r/The10thDentist • u/sexyimmigrant1998 • 19h ago
TV/Movies/Fiction Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the single most overrated anime of all time
HOW does this get hyped as one of the GOATs of all anime?! I don't understand!
It's a good show and well-done battle shounen, but that's all it is. I would've hated anime if this was representative of all anime. People are free to like it because art is subjective, but I hate that it always gets named as the perfect starter anime when it fucking SUCKS as a starter anime.
It's great as a starter anime if you know the audience member likes action and battle shounen. Otherwise, it's so mid.
FMAB is an anime that plays it safe and pulls its punches at all costs. The start of the original 2003 series, at least the start, does a far better job at connecting you to the characters and focusing on their psyches and the philosophical and psychological ramifications of the dark themes the story explores. It's not as manga-accurate as FMAB, but it does so much of a better job of making your care about the characters.
FMAB, like I said, is a well-done battle shounen, but that's what it specializes in. It's all about the action and the optimism and the power of brotherhood and friendship. It doesn't care to dive deep into the dark subject matter it explores. War, genocide, human rights violations, etc. are all major themes and concepts in the series, but FMAB loves to wrap things up nicely with a bow and cut to the action and then the comedy.
I vastly respect anime and all works of fiction that incorporate a vast range of genres and emotions. I like when things oscillate between light and dark. Sometimes a story calls for fucked up and depressing, other times it calls for fun and light-hearted. I like when a work can do both. FMAB is not one of those works. The show and manga (FMAB is more accurate to the manga than the original 2003 manga interpretation, which deviates in plot) largely wants to keep an optimistic, happy-go-lucky fun action story going. That's great, except you can't possibly tackle the dark subjects like genocide and do it justice while forcing everything to remain light-hearted. It just does a disservice to the work and all the ideas!
Take the very infamous Shou Tucker arc. Shou and his daughter Nina only are featured in a single, rushed episode in FMAB, but in FMA, they're featured in 2 and integrated into the main story before their arc is concluded. In FMA, you're given the time to bond with them and care about them, especially Nina, as Ed takes the exam, before all hell breaks loose. FMAB rushes through this then forgets about it, then gets praised for being so deep and impactful when it skips over all the good storytelling and psychological depth in favor of forgettable boring shounen action.
People are free to like FMAB, as all art is subjective. It just kind of annoys me that this basic battle shounen gets exalted as one of the anime greats and "gateway anime" when it's so far from that. There are so so so many more impactful, deeper anime, and also so many more entertaining, happy fun anime. FMAB is in a sour spot and bored the hell out of me. It was one of the first anime I ever watched and it was so forgettable, yet it's constantly being recommended to those interested in anime. If it was the first anime I watched and advertised as representative of the medium, I would've thought the medium was shallow and only cared about action. The contrast is even starker considering that its 2003 precessor was infinitely more interesting!
EDIT: Sorry that was a drunk rant^ lol but I do largely mean it
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u/BabyGirl-Kat 19h ago edited 19h ago
It’s considered one of the GOATs because it has extremely broad appeal and a ton of likeable characters.
Plus, it didn’t drag on and on like most mainstream shounen anime, so it’s easy to recommend to people.
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u/Clean_Cobbler_3438 19h ago
Also grappled with dark themes w/o just being super fucking edgy, which many "dark" shounen are super fucking guilty of
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u/Salvage570 19h ago
It's a battle shonen that doesn't stop every once and awhile to violently sexually harass teenagers as a joke so that alone puts it above MHA by a country mile
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u/whocanduncan 17h ago
So that's kinda normal? I'm only recently new to anime so I started with the hits. FMAB then AoT and now Naruto. So I was quite surprised to see Naruto get molested by Kakashi.
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u/Salvage570 17h ago
Buddy it gets worse just in that show alone, you've not met the actual sex offender mentor yet. I have to very specifically look for anime that doesn't do that. An easy way is to look for things where most of or all of the characters are adults. Beebop, Darker than black, vinland, dungeon meshi, and edgerunners are some good examples of that
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u/Astecheee 14h ago
Did you ever watch or hear about Made in Abyss?
I was suspicious from the first episode but it just kept getting worse and worse.
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u/CptDecaf 16h ago
Edgerunners though? Didn't the animators pitch a fit when CDPR asked them to make Rebecca look older and they said, "the loli stays".
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u/BunnyOppai 15h ago
I mean... I'd argue that Rebecca is one of the few anime characters that actually looks like a petite woman, lol.
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u/Salvage570 16h ago
She has the same build as my adult sister, acts like an adult and by the end has arms that make her barely human. She doesn't bother me like a real loli does, the "im 800 years old ignore how i look and act 8" shit is much creepier than the petite woman who acts like an adult woman imo
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u/flaming_burrito_ 17h ago
You happened to watch 2 of like maybe a handful of popular anime series where that doesn’t happen tbh. Have you gotten to Jiraiya yet? He’s problematic as shit, which is unfortunate because he’s also one of the best characters besides that aspect.
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u/whocanduncan 1h ago
I have. But you can have a character be a creep and without endorsing it. So having the other characters call him out on it, at least so far, is fine for me, even though 8ts played for laughs too much.
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u/flaming_burrito_ 1h ago
Fair, it’s also just a classic Japanese character trope that pops up in a lot of their media. The old perv or drunk who actually turns out to be a super wise and powerful warrior. And Naruto uses a lot of themes from classic Japanese folklore for their characters
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u/kaiserschlacht8 18h ago
Probably because it was written by a woman
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u/Salvage570 18h ago
Tbf there's manga written by women with that kinda shit in it, but that probably helped yeah
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u/Zibai1505 15h ago
Brother in the world of manga, being written by a woman has zero effect on how sexy or chaste the content will be.
Anime/manga fans know how depraved content made by women can be.
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u/killmeplz13 15h ago
Lot of authors don't enjoy having to ruin their work with the shitty fan service but sadly the editors would force them to include it to market towards horny kids.
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u/Spare-Plum 7h ago
These are the reasons why it's considered one of the best
- Zero fat and zero filler. Every moment is important to the story. Every detail is important as well
- Layered, interwoven themes that thread through multiple characters and their arcs. The cycle of violence, creation of a human being, power within humanity (creating something more than the sum of their parts), power within alchemy (equivalent exchange), The Truth and all is one/one is all
- An incredibly in depth and tight nit magic system. Perhaps one of the most tight magic systems out there, where everything can be built with one additional axiom "all is one/one is all". It also does not explain the magic system to you, it's discovered as you journey with the characters. To completely understand how everything in the magic system works you even need to do research on IRL alchemists and the kabbalah - and every single detail can be worked out from this.
- The very existence of the power system/The Truth informs the entire plot from start to finish. Everything was laid out to you from the beginning, but you need to discover how it works. What Dr. Marcoh said is also addressing the audience "In time perhaps you'll learn the truth within the truth, and perhaps even beyond that"
- Just extremely great characters. Every character is extremely rational like watching a chess match play out and coming to a head. There is nothing contrived, no characters moving the plot along via stupidity.
Does it have some issues that I think could be improved upon? Yes. But it scores perfect on several categories that it makes it top tier and one of the best fictional stories told in media.
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u/Spiritual-Alfalfa616 18h ago
it's all about the action and the optimism and the power of brotherhood
sigh
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u/Haggis442312 12h ago
When the show about enduring hardship as brothers is about enduring hardship as brothers.
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u/Sea-Recording-3909 7h ago
It’s about two brothers. One of them is full of something. Metal I think. And they’re alchemists.
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u/LiquifiedSpam 19h ago
Since when did people stop upvoting things they disagree with
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u/Clean_Cobbler_3438 19h ago
I suspect in this case it's because OP's takes all over the thread are so heinously bad it seems like they may be trolling lol
ETA: I did upvote because I strongly disagree
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 3h ago
I am not trolling lmao but thank you for the upvote!
I most certainly sounded unhinged though and extremely messy, I'm sure.
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u/BlastUpYourAss 18h ago
Lot of Shounen-heads these days like to hype up nothing but hype action scenes. Love that anime has become more mainstream, but sucks to see so many of these new fans start down the same shounen route when anime as a whole has so much to offer
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u/Spare-Plum 7h ago
Spoken like someone who never read the manga, saw '03 first and got attached so they can't fully compare or contrast
Take the very infamous Shou Tucker arc. Shou and his daughter Nina only are featured in a single, rushed episode in FMAB
Bro in the manga it's one short chapter, even shorter than the FMAB episode. It didn't "rush" for shit. FMA '03 added in a bunch of shit and completely rewrote everything.
If you're going for interesting and psychological, '03 basically falls flat on its face and comes off as edgy and forced. Let's look at Nina/Tucker in '03
- '03 rearranges the story so they're studying for the exam with Tucker. Why the hell Tucker? He's a specialist in bio-alchemy, all of his books are in bio-alchemy, he does zero field work and all research.
- The Elrics are the complete opposite. They're doing field work and combat. They use their environment to their advantage. They're not being tested on bio-alchemy
- Armstrong would have been an actual good pick for training. But no, they have to shoehorn this in. It's forced
- '03 adds in Basque Gran as the big bad guy. He knows about Tucker's past. He also runs lab 5 which has prisoners for experiments. He also shows up to Tucker's house with two gunmen and basically forces his arm into producing results
- This completely undermines all of Tucker's motivation. Why the hell is he giving a speech about scientific progress? He did it because two fucking gunmen showed up to his house and he was forced into it
- Why the hell is Basque Gran forcing him to transmute his daughter instead of just giving a prisoner that he has access to. It's like they just ran into contradictory plotlines without thinking ahead
- '03 extends the amount of hints about Tucker to the point where it's painfully obvious what is going to happen and it feels like Ed is just too incompetent to do anything about it
- They add in Nina talking about her mother never writing back
- They add in Nina making a drawing and Ed finding it half-burnt up, another major red flag
- They add in Al saying Tucker can just make another chimera and Tucker immediately being disgruntled
- They add in Ed going to the library to try and find out what's happening, but gets denied as the file was sealed by Basque Gran as a "military secret"
- They add in Hughes directly contradicting Tucker's timeline, making it painfully obvious at what happened. Rather than doing anything about it or saying anything to Hughes, he goes on a ride to an unrelated homicide case and then passes out
- Ed then gets booted from Tucker's mansion by the two gunmen and Gran threatens Tucker sometime in the afternoon.
- Rather than doing ANYTHING AT ALL or telling Mustang or raising an alarm, he waits until nightfall. Ed pretty much even states he knows what's going on, and he finds the chimera after having done NOTHING to prevent it despite the story bashing your head as to what will happen
- All of this is in complete contradiction to Ed's character who is bold and does stand up and take action rather than waiting around. We see this since he was a much younger kid
- We know that the gunmen weren't just there to boot Ed out in the afternoon, as Gran and the gunmen are still at the estate. They're there to threaten and intimidate Tucker
- This extension is meant to tug at heartstrings, but it overplays its hand hard and comes off as cheap
- '03 totally changes Scar's motivations. It's painfully obvious that they made the episode without knowing about the Ishval extermination campaign, so Scar's motivations come off as hokey
- We first see Scar at the library. He's just aimless and trying to figure out what his arm does
- His shirt gets ripped and runs into an alley
- He then proceeds to spend like 8 hours just sitting in the alley till he sees Nina
- For some reason, when he meets Nina, this is the point where he discovers his "purpose" which is to use his arm to kill state alchemists
- But his people and family were just killed in a genocide. Why the hell is he wandering around aimlessly without a purpose till he meets Nina? Isn't his people getting genocided more than enough of a motivation to go after the soldiers who killed his people?
- Whole thing doesn't feel well thought out. Worsens Scar's motivations, worsens the impact he has as a character
Just in these 2 episodes of Nina/Tucker there's an incredible amount of evidence on just how much they butchered the story and made it forced, contrived, and edgy. It relies on cheap tricks like "more time" when it doesn't really offer much, and even harms the plot. More time alone is a very surface level analysis that I guess works on people that don't really look at the media.
Anyways, dislike FMAB as much as you want, but FMA '03 isn't as hype as you think it is and fails on execution extremely hard. Watch a different series if you want a good psychological thriller because this ain't it man
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u/FoxyDepression 19h ago
Personally I thought the show's quick pace was one of its stronge suits. I associate shonen anime with very overblown emotional plots that fail to have an impact and go on for so many episodes. I really appreciate stories that can keep things moving. I think Nina's transformation was still effective. In fact, I don't think we really needed more time with her. I haven't consume any other FMA material but I assume there's not a lot more depth to her character than cute child who makes the perfect innocent victim. You got the impression. You got a couple "aww"s. That's all you need. Sure, if it happened to Winry who we get to know a lot better and who has a complex character it would be far more devastating but I don't think that's Nina's purpose in the narrative.
I also think they kept her in mind pretty well. She and Al had a direct impact on Ed's perception of possessed souls, humonculus, and chimeras. He maintains a goal of finding a way to save Nina so he can help anyone who meets a similar fate. Its the first instance the boys see of intentional, malicious, purposeless use of alcemy as opposed to their accidental harm or the "necessery evil" violence of Roy and others. She's a big reason Ed is a pacifist which is a big part of his character. I'm sure she has more of a lasting presence in the manga but that's a part of adaptation and I think her effects were easy to follow even without invoking her name and image often.
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u/AboveAverageSalt 15h ago
It's just pretty consistent. For many shows anyone can say, "it was good, BUT (insert x problem)." Steins gate has slow pacing, Death Note has a mediocre second half, Shipuden's world building falls apart, Arcane's second season was rushed, etc.
There are flaws with the show. I think the ending involves too much action. There is a bit of comedic whiplash. Broadly though, the show is just pretty solid. The dialogue, the narrative, the plot, the pacing, the animation, the comedy, the philosophy, and the world building are all pretty solid. I'll give you this, if we exclude the world building and scope, the story is not very ambitious. It doesn't go anywhere crazy or too dark or too complex. But a person can't claim that it is completely simple-minded or optimistic either. So it's pretty accessible. It casts a wide net. I think it's considered so good because it is a first for many people, and it is very accessible.
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u/Excellent-Ad8571 13h ago
If FMAB released today, it would absolutely not have the reception it did back then. It would still be considered great of course, but not the best to ever do it like people swear it does
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u/flaming_burrito_ 7h ago
Idk, I think even today there aren’t a lot of anime’s or shows in general that can keep their story as tight and consistently well written as FMAB. It knows the story it’s going to tell from the start, everything feels important and like it is either resolved or comes back around by the end, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it’s one of the few shows that really nails the ramp up of plot progression and stakes all the way to the end and sticks the landing. I will agree that things like the great voice acting and animation for its time are much more commonplace now, but I still think there aren’t many shows as well written and executed as FMAB. It’s only plot weakness I can think of is that the first 10 or so episodes are a little rushed, but that’s because most people had already seen that in the 2003 FMA
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u/NovembersRime 11h ago
You're entitled to your opinion, but saying that fmab doesn't dive into the dark fhemes of the source material is just a fat lie and makes me doubt if you ever even finished watching it.
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u/kaiserschlacht8 17h ago
My biggest issue with FMAB tbh is the tonal whiplash from the forced humour. Scenes go from serious and dramatic to exaggerated chibi-style comedy (always a goddamn unfunny short joke) and then back to serious. It made it harder for me to get through the show tbh
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u/BunnyOppai 15h ago
I swear, that feels like a really common thing in Japanese art in general, lol. I've even seen some seriously brutal and grotesque literal torture porn manga have some oddly silly moments here and there, lol. There's also Higurashi, which jumps back and forth all the time, though I think that's done very intentionally.
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u/ThePreciseClimber 13h ago
The humour issue shows the difference between manga & anime as storytelling media.
The chibi humour is certainly not amazing by any stretch of the imagination in the OG manga but it's... more tolerable there. It feels a bit more natural. Copying it 1:1 in the anime makes it stick out like a sore thumb.
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u/Beattitudeforgains1 16h ago
Oh hey someone who agrees. It's definitely the worst aspect and can fit some moments but the pace at which they occur and how unfunny they are can lead to things being off.
Like in the fmab only intro you have the rogue alchemist freezing people to death while short jokes are going on and it just feels too tonally bizzare for 0 payoff.
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u/GhettoRamen 16h ago
That’s my thing too.
Like 2003 struck that balance a lot better, while maintaining the gravity of situations.
Brotherhood always swung way or the other, in an otherwise dire / dramatic world and setting…
Imagine if Attack on Titan! made Levi short jokes and had Titans be cute time to time lol.
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u/J-Dizzle42 13h ago
In FMA Envy was this mysterious psycho who always seemed in the verge of snapping. In FMAB they're just a silly little worm. Isn't it so funny? They're a worm! Don't you get it??
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u/andohrew 15h ago edited 12h ago
Can't stand the vast majority of anime for this reason. Can I please just have a show that takes itself seriously. That or the hypersexualization of underage characters is so god dam annoying.
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u/J-Dizzle42 13h ago
I realized a while ago I don't like Japanese humor and it makes it hard to get into a lot of anime.
It's like a character saying, "behind this door is the most evil being we've ever seen!" and then they open the door and it'll be a chicken. Then all the characters fall over, then someone yells, "what?!? A chicken?!?" And then they do that joke a dozen more times over the course of the series.
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u/AkudamaEXE 16h ago
Idk FMAB is one of the only anime ending I’ve seen that people didn’t absolutely hate or have mixed feelings on, but I don’t think you’re going to find what you’re looking for in battle Shonen anyway
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u/Stickeminastew1217 16h ago
I mean, I think you kinda answered your own question.
FMA is a very good action adventure shonen series with much more depth than the genre typically works with. It's a good story and well produced on the whole.
The fact that it's leaps and bounds over most competition (especially of the time) in a genre where on average writing quality is, uh, let's just go with neglected at best, makes it stand out, particularly for folks who have only been exposed to that genre. If your media diet is mostly junk food (as it is for many), a story that puts actual thought and effort in is going to look like a gourmet meal by comparison no matter where it sits in terms of actual quality in and of itself.
Combine that with nostalgia given most fans originally watched it as teenagers and at the time of original airing it was part of a comparatively smaller list of anime that managed to hit big in the West and the strong impression is really going to stick.
TLDR- slightly bigger than average fish in a small pond syndrome. Still very good though.
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u/Foxhound979899 19h ago
I would say deathnote,bleach , demon slayer and attack on titan are more overrated fmab most get by on being consistent all the way through.
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u/Annual_Beginning_600 19h ago
death note? overrated? sure it slowly began to go down at the end there but still I mean the idea was fresh and so classic there are a lot of references to its ideas and scenes many times. The concept of the DN and its moral implications is just too interesting to pass on. DS, however, I agree and is mostly carried by great animation and fight scene designs.
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u/Astecheee 14h ago
Death Note's fatal flaw is that writers of average intelligence were trying to portray super-geniuses.
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u/Spiritual-Alfalfa616 6h ago
It really is this. All the way through watching I couldn't stop thinking these characters are an edgy 13 year-old's idea of what a really smart person would be like and it kinda ruined the whole show for me
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u/Foxhound979899 19h ago
It has a great first half but I feel like the time skip stuff isn't handled great because the dynamic was a big part of why it worked.it's generally ones of those stories I think a future adaptation changing some stuff with it could create a better overall narrative.
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u/Jak002003 17h ago
I don't think I've seen people putting Death Note on a pedestal, everybody says it's good or at the very least not bad. So do you think it is overrated because it is trash?
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 19h ago edited 19h ago
I can't comment on Death Note and Bleach, as I haven't seen them. I've been told I should watch Death Note though as Iove psychological thrillers
I love Attack on Titan and it's one of my favorite anime lol, it's one of the classic gateway anime I recommend to non-anime fans. AoT actually has the teeth that FMAB lacks imo. FMAB is consistent for sure but it's consistent in playing it safe and cowardly avoiding actually diving into the depths of its dark subject nature, unlike AoT, which has the balls to tell the story it wants to tell.
Just my humble (or arrogant) opinion, but I very much respect fiction that owns itself and embraces the story it wants to tell rather than trying to appeal to everyone.
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u/torashy 19h ago
AoT being a good gateway anime is lowkey another wild take, unless you know the person you're recommending it to likes intense, serious shows and doesn't mind a ton of gore
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 19h ago
Well we're all biased to our sample sizes but most people I know who don't watch anime think anime is shallow and only cares about action or horny things. AoT addresses both things.
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u/RandomPersan 19h ago
If you like psychological stuff you will adore Vinland saga. The mangaka of Vinland saga and AOT are actually friends in real life, and Vinland Saga has an amazing soundtrack, themes about violence and religion, and one of the best villains in all of anime.
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u/Efficient-Big3138 16h ago
I love the contrast of early be late vinland saga. I know a lot of people hate it as it becomes a vastly different line of manga but that makes it so much more interesting
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u/iSage 19h ago
AoT doesn't really have any teeth, imo. It relies almost entirely on shock value and reveals of hidden information.
You might call FMAB bland, but it has a consistent, engaging story that it builds over time and to a satisfying conclusion. All while having high quality animations, voice acting, and fight sequences. It has emotional impact without leaning on cheap gut punches. It's hardly a 10/10 in any one aspect, but it's easily an 8/10 all around.
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u/careythepriceisright 14h ago
AoT is a masterpiece with great exploration of themes, good characters, and a great plot in general. It's far from just being shock value.
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u/RareRestaurant6297 19h ago
Have you seen Stein;s Gate, then?
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 19h ago
I'm actually amidst watching it right now. I'm intrigued by it.
Re: Zero, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Dandadan are among my favorite works, as well as Attack on Titan, for reference.
I also really like anime like Oshi No Ko, KonoSuba, and even fucking Food Wars.
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u/RareRestaurant6297 19h ago
Yea re:zero def sounds right up your alley haha. That one's kinda crazy. I haven't ever finished madoka magicka, but prob should. Also I haven't watched AoT, just saw the abridged episode which was hilarious.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 19h ago
Huh what abridged episode?
Lmao yeah Re: Zero is one of my all time faves. As is Madoka Magica, highly recommend!
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u/Foxhound979899 19h ago
Deathnote and bleach are more uneven in the back half is my point
And attack on titan (which I read all of before it animated so don't think im just following the hate train) is over ambitious with it's ability to handle it's theme/thesis in its idea.
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u/Ok_Purpose7401 17h ago edited 4h ago
I think FMAB is vastly more impressive than AOT which just lifts hard from Dune anyways.
And yes most people acknowledge that the first 14 episodes of FMAB is rushed because it’s a repeat of FMA.
Also your point of FMAB lacking edginess ignores the fact that the series is deeply humanistic in its themes and its approach. It's not intended to portray humanity wholly dark/edgy because at it core...it celebrates humanity. And yes, humans do awful things...but they also are silly, stupid and capable of profound self-sacrifice. Thematically, the two series approach humanity differently.
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u/SharkSymphony 15h ago
Yeah, you should see Death Note. I dunno if it'll be your favorite show ever or anything – far better to just come in with an open mind! – but I think you're almost certain to like it.
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u/Daredrummer 2h ago
The art, story, ideas, characters, music, and dub are all A+. It's a wonderful, emotional and creative show with a lot of heart. I honestly don't have a complaint about it.
Maybe you should stop drinking.
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u/McSloot3r 6h ago
Two things:
FMA:B doesn’t exist in isolation. They had to add the first episode of brotherhood for new content, because the next several episodes are identical. The point of redoing FMA besides money is to do something different than the original anime. They’re both great in their own way.
I don’t think you understand what a starter anime is and why so many people recommend FMA:B. The vast majority of people aren’t into super deep plots. Brotherhood is recommended so much, because it has great action, has emotional and deeper moments while largely remaining surface level, it avoids a lot of the typical cringey anime tropes, and it has good female characters.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 3h ago
Very fair response.
The vast majority of people aren’t into super deep plots.
Really? Vast majority? Idk about that, but yeah as you said the story does feel surface level, and that's a turn-off for a bunch of people I know.
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u/McSloot3r 2h ago
I mean vast majority of people in general. This is why action movies are so popular. You can argue that anime watchers are not the average person, but it’s hard to argue that battle shounen aren’t the most popular genre
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 2h ago
I mean, you're absolutely right. Can't argue with any of that lol.
Wow this is a refreshing conversation lmao thanks, I don't feel like I'm going crazy here. You're not trying to force this notion that FMAB is particularly deep and are arguing that's part of its appeal.
But I will say there are so so many people who love deep stories, that's all I was pushing back on. Something like AoT which incorporates that plus very broad appeal.
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u/gabingril 13h ago
Completely agree. I watched the 2003 adaptation when it came out and really enjoyed the darker themes and slower pacing. When brotherhood dropped I thought I was taking crazy pills it was so mid and formulaic. I know it’s more faithful to the manga but in a different medium, artistic choices need to be made to set tone and nuance and to me it felt like brotherhood glossed quickly over a lot of it to make it palatable to a broader audience.
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u/Dlight98 5h ago
Imo the best way to watch for the story is like the first 30 or so episodes of the original, right up until it departs from the manga. Then from episode 10ish to the end of brotherhood.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 11h ago
Yeah FMAB feels like it's just watered down lol. I feel like I'm going crazy with what people are saying here to me aiya. I don't need them to agree with me but they're really here trying to argue FMAB is actually dark 🙃
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u/silverwolfe 18h ago
The only thing I regret about what FMAB did was it moved thru the first part too quickly because FMA already did it before.
At the time, it made sense, that was the part of the show that was repeated between FMA and FMAB so truncating meant people could get to the "new story" faster. But as time has gone on it makes FMAB have a rushed start as people are watching it more and more in a vacuum, completely divorced from FMA.
Hindsight is 20/20.
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u/StanislavTheSlav 13h ago
I would be curious to see what you think good gateway anime are, genuinely.
It's a good gateway because it's a perfectly paced battle shonen (with no fan service) that incorporates depth beyond what a new viewer might expect from something animated while having a compelling and easy to follow narrative.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 12h ago
Depending on the person, with limited info, I would name Attack on Titan, A Silent Voice, The Promised Neverland (season 1), or Kaguya-sama: Love Is War.
If I'm completely blind to their tastes I'd bet on Attack on Titan.
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u/HydrationHomee 11h ago
Attack on Titan is not a good gateway show. It is rather gruesome.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 11h ago
Yet it's immensely popular with viewers who didn't watch anime prior (and some whose only anime ever was AoT). People on anime recommendation forums often answer AoT would be their bet to show new people.
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u/ExistingAsAlyx 11h ago
ngl I think you have a really poor understanding on why fma:b is so popular with a newer audience.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 11h ago
You're probably correct, but I do believe Attack on Titan is more "universal" and those other shows are likelier to reel someone into anime if it was their kind of show. I think FMAB is just a safe option and that's why people keep recommending it.
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u/pharodae 9h ago
I’ve seen both, and I literally cannot think of a single thing in AoT that is more “universal” (-ly appealing, I assume) than in FMAB. For one, they couldn’t be any more different, two, AoT is several times more grimdark and hopeless. I would never recommend AoT as someone’s first anime, that’s like recommending someone try everclear for their first drink. Not to mention that AoT has an extremely unreliable narrator, the twists are not telegraphed in advance or foreshadowed well for first watchers, the art style changes frequently which can be off putting to people who aren’t used to animation. AoT is phemenonal but it’s nowhere near as well written as FMA [manga] or as well produced as FMAB (Studio Bones is too goddamn consistent).
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 2h ago
Ok I'm sober now lol.
Yes, "universally appealing" is what I meant, thanks. And I think it is in terms of introducing anime to people despite being so damn dark. So many people still think anime is just childish action, they very much would appreciate a show this grim and epic. Of course not everyone will love it but AoT is a very common gateway anime and even common to be one of the only anime enjoyed by non-anime fans. That plus AoT doesn't have any of the "anime tropes" that non-anime fans may dislike.
Also the twists in AoT are absolutely set up well what lol.
FMAB just feels like the safe choice but I swear it appeals far more to existing anime fans than to non-anime fans.
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u/caelaiden 11h ago
Saying any of these are even close to FMA you have to be absolutely delusional.
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u/Yahsorne 11h ago
You're right. Attack on titan is much better.
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u/caelaiden 11h ago
Cope harder fanboy
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u/Yahsorne 11h ago
Every normie knows what attack on titan is, fma is basically some distant uncslop show at this point.
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u/pharodae 9h ago
Unc-slop? Wtf does that even mean? Good pieces of art are eternal. FMAB ain’t some fuckin Limp Bizkit deep cut
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u/The_Collector_19 7h ago
Lmao this is so ridiculous. I would NEVER recommend AOT as a starter anime unless I know those people enjoy fucked stories. You like brutality, doesn’t mean the average watcher does too.
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u/LifeguardOdd7383 8h ago edited 4h ago
Idk, as an adult if I watched it now, I’d probably not think it’s amazing, but at 13, it’s mind blowing lol.
I think it’s got one of the most satisfying thematic through lines of any shounen I’ve seen. The whole thing feels like a great metaphor for a panspsychic framework of reality… down to the use of alchemy; I think of the scene where they are left on an island to discover material is recycled endlessly to make up the world.
You say the show doesn’t touch on darker themes of genocide and whatnot, but I disagree, I think it does a great job representing how larger “systems” of control use violence and suppression to feed their ever increasing need for growth and stability, symbolized with the Father character… something the 2003 show did away with much to its detriment.
Father is one of my favourite shounen villains oat… he represents an artificial life form made from the collaboration of ancient humans, an egregore, if you will… he foolishly thinks that if he strips away his flaws by isolating the 7 deadly sins, and harnessing the energy of humans through social control and energy harvesting, he can achieve “Godhood”… but he fails to see he is building downwards. His power comes from the shared energy of the humans that built him… you can’t build a cage of “Truth” to house your ego in the divine… as “Truth” brutally points out to him, in the end he gets what he wants, but at the cost of his ego, the very thing he refused to give up. Poetic ending that I think subconsciously signals to people they hold the sovereign cards to find relationship with the Source… Egregores’ power is illusory.
It also parallels the timeless desire of the ruling class to achieve “enlightenment” through domination and ego feeding, a recipe for disaster… great shonen with a lot under the hood, not gonna say it’s philosophically brilliant or anything, but it’s consistent and satisfying, more than I can say for 90% of media; for adults or otherwise
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u/MrMeeseeksAdvice 6h ago
Just rambling and didn’t make a single coherent point. Fmab isn’t even top 5 for me but whatever this was, at least make it make sense. You’re constantly flip flopping. “It’s good, BUUUUT” like the whole damn time, we get it you have a personal preference as to how elements should have been utilized here’s a cookie.
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u/GumsGottnMntierLatly 5h ago
Love this post. Maybe I'm a hater, but on a more recent rewatch, it felt more like an anime to recommend to people who love anime already. It has so many corny anime moments that are better suited to 90s and early 2000s anime enjoyers.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 3h ago
THIS IS WHAT I FEEL. It feels more like something for anime fans esp battle shounen fans. It is most certainly not what I would use to get people into anime, at least most of those who I know.
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u/ProShyGuy 10h ago
The idea that you cannot tackle serious subject matter if you have comedy or lighter tone at certain points is kind of immature if you ask me.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 10h ago edited 10h ago
I never said that and in fact I vehemently disagree with that notion and explicitly said so in the post lmao
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u/BowTrek 17h ago
Can you name a better manga / anime that features broad appeal?
Because I can’t. There may be some niche series that are better at a lot of things but those might not have the broad appeal.
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u/monstercake 13h ago
Idk if this is cheating but I’d say Spirited Away is a better gateway into anime. After that you could move into more Ghibli or into shonen/shojo or other genres.
I watched the original FMA but never got into brotherhood so i guess I agree with OP
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u/Strange-Bag9 8h ago
Spirited is absolutely not a gateway to anime, I have seen it first and haven’t seen any Ghibli films till now
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u/Bi_disaster_ohno 18h ago
Hold up, if I'm reading this right, your complaints about FMAB are that it has a consist tone and brisk pacing? Am I understanding this right? Like... Those are positive traits for a show to have. I'd get it if it wasn't your cup of tea but you seriously can't understand why it's considered one of the goats of anime?
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u/CaffeineDeprivation 13h ago
Idk, sometimes the pacing can be TOO brisk. Like Greed's introduction arc, or the one with flashback to Roy and Riza backstory and the Ishval War
Like, I'm pretty certain that last one took an entire volume of the manga, but the anime shoved everything it could in just one episode!
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u/NeutralGeneric 18h ago
I do like the tone in the earlier arcs of the 2003 anime more. But you gotta understand the manga was ongoing and they didn’t have as much to adapt so they really stretched it out. If they had kept that same pacing for brotherhood then it would’ve been over 100 episodes and they would’ve had to spread the budget thinner. I think they made the right call by speeding up the first few arcs since the first show already covered it.
And like other people pointed out you’re looking at it through a modern lens where a lot of things have copied it. It’s like being too critical of Seinfeld after three decades of sitcoms that copied and iterated on it. I think it’s appropriately rated if you’re rating it for people who haven’t seen dozens of shonen and are becoming jaded.
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u/why-would-i-do-this 17h ago
Nah, that goes to DBZ, One Piece or my personal favorite (as in overhyped) Violet Evergarden followed shortly by 86...imo
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u/Balavadan 14h ago
FMA is superior to FMAB as long as they had the manga for the base. Once it deviates it becomes bad
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u/blazedancer1997 14h ago
I'm not reading all that, but I've upvoted off the title alone. Is it actually the greatest of all time? No probably not, but GOAT is going to be a debate forever. I do think it deserves the hype though. It's just great throughout, easy to watch with non-anime friends and family, and there's something for everyone. Idk what to tell you.
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u/WarmSwimming6498 13h ago
Fmab is genuine goat contender. It's my most rewatched anime. I watch it every 12-18 months. The last time I got to about 40 episodes in and I'm thinking 'it's almost over right? How are there still 23 episodes.
Ahh Just an amazing show. Very few can truly compete wirh it.
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u/Dunkys 12h ago edited 12h ago
FMAB has grown on me over time but I agree with you. I still think 03 is the superior version of FMA, but then again I don't actually enjoy most anime tropes and especially not shounen ones so of course I'm going to prefer the overall darker, smaller scale personal drama tone for 03 lol.
Also I was never a fan of Ed/Winry and wanted my short king to stay short (hashtag representation) so FMAB lost points with me for that
My other favorite anime is Attack on Titan so there is a theme here...
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u/HeelEscape 9h ago
Just sounds like you don’t like it and you’re trying to measure your preferences off a metric of objectivity. It’s an amazing show, many people agree it’s one of the greatest of all time. Your preferences just don’t align with it
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u/No_Examination_3940 8h ago
It just does everything good. There's nothing you can point to that isn't at least a 7.5/10 and that's more than you can say for most shows.
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u/cat_silhouette 8h ago
It’s not a battle shounen.
And also, which is it: an awful starter anime or shallow?
No starter anything supposed to be deep because it’s an introduction.
Okay kids, time to learn math, let’s start with calculus.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 3h ago
Some people think anime is lame because they think they're all either shallow battle shows or straight up hentai lol.
Depending on the person's taste, I would go for something way deeper to show them what anime can be.
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u/inEQUAL 8h ago
It’s so funny, I avoided it for years because I assumed it’s overhyped. I hate Battle Shounen generally. Finally gave it a watch. Nope, turns out the depth to characters and themes aren’t beat over the viewer’s heads at all, it doesn’t waste time on multi-episode battle scenes, and other than the occasional anime trope I can’t stand, it really is one of the very few of the genre that I now enjoy and appreciate.
Is it peak anime? Not in the grand scheme of things. But in that era’s Shounen landscape? Yeah, it’s the GOAT of its era.
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u/IndividualCurious322 7h ago
I watched all the episodes. It had a pretty good storyline, action sequences and lore (even Hoenheims full name is a throw back to Paracelsus, a real life alchemist) and I agree. It isn't a 10/10 like everyone states. It is a good contender for a 7 or 8 thought.
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u/stargazepunk 7h ago
Did you finish it? My gf made me watch it and I strongly disliked it until about 40 episodes in (can’t remember exactly what episode, but the flashback with the evil dude in the jar is when it all flipped for me) It then became my favorite anime, the ending is just incredible.
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u/Grouchy_Cod_156 6h ago
Cant take this post seriously cuz everyone knows the gateway anime are samurai champloo and cowboy bebop. Heck throw ghost in the shell in there too
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u/Volcano-SUN 11h ago
Friends of mine wanted to introduce me to anime via Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood.
I did not like it. I was not able to relate to the main characters at all. Over time I lost interest and never finished watching it.
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u/DocWagonHTR 19h ago
Dude DBZ is RIGHT THERE
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u/phoenixmusicman 18h ago
Eh.
DBZ doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is. I don't think it's overrated at all, it just is what it is and it was one of the early greats that really codified Shounen
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u/TerribleRun2421 18h ago
No one hypes up dbz as “one of the greatest anime’s ever” in terms of writing, they refer it as the grandfather of shonen but that mainly comes from that dbz has influenced most anime’s in some way even non shonen once’s.
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u/Negative-Disk3048 8h ago
Even huge DragonBall heads think the dbz anime has aged terribly.
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u/DocWagonHTR 8h ago
I'll have to take your word for it, because I've legitimately lost friends over not liking it.
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u/belody 10h ago
Yeah I've tried a couple times to get into fmab because hxh is one of my favourite anime ever and everyone says if you love hxh you will love fmab but it just doesn't pull me in. I agree that I think the comedy ruins the tone of the show and that when there is an interesting idea it comes and goes before it gets explored as much as it could
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u/yawn18 7h ago
Im assuming you have only seen the beginning based off the last sentence.
The reason for this is its pace is FAST in the start due to have the same start as Full Metal Alchemist (original). So they condensed it all down so you aren't watching a bunch of episodes you already saw. This changes once the story changes from what OG covered.
If you want more episodes for those ideas you might just want to start with the original over brotherhood at least for the beginning
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u/Strange-Bag9 8h ago
Funny for me even HxH is bad as the pacing goes no where
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u/Gamerwookie 9h ago
Both great shows but I feel like they are very different kinds of shows, hxh is very morally grey where fmab is more about doing the right thing and fighting systemic problems
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 10h ago
Ah thank you, someone gets me lol. Yeah it throws so many cool ideas but then just wastes them. The Homunculi in particular and their roles are just kinda whatever when they could be utilized so much more interestingly.
Ah I guess I shoul watch HxH, huh?
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u/Glass-Ad-7259 19h ago
Don't forget that it's also an OLD anime at this point. Yeah, there's a lot of great anime, but way more nowadays then there was back then. When it came out, it was pretty exceptional.
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u/KFCNyanCat 14h ago edited 13h ago
FMAB came out during arguably the best era of anime, late 2000s/early 2010s. Even beyond personal perception I really do think it was the era that gave us the most different series that would go on to be iconic (though I will say it lacked a Dragon Ball/One Piece/Naruto/Evangelion-level juggernaut.) Not to say none are coming out now, but not as much as it was then. Death Note, OG Love Live, K-ON, Nichijou, Madoka, Fate/Zero and UBW, Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, etc...
I'm not some huge FMAB fanboy but it was contemporary to a lot of top stuff.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 19h ago edited 18h ago
Maybe you're right, I wouldn't know.
All I know is Neon Genesis Evangelion from 1995 hard hard hard diffs FMAB from 2009. And so does FMA from 2003.
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u/McSloot3r 6h ago
And I think NGE is so full of itself. Yes, I understood the ending, it just sucked. That’s opinions though
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u/J-Dizzle42 13h ago
FMA is my favorite anime if all time. FMAB is the same story but longer and told worse and I do not understand why everyone acts like it's superior.
Is it because it's more faithful to the manga? I don't think that makes it better. If anything FMA had the luxury of being another draft where the writers could revise and cut the fat.
Having Sloth be their mother was so much more dramatic than that character just being a big punchy monster.
Having Wrath being Izumis child was so much more dramatic that that character being the fuhrer. In fact having the fuhrer be Pride made more sense thematically.
FMAB tried to be funny and didn't know when to let a joke go. They also felt the need to reiterate how Al had a soul even though he was a suit if armor every five minutes like we're idiots and we'd just forget.
Both shows are great but I think FMA has better pacing because the writers were able to look at the manga and see what worked and what didn't before they started writing the show.
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u/anaheim3123 11h ago
I think it's best to watch FMA, then FMA:B immediately afterwards. I think the early parts of FMA are really strong, but the worldbuilding doesn't make as much sense and brotherhood has a more satisfying ending.
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u/Various_Mobile4767 19h ago
GOAT anime is subjective.
I prefer to consider it a very well rounded anime. But it definitely feels like its missing something for me. It doesn't really have that one hook that makes me gush over it and keep revisiting it.
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u/bobby_broccolini 18h ago
It's broad appeal comes from good storytelling imo.
I've seen bits of 100 other animes thanks to friends and family. Like the 10 most popular big ones and also pretty deep dives.
If you're not an anime fan... well.. some of the "great" ones.. do not feel like good storytelling.
I will get downvoted to OBLIVIOM if I describe how I see some of peoples favorite "deep" animes
Obviously it's a broad genre. It's not even a genre to me it's like animated movies as a genre. Like Wallace and Gromit and Mad God are both claymation and not the same genre.
But a lot of anime fans see something in anime that I do not. Some if their favorites are.. very very generic and thin to me.
So yeah idk maybe the reverse is true for you here. You don't see the storytelling elements that I saw. I really dug brotherhood.
Maybe it's just more like a western sensibility. I also liked the pacing/story/characterization of: neon genesis, and the ghost in the Shell movies. Because they didn't feel like typical anime to me.
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u/Ok-Exam-1079 13h ago
大きな声では言えないけど俺も同じ事を思ってるよ。2003年のやつが本当に最高。
ただ、作者は鋼の錬金術師を王道少年漫画を書く意図で作品を作ってて、アニメ2作目のフルメタルアルケミストは漫画に忠実に作られてる。なので、その観点で語らなければいけないアニメなんだ。故に純粋な王道少年漫画としての完成度の評価になっている。あれはアニメの評価というよりほとんど原作の評価がイコールになってるよ
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u/ScipioTheGreatest 11h ago
"It doesn't go dark enough SO FUCK EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!"
Talk about letting your personal preferences get in the way of literary analysis.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 11h ago
Talk about the strawman fallacy.
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u/proarnis1 10h ago
Not really a strawman u called it a good show but also saying it's bad at the same time because it doesn't play out as u wished it would.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 10h ago
But I didn't say fuck everything about it.
I think its animation is stunning and the action is pretty damn impressive. The character designs are terrific, especially the Homunculi. And the story really showcases tons of great ideas.
My issue is how the story doesn't utilize those ideas or those characters enough in an interesting way, and that's just my opinion.
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u/Mamasugadex 9h ago
You kind of answered yourself though. It’s a recommended starter show because it’s safe and has little downside to it, and it’s a good well rounder.
Many many other shows do individual things better but have more downfalls than FMAB.
You have to understand not everyone is going to end up being an active seasonal anime viewer, or even going to try to watch at least 10-20 different shows just to get a sense of what this culture is about. FMAB is recommended generally with that consideration in mind. Some people may just watch one show and be like “ok, cool. Probably won’t have time for more this year”.
People criticize FMAB mainly after they have seen a lot more and got a sense of what other shows have done differently. But again when you look back, almost none of them are as well rounded as this one.
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u/ScipioTheGreatest 8h ago
"But I didn't say fuck everything about it."
That's called hyperbole, champ. A small exaggeration of your criticism for dramatic effect and because I didn't want to bother retyping your specific complaints.
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u/ArkLumia 17h ago
When you post a 10thdentist take that fits the sub so well that people mass downvote because the take is so shit lol
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u/DougSpeagle 16h ago
Most people don't develop their anime taste past mediocre battle shonen that's why it's considered the peak or a gateway. Battle Shonen and anime mean the same thing to a large group of people
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u/brunch_lover62 8h ago
Uhh... I agree with OP un everything except 1 thing: it's not even a good battle shonen
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u/Frankenduck 7h ago
Hard disagree overall but I agree that FMA did the Tucker storyline better and I also think it did Greed’s story and death better
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u/23saround 4h ago
Just tossing out that this was my second anime (after Death Note) and it completely took me. I’ve rewatched it since and think it holds up 100%. It reminds me a lot of Avatar: TLA in that it takes very serious topics and presents them in a way children can grasp. If that is too simple for you, that’s just fine, but it has mass appeal and makes the show very accessible.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 3h ago
I absolutely adored ATLA so idk.
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u/23saround 3h ago
Did you watch it first as a kid or as an adult?
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 3h ago
As an adult when I was like a 19? I was definitely late to watching ATLA. I was maybe 23 when I watched FMAB for the first time.
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u/AyAyAyBamba_462 2h ago
Dumbing down FMAB to a "battle shonen" has to be one of the worst takes of all time.
It's a tradegy about family, history, good triumphing over evil. The battles are only a part of it. The characters actually grow up, not just as people but physically which is almost never done in anime. We watch Ed go from a bratty child to a grown man.
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u/Wombat1892 51m ago
I think its reputation made more sense in the past, closer to its release. It you watch most of fma and then switch over to fmab at the right point week probably help. Fmab skirted threw the first few arcs to get out of fma's shadow quickly.
All of that said, it's fun a different time, as word as it is to say. Back when watching things meant catching out on tv or maybe buying a boxed set of dad's.
But it was from the era before streaming and bulk drops of shows and all that, it was a slower time to consume media. I know a lot of streaming services have had it to pad out libraries, but it's from before that, tho it was the tail end.
I'm but saying that you're wrong, but i think it falls flat to you because it's tropes been built on and remixed. When I watched psycho(the Alfred Hitchcock movie) I felt the same way as you do about fmab.
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u/Quiet_Education5918 19h ago
At some point, you have to understand that an iconic piece of media is coming up on decades old, and the impressive things it's done were borrowed and improved upon by tons of works that came after.
FMAB was lauded for, among other things, adapting the story loyally. That's not even a problem worth thinking about today. Kids On Adventures actually dealing with any real consequences was interesting. A magic system that was an actual system with (some) strict rules, instead of Number Go Up plus some arbitrary limits, was new ground before every media on earth had to have one to be taken seriously. And Brotherhood took the taste of that people liked earlier and expanded it into a longer format, introducing a wider cast and a broader arc.
That's not something that's going to impress people today. And, frankly, it's always still been a kids show. Not even so far as young adult. So you're not going to get justice done to genocide as a concept in there, just due acknowledgement.
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u/Salvage570 19h ago
Calling FMA a kids show is ridiculous
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u/Quiet_Education5918 19h ago
Shonen is Shonen, mate, I don't make the rules. Unless you want to argue about how teenagers don't count as kids, but at that point you're really splitting hairs in terms of This Should Show In Depth Depictions of Genocide.
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u/Salvage570 18h ago
Think you need to lookup what young adult media actually is then, because that means made for teenagers.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 19h ago
Amen. It's a fucking kids show. I hate that it keeps getting praised for being so mature and impactful and full of depth when it ISN'T.
Which is crazy cause its precedessor Fullmetal Alchemist is right there and is so so so so so much better imo.
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u/Quiet_Education5918 19h ago
Hate to break it to you, but FMA is also a kid's show. It just has less filler in between the drama, which was a good pacing choice and feels impactful, but that's not about the portrayal.
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u/sexyimmigrant1998 18h ago
FMA is indeed a kids' show but a much darker one that actually took itself seriously.
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u/Longjumping-Style730 19h ago
Yeah I rewatched it recently and it's....... fine. A lot less deep than I remember it being.
It's remarkable in the shonen anime space for being relatively well paced and well-written story but there was nothing in there for me to say that it's even close to the best anime of all time.
It's a solid time and a good starter anime if you enjoy action but I wouldn't say it's anywhere above a 7/10.
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u/RaisinsPerDay 18h ago
idk its just a good anime though, I don't think it's overrated, but it might be over-recommended. I don't think it's unreasonable for a short anime of a long series to skip over some things, but it's golden compared to almost all contemporaries, except itself, like you mention. I like 2003 as much as the next guy, but I don't let it take away from FMAB being a pretty good and impactful anime. I basically feel the same way about it as I do about Pluto in that way.
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u/Electrical-Today-258 18h ago
If this was 5-10 years ago I could understand that argument, but by this point FMA is a forgotten classic. There's no powerhouse following for it like there used to be to give it any spotlight over anything current. It's a defining anime if a generation and even that is contentious because of the lineup it released beside.
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u/Keebster101 7h ago
For what it's worth, I tried watching the original FMA like 15 years ago and wasn't a fan, but I'm currently reading the manga (or more precisely the webtoons version which I started by accident thinking it was the normal manga but now I actually like the format) and it's so much more enjoyable. I also think the start was the most boring part and ed is at his least likeable, but for the entire rest of it it's been great. It's funny actually, usually characters devolve into parodies of themselves after a while but Ed starts off as parody of himself then becomes more nuanced over time.
I haven't seen FMAB and honestly Im still a little confused at what it is since I read everywhere that you should watch FMA first then FMAB, but it's not a sequel?
I reckon it held it's status as the holy Grail of anime just by legacy. There are more anime watchers than ever before, so the 00's fans and prior had to pick something to band together to keep at the top of myanimelist and prevent newer anime flooding the top spots just by the fact there's more people watching them. But I also think the manga is phenomenal and it's possible people praise FMAB having watched it while already familiar with the source - either the original anime or the manga - which is a completely different experience to watching it blind. A prime example being the shou tucker arc like you mentioned - if you know the twist beforehand, you don't really need that much exposition to make the twist hit hard, you just want to see that big reveal.
It also gets bonus points from me for not having out of place horny fanservice moments ever, which I reckon is what makes it good for a first anime. (Well, I'm referring to the original anime and manga, but I doubt brotherhood would add them in)
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u/DoctorNayle 5h ago
FMA:B isn't a sequel, it's just the anime redone to be much closer to the manga. When FMA03 was made, the manga wasn't finished yet, so past the halfway point it's a completely different story, and imo the drop-off in writing quality is pretty obvious. The reason a lot of people suggest watching 03 first is that Brotherhood absolutely does rush its beginning, doing in 10 episodes what the first series took 25 for. The idea at the time was that, since there was only a few years between the end of 03 and the beginning of Brotherhood, anyone who was watching had probably already seen the first show, so they wanted to get to the major divergence point of the story more quickly instead of just redoing what 03 had already done.
If you're enjoying the manga, Brotherhood will be pretty much the same story, just in motion.
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u/Speciou5 19h ago
Yeah, I couldn't get into this. Too old for Shonen. Honestly, it's a bad look for the entire anime genre that a Shonen is top of the list when there are way more serious stories inside anime to tell. Pluto is my latest fav, everyone should check that out. Something like Violet Evergarden deserves top spot more, it's a better gateway into the genre.
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