Been seeing a lot of threads crop up about this series lately

2003 anime >>> manga >>> brotherhood

Everything from china should go and stay go

I haven't seen brotherhood or read the manga, but:
Watch 2003 and read the manga. Probably start with 2003? I don't know. Brotherhood is optional, it's like the manga but worse, but if you want to see it animated it's still good. But can be skipped if you want to.
Watch Brotherhood after 2003, that's a rule.

>>156889320
Why the fuck he needs to see the shit that 2003 is before brotherhood? It has the worst filler end i've ever seen.

>>156888874
That's an unpopular opinion.

Some recommend watching 2003 until it stops adapting (episode 26) and then start brotherhood over or continue it from episode 13 or so.

Just watch Brotherhood, don't listen to the hipsters. 2003 was garbage.
If you like reading manga more, than go read the manga instead.

>>156889680
I prefer watching anime. And I've heard the 2003 anime completely went off on its own with regards to the story and filler, which I generally don't appreciate.
I think it was the same studio that did Soul Eater and the completely fucked the ending up in that, so I'm wary.

>>156888803
Manga is the original.
2003 anime differs from it.
Brotherhood is a quasi 1:1 manga to anime adaptation.

>>156889680
This. Just watch brotherhood.

>>156889680
But doesn't Brotherhood skim through some important stuff in the beginning? 2003 used double the episodes (baring some filler here and there) for what Brotherhood only used it's first cour for.

>>156888803
Brotherhood is faithful to the manga, it rushes through some of the less important beginning stuff because it's less interesting than the rest of the show.

Closer to the manga =/= better

A lot of people say 2003 stays more true to its themes, and uses the concepts in more interesting and creative ways, while the other entries shit on the themes of the series and degrades into a generic power of friendship battle shounen
>>156889496
2003 had no filler. Except maybe that one episode about the millitary and the ghosts or something. And it was hilarious, so should be seen anyways. It'd be like skipping Fumoffu.

>>156890161
It whips through the early arcs up until Greed shows up but in the grand scheme of things they aren't that important.

Leave Brotherhood for last, or just skip it altogether. It just didn't have the same heart as 2003, and it glossed over a lot of stuff at the beginning that really needed more attention. If you want to do all three, I'd suggest the 2003 anime, then the manga, then Brotherhood.

>>156890243
>>156890465
>Nina and Hughes
>not important

They were incredibly important for character, plot, and thematic development. And Brotherhood didn't give them near the attention they deserved.

>>156890246
I'm actually in the 2003 first -camp (Or at least the first 26 episodes or so), but I gotta say that...

Cat burglar titty grope.

2003 always gets touted as more deep, but I've watched it three times and all I can really say is that it's deep in the sense of a teenager finding out that world sucks. There's no real logic behind the suffering and to an adult viewer it becomes unappealing because it goes past senseless and into stupid. Sure lots of bad things happen but they're meaningless because they so obviously happened because the director/writer wanted something bad to happen.

I won't spoil them for you but in the 2003 anime multiple conflicts crop up and plague the entire run of the show for quite literally NO REASON, and require multiple characters to act completely OOC to persist.

I found the manga more appealing because while things are certainly more idealistic there, most of the shared cast behaves in a more human and understandable way. Subplots that went 20+ episodes in the anime are resolved in a single chapter because characters who have supported each other their whole lives actually remember the bond they have and talk things out instead of inexplicably letting it stew.

Both are good, in short, but different. 2003 is much darker and more self-reflective but is dragged down by bad things happening because reasons and a heinously uninteresting final boss and ending.

The manga is more happy and self-affirming, with several boring side characters, but with a much stronger cast and characterization as a whole and in my opinion one of the better conclusions to a battle shonen I've ever read.

>>156890931
What
I haven't seen anything other than 2003 so don't know other references. And 2003 was one of my first anime so don't remember much

>>156890833
Hughes got plenty of attention, but in hindsight instead of being alive. His connection with Mustang was more important than the Elrics.

>>156890833
>>156891006
Yeah Hughes gets a lot of attention and time spent on him, it's just not in a single episode.
The Nina stuff going somewhat faster is good because it immediately gets you hooked into the story with an 'oh shit they're serious' moment.

>>156891088
I won't lie I liked 2003's Nina episodes better. But I get why Brotherhood rushed through it, and 2003 also loses a shitton of points for Chimera Tucker.

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>>156890978
Episode 10 of 2003 was a full-on filler episode. For some reason I remember that episode very well, probably because I was reading the manga simultaneously.

That abomination of an episode had this cat burglar who had an alchemy symbol on the titty.

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Either manga or Brotherhood is fine but like some people already said the beginning is rushed because they wanted to get to the new stuff.

2003 if your crave for more what you probably will.

>>156888803
Read the manga, watch the 2003 anime, watch brotherhood
In that order

>>156890246

On point.
I remember watching the end of Brotherhood and hearing Ed scream "I am my own philosophers stone!"

IT just casually destroyed the theme of the show

>>156892053
>IT just casually destroyed the theme of the show
The delivery I can understand but the internal logic was sound. Philosopher Stone = life, so he used his own instead of somebody else's. Made more sense than "alchemy is ghosts from another dimension" at least.

>>156890833
2003 definitely made the whole Nina thing into a bigger deal than it actually was in Brotherhood/the manga.

Why did Hughes died in the 2003 anime?

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Why did Hughes was to die anyway? That's the death that got me the most I think. Even worse than the dog-daughter thing.

>>156894067
Because he was too close to discovering the truth that alchemy was powered by dead Nazis. Or something.

>>156894067
>>156895218
I can't understand how anyone could defend the 2003 anime, unless they saw it first and just couldn't cope with seeing the actual, true story unfold in Brotherhood (with much better animation).

>>156888803
Read the manga, jesus christ. This isn't supposed to be difficult.

Watch FMA 2003, watch Brotherhood and read the manga.

All of them are fantastic, don't believe people who shitpost that one is bad and the other is good.

>>156895957
The "true story" is worse because is gradually becomes more dull and generic. Its JRPG Tier: Everyone teams up to fight a demon trying to become god.

2003 actually feels like a story about trying to bring your dead mom back to life from beginning to end.

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>>156896943
This anon gets it

>>156896943
Conqueror of Shamballa was shit, tho.

>>156897053
Yes, unfortunately. That's the only "flaw" in 2003.

I think I'll just watch Brotherhood as that is the story "as it was meant to be told" and then go watch the 2003 version so see what the writers came up with once they caught up with the manga.

Also, I read something about a live-action movie. Worth a watch?

>>156897119
>only
Look man, I'll give you that as a whole 2003 is good but don't you dare fucking lie to my face and tell me it's not riddled with flaws.

>>156897551
I have no clue if the live action is even out yet

>>156896984
>2003 actually feels like a story about trying to bring your dead mom back to life from beginning to end.
That's never what FMA was supposed to be about, though

>>156897612
The entire first half of the manga disagrees with you, but honestly, even if that were true its still better.

The later parts of the manga don't even feel like the same manga as the shit with Nina or, fuck, even the first chapter.

>>156896943
Basically this. They are all good enough.

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>>156897669
Right it's a good thing 03 kept the tone consistent the whole way through

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>>156897837
There were some ridiculous elements, true in both works, but at least 2003 kept it to a relative minimum involving side characters. The manga's core narrative completely dropped the ball and the forced humor was fucking terrible. I swear the core demographic dropped by 10 years by the end.

2003 isn't flawless but the manga was consciously ruined on a much larger scale.

>>156897586
Alright, I'd say that's the only major flaw that actually hurts the show. Even Mecha Frank Archer, as ridiculous as he was, wasn't as big of a deal as people make him out to be.

>>156888803
/a/ is known for its hipster opinion, most people here basically just say the opposite of the most popular opinion in the world wide web. In this case it's that 2003 is superior to Brotherhood which is absolute bullshit of course

Just watch Brotherhood. There is no point in watching the 2003 anime, since brotherhood does everything 100 times better. And there is no point in reading the manga, since Brotherhood follows the manga, pretty well. Thats it. Watch those Brotherhood, and you have seen the best of FMA.

>>156898804
You're being just as contrarian retard.

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>>156899069
>There is no point in watching the 2003 anime
>And there is no point in reading the manga

>>156899149
>There is no point in watching the 2003 anime
There is a point in watching the 2003 anime, but it's just to make you upset at how much time you wasted on it.

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>>156897997
>but at least 2003 kept it to a relative minimum involving side characters
You're out of your fucking mind.

>>156899308
You can cherrypick characters all you want. For every one I have a shitty beastman who got way too much screentime or an awkwardly lovestruck ninja in a germany-analogue.

The characters you're picking showed up for an episode or two at most. Mine are main characters involved in multiple fights who get tons of flashbacks, completely ruining any poignancy.

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>>156899419
You REALLY want to pick this fight, son?

>>156899475
Scar's older brother and Lust's relationship to Scar altogether was better than anything in the manga.

>>156899308
>tucker gets more development in the original series
>this is somehow a bad thing

Brotherhoodfags, everyone

Why do people think that happy endings are bad?

@156899268
You don't deserve the (You).

>>156899543
Why do people think unhappy endings are bad?

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2003 then Shamballa. And the manga.

Plus, 2003´s character design is the nicest.

>>156899540

He didn't got development. Just more screentime.

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>>156899524
You could not be more wrong. Their entire "subplot" is twice as absurd and hackneyed as anything in the manga. And he's not even the worst.

>>156899872
Did you make that image?

>>156899960
Yeah took me 51 episodes and a movie in Paint

>>156899543
Happy endings are fine.

What isn't fine is relegating the antagonist role to some "ultimate evil" when your opening premise was mankind's temptation. Its lazy. It would be fine if the author continued with the story she set up and come to her own conclusion, but she just sidelines it all. Its such a complete waste.

>>156900009
Wow

>>156899143
No I'm not, I support the generally popular opinion that Brotherhood is far superior. But yes, from an /a/ perspective this might seem contrarian

Reminder that everyone who recommends 2003 over Brotherhood is a nostalgiafag unable to accept that his childhood anime is a failed adaptation and inferior in every way except maybe the first 15 episodes

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>>156888803
If you think might want to watch both then for the love of god start with 2003. It's great, but if you watch it after Brotherhood you'll just end up confused by the tonal shift and the changes to character arcs. It also does the beginning of the series much better, because Brotherhood was made as if it was assuming everyone had already watched 2003.

If you're only going to do one you might as well choose Brotherhood. I personally think that 2003 is better, but most people feel that Brotherhood gives a more satisfactory conclusion. Or read the manga if you want to see Brotherhood with better art and no music.

>>156900274
I watched Brotherhood first and 2003 later, and I still think 2003 is great and does a handful of things better than Brotherhood despite not being necessarily better.

>2003
Dark tone; small cast with greater focus on each characte;, less expansive world; heavy focus on themes of religion and morality; some filler

>Brotherhood/Manga
Lighter, more comedic tone; large cast of characters, most with less development; greater world building with an adventure-oriented story; less focus on heavy themes; no filler

It comes down a lot to preference and which one you see first. Since they are so tonally different it's hard to accept the other if you're already attatched to one.

>>156899834
He clearly gets progressively more insane and regrets his previous actions, even going as far as allying himself with the Homunculi just for a slight chance at bringing Nina back.

>>156894541
Because he figured the whole amestris sized human transmutation circle Grand Plot by volume 4, You can't keep such an hypercompetent character laying around..

>>156895218
He was too close to discover that the army is corrupt and their leader are Homunculi, the alchemy-powered-by-parallel-world-souls thing has nothing to do with this.

>>156901018
Anon he was pretty clearly making a joke.

>>156901048
I dunno, people who say Brotherhood is "far superior" to 2003 are usually pretty bad at interpreting things, so it's hard to tell when they're joking.

>>156900816
Or you can get your head out of your ass and just enjoy both as different takes on FMA. You don't have to hate one to like the other.

>>156901082
And now I get the feeling you were the exact kind of person the joke was at the expense of.

>>156901134
This is /a/, we all have our heads up our asses here.

>>156889807
Bones did FMA, Soul Eater, and FMA:B. The reason that FMA and Soul Eater's endings were "screwed up" was because neither of them were finished at the time of their adaptations. The studio decided to go with anime original endings instead of leaving them unfinished.

Putting my opinion in here: if you are only going to watch one, watch Brotherhood. If you may want to watch both, watch 2003 first, and then watch Brotherhood. 2003 isn't unwatchably terrible, but Brotherhood's overall story is much better, so it may be hard going back to 2003 after that.

I'll just leave this here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_dw1Rzaing

Brotherhood Ed = 2003 Ed
Brotherhood Al > 2003 Al
Brotherhood Scar > 2003 Scar
2003 Kimblee > Brotherhood Kimblee
2003 Envy > Brotherhood Envy
Brotherhood Wrath > 2003 Pride
Brotherhood Pride = 2003 Wrath
Brotherhood Greed > 2003 Greed
2003 Lust > Brotherhood Lust
2003 Sloth > Brotherhood Sloth
2003 Gluttony = Brotherhood Gluttony
Dante > Father

>>156901997
>2003 Sloth > Brotherhood Sloth
This isn't me saying Brotherhood Sloth is good, but 2003 Sloth is worse on the grounds that it's a fucking insult the entire tone of the story

>2003 Kimblee > Brotherhood Kimblee
You're a fucking loony m8. Brotherhood was a fedora tipper but 2003 was DAMAGED personafied.

>>156901997
>Dante > Father

How?

Also Hohenheim is a better character in Brotherhood.

>>156902087
Father's pretty weak for the duration of his being God shtick, though personally I think being a weak character is less offensive than what Dante was.

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>>156901997
Shit taste. Here I fixed it for you. No need to thanks me.

Brotherhood Ed = 2003 Ed
Brotherhood Al > 2003 Al
Brotherhood Scar > 2003 Scar
2003 Kimblee < Brotherhood Kimblee
2003 Envy < Brotherhood Envy
Brotherhood Wrath > 2003 Pride
Brotherhood Pride > 2003 Wrath
Brotherhood Greed > 2003 Greed
2003 Lust < Brotherhood Lust
2003 Sloth = Brotherhood Sloth
2003 Gluttony = Brotherhood Gluttony
Dante < Father

>>156902079
How so? I thought Sloth was similar to Wrath as a way to have the characters who attempted human transmutation being haunted by their past sin. I thought it was a lot better than Brotherhood Sloth being just a big bad guy who digs.

And I don't even mind Kimblee being a fedora tipper in either versions, but he was a more competent antagonist in 2003. Also I like that it was Scar who killed him in that show, he had every right to do so and Brotherhood didn't deliver on that end.

>>156902087
I don't think either of them are amazing villains, but at least I was more interested in the idea they had with Dante being a villain who fears death than Father just being another villain who wants to be god for some reason.

And you're right about Hohenheim.

It's such a shame we well always have to compare the two, since both are great anime for completely different reasons and deserve to be judged on their merits individually.

>>156902321
>How so? I thought Sloth was similar to Wrath as a way to have the characters who attempted human transmutation being haunted by their past sin.
Because it means Ed and Al were RIGHT. It means that their attempt to bring back their mother was, in fact, the completely correct thing to do. They didn't fail to bring back their mom at all, they TOTALLY DID, and she's even capable of regaining their memories, she just doesn't want to because then there'd be no conflict. The writers put themselves in a corner with Sloth.

In the manga and Brotherhood you get a very poignant scene where Ed realizes that the thing he and Al created, losing their limbs and their body in the process, wasn't actually their mother at all. The dead are dead, and there's no bringing them back through any kind of magical bullshit. And instead of being some kind of angsty, scarring moment like you'd have expected in 2003, Ed just starts crying tears of joy, because he now knows for certain that at the very least, he and Al didn't cause their mom to suffer. It's this huge burden lifted off both of their shoulders that they bond over, and it also serves the dual purpose of proving that it really is possible to get Al's body back, because if his soul still exists in that armor it means he HAS to still be alive. It's one of my favorite moments in the manga, and in my opinion is a much better moment of catharsis than anything 2003's Sloth brought to the table.

Brotherhood Sloth didn't have much to him, but he did serve an actual purpose as the builder of the alchemy circle, and was a good punching bag for the Armstrongs, Izumi and Sig.

And I can see your point about Kimblee dying to Scar, but I thought Brotherhood's Scar had a more interesting development as he was able to put his hatred behind him and forget about the little guys like the alchemists, and instead focus on the real architects of his people's deaths.

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>>156902079
2003 Sloth was perfect for the tone of 2003. Making humonculi the results of failed human transformations was infinitely more interesting than having them literally be one-demensional personifications of vices like they were in Brotherhood. Brotherhood Sloth was possibly the most non-character character in Brotherhood.

>>156902627
See >>156902609
It's an interesting idea at first glance but it's one that's completely self-destructive to the tone.

>>156902660
The humonculi in 2003 were only "successful" human transmutations because they were given the power of the philosophers stones, something that requires the deaths of hundreds to create. Most human transmutations in 2003 die soon after creation, but Dante was interfering with the ones in the story. In 2003 you can bring people back from the dead, but only at a very high cost. The principle take-away in 2003 is that while equivilant exchange mirrors our concept of the first rule of thermodynamics there's also something like the second rule of dynamics dictating that you will always loose more than you gain.

>>156902609
They brought back her mom as a soulless monster who has a radically different personality, I don't think the implication is that they were right to attempt human transmutation. Just because she has memories of them, doesn't mean that she's should just be friends with them and act as their mother, especially because they literally rejected her after the transmutation.

Her accepting Wrath as her son indicated that to me, at least. She just didn't see Ed and Al as their sons just like they don't see her as their mother, and her objective is to become human together with Wrath so they can be mother and son like normal people.

>>156903134
as her sons*

2003, people dont really like it but i reckon its pretty good.
then watch brotherhood then resd the manga