Fullmetal Alchemist VS Brotherhood - The Complete Comparison

[@Lowart]

So this is a just an upload of all my FMA comparison videos put into one BIG BOY video. Nothing has really changed here. However, I still wanted to upload it like this for a few reasons. First, some people never even realized I finished the series because of the way I titled everything. As such, this complete comparison will hopefully help some people who missed it experience the full thing. Second, I never did closed captions for the earlier parts of the series. While I could update the prior parts (and I will), people who could benefit from the CCs but who already tried to watch these videos may have never found out that I even updated them. This way, more people will hopefully know. Third, I just like the aesthetic of a 5 and a half hour long video on the channel. It feels cool. Makes my monkey brain happy. Also, I unfortunately couldn't put all the background music in the description because it was WAY over KZbin's character limit. So here they are: Introduction - Lullaby for Resembool - from Brotherhood Part 1.1 - The Way Back - from 2003 - Dark Clouds - from 2003 - Main Theme - The Fullmetal Alchemist - from Brotherhood Part 1.2 - Unrest - from 2003 - Mortal Sin - from Brotherhood Part 1.3 - Hum of the Streets - from Brotherhood - Overture - Brotherhood - from Brotherhood - Lurking - from Brotherhood Part 1.4 - Sorrowful Stone - from Brotherhood - Memories - from 2003 - Taboo - from 2003 - Brothers (instrumental) - from 2003 Part 1.5 - Pathetic - from 2003 - The Atonement - from 2003 Part 1.6 - Patriotism - from 2003 - Courageous Fight - from 2003 - Title - from 2003 Part 1.7 - Fanfare for the Brave - from Brotherhood - Warmth - from 2003 - Heart of Steel - from 2003 Part 2.0 (I Love My Dog) - "I Love My Dog" by Cat Stevens (Cover by Me) Part 2.1 - Fate - from 2003 - Epilogue - A New Journey - from Brotherhood - The Intrepid - from Brotherhood - Ishbal - from 2003 - Beaming Sunlight - from 2003 Part 2.2 - Scarce - from 2003 - Solitude - from 2003 Part 2.3 - Consonance - from Brotherhood - Emptiness - from 2003 Part 3.1 - Amestris - from 2003 - Reflection - from 2003 Part 3.2 - Warmth - from 2003 - Heart of Steel - from 2003 Part 3.3 - Tenderness - from 2003 Part 3.4 - Pulse - from 2003 - Horizon - from 2003 Part 3.5 - Brilliant - from 2003 - Life and Death - from 2003 - Favourite Daughter - from 2003 - Reflection - from 2003 Part 4.1 - The Plot Thickens (from Brotherhood) - To Be King (from Brotherhood) - Koukai (from 2003) - Next Chapter (from Brotherhood) Part 4.2 - The Land of Ishvala (from Brotherhood) - Scar (from 2003) - Ishbal (from 2003) Part 4.3 - Tsuioku (from 2003) - Kandatsu (from 2003) - Tsumi (from 2003) Part 4.4 - Home - a house on the hill (from Brotherhood) Part 5.1 - Pastorale Rondo (from Brotherhood) - Pint-sized Alchemist (from 2003) Part 5.2 - Unrest (from 2003) - Mortal Sin (from Brotherhood) Part 5.3 - The Philosopher's Stone (from 2003) - Pathetic (from 2003) Part 5.4 - Laws of Alchemy (from Brotherhood) Part 5.5 - Nightmares (from Brotherhood) - Infiltration (from 2003) Part 5.6 - Fifth Laboratory (from Brotherhood) Part 5.7 - The Atonement (from 2003) - Senkou (from 2003) - Seiatsu (from 2003) - Beaming Sunlight (from 2003) - Brothers (from 2003) Part 6.1 - No Answer (from Brotherhood) - Parting (from 2003) Part 6.2 - Nocturne of Amestris (from Brotherhood) - Daylight in Amestris (from Brotherhood) Part 6.3 - Kuukyo (from 2003) - Shisei (from 2003) - Kuuten (from 2003) - Kei (from 2003) - Ryouryou (from 2003) Part 6.4 - Laws of Alchemy (from Brotherhood) Part 7.0: - Unrest (from 2003) - Concerto - Brotherhood (from Brotherhood) Part 7.1: - Nocturne of Amestris - Duet (Brotherhood) - To Be King (Brotherhood) - Kiro (from 2003) - On'Ai (from 2003) - Kodoku (from 2003) Part 7.2: - Aishou (from 2003) Part 8.0 - Versus Homunculus (Brotherhood) Part 8.1 - Battle Scherzo (Brotherhood) - Lurking (Brotherhood) - Laws of Alchemy (Brotherhood) Part 8.2 - Fate (2003) - Homunculus (2003) - Ryouryou (2003) Part 8.3 - To Be King (Brotherhood) - Spiral of Truth (Brotherhood) - One is All, All is One (Brotherhood) Part 8.4 - Amestris (2003) - Ominous Clouds (2003) Part 8.5 - Envy Revealed - Adagio (Brotherhood) - Desolation (Brotherhood) Part 8.6 - Juurin (2003) Part 8.7 - Ante Meridiem (Brotherhood) - Sorrowful Stone (Brotherhood) Part 8.8 - Gouyoku - Greed (2003) - Dante (2003) Part 8.9 - Pride (Brotherhood) - T.B.C. (Brotherhood) Part 8.10 - Infiltration (2003) - Fate (2003) - Wakare no Kyoku - based on Etude 10, No. 3 by Chopin (2003) Part 9.0 - Life and Death (from 2003) Part 9.1 - Pride (from Brotherhood) - One is All, All is One (from Brotherhood) - Lapis Philosophorum - Chant (from Brotherhood) Part 9.2 - Warning (from 2003) - Deep Forest (from 2003) Part 10.0 - The Plot Thickens (from Brotherhood) Part 10.1 - Consonance (from Brotherhood) - Mist (from Brotherhood) - Requiem for the Brigadier General (from Brotherhood) - Happiness - Requiem from "The Blind Alchemist" (from Brotherhood) Part 10.2 - Crime and Punishment (from Brotherhood) - Trisha's Lullaby (from Brotherhood) - One is All, All is One (from Brotherhood) Part 10.3 - A Soldier's Honor (from Brotherhood) Part 11.0 - Interlude (from Brotherhood) Part 11.1 - A Soldier's Honor (from Brotherhood) - The Pendulum (from Brotherhood) - Crime and Punishment (from Brotherhood) - Home - en route to Resembool (from Brotherhood) - One is All, All is One (from Brotherhood) - Crisis in the North (from Brotherhood) Part 11.2 - Versus Homunculus (from Brotherhood) - Lurking (from Brotherhood) - Battle Scherzo (from Brotherhood) - Rain (from Brotherhood) - Sorrowful Stone (from Brotherhood) - Amestris Military March (from Brotherhood) - Envy Revealed - Adagio (from Brotherhood) - Nightfall in Central City (from Brotherhood) - Philosophorum Omega (from Brotherhood) - Trisha's Lullaby (from Brotherhood) Part 12.0 - Main Theme - The Fullmetal Alchemist (from Brotherhood) Part 12.1 - The Plot Thickens (from Brotherhood) - Dissident's Creed (from Brotherhood) - No Answer (from Brotherhood) - The Day the Sun Disappeared (from Brotherhood) Part 12.2 - Pint-sized Alchemist (from 2003) - Home - A House on the Hill (from Brotherhood) - Life and Death (from 2003) - Heart of Metal (from 2003) - Racing (from 2003) - Thread of Life (from 2003) - Scar (from 2003) Part 12.3 - Road to Shamballa (from CoS) - Harmonized Feelings (from CoS) - To the Vanished City (from CoS) - Guardian of the World (from CoS) - Overture of Destiny (from CoS) - When the Gate of Destiny is Revealed (from CoS) - Kelas - Let's Dance~Instrumental Version (from CoS) - Requiem (from CoS) - NOTE: CoS = Conqueror of Shamballa Part 13.0 - Laws of Alchemy (from Brotherhood) Part 13.1 - Fanfare of the Brave (from Brotherhood) - Desolation (from Brotherhood) - One is All, All is One (from Brotherhood) - Avenue (from 2003) - Kyoudai (from 2003) - Pathetic (from 2003) - The Fullmetal Alchemist - Legato (from Brotherhood) - The Atonement (from 2003) - Way Home (from 2003) - Ominous Clouds (from 2003) - Beaming Sunlight (from 2003) Part 13.2 - Lapis Philosophorum - Piano Solo (from Brotherhood) - Anticipation (from Brotherhood) - Consonance (from Brotherhood) - Homunculus (from 2003) Part 13.3 - Violoncello's Lament (from Brotherhood) - Eternity (from 2003) - Greed (from 2003) - Aishou (from 2003) - Mount Briggs - Undulation (from Brotherhood) - A Soldier's Honor (from Brotherhood) - Crisis in the North (from Brotherhood) - A Soldier's Honor cont'd (from Brotherhood) - Immortality (from 2003) - Indignation (from 2003) - Far East Suite (from Brotherhood) - Thread of Life (from 2003) - Instigation (from 2003) - Sorrowful Stone (from Brotherhood) Part 13.4 - Heroic Bolero (from Brotherhood) - Philosophorum Omega (from Brotherhood) - Racing (from 2003) - Transient Life (from 2003) - Spiral of Truth (from Brotherhood) - Fate (from 2003) - Vestige (from 2003) - Crime and Punishment (from Brotherhood) - Main Theme ~The Alchemist (from Brotherhood) - Epilogue ~A New Journey (from Brotherhood) - Parting (from 2003) - Warning (from 2003) - Wakare no Kyoku - Piano Version (from 2003) - Road to Manhood (from 2003) - Brothers (from 2003) Anyway, as always, thank you for all your support :)

[@mrink8822]

Oh only 5 hours that so short

[@KiomonDuck]

Hello again. Just gunna slip on in and watch this video. Thanks for the 5 hours of content Lowart👍

[@Rough_Estimates]

Our hero

[@itsblitz4437]

That is a long one but good on you for making this compilation video of your comparison analysis.

[@dylanbuchanan6511]

Hey, Lowart? You know how that guy translated the FMA scenario book? Could you possibly know of anyone who’d translate the Japanese series Vampire Wars? I wish i could read it but it’s all in Japanese

[@jtwinb6]

I don't have time to watch a movie, but a 5 hour breakdown of fma, hell yeah.

[@dabmanson524]

Agreed why am I like this

[@paige0824]

@KevonLeKZbin why... is this SO funny??

[@angiejacobs6166]

Why i laughed so hard 😂😂 GUILTY

[@Genocidalic]

To be fair this is way easier to break up over a week than a movie is

[@roadwarrior6530]

Ikr. Work is gonna fly by listening to this

[@_WhiteMage]

For the mining town in the 2003 version, Ed _didn't_ actually transmute gold; he just tricked the owner into thinking he had. He really just plated a large quantity of coal with the gold from a few coins. He didn't _create_ any, but just reshaped gold that already existed. It shows the audience both his cleverness and morals--he pretends to do something illegal, while not actually breaking any laws, to exploit the owner's greed (e.g. "Look, I've broken a huge taboo for you! So let's make this trade under-the-table"). Pretty amazing writing.

[@Stryfe52]

Heh!

[@giantdad1661]

Hmm perhaps those coins are worth a stack of coal

[@DirgeOfTwilight]

The deal was worth its weight in gold!

[@drokuuu]

2003 fleshed out everything they showed

[@knucklesskinner253]

Top 5 pettiest things Ed has done lmfao

[@bufriedolover]

I feel like we didn't get enough of Hughes in FMAB for the full emotional effect of his death to hit. He feels integral to the world they've built in 03, as opposed to a minor side character that is a sad sight to see go, but isn't necessarily devastating in the same way.

[@littlecloud3125]

I totally disagree here. Just because he lasted a couple more episodes with a little more role to the brothers doesn’t mean his emotional impact was any less. For the characters, Roy literally went on a vengeance hunt and nearly lost himself doing so. The brothers and Winry had a heart-to-heart with Gracia. He never really felt like a mere side character after his hospitality toward Roy, Ed, & Winry. After Nina’s demise in Brotherhood, the audience was already wounded, to get another death so quickly was brutal. I argue that Brotherhood accomplished what 03 did in less episodes while accomplishing an adequate if not equal emotional gravitas.

[@brutusthecat6044]

I watched FMAB with a number of people only half of which had seen the original FMA. The reaction to his death was split along the same lines.

[@Hryi7]

@@littlecloud3125 for me personally his death in FMAB was still emotional, his screen time and the things he did in the original made him the character that he was, he was a sort of a father figure to them and they were in a sense his children, he took care of them and really cared and was worried. That made his death so sad in the original while in FMAB was done dirty by spacing and not giving it time to be build like he was in the original, I was in tears when I watched the original but when I watched FMAB was just pissed not sad, that they did him so dirty but that's just my opinion

[@burnflaze2346]

@@Hryi7 plus in FMA when his burial scene come on, one of the most beautiful soundtracks of FMA plays in a violin version. Additionally the scene of him waving to Ed from the platform while the trio are talking about how cool he and his family was to them, was so heartwrenching. Idk why they removed that scene from FMAB

[@SemekiIzuio]

And that's the difference between the two adaptations. One showed alot of detail emotional plays with music while the others is simply following an agenda, the manga. I still remember what hit me the most was when one female character hides in Al metal body then Bradley passes by and stabs the weak spots killing the women inside the suit Al slumps as blood spills out of his armor. I had such a reaction of horror and how traumatizing it was especially for Al like wtf moment.

[@TKDragon75]

I also like how in 2003, Ed realizes who the Chimera is the moment he sees it. And with only Al being midlly excited to see a talking Chimera, Ed just walks forward slowly and leans down.

[@ZombifiedBuizel]

Ed...ward...big...bro...ther

[@cdscissor]

I love how Ed jumps straight to pinpointing Nina's whereabouts. It truly fits Tucker's response "I hate perceptive brats like you" so much better than what he did in the manga, where he just cites a timeline that anyone could've figured out. Instead he already knew going in exactly what happened.

[@jamesanddanielthiel]

@@ZombifiedBuizel 😢

[@dangerbeans9639]

So rewatching this, I realized that the 2003 anime really stuck with me more than the manga or Brotherhood. Ed being so scared after Barry the chopper or how he screamed when he realized that he had killed Greed made him so much more than just another Shonen protagonist. It made him so human and I’ll never forget how those scenes resonated with me.

[@failingeverything5793]

You mean Ed?

[@aeroga2383]

Same. I wouldn't call it better though. Brotherhood has a lot of good stuff missing in '03. I guess it helps that I watched '03 first and have nostalgia for it

[@chupamishuevos303]

Yes yes and yes 👍 2003 is best

[@kisa1243]

Yes! My thoughts Exactly!👏

[@catsinwonderland7473]

03 has really good baggage, if fmab had that kind of angst it would be like, the best show, like, ever I love that 03 portrays the kind of trauma Ed’s situation would have

[@michaelh4227]

FMA 2003 vs Brotherhood is like comparing The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time vs. Majora's Mask. One is more action heavy and mainstream, while the other is more dark and presents the same set of characters in a different light, with both being good on their own.

[@carsandsports123]

I like this comparison

[@thecactussword4304]

@@carsandsports123 I don't think I've ever heard a more accurate comparison.

[@dudeman5303]

I don't think this is an analogous comparison, only people with strong preferences for one side will think it's a good comparison, but in my opinion I don't think saying ocarina of time is like brotherhood is a good comparison at all. I like both Zelda games and I do technically like both versions of FMA, but I don't think brotherhood is so good or groundbreaking that it can be compared to ocarina of time at all. Like at all. Brotherhood was just kinda over-hyped really. It wasn't nearly as groundbreaking as ocarina of time was. Ocarina of time may not be as depressing and surreal as Majora's mask but I think it's just as good of a game, which I personally don't think brotherhood sits on the same level as the 2003 anime, I don't think it comes close.

[@thecactussword4304]

@@dudeman5303 it's not literal you noid, he was saying it's usually a "one or the other" type deal. OFC Brotherhood isn't the Ocarina of Time of anime, but the thing about Ocarina and Mask in my experience, is people usually like one, and dislike the other. He wasn't comparing Ocarina to Brotherhood, he was saying the situation of having two almost-concurrent anime to choose from is a bit like choosing to play Ocarina versus Majora. I personally love Ocarina, but dislike Majora. I love '03, but somewhat dislike Brotherhood.

[@SpookySkellyGurl]

Nah, I like both OoT and MM.

[@dete31]

I didn't even realise this series was over 5 hours long. I've just recently started rewatching FMA so this is a welcome surprise.

[@nate6529]

I'm in the same boat!

[@jonathananderson1728]

Netflix is removing the series is at the end of 2021 so I think a lot of people are here because of that

[@DeathDontWait4NoOne]

Neither did I and I now realize I have watched over 200h of both FMA & Brotherhood....... I may need help.

[@liamsamples]

@@jonathananderson1728 Wait... WHAT!?

[@kingshittheturd683]

@@jonathananderson1728 I'd be heart broken if it wasn't for the fact Netflix as a corporation sucks and I can still watch it for free on Crunchyroll

[@torpidentree5722]

I think the whole "Al is considering the idea he may be a manufactured person" thing is actually one of my favorite parts of Al's character. I get where your coming from, because it is sudden and reveals a very unstable part of Al where there has been little evidence of it before... However, I think that actually serves to reveal what sort of character he is even more. Al is a long-suffering character, his emotions are regular and his thoughts are clear and rational most of the time... But obviously he is suffering greatly from being without a body, he simply is not comfortable with revealing this pain- even to Ed, who he knows holds an extreme amount of guilt for Al's current state. I think this clearly strange and irrational beleif, and the strangeness of it's source serve to indicate that we, and by extension Ed, have been seeing Al as the sturdy, strong and uneffected suit of armor he appears to be... And less of an equally traumatized young boy who has lost more in this story than Ed has. It was no mistake that the object used to portray Al through the story is a HUGE l, intimidating suit of armor. A hard shell full of nothing. It is the antithesis of what Al naturally is, and embodies what he has had to become. To allow Al to have this irrational beleif is to remind us that, beyond the metal facade, Al is a child who has been left with his own thoughts for too long. He can't sleep, he can't eat, he cannot become sick or distracted or anything that relates to physical relief or distraction. It is only a constant, unending ennui between traumatic events. When one is forced to spend as much time in their own head as Al is forced to, sometimes wild ideas will fester.

[@torpidentree5722]

I guess my tldr is that I think the purpose of that arc for al was purposefully extreme and sudden and too strange to be believed by the audience or anyone else. It's treated in the story as a rediculous supposition because that's what it is, and also could have only come from an equally rediculous source. It's primarily used to bring us to the sudden and startling conclusion that Al is /not/ okay, and the longer he's stuck in that body, the more unsettled and damaged he becomes. At least that's what i think

[@ShadowSkyX]

Also Barry behaving little to nothing how Ed described, al is naturally going to be confused, not sure what to think about the dissonence of what he was told versus barry"s current behavior in his presence. The man Ed was so scared of seemed more like a moron and easily surprised; al can't comprehend how ed was ever so scared of him since all he sees is a moron. His body being a suit of armor instead of flesh and blood alliviates a lot of fear he likely would've had otherwise. You can still not take someone seriously but something they say or demand the right questions, they can still absolutely still get to you. _Especially_ if you have secretly been having doubts and the question itself almost feels like a possible reason why the issues you've been having lately exist. To a fault they both keep to themselves a lot, al moreso. However he's too busy being peacekeeper and the more level headed and mature one. He does not want ed to feel even more guilty than he already is so he keeps the existential issues to himself. Ed's short temper doesn't leave any time or room for al to get angry. Ed gets mad enough for the both of them. It's a pretty typical dynamic between siblings--one with the bigger "louder" personality dominates and overshadows their sibling, the room or with other people.

[@uprollsariotvan]

@@torpidentree5722 is there a tl;dr for your tl;dr?

[@Ixidora]

@@uprollsariotvan Al is not okay, he has a lot going on in his head since he has minimal external stimuli and questions his own humanity.

[@rattersworld1016]

I think that's so true, although I feel like in 2003 it's kinda strange bc Al's normally the sensible one. Why I think that matters is because not only has he suffered, he has openly watched Ed suffer too, and I think him not even considering that Ed would have to have been pretty damn messed up in if making an artificial younger brother even came to mind, and just having Al run off and say he "doesn't need" Ed anymore just doesn't make sense for his character. Sure, you may not need him, but he probably needs you.

[@ivansoto9723]

I'm happy to see that so many others love the 2003 FMA as well. I guess we've gone full circle, all I remember is people hating on it and me loving it. It's got great atmosphere.

[@brya9681]

people that hated on it were just being managa purist which happens with every anime/manga. FML is better by a country mile.

[@saurondp]

@@brya9681 I wouldn't say just manga purists. 2003 FMA + Conquerer of Shambala did leave a bit of a bad taste, whereas FMAB has a much more satisfying ending. I think people view the less satisfying ending as detracting from the series as a whole. Honestly, I love both versions (but still think Conquerer of Shambala sucks).

[@Wogunder66]

03 FMA has a much better soundtrack in my opinion. I remember watching Brotherhood and sometimes the music did not fit the scene at all.

[@vegetalordvegeta]

It's because you aren't a kid anymore; as an adult it's pretty obvious Brotherhood is the inferior and also that the 2003 version was the original idea for the series.

[@vegetalordvegeta]

@@saurondp Shambala isn't canon ffs

[@fencepost7286]

The death of Hughes in the 2003 version hit so hard compared to brotherhood. I remember watching the episode on adult swim back in the day and i cried so much that i couldnt sleep that night

[@KorewaEden]

Amazing. You should feel very proud mr. art. This video in and of itself is amazing accomplishment on your part

[@konradcurze394]

No, no it's Mr.Wart It's Lo Wart Not Low Art, you dingus.

[@angelo423]

Proud of being able to stitch videos together? literally anyone can make a 5 hour video if they just take a bunch of already made content and just compile it. People really be applauding mediocrity nowadays.

[@amoraacho6181]

@@angelo423 he clearly put a lot of thought and time in this, exploring themes that some of us fans didn’t think of before. If you can do better, do it. All you had are playlist on your channel.

[@ivansoto9723]

@@angelo423 Proud of all the videos as a whole. Most people will see this compilation instead of each individual video. I know you can't help being a condescending pretentious prick, but don't hate.

[@vectorboom1982]

Woah never expected to see you here! Glad to see you like FMA too.

[@Jhakri_]

I always saw Mustang being rough on the brothers in the 2003 anime as him seeing that these two kids are playing in an adults world now & that they're going to face things a lot worse than him. Using himself as a gauge to see if they're really ready for the military politic'ing & possible dangers that are to come.

[@littlecloud3125]

Unfortunately, that vision and treatment is flawed. In 03, the boys are only 12-13. In Brotherhood, this cold outlook is more acceptable because they have more maturity to handle harsh situations. The boys are more capable of productive growth sooner. Instead of moping and being depressed for 2-3 episodes, the brothers are able to move on realistically. That’s where I think 03 gets too much credit-for allowing characters to wallow.

[@dillo2916]

@@littlecloud3125 I disagree on the point of them moping too much. They're just kids and them having to deal with that stuff on that age will understably upset them. Feeling like they're back on square one after finding out that the stone they've been looking for throughout their journey since, needs human sacrifices after all or losing someone even though it felt like they could've stopped it is understandable for them to wallow or reflect for a bit IMO. I find that it makes them more empathetic and more resonating. What makes it more interesting is that the more Ed develops throughout the show, he mopes less (becomes desensitized in a way) like the jump to when he first kills someone (Greed) to when he kills Sloth.

[@ionut-stefandinu9302]

@@dillo2916 This is the main aspect that puts FMA 2003 above Brotherhood, for me. In 2003, we are reminded multiple times that Ed and All are children playing in the adult world. Their actions have consequences and get to learn and grow from each of them. They rarely do something right by themselves, usually needing an adult to solve their problems (Mustang, Hughes, Greed). Brotherhood takes the Shounen route, where Ed and All are portrayed as "One step ahead", even though they are supposed to be children. 2003 feels more down to earth. I believe this is thanks to the target Audience. Looking at 2003, we easily see that it is not targeting children (gore and horror scenes, depression, harsh treatment, dark tones). On the other hand, Brotherhood shows a colorful world full of adventures in which the children are most of the time victorious. As a final note, FMA 2003 feels more of a Seinen anime, while Brotherhood is Shounen. Deciding which one is better, comes down to what type everybody prefers. I prefer Seinen, but I love Brotherhood as well.

[@PaulSmith-nb6md]

@@ionut-stefandinu9302 That's the thing I hated about 2003. Ed and Al werent really kids anymore after what they did. Ed specifically because he opened the door to Truth. The idea to me being they not only lost their bodies but sacrificed the blissful ignorance of childhood. In my mind they saw too much to mop as much as they did but I cant say you are wrong with your way of thinking

[@ionut-stefandinu9302]

@@PaulSmith-nb6md What you see and experience for a moment will not turn a child into an adult. What they've seen traumatized them, didn't help them grow up. For example, the fight against Sloth shows how immature both of them are. They remained children until the end (which is perfect)

[@TheLightningBlade]

Fullmetal Alchemist as a whole is a gem of anime! Most people don’t understand the impact both series has had on the anime community! And I for one am proud to say I’ve been a fan since 2003!!

[@AspieMediaBobby]

Agreed!

[@mr.l3938]

FACTS ONG KING🔥🤝🔥

[@RavenRains]

agreeeee I love both of these series! im so glad they exist.

[@RabbiRegan]

I'd be happy if they did it all again. Very few rings can you experience e the first time twice

[@FIy019]

You're literally believing in the lies of the non-canan over the truth, Rose

[@TheHedgehogGiraffe]

The focus on human transmutation in the 2003 anime is why I feel - personally - as though that show has a tighter internal philosophy, and is more compelling for it. The fact that the homunculus are results of alchemist's attempts at human transmutations - that the alchemists themselves, Ed and Al included, are *responsible* for the creation of these beings they view as evil monsters, is amazing storytelling. Along with the homunculus' desire to be human, because they WERE, even if they don't WANT to feel that way; I find 2003 makes you think a lot more about the nature of what a human being is, and what makes someone human.

[@12Kitfisto]

If the Homonculus are the results of human transmutation, then who are Greed and Gluttony?

[@rattersworld1016]

@@12Kitfisto Yeah, who the heck wanted to bring back Gluttony?

[@12Kitfisto]

@@rattersworld1016 That's why the FMA's explanation on Homonculus doesn't make a lick of sense. Although I do admit that FMA is better paced and very emotionally charged at the first half. But once you get past the 15th episode, it all collapses...

[@rattersworld1016]

@@12Kitfisto Yeah, I haven't even seen 2003 yet, but you're probably right. I've only read the manga and since they're so dramatically different I can't agree with you yet, but I do want to. Thanks for responding!

[@georgepanicker61916]

@@12Kitfisto greed was Dante's ex lover, gluttony could have been anyone. Some of the homunculi were products of dante, others were homunculi she just siphoned off like Sloth etc. This is explained in the OVA and a few lines in the show. Gluttony was probably just one of her own homunculi like Pride.

[@mentallyillfinger]

I believe if you mixed some of the first season of the 2003 version into Brotherhood, you'd have a perfect show. Especially the Nina and Island Bits. Really, the 2003 part nailed the more emotional and gut-wrenching scenes, while Brotherhood perfected the over-all plot and characters.

[@thegamerfe8751]

It's the opposite, 2003 perfected the characters cause it gave them actual time to be developed.

[@rojakishibe7113]

@@thegamerfe8751 they *both* have good developments on the characters, one leans more onto the dreary and one into them resolving themselves, neither does it bad, but it's disingenuous to say that the core cast of either is lacking in time for development, tertiary characters of brotherhood could be said to be lacking in that front, but if anything they get more than they might warrant in such a story lol

[@thegamerfe8751]

@@rojakishibe7113 But when did I say that it was bad in Brotherhood, I only said that 2003 perfected it and I never said that it was bad in Brotherhood, again. Better doesn't equal "the other is bad", like for example for as much as I liked Mustang is 2003 he was developed better in Brotherhood, now I might sound like I'm contradicting myself but I'm not, I said that the character development was perfected, it wasn't a comparison as I was only talking about that anime on its own and Mustang on his own in 2003 is still good. But on the other hand, some characters like Nina and Tucker got zero development at all, their entire arc happened in one episode while in 2003 it was developing in the background and we saw a lot of stuff for like over 10 episodes.

[@rattersworld1016]

Yeah. I feel like if it had started out more depressing and worked it's way in a happier direction it could've been perfect.

[@ScarFeiss]

Yeah the first arc of 03 then start the conclusion of that arc in fmab and that’s the true FMA anime 😎

[@Unknownlight]

FIVE AND A HALF HOURS?! I watched all these videos as they came out and if you asked me I would have said that the combined running time was like... 2 hours. Splitting it up into chunks really disguises how BIG this project was. This is so impressive. Congrats!

[@kennyholmes5196]

I've realized something. In the early days of religion, there weren't seven Deadly Sins. There were nine. And Father failed to apply the rules to himself because he neglected to remove those two final sins from himself: Vainglory and Acedia, or as they're known nowadays, Vanity/Narcissism and Apathy. He failed to see as much because he was blinded to both due to him leaving them for removal until it was too late due to the former making him think himself perfect and the latter making him not see the need. But at the same time, if he had removed them, he would have either become little more than just another two of the Homunculi with the names in question, or destroyed himself in the process of removing them due to him misidentifying human emotions as solely a weakness rather than the core part of being human that they truly are. Fun fact: this is why bowling used to have nine pins: one pin for each Cardinal Sin.

[@brya9681]

Father is such boring generic McBadguy. Dante was far better.

[@kennyholmes5196]

@@brya9681 Father was a boring generic McBadguy because, in-character, he's not even human, and has been removing the things that makes one human. Dante, meanwhile, I haven't seen anything about directly.

[@Yamibomb]

​​@@brya9681 My perspective differs as I hold the belief that Dante's character portrayal was comparatively weaker in comparison to Father, as she was easily dispensable and her demise didn't receive much attention. Conversely, the character of Father was subtly hinted at in the early episodes of the show and his motives were not fully exposed until the end. The small details provided throughout the show allowed viewers to comprehend Father's character as the representation of man's hubris, one who forsakes their own identity to attain greater power.

[@thunderspark1536]

@@Yamibomb Dante on the other hand was more a result of the story's ideal, that great power comes at a great cost. You need to give up SO MUCH for a stone, that it becomes utterly terrifying to know someone has one. So many souls that needed to be taken just for ONE. She was easily beaten because she was barely a husk by then, despite all her knowledge and skill, all of the mass murder and experiments, even she could not keep up the "cost" of staying in the world long past her time. It's a twisted inversion of the spider-man message, that instead of great power begetting great responsibility, great costs must be incurred to gain great power.

[@LilBoyHexley]

It really was striking hearing about how good Brotherhood was after having only seen '03 years before. And upon watching it realizing how 03 was really an entirely different kind of story from the Manga and Brotherhood. Watching the first few episodes of Brotherhood I almost felt like I must have misremembered the kind of anime 03 was entirely. It's just interesting to me that the 03 writers took what was ostensibly a fairly traditional battle Shonen (not a knock, just speaking to the tone and style of the story), and decided to change so much of the overarching tonal focus in what was supposed to be an adaptation. But I guess since they knew they were going to have to write a conclusion to the story, they needed to have a much more defined through-line connecting the story from beginning to end. And that's obviously Ed's character.

[@mr.l3938]

Goat🔥🤝🏾🔥

[@fullskapunkalchemist3471]

Yep another reason why I remember hearing it was less like a shonen was because it got a time slot in Japan for an older demographic than action shonen usually get.

[@sidenote1459]

The reason they changed it is because the author requested that the anime have a different ending from the manga, since the manga was still ongoing at the time and she wanted to be the one to give it it's proper ending. So changing things wasn't so much a choice as it was a necessity.

[@raistlinbracey6710]

I think the reason why I dislike '03 so much is BECAUSE it's so different. it's just an entirely different story with different characterizations, different plot, different mechanics, different magic systems, everything, and I think it wouldve been better off as it's own original anime rather than the "original" fullmetal alchemist. but I'm also just a bitter old man that loves the manga and still internalized a lot of that "if it's different from the manga it's bad!" rhetoric from the early-mid 2000s.

[@DrJareld]

Battle shonen? FMA Manga isn’t a fighting shonen, when people say “the FMA manga is a typical shonen story” they have no clue what they’re talking about

[@Arunnejiro]

I just want to say really quickly about Als Identity crisis. It did feel kind of strange for me to from what I remember. But the reliability of barry to deliver it is what I disagree with you on. It doesnt matter that hes a serial killer or whatever. 1 Barry is the only other soul bound to a suit of armor that Al has ever encoutnered. The second thing is that, even personally, it doesnt take a reliable person to plant a seed of doubt. You could be someone I hate for all that matter, but I still can process the words of someone I hate as something to think about, as long as it makes just enough sense.

[@SemekiIzuio]

That's true if something crops up in which you had wondered before it never got an answer too it is easy for somone else to make up an answer that makes sense and isbelievable. Lol it reminds me of KZbin comments, people can post bs and other sheep will belive it.

[@drifter402]

Yea I don't get what he was on about

[@devent10n]

@@drifter402 I get what he meant, which was essentially "I don't understand why this otherwise intelligent and reasonable character is behaving in an unintelligent and unreasonable way based off the suggestion of a madman". I just think that it was kind of the point of Barry being the reveal: one person in the world can truly understand Al's position, and that guy is telling him he can't trust his own memories.

[@musachi5999]

The musical score of 2003's adaption is what makes it stand out above Brotherhood for me. Bratja is just too beautiful.

[@TheExFatal]

Pretty sure it's in Brotherhood too, just not in the Western release where they replaced it with an English cover

[@NemesisSP]

@@TheExFatal It's not. The entire score of Brotherhood is different from 2003's, with it even having an entirely different composer.

[@yeonjunsteef]

Agreed 10000000%!

[@nvfury13]

2003 version makes so much sense with the travel to different towns, Ed’s reasons for becoming a state alchemist are to have access to more alchemy knowledge that the state made secret to those that aren’t state alchemists and to travel freely to discover alchemy secrets that the state might be ignorant of, along with a seldom mentioned desire to find and take revenge on their father for not being there for their mother.

[@littlecloud3125]

Brotherhood makes sense in its travel as well. Each town they go in the initial episodes are to find the philosopher’s stone (Central & Leore - ep. 1&2). Out of necessity, Ed and Al go to Resembool where, along the way, they find Marcoh who points them to East City. When they find out the ingredients of the stone, they go to Dublith to reset and see what Izumi knows about it. They head to Central where they get deeper into the Homunculi secrets and Father, before heading to Briggs to learn about Alkhestry from Mei. Etc. Even the “filler” trips to Xerxes and Rush Valley were important later on. All and all, the movements each have purpose. They’re not wondering around in different towns for no reason. Ed and Al’s goals are simple: find a way to restore both of their bodies AND stop the homuncli.

[@rattersworld1016]

All of those reasons are in the manga exept the last one (the one about revenge on their father)

[@rattersworld1016]

@@littlecloud3125 This is such an awesome comment! I don't really have anything to say about it except WOW.

[@peeko_luxx2873]

Kinda random but do you all remember the first peace of art from the medium? Such an odd question I know. I remember the first episode I saw was the episode of Ed and Al are depressed after Nina and are just sitting in the rain. Was a very boring episode compared to most, especially with not knowing what the hell was going on, but the amount of emotion captured by the artists and voice actors sold me and I was hooked. This was on adult swim, some time in 2003-2004. Such good time. Can still remember the first episode of death note I ever saw too, when light met Mikasa. Was so lost but hooked to the premise immediately. Naruto I specifically remember the pilot episodes when they released on toonami. Such nostalgia when it comes to animes of the early-mid 2000s. Cheers, sorry for the rambles. 😅👌

[@nvfury13]

@@littlecloud3125 I think it is just a preference thing, original is an open world, Brotherhood is railroaded. It’s the difference between doing all the side quests or just doing the main quest in a Bethesda game.

[@AaronJ180]

I’m probably in the 15% of viewers that prefer the 03 version. I preferred the music, the idea of the climax and resolution with Hohenheim and and Dante amongst other things.

[@mr.l3938]

Nah dw u ain't alone I love all those things too😈🔥🤝🏾

[@dudeman5303]

Same, by white a large margin too. I much prefer it.

[@reginaphalange9417]

you're not alone

[@pisces2569]

15%? It seems like the majority prefer the 2003 version

[@3601-c3k]

@@pisces2569 Brotherhood has been the highest rated anime on MAL for more than a decade, with the 2003 adaptation being very much behind, how do you even think majority prefers the 2003 anime when people rarely even remember it?

[@OG-ColorfulAbyss.]

03 was so much more emotional and dark and even made more sense in a lot of ways, and it's not nostalgia glasses, I thoroughly love both and binge them to this day.

[@mr.l3938]

Goat🔥🤝🏾🔥

[@Squidly_the_Witch]

Took the words right out of my mouth man. I adore both series but 03's tone and more serious story, really resonates with me more so than brotherhood. This video series only deepens my love for Fma as a whole😁

[@mentalwarriorshow1458]

I watched both back to back for the first time 2 years ago and vastly preferred the 2003 version. I like the darker tone

[@mr.l3938]

@@mentalwarriorshow1458 W MY home boy Same shit still peak fr

[@OG-ColorfulAbyss.]

It also made more sense that the Homunculi were people someone failed to bring back.

[@virgocomesfromv]

I think the main reason people don't like 2003 FMA was it's ending! The ending where Ed couldn't stay in Amestris despite coming back in the movie but then leaving with Al. In 2009 however the over all plot and ending was super satisfying. So the best way to see FMA is always to see 2003 first and then 2009. TBH many peeps told me too to watch brotherhood first but I saw 2003 because it had lesser episodes (GLAD I SAW IT FIRST) and fell in love with the plot. The ending made me sad and felt like it could be better and then I realized in 2009 version Ed and Winry will marry and all will stay happily in Amestris. So I began watching it and realized I did such a good thing by watching 2003 one first. The starting 18-20 episodes were so so rushed and I was especially mad when Hughes died in 2009 like dang I couldn't get time to mourn or love him like in 2003. After 20th episode I started enjoying it. Now I think in 2009 version we saw a lot of Mustang and Hawkeye which I appreciate contradicting how less we saw of Maes. So I guess the best way to see is to see 2003 first which builds up the premise and then see 2009 for the later part/ending.

[@commentbot9510]

Yes I agree. It’s been a while since I watched the 2003 version, so the details are hazy, but I remember liking it up until the ending. A lot of things about the ending felt very random and out of place, and I wasn’t a fan. I watched the movie and it didn’t help. But aside from the ending, the 2003 anime didn’t take an awful approach to the story. People usually praise FMA for being more dark and mature. I love a story like that, but the ending just ruined it for me.

[@RicardoSantos-oz3uj]

The funny thing is that if you take the 2003 story version then both realities could exist. (Multiple worlds). Altough is kind of creepy that the deaths of this worlds are what gives the energy of the alchemy on Ed's world.

[@owendowling1439]

I came here to say that’s exactly why I rewatch brotherhood with my own brother and noticed that the 2003 version set up a lot of things better and had a more enjoyable beginning of the series so I was thinking to myself. “Why do I prefer brotherhood better?“ How my brain works I always think about the beginning and end of the series, and the ending of brotherhood was so satisfying, climactic and amazing rid of all the pet peeves I had throughout at the start .

[@bufriedolover]

I love that the 03 version has Ed escalate the insult anytime someone refers to his height. Someone might have said he was short, but he hears that he's so small a microscope couldn't find him, and it provides a great levity as well as showing his insecurity. He magnifies this perception because it bothers him so much. He's confident in so many things, to the point of having his surety and arrogance be one of his larger flaws, which I feel like gets thrown back in his face at the scene in the graveyard in Liore. But this gives a great contrast to that character trait, as well as breaking the tension (which, FMAB never really has enough tension to have to have it broken imo, but 03 definitely could use the break in tone). The joke just doesn't have as much weight or significance for the character in FMAB imo.

[@claireaquos6532]

Good point! Howerver, one thing I wish fma did more is showing why Ed is so botter by the fact he is short. I mean, as a the oldest sister who happen to be shorter then my 2 younger sisters, I defenetly can relate. Howerver, aside for the jokes and to visualy show Ed's character developpement, his short side isn't really used that much in practicality. The only time it does is when they enter lab 5. For exemple, when in Show Tucker, they could have shown a scene where Ed is strungling to take a book from the highest shell or something like that.

[@SamsarasArt]

I started with the 2003 anime and loved it. Then when Brotherhood came out I loved that even more. It was easy to adjust since the groundwork was laid it just went in different directions. Both are great and worth watching in their entirety

[@rattersworld1016]

Good comment. I agree, although I havent seen them yet.

[@despicableone4495]

Brotherhood sucks

[@lynnzie2225]

I first watched FMAB back in 2015. People told me to just watch brotherhood because the original wasn’t as good and, like an idiot, I listened to them. Six years later I finally watched the original anime and I’m so goddamn angry with myself for listening to all the people who told me not to watch it because honestly that was one of the best animes I’ve ever seen. It was so emotional and I absolutely loved the choice they made to make the homunculus a product of human transmutation. Both the original and Brotherhood are spectacular and if anyone still hasn’t seen them I’d highly recommend watching both and just ignoring all the people who shit on the original because they obviously don’t know what they’re talking about. Great videos, by the way! I think your analysis is the best I’ve seen so far!

[@mr.l3938]

SPITTIN FACTS 🔥

[@84superninja]

I just immediately disregard anyone who talks anything bad about the original. Both are complete masterpieces and are better than anything else in the genre. The character development, the emotional investment you feel and the entire immersion of either version is unbeatable while maintaining fresh action and powerful villains. The fact that there is a 5.5 hour video just to compare the different version says it all. Best anime ever made. I will die defending this hill

[@mr.l3938]

@@84superninja u ain't alone pimp I won't let both of us die on this hill without taking some with us you're spitting facts

[@84superninja]

@@mr.l3938 you wanna die helping me defend the cowboy bebop hill too? This piece of shit netflix thing they call a show has completely ruined the show for me. I wanted to want to watch it, but just watching the trailer makes me want to vomit. They did cowboy bebop a huge disservice with that shit

[@mr.l3938]

@@84superninja fr imma help u goat

[@edvard-swift3645]

The 2003 full metal alchemist was what got me into anime and manga, it will always hold a special place in my heart

[@LilBoyHexley]

The thing about the humor to me is that while Brotherhood may have been pulling most of the gags from the manga. Gags like that don't really *interrupt* a manga in the same way they can an anime. What may just be one panel of a character looking slightly goofy, is a whole cutaway bit in the show. An adaptation needs to have a much more deft hand to not come across as a gag show.

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

Exactly. Lowart discussed this in a video talking about astra lost in space as I recall

[@littlecloud3125]

See, I think comedy is a hit or miss for people. I personally loved all the comedic touches in Brotherhood. I *preferred* it over letting character brood every time something remotely difficult happened. Ed is the most guilty of this. He was like a rollercoaster of self-guilt in both shows, and the fact he was so stubborn about not releasing it & letting it dictate him in obsessive ways was heartbreaking at first but old after a while. To see him constantly fall into depression (regardless of validity) stagnated the show. I think it also made him make poorer choices which inevitably led to more complications. It was like watching an avalanche form from a snowball sometimes. In Brotherhood, in order to break this cycle, humor was used to move the plot/scenes. Each episode was so packed with events that to spare too much time on a moody teenager would slow the consistent pacing. Besides, the boys were much more capable of handling the new traumas because they were more mature than 03 version of themselves.

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

@Mel So I do somewhat agree with you on 03 sometimes getting bogged down in its drama and lack of levity. There are a few instances where I felt it could have benefited from not being so down and it could hurt Ed’s characterization as being more multifaceted such as the start of the episode following Scar incident while the other characters are seeming to bring up the mood Ed keeps being dismissive, defeated, and just brings the mood back down. While this does characterize 03 Ed’s awkwardness, his lack of chumminess with the rest of the military, and his disposition as a pessimist, and the humor does eventually shine through when Armstrong is brought to escort the Elric (though its an instance where it probably could have gotten played up more) I think this is an instance where the tone of 03 can feel overbearing. (Then again as I think about it more this is the part of the story where his opinion of the military really starts plummeting having learned about ishval and the Rockbells being executed by the military, so maybe it would be too much to have Ed be more manic/playful here with a joking anger opposed to his solemn disgruntledness) Additionally there are a few moments where I feel like the joke could be leaned into more, for example where Sig and Armstrong both do a misdirect in the butcher shop could have been played up more (I think I’ll come back to this joke later cause it’s comparison to one from Brotherhood illustrates my biggest gripe with broho’s humor) matching closer to what Brotherhood did visually with Sig and Armstrong meeting. That said I think the humor in the shows (especially Brotherhood) has some serious weakness in that most of it isn’t very clever, is repetitiveness without variety (which only highlights the previous issue and in conjunction with it can lead to it losing its charm and becoming annoying on repeat viewings,) it has trouble adapting to a different medium and occasionally shows up at times that feel inappropriate without proper tonal buffering. An example of this would be the majority of the short jokes, most of them aren’t very creative at all with the joke being Ed is prideful and overreacts without much variation, usually these are quicker blips or gags in the manga rather than being treated as full jokes that are supposed to take your attention instead just glanced over and plenty are heavily reliant on the medium. In addition to those issues many come up at inappropriate time with little to no buffering (especially in Brotherhood) examples of this can be found in 03 when Ed was battling slicer and a short joke was made and in Brotherhood when rose is literally pointing a gun at Al and Ed corrects them that he is the Fullmetal Alchemist and Cornello then calls Ed short. But to better illustrate the issues with tonality and lack of wit I’m going to contrast my least favorite joke from the manga and Brotherhood with one of my favorites from the manga and 03, the “Swole Bros joke.” In brotherhood this takes place during sloth’s death, which is treated as serious development for Armstrong’s arc one moment, a joke the very next, and then it wants you to feel sad for sloth the very next, and the entirety of the joke in Brotherhood is simply buff guys being bros it’s tonal whiplash for a punchline with no set up to a joke that isn’t worth the undercutting it does. The whole sequence just left me frustrated. Now to contrast it to the joke in 03 and the dublith arc of the manga, in it we start with an interrogation of sig as the military looks for the Elrics and have Sig give the deadpan nonresponse response setting up the general tone of the scene gearing towards more levity. Armstrong then gives the ominous statement that he’ll deal with it as he approaches Sig with a foreboding manner. The music begins to create tension as the two begin to flex their muscles in a comedic yet intimidating display (like in castle in the sky). The tension despite the comedic nature is made to feel palpable as we are looking through Winry as our window, she then misunderstands whats happening and reveals too much information only for it to be revealed that the two behemoths have befriended one another. The jokes here being the subversion away from the avoided fight, the premise that the two were able to have a whole conversation just through the act of flexing their muscles and then Winry’s awkwardness at realizing she messed up, the layers to this joke and the level of set up are just so much better than the vast majority of the jokes in the two series. I think they could have visually played into it more like what Brotherhood did with the different flexed poses/muscles, but aside from that 03’s use of music, set up, quality, and appropriateness are all so much better and are what I want out of a comedic relief scene, while Brotherhood’s swol bros is exactly the type of thing to take me out. 2003 used its joke as a clever work around to a conflict at a time of levity, where Brotherhood used comedy as a substitute and to undercut the conflict in a moment of high tension. Ultimately I feel a lot of these problems hit Brotherhood especially hard from issues when Irie fails to properly adapt it to a new medium as humor is extremely difficult to adapt, in trying to be too much of a 1 to 1 of the manga at times he didn’t really adjust to he differences in mediums, which I think is his biggest weakness, while I think he does phenomenally when he gets creative and is forced to play to a visceral emotion and where the manga gets unique structuring (Roy vs lust, Ed’s first time at the gate, Ed punching through the gate, Roy vs envy, are all incredible examples of Irie at his best and shifting away from the 1 to 1s) Many of the jokes are paced for manga are short non intrusive panels, or use the medium and conventions of manga as the basis for the joke (like Ed blocking speech bubbles for example.) these jokes can be taken at your own pace and ignored as you see fit allowing the reader to set the pacing where Brotherhood puts the jokes front and center even when it’s not appropriate in a seeming lack of understanding of how it works for manga. That said there are a handful of other jokes throughout the two series that I did enjoy. I liked mustang doing his soldier impression at the control panel causing chaos, I like the short joke where Ed admits he’s short when talking about Al’s body, I liked Ed’s impression of Roy, Al running with the cat, Ed avoiding the Boulder was a nice visual gag, Elric telepathy was actually at an appropriate time, Hughes’ phone calls to Roy and a selection of other jokes more often dialogue based ones. But there are a sizable number that get on my nerves, are poorly executed, and aren’t worth it. Some shows that I think are able to use humor more effectively for achieving a tone close to brotherhood’s would be Avatar the last airbender, Yu Yu Hakusho, mob Psycho 100, or cowboy Bebop, as they often use stronger set ups, better jokes with more humorous banter, a wider variety, and jokes that are built on rather than just being repeated without evolution. I love both series (both are in my top ten anime above the other 3 I mentioned, and at minimum around Avatar) but I definitely feel humor is a weakness for the series (especially Brotherhood as 03 buffers it better most of the time, has slightly more variety, mixes in more dialogue based humor rather than overreaction based, and just injects it less frequently.) This is just my take as someone who was also bugged by Brotherhood’s humor, I cannot speak on behalf of Lowart beyond the assumption that his reasons and takes may be similar to my own.

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

@Mel as for what you said about avalanching, I think that has far less to do with the use of comedy and far more to do with the two’s respective journeysto the all and the one in regards. 2003 is the story of Ed coming to place the all above the one and illustrates the problems with the stance (despite its noble intent) as Ed carries the burdens alone and is frequently overwhelmed, something further played at in the show’s theme of trust. Where in Brotherhood is Ed’s acceptance of his place with in the all relying on others so Ed has shoulders to lean on instead of getting overwhelmed. So this has less to do with the injection of humor and almost more to due with the very nature of the avenues they explored the themes.

[@thegamerfe8751]

@@littlecloud3125 The humour ruined some scenes tbh, they had too much in it. Dark stories aren't for everyone.

[@Gabriel_Oliver]

Oh yes. Now I can actually see the amount of time I've spent exclusively watching analysis videos off my favourite anime rather then guessing how long I've spent watching it. But jokes aside I found this series just after finishing 2003 for the first time where I didnt like it. This series gave me a new appreciation of it and I rewatched it. And now it's my favourite anime of all time. This analysis series is amazing and I'm really glad I found it both because of how great the series is on its own. And also for making me give 2003 another shot. So excited to see what you do next on the channel. Analysis or not.

[@mr.l3938]

Love to see your character development 😤💦🤝🔥🔥

[@networknomad5600]

2003 version isn’t standard shonen, unlike Brotherhood, which is why it may be indigestible at first to those who are expecting that.

[@amuroray9115]

@@networknomad5600 Brotherhood isn’t even standard Shounen. But it does have a lot more humor than 2003 which was more grim

[@JetblackJay]

I wish you used the same title name but change it a little to the complete Equivalent Exchange

[@jbnker8801]

Wow it's weird seeing you here of all people

[@Puppy_Puppington]

@@jbnker8801 they still haven’t noticed lol

[@Puppy_Puppington]

So what would you like? The same syllables? Full metal alchemist VS full metal brotherhood? That’s the most balanced title I can think of lmao

[@kuukivi]

I always loved Maes Hughes' character the most. Never noted how he was portrayed as the first good father figure in the series. It wasn't only for his great personality that made us fall in love, but also that sense of safety, comfort and parent-like love he spread around. Very nice breakdown of the series, good job!

[@Rebel3000]

One sticking point to why i prefer '03 over Brotherhood was in Lior, when the Chimera attacks Ed. The Automail reveal was sublime in 03 while BH was just like "yeah its there"... 03s tone with it was much more dramatic and the all round atmosphere was heavy in the write way

[@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286]

03 is objectively better made, it does fall apart in the second half, but overall it's THE better anime of the two.

[@GlorpLorp]

​@@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286 if it fails for half the anime. It's not objectively better made.

[@kumashock4074]

@@GlorpLorpyou’re misunderstanding. It’s like you missed a whole section of this video. Fmab rearranged scenes in effectively. It’s not that it doesn’t have its own features like pretty animation. They made bad choices and changes from the manga.

[@GlorpLorp]

@kumashock4074 I'm not commenting on the video, while I don't think fma03 was bad by any means, fmab is just better all around imo. What I responded to was this person's claim that it was "objectively better" while also saying it fell apart in the second half.

[@mercy_angel8260]

Honestly, for the 2003 anime, I would love to see if the writers were given more creative license. The changes and avenues explored were interesting and it would be have been a great story if they had more time and could have explored some characters a little more. One of my issues with 2003 was the pacing at the end it seemed they needed to wrap it up quickly and its not in line with the pacing previously. Brotherhood had the opposite the pacing in the beginning was quick and then got a little slower. All in All its a study in how the rules of the world effect the characters and the story and for that I enjoy both.

[@mr.l3938]

I have to disagree I don't think the ending of 2003 ended quickly it ended very well and they did explore many characters along the way sure some characters were undeveloped like Bradley and hohenheim but all in all it was still a great ending I don't see why it's so rushed I don't think it wrapped up quickly I respect your opinion of enjoying both but I don't think the ending is rushed of 2003 at all it did an amazing thing and if you see closely they foreshadowed the plot twist very well the characters got their character Arcs completed, etc sorry but I don't see it

[@deaj8450]

I actually like the pacing near the end of 03 because it felt like to me all the setups were converging, and it would naturally start to flow faster. But at the same time I understand someone not enjoying it because I'll admit it's a serious change of pace from what the show had been going with. I like that part of it as I thought it was subtle in it's speed. By that I mean I felt like they've explained everything you need with the prior plot points, and at that point it's going to do all the payoffs for those conflicts and lore concepts in rapid succession and expects everyone to keep up. I just want to clarify I'm not saying anything bad like insinuating anyone who doesn't like that "can't keep up." It's just a writing style and personal preference that I enjoy, but I don't think that style has to be liked by everyone.

[@doratarani192]

Thank you for this series. FMAB is my favorite story of all time (I even wrote my Undergraduate Psychology Thesis on it) and seeing such an in-depth analysis of it not only helped me when I was outlining my thesis, but it made me appreciate implicit elements of a show to a different level with all the intellectual stimulation your videos offered. Thank you!

[@darladay4766]

So when do we get to read it

[@rattersworld1016]

@@darladay4766 Yes let us read it

[@devent10n]

What was your thesis topic?

[@PennTankerGuy]

Interesting how Lust 2003 is actually a really interesting representation of, well, Lust. It's like developing feelings for a one-night stand. It feels wrong, but the more you think about it the more difficulty you might have in justifying *why* it's wrong to have those feelings. Is Lust just sex? Is Lust an inevitable part of romance, or vice versa? It's a fascinating story, and I was so disappointed to not see that kind characterization in Brotherhood.

[@coatimundi69]

i like that lust (particularly in 03) is less a representation of lust herself, but rather the lust of other people personified. aside from her lust for humanity, she doesnt particularly lust for any one person, as opposed to the various men who swear she is someone they once loved. and her lust for humanity itself could be allegorical (unintentionally or not) to how people turn the object of their affections into an *object*, no longer a human, an amalgamation of the traits they like and aspire to own and rarely any of the actual traits they possess. a chimera, if you would, lol idk i love lust she means sooo much to me

[@countravid3768]

I had entered this with my knowledge, and preconceptions on the two animated series, and I must admit, I never really liked Brotherhood, I hated the beginning, I hated the constant humour, I hated the ending; mostly the themes where they did the right thing and were never challenged like in 2003, that the world can be cruel and unfair, that they must learn to live in this cruel world by doing the best they can, and accept that they failed with the transmutation, that the attempt to gain their bodies back was no different than trying to get their mother back. watching this I have a new conception of the series as a whole, though I still much prefer 2003 for its more serious and darker tone, I appreciate the unbending determination from the brothers to always do the right thing and accept that they can't deal with the problems of life or the world alone.

[@cymes82]

A one story element I found superior in the previous adaptation was Spoiler for the FMA and FMA: Brotherhood The fate of Shou Tucker. In Brotherhood he just dies , while in the 2003 version , he scrambles to right his mistakes ,getting his own body disfigured in the process, ending up with a soulless copy of his daughter. It was satisfying to see him suffer.

[@littlecloud3125]

I think 03 was more sadistic and unnecessary in this regard. Tucker was, in fact, irredeemable. To have him merge with the chimera was not only horrific, but just cringy. Although I would have liked to see him face the punishment (justly) in Brotherhood, I was not upset over his death. It was humane at the very least.

[@carbodude5414]

I dunno. Having his face exploded feels like a more deserving fate than one where he lives

[@norrecvizharan1177]

@@carbodude5414 Some might argue that the mercy of a quick death is far lighter than the agony of continuing to be in physical pain and suffering for years on end though, so there's easily going to be plenty who disagree with that, while the rest would agree.

[@mr.l3938]

@@littlecloud3125 not really it kind of is karma for what he did to Nina I think it fits his character quite well and besides I don't think it's cringy at all it kind of tells us the parallels between him and Edward in the 2003 series a great example being this comment this amazing guy just said

[@bf5250]

This change means that Tucker was completely right about the similarities between himself and Ed. They both regretted something they did, and went to extreme lengths in pursuit of correcting that mistake, including working with the Homunculi to achieve it. And hey, think about this one: By the end of the series, Tucker's body is warped, and he's got a fake Nina by his side. By the time of Conqueror of Shamballa, Ed's body is warped (still got that automail), and he's living with a "fake" Al (Alfons).

[@27TheMunchkin]

I cant believe he's finally free, man, its been YEARS. glad you were able to actually complete this endeavor. seen lots of creators (especially in the anitube sphere) start large & ambitious video passion projects then overtime just fizzle out. which is understandable; life happens & its not like this pays the bills for most who do it. but this is all the more reason this herculean effort you've put into what is now the definitive analysis of these works is inspiring. thank you for all you've done.

[@Flip-a-dip-dip]

Even though I’ve seen every one of these videos I’m still hyped to watch this all the way through. Excellent work on this series dude. and thank you so much for giving 2003 the respect it deserves. I personally still feel like it’s a tad underrated.

[@mr.l3938]

I kind of do agree the Brotherhood elitist give it too much hate because it's not part of the manga but there are still people that really like 2003 we are not alone we're a lot bigger than you thought even I was surprised but in all seriousness I think both versions should be watched I may prefer 2003 but both are amazing stories they're very different but that's what makes it more intriguing and helps you get the full experience Fullmetal Alchemist and I also agree that lowart did a fantastic job on this video series and I'm sorry for making a paragraph also 🤣😭

[@ThexDynastxQueen]

That didn't used to be the case and 2003 being so highly regarded is why so many FMA:B fans have never read the manga. '03 was wrongly treated as a manga replacement up to a point which it never was if one actually read it. So much misinformation spread due to this yet "following the manga" is why FMA:B is pushed as if it fully does that or is also a replacement for it. I get that books aren't fun for all but it's a book of 99% pictures, it's the best kind of book. I'm not on Team "manga/both shows good", I'm solely a 2003 fan as I don't like Mangahood but I push all to read the manga first or before FMA:B at least so one is aware all 3 are not interchangeable nor are connected in some 9 year long puzzle. They're all separate takes kinda like Spidermans.

[@dudeman5303]

Dude it's insane cuz it was fairly popular when it first came out. But all the mindless manga hipsters showed up to be all fallacious as fvck, saying like "if it isn't exactly like the manga it can't be REAL ART", it's just garbage. It's okay to prefer one work over another but the sheer pseudo-intellectual claims they made nonstop to trash talk the 03 anime drives me insane. They never had a good REASON to preferring brotherhood, they just pretended brotherhood's accuracy to the manga's story was sufficient in an argument about the *quality* of each adaptation. Doesn't matter *how* it's executed at all to them, and on top of that it assumes that everyone has to agree that the manga is better than the 2003 anime too which is a dishonest assumption as well. Ultimately I don't care which versions a person likes most, I just hate dishonest actors that just basically go around and spam about it as if they've now got proof they're a superior person to everyone else for reading the manga. (This isn't to say *all* brotherhood fans are like this. There's a *lot* but I wouldn't say it's all of them, so don't get me wrong. Not trying to make blanket statements here at all.)

[@dudeman5303]

​@@ThexDynastxQueenthat's a good way of putting it. It totally does get frustrating how people do go around trying to metaphorically bludgeon people over the head with the "brotherhood was accurate to manga so it better, grog" stuff when they haven't even read it themselves. You can tell right away when they're like that too because they basically fib about everything else while they're at it, whether it be ridiculous claims that brotherhood is more cinematic or artistic than 2003 or just that 2003 is "inaccurate" to the manga - the 2nd one especially drives me insane because of the manga wasn't even done how can you go around saying it's "not accurate", the freaking manga didn't exist yet! They were instructed to go their own way, and so they did and they came up with a brilliant story while they did it so why is anyone complaining??? If it's not a person's cup of tea okay that's fine but my god the douchebaggery some of these people constantly push everywhere gets so damn tiring.

[@deaj8450]

I remember 03 as being recommended to me and widely regarded as possibly the greatest anime of all time. Of course this was before Brotherhood came out. I believe, though may be wrong, that 03 was number 1 on myanimelist until Brotherhood came out and then it slowly fell and fell to where it is now.

[@SonicBahasa]

I feel like we didn't get enough of Hughes in FMAB for the full emotional effect of his death to hit. He feels integral to the world they've built in 03, as opposed to a minor side character that is a sad sight to see go, but isn't necessarily devastating in the same way.

[@collieprints]

I think that the reason Hoenhiem becomes a philosopher stone is simply that both of them were in the center of the circle, giving them immorality. When the dwarf tells Hoenhiem he made him an immortal body it is because he told him where to stand with the dwarf in hand. It was his doing not that he literally built his body after become immortal first.

[@reginaphalange9417]

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

[@Toshiro93]

Sorry if I intrude, I would just like to add my consideration: the final confrontation between Ed and Dante highlights not only the gray nature of that world, calling into question what the protagonist - and consequently the audience - believed as the golden rule of the universe, but it is a speech, that of Dante, which makes perfect sense. The principle of equivalent exchange is never absolute, nor is it fully satisfied: in the world there are innocent people who suffer, and others who are evil and yet have fame and power, and Dante is the perfect embodiment of this concept. The audience may also side with Ed, especially at a young age, but as they grow up they realize that Dante is the one who has seen more deeply, despite reaching a selfish and negative solution, so much so that in the end she is devoured by Gluttony.

[@Herr_Gamer]

Took me a while to finish this, but it was worth it. FMA has and forever will have a special place for me. 2003 was my first real experience with anime and I’ll never forget the feeling of awe it inspired at this new world. Brotherhood carries the atmosphere of a grand adventure and in a way watching it has the same underlying feeling as Lord of the Rings did when I first saw those films. I regret not really giving Conqueror of Shambala much of a chance on my first watch and taking years to try again. I probably was just too young to understand it properly back then.

[@robotorange747]

I think the writers were trying to imply that due to Roses trauma (in 2003's version of events) is why when she saw the blood she was able to 'get back to her senses'. But she didn't react to her baby getting thrown about because her baby was not getting seriously hurt compared to Ed. I admit it doesn't make sense but I think that's what they were going for there.

[@Ramires213]

I think there are some similarities between this scene and Star Wars, more specifically Return of the Jedi: (SPOILERS) The dynamic between Dante and Rose is not unlike the dynamic of the Emperor and Darth Vader. The Emperor is always looking for a new apprentice to replace his current one, just like Dante is looking for a new body to replace her current one. In Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader is in a trance where he obeys every command of the Emperor. He snaps out of it when he sees that Luke is about to be killed by the Emperor. Similarly, Rose and Alphonse are inactive in a trance and go along with Dante's plan, but snap out of it when they see Edward get killed by Envy. After snapping out of his trance, Darth Vader/Alphonse takes action to openly oppose the Emperor/Dante to save Luke/Edward. On a side note, the scene where Envy is revealed to be Edward's half brother is very similar to the scene where Darth Vader is revealed to be Luke's father; both villains are revealed to share an intimate connection to the main character. Darth Vader cuts off Luke's arm, whereas Envy takes it one step further and kills Edward.

[@coatimundi69]

i also dont think rose was emotionally connected to her baby considering it was a product of rape

[@deaj8450]

I genuinely think people obtusely try to just not understand the last 10 or so episodes of this show. The show was certainly subtle with its messages and ending, but subtle doesn't mean bad. It just means you actually have to put serious thought into it to understand what's going on.

[@sterenn726]

I was traumatized by Shou Tucker in the animé of 2003... And was'nt thrilled to pass by it in the manga and Brotherhood. It's such an horrible moment, an horrible person (one of the worst in both adaptation)... And such an important moment both for narrative purpose and character growth. An horrible masterpiece. I'm still traumatized. I hate Tucker.

[@gaiance]

1:54:20 I think making Barry comedic relief actually enhances why this struggle for Al is so important; at least for the viewer. I've seen enough people gaslight themselves or have been gaslit into believing entirely illogical things about themselves and the ways people might think of them or feel about them; it's not an uncommon thing to occur by any means. As a viewer we mostly understand that his concerns are illogical because we have constantly seen him show his humanity through his love for his brother and caring nature towards every living thing. Barry being so goofy serves to really push hard into showing how illogical Al's thought processes here are, it's showing that what he's saying is not true and that Al is still very much human, whether he believes it or not. A demented serial killer being wacky and humorous being just as unreal as Al's thoughts at the time. It's visual storytelling and I think it serves a purpose, and to great success personally; but I can understand how this could be perceived as offputting It's also worth mentioning that Al wasn't there when Ed and Winry were locked up being traumatized; while he definitely cares for them greatly, his approach to Barry isn't going to be quite as visceral--and considering his more calm, caring, and docile nature--I think it's fine for him to be more passive like he was when he meets Barry.

[@claireaquos6532]

The problem is even if we know Al's struggle is illogical, we still need to understand why Al thinks this way! So if we push the knowledge that Al's thought shouldn't be logical, that's all we are going to see in Al instead sympathy.

[@redlox2]

I know people try to blame Brotherhood for ignoring some of the manga/2003 earlier points like the Mining town but i think they probably had a set 60 ish goal when they did the reboot. So wasting episodes rehasing things from the 2003 anime would be redundant especially as the Brotherhood does have a deeper plot rather quickly.

[@shocktrooperstudios659]

God damn! This is huge. Really shows how much effort you put into this series.

[@tophrii]

just finished the entire almost 6 hours, and as someone that loved all versions of FMA, this video essay was amazing and was still an eye opener to me. thank you so much.

[@deathkiller008]

I can't believe you spent 4 years on this project! I don't think I could ever have that dedication to something like this. The video was PERFECT despite watching both versions (never reading the manga sadly) I still learned stuff from this video, new insights and ways of thinking this is absolutely amazing! I am glad you took time to do it justice the polish on this is mirror like! You honestly did a great job of talking about your point of view but also staying subjective and keeping the two clearly seperated. I look forward to what you do next!

[@juliannickermann9492]

I actually might be one of the few people who prefer FMA03 over FMAB. I'll start with the easiest, music, openings and endings were way better in FMA03, FMAB had some bangers too but, like you said, they reused too much and some themes seemed not to fit the actual mood at that moment, while it fitted different moods it was used perfectly, i never really noticed an "out of place" theme in FMA03 while it happened rather often in FMAB. Music does so much for an anime. Then i have a similar Problem with the comedy and humor aspects you talked about, this is also present in 03, but not that bad, i felt like FMABs humor was forced, and kind of "demooded" some pretty serious scenes, at some points it felt like a freakshow that doesn't take itself serious and i agree that the Scar battle and battered Ed and Al scene is the perfect example, of how the comedy took the seriousness of that crucial moment. My reasoning is mostly that i enjoyed 03s storytelling way more, since it focused on actual character development and proper Character bounding way earlier and actually pulled through. I think this had become somewhat difficult as Brotherhood started to introduce more and more character during the second third, i never really bonded with all of them as much as with 03 characters since some had way more bonding time than others, while others that seemed kind of important, had like not much screen time at all, while being made important. Then i feel like FMAB was kind of rushed, especially the middle till last thirdish stages of the story. And i liked the 03 story after the "Split" way more, for example i actually think that almost the whole Briggs arc was kind of boring since so many things happened, and we learned so many things that it dragged the whole storytelling, i think the manga did that a little better. In 03 the whole story and it's development felt kind of related like something you actually would do after finding out some of the things they found out, this worked so well in 03 since we had much time to bond with characters, in character based filler episodes, like the whole Al identity crisis or Wraths character buildup.. Here i might be biased since i love the idea of creating Homunculi with human transmutation, especially Wrath, but i didn't quiet enjoy the concept of Father in Brotherhood as the creator of them. I also think the whole Military/Government and Homunculus scheme was way more interesting than in Brotherhood. Then the End, i actually like the Brotherhood end and buildup better than the 03 End, but i have to say that i love the idea of Ed living in Shamballa after his death, this whole end was executed very well and the movie was good too, especially the directors version did the end justice. But it is super hard comparing those two with each other, Brotherhood was way more action oriented, the characters and their development was... kind of mediocre at most... but then it had great episodes focussing on characters. It was way more story driven, but i think this might be a con, we had 64 Episodes, all filled with story elements and really rarely some "relaxing" episodes, this made it to me, together with the really slow if at all character development really hard to enjoy the show and relate with the characters, it was a general way to serious mood to make this work for me, i thoink if this would have had like 10 more episodes but a generally more stretched and not that so packed episodes Brotherhood would have been so much better. 03 on the other hand felt Character oriented, the plot made not so much sense in some situations, but the characters made it work. This is my biggest personal Anime opinion, but proper Character motives, development, action and thoughtful storytelling around said character makes an equal with a kind of lacking story. I think that 03 executed especially that so well, I can't really think of many other anime with an equal good around character developing story, especially at that time and that episode counts, i watched other anime needing way more episodes to make a character work that much, 51 episodes seemed like not much time for what happened to these Characters.

[@creedecriswell634]

The manga is just better over all. The humor and character development is very well paced. The manga is just truly phenomenal. Love 2003 too by the way. Much love to you! 💕 I enjoyed your essay. 😂

[@reginaphalange9417]

I think there are many people who still like FMA2003 more than FMAB, at least many people among those who saw this show during their teenage years and who have not necessarily read the manga

[@creedecriswell634]

@@reginaphalange9417 Still a great show!

[@blakedavis2447]

You know I’m just going to say it but I honestly prefer the 2003 original over brotherhood, obviously both are good but 2003s darker tone is something I appreciate as Edward is quite annoying at times and I watched it way before I ever saw brotherhood so it holds a special place in my heart.

[@Ph19347]

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.

[@deaj8450]

And not only that, but that in order to combat those sins you must face them. You must go to the literal site of your mistake and get physical evidence of it before confronting it, but at the same time you can't let yourself be consumed by those past sins. You have to accept and now try to defeat them.

[@alpguy4865]

What I really like from the 2003 is that its so different from many shounen ending (brotherhood counted as well). In brotherhood or many shounen, usually they have a really grand ending with a grand fight. Its a fight between force of evil (the villain, the antagonist) vs the force of good (the hero, the protagonist) and usually everything wrap up nicely and everyone seems to get what they want/dreamed of, in 2003, its the complete opposite. We didn't have a grand/big fight between good and evil, instead we got the hero confronting the villain in a really mundane way. The whole 2003 ending doesn't feel like your "usual" shounen ending, its just feel like an average episode that we've seen so far. There's no grand fight, everyone fight their own fight (ed confronting dante and mustang confronting king bradley), and in the end, we got ed sacrificed himself to bring al back, being trapped in another world with his arm (and possibly leg) being revert/taken back with automail while al lose all of his memories of 4 years both of them journeying together. Its like how dante said about equivalence exchange being a kids way of thinking, it is not real, nothing is equal, and the price for al's body are not really equal with what ed has lost.

[@mr.l3938]

Facts I really love that ending it makes sense with everything in the story

[@networknomad5600]

Exactly. In that regard, the manga/Brotherhood feel more like a standard shonen than the 2003 version.

[@Reialine]

In a way I always thought after rewatching both series a lot that FMAB is DESIGNED to be watched for the original FMA viewers that have eluded the manga, trying to make sure things are driven and don't need to explain things by taking for granted they know this things already but still keep the plot consistent. Many things that FMA does better at implanting is also what made FMAB behave that it didn't need to reiterate on things and take chance of what viewers already know from FMA (Specially how close the elric brothers feel about each other) to move FMAB narrative forward in the manga direction. IF ANYTHING the biggest blame of this event in the fanbase is the Manga fans thinking FMA is objectively inferior to FMAB or the Manga. When in reality all 3 iterations of FMA has their flaws in writing and scening, but accepting that makes watching all 3 more compelling to get the full idea of what was the best moments in the series and what remains in the viewers mind when remembering, as I also mostly remember both good parts of FMA and FMAB together rather than focus in the negatives of each.

[@plingploong]

@@Reialine I completely agree with this. I think all versions of fma are made better by taking in the content of all 3. I saw FMA first then dropped it stupidly because my friend told me fmab was better. Thing is I can't imagine watching fmab the first time without the in depth introduction that FMA03 provides. I finished watching fmab, which i absolutely loved. I went back to FMA03 and finally finished it and fell in love with this completely. Fma03 is disturbing, it's more psychological, the characters are slightly different and we find out more about their motives, especially Roy Mustang. The ending isn't happy, yet it's perfect. After reading the manga I realised even Brotherhood isn't quite the same faithful adaptation that everyone makes it out to be, yet it's amazing: it makes the story richer, the chapters about Ishval add context. It definitely makes a richer experience reading all 3 forms of FMA - they all have their strengths.

[@ThexDynastxQueen]

Mizushima and Aikawa set out to write a story mainly of Ed's growth so yeah he's not a Shonen protag...he's a child and human. So Ed is hypocritical, ignorant, scared and has to learn more than just how to punch harder. Tho I get why kids/teens love escapist Shonen/Shojo titles I was tired of that and found 2003 more relatable...too much so now. So when I feel terrible it's never been Dragon Ball that uplifts me as I'm not Goku, I have no magic beans to give murderers so I can keep fighting them, no it's a little boy whose scared of death, the unknown and cruelty of the world but because life is so fleeting he can't give up. Cause I'm scared too but I still gotta try.

[@iamthehobo]

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?

[@PPEcon]

Thank you for this. The 2003 FMA seems to get called the lesser series unanimously… But I loved it growing up and you need the 2003 FMA or the manga to truly appreciate FMAB / the FMA universe as a whole. I’ve had a tough time showing people FMAB because the first episode / the beginning isn’t great for newcomers and you articulated my exact qualm with looking at them all as separate pieces. I have an FMA tattoo - that’s how much I loved the original series so it’s painful that I can’t get friends into it easily. FMAB is a great quasi sequel with an alternative ending. But without either the Manga or the 2003 FMA, it just isn’t the masterpiece we all love. So thanks again for giving the elegance and dignity to FMA 2003 that otherwise doesn’t get it 🙂 seriously, thank you for this..

[@anthonymatias6903]

i have a theory that gluttony was made from transmutation of a baby since a babies growing body only knows hunger and that would explain his ignorance/ lack of intelligence and the tolerance of him of the other humun-culai also envies intolerance to him as an older child often would resent a baby... interesting possible back story for him... i.m.o perhaps someone tried to bring back their child or miscarriage' ?

[@brettdavis5555]

I much prefer the explanations of the homunculi in the original FMA show. It gives human transmutation even more of a consequence and provides character specific story arcs for them, tied to the main characters.

[@Jil1807]

I always loved Al the most. He is such a interesting character. Al was so traumatized and he still was so strong and had such a sweet heart. ❤️

[@binkiebrew]

Yup. I didn't like how little screen time he got in the early parts of FMAB. He is my baby

[@Veriama]

wow! being a long time fma fan, i read the manga and watched all the way through 2003 and tried to watch brotherhood and just... fell off, for some reason. even though i knew it was the story i loved and knew it was just that in animated form. you managed to put into such good words why i did even though 2003 managed to keep my interest through the early episodes. this is a fantastic breakdown and took a lot of work. awesome

[@vitopalmito2768]

Alternate title: "Man ranting about how 2003's FMA is better than FMAB"

[@vitopalmito2768]

watched the entire video btw

[@trashy2086]

Had this sitting in my watch later for a while. Finally digging in and so happy that 2003 FMA is finally starting to get its flowers

[@Alte.Kameraden]

For me the 2003 will always be the version I adore the most.

[@mr.l3938]

Same baby lessgetit 😤🔥🤝🏾🔥

[@nearthgg]

my dog, Waldo, a cream golden retriever. When I first saw this anime in high school, and I saw Alexander, I immediately loved the dog because it reminded me of Waldo. Oh god, I still remember the trauma of what Tucker did to them... o-o although, I was kinda glad that brotherhood just brushed that arc. I didn't need to relive it, I even considered to skip it.

[@blackhat4206]

Yeah. The trauma of that reveal during the ‘03 airing really stuck with me, as well.

[@CharlieKellyEsq]

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

[@mrrd4444]

The 2003 anime also starting us off with a much younger Ed at 12 lets you see him grow but also enhances the tragedy of what he went through, which is great

[@kakkacarmenelectra7229]

I’m going to say it… 2003 is better than brotherhood.

[@lemmykoopa1379]

I respect your opinion. Both series are amazing.

[@lowtech42]

this is incredible and one of the most profound videos I've ever seen, KZbin or otherwise. i came for the 2003 redemption but stayed for the deep wisdom and life lessons of the series. definitely shot up to the top 10 in my anime ranks. you should be extremely proud of this year's long effort! 👏🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿

[@Asbestos_Bunny]

1:44:36 I love this discussion of how Tucker is a reflection of how Ed could be in the 2003 anime. Hell I’d even consider Tucker like another deadly sin like Treachery, just trying and trying again to play god in his monster form. He’s probably overall one of my favorite deviations that 2003 had done to the MangaHood story.

[@TheFreelancer131]

Funny thing is Early in your video you talk about how The 2003 FMA didn't wanna wait on manga so no filler that was fro my experience a staple of alot or earlier Anime sometimes. I fucking hate filler with a passion On it's own im sure you can say it has marits but i normally skip the filler but 2003 FMA did what Trigun did and it was a VERY positive thing I think. I enjoyed the manga And the Anime both and trigun to this day is my #1 Favorite Anime and Magna hands down. but if I had to fight through filler and release dates because they tried following the manga I don't think i would respect it as much. it's one of my Main complaints about watching Anime's like Naruto and Bleach the filler kills it for me. not counting Naruto's flashback fetishes of course.

[@solikeletsbenerdy]

*I never really hear people talk about it but I really liked the 2003 animes movie tie in it was super interesting*

[@dylanbuchanan6511]

“Overall I view 2003 as a character study while i view mangahood as an action adventure story.” Yes. You nailed the primary difference. 2003 gives a stronger, darker impression of most of the characters in the FMA universe while t Brotherhood and the manga was a more typical Shonen romp. Whether you like one over the other, i wish more anime were able to deviate so far from their manga they were adapted from so as to give unique spins based on what the directors thought vs the mangaka.

[@mr.l3938]

FACTS

[@chronicguardian9684]

On that note, have you heard of PLANETES?

[@littlecloud3125]

I think it’s a bit simplistic to categorize Brotherhood as “an action adventure shonen.” There was *plenty* of characterization in FMAB. Heck, the entire show is about many characters (major and minor) having individualistic goals and morals who work together on a single plot while being uncompromising in pursuing their own plans. If that isn’t a doorway to character study, then what is?

[@dudeman5303]

Gotta say I'm shocked you said the jokes are more annoying in 2003, they're so damn excessive in brotherhood that I found the first 20 episodes completely unwatchable. The horrible comedy dies down a tiny bit after that but my god it's so excessive and constant in the beginning. I found the jokes in 2003 much more tasteful and much more tolerable just because they aren't done every 10 seconds and at horrible times

[@nealtse9125]

For me, I did prefer the 2003 series. I felt like it was better paced, the build up didn't always make sense as you went, but there was pay off towards the end. There was more nuance overall, and I am fascinated by the idea of how this version tied the existence of the homunculi to the sin of human transmutation so much more. Natural consequences that tie in very elegantly with the theme of this world.

[@PockyRoxx2000-ft2br]

I couldn't agree more!

[@reginaphalange9417]

exactly, as I hadn't read the manga when I saw FMA2003 then FMAB, I was really disappointed to see that the nature of the homunculi is completely different in fmab + manga, just some "parts" removed from one artificial being created in a lab. I think the idea of ​​homunculi being the result of failed attempts to transmute human beings was brilliant because it adds a lot of interest to both the homunculi and the dynamic between them and the protagonists, it speaks about being able to deal with someone's death. The same way, I prefer the fact that in fma03 the main vilain is human and not an articifial being, it's less manichean, more ambiguous regarding human nature

[@darkblades1201]

I think Envy being a 3d model, being so weird and different to everyone else, really works well

[@reginaphalange9417]

4:05:42 I also love this bittersweet ending, despite the flaws of the last two episodes, also it completely matches the tone of the entire show. Not all anime needs to have a fairy tale ending.

[@anthonyp3113]

Timestamps in a very long video. This is the standard. *Looking at you Comics Explained*

[@blueteller]

The "I love my dog" part was just too cruel, man... too soon...

[@devinewynder5443]

I grew up on the 2003 anime. Never watched Brotherhood. I will try it though. My brother loved Brotherhood but he also watched the 2003 one so he wasn’t lost. Watching it the other way around I can see how a person could be confused. The laws of alchemy is a big deal to understand before moving along in the story.

[@skycatlive1576]

you know whats weird? maybe im alone in this... i thought the original was so much better than the brotherhood and i thought thnbe early episodes were iconic and i had this sliding feeling as each episode ijn the orginal goes by that the quality went down slowly more and more by each episode the closer they got to understanding scar and ishballan lore. Ive always felt alone in this but to each his own

[@I3R0K3N7FEET]

I watched FMA then FMAB, I felt the intro to FMAB tried too hard to catch up and I disliked how it went from a quirky fun tone into the dark moments. FMA captured the darkness and importance of the decisions far better. And did the humour and light-hearted moments better too. Brotherhood was well worth watching for the full story but it had some real try hard moments that failed If anyone loves FMAB but hasn't watched FMA I feel bad for them.

[@thatnat6874]

Ah yes, everyone says to watch fullmetal alchemist brotherhood first. I watched FMA 2003 because I didn’t know there was two. After watching both of them, I can say that there are so much more raw emotion shown in the 2003 version. It’s a mess but it’s dark, tragic, chaotic, so much more exciting. I can get around the holes, because watching the 2003 version I have never gotten the same feeling again watching an anime.

[@mr.l3938]

I don't think it's a mess it actually makes sense later down the line the only thing that didn't was Cyborg Archer but that's it that's my only criticism I fully agree with you

[@thegamerfe8751]

@@mr.l3938 Pretty sure everyone thinks that CyArcher was a mistake even if it sounds a bit cool at first.

[@mr.l3938]

@@thegamerfe8751 trueee

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

So I would like to comment a bit on some of the homunculi. For gluttony there are some minor interesting things I would like to point out. Gluttony is one of if not the first homunculus in Brotherhood to really get humanization (especially in a way that goes beyond the trait of his name sake, as you can argue early mangahood greed had humanization and attachment to others but those traits were all directly derived from his greed, were commentary on the concept of greed, and show how much greed is tied to human nature) he shows grief for lust’s death, rage towards Mustang who killed her, a deep admiration and love for father. His simplicity makes him open and this openness lets him be the first we see the more human nature of the homunculi through. In 2003 we see a similar relationship between him and lust, we see him truly care for her as shown when he becomes furious and protective when Scar “hurts” lust, he is clearly conflicted when lust chooses to disobey Dante in Liore, and of course the most powerful of which is when he is too distraught from lusts death to eat. This last one is especially powerful because the way Ed reacts to Gluttony and recognizes his humanity answering gluttonies questioning with a hint of remorse and pity which shows how the previous fight affected Ed’s view on the homunculi and lead him to have Rose save Wrath. Lastly some subtext I take some interest in is how quite a few of Gluttony’s interactions show an intense fear towards Dante and her experiments, (this is a stark contrast to his relationship with father in mangahood,) which to me sets the implication that his infantilized state is at least in some way tied to past trauma and experimentation. And then for 2003 sloth, I left this comment on Reddit discussing why I like her character so much: 2003 sloth. I find her character rather fascinating in the exploration of what the Homunculi truly are, what it means to be human, creating an identity, to what extent are they their own person. I also really liked the nuanced take she has in exploring the concept of sloth. Rather than being lazy in a more physical sense or constantly complaining, she explores an emotional laziness. She wants to be her own person so she attempts the simplest way of proving that she isn’t Trisha rather than working to forge an actual identity she just disregards the existing one. She doesn’t want to deal with the emotional burden of loving others, especially of loving the Elrics as a parent so she wants to kill them to avoid dealing with those emotions. She feared coming to a point where she would care for the boys as then she does have to deal with and sort out her emotions and it makes her journey towards having a separate identity all the more muddy. Lastly something the series leaves completely up in the air is where the homunculi’s past memories and dispositions come from. This has some truly interesting potential implications when dealing with her resentment of the burden being a mother to the Elrics. Like was this in some twisted way something that was carried over from Trisha, did a buried part of her at times resent her position as a single mother trying to manage in a war torn country whose campaign has left the people with economic hardship, a single mother who had to save face about a terminal illness throughout all this? Did these manifest from the brothers who created her and possibly their feelings of guilt about that situation? Did it come from something inherent to Sloth’s personality separate from these that lead her to respond to the memories that way? Was it something in nurture and upbringing under Dante that lead her to such a view? We don’t know these ideas are left unanswered and up to interpretation, and this level of ambiguity is part of what keeps me coming back to the series so much after all these years. I would like to note that a reddit user, u/dioduo (who has done some really great FMA analysis posts that I highly recommend checking out) added to my speculations about sloth’s relationship to her memories siting her recounting of these memories of them as a family with her describing describing the memories with “we were happy and... sad.”

[@banditkeith6479]

Wish they also brought up how sloth/trisha felt about the truth about hohenheim. How she clung to the hope of hohenheim returning to her last dying breath and then waking back alive learning that all her efforts and devotion was all for nothing which is why she sees her sons as nothing but painful reminders.

[@deaj8450]

I love this comment, I just wanted to point out that at least for me leaving the source of the homunculi's memories and such aren't necessary for the story. I like deep lore more than most people, but I think there's some good to leaving the homunculi and children of the gate as a bit of a mystery. We know they share a very intense connection with their past human life, and I think the why's to that are possibly better left unexplained rather than potentially coming up with a detrimental, dumb, or confusing explanation. Simply because the plot works as is and the payoff of the answer might not justify the risk of the answer being shitty.

[@Musicmanmurrell]

Great video! My hot take for FMA and FMAB is that while the music in both series is genuinely incredible, I've always preferred the music from the original anime adaptation. Thanks for compiling all of this!!

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

That's not a hot take even a majority of people that prefer brotherhood as a show prefer 03s soundtrack

[@lelouchvibrittania5172]

This has to be THE best video I watched this year. Not only have you fleshed out each and every difference, but you went and checked for consistency with other scenes in the story. This video not only highlighted the differences but dived deep behind the meaning of the differences in context of their respective stories. 10/10 video, and hope you earn many more subscribers! Great job!

[@FloydianSystem]

I really enjoyed some of the changes 2003 made, specifically the homunculi and the closer connection between them and the leads. BUT, Conquerer of Shamballa was probably the biggest waste of time I've ever experienced.

[@madikays]

I love this so much! I tried watching brotherhood as a newbie and couldn't understand why everyone loved kept recommending it over the 2003 version, because the first episodes didn't feel as engaging as I hoped.

[@deaj8450]

I feel the same and prefer 03, but Brotherhood definitely gets a lot better after the beginning arcs. I think FMAB really comes into it's own around when they go to Briggs. Ultimately though Brotherhood is a really well executed shonen and 03 is imo a masterpiece seinen. They're (mostly) the same universe but different target audiences.

[@madikays]

@@deaj8450 wow good point. I prefer seinen over shonen so that could be why I'm more drawn to '03 to this day. Great insight.

[@whydid666]

My biggest point towards 2003 v Brotherhood is the the "Energy" for alchemy in 2003 comes from human life. The lives in "our" world is the fuel in the FMA world, also goes to explain why human transmutation is so catastrophic when attempted (a divide by zero/plugging a power bar into itself). While Brotherhood the "energy" come from a vague explanation as excess energy from tectonic plates.

[@beancheesedip8337]

I do really like the twist in 2003 as well. I think Lowart hit the nail on the head when he said that the twist kinda comes out of nowhere because its extremely random and arbitrary to Ed as well. Its basically the ultimate "get fucked" the universe could muster. Its the philosopher's stone reveal but on a grander scale. Where the philosopher's stone origins is never circumnavigated in either version, and in 2003 its even revealed that the one potential avenue they might've had actually required *more* sacrifice, the Grand Archanum the Ishvallan outcast tells them about, it feels so natural for 2003's darker tone and themes to instead of continuously reinforce Ed and Al's worldview like Mangahood, it'd give them the ultimate test. That isn't to say that the power of alchemy in Mangahood is bad necessarily, its just that having experienced 2003's story before Mangahood, I couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed in some way.

[@mr.l3938]

@@beancheesedip8337 Facts ngl

[@mercy_angel8260]

They believe it comes from tectonic energy but it was actually Father's philosopher's stone, which is why he could stop everyone from using alchemy as a fail safe to ensure his plans weren't thrwated. After father's defeat they again believe it's from tectonic energy but it's not proven. In the end the origin of alchemy suits the series, 2003 with it's sorrowful self-reflective tone and with Brotherhood's concept of the world's vast knowledge and its underlining message of hope.

[@beancheesedip8337]

@@mercy_angel8260 was that why Father could stop their alchemy? I don't think I ever realized. And yeah, I don't think Brotherhood's explanation was worse than 2003, but its just the fact that we saw 2003 first kinda sets it up to be disappointing.

[@anaisfenette6834]

How cruel of someone to say to ignore great anime origins... 03 is the OG and deserves it's respect. I'll get around to watching Brotherhood one day, when the sting of disrespect for it's predecessor wears off.

[@mr.l3938]

Dw their's still a lot of people still defending 03 this comment section is full of people that defend it dw u are not alone I prefer it too just don't listen to the elitist both versions are amazing also I really like your pfp

[@GlorpLorp]

Was 2 years enough?

[@benjaminmcallen6245]

This making me want to watch FMA and then finding out it’s not streaming anywhere 😢

[@reginaphalange9417]

in France it's on netflix

[@that1nerd756]

1:29:00 tbh this is my biggest problem with One Piece but everyone always looks at me like I'm insane whenever I say I get tonal whiplash from it, lol.

[@Polkavona]

I love this series so much. I watched 2003 first at my movie store and rented it and I loved it and the movie growing up! Brotherhood was the superior second half but I loved the characters so much thanks to 2003! I always hated when people say just watch BH I can’t recommend both enough

[@Requinix17]

Nobody ever listens to me when I recommend to watch the original first, and then no one ever wants to watch the original after seeing brotherhood either. So annoying!

[@mr.l3938]

Yeah I think you're mostly talking about the Brotherhood elitists but don't worry the 03 fandom is still alive You Are Not Alone both of them are great despite their differences which make the more intriguing don't worry I feel your pain

[@Requinix17]

@@mr.l3938 I mean anyone who is completely new to FMA. They always decide to go straight to brotherhood. The 2003 fan base is still alive and kicking but it mostly consists of people who saw it before brotherhood came out

[@mr.l3938]

@@Requinix17 well yeah but there's still some new fans out there that are pretty recent heck there's even Brotherhood fans that have converted to being 2003 fans but either way don't worry I feel your pain😭

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

I hear you on that. I have I would say roughly a 30% success rate of getting people to watch 03 first. And sadly every time people watch Brotherhood first they seem to get less out of both versions (if they’re even willing to watch both versions which quite a few weren’t) while those who took up my recommendation of starting with 2003 end up enjoying both versions more.

[@zookeeps1340]

@@Requinix17 I'm honestly so surprised that people even found Brotherhood remotely interesting I'm still on season 1 and have been for over a year but I almost finished the original FMA in a month or two because it was that good. I'm really happy that I did watch it first, and it really made me grow to like certain characters, Mustang, Envy, Riza Hakweye, Maes Hughes, Winry, Lust, Trisha, Sloth, Wrath, Dante, Lyra, Rose, Edward, and Alphonse who I think all are just very uninteresting boring characters in Brotherhood or in the case of Sloth, Wrath, Dante, and Lyra dont exist in Brotherhood. The ONE thing I will give Brotherhood is their desgin for Olivier Mira Armstrong is cool and that's about it (like seriously Brotherhood Envy looks like they are balding)

[@silverfoxx18]

I honestly liked the 2003 version better.

[@nunothedude]

2003 looks more unique and i prefer the art style

[@BlueBerry20071]

Fullmetal alchemist. (both of them) The only anime that has EVER made me bawl my eyes out. Ed and Als horribly tragic backstory, Nina and tucker, the ishvalan Civil War, the fight with father, and even father confronting truth, all moments that got me to tear up a little bit, if not just straight up cry.

[@Dojibu]

holy cow, 5 hour run time, shows how well made the series is that there's so much to talk about (and there's still probably more out there). Will have to watch this in chunks and come back later.

[@plasticbutler]

People should really watch the original first. Brotherhood was made in a way that it assumes you've already watched the original. Which is why they already spoiled King Bradley in the very first episode.