r/The10thDentist • u/sexyimmigrant1998 • 20h 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