Fullmetal Alchemist VS Brotherhood - The Complete Comparison

I’ve always loved the way that the 2003 ver gives rose a direct choice that can be directly compared with their attempt to reanimate their mother- she can either accept that her lover has died and that there is no replacing him. She can either ignore the feathers and keep living in hope or allow herself to feel the true pain of her loss, this choice is also given to the brothers but instead they have no gift of someone’s hindsight and being children they easily take the easy way out.

You have a lot of bias towards the 2003 anime. Which is fine but I feel that this comparison was heavily tilted towards the media you favored. You complain about the visual gags in brotherhood but yet don't acknowledge that those same things exist in the 2003 anime. Its just weird to have a nitpick for one version but not have that same criticism for the other version that does the exact same thing.

i didnt hear this mentioned so i wanted to add this: can we just be happy that the best thing that brotherhood did was retcon rose's rape

It took 4 eps for brotherhood to get good in my opinion

The truth is that FMA 2003 is much superior, but people are afraid to admit it, because they live in the thought that because the manga is the "original", the work that most resembles it is automatically the best (when This is a false and unfounded presumption). In my opinion, Hiromu Arakawa developed the story very poorly, full of flaws and without creativity, while Estúdio Bones, in 2003, created from scratch a work that was more palatable and superior to the original work, which didn't even have been completed. So much so that the author reused several ideas used in the 2003 anime for the manga, due to public acceptance. This shows that, contrary to what "mangahood" fanboys think, the 2003 version was much more consolidated and the manga was much more without its own identity and fragmented, as it kept stitching together what received positive votes.

Only thing better about the the first FMA anime is the ed vs greed fight 😝

I only watched Brotherhood. It was great. Idk what you're trying talking about.

I like that both versions are different. I mean, that was the one thing that made me curious about FMA ‘03. I knew it was different. I wanted to see how different it was. I think there’s value in both series. Naturally I’m gonna prefer one over the other but that’s not to say the other doesn’t have its own merits.

The lack of Ling is definitely a letdown, but it was nice to see more of Hughes and I was intrigued by how they changed the timeline.

I remember watching FMAB after FMA I really wasn'tall that amused with the streamlined presentation. Sadly FMA ended somewhat written into a corner and unsatisfactory on its own.

If there's one element that I've prefered in the 2003 anime over Brotherhood, are the Homunculus, mainly because in this version they aren't an physical manifestation of the main villain's sins, like Father, but wheter, they're actually the karma constructed by humanity itself. Every homunculi were created by an failed human transmutation peformed by alchemists, it felt so real, knowing that these monsters are the TRUE manifestation of the sins of humans as a whole, and not just one guy. They were the symbolism that we humans are the ones that create our own monsters, we are the ones that drown ourselves into our own sins, and we are the only ones capable of combating them and save ourselves.

Was browsing videos about to sleep. Now going to ruin my sleep schedule by watching this video.

Personally FML hit on adult swim I. Tbe west when ani e was far far more taboo in a way. Brotherhood was true to the Manga and more for fans of anime qnd came out ad anime was seen as a more regular thing.

I hated how Brotherhood would just casually mention things that were shown over many episodes in the OG anime... I know a couple that go gaga over Brotherhood and wouldn't listen to me telling them to watch 2003 first... worse, he tells others to watch 2003 AFTER Brotherhood... sigh

In fact, you can already publish books😂

I watched the 2003 anime as a Kid and loved it despite not knowing what was going on. I watched Brotherhood in 2013/2014 so a few years after. But going into it, Brotherhood, felt like revisiting characters I loved but also it felt like starting a new show. I think having the vague familiarity of seeing the previous anime made Brotherhood better. But I haven’t watched FMA since I was a teenager. Back when I believed in love and back when I had faith. Maybe a rewatch it due.

i always tell ppl to watch 2003 first

one thing that i dont think gets explained, if Al isnt a state alchemist or millitary and Eds going on millitary orders for the entire story, why is Al there? like id think a random civilian would not be doing soldier work without formal training

I grew up with the original anime adaption and loved it. It was a lot more realistic, depressing, and really stuck to the core principle that something of equal value must be given

I dropped 03 somewhere after the Kimblee v Scar fight i just didnt give a shit anymore. I watch all of Brotherhood but man some of it was a snooze.

just finished watching this video to the end, worth it

Dude is the biggest brotherhood hater on earth

Considering that the general Vibe is that Brotherhood is perfection and the original anime is just there, I appreciate you pointing out high points of the original and low points of Brotherhood. I don't feel like this is some Brotherhood assassination piece, but I wonder if you got a bunch of hate from people who did feel that way?

As you say, I think the biggest difference between both shows are that FMAB is very idealistic (especially by showing that one positive gesture will always give a positive response, or the importance to never kill anyone) while FMA2003 is more morally complex and critical about idealism, especially facing abuse (illustrated in the battle between Ed and Slicer, in Scar trajectory and what happens in Liore, etc.) That's also something that I prefer in 2003: the plot doesn't provide gags or contrivances to allow the protagonists to avoid taking hard decisions or to give them a complete happy ending, in opposition to FMAB especially approaching the end of the show. For example, I don't like the fact that suddenly Ed can turn into a philosophical stone to get into Pride and that Pride's real body turns out to be a baby, while before it was clear that he had a nature similar to Father, all of this was made to avoid Ed to have to kill him. Also, I don't like the facility of Ed exchanging his learned abilities in alchemy against Al, a whole human being (thing that he could have done way before) it's too easy. The decision from their father to sacrifice his (last) life should have been the good thing to do, especially since he already wanted to die and dies 24h later anyway. Also, Mustang loses his eye sight because he saw the truth, but eventually he is ready to use the last philosophical stone to get his vision back, which is satisfactory but kinda contradicts their speeches about their guilt in Ishbal

That was a grat job to do such a comparison! I was looking for a video exactly like that, breaking down the differences.
Since you have so much information about both of those animes - how would you recommended list of episodes look like to let someone new experience Fullmetal Alchemist as good as possible? (For example episodes 1-3 from FmA, 4-5 FmAB, 6-9 FmA etc.)

I think it would be an interesting and unique way of combining the best of both animes :)
Do you have time for creating such a list/recommendation?

I don’t get why they don’t use livestock to make philosophers stone legally

Alchemy’s basically witchcraft

I don't think I'll ever understand why people like 2003 **at all**, it feels like the original story got thrown into an anime trope shonen blender it's so abhorrent to me

I love 2003 fullmetal alchemist and the sounds

I don't care what anyone says, fma is better than brotherhood

Lust is the ultimate waifu. At the very least she leaves after
...
And let's you play video games. Sure, you might die by her hand, but, we all die eventually

Shou Tucker is innocent.

Man, I really wish Vic Mignogna hadn't messed up my enjoyment of this show. If you're someone capable of doing that whole 'separate the artist from the art' thing, good for you, have a party, go enjoy Ender's Game and Dilbert and The Usual Suspects. But, I really can't, and the whole thing with Vic really soured my emotional connection to Ed as a character.

Also, can we just appreciate how much more ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING Bradley's reveal as a homunculus was in 2003 than in Brotherhood? Like holy balls, that one stays with me. That and the moment in 2003 when Marcoh hears Ed say the name "Rockbell" and literally has a PTSD panic attack right then and there.

I live under a rock, but one of the first anime I watched was the 2003 version of Fullmetal Alchemist. Like I said, I liver under a rock so I didn't know about Brotherhood for a while. Though when I spotted it one day and watched the first episode I was also realy confused on what was happening in the first episode 😅. Sorry if there is any bad English

All of this is great and I’m interested in all the explanations but ultimately, liking the 2003 anime more isn’t really liking the core story. You can think that 2003 anime hits good points in terms of storytelling but it’s not what the author wrote in the manga.
It is fair to criticize brotherhood for not hitting the right points of the manga, but 2003 anime is almost fan fiction

the only humor ill never get tired of is alex and sifs bromance. just a brick squad going to work on sloth together.

watched the whole thing over two days. holy shit. Great work sir!

My experience:

FMA has a great beginning, you feel pain when they loose their bodies, Nina and Hughes are heartbreaking stories, I actually felt sad during the funeral scene, and I still have nightmares with Nina’s dad after what happened to her. But then the stories feel a bit flat, and I was less invested with how they react to this version of Sloth. Greed’s fight is great and the intro to Mayor Alex against Scar is cool. The movies didn’t do anything for me although I appreciate the creativity on them.

FMAB, I skip the first 9 chapters when I rewatch it, it feels rushed and boring, you can’t fix everything with cool animations. After 10 it picks up and it really hits when the actual plot starts. Animation is great, feels fun and polished, I felt invested on their journey to recover their bodies and the redemption arc in f Scar. Mustang, Hawkeye, Lin, and Lan Fan become favorites right away. Animation is far superior and from the half mark to the end of the series it is just a win for me.

I am glad I watched both.

You talking about positive and negative flow has GOT to be a jojo reference! (It made me think of jojo)

Both the 2003 and brotherhood series are great, ive been binge watching brotherhood and just finished watching '03s. Theres not much difference other than alphonses voice actor sounding like they didnt care

i hate you for that song during the shou tucker arc >.< not seriously but damn man!