, but the themes that the 03 series tackle are what I always hold more dear personally.
Also russian dub of the original series is masterfully performed. I guess authors of FMA communicated with russians as far as song "Brothers" is performed by russian concert. FMA 2003 is really something loved in childhood and appreciated in adulthood.
Yes, to be honest, I unironically consider Edward's Russian performance to be the best, especially in quiet dramatic moments, when a higher female register of the voice actress breaks through the masculine image, which is explained by the plot since Ed is still a teenager.
Yeah bro, the original show strayed from the manga because they caught up to the manga too quickly, so they began to make their own story. Brotherhood is the show that is based on the manga
@@leoteodia.6952 yes and no. The manga doesn't suffer from wacky pacing on the first chapters and everyone agrees brotherhood does and in fact I'd say one of the things that impressed me the most about it was the amazing pacing it had. I actually read the manga and then watched 03 (so I skipped Brotherhood altogether) and I daresay that while 03 is more my style the OG story is far higher quality (in that there are few ways it could be improved on). We have a far wider variety of well developed characters and imo all except for Ed, Al and Mustang are far better developed in the manga. The story is more cohesive and coherent, so yeah, I do think manga is (slightly) better than Brotherhood
@@dei-deithe 2 things that the anime was better than the manga were, the fight roy mustang vs lust, and it also showed flashbacks like envy killing an ishbal child and it also shows conflict scan vs iron arm alchemist (remember that these scenes are not shown in the manga)
I'm still reading the manga but I noticed a lot of cut content Brotherhood skipped that would have benefited if it took after the 03. Like Hughes' death scene, the Nina incident, the fight between Mustang and Ed (I was seriously waiting the entire portion of the examination portion to see it... we got a super short version). Although I also took significant issue with the last third of the 03 anime where things got jumbled, I appreciate the pacing and time it really took to help characterize such a big cast of people. Barry the Chopper was legit terrifying in the 03 version because he was human. One thing I don't agree with in your analysis is 03 Rose being catatonic. She was SA'd offscreen and got pregnant from it & likely still didn't recover from grieving over her dead fiance when it happened. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she was on the verge of ending her life if she hadn't had the baby, maybe that was why she was oddly complacent with Dante. She probably just didn't care anymore and was at peace with Dante taking her body to look after the baby anyhow.
@@AmmiOin fairness she was dealing with everything after Liore, then the war that took place, and her being r+aped in the middle of that conflict. It was a contrast to how the conflict in fmab didnt really last all that long seemingly and well. The war in fmab existed just to shed blood.
I actually liked it too, but perhaps it's because of the fact that it ties up plot threads (Wrath accepting Izumi, Ed and Al living together in the real world) that it kind of goes against one of the main ideas of the base show that some things in life won't be resolved, but as long as you can accept that and continue to live life to the fullest, that's ok. Maybe if Bones was willing to allow Seiji Mizushima to use his entire three-hour script, we could also have been given some more time to properly pace the character progression (but, of course, that would've most likely resulted in production hell). Also the villain was kinda lame ngl
@theceoofbasedandlitswagger2456 Villan was bad and I would love if more time was given to my GOAT Mustang but overall I enjoyed the movie much more than the last batch of episodes in the proper series.
I just finished 2003 and I absolutely adored it. I watched the Edit of Shamballa, so I can't speak on criticisms for the movie, because the version I saw was just really beautiful and enjoyable for me. I'm never going to forget this show, and it's an instant favourite like Berserk
@@bunsmasterbunny I doubt I will. I heard what happens in it. It's already been a week, and the edit's ending has stuck with me. I think in my mind, he made it back to Amestris and grew old with his grandkids.
@@jasonborne238 What? What are you trying to say? Everything I said still holds up 1 year later after typing my comment tbh, I'm so confused what you're trying to argue with
I can't express enough how deeply I agree with you about the unnecessary gags and chibi scenes in brotherhood. The whole show undermines all its mature plot attempts. In general it feels more like a cartoon made for kids of 12 y.o. I am currently re-watching Brotherhood with my younger brother and I am generally feel turned off by the show despite the fact I liked it a lot when it aired. Instead I decided to re-visit the 2003 original show, since most of my deep memories come from that show. I'd like to thank you a lot for your deep review. I am glad to hear a thoughtful opinion on the topic I highly agree with.
I hate to break it to you, but... Fullmetal Alchemist is literally targeted at 12-15 year olds... Brotherhood matches the marketing tone of the shounen anime at the time. It's doing its job correctly, technically. I do agree with you though. I do think many of the chibi scenes don't work as well in Brotherhood. Especially those first 10 episodes we just speed through. I still watch the Liore episodes of '03 instead of the Brotherhood ones because the simplicity and comedy tones bother me.
I'd say essentially FMA 2003 is entirely about Anthropology. Every theme it has circles around what it means to be human. What humans strive for, what seperates them from other forms of existance and espeially how deeply flawed they are. Even the main character is by no means perfect. As for the ending, I think its a logical conclusion. Humans arent perfect and nothing they create can be perfect. Tucker can't create the perfect chimera because he is human and Alfons can't be together with Edward and both ther bodys fully intact.
This was a wonderful video! Always great to see people exploring the 2003 anime and not being afraid to explain how they enjoy it! I’ve always preferred 2003 too for its gravity in tone and the depth of its themes when I first watched it as I got into anime as a whole. And honestly I adore the movie with it too even with its issues - since it can be enjoyable if the ending was a bit too bitter for someone. Brotherhood is more of a fun romp with its action and excessive humor that sometimes made it hard to care about what was happening when you could tell everything would be solved with a motivational talk and a punch. That type of character attitude is typical for the genre but really drains on the impact of the themes. It doesn’t feel like triumph over strife, it feels like undercutting the issues for the sake of fast pace and grand scale. Overall, it’s a preference difference but I’ll always recommend 2003 to people.
"An unfortunate truth of life is that there's no making up for moral failures or rebalancing karmic scales. Life isn't about atonement or self-punishment - it's about putting one foot in front of the other and moving on from your past mistakes." damn.
Glad I found this and I’m not the only one I feel the original was darker and more mature and unique and had better lessons while the later one was in a way generate action anime in a way. They’re both good but as an adult the original fm was way better for me.
For a video this long I expected much more juice. I agree with most of it, but heck, there was much more that could be said. Great work in any case, mate! I appreciate the hard work and the great judgement.
I enjoy both but 2003 has a far better tone and artstyle. Also it's utterly bizarre that they cut the episode with Yoki and the mining town when he's so important in brotherhood.
I think they expected you to have watched FMA '03 before hand. Which there's a 6 year time gap between the two. They also left out the battle on the train.
I watched FMA first before brotherhood and I just now realized how rushed FMAB it was at the beginning and when I did first watch FMAB I didn’t like how they skipped some characters
i watched FMA:B before FMA (2003) 4 years ago. I noticed on my own and thanks to videos like these that the pacing is off in brotherhood and so when a friend of mine asked me about the shows a couple of weeks ago i told him to watch FMA (2003) first. Yesterday he told me that the first episodes of FMA:B feel very rushed and this just confirmed what i felt and heard on the internet
I liked so much of this video. You explain pacing and tone of storytelling in a very good way. I also liked that you were one of the only people on the internet that criticizes an untouched perfect show. While I still prefer Brotherhood because I prefer the ending and plot with epic and grandiose consequences of FMA: BH, I agree with your criticism of the anime -- especially the humor and bad pacing -- and you made me appreciate more the 2003's anime. Good job :)
Thank you Soo much for this video, you really summed up why I love the original vastly over brotherhood. Don't get me wrong they're both incredible in their own way but I love stories that are always emotionally impactful to me and I feel as if 03 was able to resonate within much more. Although it's subjective more than anything it's so nice to see someone having a similar view and thank you for the wonderful analyzation 👍🔥
It warrants mentioning that Conqueror of Shamballa was originally conceived as an entire additional 13-episode anime season, so the reason it is how it is with a story that feels so rushed and cramped and packed full of exposition and bits of lore that matter for one (1) plot beat and are blasted past quickly is that they were essentially trying to cram 260 minutes worth of plot ideas into a roughly 105-minute runtime (both figures after subtracting OP/ED runtimes). From what I've heard, Brotherhood's introductory episodes are pretty much 1:1 with the corresponding manga except for Episode 1 (which seems meant as a triumphant "We're back!" to returning anime-only fans as well as a tip-off that the story is going to be different this time to prevent people thinking Brotherhood will just be a retread), and the train hijacking and Youswell stories, which ARE in the manga but which Brotherhood skips over entirely. In that sense, it's more that the 2003 anime really deep-dove into and expanded on those parts of the story than that Brotherhood "speedran" them, though I can see where it would come off that way since the 2003 anime, I'm pretty certain, was a far more common ""first FMA experience" than the manga was, at least outside of Japan. This isn't necessarily saying it shouldn't be considered a problem; more so that it originated in the manga rather than Brotherhood. That said, I personally really like both versions of the story, having recently rewatched them each in release order. I do think each one has its flaws, particularly around the respective finales; Brotherhood's pacing gets a little weird when it ends up dedicating essentially an entire season to its final battle, while 2003 could've built up to the whole "FMA universe is alternate-timeline our universe" twist a bit more gradually than it did. I can definitely understand not gelling with Brotherhood if the ways in which 2003 is different from it are what really drew you to 2003 in the first place, though. I absolutely don't think Brotherhood is without thematic weight, but it ultimately leans towards a much more "feel-good story of swashbuckling heroism and making new friends" vibe compared to 2003's more melancholic and bittersweet tone. I do have to disagree about the Brotherhood Homunculi being one-dimensional, though (except Sloth and Lust; those two absolutely are). Greed, Wrath, Pride, and Envy all grapple with their relationships to humanity in their own ways, and Gluttony has the odd characteristic of not even being particularly malicious or evil aside from the whole "eating people" thing (man, if that ain't a weird thing to say); he just kind of does what Father and his siblings tell him to. I definitely think most of them are a step down in complexity from the 2003 Homunculi, though.
I think Wrath is a pretty decent character, but envy is 2 dimensional until some pretty forced and half assed "character development" right before he dies. Pride is also pretty 2 dimenstional, no homonculus except pride and Greed ever consistently (or in any way except for their deaths) show any sort of 3 dimensionality, character development and growth, or really any problems or character flaws they have to grapple with.
~ 37:30 Note: The Mahjal and Psiren episodes were 2003 exclusive (not in the manga at all), and the Tringham brothers were from a light novel (so not the main plot). Their inclusions obviously work to make the world feel more like it exists outside the Elric brother's journey, but I get omitting Mahjal and Psiren, because I feel like they were a bit on the nose about the morals of using alchemy, and the Tringhams wouldn't have really had much a place later in the newer plot. Edit (after properly watching the section): you're totally right, but again, studio bones had to account for the fact that it would be financially uneconomic to go more in depth into the parts that were covered in 2003 (as different as they may have been)
Also there was the whole conflict of ling and Bradley on what it means to be king. An idea that is somewhat present in the fight through the way it connects to the overarching theme of cooperation, as you have Bradley being whittled down by a group working together, an exemplification of the limits of the individual vs those who value others and then it more directly (in a very on the nose way) connects back to the king conflict with ling refusing to sacrifice people and verbally stating the whole conflict to the audience right before buccaneer and fu make their sacrifices. On something actually subtle about the conflict of the fight that I doubt Irie and Onogi picked up on otherwise a character would have monologued about exactly that, is the conflict of freedom Greed actively pursues freedom throughout the series which is what really creates his schism with father while wrath is the other homunculus associated with the desire for freedom but he is much more passive about it with his lack of freedom ultimately being a source of his rage and conflicts like these being his sole opportunities at experiencing a glimpse of freedom. So here we have a connection between the two characters in how they operate as foils to one another in this area with one resentful to the world but try to make the most of the hand they were given and the other rejecting the situation entirely to for the opportunity to make their own. So credit where credit is due good job Arakawa.
I was a huge fan of the first adaptation, so I was very disappointed when I saw brotherhood. No one takes me seriously when I say I think the first adaptation was better. I was disappointed with brotherhood's lack of ambition in exploring consequences of the laws the show created, it felt like a real step back from the first adaptation which took the concepts posed in the beginning and continued to explore them. Where as brotherhood dragged it out into a much weaker 'bad guy tries to destroy the world' trope. If people didn't tell me brotherhood was better maybe I wouldn't have felt the same way. But I really agree with all of this and I don't really understand why people like brotherhood more, I thought perhaps people valued the authenticity in how brotherhood stayed accurate to the mange.
I originally watched Brotherhood back in 2016, and I absolutely loved it. Not long after I tried watching 03 and when it started diverging loads I stopped watching cuz I thought the whole "wrath having eds limbs" was dumb, even though I probably enjoyed it more until that point. I think I was a victim of the widespread online thought that Brotherhood is better just because its faithful. When I decided to give 03 another shot in 2020, I absolutely adored it. Particularly Dante and its ending. I found the idea of our world being linked to theirs fascinating. (On this, I hadnt thought of the language thing but I think it can be explained as passing through the gate gives you the knowledge of their language, especially as Ed originally transfers into his version of himself on our side). So after watching this I thought I would rewatch Brotherhood, and I barely managed to get halfway through before dropping it. I attributed it to me just being burnt out on FMA rather than any disdain for the show. But this year I decided to watch both of them with my girlfriend. I introduced her to 03 first as I wanted to see her perspective on the 2 watching them in the reverse order to me. We watched both in succession, and it only affirmed that I absolutely prefer 03. I ended up loving 03 even more after this rewatch and disliking Brotherhood more. I do still like Brotherhood, but I could not stand the constant gag chibi humour and the obscenely long "Promised Day" arc. Compared to Brotherhood, 03 is just so much better paced and as a result emotional scenes pay off much better. In Brotherhood, the Nina arc happens so quickly theres no time to grow attached. I think it was emotional for me when I first watched Brotherhood just because it was one of the first more mature anime I watched. Also, the Hommunculi being failed human transmutations makes them so much more interesting as characters compared to in Brotherhood where only really Envy has a character arc. Another thing was the fight scenes. Brotherhood has some very good fight scenes, like Al vs Pride and Kimblee, or Mustang vs Lust. But it also has a LOT of just fine fight scenes. Compared to 03 where I enjoyed MOST of the fights and straight up LOVED Ed vs Greed; Ed, Al + Lust vs Wrath and Sloth and Mustang vs Fuhrer. I also prefer the art style, the OST, even the openings and endings (in particular ED1 and OP4, the 4th opening straight up has the best animation in all of FMA as well). Finally on CoS, I didnt know it was a sequel (I thought it was unrelated like Sacred Star of Milos) until watching 03 with my gf this year, so I only recently watched it. And I really enjoyed it actually. There were definitely pacing issues, but I thought it had a great conclusion with Ed and Al staying in our world as they know there are problems that still need solving here. I thought it matched their characters perfectly and it left it again on a bittersweet ending. I also liked the implication of them searching for the Atomic Bomb to stop it being made as well as the fact that Ishbalans were portrayed as Romani Gypsies. Overall I enjoyed the movie and it had some really good animation and character conclusions like Wrath vs Gluttony.
In case people wonder what my gf thought, she loved both and says she cant pick between the two. She by far prefers the introductory part of 03 but she prefers the ending of Brotherhood because its happier whereas she got really sad with 03s ending. She sometimes gets really emotional with anime (which is kinda funny cuz she used to never cry at any show, first one she did cry at was Gurren Lagann last year lol) so the conclusion of 03 was just too sad for her. And while the conclusion of CoS wasnt as sad for her, she was still sad that Winry was left by the brothers.
@@louish5068i can see that. I like both as well for almost those reasons. A lot of people hated CoS and the ending of 2003 because they wanted ed and winry together except it wasn’t really set up unlike fmab. Both have their pros and cons. 😁
Dude. Shambala wasn't great but it's the epilogue to 2003. The ultimate resting place of the story and where everyone ends up. The Star of Milos I agree was just a random side adventure, but how can you say Shambala adds nothing to its respective show?
Shambala is a weak plot filled with things that make no sense and pandering fanservice of random doppleganger characters showing up. Even though it gives a "happy" ending for most of the characters, I prefer the tone of the TV show ending even if it technically leaves the some things unresolved.
@AmmiO I don't get the tone thing. Ed and Al are together, but Ed didn't get his limbs back and they're trapped in another world. They'll never see Winrey or any of their loved ones again. It wasn't a happy ending. Not really. Again, I agree that Shambhala is bad, but it shouldn't be ignored entirely.
I haven't watched the series in a while so do take everything with a grain of salt, but on the subject of Rose: I do believe that her being vacant at the end is a direct result of the trauma she suffered at the hands of the Amestrian soldiers (which is another example of the effects of war on civilians), and Dante's use of her (and Lust, to a certain extent) has always read to me as a kind of commentary on exoticization and stripping down of brown women's identities (see, Dante being creepy and caressing Rose's body and planning on using her body for her own gain, Lust literally being whitewashed and stripped of her culture + identity, etc). As for Al, it does kind of suck that he loses his memories, but I think it was meant to be a final atonement for Ed, who believed that he ruined his brother's life and chance at a happy childhood due to his mistakes. Al returning to his childlike state IS kind of a "fix" for that, though of course, as with all things in this series, it's by no means meant to be perfect. I also don't think COS really is a happy ending? Sure, the brothers get reunited, but they also will never return to Amestris (and we know this, since the movie ends on them accepting Earth as their world from then on.) I also enjoy the ideas that it sets up--I think the move of making Hughes a N*zi works, because Amestris is very obviously a WWII era Germany parallel (I mean, the leader is literally called the Führer), and so by making this even more explicit the movie forces the viewer to reconsider how they think of beloved characters, and adds to the morally grey tone of the entire show by displaying how even people we perceive as normal, or even *good*, can do bad things. Now, obviously COS has a LOT of mistakes, and it's up to every individual to decide whether to watch it, but I do think it's worth it! Other than those few nitpicky comments, I loved this video! Not totally done with it (just got to the Brotherhood part), but so far I really enjoyed this analysis. 03 is my favorite adaptation for a LOT of reasons and I'm glad there's other people out there that agree! EDIT: Fully done with the video, and it was great! And while this isn't mentioned in the video, one of the reasons I vastly prefer 03 to Brotherhood are their different ways of dealing with the glaring, obvious issue of race (specifically when it comes to Ishbal). To me, Brotherhood takes the easy way out; it homogenizes the ishbalan people (giving them ALL exotic traits like white hair and red eyes) with few exceptions, and it paints Scar as very specifically being In The Wrong, and he stops his crusade against the military in the end (or at least, that's what the photo of Scar and Miles in the end seems to imply). Meanwhile, 2003 has Ed directly call out *his own racism* (see: that scene with Rick and Leo) and even has discussions on systemic injustice (see: Dante's last speech on Equivalent Exchange, IIRC she brings up the fact that people born into places of privilege will always have an easier time than those not). It also gives the ishbalans more depth and, IMO, affords them more world building and taking steps to show that ishbalans are not entirely in agreement on everything (see: once again, Rick and Leo's discussion on religion, the Grand Arcanum existing in general, etc.) + they dont all have the exact same hair and eyes.
I completely agree with your part about racism and systemic injustice. Really well put. That scene with Ed and Dante is my favourite in the show because it fundamentally dismantles the philosophy that is the driving force behind the protagonists in both adaptations. It demonstrates that there can be no such thing as equivalent exchange as that just isnt realistic. Instead Brotherhood runs with equivalent exchange right until the end with a gag about it when Ed proposes to Winry.
you know this is like a perfect example of how watching something and having it be described because the humor has genuinely never killed then tension for me
Also, victims of philosopher's stones are stuck in a soul limbo of sorts inside, right? A vortex of suffering, as described by Winry who experienced being inside one near the end of the series. So... wouldn't USING the stones be the more humane thing to do? You really want all those poor souls suffer for the rest of eternity? Use up their energy and free them from their torment.
Yes, in a way you are right but Ed and Al don't want to used Philosopher's stone to get what they want in their goals. Hohenheim's backstory reveals that the souls inside Philosopher's stone aren't just "Mindless energy" or anything like that, their still people that he was able to communicate with.
@@tevineleven11 Late reply. It's just a shame Mangahood never really addressed the issue of the souls still trapped inside the stones. Since it was established that you can communicate with them, Marcoh could've done that as an act of penance. And then let the souls decide what was to be done with them. And if that's impossible do to with stones, euthanasia really would've been the most humane thing to do. But I guess the author didn't want that kind of moral at the end of the story?
The thing with MyAnimeList is that the original was actually once on the number 1 spot but then after Brotherhood it actually got review bombed to make sure that Brotherhood was on top. Not only that, but as soon as another series comes along that threatens to take the number 1 spot, then they to get review bombed. And one thing I feel you missed with Brotherhood was that not only did Scar kill Winry's parents, he killed a lot of other people and yet his actions are seemingly forgotten at the end just cause he joined the heroes. Contrast that with 03 where characters constantly have the deal with the fallout of their past actions.
@@ToyotaCorolla-en2mv it was number 1 at certain points in time (you can go check the way back machine) and was definitely a lot higher up before Brotherhood (it was always consistently on the front page before Brotherhood) but the spots themselves fluctuated a lot more than they do now so it wasn’t like how Brotherhood maintained the the spot with such an iron grip (pre-kaguya.) 03 definitely took a drastic hit after brotherhood came out (people changing review scores as Brotherhood shifted their opinion, review bombing, and generally discouraging people from watching it/slandering it so people would feel less inclined to give it good reviews.) All the top series do get review bombed because people take mal scores too seriously. Brotherhood maintaining the number 1 spot for so long and always regaining the spot after review bomb wars makes it the consistent target that is blamed for review bombing. The validity of the claims of the fandom’s direct fault here aren’t exactly founded (and brotherhood is the most review bombed show having been in so many of these bombing wars. Though there is also reason to suspect Brotherhood gets support from bot accounts.) some examples of the review bomb wars would be gintama, steins Gate (I think at 1 point,), attack on Titan for its past 3 seasons, spy x family, and now kaguya sama love is war (which at the moment still is maintaining the lead), as well as some attempts by people to get a meme to the top such as when interspecies reviewers made it to the top as well as pingu.
I knew about Brotherhood fans reviewbombing any show that threatened the top spot on MAL but I had no idea that they even did it to 03. Jesus christ people care too much about MAL...
@@louish5068 yeah I mean go look at any message board or video about brotherhood. They talk MAD trash about 03. It's honestly like really insane cuz 03 is incredible
Dante had lived so long that she understood human selfishness and greed to a greater extent than perhaps any other Alchemist. This is why she rejected Equivalent Exchange as a concept. It`s likely like most Alchemists in the Series she once believed in it as strongly as Izumi,Alphonse and Edward did,however the longer she lived the more her cynicism and contempt towards other human beings grew especially after Hohenheim`s abandonment and betrayal. As for Roze`s baby, aside from being a narrative callback to the Curtis Infant Wrath was transmuted from(Hence the PTSD flashback and murderous rage Wrath had as a result of the infant`s cries which also reminded him of the trauma of The Gate and the many infant-like entities there)it`s also implied that the baby was a result of one of the Amestrian soldiers who occupied Lior raping her, hence the fact she did not abort the infant as most women would even in her nigh-catatonic state demonstrated once again what a devout woman she was.
She had to become very disconnected from humanity and the human experience due to her long life span. That’s a recipe for isolationism and depression and a mind that will fall into ruin.
@@LucasCombs-wn1de I must disagree. Any character that was created for 2003 series was ok at best. Sure, characters like Lust were more developed in 2003 but that was because they serve different purposes in the story. But characters like Ling, Oliver Armstorng or Salim/Pride are far superior to 2003.
Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 is so damn underrated its incredibly sad, personally whenever someone says brotherhood is better I actually feel really salty (its still an amazing show) but the emotions that you feel when watching 2003 are unparallel to anything brotherhood has, and the music in 2003 is just so much better and fits so well instead of having the same music being played over and over in brotherhood, I'm looking at you "main theme" its seriously jarring that we don't have the track "brothers" in a show called brotherhood.
@@apoptosisduellinks109 I love the 2003 version too. Especially the soundtrack. It is that the Brotherhood has the original manga story which is why they are trying to cancel the 2003.
I think Al's body being impossible within the laws of science/alchemy is actually pretty important, because they point to a grander illogic to alchemy so early on. The audience is free to question these things, and if they come to your conclusion (that it doesn't make sense within the laws of alchemy) it only reinforces the series' conclusion; that equivalent exchange isn't real, and is in fact very unfair. Alphonse's immortal body is a comedy, in the 'divine' sense; it's a punishment for his crimes--an ironic twist of fate that, within the narrative, seems like both an orchestrated good and evil. This lapse in alchemic logic is mirrored later on in the series; as Dante's 'sound' plans for an immortal body fail, and Edward--despite sacrificing his body--is given another life. Hohenheim's only conclusion is that there was a cosmic value to Alphonse and Edward's journey that was used as the price. These things don't "make sense", but neither does alchemy, and the show addresses that both logically and thematically. There are things that humans simply don't understand about the laws of alchemy.
This is like comparing a roller-coaster to a sunset. Why critique a roller-coaster for not being as serene, as emotional nor as awe-inspiring as a sunset? I imagine the reverse is just as true; I assume people would say 03 is slow, overly wordy and just not as fun as Brotherhood.
I loved the mystery and suspense, I hope brotherhood has that too Also the lesson in the ending is that it takes equivalent exchange to bring someone back, al.had to sacrifice his entire self to bring Ed back and Ed had to sacrifice his entire self. You cant selfishly bring someone back, you have to give up something of equal value. Which is YOU.
the entire ending was about how equivalent exchange was bullshit, and believing that rule come from a privilegied place, were you sleeping through that episode
I know a lot of people really like an upbeat story and happy ending, but I way prefer a story that leaves you with tears in your eyes and thoughts racing through your head. FMA 2003 was an emotional rollercoaster with complex and interesting themes and characters, all of whom I love. It will always be my favorite anime
Even if I prefer the 2003 version , I love them both. For example, in brotherhood, I love the relationship between Ed and Winry, or how they introduced new characters like Ling Yao. In the 2003 versión I love how there is more character development and more emotional impact with the cruel reality. Overall, I do think both version has their flaws and their good things.
With how dark FMA 2003 is I dont mind the fun energetic tone of Brotherhood where you dont have to take anything to seriously and its great you can have the best of both worlds with this show.
Fma 2003 is the one I watched first, and not gonna lie it traumatized the fuck out of me (I was like 11 when I watched it) but I can’t say that’s a bad thing The way they handled the characters, the humor and changes from the manga and brotherhood made it special to me in a way I can barely explain Also Mustang in the 03 version is comedy gold
It's interesting to listen to your opinion because while prefering 03 well over Brotherhood there are a lot of points I disagree with you when it comes to both series (not the cyborg though, that was one hell of a bad idea) I'd like to point out that FMA is a manga adaptation, and a lot of the first episodes of 03 are actually plotlines from the novels that were more or less used to complete the original anime plot (the Fletcher brothers are the biggest addition by far), so had they been added to Brotherhood they would have technically been useless filler, and as you said they were already rushing that part of the plot. I'm a huge CoS fan, so every time the movie gets handwaved I tend to be a bit defensive, however I feel like as a fan aware of what the original script looks like I am not well placed to judge first impressions and the like. I also feel like you're being harsh about the second half of Brotherhood, it is different from 03 but the original characters do address various thematics, perhaps in ways that are not euro-centered enough to be appreciated by a typical american and/or european viewership. I do agree with the end being very similar to a video game final boss and feeling very shallow, especially compared to what was going on in 03. One of Brotherhood's biggest default aside from the misplaced humor (a woman bleeding her guts out is not funny, show) is that its threads are too tight, by the end everything is too perfect, and the main defaults of alchemy are adressed so matter-of-factly it tends to ignore the entire philosophy that derives from it (from "you give something to get exactly what you want in return" to "you give a bit more so that you're sure it's not just equal, but fair" vs 03's "you don't live in an ideal world, equality and fairness are an illusion, but you must still strive for them, because there is worth to existence and that in an of itself is enough") I would have more to say but this is an hour-long essay and I can only write a comment that big, plus I don't have the patience.
I've always been very annoyed that modern opinion is that FMA sucks and Brotherhood is the good one. No, FMA was considered one of the best animes ever before Brotherhood. IMO, FMA and Brotherhood are on relatively equal footing, one succeeds where the other fails and vice versa.
FMA lost me when they added their own twists, I like brotherhood cause it stuck to the manga storyline, all the characters had a sense of humor too and it made them more human
The characters of FMA 2003 are far more human. the original plotline is actually quite silly, it introduces interesting concepts and themes and then refuses to do anything with them, it's just another boring shounen that has to make you laugh every thirty seconds in case the audience loses their attention span. FMA 2003 takes all the interesting ideas of the manga and runs with them fully, and crafts a far more intimate story. The characters aren't just there to be lovable and shallow, they are complicated messes who fuck up and who have to understand their role and collaboration in a machine that has murdered millions. It is an adult work, which is probably why Brotherhood fans don't like it--it has actual mature things to say, and does not hold your hand.
Glad to see someone else talking about Brotherhood's tone problem, it's something I never see discussed. I'm of the opinion that every plot point, indeed every scene, that 03 and Brotherhood both cover, 03 did better, both from the better pacing and because it can consistently hold a somber moment and build a scene around it, which Brotherhood just doesn't do in the whole first cour. Brotherhood does get better rapidly starting in the second cour, right after it catches up to 03 even, which is particularly weird as far as the tone goes. I can understand the pacing issues getting better, but have no explanation for the tone problem getting fixed. There's a real art to managing a shifting tone, something like Golden Kamuy has in recent years proven how effective a series can be shifting its tone back and forth between serious, comedic, intense, or any combination of the three. The problem isn't so much that Brotherhood has too many jokes or even that they're particularly bad in and of themselves, they're more so timed very inappropriately a lot of the time, and the specific choices for a lot of them don't contribute to the scene the way they should. I absolutely believe you can lace a scene with comedy and still keep it intense or moving, it's all a question of what jokes you decide to make, how you time them, and how they build into your investment in what's going on, which I think is where Brotherhood falls flat a lot of the time
It’s been a while so while I may not remember the plot points, I remember how I felt watching the 2003 show. I felt the spectrum of emotions and the ending was satisfying. I watched all of brotherhood with college friends years later and I barely remember any of it. I felt far less emotion.
Although I fricking love Brotherhood but I have to admit that 2003 was really and truly it's equal. If the ending wasn't what it is I would've loved 2003 even more. It's just that I like Brotherhood's villain and ending more than 2003 but everything else is pretty much equal for me.
One thing I really want to add, the soundtrack to 2003 FMA is far superior than Brotherhood's soundtrack. I don't even remember the score from that show. I often find myself humming tunes and melodies from 2003 FMA.
Without a doubt you've created a better takedown of FMA Brotherhood than I think I could make myself. Great work here. Your scripting reminds me a lot of Joseph Anderson, but unlike him you're not wrong about everything all the time. To call the original anime's 4:3 aspect ratio a downside is foolish, however. An aspect ratio is an aspect ratio and whether any particular one is a benefit or a detriment is entirely up to how it's used - and FMA uses it very well. Considering Brotherhood often completely fails to fill the frame with anything even remotely interesting despite its wider view makes me appreciate the tighter, more intimate framing of the original anime that much more.
I can tell Glass Reflections review was something this TH-cam channel has seen. Both fine videos, but those 'drawbacks' aren't drawbacks at all, plenty of people go back to any older series and enjoy them just fine with that being a thing. It's all of a sudden a problem for 03 because...reasons. Funny thing that the same person GR, also covered ATLA....
Finally I wasn't alone.It's probably because I prefer more pessimistic,auteur(Even though I do think Brotherhood is auteur for a shonen series) stories rather than shonen stories with a more accessible formula and optimistic ending.I mean favorite films are stuff like Thirst and Sympathy For Mr Vengeance by Park Chan Wook,Sonatine by Takeshi Kitano and Fargo by The Coens so yeah I guess 2003 appeals to me more than Mangahood for that specific reason
While I agree with most of your points, I feel the section where you mentioned Brotherhood "skipped" a bunch of episodes isn't fair because some of those weren't canon to the manga's story. Like you can't say Brotherhood "skipped" the Barry the Chopper plotline because it never happened, and I love that plotline from 03. And yes, you did mention that Brotherhood simply never filled those empty spots with anything meaningful, but you can't say it "skipped" much either.
My issue with Brotherhood isn't that it "skipped" those episodes because, yes, they didn't happen in the Manga. My issue is that those episodes in 03 were needed for worldbuilding, pacing, and character development, and Brotherhood didn't have an equivalent.
When i was watch Fullmetal i watched the original first and the brotherhood in Quick succesecion, and i think the darker tone on the original made me apreciate more the funnier tone of brotherhood, oh, and i binged (obviosly not the entierty at once) both, inclunding what you called "slow part" on brotherhood
7:24 That's a Gilbert Grape movie reference. I highly recommend it if you want to watch child actor Leonardo DiCaprio and young Johnny Depp playing the role of two brothers.
41:36 If you think about it, Father letting Ed & Al go and roam the country freely after they crashed his evil lair... makes no sense. They're his precious human sacrifices. He needs FIVE for the upcoming solar eclipse and he has ZERO. Just imprison Ed & Al, geez. Don't sabotage your own plan, dummy. Basically, all the events post-evil lair only happen because the villain was an idiot.
You are sort of right about that, it's mostly because of Father's massive arrogance. He sees human more insignificant than insects so he never sees them as a potential threat to him, his plans or the Humonculi
I’ll admit, I was one of those people who did originally prefer 2003 over Brotherhood back in High School. But after rewatching Brotherhood back in my first year of college, and recently. I gotta say, I now prefer Brotherhood over FMA 03. It’s sort of a Stephan King’s It situation, the remake is better but the original was more memorable. And yeah I know that sounds weird since I’m this case I like remake series more but you get the idea. Despite rewatching 2003 multiple times…… I forget allot about it. At a thrift store I bought a DVD containing some episodes, mainly the episodes in the Fifth Laboratory. And I was surprised at how much moments of those episodes I completely forgot about. But that’s not the main point I’m trying to make. While yes, 2003 does have allot more character philosophical talk in it, i still resonate with Brotherhood more. I liked the characters more, I liked the art style more, I like the animation more, I like the story more. The only real pitfall for me being the opening arcs, which allot of anime remakes nowadays seem to be doing nowadays, due to them being incredibly rushed and sometimes poorly adapted. But despite that the show gets better and better as it goes along. Now I’ll admit, despite my love for Brotherhood, there are some issues I do have with it. I already mentioned how I feel the opening arcs were too rushed and poorly adapted, but there are other issues as well. The ishval war being gutted into just one episode and allot of moments that were great in the manga are just removed, as well as Sheska being completely forgotten after the episode where Hughes dies. THAT….. is the biggest crime in all of this. And yeah, allot of the slap stick looney tunes comedy can get pretty annoying at times. But that doesn’t retract my enjoyment of the series. Also I can’t help but find your notion of thinking the show is boring at times very odd, when it involves a giant monster getting flamed to death by a VERY pissed off Mustang. Also, don’t mean to be an ass but, to the guy who preferred the more brother and sister relationship Ed and Winry had in 2003, not gonna judge but to that I say…… what brother and sister relationship? Even in 2003, there clearly is romantic tension between the two, which is especially evident in Conquerer of Shambala. Sorry to say but, this brother and sister relationship you like so much…. Doesn’t actually exist in the show. And besides that’s clearly not the type of relationship the author was going for. That’s not to say you CANT like that type of relationship, but thats clearly wasn’t how the relationship was set up in either version. And as for the ending. It’s pretty much perfect all around. To those who say it’s cheesy and too much of a fairy tale ending, remember you guys like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars which also had very fairy tale endings, so I have no idea why this sudden hatred for happy endings in anime where the characters get the happy endings they deserve is now a thing. People hated that in Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 and they dislike it here too. Are shows just suddenly not allowed to have happy endings anymore? I get that allot of people like bittersweet endings, but why do those who prefer the more happier endings, like me, have to be looked down on because of it? Especially since the ending in Brotherhood makes changes that actually help benefit the story, like Mustang giving the philosopher’s stone to Havoc to heal his legs, which is probably the most In character thing for him. It’s so rare and anime adaptation makes a change to a character that feels more in character than the source material. Oh right my thoughts, overall it’s as perfect of an ending you can get in a show like this. The characters get the endings they deserve, the main characters reached their goals, and the main couple got together in the end. It’s as perfect of an ending I could ask for. If this comment sounds very bitter in places I apologize I’m typing this in 3 in the morning and I’m very tired and really want to go to bed, so I’m not in the best of moods right now, but I hope I got my point across.
I think this is a very reasonable comment. I have always held Brotherhood and 2003 in roughy equal regard ms for different reasons. I personally think 2003 has lower moments than Brotherhood, like the entire Rush Valley segment that makes Winry seem pretty malicious. I also think 2003 has higher moments than Brotherhood like everything with Wrath from his relationship with Sloth, his scene where he hugs Izumi, and the scene when he is in Gluttony’s jaws and begs Al to transmute him so he can see his mother again. Both series are great in different ways. I’ll watch Brotherhood as I like the grand narrative with the likable characters who develop throughout the show and come together in an amazing final fight at central. I will also say that I used to Loathe 2003 but eventually rewatched it and found myself getting emotional at several points in the story. 2003 definitely has more emotional moments than Brotherhood and a larger emphasis on the character of Edward Elric while Brotherhood has a wider narrative that showcases a much larger cast of characters who eventually come together and put aside their differences to do what is right.
Fma03 is wonderful - it's memorable, beautiful and essentially more of a seinen as opposed to a typical shonen. Fmab is one of the best shonen animes ever made imo. BH and Fma03 are just...different. The manga is different yet again: BH is more faithful but in episode 1 we have a novel character in the anime that isn't in the manga (Isaac), there are things about the characters in the manga that aren't included in the anime but change the way one interprets that character imo (like Roy). We're really lucky to have a 3 and the most wonderful thing is that all 3 enrich each other. Re Edwin in 03: they're way more romantic in BH, in 03 Winry is invested but Ed is very much more focused on his task - at least that's my opinion. I feel so, sorry for Winry in CoS when Ed leaves and she's left behind once again. :(
I will coincide that Brotherhood is the "better" adaptation but FMA 2003 will always be my favorite. I liked the aesthetic, the music, and the art style. The more serious tone makes the stakes feel more real unlike in Brotherhood which feels more like a traditional fantasy. People seem to forget that if it wasn't for the success of FMA 2003 Brotherhood wouldn't have been produced. Overall great video, you really explained everything great about FMA 2003 and why it shouldn't be forgotten.
03 was never trying to adapt the manga in full as you see many major plot details/even some reveals exclusive to 03 as far back as the the first few episodes. It was not trying to follow pages to the latter. It was trying to be it's own original story where the events are used to fuel it's goal. The intention was never to fit the manga canon. So it most certainly is not the 'correct' one. But it is, some people seem to think 2003 is just like a filler show you throw away and never think about again. That could not be less true for me. And I'm especially tired of the idea you can't make content outside of a manga for anime. It's a bit restrictive.
@@katakanatabro2048before I watched fma, I debated which one I should watch (fma or fmab) and after reading multiplier different perspectives, I chose FMA and I honestly don’t want to watch fmab because I found FMA so unique from the other anime I’ve come across. It’s a shame people mark it off as the inferior version for not following the manga when it honestly tells such a genuinely beautiful story.
Wow, it's like you downloaded all my feelings about both shows direct from my brain and then turned them into a coherent argument. I was bored through most of Brotherhood and gave up collecting the manga -- all the chibi stuff in both especially annoyed me, as did the long-winded fights. The plot at the end was more coherent though, and the huge conspiracy idea appealed -- but the homonculi were much more interesting in 2003, as you said. In hindsight I'm very happy that Bones started adapting the manga before it was very advanced, because that meant that we got a better story (to my taste) than would have been the case if they'd waited. Lastly, I agree about the soundtrack. I bought it on CD and it's still some of my most-played music, especially as background for writing. Some tracks (like CD1 #19) are almost unbearable poignant.
Its nice to see someone appreciate the original anime more, though I do have some disagreements: 1: Ed's not right in his philosophy about moving forward as he describes it, I would think Rose's whole life being destroyed by the military would show he was arrogant and ignorant in his attitudes there. 2: Heughs was canonically a Nazi by virtue of being am Amestrian soldier, they are all literal Nazis.
So for point 1. I disagree Ed’s philosophy there wasn’t shown to be incorrect. What is criticized in Ed through what happened to Liore was the pursuit of his dreams above the rest of the world and the belief that the two are somehow disconnected. Like in episode one when he talks about how he really doesn’t care about Cornello and all he cares about is finding a way to get his and his brother’s bodies back, a trait which Ed later reflects on after Liore when he goes in the car with Mustang. Ed’s pushing forward wasn’t the problem, the problem was leaving the world behind, pushing forwards rather than falling into despair of nihilism is an idea that is echoed throughout the series and one that is generally presented as positive and the right decision with the errors coming from external elements of that core philosophy. The finale itself with Ed’s last transmutation is a reinforcement of this idea of trying even when things are uncertain but accepting the uncertainty.
No they are not all "literally Nazis" Amestris is obviously supposed to be a parallel of 20th century Europe with the ishval extermination being a parallel to the many atrocities committed by Germany during both world wars but it's not exactly one to one. Nazism is a specific ideology, not every Amestrian citizen or person in military service is in support of the fascist dictatorship or the ishval war just as not every German agreed with Hitler. In both versions of the story there are characters within the military (or ex military) who actively oppose fuhrer Bradley such as Bald and his men who hijacked the train, Issac the freezer who wanted vengeance for the war crimes that were committed in ishval, doctor marcoh who fled with his research to help people with the philosopher's stone instead of continuing to be apart of its military application in war, Maes Hughes is killed because he knew too much about the military's corruption. eventually in both versions the main cast of characters help to rid the military of its corruption and overthrow it's evil dictator so to label them as all Nazis by default is completely missing the point
The first FMA was one of my first anime and definitely the first to leave a mark and vividly remember, I was so hyped to see they were making another one (Brotherhood) and then so dissappointed when I watched it.
I was really with you for the most part, until you started comparing the 2. They both have good and bad. Brotherhood didn't cut stuff. 2003 added stuff. A lot of that was filler. 2003 was good and needs more credit, but you're dumping on brotherhood. It's good too. just different.
40:16 AmmiO: the problem with brotherhood isn’t that it removes these episodes, especially since many of these aren’t in the manga, the problem is that they’re not replaced with anything to fill their purpose. These episodes do a lot of world building and characterization, letting characters breath during these events creating organic pacing. Note, I actually don’t fully agree with him, and agree a bit more with you as I do think both shows are great, but I felt the need to clarify what the actual argument being made was
After watching the 03 i legit could not for the life of me finish brotherhood. Mainly because the comedy was SOOO off, super goofy in a bad way, and they never had a single funny joke to me. Brotherhood just had to drop a unfunny joke every fricken 2 seconds.
The first anime is full of plot hole problems. Dante knowing exactly where to find a homunculus to recruit was the first one. Making wars in the hopes someone in the middle of a war would think about creating a stone instead of fleeing or surviving is also stupid. Mustang killed a ton of people in the wars he was involved He didn't have the same moral compass as Ed, who never killed a humen being. Mustang stated that if he could, he would also sacrifice his ability to do alchemy in return of his sight. But if he did his gate would be destroyed and he would never be able to escape the void plane. The reason Ed sacrificed his gate and left is because his and Al's gates are connected. Even without his gate Ed was able to return through Al's gate. The fight between greed and wrath are connected because greed wants to avenge the death of his old henchmen killed by wrath during the assault on his keep that resulted in his capture and assimilation by the father humunculus.
Regarding one point you made; I don't think Brotherhood is contradicting any "message" by having some characters do different things based on what they consider morally acceptable. The show doesn't have a "message" that it's "bad to kill". That is just how Ed and Al feels. And plenty of other characters do not feel this way. Ed made his decision of what to do with Philosopher stones, and so did Roy. Again, there is no contradicting message here, it's just what they chose to do. Sometimes a story is just a story. It can be deep, engaging, but at the end of the day, it's fiction made to be entertaining, not a lesson on morality. I personally thought Ed and Al were stupid about their refusal of Philosopher stones. Not only cause of what you already said; It's crafted. It's there. It can't be undone. But also, because all the souls of those people are still trapped in there, and actually using up the stones energy is RELEASING souls. It's more morally righteous to use the stone for a better purpose than to let the souls suffer endlessly, or have it end up in the hands of someone who will cause more suffering with it.
i've seen both and I prefer the older one, sure the storyline in the newer one makes more sense and is better but everything else in the old fma i like more, the characters develop way more, the world is explored better due to slower pacing, the themes about edward and alphonse having to pay the price for trying to play God is a more powerful message then government corruption and the bond between brothers which the new one focuses on, also I like the art and colors better in the old one and the darker tone works really well. I really hate how the new fma glossed over important events like the stuff with nina just to get to the new content it made it harder for me to connect with the story. It's such a shame how no one seems to care about or apreciate the the 2003 series, it really is such a gem.
I don't skip episode 1 when re-watching, I really like that episode because it has so many hints and references to later things, and having watched the series, it becomes a fun episode. But i see the point that while it is (I think) a good episode to rewatch after the series is done, it is not the best first episode for the same reason. The only episode i skip is episode 4. I watched it once, and I really don't need to rewatch that again. It was way too sad and horrible for me to re-do, and i don't think i needed more from that episode, than knowing the trauma it gave Ed and Al (and myself)
i believe that both versions are great and complement each other tho i feel like you made brotherhood look worse to make 2003 look better both shows are great but have flaws imo
Just about everything you said that criticizes brotherhood I 100%, absolutely, completely agree with, and that's coming from a DIE HARD Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood fan (it's literally my entire personality). And while it is true I prefer fmab over fma 2003, 2003 will always hold a very special place in my heart and there are a lot of things that it did WAY better than brotherhood, a lot of things that make me wish brotherhood was a little more like 2003
My first time watching Brotherhood I was so sad and disappointed that Brotherhood didn’t have Alphonse’s opening speech. For years even before I had actually officially watched 03 that had been my what immediately would come to mind when hearing Fullmetal Alchemist. And the one they used in the start of Brotherhood was so boring and lifeless, I was so happy when they finally stopped that one at the end of season 1.
Amazing video essay! Very well done! The way you talk actually reminds me of Joseph Anderson, do you know his channel? He makes video game reviews and is one of my favorites! Hope you gain more traffic, you really deserve it! Thank you for the video!
50:46 dude wrath and greed do have a connection to each other aside from the fact that they're both homunculi and another reason if they have beef with each other wrath killed greed and now he wants revenge greedling wants revenge
Shamballa really is a garbage fire. Winry, Wrath, Roy, etc, everybody got treated so dirty with basically no resolution because apparently we needed a plot about interdimensional nazis instead.
Your so right man my first anime was Dbz just like you I loved the action and everything then I watched fma and I loved it even proudly considering it my favorite anime then the internet kept on saying brotherhood is better so I watched it and it felt so slow and not as interesting I feel like even if I started with the show I wouldn’t have liked it but yeah I love fma
I have a question Could you please make a character analysis on edward elric (2003) Because i heard very weird takes from people saying that edward was just edgy teenager in FMA 2003 but thats not true Or you could make a comparison on both version on edward of wich one you prefer and tell why
I'd say the Eds from each series are fairly similar, though I think 03 Ed is presented as being more clever. I wouldn't call him edgy/angsty, especially in comparison to, say, season 1 Eren Yaeger.
I personally found the second and third acts of brotherhood to be more compelling. I thought the different plot strands were more equally engaging and the sense of crescendoing felt more gripping. Whereas several characters and strands in the 03 anime distracted and irritated me. However, I agree that the originals darker tone and visual style are beautiful and it’s homunculus are far more interesting
I like both. 03 hits harder and has a better origin for the Humonculi, but there's too much filler early on. You don't need the creepy doll guy, the Catwoman wannabe or the discount Elric brothers. Cornello, Nina's and Barry's arcs are all you need. Brotherhood is quicker and more focused. It has some amazing fights (Mustang vs Lust, the gang vs Pride and Gluttony, Scar vs Wrath...), but half of the Humonculi are just generic baddies. And the ending is weaker compared to 03. It's just too happy and nice. The perfect FMA would take the villains and tone of 03 and the pacing and action scenes of Brotherhood. As for the villains: I view both Dante and Father as equally alright. Father is more of a foil to Hohenheim than the Elric brothers, and his origin as the Dwarf in the Flask is too vague for me to care much about him. Meanwhile, Dante is a more grounded villain, but her demise is way too underwhelming. For me, the Humonculi were the more interesting baddies in both shows. I like both portrayals of Bradley, Greed and Envy, as well as 03's Sloth and Wrath.
the 03 one was so fucking unique. Like it didnt feel like a big bad boss. It was just life happening and two brother living in it. Just going through the motions trying to do the best they can.
yes i AGree it made me cry even made me feel bad for the bad characters i think the creator new they had to change the story to make it more human
Dante was shit for a villain and utterly predictable.
@@laymansterms1776yeah, evil people are. They lack emotional maturity which is why they do evil. They’re detached and stupid, no matter how “smart” they are. Their lack of emotional maturity is always their downfall. Same can be said about the fmab villains. The homoculous think they’re so smart because they don’t care about anyone or anything and see humans as weak for doing so. But at the end, none of them want to die and the point of sins is that it’s people that lack emotional intelligence to overcome those bad human traits that act like that. Who acts the most selfish, mean, petty, bitter, hungry, greedy, than kids and emotionally immature folks? The whole point of fmab and fma is that those who try to shed their humanity will always fail
@@laymansterms1776 How? 💀☠️
Right on! FMA is a victim of its own success, and its really kind of sad because hardly anyone discovers 2003 anymore, so it has become a hidden gem, which would have been unthinkable because it used to be the #1 most popular anime. I've rewatched both series multiple times, and the more I watch, the more I prefer almost everything in the original.
Thank you for watching my video sir or madam.
What? You are entitled to your own opinion but do you honestly think people are unable to find 03 FMA? Majority of FMA fans think Brotherhood is superior, and that's that, get over it. There are no absolute facts when interpreting/enjoying art.
@@ollipantsukka7211 almost no one who discovered FMA for the first time after 2009 when Brotherhood came out, has seen the 2003 version. Everyone knows that it exists, but no one gives it a chance because they all start with Brotherhood and then they don't bother going back to watch 2003.
When brotherhood initially came out, it shot to the top because of recency bias, because the fans got to see their favorite characters with souped up animation, and because of the "following the manga closer is automatically better" purists. And because of its success, everyone looking to watch FMA is more inclined to skip 2003 and just watch FMAB
@@Requinix17 Haha so BH is trash due to "recency bias" and rides only on hype of 03 and yet somehow is more liked? And your nostalgia does not affect your judgement of 03. Great! Keep telling yourself that. Why is 03 fan base so toxic that they can't make a video about it without trashing BH? The first half of this vid was great but you just have to trash brotherhood with ridiculous reasoning I might add referring to a comment I made on this vid.
@@ollipantsukka7211 I never said brotherhood was trash lol, there's no need to get upset over some critical scrutiny. BH appeals to a different demographic than 2003. I like brotherhood, but not for the same reasons I like 2003. And my point about almost all new FMA watchers not even bothering to check out 2003 because of BH's recency and relative popularity still stands
Yea, this video really resonated on why I've always preferred the 2003 series. I enjoy both storylines, but the themes that the 03 series tackle are what I always hold more dear personally.
Also russian dub of the original series is masterfully performed. I guess authors of FMA communicated with russians as far as song "Brothers" is performed by russian concert.
FMA 2003 is really something loved in childhood and appreciated in adulthood.
Yes, to be honest, I unironically consider Edward's Russian performance to be the best, especially in quiet dramatic moments, when a higher female register of the voice actress breaks through the masculine image, which is explained by the plot since Ed is still a teenager.
@@astemirabazekhov9005
Yeah, Ed's voice is 10 out of 10.
where can i find the russian dub?
The manga is arguably better than Brotherhood. It is definitely more subtle, and the humor that is there works better in that medium.
….you know the manga is based on Brotherhood right?
They are literally the same
Yeah bro, the original show strayed from the manga because they caught up to the manga too quickly, so they began to make their own story. Brotherhood is the show that is based on the manga
@@leoteodia.6952 yes and no. The manga doesn't suffer from wacky pacing on the first chapters and everyone agrees brotherhood does and in fact I'd say one of the things that impressed me the most about it was the amazing pacing it had. I actually read the manga and then watched 03 (so I skipped Brotherhood altogether) and I daresay that while 03 is more my style the OG story is far higher quality (in that there are few ways it could be improved on). We have a far wider variety of well developed characters and imo all except for Ed, Al and Mustang are far better developed in the manga. The story is more cohesive and coherent, so yeah, I do think manga is (slightly) better than Brotherhood
@@dei-deithe 2 things that the anime was better than the manga were, the fight roy mustang vs lust, and it also showed flashbacks like envy killing an ishbal child and it also shows conflict scan vs iron arm alchemist (remember that these scenes are not shown in the manga)
@@leoteodia.6952anime underwent several changes, these changes didn't please me very much.
I'm still reading the manga but I noticed a lot of cut content Brotherhood skipped that would have benefited if it took after the 03. Like Hughes' death scene, the Nina incident, the fight between Mustang and Ed (I was seriously waiting the entire portion of the examination portion to see it... we got a super short version). Although I also took significant issue with the last third of the 03 anime where things got jumbled, I appreciate the pacing and time it really took to help characterize such a big cast of people. Barry the Chopper was legit terrifying in the 03 version because he was human.
One thing I don't agree with in your analysis is 03 Rose being catatonic. She was SA'd offscreen and got pregnant from it & likely still didn't recover from grieving over her dead fiance when it happened. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she was on the verge of ending her life if she hadn't had the baby, maybe that was why she was oddly complacent with Dante. She probably just didn't care anymore and was at peace with Dante taking her body to look after the baby anyhow.
I actually thought Dante might be drugging her
I understand what Rose went through, but it still strikes me as off how she's catatonic one moment, but then later snaps out of it around Ed.
@@AmmiOin fairness she was dealing with everything after Liore, then the war that took place, and her being r+aped in the middle of that conflict.
It was a contrast to how the conflict in fmab didnt really last all that long seemingly and well. The war in fmab existed just to shed blood.
Abortion is evil
Lost me when you said Don’t watch Conqueror of Shamballa. Ties up so many plot threads and has incredible production quality.
But its so goofy tho
@@kvproductions2581 It's great. I liked it so much more than the last 1/4 of the series
I actually liked it too, but perhaps it's because of the fact that it ties up plot threads (Wrath accepting Izumi, Ed and Al living together in the real world) that it kind of goes against one of the main ideas of the base show that some things in life won't be resolved, but as long as you can accept that and continue to live life to the fullest, that's ok. Maybe if Bones was willing to allow Seiji Mizushima to use his entire three-hour script, we could also have been given some more time to properly pace the character progression (but, of course, that would've most likely resulted in production hell).
Also the villain was kinda lame ngl
@theceoofbasedandlitswagger2456 Villan was bad and I would love if more time was given to my GOAT Mustang but overall I enjoyed the movie much more than the last batch of episodes in the proper series.
I just finished 2003 and I absolutely adored it. I watched the Edit of Shamballa, so I can't speak on criticisms for the movie, because the version I saw was just really beautiful and enjoyable for me. I'm never going to forget this show, and it's an instant favourite like Berserk
Watch the real Shamballa
@@bunsmasterbunny I doubt I will. I heard what happens in it. It's already been a week, and the edit's ending has stuck with me. I think in my mind, he made it back to Amestris and grew old with his grandkids.
@@MarissaChillya haha not even close lol
Yes berserk and fullmetal alchemist 03 are some of the darkest anime's. I love them both for it.
@@jasonborne238 What? What are you trying to say?
Everything I said still holds up 1 year later after typing my comment tbh, I'm so confused what you're trying to argue with
“Roy finger blasts Ed”
R34 artists: “Write that down! Write that down!”
Fun fact: Most R18 FMA Doujins are Yaoi.
@@AmmiO damn you were actually right. I never knew Pride x Greed existed and now I want to kill myself
Sadly...
AND THEY SEVERLY LACK THE-
Never mind.
I can't express enough how deeply I agree with you about the unnecessary gags and chibi scenes in brotherhood. The whole show undermines all its mature plot attempts. In general it feels more like a cartoon made for kids of 12 y.o.
I am currently re-watching Brotherhood with my younger brother and I am generally feel turned off by the show despite the fact I liked it a lot when it aired. Instead I decided to re-visit the 2003 original show, since most of my deep memories come from that show.
I'd like to thank you a lot for your deep review. I am glad to hear a thoughtful opinion on the topic I highly agree with.
I hate to break it to you, but... Fullmetal Alchemist is literally targeted at 12-15 year olds... Brotherhood matches the marketing tone of the shounen anime at the time. It's doing its job correctly, technically.
I do agree with you though. I do think many of the chibi scenes don't work as well in Brotherhood. Especially those first 10 episodes we just speed through. I still watch the Liore episodes of '03 instead of the Brotherhood ones because the simplicity and comedy tones bother me.
wow edgy bro
I'd say essentially FMA 2003 is entirely about Anthropology. Every theme it has circles around what it means to be human. What humans strive for, what seperates them from other forms of existance and espeially how deeply flawed they are. Even the main character is by no means perfect. As for the ending, I think its a logical conclusion. Humans arent perfect and nothing they create can be perfect. Tucker can't create the perfect chimera because he is human and Alfons can't be together with Edward and both ther bodys fully intact.
This was a wonderful video! Always great to see people exploring the 2003 anime and not being afraid to explain how they enjoy it! I’ve always preferred 2003 too for its gravity in tone and the depth of its themes when I first watched it as I got into anime as a whole. And honestly I adore the movie with it too even with its issues - since it can be enjoyable if the ending was a bit too bitter for someone. Brotherhood is more of a fun romp with its action and excessive humor that sometimes made it hard to care about what was happening when you could tell everything would be solved with a motivational talk and a punch. That type of character attitude is typical for the genre but really drains on the impact of the themes. It doesn’t feel like triumph over strife, it feels like undercutting the issues for the sake of fast pace and grand scale. Overall, it’s a preference difference but I’ll always recommend 2003 to people.
"An unfortunate truth of life is that there's no making up for moral failures or rebalancing karmic scales. Life isn't about atonement or self-punishment - it's about putting one foot in front of the other and moving on from your past mistakes." damn.
This video is everything I’ve ever wanted to say about FMA vs Brotherhood, it’s nuts.
Glad I found this and I’m not the only one I feel the original was darker and more mature and unique and had better lessons while the later one was in a way generate action anime in a way. They’re both good but as an adult the original fm was way better for me.
For a video this long I expected much more juice. I agree with most of it, but heck, there was much more that could be said. Great work in any case, mate! I appreciate the hard work and the great judgement.
I enjoy both but 2003 has a far better tone and artstyle. Also it's utterly bizarre that they cut the episode with Yoki and the mining town when he's so important in brotherhood.
I think they expected you to have watched FMA '03 before hand. Which there's a 6 year time gap between the two. They also left out the battle on the train.
Yoki is important but the mining episode is so filler-ey.
Here I thought I skipped something. I was just thinking how I don’t remember him and they made it seem like it was important. 👀
I watched FMA first before brotherhood and I just now realized how rushed FMAB it was at the beginning and when I did first watch FMAB I didn’t like how they skipped some characters
i watched FMA:B before FMA (2003) 4 years ago. I noticed on my own and thanks to videos like these that the pacing is off in brotherhood and so when a friend of mine asked me about the shows a couple of weeks ago i told him to watch FMA (2003) first. Yesterday he told me that the first episodes of FMA:B feel very rushed and this just confirmed what i felt and heard on the internet
I liked so much of this video. You explain pacing and tone of storytelling in a very good way. I also liked that you were one of the only people on the internet that criticizes an untouched perfect show. While I still prefer Brotherhood because I prefer the ending and plot with epic and grandiose consequences of FMA: BH, I agree with your criticism of the anime -- especially the humor and bad pacing -- and you made me appreciate more the 2003's anime. Good job :)
Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you Soo much for this video, you really summed up why I love the original vastly over brotherhood. Don't get me wrong they're both incredible in their own way but I love stories that are always emotionally impactful to me and I feel as if 03 was able to resonate within much more. Although it's subjective more than anything it's so nice to see someone having a similar view and thank you for the wonderful analyzation 👍🔥
Glad you enjoyed the video.
It warrants mentioning that Conqueror of Shamballa was originally conceived as an entire additional 13-episode anime season, so the reason it is how it is with a story that feels so rushed and cramped and packed full of exposition and bits of lore that matter for one (1) plot beat and are blasted past quickly is that they were essentially trying to cram 260 minutes worth of plot ideas into a roughly 105-minute runtime (both figures after subtracting OP/ED runtimes).
From what I've heard, Brotherhood's introductory episodes are pretty much 1:1 with the corresponding manga except for Episode 1 (which seems meant as a triumphant "We're back!" to returning anime-only fans as well as a tip-off that the story is going to be different this time to prevent people thinking Brotherhood will just be a retread), and the train hijacking and Youswell stories, which ARE in the manga but which Brotherhood skips over entirely. In that sense, it's more that the 2003 anime really deep-dove into and expanded on those parts of the story than that Brotherhood "speedran" them, though I can see where it would come off that way since the 2003 anime, I'm pretty certain, was a far more common ""first FMA experience" than the manga was, at least outside of Japan. This isn't necessarily saying it shouldn't be considered a problem; more so that it originated in the manga rather than Brotherhood.
That said, I personally really like both versions of the story, having recently rewatched them each in release order. I do think each one has its flaws, particularly around the respective finales; Brotherhood's pacing gets a little weird when it ends up dedicating essentially an entire season to its final battle, while 2003 could've built up to the whole "FMA universe is alternate-timeline our universe" twist a bit more gradually than it did. I can definitely understand not gelling with Brotherhood if the ways in which 2003 is different from it are what really drew you to 2003 in the first place, though. I absolutely don't think Brotherhood is without thematic weight, but it ultimately leans towards a much more "feel-good story of swashbuckling heroism and making new friends" vibe compared to 2003's more melancholic and bittersweet tone.
I do have to disagree about the Brotherhood Homunculi being one-dimensional, though (except Sloth and Lust; those two absolutely are). Greed, Wrath, Pride, and Envy all grapple with their relationships to humanity in their own ways, and Gluttony has the odd characteristic of not even being particularly malicious or evil aside from the whole "eating people" thing (man, if that ain't a weird thing to say); he just kind of does what Father and his siblings tell him to. I definitely think most of them are a step down in complexity from the 2003 Homunculi, though.
I think Wrath is a pretty decent character, but envy is 2 dimensional until some pretty forced and half assed "character development" right before he dies. Pride is also pretty 2 dimenstional, no homonculus except pride and Greed ever consistently (or in any way except for their deaths) show any sort of 3 dimensionality, character development and growth, or really any problems or character flaws they have to grapple with.
~ 37:30 Note: The Mahjal and Psiren episodes were 2003 exclusive (not in the manga at all), and the Tringham brothers were from a light novel (so not the main plot). Their inclusions obviously work to make the world feel more like it exists outside the Elric brother's journey, but I get omitting Mahjal and Psiren, because I feel like they were a bit on the nose about the morals of using alchemy, and the Tringhams wouldn't have really had much a place later in the newer plot.
Edit (after properly watching the section): you're totally right, but again, studio bones had to account for the fact that it would be financially uneconomic to go more in depth into the parts that were covered in 2003 (as different as they may have been)
I will die on this hill
What hill?
@@vladimirfruitin3118 That FMA is better than FMA:B
@@cjpolett2055 but it's true
50:48 Didn't Greed have personal beef with Bradley due to him killing all of Greed's chimera buddies?
Also there was the whole conflict of ling and Bradley on what it means to be king. An idea that is somewhat present in the fight through the way it connects to the overarching theme of cooperation, as you have Bradley being whittled down by a group working together, an exemplification of the limits of the individual vs those who value others and then it more directly (in a very on the nose way) connects back to the king conflict with ling refusing to sacrifice people and verbally stating the whole conflict to the audience right before buccaneer and fu make their sacrifices.
On something actually subtle about the conflict of the fight that I doubt Irie and Onogi picked up on otherwise a character would have monologued about exactly that, is the conflict of freedom Greed actively pursues freedom throughout the series which is what really creates his schism with father while wrath is the other homunculus associated with the desire for freedom but he is much more passive about it with his lack of freedom ultimately being a source of his rage and conflicts like these being his sole opportunities at experiencing a glimpse of freedom. So here we have a connection between the two characters in how they operate as foils to one another in this area with one resentful to the world but try to make the most of the hand they were given and the other rejecting the situation entirely to for the opportunity to make their own. So credit where credit is due good job Arakawa.
EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING WTF 🤦🏿♂️
I was a huge fan of the first adaptation, so I was very disappointed when I saw brotherhood. No one takes me seriously when I say I think the first adaptation was better. I was disappointed with brotherhood's lack of ambition in exploring consequences of the laws the show created, it felt like a real step back from the first adaptation which took the concepts posed in the beginning and continued to explore them. Where as brotherhood dragged it out into a much weaker 'bad guy tries to destroy the world' trope. If people didn't tell me brotherhood was better maybe I wouldn't have felt the same way. But I really agree with all of this and I don't really understand why people like brotherhood more, I thought perhaps people valued the authenticity in how brotherhood stayed accurate to the mange.
I originally watched Brotherhood back in 2016, and I absolutely loved it. Not long after I tried watching 03 and when it started diverging loads I stopped watching cuz I thought the whole "wrath having eds limbs" was dumb, even though I probably enjoyed it more until that point. I think I was a victim of the widespread online thought that Brotherhood is better just because its faithful.
When I decided to give 03 another shot in 2020, I absolutely adored it. Particularly Dante and its ending. I found the idea of our world being linked to theirs fascinating. (On this, I hadnt thought of the language thing but I think it can be explained as passing through the gate gives you the knowledge of their language, especially as Ed originally transfers into his version of himself on our side). So after watching this I thought I would rewatch Brotherhood, and I barely managed to get halfway through before dropping it. I attributed it to me just being burnt out on FMA rather than any disdain for the show.
But this year I decided to watch both of them with my girlfriend. I introduced her to 03 first as I wanted to see her perspective on the 2 watching them in the reverse order to me. We watched both in succession, and it only affirmed that I absolutely prefer 03. I ended up loving 03 even more after this rewatch and disliking Brotherhood more. I do still like Brotherhood, but I could not stand the constant gag chibi humour and the obscenely long "Promised Day" arc. Compared to Brotherhood, 03 is just so much better paced and as a result emotional scenes pay off much better. In Brotherhood, the Nina arc happens so quickly theres no time to grow attached. I think it was emotional for me when I first watched Brotherhood just because it was one of the first more mature anime I watched. Also, the Hommunculi being failed human transmutations makes them so much more interesting as characters compared to in Brotherhood where only really Envy has a character arc.
Another thing was the fight scenes. Brotherhood has some very good fight scenes, like Al vs Pride and Kimblee, or Mustang vs Lust. But it also has a LOT of just fine fight scenes. Compared to 03 where I enjoyed MOST of the fights and straight up LOVED Ed vs Greed; Ed, Al + Lust vs Wrath and Sloth and Mustang vs Fuhrer. I also prefer the art style, the OST, even the openings and endings (in particular ED1 and OP4, the 4th opening straight up has the best animation in all of FMA as well).
Finally on CoS, I didnt know it was a sequel (I thought it was unrelated like Sacred Star of Milos) until watching 03 with my gf this year, so I only recently watched it. And I really enjoyed it actually. There were definitely pacing issues, but I thought it had a great conclusion with Ed and Al staying in our world as they know there are problems that still need solving here. I thought it matched their characters perfectly and it left it again on a bittersweet ending. I also liked the implication of them searching for the Atomic Bomb to stop it being made as well as the fact that Ishbalans were portrayed as Romani Gypsies. Overall I enjoyed the movie and it had some really good animation and character conclusions like Wrath vs Gluttony.
In case people wonder what my gf thought, she loved both and says she cant pick between the two. She by far prefers the introductory part of 03 but she prefers the ending of Brotherhood because its happier whereas she got really sad with 03s ending. She sometimes gets really emotional with anime (which is kinda funny cuz she used to never cry at any show, first one she did cry at was Gurren Lagann last year lol) so the conclusion of 03 was just too sad for her. And while the conclusion of CoS wasnt as sad for her, she was still sad that Winry was left by the brothers.
@@louish5068i can see that. I like both as well for almost those reasons. A lot of people hated CoS and the ending of 2003 because they wanted ed and winry together except it wasn’t really set up unlike fmab. Both have their pros and cons. 😁
Dude. Shambala wasn't great but it's the epilogue to 2003. The ultimate resting place of the story and where everyone ends up. The Star of Milos I agree was just a random side adventure, but how can you say Shambala adds nothing to its respective show?
Shambala is a weak plot filled with things that make no sense and pandering fanservice of random doppleganger characters showing up. Even though it gives a "happy" ending for most of the characters, I prefer the tone of the TV show ending even if it technically leaves the some things unresolved.
@@AmmiO it still shows what happens to the entire cast after the show. It's not a good movie. But it factually adds an epilog to the series.
@AmmiO I don't get the tone thing. Ed and Al are together, but Ed didn't get his limbs back and they're trapped in another world. They'll never see Winrey or any of their loved ones again. It wasn't a happy ending. Not really. Again, I agree that Shambhala is bad, but it shouldn't be ignored entirely.
I haven't watched the series in a while so do take everything with a grain of salt, but on the subject of Rose: I do believe that her being vacant at the end is a direct result of the trauma she suffered at the hands of the Amestrian soldiers (which is another example of the effects of war on civilians), and Dante's use of her (and Lust, to a certain extent) has always read to me as a kind of commentary on exoticization and stripping down of brown women's identities (see, Dante being creepy and caressing Rose's body and planning on using her body for her own gain, Lust literally being whitewashed and stripped of her culture + identity, etc). As for Al, it does kind of suck that he loses his memories, but I think it was meant to be a final atonement for Ed, who believed that he ruined his brother's life and chance at a happy childhood due to his mistakes. Al returning to his childlike state IS kind of a "fix" for that, though of course, as with all things in this series, it's by no means meant to be perfect.
I also don't think COS really is a happy ending? Sure, the brothers get reunited, but they also will never return to Amestris (and we know this, since the movie ends on them accepting Earth as their world from then on.) I also enjoy the ideas that it sets up--I think the move of making Hughes a N*zi works, because Amestris is very obviously a WWII era Germany parallel (I mean, the leader is literally called the Führer), and so by making this even more explicit the movie forces the viewer to reconsider how they think of beloved characters, and adds to the morally grey tone of the entire show by displaying how even people we perceive as normal, or even *good*, can do bad things. Now, obviously COS has a LOT of mistakes, and it's up to every individual to decide whether to watch it, but I do think it's worth it!
Other than those few nitpicky comments, I loved this video! Not totally done with it (just got to the Brotherhood part), but so far I really enjoyed this analysis. 03 is my favorite adaptation for a LOT of reasons and I'm glad there's other people out there that agree!
EDIT: Fully done with the video, and it was great! And while this isn't mentioned in the video, one of the reasons I vastly prefer 03 to Brotherhood are their different ways of dealing with the glaring, obvious issue of race (specifically when it comes to Ishbal). To me, Brotherhood takes the easy way out; it homogenizes the ishbalan people (giving them ALL exotic traits like white hair and red eyes) with few exceptions, and it paints Scar as very specifically being In The Wrong, and he stops his crusade against the military in the end (or at least, that's what the photo of Scar and Miles in the end seems to imply). Meanwhile, 2003 has Ed directly call out *his own racism* (see: that scene with Rick and Leo) and even has discussions on systemic injustice (see: Dante's last speech on Equivalent Exchange, IIRC she brings up the fact that people born into places of privilege will always have an easier time than those not). It also gives the ishbalans more depth and, IMO, affords them more world building and taking steps to show that ishbalans are not entirely in agreement on everything (see: once again, Rick and Leo's discussion on religion, the Grand Arcanum existing in general, etc.) + they dont all have the exact same hair and eyes.
I completely agree with your part about racism and systemic injustice. Really well put. That scene with Ed and Dante is my favourite in the show because it fundamentally dismantles the philosophy that is the driving force behind the protagonists in both adaptations. It demonstrates that there can be no such thing as equivalent exchange as that just isnt realistic. Instead Brotherhood runs with equivalent exchange right until the end with a gag about it when Ed proposes to Winry.
You read my mind !
you know this is like a perfect example of how watching something and having it be described because the humor has genuinely never killed then tension for me
Also, victims of philosopher's stones are stuck in a soul limbo of sorts inside, right? A vortex of suffering, as described by Winry who experienced being inside one near the end of the series. So... wouldn't USING the stones be the more humane thing to do? You really want all those poor souls suffer for the rest of eternity? Use up their energy and free them from their torment.
Yes, in a way you are right but Ed and Al don't want to used Philosopher's stone to get what they want in their goals. Hohenheim's backstory reveals that the souls inside Philosopher's stone aren't just "Mindless energy" or anything like that, their still people that he was able to communicate with.
@@tevineleven11 Late reply. It's just a shame Mangahood never really addressed the issue of the souls still trapped inside the stones. Since it was established that you can communicate with them, Marcoh could've done that as an act of penance. And then let the souls decide what was to be done with them.
And if that's impossible do to with stones, euthanasia really would've been the most humane thing to do. But I guess the author didn't want that kind of moral at the end of the story?
The thing with MyAnimeList is that the original was actually once on the number 1 spot but then after Brotherhood it actually got review bombed to make sure that Brotherhood was on top. Not only that, but as soon as another series comes along that threatens to take the number 1 spot, then they to get review bombed.
And one thing I feel you missed with Brotherhood was that not only did Scar kill Winry's parents, he killed a lot of other people and yet his actions are seemingly forgotten at the end just cause he joined the heroes. Contrast that with 03 where characters constantly have the deal with the fallout of their past actions.
I don't think this is true at all lmao
@@ToyotaCorolla-en2mv it was number 1 at certain points in time (you can go check the way back machine) and was definitely a lot higher up before Brotherhood (it was always consistently on the front page before Brotherhood) but the spots themselves fluctuated a lot more than they do now so it wasn’t like how Brotherhood maintained the the spot with such an iron grip (pre-kaguya.) 03 definitely took a drastic hit after brotherhood came out (people changing review scores as Brotherhood shifted their opinion, review bombing, and generally discouraging people from watching it/slandering it so people would feel less inclined to give it good reviews.)
All the top series do get review bombed because people take mal scores too seriously. Brotherhood maintaining the number 1 spot for so long and always regaining the spot after review bomb wars makes it the consistent target that is blamed for review bombing. The validity of the claims of the fandom’s direct fault here aren’t exactly founded (and brotherhood is the most review bombed show having been in so many of these bombing wars. Though there is also reason to suspect Brotherhood gets support from bot accounts.) some examples of the review bomb wars would be gintama, steins Gate (I think at 1 point,), attack on Titan for its past 3 seasons, spy x family, and now kaguya sama love is war (which at the moment still is maintaining the lead), as well as some attempts by people to get a meme to the top such as when interspecies reviewers made it to the top as well as pingu.
I knew about Brotherhood fans reviewbombing any show that threatened the top spot on MAL but I had no idea that they even did it to 03. Jesus christ people care too much about MAL...
@@louish5068 yeah I mean go look at any message board or video about brotherhood. They talk MAD trash about 03. It's honestly like really insane cuz 03 is incredible
Dante had lived so long that she understood human selfishness and greed to a greater extent than perhaps any other Alchemist. This is why she rejected Equivalent Exchange as a concept. It`s likely like most Alchemists in the Series she once believed in it as strongly as Izumi,Alphonse and Edward did,however the longer she lived the more her cynicism and contempt towards other human beings grew especially after Hohenheim`s abandonment and betrayal. As for Roze`s baby, aside from being a narrative callback to the Curtis Infant Wrath was transmuted from(Hence the PTSD flashback and murderous rage Wrath had as a result of the infant`s cries which also reminded him of the trauma of The Gate and the many infant-like entities there)it`s also implied that the baby was a result of one of the Amestrian soldiers who occupied Lior raping her, hence the fact she did not abort the infant as most women would even in her nigh-catatonic state demonstrated once again what a devout woman she was.
She had to become very disconnected from humanity and the human experience due to her long life span. That’s a recipe for isolationism and depression and a mind that will fall into ruin.
Edward elric is not a typical shounen protagonist really and yeah fma 2003 was alot more darker BH
It was but I really don't like this belive that just because it was darker it was better
@@jakubgodyn7413 2003 had a better story, the characters where better
@@LucasCombs-wn1de I must disagree. Any character that was created for 2003 series was ok at best. Sure, characters like Lust were more developed in 2003 but that was because they serve different purposes in the story. But characters like Ling, Oliver Armstorng or Salim/Pride are far superior to 2003.
Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 is so damn underrated its incredibly sad, personally whenever someone says brotherhood is better I actually feel really salty (its still an amazing show) but the emotions that you feel when watching 2003 are unparallel to anything brotherhood has, and the music in 2003 is just so much better and fits so well instead of having the same music being played over and over in brotherhood, I'm looking at you "main theme" its seriously jarring that we don't have the track "brothers" in a show called brotherhood.
Yes, in my experience, Brotherhood doesn't come close to how good 2003 is.
@@apoptosisduellinks109 I love the 2003 version too. Especially the soundtrack. It is that the Brotherhood has the original manga story which is why they are trying to cancel the 2003.
I think Al's body being impossible within the laws of science/alchemy is actually pretty important, because they point to a grander illogic to alchemy so early on. The audience is free to question these things, and if they come to your conclusion (that it doesn't make sense within the laws of alchemy) it only reinforces the series' conclusion; that equivalent exchange isn't real, and is in fact very unfair.
Alphonse's immortal body is a comedy, in the 'divine' sense; it's a punishment for his crimes--an ironic twist of fate that, within the narrative, seems like both an orchestrated good and evil. This lapse in alchemic logic is mirrored later on in the series; as Dante's 'sound' plans for an immortal body fail, and Edward--despite sacrificing his body--is given another life. Hohenheim's only conclusion is that there was a cosmic value to Alphonse and Edward's journey that was used as the price.
These things don't "make sense", but neither does alchemy, and the show addresses that both logically and thematically. There are things that humans simply don't understand about the laws of alchemy.
This is like comparing a roller-coaster to a sunset.
Why critique a roller-coaster for not being as serene, as emotional nor as awe-inspiring as a sunset?
I imagine the reverse is just as true; I assume people would say 03 is slow, overly wordy and just not as fun as Brotherhood.
Ovisi o onome što prvo pogledaš.
I also like easy-to-watch, escapist action stories; Brotherhood isn't a good one.
I loved the mystery and suspense, I hope brotherhood has that too
Also the lesson in the ending is that it takes equivalent exchange to bring someone back, al.had to sacrifice his entire self to bring Ed back and Ed had to sacrifice his entire self. You cant selfishly bring someone back, you have to give up something of equal value. Which is YOU.
the entire ending was about how equivalent exchange was bullshit, and believing that rule come from a privilegied place, were you sleeping through that episode
I really enjoyed listening to your point of view. Great video quality too. I love both shows for what they each represent.
I know a lot of people really like an upbeat story and happy ending, but I way prefer a story that leaves you with tears in your eyes and thoughts racing through your head. FMA 2003 was an emotional rollercoaster with complex and interesting themes and characters, all of whom I love. It will always be my favorite anime
Even if I prefer the 2003 version , I love them both. For example, in brotherhood, I love the relationship between Ed and Winry, or how they introduced new characters like Ling Yao. In the 2003 versión I love how there is more character development and more emotional impact with the cruel reality. Overall, I do think both version has their flaws and their good things.
Only 3k views? the video deserves way more
Thank you for the sentiment. I'll keep hustling.
Gosh, the emotional impact of 2003's ending. That was devastating to me as a kid.
With how dark FMA 2003 is I dont mind the fun energetic tone of Brotherhood where you dont have to take anything to seriously and its great you can have the best of both worlds with this show.
Fma 2003 is the one I watched first, and not gonna lie it traumatized the fuck out of me (I was like 11 when I watched it) but I can’t say that’s a bad thing
The way they handled the characters, the humor and changes from the manga and brotherhood made it special to me in a way I can barely explain
Also Mustang in the 03 version is comedy gold
It's interesting to listen to your opinion because while prefering 03 well over Brotherhood there are a lot of points I disagree with you when it comes to both series (not the cyborg though, that was one hell of a bad idea)
I'd like to point out that FMA is a manga adaptation, and a lot of the first episodes of 03 are actually plotlines from the novels that were more or less used to complete the original anime plot (the Fletcher brothers are the biggest addition by far), so had they been added to Brotherhood they would have technically been useless filler, and as you said they were already rushing that part of the plot.
I'm a huge CoS fan, so every time the movie gets handwaved I tend to be a bit defensive, however I feel like as a fan aware of what the original script looks like I am not well placed to judge first impressions and the like.
I also feel like you're being harsh about the second half of Brotherhood, it is different from 03 but the original characters do address various thematics, perhaps in ways that are not euro-centered enough to be appreciated by a typical american and/or european viewership. I do agree with the end being very similar to a video game final boss and feeling very shallow, especially compared to what was going on in 03. One of Brotherhood's biggest default aside from the misplaced humor (a woman bleeding her guts out is not funny, show) is that its threads are too tight, by the end everything is too perfect, and the main defaults of alchemy are adressed so matter-of-factly it tends to ignore the entire philosophy that derives from it (from "you give something to get exactly what you want in return" to "you give a bit more so that you're sure it's not just equal, but fair" vs 03's "you don't live in an ideal world, equality and fairness are an illusion, but you must still strive for them, because there is worth to existence and that in an of itself is enough")
I would have more to say but this is an hour-long essay and I can only write a comment that big, plus I don't have the patience.
I really wanna rewatch fma03 but it is so hard to find. Not even Funimation has it on their app.
It's available on Netflix.
Animebee
@@AmmiO hasn’t been on Netflix in most countries since January
Just pirate it
I had to buy dvds lol
I think fma 03 was better but fmab was no was close to mediocre and i think preety thought provoking moments too
I've always been very annoyed that modern opinion is that FMA sucks and Brotherhood is the good one. No, FMA was considered one of the best animes ever before Brotherhood. IMO, FMA and Brotherhood are on relatively equal footing, one succeeds where the other fails and vice versa.
I finally finished FMA, so now i can finally watch this video.
not me being happy about not being the only one who enjoyed the 03 version more 😭
47:26 song in the background is called Bratja and it's in russian language.
FMA lost me when they added their own twists, I like brotherhood cause it stuck to the manga storyline, all the characters had a sense of humor too and it made them more human
The characters of FMA 2003 are far more human. the original plotline is actually quite silly, it introduces interesting concepts and themes and then refuses to do anything with them, it's just another boring shounen that has to make you laugh every thirty seconds in case the audience loses their attention span. FMA 2003 takes all the interesting ideas of the manga and runs with them fully, and crafts a far more intimate story. The characters aren't just there to be lovable and shallow, they are complicated messes who fuck up and who have to understand their role and collaboration in a machine that has murdered millions. It is an adult work, which is probably why Brotherhood fans don't like it--it has actual mature things to say, and does not hold your hand.
Glad to see someone else talking about Brotherhood's tone problem, it's something I never see discussed. I'm of the opinion that every plot point, indeed every scene, that 03 and Brotherhood both cover, 03 did better, both from the better pacing and because it can consistently hold a somber moment and build a scene around it, which Brotherhood just doesn't do in the whole first cour. Brotherhood does get better rapidly starting in the second cour, right after it catches up to 03 even, which is particularly weird as far as the tone goes. I can understand the pacing issues getting better, but have no explanation for the tone problem getting fixed. There's a real art to managing a shifting tone, something like Golden Kamuy has in recent years proven how effective a series can be shifting its tone back and forth between serious, comedic, intense, or any combination of the three. The problem isn't so much that Brotherhood has too many jokes or even that they're particularly bad in and of themselves, they're more so timed very inappropriately a lot of the time, and the specific choices for a lot of them don't contribute to the scene the way they should. I absolutely believe you can lace a scene with comedy and still keep it intense or moving, it's all a question of what jokes you decide to make, how you time them, and how they build into your investment in what's going on, which I think is where Brotherhood falls flat a lot of the time
Although I loved brotherhood, 2003 FMA was the first FMA I saw and it will always hold a special place in my heart. ❤
Incredibly based and very well made video as if it was from a big TH-camr already. Great job, and subbed.
Never really got around to watching Brotherhood, just never really had the interest since 03 was so great.
It’s been a while so while I may not remember the plot points, I remember how I felt watching the 2003 show. I felt the spectrum of emotions and the ending was satisfying. I watched all of brotherhood with college friends years later and I barely remember any of it. I felt far less emotion.
Although I fricking love Brotherhood but I have to admit that 2003 was really and truly it's equal. If the ending wasn't what it is I would've loved 2003 even more. It's just that I like Brotherhood's villain and ending more than 2003 but everything else is pretty much equal for me.
One thing I really want to add, the soundtrack to 2003 FMA is far superior than Brotherhood's soundtrack. I don't even remember the score from that show. I often find myself humming tunes and melodies from 2003 FMA.
Without a doubt you've created a better takedown of FMA Brotherhood than I think I could make myself. Great work here. Your scripting reminds me a lot of Joseph Anderson, but unlike him you're not wrong about everything all the time.
To call the original anime's 4:3 aspect ratio a downside is foolish, however. An aspect ratio is an aspect ratio and whether any particular one is a benefit or a detriment is entirely up to how it's used - and FMA uses it very well. Considering Brotherhood often completely fails to fill the frame with anything even remotely interesting despite its wider view makes me appreciate the tighter, more intimate framing of the original anime that much more.
I can tell Glass Reflections review was something this TH-cam channel has seen. Both fine videos, but those 'drawbacks' aren't drawbacks at all, plenty of people go back to any older series and enjoy them just fine with that being a thing. It's all of a sudden a problem for 03 because...reasons. Funny thing that the same person GR, also covered ATLA....
Fma was my first anime and it is really hard to get into anime because a majority of it just doesn't have the same tone or writing
Finally I wasn't alone.It's probably because I prefer more pessimistic,auteur(Even though I do think Brotherhood is auteur for a shonen series) stories rather than shonen stories with a more accessible formula and optimistic ending.I mean favorite films are stuff like Thirst and Sympathy For Mr Vengeance by Park Chan Wook,Sonatine by Takeshi Kitano and Fargo by The Coens so yeah I guess 2003 appeals to me more than Mangahood for that specific reason
Hell ya great video
While I agree with most of your points, I feel the section where you mentioned Brotherhood "skipped" a bunch of episodes isn't fair because some of those weren't canon to the manga's story. Like you can't say Brotherhood "skipped" the Barry the Chopper plotline because it never happened, and I love that plotline from 03.
And yes, you did mention that Brotherhood simply never filled those empty spots with anything meaningful, but you can't say it "skipped" much either.
My issue with Brotherhood isn't that it "skipped" those episodes because, yes, they didn't happen in the Manga. My issue is that those episodes in 03 were needed for worldbuilding, pacing, and character development, and Brotherhood didn't have an equivalent.
This is an excellent video and a heavily underrated channel. Thank you for voicing many of my thoughts
Glad you enjoyed the video. FYI I have a new video releasing tomorrow morning.
Both 2003 and brotherhood are peak and the manga is also 👌
All you said in this vídeo made me realize something, i like brotherhood beacuse i watched the original and vice vercia
When i was watch Fullmetal i watched the original first and the brotherhood in Quick succesecion, and i think the darker tone on the original made me apreciate more the funnier tone of brotherhood, oh, and i binged (obviosly not the entierty at once) both, inclunding what you called "slow part" on brotherhood
Oh, and the pacing too, but i think is a bit of an asshole move to assume people watched the first one and rush the fuckout of the plot
7:24 That's a Gilbert Grape movie reference. I highly recommend it if you want to watch child actor Leonardo DiCaprio and young Johnny Depp playing the role of two brothers.
41:36 If you think about it, Father letting Ed & Al go and roam the country freely after they crashed his evil lair... makes no sense. They're his precious human sacrifices. He needs FIVE for the upcoming solar eclipse and he has ZERO. Just imprison Ed & Al, geez. Don't sabotage your own plan, dummy.
Basically, all the events post-evil lair only happen because the villain was an idiot.
You are sort of right about that, it's mostly because of Father's massive arrogance. He sees human more insignificant than insects so he never sees them as a potential threat to him, his plans or the Humonculi
I’ll admit, I was one of those people who did originally prefer 2003 over Brotherhood back in High School. But after rewatching Brotherhood back in my first year of college, and recently. I gotta say, I now prefer Brotherhood over FMA 03. It’s sort of a Stephan King’s It situation, the remake is better but the original was more memorable. And yeah I know that sounds weird since I’m this case I like remake series more but you get the idea. Despite rewatching 2003 multiple times…… I forget allot about it. At a thrift store I bought a DVD containing some episodes, mainly the episodes in the Fifth Laboratory. And I was surprised at how much moments of those episodes I completely forgot about.
But that’s not the main point I’m trying to make. While yes, 2003 does have allot more character philosophical talk in it, i still resonate with Brotherhood more. I liked the characters more, I liked the art style more, I like the animation more, I like the story more. The only real pitfall for me being the opening arcs, which allot of anime remakes nowadays seem to be doing nowadays, due to them being incredibly rushed and sometimes poorly adapted. But despite that the show gets better and better as it goes along.
Now I’ll admit, despite my love for Brotherhood, there are some issues I do have with it. I already mentioned how I feel the opening arcs were too rushed and poorly adapted, but there are other issues as well. The ishval war being gutted into just one episode and allot of moments that were great in the manga are just removed, as well as Sheska being completely forgotten after the episode where Hughes dies. THAT….. is the biggest crime in all of this. And yeah, allot of the slap stick looney tunes comedy can get pretty annoying at times. But that doesn’t retract my enjoyment of the series.
Also I can’t help but find your notion of thinking the show is boring at times very odd, when it involves a giant monster getting flamed to death by a VERY pissed off Mustang.
Also, don’t mean to be an ass but, to the guy who preferred the more brother and sister relationship Ed and Winry had in 2003, not gonna judge but to that I say…… what brother and sister relationship? Even in 2003, there clearly is romantic tension between the two, which is especially evident in Conquerer of Shambala. Sorry to say but, this brother and sister relationship you like so much…. Doesn’t actually exist in the show. And besides that’s clearly not the type of relationship the author was going for. That’s not to say you CANT like that type of relationship, but thats clearly wasn’t how the relationship was set up in either version.
And as for the ending. It’s pretty much perfect all around. To those who say it’s cheesy and too much of a fairy tale ending, remember you guys like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars which also had very fairy tale endings, so I have no idea why this sudden hatred for happy endings in anime where the characters get the happy endings they deserve is now a thing. People hated that in Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 and they dislike it here too. Are shows just suddenly not allowed to have happy endings anymore? I get that allot of people like bittersweet endings, but why do those who prefer the more happier endings, like me, have to be looked down on because of it? Especially since the ending in Brotherhood makes changes that actually help benefit the story, like Mustang giving the philosopher’s stone to Havoc to heal his legs, which is probably the most In character thing for him. It’s so rare and anime adaptation makes a change to a character that feels more in character than the source material.
Oh right my thoughts, overall it’s as perfect of an ending you can get in a show like this. The characters get the endings they deserve, the main characters reached their goals, and the main couple got together in the end. It’s as perfect of an ending I could ask for.
If this comment sounds very bitter in places I apologize I’m typing this in 3 in the morning and I’m very tired and really want to go to bed, so I’m not in the best of moods right now, but I hope I got my point across.
You don't sound bitter at all, you sound quite reasonable actually.
I think this is a very reasonable comment. I have always held Brotherhood and 2003 in roughy equal regard ms for different reasons. I personally think 2003 has lower moments than Brotherhood, like the entire Rush Valley segment that makes Winry seem pretty malicious. I also think 2003 has higher moments than Brotherhood like everything with Wrath from his relationship with Sloth, his scene where he hugs Izumi, and the scene when he is in Gluttony’s jaws and begs Al to transmute him so he can see his mother again. Both series are great in different ways. I’ll watch Brotherhood as I like the grand narrative with the likable characters who develop throughout the show and come together in an amazing final fight at central. I will also say that I used to Loathe 2003 but eventually rewatched it and found myself getting emotional at several points in the story. 2003 definitely has more emotional moments than Brotherhood and a larger emphasis on the character of Edward Elric while Brotherhood has a wider narrative that showcases a much larger cast of characters who eventually come together and put aside their differences to do what is right.
Same
Fma03 is wonderful - it's memorable, beautiful and essentially more of a seinen as opposed to a typical shonen.
Fmab is one of the best shonen animes ever made imo.
BH and Fma03 are just...different.
The manga is different yet again: BH is more faithful but in episode 1 we have a novel character in the anime that isn't in the manga (Isaac), there are things about the characters in the manga that aren't included in the anime but change the way one interprets that character imo (like Roy).
We're really lucky to have a 3 and the most wonderful thing is that all 3 enrich each other.
Re Edwin in 03: they're way more romantic in BH, in 03 Winry is invested but Ed is very much more focused on his task - at least that's my opinion. I feel so, sorry for Winry in CoS when Ed leaves and she's left behind once again. :(
Today, I finished FMAB and it does not fit FBA shoes even half. FMA is way better.
What a BANGER video.
I will coincide that Brotherhood is the "better" adaptation but FMA 2003 will always be my favorite. I liked the aesthetic, the music, and the art style. The more serious tone makes the stakes feel more real unlike in Brotherhood which feels more like a traditional fantasy. People seem to forget that if it wasn't for the success of FMA 2003 Brotherhood wouldn't have been produced. Overall great video, you really explained everything great about FMA 2003 and why it shouldn't be forgotten.
03 was never trying to adapt the manga in full as you see many major plot details/even some reveals exclusive to 03 as far back as the the first few episodes. It was not trying to follow pages to the latter. It was trying to be it's own original story where the events are used to fuel it's goal. The intention was never to fit the manga canon. So it most certainly is not the 'correct' one. But it is, some people seem to think 2003 is just like a filler show you throw away and never think about again. That could not be less true for me. And I'm especially tired of the idea you can't make content outside of a manga for anime. It's a bit restrictive.
@@katakanatabro2048before I watched fma, I debated which one I should watch (fma or fmab) and after reading multiplier different perspectives, I chose FMA and I honestly don’t want to watch fmab because I found FMA so unique from the other anime I’ve come across. It’s a shame people mark it off as the inferior version for not following the manga when it honestly tells such a genuinely beautiful story.
Wow, it's like you downloaded all my feelings about both shows direct from my brain and then turned them into a coherent argument. I was bored through most of Brotherhood and gave up collecting the manga -- all the chibi stuff in both especially annoyed me, as did the long-winded fights. The plot at the end was more coherent though, and the huge conspiracy idea appealed -- but the homonculi were much more interesting in 2003, as you said.
In hindsight I'm very happy that Bones started adapting the manga before it was very advanced, because that meant that we got a better story (to my taste) than would have been the case if they'd waited.
Lastly, I agree about the soundtrack. I bought it on CD and it's still some of my most-played music, especially as background for writing. Some tracks (like CD1 #19) are almost unbearable poignant.
Its nice to see someone appreciate the original anime more, though I do have some disagreements:
1: Ed's not right in his philosophy about moving forward as he describes it, I would think Rose's whole life being destroyed by the military would show he was arrogant and ignorant in his attitudes there.
2: Heughs was canonically a Nazi by virtue of being am Amestrian soldier, they are all literal Nazis.
Also brilliant breakdowns of the brotherhood series!
So for point 1. I disagree Ed’s philosophy there wasn’t shown to be incorrect. What is criticized in Ed through what happened to Liore was the pursuit of his dreams above the rest of the world and the belief that the two are somehow disconnected. Like in episode one when he talks about how he really doesn’t care about Cornello and all he cares about is finding a way to get his and his brother’s bodies back, a trait which Ed later reflects on after Liore when he goes in the car with Mustang. Ed’s pushing forward wasn’t the problem, the problem was leaving the world behind, pushing forwards rather than falling into despair of nihilism is an idea that is echoed throughout the series and one that is generally presented as positive and the right decision with the errors coming from external elements of that core philosophy. The finale itself with Ed’s last transmutation is a reinforcement of this idea of trying even when things are uncertain but accepting the uncertainty.
No they are not all "literally Nazis" Amestris is obviously supposed to be a parallel of 20th century Europe with the ishval extermination being a parallel to the many atrocities committed by Germany during both world wars but it's not exactly one to one. Nazism is a specific ideology, not every Amestrian citizen or person in military service is in support of the fascist dictatorship or the ishval war just as not every German agreed with Hitler. In both versions of the story there are characters within the military (or ex military) who actively oppose fuhrer Bradley such as Bald and his men who hijacked the train, Issac the freezer who wanted vengeance for the war crimes that were committed in ishval, doctor marcoh who fled with his research to help people with the philosopher's stone instead of continuing to be apart of its military application in war, Maes Hughes is killed because he knew too much about the military's corruption. eventually in both versions the main cast of characters help to rid the military of its corruption and overthrow it's evil dictator so to label them as all Nazis by default is completely missing the point
The first FMA was one of my first anime and definitely the first to leave a mark and vividly remember, I was so hyped to see they were making another one (Brotherhood) and then so dissappointed when I watched it.
I was really with you for the most part, until you started comparing the 2. They both have good and bad. Brotherhood didn't cut stuff. 2003 added stuff. A lot of that was filler. 2003 was good and needs more credit, but you're dumping on brotherhood. It's good too. just different.
40:16 AmmiO: the problem with brotherhood isn’t that it removes these episodes, especially since many of these aren’t in the manga, the problem is that they’re not replaced with anything to fill their purpose. These episodes do a lot of world building and characterization, letting characters breath during these events creating organic pacing.
Note, I actually don’t fully agree with him, and agree a bit more with you as I do think both shows are great, but I felt the need to clarify what the actual argument being made was
After watching the 03 i legit could not for the life of me finish brotherhood. Mainly because the comedy was SOOO off, super goofy in a bad way, and they never had a single funny joke to me. Brotherhood just had to drop a unfunny joke every fricken 2 seconds.
The overwhelming tone problems and bathos, and the extremely rushed nature of the first dozen episodes are really what drag Brotherhood down for me.
The first anime is full of plot hole problems. Dante knowing exactly where to find a homunculus to recruit was the first one. Making wars in the hopes someone in the middle of a war would think about creating a stone instead of fleeing or surviving is also stupid.
Mustang killed a ton of people in the wars he was involved He didn't have the same moral compass as Ed, who never killed a humen being. Mustang stated that if he could, he would also sacrifice his ability to do alchemy in return of his sight. But if he did his gate would be destroyed and he would never be able to escape the void plane. The reason Ed sacrificed his gate and left is because his and Al's gates are connected. Even without his gate Ed was able to return through Al's gate.
The fight between greed and wrath are connected because greed wants to avenge the death of his old henchmen killed by wrath during the assault on his keep that resulted in his capture and assimilation by the father humunculus.
Regarding one point you made; I don't think Brotherhood is contradicting any "message" by having some characters do different things based on what they consider morally acceptable. The show doesn't have a "message" that it's "bad to kill". That is just how Ed and Al feels. And plenty of other characters do not feel this way. Ed made his decision of what to do with Philosopher stones, and so did Roy. Again, there is no contradicting message here, it's just what they chose to do.
Sometimes a story is just a story. It can be deep, engaging, but at the end of the day, it's fiction made to be entertaining, not a lesson on morality. I personally thought Ed and Al were stupid about their refusal of Philosopher stones. Not only cause of what you already said; It's crafted. It's there. It can't be undone. But also, because all the souls of those people are still trapped in there, and actually using up the stones energy is RELEASING souls. It's more morally righteous to use the stone for a better purpose than to let the souls suffer endlessly, or have it end up in the hands of someone who will cause more suffering with it.
i've seen both and I prefer the older one, sure the storyline in the newer one makes more sense and is better but everything else in the old fma i like more, the characters develop way more, the world is explored better due to slower pacing, the themes about edward and alphonse having to pay the price for trying to play God is a more powerful message then government corruption and the bond between brothers which the new one focuses on, also I like the art and colors better in the old one and the darker tone works really well. I really hate how the new fma glossed over important events like the stuff with nina just to get to the new content it made it harder for me to connect with the story. It's such a shame how no one seems to care about or apreciate the the 2003 series, it really is such a gem.
I don't skip episode 1 when re-watching, I really like that episode because it has so many hints and references to later things, and having watched the series, it becomes a fun episode.
But i see the point that while it is (I think) a good episode to rewatch after the series is done, it is not the best first episode for the same reason.
The only episode i skip is episode 4. I watched it once, and I really don't need to rewatch that again. It was way too sad and horrible for me to re-do, and i don't think i needed more from that episode, than knowing the trauma it gave Ed and Al (and myself)
I sometimes also skip episode 3. But mainly because i think it becomes a little too preachy on religion, and i just find that annoying.
i believe that both versions are great and complement each other tho i feel like you made brotherhood look worse to make 2003 look better both shows are great but have flaws imo
How did he make Bhood look worse? He simply listed flaws
great video, can't agree more
Just about everything you said that criticizes brotherhood I 100%, absolutely, completely agree with, and that's coming from a DIE HARD Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood fan (it's literally my entire personality). And while it is true I prefer fmab over fma 2003, 2003 will always hold a very special place in my heart and there are a lot of things that it did WAY better than brotherhood, a lot of things that make me wish brotherhood was a little more like 2003
Sad that you didn't included the opening narration of both show and how 2003 did it far better than brotherhood atleast imo
My first time watching Brotherhood I was so sad and disappointed that Brotherhood didn’t have Alphonse’s opening speech. For years even before I had actually officially watched 03 that had been my what immediately would come to mind when hearing Fullmetal Alchemist. And the one they used in the start of Brotherhood was so boring and lifeless, I was so happy when they finally stopped that one at the end of season 1.
@@haosmagnaingram6992 i agree
I love the original fma , it's more character driven than fma brother hood
Does anyone know the song at 18:00?
It's "Ready or Not" by "Trevor Garrod".
I prefer the story events and outcome of brotherhood. I think It's main weakness is it does seem rely on the previous work for early world building.
Amazing video essay! Very well done! The way you talk actually reminds me of Joseph Anderson, do you know his channel? He makes video game reviews and is one of my favorites!
Hope you gain more traffic, you really deserve it! Thank you for the video!
Joseph Anderson is actually my favorite streamer/video essayist and his is the channel that inspired me to start mine.
Manga => FMA:B > FMA. 🗿
50:46 dude wrath and greed do have a connection to each other aside from the fact that they're both homunculi and another reason if they have beef with each other wrath killed greed and now he wants revenge greedling wants revenge
They’re both human-based homunculi
Sort of In there own Way
I love fmab but I would have loved to see Ed's father sacrifice himself for his children
Shamballa really is a garbage fire. Winry, Wrath, Roy, etc, everybody got treated so dirty with basically no resolution because apparently we needed a plot about interdimensional nazis instead.
Your so right man my first anime was Dbz just like you I loved the action and everything then I watched fma and I loved it even proudly considering it my favorite anime then the internet kept on saying brotherhood is better so I watched it and it felt so slow and not as interesting I feel like even if I started with the show I wouldn’t have liked it but yeah I love fma
I have a question
Could you please make a character analysis on edward elric (2003)
Because i heard very weird takes from people saying that edward was just edgy teenager in FMA 2003 but thats not true
Or you could make a comparison on both version on edward of wich one you prefer and tell why
I'd say the Eds from each series are fairly similar, though I think 03 Ed is presented as being more clever. I wouldn't call him edgy/angsty, especially in comparison to, say, season 1 Eren Yaeger.
@@AmmiO yea thats right
But some people don't get it because FMA 2003 is much darker than FMAB
and those peoples mindset are darker=edgier
@@AmmiO and i would still love to saw this analyses because i liked your video a lot
I personally found the second and third acts of brotherhood to be more compelling. I thought the different plot strands were more equally engaging and the sense of crescendoing felt more gripping. Whereas several characters and strands in the 03 anime distracted and irritated me. However, I agree that the originals darker tone and visual style are beautiful and it’s homunculus are far more interesting
When I see this title I'm sold.
I like both. 03 hits harder and has a better origin for the Humonculi, but there's too much filler early on. You don't need the creepy doll guy, the Catwoman wannabe or the discount Elric brothers. Cornello, Nina's and Barry's arcs are all you need.
Brotherhood is quicker and more focused. It has some amazing fights (Mustang vs Lust, the gang vs Pride and Gluttony, Scar vs Wrath...), but half of the Humonculi are just generic baddies. And the ending is weaker compared to 03. It's just too happy and nice. The perfect FMA would take the villains and tone of 03 and the pacing and action scenes of Brotherhood.
As for the villains: I view both Dante and Father as equally alright. Father is more of a foil to Hohenheim than the Elric brothers, and his origin as the Dwarf in the Flask is too vague for me to care much about him. Meanwhile, Dante is a more grounded villain, but her demise is way too underwhelming. For me, the Humonculi were the more interesting baddies in both shows. I like both portrayals of Bradley, Greed and Envy, as well as 03's Sloth and Wrath.