[GoatJesus] [Spoilers] Fullmetal Alchemist VS Brotherhood - Ultimate Comparison Part 1

I think Brotherhood and FMA 03 veer off into wholly different genres. (Shonen vs Drama)

Brotherhood:

Pros: 1. Better action scenes , a lot more shonen 2. Some really great, likeable characters that don't exist in 03. A much larger cast. 3. A more straightforward , "complete" story.

Cons: 1. For me , the biggest one was the ending. It was too perfect. Too "and everyone loves happily ever after" . There were no great lasting consequences of the events in the series (except Izumi dying I guess) . This would have been fine in most other shows , but FMA always had a bittersweet tone to it and the ending seems much too fairytale like for such a show.

Now for 03(which I also personally like a bit better): Pros:

  1. A lot more melancholic, dark and emotional. In 03 Ed and Al seem to always the burden of their mistakes with them from the beginning to the end of the show. Even the homunculi are a reminder of this . They are living embodiments of the mistakes and loss of the alchemists who created them(a concept which is think is better than the homunculi concept in Brotherhood). Unlike brotherhood, which veers more into grand plots and huge action scenes ( not that that's a bad thing ) , 03 remains more of a character driven drama , where almost every character is dealing with a loss of some kind.

  2. A better Scar ,as well as better deaths for . The whole Ishballen
    massacre plot is also very well done and quite haunting.

  3. The villains all having their own valid reasons ( from their pov anyway) for doing all the bad shit they do. IMO 03 painted the villains in a lot more sympathetic light than Brotherhood .

Cons:

  1. A fairly convoluted ending. While the bittersweetness of it was in keeping with the shows themes, I think the whole Shambala business was a bit of an asspull. Not that I didn't enjoy the movie but the whole concept of parallel universes felt a little half baked and added on without much foreshadowing.

  2. Hoennheim not being explored nearly enough. While he takes centre stage in Brotherhood, 03 relegated him to flashbacks and didn't give him nearly enough fleshing out .

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