Why is fullmetal alchemist brotherhood different

I watched the version first on TV years ago and then watched Brotherhood more recently. I actually like Brotherhood much more. There are some things I like better in the version. I also feel the episodes that cross over before the story lines deviate are very rushed in Brotherhood. I found that the version did a better job at the first 15 episodes than Brotherhood did, I think also did the Tucker Arc better emotionally.

FMA original all day. Brother hood was great but FMA original is just too classic to me. Also, they try to ease the dramatic moments with gags way too much and too soon.

The is incredible nostalgic to me but brotherhood is definitely the better version. But if your gonna start a series watch the one. Especially the end.

Any suggestions on what else we could watch that carries itself like these? Thanks everyone! Great explaining. FMAB aired on our local stations first. I asked one of my friends about it and he said there was also a FMA. Thank you for explaining. Did you know this trick? Newton will be so jealous or envious? Two reasons why I want to watch the original fma is because my brothers who are way older than me watched it along with other great animes that aired in the philippines in early and late s and wanted to know what it felt like watching the shows they used to love.

The second reason is the rewrite op. That opening is way too nostalgic. I just came across the op video yesterday on youtube and then I remembered listening to this when I was a kid playing with blocks and my brothers watching the show… Thanks for this article, I should watch brotherhood first then. Still though, even with this huge disadvantage the original had, it still was legendary, especially how iconic characters died in the beginning and middle of the story unlike most other animes which keep the iconic characters alive throughout or kill them off in the very end.

Watch FMA up until Lab 5 and then give yourself a break…. Or skip those episodes too. From there on, continue to watch Brotherhood till the end. Im a huge fan of anime sticking to original adaptations, more so after Tokyo Ghoul RE. This article helped a lot af. Thanks a lot! This article AND thread are amazing. Lots of great opinions. Also great writing by you Jordan, great comparison piece and exactly what I was looking for. Some spoilers ahead, just wanted to shout out my opinion and read some others.

I am just starting season 4 of Brotherhood. As people have stated, Brotherhood has almost all the main characters from the original plus a bunch of extras like Ling Yao and obvi Xiao Mei. Lastly, gotta shout out my boy Maes Hughes. Realest OG out there, also kind of epic that the two works divulge immediately after his death.

It works because he is such a lovable character, and it creates a great jumping point. Great article Jordan, im a huge anime fan and i gotta say i never watched brotherhood before because i thought it was basicly the same thing with better graphics…. Just found this site to add up the tallies on which one to watch. Although the emotional aspect of FMA 03 got be really wanting to watch that, I love that feeling like Hellsing and Basikisk had done.

This is very helpful but its to late for me i wached first but i wanted to know the divergeing point. May be not my taste. By the way i am on 39th episode and its a long and unbearable experience, what a waste of time.

I wanna to ask that brotherhood is the same as version or better. Sure, it follows the manga but most anime stray from manga in some form or another. I just finished the first one and am now getting around to Brotherhood, so I was very happy to find your analysis between the two. Thank you so much! I am watching them both again from the start. Brotherhood needs FMA in order to really feel the character development.

If anything, watch the first half of FMA through episode 26 , which were made with the manga until they ran out of written material, then, start brotherhood from the beginning to catch the slight differences Brotherhood catches up to that point in only a few episodes.

Truly, imho, you will not regret watching FMA. It also fills in some gaps that are glossed over in Brotherhood. After that, if you want to see the different direction the anime took it, finish up the series. Honestly, this series are terrible.

Dropped FMA due to the lack of everything: terrible character development, terrible story pacing, literally nothing happens until they kill a certain character. I quit there. Excellent article, you have comments for years! I saw the version first and afterward picked up Brotherhood pretty quickly. I think it was or so. There were a lot of differences between the shows by the end, mostly the homunculi.

Very informative without any real spoilers. Thank u very much. As an avid anime fan I tend to fully avoid duplicate productions as a fundimental rule. Thoe thanks to your informative comparison on the fullmetal topic I am infact going to watch brotherhood in high hopes that the ending and build up redeems fullmetals ending letdown for me.

Thank you. Tbh my experience with full metal alchemist as a series, mainly because i watched first 30 episodes and the rest was not translated on the site i was watching it so i switched from fma to brotherhood which was translated. Watched brotherhood tiil the end and the whole mix was good to watch, at first it was kinda confusing because it was so different but in the end i felt awesome watching it.

It was definitely an interesting experience ;D. Tbh my experience with full metal alchemist as a series was unusual, mainly because i watched first 30 episodes and the rest was not translated on the site i was watching it so i switched from fma to brotherhood which was translated.

My question is that FMAB has more episodes that the first ,but, I want to know if there is a certain point you should start brotherhood at after the original e. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Prove you are human, type c a t s in singular form below:. The whole gang in chibi form. Brotherhood Even 6 years later, anime can sometimes have hideous visuals.

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Mar 24, Reply. Jun 19, Reply. Aug 8, Reply. Jun 30, Reply. Jul 3, Reply. The original series, however, makes decisions that expand events and characters further. We spend extra time with characters like Barry the Chopper and Shou Tucker, so we get to know them better; Brotherhood , meanwhile, introduces these supporting antagonists at the moment they are relevant.

Of all the minor characters to have their roles altered, Rose's changes are the most drastic. She goes from a minor character introduced near the start to a linchpin in the villain Dante's entire plan, being essentially brutalized and used as a vessel for Dante once she obtains the Philosopher's Stone. Even in the early episodes, however, a lot of content is added that isn't present in the manga, such as Russell and Fletcher Tringham, original characters taken from the light novel The Land of Sand instead of the manga.

However, some manga characters, like Olivier Armstrong, don't appear in the original anime. And a common complaint is that the women in the original series are not given the same level of development or importance to the plot as they are in Brotherhood , like Winry or Riza. The Homunculi in both Fullmetal Alchemist series serve as primary antagonists, though their creators and even identities shift from series to series. Each Homunculus is named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

In both anime, Lust, Gluttony and Envy remain essentially the same, though Lust in the original plays the role of primary antagonist with a massively expanded role, while Lust in Brotherhood is the first to die. However, Pride, Wrath, Sloth and Envy are entirely different.

However, in the original anime, Bradley is Pride. Wrath is a failed transmutation of Ed and Al's mentor, Izumi, in the original anime, while Greed is created by Izumi's mentor. Arguably, most startling of all is Sloth, who in the original is actually Ed and Al's mother. This leads of course to how Homunculi are created in both series. In Brotherhood and the manga, all the Homunculi are created by Father, the true antagonist of the series.

The brothers' designs, personalities and motivations remain largely consistent, with most of the changes happening around them rather than to them. With that said, there are a few alterations to Ed and Al's personal stories and characterizations. For example, the State Alchemist exam is a proper exam in the earlier Fullmetal Alchemist anime.

Ed trains for the occasion under Shou Tucker and then sits a proper test alongside other budding candidates. Ed's prodigal talent gets the better of the situation in Brotherhood - all the tiny alchemist does to attain his qualification is transmute a spear and threaten King Bradley with it. The extent of the Elric brothers' abilities is also slightly altered between anime series.

In the iteration, Ed is capable of performing alchemy without the need to draw a transmutation circle, making him one of the most talented in his field. Alphonse, on the other hand, still needs to draw regular transmutation circles, at least until he obtains the power of a philosopher's stone.

In Brotherhood , however, both Elric brothers can perform circle-less alchemy thanks to their dabbling in human transmutation. Although Ed and Al don't change significantly, plenty of other Fullmetal Alchemist characters do. Generally speaking, Brotherhood moves at a faster pace, despite having a higher episode count, which means that the anime series takes more time to explore certain figures.

Edward and Alphonse's mother Trisha is a prime example, with far greater color to her character in the edition. In Brotherhood , Trisha is more of a plot device to get the Fullmetal Alchemist story rolling.

In the same vein, the Elric brothers develop stronger bonds with Maes Hughes and his family than they do in Brotherhood , and even help deliver the man's child. After appearing early in the story, Rose is more important in the original anime, as Dante plans to use the girl as a brand new vessel. Conversely, some Fullmetal Alchemist characters enjoy more significant roles in Brotherhood , most notably Riza, whose connection to Mustang is explored in more detail, and Tim Marcoh, who is killed by Gluttony in the first anime, but enjoys a much bigger role in Brotherhood.

Rather than being more prominent in one series than the other, some characters' stories are equally vital but markedly different. The man responsible for killing Winry's parents is revealed to be Roy Mustang in the Fullmetal Alchemist anime, but Scar committed the crime in Brotherhood. Meanwhile, Brotherhood sees Mustang go blind as a result of entering the Gate of Truth and a completely revamped story in invented for Scar.

This shady character's first anime backstory involves an unnamed alchemist brother who replaces Scar's arm with a philosopher's stone. Redeeming himself somewhat, Scar dies to protect Alphonse.

Brotherhood changes this, and Scar's powers instead come from combining alchemy with alkahestry. Scar also survives until the end of the story, helping overcome the Homunculi, and his personality is generally more focused.

Further altered characters include Shou Tucker, who becomes a chimera in the anime and tries to bring back his daughter Nina, who he previously merged with the family dog.

Scar puts paid to any such redemption story in Brotherhood by redecorating the room with Tucker's innards. Because the Fullmetal Alchemist manga was still ongoing when the first anime aired, there are many additions to Arakawa's story that wouldn't make it into the series and vice versa. The TV-original material adds the Tringham brothers to the mix - a couple of young alchemists posing as Edward and Alphonse to access state resources and finish their father's research.