Fullmetal Alchemist [SPOILERS!!!]

**Taco-Calamitous** · 02-06-2011, 10:12 PM

...anyone for it? That thread is a year old, so... time to start a new one. Also, I will just say now that I plan on writing some spoilers in this thread, so don't read on if you're worried about that.

Just recently, Adult Swim has started to air "Brotherhood" on Saturday nights. I caught a few episodes a few months ago, which rekindled my interest in the franchise as a whole. Admittedly, however, until this last month, I had never watched all the episodes in the original anime, much less from start to finish. That changed when my sis got me Season 1 for my birthday. I didn't watch the first two episodes, because I pretty much hate those episodes, but I watched all the rest in chronological order, from start to finish, the movie included. Awesome series, though a little bit slow in places. More often than not in a good, thoughtful way.

Took a break for a few weeks, and then started watching Brotherhood this past week on Hulu at about the point where the military go into the Devil's Nest to exterminate the chimera-ie the point where the two series begin to greatly diverge. That was episode 14. I am now already on episode 31. I watched 10 episodes last night alone. This new series is a little bit like cocaine, and I don't remember the last anime that did this to me, where I just wanted to watch for hours on end. Maybe Bleach was the last one (during the Soul Society Arc, before it started to get fucking repetitive and "OMG epic battle!!"-heavy.) Nothing seems slow-paced or filler-tastic about this version of this show; everything is very intriguing and entertaining. Except maybe the recap episode with Hohenheim that I just watched.

Watching Brotherhood also reinforces to me my favorite characters in the series: Hughes-well, maybe not so much him, as he's already dead at the diverging point-Armstrong, Hawkeye, and Havoc. Havoc in particular took a level in badass, it seems. I hope we get to see him some more. Also, I really liked how Armstrong reacted when he thought that Mustang had killed Maria Ross; that look in his eyes as he was "apologizing" to Mustang for her. Also, Hawkeye's recount of the Ishvalon war, and her reaction when she thinks Mustang is dead. The military characters just seem more important in this show, as opposed to background characters we might occasionally visit. I was also impressed that they actually managed to make Barry the Chopper somewhat likeable in his last few appearances; thought he was pretty funny.

I was a little disappointed that the chimera died in this version too, and perhaps even faster than in the original; I really liked them. Thought they were cool. I also liked Rose better in the original, as she didn't pull a gun on them in that version, and generally seemed nicer. Was one of my favorite characters, in fact. I liked Edward's line to her that she had two good legs, and that she should use them in the original too, which seems to be missing here, if I remember correctly (one of the few good things to come out of that early scenario in Liore.) Also, I thought at first that the original anime handled Hughes' death better, but then I saw the episode in Brotherhood where Ed, Al, and Winry find out he's dead for the first time, and decided they both actually did a really good job in different ways.

Got a lot left of Brotherhood yet to watch. We'll see how long it takes me. So to ask a few questions, who were your favorite characters, and why? And what do you like and dislike about the original anime series and Brotherhood? Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

PS: Made this, posting it here since I probably won't be changing my sig for a while:

**Andromeda** · 02-06-2011, 11:28 PM

I remember when I heard that Brotherhood was being made. I was quite excited, but also a little uneasy. Because I knew it was going to follow the manga and the original anime was so good that it was difficult to know if this could actually manage to live up to the original. Once you get into the new canon episodes in Brotherhood that quickly became a definitive yes. I've seen all of Brotherhood, because Funimation aired official subs of the anime when they were getting released in Japan. And Brotherhood is so much better than the original that I didn't think it was possible.

Everything that they do moves at a deeper and more intricate pace than the original. The original had a far bit of conspiracy and manipulation going on, but Brotherhood keeps that going throughout the entire series. Everyone's got plans and plotting. There is a lot of politics. Everyone ends up playing such a more significant role as well. All of Mustangs men end up doing a lot more in the series. They got a lot of fleshing out and screen time. The whole arc in Central with Barry and them trying to capture a humaniculus really made them all shine. Plus you really got to see Roy in a really great fight with Lust. Makes you realize how powerful he actually is as the Flame Alchemist.

When I started reading that they added Xing (Chinese) characters in the manga when it was still only in the middle of the series. I thought that they had gone a little too far adding new characters that far into the series. Plus it seemed a little strange just to suddenly had in that China is over there. Thought it was just going to be tacked on, but watching it they become so important to the entire series that it couldn't see it without them.

The only thing that I really didn't like about the series has been the new english dub. I thought the original FMA had a great cast and did an amazing job. Funimation is running both and they failed to get the same actors back for one. I can understand not getting Al's voice actor he was getting older. But the rest of the cast should have been simple. On top of that it felt like they were phoning in their lines during the first half of the season. They've started to improve finally now that they are in original territory compared to the first series, but still. For what is a superior anime, the dub was quite lack luster.

I think Ling is a very fun character along with Greed and they get even more so as the series goes on. Armstrong's older sister is really great and stands tall among a cast that is largely using supernatural powers. Which makes a very a strong and powerful woman. I really love what happens to Roy in the end, it was so poetic. I think Ed or Al was my favorite from the original series, but with the large and strong cast this time around it is a lot harder to actually pick someone. I'd probably go with Roy or Hawkeye, both are really fun characters.

**Dodie16** · 02-07-2011, 12:46 AM

So, you finally got your .gif, eh?

I like it. Which episode did you find that particular scene in? I remember that I was going to find it for you, but then got sidetracked and forgot.

Oh geez... It's been a while since I watched the original run of FMA, but I still remember a decent bit of it. I think my favorite part of the first series was probably when

SPOILER!!:

Made for a great dramatic interaction when Ed and Al had to face her.

Overall though, I think I enjoyed Brotherhood more. I just think it had a better character development throughout the cast and better execution of the plot. The main antagonist was better too, imo. He seemed genuinely threatening with his plans compared to Dante from the first series (she only really wanted to keep from dying, right? Meh.)

Favorite characters from Brotherhood would probably be tied between King Bradley, Alex Armstrong, and his sister Olivier, though I have to agree that the overall cast were all enjoyable in their own right, so picking just those three was pretty tough.

King Bradley is just a BAMF, and his fight sequences are pretty incredible to watch. He also has some interesting character quirks about him, which makes him pretty likable to me, and his backstory makes him sympathetic, imo. Alex Armstrong was great in both series. His boisterous ways and constant posing are delightful to watch, but he's also a pretty big softy (emotionally-speaking, anyway). His sister, Olivier, had a sense of regal splendor about her, and she was pretty freaking tough, and didn't take bull from anyone.

**Taco-Calamitous** · 02-07-2011, 01:04 AM

Why did you put that in spoil tags, woman?! The whole thread is marked as being spoiler-ridden!

I think it was Episode 23 that that sequence happened in. He was chasing after Ling's friend, Lan Fan. Best name ever. I just watched it last night, I think. And it's alright; I told you I'd find it myself eventually, anyway

Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

EDIT: And yeah, Armstrong I definitely liked in both series, but there were moments with him in this new one I really appreciated too. "How about a reunion hug?!" "No, I'm fine!"