Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Confusion

[Mr. Google]

So Im incredibly confused about what Brotherhood is. I just watched FMA (Yes Im late to the party but that's not the point) I was excited cause I thought that FMAB was going to be new stuff but after researching some it is said to be more or less the same thing but following the manga more closely. My questions are, should I bother watching it, or should I start watching it around a certain episode because ill just be wasting my time otherwise? Im going to start by watching the move that continues the first series' plot but after that I guess Ill try and watch brotherhood unless im told otherwise.

 

[Mr. Google]

Basically FMAB is a full adaption of the manga while the first anime was only a partial adaption.

The first anime was made when the manga was only maybe 25% complete, so they adapted the first bit of the manga into an anime and then once they ran out of source material, they made up the rest of the story as they saw fit.

Brotherhood was made when the manga was like 99% complete and thus follows the manga infinitely more closely.

Brotherhood is much better once you give it a chance, all too many people don't watch it just because the first bit is similar to the other anime. Around where Greed isintroduced is where the first anime split off from the manga, so it will be there that you get purely new material. I'd still recommend watching all of it though, Brotherhood is just plain better, anybody who argues against that clearly has no idea what they're even talking about.

Most people will say they enjoyed the first anime more because it had a much darker theme, which is what makes me think they're morons. Brotherhood has a good bit of comedy mixed in, but it's much darker in nature than the first anime. Also the villains are actually relevant, in the first anime the Homunculi had virtually no essence, and Dante was a worthless final villain.

At any rate, watch all of Brotherhood, even if you know the plot of the first 10 or so episodes, you can still easily enjoy it since it's new animation, new dialogue and voice acting, new music, and a fresh atmosphere.

Also has kickass opening and ending credits.

Spoiler

EDIT:

Oh yeah and Brotherhood has Greelin, really awesome character.

Alright thanks! If the dialouge is totally different or even most different then I'll be fine watching it again. Guess I have to give it a shot now! First the movie though....

 

[Mr. Google]

Alright thanks! If the dialouge is totally different or even most different then I'll be fine watching it again. Guess I have to give it a shot now! First the movie though....

Conqueror of Shambala? Eh, didn't care much for that one, it's a little different than most anime movies in that it actually continued the story from where the anime ended, but it just wasn't very interesting. A lot of it makes no sense either with the characterization, Mustang's big new development early on in the movie kind of came out of nowhere, nothing in the anime indicated he was going to end up like that.

Yeah but it supposedly wraps up the story so I kind of need to watch it just because. Even if it doesn't fully do that I still want to watch it due to the continuation. The end of the show just left me wanting more.

 

[Kamukazi]

the first 13 episodes are pretty much the same as the original anime, but you'll find that there are minor differences which then have some importance later on so i definitely recommend watching it from start to finish but you could get away with just goin on from the second season (eps 14 onwards) if you really want to. I havnt actually gotten around to watching the original other than the first few eps n that was after seeing the majority of brotherhood, and i did notice a bit of dejavu in those early eps, but it shouldnt be too cringe worthy to grind through

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Alright thanks! If the dialouge is totally different or even most different then I'll be fine watching it again. Guess I have to give it a shot now! First the movie though....

Conqueror of Shambala? Eh, didn't care much for that one, it's a little different than most anime movies in that it actually continued the story from where the anime ended, but it just wasn't very interesting. A lot of it makes no sense either with the characterization, Mustang's big new development early on in the movie kind of came out of nowhere, nothing in the anime indicated he was going to end up like that.

Yeah but it supposedly wraps up the story so I kind of need to watch it just because. Even if it doesn't fully do that I still want to watch it due to the continuation. The end of the show just left me wanting more.

It doesn't wrap up the story mate. It just swaps one swapping one cliff hanger for another.

 

[Dandark]

They were making the manga and anime at the same time, then partway through they pretty much told the guy's doing the anime to do their own thing so they didn't have to keep waiting for the manga.

Brotherhood is an anime made later that follows the manga plot. I would recommend watching Brotherhood, I preferred it to the original anime and it diverges pretty quickly. They share many plot elements and the first few episodes are the same, watch Brotherhood from the start anyway though, there are a lot of important details in it.

The actual stories also differ greatly, they are the same basic setup but they go different ways.

 

[Ultress]

It's worth watching it all even if you've seen the original.It does seem to gloss over things the original dedicated a few episodes to(Youswell,the state Alchemy exam) but has a much larger scope and you get a better sense of the world this is.Plus it has a ton of really fun side characters and everyone gets a least one badass moment. In other words: it's really good,go watch it

 

[Kotaro]

I wouldn't say that Brotherhood is better or worse, really. I saw the first anime when it was airing, read the manga later, then saw Brotherhood.
I like the manga more than either anime, but I like the two anime equally. Both of them are incredible, though for different reasons: Brotherhood has a more consistent tone and higher stakes, while the first series has a better villain in my opinion (Father is interesting, but Dante is just plain creepy).

 

[wintercoat]

Brotherhood is much better once you give it a chance, all too many people don't watch it just because the first bit is similar to the other anime. Around where Greed isintroduced is where the first anime split off from the manga, so it will be there that you get purely new material. I'd still recommend watching all of it though, Brotherhood is just plain better, anybody who argues against that clearly has no idea what they're even talking about.

Yeah! Anyone with a differing opinion is just plain wrong, because that's how opinions work!

OT: I liked both animes. They each had their strong points. They're both worth watching, if only to compare the differences, which is kinda fun all it's own. Though personally, I enjoyed the first series more.

 

[Mr. Google]

Alright thanks! If the dialouge is totally different or even most different then I'll be fine watching it again. Guess I have to give it a shot now! First the movie though....

Conqueror of Shambala? Eh, didn't care much for that one, it's a little different than most anime movies in that it actually continued the story from where the anime ended, but it just wasn't very interesting. A lot of it makes no sense either with the characterization, Mustang's big new development early on in the movie kind of came out of nowhere, nothing in the anime indicated he was going to end up like that.

Yeah but it supposedly wraps up the story so I kind of need to watch it just because. Even if it doesn't fully do that I still want to watch it due to the continuation. The end of the show just left me wanting more.

It doesn't wrap up the story mate. It just swaps one swapping one cliff hanger for another.

Ah bastards... Well I still wanna watch it...

 

[xPixelatedx]

My questions are, should I bother watching it

I never read the manga, but I have seen and love both series, however Brotherhood is considerably better.

Speaking on the terms of anime appreciation, the first one is a little more charming and even has a nostalgia to it (man, it's an old show now). The gate leading to our world was a very dumb and silly concept, and kind of took all the mystery away from it (but I admit that's my opinion talking). Dancing, some revelations and a few transmutations ended that series, and I couldn't have been more disappointed. It seemed like it was building up to something MUCH BIGGER, which is what Brotherhood will give you.
Brotherhood is superior in both narrative and structure, and that's judging it from an non-anime perspective. Brotherhood actually has more of a plot happening around it, so you won't see wasted episodes about dolls or dogs like in the first series. Every single episode is important, every single character is important and it gets just as complex as shows like Dexter. Throughout the entirety of FMA the 'good guys' were strung along by the badguys until the end. In Brotherhood there is an insane amount of back and forth going on, making the show nearly as intelligent in it's exchanges as Death Note. The main villain in brotherhood also isn't just some crazy person looking for a longer life, and given what they want the consequences for failure are considerably higher. It also has a lot of interesting emotional and thought provoking moments added in, like their final confrontation with Envy. Also, Armstrong's Sister is the best character this universe has ever produced, and she isn't even in the original FMA; very sad. The only thing I think FMA did a much better job with was the 5th laboratory. It was a neat string of episodes in FMA, but it is very quick and uninteresting in Brotherhood.

So yeah, watch it and watch all of it because blinking your eye could mean missing something important. It's good to see how the creators actually intended this story to end, and you will be more satisfied to see the series end with the same 'wow' factor it began with, finally.

 

[wintercoat]

Brotherhood is much better once you give it a chance, all too many people don't watch it just because the first bit is similar to the other anime. Around where Greed isintroduced is where the first anime split off from the manga, so it will be there that you get purely new material. I'd still recommend watching all of it though, Brotherhood is just plain better, anybody who argues against that clearly has no idea what they're even talking about.

Yeah! Anyone with a differing opinion is just plain wrong, because that's how opinions work!

OT: I liked both animes. They each had their strong points. They're both worth watching, if only to compare the differences, which is kinda fun all it's own. Though personally, I enjoyed the first series more.

Anybody who says gravity is a myth is just plain wrong. There are some things that just aren't an opinion. I say anybody who argues against Brotherhood doesn't have any idea what they're talking about because everybody I've seen argue against Brotherhood didn't know what they were talking about. They come up with vague reasons why the original was clearly superior and fail to back it up. Meanwhile, everytime I bother to back up my stance with actual evidence and examples from both shows, nobody has ever produced a well argued counter, the most I've gotten is a simple repeat of their vague reasoning.

I've never said the original was a bad anime, in fact I even enjoyed it to an extent, if I hate an anime I'll never watch it to the end. It just irritates me that some people can actually claim the original was better when it had so many flaws holding it back. While on the other hand, Brotherhood is technically sound with virtually no speed bumps to speak of, and presents itself with simple brilliance.

Wow...just...wow. Comparing a basic force of the universe to a form of entertainment, that's gotta be the ballsiest defense of the "my opinion is right, yours is wrong" argument I've ever seen. I salute you good sir.

I can understand enjoying FMAB more, it was a great show, but to say that I'm wrong because I enjoyed FMA more? C'mon now. Enjoyment of something is completely subjective.

 

[mitchell271]

Watch the whole thing, it's well worth it. The stuff that was visited in the original anime passes by pretty quickly.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Basically FMAB is a full adaption of the manga while the first anime was only a partial adaption.

The first anime was made when the manga was only maybe 25% complete, so they adapted the first bit of the manga into an anime and then once they ran out of source material, they made up the rest of the story as they saw fit.

Brotherhood was made when the manga was like 99% complete and thus follows the manga infinitely more closely.

Brotherhood is much better once you give it a chance, all too many people don't watch it just because the first bit is similar to the other anime. Around where Greed isintroduced is where the first anime split off from the manga, so it will be there that you get purely new material. I'd still recommend watching all of it though, Brotherhood is just plain better, anybody who argues against that clearly has no idea what they're even talking about.

Most people will say they enjoyed the first anime more because it had a much darker theme, which is what makes me think they're morons. Brotherhood has a good bit of comedy mixed in, but it's much darker in nature than the first anime. Also the villains are actually relevant, in the first anime the Homunculi had virtually no essence, and Dante was a worthless final villain.

At any rate, watch all of Brotherhood, even if you know the plot of the first 10 or so episodes, you can still easily enjoy it since it's new animation, new dialogue and voice acting, new music, and a fresh atmosphere.

Also has kickass opening and ending credits.

Spoiler

EDIT:

Oh yeah and Brotherhood has Greelin, really awesome character.

Pretty much this. However my only complaint with Brotherhood is that Hughes had no screen time, so his part in the original was much more effective because he had much more characterisation. Whereas in Brotherhood he could have pretty much been any random person.

Everything else in Brotherhood was better though.