The thing about FMAB first episode is that Bones did assume you knew the characters. This was because they had already adapted part of the manga, and assumed the people watching were already fans of the original series. The first 14 episodes go by at a break neck pace, as those parts of the story were covered in the first 30 episodes of the oroginal. So fast paced in fact that some of the moments don't land as hard. It's awesome after that though.
Then why do people suck off this series as perfect, when the first 14 episodes are speedy Gonzales level of rushing? Either you can go into the show on its own or ya can’t, you can’t have both
@@ragnaricstudios5888You can, because lots of people have and loved it. However, it is better if you have experience with the manga or original anime. It's not a perfect anime, because that doesn't exist, but it is one of the best.
@@ragnaricstudios5888 Because they're not too rushed to get the point across and the other 50 episodes are peak fiction. Never watched the original or touched the manga, still one of my top 10 for over a decade.
I fucking love that the "Ed short lol" jokes come full circle. It aged so poorly UNTIL you get to the end and realize it was PLOT RELEVANT which makes it STILL unfunny. God, I love this series.
It's odd to say but the "Ed is short joke." is more meant to show who he is and his position in the world and that he really is still just a kid. Despite his try hard/cool guy act he is still rather immature. Also he's a State Alchemist, which is basically a military officer job, so people don't expect a literal teenager to be it. The series really goes into it later about themes of the younger generation having to step up to fight the good fight. And the short jokes do stop after awhile (and even has a nice subtle pay off moment in it later on.)
I will also say adaptation errors play to some extent as well. The comedy works a lot better in the manga as omake panels that the readers can read at their own pace or treat as throwaway gags if they choose. But in the anime, you're forced to sit through them. But I do agree they get less frequent as the show goes on because of obvious plot reasons.
that joke always reminds me that he is short even shorter that winry, but sometime along the series when every mystery was slowly being uncovered the joke stopped and I didn't even notice it. But the moment when Winry and Ed had a conversation, close up and I saw Ed taller than Winry was a fckn great because that scene basically a slow payoff of what Ed has been through, his development as a character, his matureness, everything. It reminded how much Ed changed since the first ep.
it’s also called attention to because there is an actual reason Ed is so short: he’s keeping his brother alive with his nutrients and his sleep. We don’t see much of the sleep, so we have to see him being short being made a deal as a hint towards what’s going on with his brother.
@@karlatran9316 This is mainly the problem that I felt having to watch Asta being extremely annoying in Black Clover. I think, having to account for how comedy/character quirks are translated to anime form is the most difficult thing to get right in adaptations.
About the joke, I kinda like how they handle it on some point. The package of Ed being short, Ed hates milk, and Al's body is to big to fit in small place; were use as catalyst for more serious tone in episode 9. Ed didn't want to drink his milk, Al suggest Ed to drink it if he want to grow, Ed jokingly said Al have it easy because he is so big, Al snaps and said he didn't ask for that kind of body.
The first episode of fmab is all filler. It was used because it was assumed that a lot of people watched the 2003 series. The first few episodes of 2003 are a lot stronger than brotherhood
Gintama did the same thing lol. The only detriment the two greatest anime have is having their first episodes being filler lol. At least the FMAB pilot was entertaining 😭
I'm dubious when people say the original FMA anime had the better beginning because they must be saying it with rose-tinted glasses on. People forget that there's actually a lot of painful filler that actually contradicts the intended characterisations of a lot of the cast that you have to sit through to get to the overarching story, (which wasn't written with as much foresight to the extent of the manga/Brotherhood's overarching story). In terms of anime adaptations, 03 FMA had the better first three initial episodes but I way prefer Brotherhood from episodes 4 onwards.
He should, considering he says the darker stuff are his favourite part, and how he disliked the cheesy ending of the priest arc, or how he thinks the comedy is too much, I wouldn't be surprised if ends up liking it more
@@Invus1 They really don't. Even back in 2010 or whenever when I watched the show, everybody said that you were supposed to watch the first few episodes of the original FMA. They jump into Brotherhood assuming you already kinda know the characters
For as much as FMA Brotherhood deserves it's credit. The OG FMA genuinely handles the first part better. Like both are products of their time, but Brotherhood feels like it's hitting spark notes to just get through the first bit just to get it out of the way. That episode with Tucker in brotherhood was 2 in the original, and the impact was doubled for it. That mixed start has always been the hangup I have with the general consensus that FMAB is the GOAT.
Sadly, the biggest weakness of FMA: Brotherhood is that it assumed you watched the first anime, so it rushes a lot of the beginning. The two animes don't diverge from each other until about episode ~23.
It actually doesn’t assume that, it literally just follows the manga 1:1. The problem is everyone saw the original fma and thought it was a lot better at the beginning, so now everyone compares the two Edit: I was mistaken about it being 1:1 to the manga, HOWEVER my second point still stands. The directors of brotherhood have went on to state they did NOT assume the audience saw 2003
@@sophiadebar382 It doesn't perfectly it cuts out the coal town arc and has the characters in those few episodes appear later, its not that important at all though but there is some cut stuff. Though I do think it doesn't assume you watched the first as it does work on its own, though I wll say episode 1 is just dumb filler.
@@sophiadebar382 but isn’t it still worse than the manga? I honestly feel like the first half of the show feels like it’s paced differently from the ladder half
@@sophiadebar382 The manga literally begins with Liore, not the ice alchemist. Then the manga follows that with the downfall of Yoki in the mining town, something brotherhood skipped completely. I agree that Brotherhood overall follow the manga, but it does rush the beginning arks for whatever reason.
Not gonna lie, FMAB’s first episode is still strong and one of my favorite first episodes. Sometimes a story doesn’t have to begin with introductions. It’s like being introduced to a friend group, everyone else already knows each other, but you start learning their dynamic and stories bit by bit.
That’s a fair point to bring up and I can’t deny that it “works” in introducing the world, a bit of how alchemy works, and introducing Ed and Al. However, what aggravates me the most about the first episode is that not only does the show expect you to fully digest a good chunk of the ensemble cast in addition to the Elric brothers (especially with the approach that the show assumes you saw the first FMA anime already), but it retroactively diminishes some reveals that were better executed or had a bigger impact in both the first anime and the original manga.
It's basically "In Media Res" and it's a well known writing technique to create future suspense and generate interest before they start building up to the more satisfying parts. Its kinda strange that it was received poorly here.
@@Invus1 SPOILERS: I feel that this episode fails with its execution because it’s an episode that is trying to allude to what the conflict will be and some of the big mysteries of the narrative, rather than spend that time affectively introducing audiences to the characters and the world, leading to all of these eventual reveals to feel a tad lack luster in comparison to how they were build up to overtime and progression in the manga. The mystery with King Bradley feels heavy handed in the portrayal of alluding a more sinister side to him, affectively diminishing the meticulous build up to the reveal of his allegiance with Father and the Homunculi. Isaac McDougal is a tonally inconsistent antagonist that only exists to give the Elrics someone to fight and “attempt” to generate intrigue with the inner machinations of the military, but this was done much better with Hughes because he is a character we are given time to know and we see him able to put some of the pieces together based on key information from the Elrics and the similarity between the civil uprising in Liore and the war in Ishval before the Homunculi kill him for getting too close to the truth. Whether McDougal had come to a similar conclusion or if he was just disgusted with his time in Ishval is left completely vague and is only given small references later on during the Fort Briggs episodes, trying to play off his speech to Edward as an “aha” moment of clarity when this was more effectively portrayed when Mustang realizes that the members of the top brass are in on Father’s plan are possibly what Hughes tried to warn him about. He’s a pointless character that the anime tries to make important by playing up the “character that tries to stop the villain before everyone else is clued in” trope, but any significance this might’ve had is done much better with other characters and twists that were already in the manga and are still present in Brotherhood. The reveal of Mustang’s weakness to water during the fight with Scar in the manga is impactful because it’s the first time we Mustang at a moment of weakness, which contrasts with how powerful and more put together he comes across as earlier on. Because we see it in this first episode, it makes that scene with Hawkeye chastising Mustang for forgetting that he can’t fight in the rain feel like a pointless inclusion instead of an important reveal of Mustang’s strengths/weaknesses like it should be.
@@theassortedhobbyist kind of agree with the second thing, but completely disagree with the first. stories don't always show you the characters so you instantly memorize who they are, i've noticed plenty of mangas and animes who do that, and shonen fans who expect the show to explain you everything in the first episode in FMAB, they just show you what a day in ed and al's life is. what family is this? idk but it looks cute and they love the brothers, which are now talking about what they'll do when they recover their bodies (already a perfect way for us to get invested), who is that fire dude and the blonde lady? idk but they're cool. anime often tries the same but often shows very little characters and they overly explain everything, so it feels very fake this one draws you inside the plot without expecting you to remember anything, cause its just a taste of what they show will be, it really only wants you to remember the ice dude's lines about the government, and his final scenes of course, which is infortunate cause plenty of anime fans didn't pay attention to him and as the years go on, i've noticed its because people are too used to the first shonen villain being some stupid bum
The kid-dog thing was done WAY better in the original FMA anime, because it took like 3 episodes, and you get more attached. In Brotherhood it's all just one episode.
@@TheJiminatorHS Hard disagree, Brotherhood rushed through all the content it shared with the original FMA, the first 12 episodes of the original FMA are a better start, only after that does brotherhood actually improve on it.
The thing is, Brotherhood came out so soon after the OG series that it is assumed that viewers have seen it, ergo the main characters are familiar. Also, Lt. Yoki's OG series arc is omitted due to the same assumption.
I will say in 2017 I watched FMAB and it was the third anime series I had ever watched (excluding anime that aired on Cartoon Network as kids shows). As someone brand new to the series, I didn’t have any trouble following those first 14 episodes and what they were trying to convey, and they didn’t seem especially rushed to me.
I’m glad that Garnt has gotten to watching the First four episodes of FMA:Brotherhood. Looking forward to hearing his thoughts once he gets done with the whole thing.
Throughout the entire show, when a character is not being sincere or hiding at least some part of the truth, their eyes get hidden, either by the glasses fogging or some other way, and that happens with Shou Tucker in almost all of his scenes, it's really subtle, and ties in with the theme of eyes for the main antagonist and the truth personification beyond the gates.
I really hope Garnt actually ends up making a video on FMAB if he does complete it. I'm very certain he's gonna love the anime. Even putting my nostalgia aside, there's really not many anime that has left me as satisfied as this even throughout all of the years. 😁
Now I hope that Garnt doesn't ignore the 2003 anime just because he started with Brotherhood. Personally I even think the 2003 is slightly better, but it's close enough that it's basically a tie.
@@javier-qs2hd it does differ from the manga, but in this case the author and the studio decided from the begining that the anime would not stick too closely to the manga and have an original ending, because the manga had barely started at that point. Even in the begining there's a lot of anime original stuff in the begining compared to Brotherhood. If you watched Brotherhood and enjoyed, then I think you should definetly watch the 2003 one. It might differ from the manga, and even though I prefer the 2003, I still think Brotherhood ending was better, but the 2003 anime is still a great show on it's own right.
This is why I always recommend for people to first watch the 2003 FMA animation and them watch FMA Brotherhood , Brotherhood was made with the assumption that you already watched the 2003 version, even if they diverge mid way through, they still complement each other.
Did know one tell any of them to watch the og FMA till Hughes is introduced then swap to Brotherhood? The outing of the priest is done in spectacular fashion in the og FMA anime and a good chunk of the 1st 1/4 of brotherhood is a recap/retelling of character intros
FMAB 300% assumes that every viewer had already seen FMA 2003. It just dumps you straight into it because in 2012 they couldn't fathom that people hadn't seen the 03 adaptation i guess
This is why i say watch 2003 first then brotherhood. Since they are vastly different ill say the fma 2003 was very dark compared to the brotherhood series. The darker parts was way more developed in the 2003 with a bittersweet ending, idk why but i think they purposely rushed those parts sincd they assumed you watched 2003.
FMA 2003 is great, and everyone who has time should watch both(first 2003) one. 2003 is more emotional and impactful, goes off on a very unique concept and enhances the experience of watching Brotherhood.
It's not, the first chapter in the manga is Liore (episode 3). That's why in episode 3 they keep repeating that he's "the fullmetal alchemist" over and over
Honestly, the first episode is filler, but in my opinion is a great cold opening to the series, and upon rewatch there's a bunch of different things you can gleam from it.
Bro thanks for bringing up the weak episode 1 haha, I felt like I was nuts for thinking it was a patchy beginning. It hints at the plot that actually develops in the second episode, so there are maybe 30-40 seconds of useful info.
Unfortunately the first 13 episodes or so of brotherhood is just them speedrunning through the manga storylines that were already in the first series. Makes them feel rushed and less impactful by comparison
@@thomasffrench3639 It's not faithful to the manga. The manga has some introductory side stories that occur just before the main, overarching story starts to unfold that FMAB cut out entirely. That might explain the less-defined characterisation initially and pacing inconsistencies.
@@thomasffrench3639 its very faithful to the manga, but there is one side story cut (the coal miners). Besides that and the first episode being anime only, it's pretty much 1-1.
Literally just no, the pacing on those episodes was actually amazing and most had really good emotional impact! You make it sound like they cut corners to shorten those and get to the gist but that couldn't be farther from the truth! I watched the first twenty or so episodes of FMA before I switched to FMAB and I felt they were at times a little slow (tho still pretty good), I think Brotherhood found the emotional core to a lot of those first episodes and centered the stuff that meaningfully adds to it.
The only thing lacking from Brotherhood is that they kept the short jokes but didn't keep the part where Roy Mustang shouts "When I'm fuhrer, all female officers will be required to wear TINY MINISKIRTS!"
People think the first episode of FMAB is filler until you realize that the ice guy was *100% correct* in what he was doing and why, and you won’t have that realization until like, fifty episodes in.
@@Thatman615 filler content is often categorized by material that has zero impact on the plot for the viewer, therefore being a waste of time - the first episode isn’t that, it’s literally setting the viewer up to know that something is extremely wrong with the nation of Amestris, and that there’s a secret plot that only the most senior military staff knows about. the show’s creators made a one-off episode for the sake of legitimately impactful foreshadowing for the main plot, which is completely different than filler that only serves to pad a series for time waiting for the manga to catch enough plot distance to resume the main storyline. I’m glad I could teach you the difference.
@@Thatman615 I mean with that logic the entire story of fma 2003 is "filler" because it is fundemetally different from the manga and brotherhood. Anime original content isn't necessarily always filler
@@yeetkunedo MY bad. I'm so used to skipping filler episodes in stuff like bleach, one piece, and naruto. I forgot about the difference between anime original content that progresses the plot in a meaningful way. Filler content tends to not do that at all. It's just that I prefer how 03 and the manga started, as brotherhoods beginning never sat well with me. Again, my mistake.
the point of the short jokes isn't "hah, he's short" but to characterise ed himself, as he begins the story as somewhat immature and irrational despite his intelligence, but over the story grows up both metaphorically and literally, and even gets drawn taller as the series progresses.
they also literally have a plot reason why he's short. it's fucking 12/10 genius characterization. How many times does a dumb gag that constantly shows up actually play into the actual plot resolution of the final arc? Him being short is how he figures out that his body has been "feeding" Als' in the alternate realm. And its his best bet to believing that Al can be saved, which later gets confirmed. Its so goddamn brilliant that Hiromu tied this bad gag to the biggest moment in the series.
Glad this comment thread is here cause the short joke was actually necessary. It's not really a "joke" but a foreshadowing/character development combo that no one sees coming and even fans miss
It's funny how they have a problem with the short jokes and actually consider it a genuine critique of the show😂 Meanwhile HxH has a literal pedo clown getting horny over kids which is also there for comedy. At least with FMAB it's actually there for a reason to show character growth (both literally and metaphorically like you said) I get if they personally don't find the short jokes funny (I actually do find them funny) but to act like it's a product of its time and would get flamed today is crazy Had to stop watching after that segment cus they were spouting straight bs😂
When I first watched FMA: Brotherhood, I was binge-watching the original and Crunchyroll decided the next episode of the show was episode 1 of Brotherhood. I had no idea I just started a different series and was so confused at first.
The reason why Brotherhood's first 12-ish episodes feel so weak compared to the rest of the series is because Bones already adapted that part in 2003, more or less. For example: the Nina stuff was 2 episodes instead of just one. The studio made Brotherhood with already existing fans in mind.
Joey needs to learn the difference between something not aging well and just being a flaw. It’s so annoying to see “it hasn’t aged well” when it just wasn’t good in the first place. Gundam is just straight up still good, which shows that age doesn’t matter for anime.
I never watched the anime, but I read it from start to finish in middle school. Full alchemist was well done, I really should revisit it some day. I also loved the little notes the author would leave at the end of every book.
Watching the first 4 episodes... that's it? Also, plenty of great anime have corny parts. FMA joking about Ed's height was never funny, but there's far more cringey stuff in tons of anime, and we don't hold it against them 😆
The reason it's bad is because we have a direct comparison in FMA 2003. It handles it infinitely better. Pretty much everything the two have in common, 03 does better.
@@willfanofmanyii3751 "Dragged out"? Lol maybe if you are used to the rushed pace of FMAB, but 03 is the perfect pacing, and the whole Liore story is miles better than what's in FMA:B, In terms of theming I even think some alterations were better than in the Manga.
The short jokes are needed. It really highlights how inspirational Ed is. He overcomes his disabillity of being a short dude, by the end of the journey 😂
I really enjoyed how the og FMA started with their childhood, idk how the manga handles it I still owe that a read, and yes i preffer brotherhood cause they stick to the cannon but the begging... yea I miss the childhood beggining...
Joking about Ed being short is more than just a comedic relief for viewers or maybe doesn't even meant to be it at all. It's Ed's genuine characterization, characters in the story are aware of it outside of comedic relief and even hypothesize why he is so short, and also eat/sleep for two. And that's the case for most of comedic relief in this series or so I think.
Can't lie. The running gag of Garnt not seeing Brotherhood actually made me to watch the show. I'm on like episode 30 or smth and... isn't it like not that great as many people say it is? Am I crazy? There are just so many things about the show that doesn't add up. Like the whole character of Ling up to this point being practically non-existent. Well, he's like bro i wanna be immortal and imma eat your food and for some reason imma help you despite all of you not really doing anything from me. And the dialogue is not subtle and so clanky. They be telling you their whole worldview in the most blatant possible way. Like that time Ed was just sitting on stairs after the "dog" accident and just screaming "what are we? Humans???!!" like bro that's just goofy. And could you tell me plz how tf is Scar survived up to this point. He's not even trying to be stealthy, he's fricking walking straight up in day light maybe with a good max, flighting alchemist in open and having all of homunculi on his throut... Now, i'm not saying it's mid but... Is it 10/10?
Yeah, Brotherhood expects you to have already watched the 2003 anime, because it came out so close to it. So the first several episodes are kinda rough, because they're re-hashing plots from the first arcs of the 2003 anime.
I feel like people forget how dark the original was imif i remember correctly the girl from ep. 3 that Ed and Al help in the later episodes its hinted at that she was assaulted and it was so bad she didnt want to talk at all
i personally hate the first 2 episodes of FMAB. i wish they just followed the manga man. the metal arm reveal is so much cooler there, instead we get it twice in brotherhood and both times it kinda feels outta place. the second time against the chimera feels weird cuz they show it as if its some reveal (which its supposed to fckn be) but we’ve already seen the exact set up for this literally a fee episodes ago.
And even with it being so fast paced they still cry that it’s monster of the week. People today got TikTok adhd brain all pay off no set up. Not sure why they didn’t love game of thrones final season with all the fast moving plot lol. Also monster of the week is good for starting series. Serialized stuff used to not be as popular I we all missed eps and would be lost. No binging as much.
The beginning of Brotherhood is why I will always tell people it is objectively better to watch 2003 first and then watch Brotherhood. Because all the shared twists are a million times better in the original, the characters are generally better, and Brotherhood assumes you’ve seen 2003 which is why the first quarter of Brotherhood moves super quickly and skips a bunch of stuff and characters just pop into the story very rushed (Yoki for example literally has no introduction, he just shows up later in the show with a grudge against the Elrics from a thing that never gets shown in Brotherhood because that side adventure was shown in 2003). The rushed nature of the first part of Brotherhood is why some of the twists are so much worse. The thing with the Tuckers gets way less build up, is foreshadowed way too heavily, happens to characters we’ve only known for like one episode before this and Ed and Al have only known a few days, and Ed only gets told later what happened to Nina Alexander without ever seeing her again. Likewise Hughes doesn’t even get an intro in Brotherhood, he just pops into the room and just like that is now part of the story. Whereas in 2003 Ed and Al spend months at the Tucker estate, across I think 4-5 episodes, Nina is present when Ed passes the State Alchemist Exam and when Ed and Al help Hughes’ wife give birth which is also the first time Ed does Alchemy without a transmutation circle, and Ed actually is the first to discover the aftermath of Nina Alexander finding Scar. Likewise in 2003 there’s a whole train hostage episode to introduce Hughes and have him meet Ed and Al and show off his knife skills, his investigation into the conspiracy is built up over a longer time, he is present in a lot more episodes, he plays much more of a father figure role in Ed and Al’s life, and there’s a lot more drama around what happens to him because the brothers are intentionally kept out of the loop for a long time so they’re way angrier when they find out and the other characters struggle with not telling them. I’ve always argued Brotherhood is the better anime but 2003 is the better Fullmetal Alchemist. And while I absolutely acknowledge that’s a debatable opinion, I would say it’s a borderline fact that 2003 just has a better first quarter because it takes its time and doesn’t rush anything and gives everyone actual introductions and builds up the twists way more. Also personal note, the English dub of 2003 is probably the best English dub of all time (in part because they cast actual kids to play the kid characters which adds a lot of authenticity), and specifically a certain funeral scene in the English dub is genuinely the saddest anime scene I’ve ever watched largely because the child actress playing the little girl gives the most genuine performance I’ve ever heard of something like this.
There's a lot of inaccurate statements you made. Many people overstate how much time the original FMA spent on the Nina/Tucker plot because they probably forgot. FMA 03 was actually two episodes, not the 4-5 episodes you were saying while Brotherhood was one episode. And the 2003 anime actually put more clues into the reveal than Brotherhood did which made the reveal less shocking. In the episode that Tucker was introduced in 03, we are told a record of his shady government expenses and that he's in the centre of an investigation that lets you know that he's up to something. Though we are introduced to Nina an episode before, I still think the impact is the same in both anime. And I watched both animes as an adult with no nostalgia goggles on. And Hughes did not just suddenly pop up in Brotherhood one day just to be killed. If you rewatch Brotherhood, he actually appears in every episode right until the episode where he dies. The show-runners wanted to squeeze in as much screen as possible. The impact of him as a character is debatable as the original anime might have him be more involved in filler plot points so you're more used to seeing him by exposure, but he did not suddenly pop-up out of nowhere in Brotherhood. 03 definitely has the leg-up on the first three episodes but from episodes 4 onwards, I way prefer Brotherhood. That's because everyone forgets that the original anime put in a bunch of really painful, non-canon filler that actually contradicts a lot of the intended characterisations of a lot of the cast. So even though the 03 cast are involved in more filler, 'monster of the week' side stories, I way prefer the characterisations of Brotherhood/manga.
@@karlatran9316 The amount of episodes isn't really my concern. The fact of the matter is in Brotherhood Ed and Al are only implied to have been with the Tuckers for a few days at most. Whereas in 2003 we are shown the season change and we know it was at minimum several weeks if not a couple months of them being there. Likewise Nina was present for several important moments in Ed's life like passing the state alchemist exam, helping birth Hughes' daugher, and Ed doing alchemy without a transmutation circle for the first time (which is another thing in Brotherhood they just entirely skip and the first time we see it in the timeline Ed already knows he can do it so its just Al being surprised by it but Ed is unphased because assumedly he was already doing it off screen by then). So Nina is a lot more present of a figure in the brothers' life and thus it makes her a more emotionally important person to Ed and Al than just this girl they've kinda lived with for a couple days. And even only being 2 episodes, it still means Nina and Alexander have almost double the screentime in 2003 that they had in Brotherhood. And I also want to note that the foreshadowing in 2003 for Tucker is just way better. In Brotherhood there's zero ambiguity, it's really obvious Tucker is secretly a bad guy. Whereas in 2003 yes there are MORE hints, but the hints are a lot more subtle and less in your face. There's never a point where anything actually frames Tucker as being a bad guy, just that SOMETHING is not right. But in Brotherhood they literally have a scene of him standing alone in a room with a dark expression being bathed in deep red light with his glasses doing the glow thing, just so there's zero chance you don't realize ahead of time he's evil. This all isn't even to mention the fact that the emotional weight of Ed just being told later that Scar killed Nina Alexander is way less impactful than Ed literally finding her exploded imprint mere minutes after she died. It's also just a better scene for Scar because in Brotherhood he's way colder about it and the scene is really short, and it just reinforces a mentality he already had so it doesn't change him. Whereas in 2003 Scar is a lot kinder and more sympathetic, and this moment is the moment he realizes his purpose and transitions into the cold blooded killer we know him as. And I gotta hard disagree that it's only the first few episodes that 2003 has the leg up on. The entire first quarter is just better when you account for the actual introduction of Hughes (I didn't say Hughes just popped in to die, I said he just popped in, which is literally true, he just pops into the hospital room like "Hey I'm Hughes" and that's his entire intro and then he's just around with much less screen time than in 2003 and then dies earlier in Brotherhood than in 2003), the larger presence of Hughes in the story and as a father figure and the more build up of his investigation, the more characterization we get for the characters in Central, the extremely great characterization moment for Ed with his confrontation with Barry the Butcher BEFORE the Lab 5 episodes, the better Liore stuff, the setting up of side characters for later in the story, way more world-building, a just better Lab 5 sequence as a whole, a better setup and build up of Scar as a character, a way better Tucker family build up execution and conclusion, a better state alchemist exam, NOT spoiling the reveal of Bradley, more flashbacks about Ed and Al's mother, Ed and Mustang dueling, Hughes being a generally more likeable character as well as more scenes building up him and Mustang's relationship, Ed and Al just being younger in this version making all the "its bad we're making kids deal with this stuff" commentary feel more appropriate, Winry is also present more and is there for more notable moments with Ed, there's more build up and investigation into the Philosopher Stone, they actually discuss the rules of Alchemy in terms of laws and practices, and I could go on. I can confidently say the entire first portion of FMA is better in 2003 than Brotherhood. And even though I'll agree there were issues with the filler, I think you are majorly overselling how bad it was, in fact most of the filler was either decent or actually good, and a lot of the filler wasn't entirely filler because it either added information that informed Ed and Al's decisions later on or did help build up the world of FMA and the way everything worked. I think you have the impression I have nostalgia for one and not the other. I watched 2003 and Brotherhood back to back in 2015 when I was a teenager. I have rewatched FMA 3 times, and I when I do that I rewatch them both back to back so I've seen both of them an equal amount of time. I already knew people liked Brotherhood the most so I went into both assuming and expecting Brotherhood would be better. I have nothing to make me more connected to one than the other beyond I just watched 2003 first, which is the case for most people who were watching Brotherhood when it came out.
@@gryph0n55 I actually don't like a lot of the scenes in the first portion of the 03 anime that you pointed out as being great. Especially Barry the Chopper and Winry which are two characters they butchered. The changes they made to Barry missed the whole point of him in the plot because he's supposed to make Al wonder if he was Ed's creation and not his brother. But 03 Al had already met Barry when he had a body so why would he question if he was Ed's creation when he knows that Barry had a body at one point. And Winry in 03 was put through a lot of unnecessary melodrama with Al and Ed in episodes with contrived conflict that feel like emotional regression for everyone involved. Winry in general is better characterised in BH/manga. Early on, she's established as being a caring and grounded force for Ed but also independent and driven with her career in Rush Valley as a mechanic. In 03, her characterisation definitely plays into the generic, stock character of a love-interest that waits for you back home and doesn't really have a defined life and interests outside of being Ed's personal mechanic. Of course, Winry in BH/manga is also prepared to go through hell to help Ed and Al but she makes it a point that she has a responsibility for countless people she must care for besides the Elric brothers. Not to mention the many times she plays more into a damsel in distress in the non-canon filler in 03 FMA. The rules of alchemy are actually more stringent and stable in BH/manga and doesn't actually break any of the limitations established from the beginning. 03 runs into problems where they show unexplainable stuff that alchemy is able to do. As a power system, it's more consistent in BH/manga. Though Hughes isn't as involved as much at the beginning of Brotherhood until he gets killed off, his death is utilised better as a motivator for Mustang's revenge as Mustang repeatedly harkens back to the murder of his friend in multiple flashbacks so we are made aware of his rising emotions throughout the series that finally hit a breaking point when he confronts Envy. In 03, they don't really mention Hughes at all after his death and Mustang doesn't do much to get payback for him. Also in general his plans for the country aren't explored enough and his intention to stand for his crimes gets even less mention. In contrast, through Brotherhood's clever use of flashbacks, I actually think that the relationship between Mustang and Hughes is conveyed as being closer because it shows that Mustang continually thinks about his dead friend and positions his revenge as one of his main goals. Also having Hughes in the Ishval flashbacks actually draws attention to the fact that even he was complicit in war crimes, whereas 03 doesn't highlight that which makes him appear more saintly and one-dimensional. Cases like Bradley and Scar's characterisation being different in between the two versions are only because both anime are aiming for different characters. So it isn't appropriate to compare them in the same way. Bradley being villainous isn't a bad thing, (and even then I'd argue there's some guessing room left as to where his true intentions lie), because he gets outed as a homunculous early in episode 14 and has an antagonising role in the plot onwards. And Scar being a hardened force of revenge at the beginning works because his arc is him becoming softer as the show progresses, whereas 03 is sort of the inverse of that.
FMA 03 has a better world building at the beginning. FMAB will always feel better if you watched the original, but its obviously still great on its own. But there's a bunch of characters that literally are from 03, and Brotherhood asumes you knew them and their backstories.
@@karlatran9316 2003 doesn't have filler that contradicts the characters it was planned to be a completely different narrative from the start, even from as early as episode 3, the truth in 2003 builds up to it's ending instead of ed meeting the truth like in brotherhood. Calling a story that uses the ground work of the beginning of the manga to create it's own thing "filler" is extremely unfair to how much passion was put into the story of 2003. it's just not even the same show. pretty much every character in it is completely different from their brotherhood or manga version. Some of which are definitely for the better, the lust of 2003 one of the most interesting and well developed characters in the show, while in brotherhood, she was basically just a plot device.
Listen man. I'd rather have a slow start instead of a boring ending. We don't talk about the slow start because it's already amazing to make up for it. Just like how Adventure time started off slow and silly it started getting more serious but interesting.
@@emondadon I guess it depends on how you view it. Like for the first season of Adventure Time it was just wakey adventures with some episodes taking importance until Season 3-4. But it also started with a frickin Zombie apocalypse and candy cannibalism.
I'm surprised Grant had such little understanding about the second episode. Calling God "some kid" Ed meets when he clearly introduced himself by many titles.
No one explained the whole thing where FMAB assumed you watched FMA…. It skipped some stuff to streamline it. If you watch FMA then brotherhood is WAY better. But it stands great alone as well.
The first episode of Brotherhood is actually filler, so it could even be skipped and nothing is missed. In fact, a friend of mine always skips it because he doesn’t like the way it brings up certain elements that are more naturally brought up later.
We cannot clown on Garnt for not watching FMA anymore 😢
We can now clown on Joey for watching one ep of arcane
We can clown on him watching brotherhood before the original
@@bensrandomshows1482brotherhood is the original tho, 2003 is the one who differ from the source material
@@bensrandomshows1482 Brotherhood takes the original manga material 2003 is filler
@@Lilo_D._Boom it doesn't cover the start properly, it's rushed so you have to watch the original first
Garnt saw FMA before GTA6.
Yep
@@willy_b_coyote This meme is just so overused at this point like relax GTA has a release date already.
Aware
@@Lilo_D._Boom still before half life 3 tho
@@Lilo_D._Boom that's what makes it funny
The thing about FMAB first episode is that Bones did assume you knew the characters. This was because they had already adapted part of the manga, and assumed the people watching were already fans of the original series. The first 14 episodes go by at a break neck pace, as those parts of the story were covered in the first 30 episodes of the oroginal. So fast paced in fact that some of the moments don't land as hard. It's awesome after that though.
Then why do people suck off this series as perfect, when the first 14 episodes are speedy Gonzales level of rushing? Either you can go into the show on its own or ya can’t, you can’t have both
@@ragnaricstudios5888You can, because lots of people have and loved it. However, it is better if you have experience with the manga or original anime.
It's not a perfect anime, because that doesn't exist, but it is one of the best.
@@ragnaricstudios5888 Once you watch it youll understand
@@ragnaricstudios5888 Because they're not too rushed to get the point across and the other 50 episodes are peak fiction. Never watched the original or touched the manga, still one of my top 10 for over a decade.
That's why I recommend watching the first series until the death (if you see it, you'll know) and then switching over
I fucking love that the "Ed short lol" jokes come full circle. It aged so poorly UNTIL you get to the end and realize it was PLOT RELEVANT which makes it STILL unfunny. God, I love this series.
Props to Connor and Joey for downplaying major plot points from the first few eps that become relevant.
It's been a while since I've seen fmab so I must've forgot; when does it become plot relevant?
@@itsSmiv when they find out that he's been eating for both bodies.
@@pstuart17Y'know, I don't think I ever found that out from reading the story, but from some comments somewhere
@@WanderTheNomad they state it explicitly in the later eps of brotherhood. If you watched the original run they changed/skipped a lot
It's odd to say but the "Ed is short joke." is more meant to show who he is and his position in the world and that he really is still just a kid. Despite his try hard/cool guy act he is still rather immature. Also he's a State Alchemist, which is basically a military officer job, so people don't expect a literal teenager to be it. The series really goes into it later about themes of the younger generation having to step up to fight the good fight. And the short jokes do stop after awhile (and even has a nice subtle pay off moment in it later on.)
I will also say adaptation errors play to some extent as well. The comedy works a lot better in the manga as omake panels that the readers can read at their own pace or treat as throwaway gags if they choose. But in the anime, you're forced to sit through them. But I do agree they get less frequent as the show goes on because of obvious plot reasons.
Character design and joke is different.
that joke always reminds me that he is short even shorter that winry, but sometime along the series when every mystery was slowly being uncovered the joke stopped and I didn't even notice it. But the moment when Winry and Ed had a conversation, close up and I saw Ed taller than Winry was a fckn great because that scene basically a slow payoff of what Ed has been through, his development as a character, his matureness, everything. It reminded how much Ed changed since the first ep.
it’s also called attention to because there is an actual reason Ed is so short: he’s keeping his brother alive with his nutrients and his sleep. We don’t see much of the sleep, so we have to see him being short being made a deal as a hint towards what’s going on with his brother.
@@karlatran9316 This is mainly the problem that I felt having to watch Asta being extremely annoying in Black Clover. I think, having to account for how comedy/character quirks are translated to anime form is the most difficult thing to get right in adaptations.
About the joke, I kinda like how they handle it on some point. The package of Ed being short, Ed hates milk, and Al's body is to big to fit in small place; were use as catalyst for more serious tone in episode 9. Ed didn't want to drink his milk, Al suggest Ed to drink it if he want to grow, Ed jokingly said Al have it easy because he is so big, Al snaps and said he didn't ask for that kind of body.
The first episode of fmab is all filler. It was used because it was assumed that a lot of people watched the 2003 series. The first few episodes of 2003 are a lot stronger than brotherhood
The 1st episode of Brotherhood is amazing.
@@snowman9631 I agree but i can see why epople who didnt see the original wouldnt like it.
Gintama did the same thing lol. The only detriment the two greatest anime have is having their first episodes being filler lol. At least the FMAB pilot was entertaining 😭
I'm dubious when people say the original FMA anime had the better beginning because they must be saying it with rose-tinted glasses on. People forget that there's actually a lot of painful filler that actually contradicts the intended characterisations of a lot of the cast that you have to sit through to get to the overarching story, (which wasn't written with as much foresight to the extent of the manga/Brotherhood's overarching story). In terms of anime adaptations, 03 FMA had the better first three initial episodes but I way prefer Brotherhood from episodes 4 onwards.
@@karlatran9316 some of the early stories like doggo is rushed in Brotherhood, FMA actually gets you more attached to the kid
They assume you watched the classic FMA
He should, considering he says the darker stuff are his favourite part, and how he disliked the cheesy ending of the priest arc, or how he thinks the comedy is too much, I wouldn't be surprised if ends up liking it more
The show does a perfectly fine job of introducing the characters lol. Trash Taste was just confused by the use of In Media Res.
@@Invus1 They really don't. Even back in 2010 or whenever when I watched the show, everybody said that you were supposed to watch the first few episodes of the original FMA. They jump into Brotherhood assuming you already kinda know the characters
For as much as FMA Brotherhood deserves it's credit. The OG FMA genuinely handles the first part better. Like both are products of their time, but Brotherhood feels like it's hitting spark notes to just get through the first bit just to get it out of the way. That episode with Tucker in brotherhood was 2 in the original, and the impact was doubled for it.
That mixed start has always been the hangup I have with the general consensus that FMAB is the GOAT.
Sadly, the biggest weakness of FMA: Brotherhood is that it assumed you watched the first anime, so it rushes a lot of the beginning. The two animes don't diverge from each other until about episode ~23.
It actually doesn’t assume that, it literally just follows the manga 1:1. The problem is everyone saw the original fma and thought it was a lot better at the beginning, so now everyone compares the two
Edit: I was mistaken about it being 1:1 to the manga, HOWEVER my second point still stands. The directors of brotherhood have went on to state they did NOT assume the audience saw 2003
No, episode 14 is about when it diverges.
@@sophiadebar382 It doesn't perfectly it cuts out the coal town arc and has the characters in those few episodes appear later, its not that important at all though but there is some cut stuff. Though I do think it doesn't assume you watched the first as it does work on its own, though I wll say episode 1 is just dumb filler.
@@sophiadebar382 but isn’t it still worse than the manga? I honestly feel like the first half of the show feels like it’s paced differently from the ladder half
@@sophiadebar382 The manga literally begins with Liore, not the ice alchemist. Then the manga follows that with the downfall of Yoki in the mining town, something brotherhood skipped completely. I agree that Brotherhood overall follow the manga, but it does rush the beginning arks for whatever reason.
Not gonna lie, FMAB’s first episode is still strong and one of my favorite first episodes.
Sometimes a story doesn’t have to begin with introductions.
It’s like being introduced to a friend group, everyone else already knows each other, but you start learning their dynamic and stories bit by bit.
That’s a fair point to bring up and I can’t deny that it “works” in introducing the world, a bit of how alchemy works, and introducing Ed and Al. However, what aggravates me the most about the first episode is that not only does the show expect you to fully digest a good chunk of the ensemble cast in addition to the Elric brothers (especially with the approach that the show assumes you saw the first FMA anime already), but it retroactively diminishes some reveals that were better executed or had a bigger impact in both the first anime and the original manga.
It's basically "In Media Res" and it's a well known writing technique to create future suspense and generate interest before they start building up to the more satisfying parts. Its kinda strange that it was received poorly here.
@@Invus1 SPOILERS:
I feel that this episode fails with its execution because it’s an episode that is trying to allude to what the conflict will be and some of the big mysteries of the narrative, rather than spend that time affectively introducing audiences to the characters and the world, leading to all of these eventual reveals to feel a tad lack luster in comparison to how they were build up to overtime and progression in the manga.
The mystery with King Bradley feels heavy handed in the portrayal of alluding a more sinister side to him, affectively diminishing the meticulous build up to the reveal of his allegiance with Father and the Homunculi.
Isaac McDougal is a tonally inconsistent antagonist that only exists to give the Elrics someone to fight and “attempt” to generate intrigue with the inner machinations of the military, but this was done much better with Hughes because he is a character we are given time to know and we see him able to put some of the pieces together based on key information from the Elrics and the similarity between the civil uprising in Liore and the war in Ishval before the Homunculi kill him for getting too close to the truth. Whether McDougal had come to a similar conclusion or if he was just disgusted with his time in Ishval is left completely vague and is only given small references later on during the Fort Briggs episodes, trying to play off his speech to Edward as an “aha” moment of clarity when this was more effectively portrayed when Mustang realizes that the members of the top brass are in on Father’s plan are possibly what Hughes tried to warn him about. He’s a pointless character that the anime tries to make important by playing up the “character that tries to stop the villain before everyone else is clued in” trope, but any significance this might’ve had is done much better with other characters and twists that were already in the manga and are still present in Brotherhood.
The reveal of Mustang’s weakness to water during the fight with Scar in the manga is impactful because it’s the first time we Mustang at a moment of weakness, which contrasts with how powerful and more put together he comes across as earlier on. Because we see it in this first episode, it makes that scene with Hawkeye chastising Mustang for forgetting that he can’t fight in the rain feel like a pointless inclusion instead of an important reveal of Mustang’s strengths/weaknesses like it should be.
I had already watched the original FMA before Brotherhood, so I hated that the first episode of FMAB was just filler
@@theassortedhobbyist kind of agree with the second thing, but completely disagree with the first. stories don't always show you the characters so you instantly memorize who they are, i've noticed plenty of mangas and animes who do that, and shonen fans who expect the show to explain you everything in the first episode
in FMAB, they just show you what a day in ed and al's life is. what family is this? idk but it looks cute and they love the brothers, which are now talking about what they'll do when they recover their bodies (already a perfect way for us to get invested), who is that fire dude and the blonde lady? idk but they're cool. anime often tries the same but often shows very little characters and they overly explain everything, so it feels very fake
this one draws you inside the plot without expecting you to remember anything, cause its just a taste of what they show will be, it really only wants you to remember the ice dude's lines about the government, and his final scenes of course, which is infortunate cause plenty of anime fans didn't pay attention to him and as the years go on, i've noticed its because people are too used to the first shonen villain being some stupid bum
I liked the short jokes and I love that THERE'S AN ACTUAL LORE REASON, fucking love the show
People tend to forget but ed being short IS part of the plot 3:42
This youtuber is having problem why fmab is introducing to me this character after watching 900 episodes of one piece what a hypocrite
The kid-dog thing was done WAY better in the original FMA anime, because it took like 3 episodes, and you get more attached. In Brotherhood it's all just one episode.
Exactly like the manga.
@@usernamefromhell again, the manga does it all in one chapter.
@@TheJiminatorHS idgaf, original FMA did it better
@@usernamefromhell it really didn't.
You don't need 3 episodes of lazing around to get to know them. I prefer efficient storytelling.
@@TheJiminatorHS Hard disagree, Brotherhood rushed through all the content it shared with the original FMA, the first 12 episodes of the original FMA are a better start, only after that does brotherhood actually improve on it.
The thing is, Brotherhood came out so soon after the OG series that it is assumed that viewers have seen it, ergo the main characters are familiar. Also, Lt. Yoki's OG series arc is omitted due to the same assumption.
I will say in 2017 I watched FMAB and it was the third anime series I had ever watched (excluding anime that aired on Cartoon Network as kids shows). As someone brand new to the series, I didn’t have any trouble following those first 14 episodes and what they were trying to convey, and they didn’t seem especially rushed to me.
I’m glad that Garnt has gotten to watching the First four episodes of FMA:Brotherhood. Looking forward to hearing his thoughts once he gets done with the whole thing.
Throughout the entire show, when a character is not being sincere or hiding at least some part of the truth, their eyes get hidden, either by the glasses fogging or some other way, and that happens with Shou Tucker in almost all of his scenes, it's really subtle, and ties in with the theme of eyes for the main antagonist and the truth personification beyond the gates.
I really hope Garnt actually ends up making a video on FMAB if he does complete it. I'm very certain he's gonna love the anime. Even putting my nostalgia aside, there's really not many anime that has left me as satisfied as this even throughout all of the years. 😁
Now I hope that Garnt doesn't ignore the 2003 anime just because he started with Brotherhood. Personally I even think the 2003 is slightly better, but it's close enough that it's basically a tie.
i havent seen it but doesnt it just end halfway thru with a filler ending cus the manga wasnt finished?
@@javier-qs2hd it does differ from the manga, but in this case the author and the studio decided from the begining that the anime would not stick too closely to the manga and have an original ending, because the manga had barely started at that point. Even in the begining there's a lot of anime original stuff in the begining compared to Brotherhood.
If you watched Brotherhood and enjoyed, then I think you should definetly watch the 2003 one. It might differ from the manga, and even though I prefer the 2003, I still think Brotherhood ending was better, but the 2003 anime is still a great show on it's own right.
@@diogomelo7897 fs ill give it a go.
i imagine its something like the hxh adaptions where the old one is generally worse with some really good parts
00:52 I agree, it's almost as if there already existed an entire anime about the characters that you should have watched beforehand.
This is why I always recommend for people to first watch the 2003 FMA animation and them watch FMA Brotherhood , Brotherhood was made with the assumption that you already watched the 2003 version, even if they diverge mid way through, they still complement each other.
Should've watched till Episode 5. That's really where you start to see a glimpse of the scale of FMAB.
I do hope Garnt does watch the original Fma too! Its my preferred choice and it offers a different yet amazing alternate story.
Did know one tell any of them to watch the og FMA till Hughes is introduced then swap to Brotherhood?
The outing of the priest is done in spectacular fashion in the og FMA anime and a good chunk of the 1st 1/4 of brotherhood is a recap/retelling of character intros
We’ll need an update once you finish FMA !!!
Considering Garnt likes when it’s more serious and darker in tone maybe he should have started with 2003 first then brotherhood later
FMAB 300% assumes that every viewer had already seen FMA 2003. It just dumps you straight into it because in 2012 they couldn't fathom that people hadn't seen the 03 adaptation i guess
Title : FMA
Content : FMA:B
Reported for clickbait
This is why i say watch 2003 first then brotherhood. Since they are vastly different ill say the fma 2003 was very dark compared to the brotherhood series. The darker parts was way more developed in the 2003 with a bittersweet ending, idk why but i think they purposely rushed those parts sincd they assumed you watched 2003.
FMA 2003 is great, and everyone who has time should watch both(first 2003) one. 2003 is more emotional and impactful, goes off on a very unique concept and enhances the experience of watching Brotherhood.
I just saw this! Thanks for the shout out/ sharing guys! You are great!!
I was told that the first episode of brotherhood wasn't even in the manga.
yep! the manga starts out much better
yea it’s not, it starts off the same way the original anime starts
It's not, the first chapter in the manga is Liore (episode 3).
That's why in episode 3 they keep repeating that he's "the fullmetal alchemist" over and over
Honestly, the first episode is filler, but in my opinion is a great cold opening to the series, and upon rewatch there's a bunch of different things you can gleam from it.
I agree, overall I don't like the first episode but there's actually a bunch of foreshadowing in it that you can't catch on your first rewatch.
I disagree the first episode is so fucking bad.
Well it's not filler but you do you, man. Filler =/= Original Content. Filler is often Original Content though.
Bro thanks for bringing up the weak episode 1 haha, I felt like I was nuts for thinking it was a patchy beginning. It hints at the plot that actually develops in the second episode, so there are maybe 30-40 seconds of useful info.
Unfortunately the first 13 episodes or so of brotherhood is just them speedrunning through the manga storylines that were already in the first series. Makes them feel rushed and less impactful by comparison
I’ve actually heard that it’s not that rushed, and is pretty faithful to the manga.
I had such a bad time watching until episode 30. Could not take it after that
@@thomasffrench3639 It's not faithful to the manga. The manga has some introductory side stories that occur just before the main, overarching story starts to unfold that FMAB cut out entirely. That might explain the less-defined characterisation initially and pacing inconsistencies.
@@thomasffrench3639 its very faithful to the manga, but there is one side story cut (the coal miners).
Besides that and the first episode being anime only, it's pretty much 1-1.
Literally just no, the pacing on those episodes was actually amazing and most had really good emotional impact! You make it sound like they cut corners to shorten those and get to the gist but that couldn't be farther from the truth! I watched the first twenty or so episodes of FMA before I switched to FMAB and I felt they were at times a little slow (tho still pretty good), I think Brotherhood found the emotional core to a lot of those first episodes and centered the stuff that meaningfully adds to it.
I feel like when they made FMA Brotherhood they expected you to have seen the original.
The only thing lacking from Brotherhood is that they kept the short jokes but didn't keep the part where Roy Mustang shouts "When I'm fuhrer, all female officers will be required to wear TINY MINISKIRTS!"
says a lot about society
I wouldn't mind seeing General Olivier Armstrong wearing miniskirt
I swear he said that. Or was it just in the first anime?
What makes it even more ironic is that Brotherhood does keep a gag at the very end that references said joke despite not having adapted it
@@Ash_Wen-liHe did. He totally did. It was my favorite line from FMA ‘03 , too. 😂
I can’t wait to see what he thinks of the homunculus
People think the first episode of FMAB is filler until you realize that the ice guy was *100% correct* in what he was doing and why, and you won’t have that realization until like, fifty episodes in.
He was filler because he was never in the manga my guy...🤨😑
@@Thatman615 filler content is often categorized by material that has zero impact on the plot for the viewer, therefore being a waste of time - the first episode isn’t that, it’s literally setting the viewer up to know that something is extremely wrong with the nation of Amestris, and that there’s a secret plot that only the most senior military staff knows about. the show’s creators made a one-off episode for the sake of legitimately impactful foreshadowing for the main plot, which is completely different than filler that only serves to pad a series for time waiting for the manga to catch enough plot distance to resume the main storyline.
I’m glad I could teach you the difference.
@@Thatman615 I mean with that logic the entire story of fma 2003 is "filler" because it is fundemetally different from the manga and brotherhood.
Anime original content isn't necessarily always filler
@@Thatman615 No it's not called filler. It's called additional content. Filler is an episode that has no impact on anything.
@@yeetkunedo MY bad. I'm so used to skipping filler episodes in stuff like bleach, one piece, and naruto. I forgot about the difference between anime original content that progresses the plot in a meaningful way. Filler content tends to not do that at all. It's just that I prefer how 03 and the manga started, as brotherhoods beginning never sat well with me. Again, my mistake.
We definitely need an update when he finishes fmab. He's gonna love Hughes, Mustang and the Armstrong Family!
Bro will watch 10,000 isekais and moe animes but hasn't seen FMA 💀
chances are those 10000 isekai are better than FMA
Seinen is better than Shonen tho
@@Ruicyte biggest copium
@@Ruicyte there isn't even 1 isekai that's well written
@@Grifffffith You're right, but even a 5/10 beats a 2/10
the point of the short jokes isn't "hah, he's short" but to characterise ed himself, as he begins the story as somewhat immature and irrational despite his intelligence, but over the story grows up both metaphorically and literally, and even gets drawn taller as the series progresses.
they also literally have a plot reason why he's short. it's fucking 12/10 genius characterization. How many times does a dumb gag that constantly shows up actually play into the actual plot resolution of the final arc?
Him being short is how he figures out that his body has been "feeding" Als' in the alternate realm. And its his best bet to believing that Al can be saved, which later gets confirmed.
Its so goddamn brilliant that Hiromu tied this bad gag to the biggest moment in the series.
huh you know what I actually never thought of it that way
Glad this comment thread is here cause the short joke was actually necessary. It's not really a "joke" but a foreshadowing/character development combo that no one sees coming and even fans miss
It's funny how they have a problem with the short jokes and actually consider it a genuine critique of the show😂
Meanwhile HxH has a literal pedo clown getting horny over kids which is also there for comedy.
At least with FMAB it's actually there for a reason to show character growth (both literally and metaphorically like you said)
I get if they personally don't find the short jokes funny (I actually do find them funny) but to act like it's a product of its time and would get flamed today is crazy
Had to stop watching after that segment cus they were spouting straight bs😂
Yeah but it was a quick one panel gag that overstayed it's welcome in the anime. It's just poor adaptation.
When I first watched FMA: Brotherhood, I was binge-watching the original and Crunchyroll decided the next episode of the show was episode 1 of Brotherhood. I had no idea I just started a different series and was so confused at first.
in the brazilian dub, this short Ed joke is fun as fuck, idk what youre talking about ngl, his reactions are incredible
The reason why Brotherhood's first 12-ish episodes feel so weak compared to the rest of the series is because Bones already adapted that part in 2003, more or less. For example: the Nina stuff was 2 episodes instead of just one. The studio made Brotherhood with already existing fans in mind.
Definitely explains why the emotional aspects never hit when compared to the 2003 series.
The extra Nina stuff in FMA 03 is filler, so incorrect. FMAB is manga-accurate.
@@willfanofmanyii3751doesn't make it better. FMA 2003 is a masterpiece. FMAB pales in comparison
@@susbedo9258 I bet you read a lot of stupid gay fan fics as well. pleb.
@@willfanofmanyii3751
FMAB is not as manga accurate as everyone says it is. Like the mining town stuff is gone until a flashback joke way later on.
Joey needs to learn the difference between something not aging well and just being a flaw. It’s so annoying to see “it hasn’t aged well” when it just wasn’t good in the first place. Gundam is just straight up still good, which shows that age doesn’t matter for anime.
True. Sometimes you gotta see it for how good it was at the time, and sometimes it was just straight up bad lol
Yeah, 'it hasn't aged well' just makes sense for things like troupes or stories that were reliant on what people experienced in that time
It's basically a buzz word now
Gundam aged poorly because NASA can't even land a person on the moon anymore and the ISS is going to be dead soon
@@ShotterGames I don’t even think tropes, I think it’s more context and general knowledge of the time.
Good job Garnt way to give FMAB more of a chance than Joey with Arcane👍🏻
Fmab assumes you've seen fma and speed runs to the fifth lab.
I never watched the anime, but I read it from start to finish in middle school. Full alchemist was well done, I really should revisit it some day. I also loved the little notes the author would leave at the end of every book.
Brotherhoods first episode is a shocker but ive always loved it
Watching the first 4 episodes... that's it?
Also, plenty of great anime have corny parts. FMA joking about Ed's height was never funny, but there's far more cringey stuff in tons of anime, and we don't hold it against them 😆
we usually do hold it against them tho
The reason it's bad is because we have a direct comparison in FMA 2003. It handles it infinitely better. Pretty much everything the two have in common, 03 does better.
@@Eeeeerisssss False, lol, FMA 03's first 4 episodes are dragged out and already contain filler.
@@willfanofmanyii3751 "Dragged out"? Lol maybe if you are used to the rushed pace of FMAB, but 03 is the perfect pacing, and the whole Liore story is miles better than what's in FMA:B, In terms of theming I even think some alterations were better than in the Manga.
Cringe comedy is the entire reason I almost dropped JJK and Demon Slayer.
I havent been keeping up with TT but this brought me back. About god damn time Garnt!
The beginning of FMA is better than brotherhood.
The short jokes are needed. It really highlights how inspirational Ed is. He overcomes his disabillity of being a short dude, by the end of the journey 😂
I recall back in the days of AZ top 10 videos we used to make fun of him for this. End of an era.
I really enjoyed how the og FMA started with their childhood, idk how the manga handles it I still owe that a read, and yes i preffer brotherhood cause they stick to the cannon but the begging... yea I miss the childhood beggining...
4:02 All of Lucky Star explained right here.
The mom scene as a kid legit freaked me out and gave me, if not nightmares then at least, made me creeped out and paranoid.
Ed being short is hilarious if you drink your Milk. - A guy who's 6'3
Joking about Ed being short is more than just a comedic relief for viewers or maybe doesn't even meant to be it at all. It's Ed's genuine characterization, characters in the story are aware of it outside of comedic relief and even hypothesize why he is so short, and also eat/sleep for two.
And that's the case for most of comedic relief in this series or so I think.
Can't lie. The running gag of Garnt not seeing Brotherhood actually made me to watch the show. I'm on like episode 30 or smth and... isn't it like not that great as many people say it is? Am I crazy? There are just so many things about the show that doesn't add up. Like the whole character of Ling up to this point being practically non-existent. Well, he's like bro i wanna be immortal and imma eat your food and for some reason imma help you despite all of you not really doing anything from me. And the dialogue is not subtle and so clanky. They be telling you their whole worldview in the most blatant possible way. Like that time Ed was just sitting on stairs after the "dog" accident and just screaming "what are we? Humans???!!" like bro that's just goofy. And could you tell me plz how tf is Scar survived up to this point. He's not even trying to be stealthy, he's fricking walking straight up in day light maybe with a good max, flighting alchemist in open and having all of homunculi on his throut...
Now, i'm not saying it's mid but... Is it 10/10?
if he purely liked the dark stuff he will definitely love it a ton as it goes on
"He ain't locking in, he's 10 years old"
Episode 1 is like a prologue of a book
They weren't trying to make another of their mother, they were trying to resurrect her. Big difference.
FMA Brotherhood doesn't become the masterpiece I think it is until the main story kicks in. Setup episodes are just an appetizer.
Episode 1 hits harder after reaching the finale
"ed and alphonse doing a big no-no trying to make a human" is about the worst way you can explain it
So when is the FMAB dissertation coming out Garnt ?
ed being short is a joke but that also comes later where he grows as hieght wise and as character wise.
everything is tie up very very good in FMAB .
I can't stand the gag moments when ed's artstyle switches to bellsprout mode. Brotherhood has the worst tonal whiplash at times
Artstyle change Ed bad
Chibi Al good
@@Orengi-kun this is objectively true
Well… IT’S ABOUT FUCKING TIME! 🤦♂️😆
Yeah, Brotherhood expects you to have already watched the 2003 anime, because it came out so close to it. So the first several episodes are kinda rough, because they're re-hashing plots from the first arcs of the 2003 anime.
I feel like people forget how dark the original was imif i remember correctly the girl from ep. 3 that Ed and Al help in the later episodes its hinted at that she was assaulted and it was so bad she didnt want to talk at all
The series does assume that u know everyone cause they believe you watched the 2003 one
i personally hate the first 2 episodes of FMAB. i wish they just followed the manga man. the metal arm reveal is so much cooler there, instead we get it twice in brotherhood and both times it kinda feels outta place. the second time against the chimera feels weird cuz they show it as if its some reveal (which its supposed to fckn be) but we’ve already seen the exact set up for this literally a fee episodes ago.
the powerscaling of FMAB is top notch.
they didnt make fmaB as a stand alone show. they expected you to see fma 03. thats why the first 20-30 ep were turned into like 8
No they didnt. The show stands strong on its own.
And even with it being so fast paced they still cry that it’s monster of the week. People today got TikTok adhd brain all pay off no set up. Not sure why they didn’t love game of thrones final season with all the fast moving plot lol. Also monster of the week is good for starting series. Serialized stuff used to not be as popular I we all missed eps and would be lost. No binging as much.
You really have to watch the first half of the original FMA anime up to episode 25; then you start watching FMA:B
We can still clown on him for not having watched original FMA
"The priest getting exposed by being broadcast to the entire town is so mid-00's."
Meanwhile in every Discord on the Internet:
I never thought the day would come 👀
I want to hear his reaction on the Ishal war conflict. 😨
The beginning of Brotherhood is why I will always tell people it is objectively better to watch 2003 first and then watch Brotherhood. Because all the shared twists are a million times better in the original, the characters are generally better, and Brotherhood assumes you’ve seen 2003 which is why the first quarter of Brotherhood moves super quickly and skips a bunch of stuff and characters just pop into the story very rushed (Yoki for example literally has no introduction, he just shows up later in the show with a grudge against the Elrics from a thing that never gets shown in Brotherhood because that side adventure was shown in 2003).
The rushed nature of the first part of Brotherhood is why some of the twists are so much worse. The thing with the Tuckers gets way less build up, is foreshadowed way too heavily, happens to characters we’ve only known for like one episode before this and Ed and Al have only known a few days, and Ed only gets told later what happened to Nina Alexander without ever seeing her again. Likewise Hughes doesn’t even get an intro in Brotherhood, he just pops into the room and just like that is now part of the story.
Whereas in 2003 Ed and Al spend months at the Tucker estate, across I think 4-5 episodes, Nina is present when Ed passes the State Alchemist Exam and when Ed and Al help Hughes’ wife give birth which is also the first time Ed does Alchemy without a transmutation circle, and Ed actually is the first to discover the aftermath of Nina Alexander finding Scar. Likewise in 2003 there’s a whole train hostage episode to introduce Hughes and have him meet Ed and Al and show off his knife skills, his investigation into the conspiracy is built up over a longer time, he is present in a lot more episodes, he plays much more of a father figure role in Ed and Al’s life, and there’s a lot more drama around what happens to him because the brothers are intentionally kept out of the loop for a long time so they’re way angrier when they find out and the other characters struggle with not telling them.
I’ve always argued Brotherhood is the better anime but 2003 is the better Fullmetal Alchemist. And while I absolutely acknowledge that’s a debatable opinion, I would say it’s a borderline fact that 2003 just has a better first quarter because it takes its time and doesn’t rush anything and gives everyone actual introductions and builds up the twists way more. Also personal note, the English dub of 2003 is probably the best English dub of all time (in part because they cast actual kids to play the kid characters which adds a lot of authenticity), and specifically a certain funeral scene in the English dub is genuinely the saddest anime scene I’ve ever watched largely because the child actress playing the little girl gives the most genuine performance I’ve ever heard of something like this.
There's a lot of inaccurate statements you made.
Many people overstate how much time the original FMA spent on the Nina/Tucker plot because they probably forgot. FMA 03 was actually two episodes, not the 4-5 episodes you were saying while Brotherhood was one episode. And the 2003 anime actually put more clues into the reveal than Brotherhood did which made the reveal less shocking. In the episode that Tucker was introduced in 03, we are told a record of his shady government expenses and that he's in the centre of an investigation that lets you know that he's up to something. Though we are introduced to Nina an episode before, I still think the impact is the same in both anime. And I watched both animes as an adult with no nostalgia goggles on.
And Hughes did not just suddenly pop up in Brotherhood one day just to be killed. If you rewatch Brotherhood, he actually appears in every episode right until the episode where he dies. The show-runners wanted to squeeze in as much screen as possible. The impact of him as a character is debatable as the original anime might have him be more involved in filler plot points so you're more used to seeing him by exposure, but he did not suddenly pop-up out of nowhere in Brotherhood.
03 definitely has the leg-up on the first three episodes but from episodes 4 onwards, I way prefer Brotherhood. That's because everyone forgets that the original anime put in a bunch of really painful, non-canon filler that actually contradicts a lot of the intended characterisations of a lot of the cast. So even though the 03 cast are involved in more filler, 'monster of the week' side stories, I way prefer the characterisations of Brotherhood/manga.
@@karlatran9316 The amount of episodes isn't really my concern. The fact of the matter is in Brotherhood Ed and Al are only implied to have been with the Tuckers for a few days at most. Whereas in 2003 we are shown the season change and we know it was at minimum several weeks if not a couple months of them being there.
Likewise Nina was present for several important moments in Ed's life like passing the state alchemist exam, helping birth Hughes' daugher, and Ed doing alchemy without a transmutation circle for the first time (which is another thing in Brotherhood they just entirely skip and the first time we see it in the timeline Ed already knows he can do it so its just Al being surprised by it but Ed is unphased because assumedly he was already doing it off screen by then). So Nina is a lot more present of a figure in the brothers' life and thus it makes her a more emotionally important person to Ed and Al than just this girl they've kinda lived with for a couple days. And even only being 2 episodes, it still means Nina and Alexander have almost double the screentime in 2003 that they had in Brotherhood.
And I also want to note that the foreshadowing in 2003 for Tucker is just way better. In Brotherhood there's zero ambiguity, it's really obvious Tucker is secretly a bad guy. Whereas in 2003 yes there are MORE hints, but the hints are a lot more subtle and less in your face. There's never a point where anything actually frames Tucker as being a bad guy, just that SOMETHING is not right. But in Brotherhood they literally have a scene of him standing alone in a room with a dark expression being bathed in deep red light with his glasses doing the glow thing, just so there's zero chance you don't realize ahead of time he's evil.
This all isn't even to mention the fact that the emotional weight of Ed just being told later that Scar killed Nina Alexander is way less impactful than Ed literally finding her exploded imprint mere minutes after she died. It's also just a better scene for Scar because in Brotherhood he's way colder about it and the scene is really short, and it just reinforces a mentality he already had so it doesn't change him. Whereas in 2003 Scar is a lot kinder and more sympathetic, and this moment is the moment he realizes his purpose and transitions into the cold blooded killer we know him as.
And I gotta hard disagree that it's only the first few episodes that 2003 has the leg up on. The entire first quarter is just better when you account for the actual introduction of Hughes (I didn't say Hughes just popped in to die, I said he just popped in, which is literally true, he just pops into the hospital room like "Hey I'm Hughes" and that's his entire intro and then he's just around with much less screen time than in 2003 and then dies earlier in Brotherhood than in 2003), the larger presence of Hughes in the story and as a father figure and the more build up of his investigation, the more characterization we get for the characters in Central, the extremely great characterization moment for Ed with his confrontation with Barry the Butcher BEFORE the Lab 5 episodes, the better Liore stuff, the setting up of side characters for later in the story, way more world-building, a just better Lab 5 sequence as a whole, a better setup and build up of Scar as a character, a way better Tucker family build up execution and conclusion, a better state alchemist exam, NOT spoiling the reveal of Bradley, more flashbacks about Ed and Al's mother, Ed and Mustang dueling, Hughes being a generally more likeable character as well as more scenes building up him and Mustang's relationship, Ed and Al just being younger in this version making all the "its bad we're making kids deal with this stuff" commentary feel more appropriate, Winry is also present more and is there for more notable moments with Ed, there's more build up and investigation into the Philosopher Stone, they actually discuss the rules of Alchemy in terms of laws and practices, and I could go on.
I can confidently say the entire first portion of FMA is better in 2003 than Brotherhood. And even though I'll agree there were issues with the filler, I think you are majorly overselling how bad it was, in fact most of the filler was either decent or actually good, and a lot of the filler wasn't entirely filler because it either added information that informed Ed and Al's decisions later on or did help build up the world of FMA and the way everything worked.
I think you have the impression I have nostalgia for one and not the other. I watched 2003 and Brotherhood back to back in 2015 when I was a teenager. I have rewatched FMA 3 times, and I when I do that I rewatch them both back to back so I've seen both of them an equal amount of time. I already knew people liked Brotherhood the most so I went into both assuming and expecting Brotherhood would be better. I have nothing to make me more connected to one than the other beyond I just watched 2003 first, which is the case for most people who were watching Brotherhood when it came out.
@@gryph0n55 I actually don't like a lot of the scenes in the first portion of the 03 anime that you pointed out as being great. Especially Barry the Chopper and Winry which are two characters they butchered. The changes they made to Barry missed the whole point of him in the plot because he's supposed to make Al wonder if he was Ed's creation and not his brother. But 03 Al had already met Barry when he had a body so why would he question if he was Ed's creation when he knows that Barry had a body at one point. And Winry in 03 was put through a lot of unnecessary melodrama with Al and Ed in episodes with contrived conflict that feel like emotional regression for everyone involved. Winry in general is better characterised in BH/manga. Early on, she's established as being a caring and grounded force for Ed but also independent and driven with her career in Rush Valley as a mechanic. In 03, her characterisation definitely plays into the generic, stock character of a love-interest that waits for you back home and doesn't really have a defined life and interests outside of being Ed's personal mechanic. Of course, Winry in BH/manga is also prepared to go through hell to help Ed and Al but she makes it a point that she has a responsibility for countless people she must care for besides the Elric brothers. Not to mention the many times she plays more into a damsel in distress in the non-canon filler in 03 FMA.
The rules of alchemy are actually more stringent and stable in BH/manga and doesn't actually break any of the limitations established from the beginning. 03 runs into problems where they show unexplainable stuff that alchemy is able to do. As a power system, it's more consistent in BH/manga.
Though Hughes isn't as involved as much at the beginning of Brotherhood until he gets killed off, his death is utilised better as a motivator for Mustang's revenge as Mustang repeatedly harkens back to the murder of his friend in multiple flashbacks so we are made aware of his rising emotions throughout the series that finally hit a breaking point when he confronts Envy. In 03, they don't really mention Hughes at all after his death and Mustang doesn't do much to get payback for him. Also in general his plans for the country aren't explored enough and his intention to stand for his crimes gets even less mention. In contrast, through Brotherhood's clever use of flashbacks, I actually think that the relationship between Mustang and Hughes is conveyed as being closer because it shows that Mustang continually thinks about his dead friend and positions his revenge as one of his main goals. Also having Hughes in the Ishval flashbacks actually draws attention to the fact that even he was complicit in war crimes, whereas 03 doesn't highlight that which makes him appear more saintly and one-dimensional.
Cases like Bradley and Scar's characterisation being different in between the two versions are only because both anime are aiming for different characters. So it isn't appropriate to compare them in the same way. Bradley being villainous isn't a bad thing, (and even then I'd argue there's some guessing room left as to where his true intentions lie), because he gets outed as a homunculous early in episode 14 and has an antagonising role in the plot onwards. And Scar being a hardened force of revenge at the beginning works because his arc is him becoming softer as the show progresses, whereas 03 is sort of the inverse of that.
FMA 03 has a better world building at the beginning. FMAB will always feel better if you watched the original, but its obviously still great on its own. But there's a bunch of characters that literally are from 03, and Brotherhood asumes you knew them and their backstories.
@@karlatran9316 2003 doesn't have filler that contradicts the characters it was planned to be a completely different narrative from the start, even from as early as episode 3, the truth in 2003 builds up to it's ending instead of ed meeting the truth like in brotherhood.
Calling a story that uses the ground work of the beginning of the manga to create it's own thing "filler" is extremely unfair to how much passion was put into the story of 2003. it's just not even the same show. pretty much every character in it is completely different from their brotherhood or manga version.
Some of which are definitely for the better, the lust of 2003 one of the most interesting and well developed characters in the show, while in brotherhood, she was basically just a plot device.
Listen man. I'd rather have a slow start instead of a boring ending. We don't talk about the slow start because it's already amazing to make up for it. Just like how Adventure time started off slow and silly it started getting more serious but interesting.
Adventure Time definitely didn't start off slow 😂
And neither did FMAB
@@emondadon I guess it depends on how you view it. Like for the first season of Adventure Time it was just wakey adventures with some episodes taking importance until Season 3-4. But it also started with a frickin Zombie apocalypse and candy cannibalism.
The clowning is over!
I'm surprised Grant had such little understanding about the second episode. Calling God "some kid" Ed meets when he clearly introduced himself by many titles.
I would honestly say that the comedy in the show really takes away a lot of impact there’s a lot of it.
Cant wait to see his opinions on the rest of the show, specially the ishval war
he should have seen the original FMA to watch Brotherhood
But then it'd be 10 years later and he'd say "I finally watched 55 episodes of FMA"
I never thought I'd see the day.
FMAB has some problems with it’s early pacing
First scene of FMA (first serie) is worth watching to compare, much more dark too
No one explained the whole thing where FMAB assumed you watched FMA…. It skipped some stuff to streamline it. If you watch FMA then brotherhood is WAY better. But it stands great alone as well.
I think square was the one who wanted a shonen story for their manga magazine
I'm still scarred by Ep. 4
If you pay attention you can spot Scar from FMA in other Studio Bones stuff, like I've seen Scar in crowd shots in MHA.
FMA:B assumes you've seen the '03 version
The first episode of Brotherhood is actually filler, so it could even be skipped and nothing is missed. In fact, a friend of mine always skips it because he doesn’t like the way it brings up certain elements that are more naturally brought up later.
EPISODE 1 IS A LITERAL COLD OPEN. THAT'S ALL GARNT.
Where does Garnt get his shirts from?
Question: why did Garnt watch FMAB before OG FMA?