Current Events > I'll say it - I prefer FMA03 over BroHood (Spoiler Topic)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Topic. I know it's controversial at best.

That being said, I don't know anyone in real life that actually prefers Brotherhood. And yea, it's almost certainly because we watched, and grew up with, 2003.

The reality is most of us either couldn't, or we took a lot of effort to even get through BroHood

I don't care that BH is more faithful. Why tf would I?!

That all being said, Episode 50 of 2003 is one of my favorite pieces of TV of all time

It's only controversial because a lot of people are wrong.

I only care about which one is better, thats why I watched FMAB

Guide posted...

It's only controversial because a lot of people are wrong.

Given what you're explicitly replying to... You agree that 2003 is better?

Guide posted...

It's only controversial because a lot of people are wrong.

This.

03 has a far more mature story. Brotherhood is closer to generic Shonen garbage.

why did people hate that it connects to our world near the end? I thought the WWI shit was cool

but I also haven't seen it since 2006 so whatevs

I don't know that this is a particularly controversial opinion. I know a lot of people that like both but prefer 03

Unknown5uspect posted...

I don't know that this is a particularly controversial opinion. I know a lot of people that like both but prefer 03

Plenty of people crap on 03. Far more than Brotherhood.

Which is unfortunate. Brotherhood is clearly worse.

GrandConjuraton posted...

Plenty of people crap on 03. Far more than Brotherhood.

Which is unfortunate. Brotherhood is clearly worse.

Tbh... Thanks

FMA03 crawled so Bro'hood could do a four-minute mile.

I think Brotherhood being closer to the the Manga makes it win for some people. But I like 03 better.

Who killed Winry's parents. In 03, oh my gosh. That bring it home. You can hear Vietnam vets speaks about the horrible things that they did there. They didn't go over there to be monsters but some people became monsters.

Meh, all these topics the last few years with this opinion would have made me feel a lot more vindicated if they existed 14 years ago when I was the only one stating how much I disliked and was disappointed by brotherhood and how much better original fma was. And was flamed to hell and back again for it.

Since then I've softened on brotherhood, recognizing it as the generic shounen that it is and not faulting the show for it (that lies with the author for doing basically nothing with the homunculus concept that the first anime tackled mostly better)

And it's not like I don't recognize the heavy faults with the original fma. They exist, and I had so many ideas to improve them. There are even minor concepts from brotherhood that I thought were neat and could be incorporated into the original to make it the perfect anime

I enjoyed the '03 series more until the last 9-10 episodes, which were not that good, IMO.

it wasn't about the twists, but about their overall quality.

that's why I prefer Brotherhood, since it had a consistent quality throughout.

Only reason I like the original series more then Brotherhood is for the superior Conqueror of Shamballa ending.

FolkenRawr posted...

Given what you're explicitly replying to... You agree that 2003 is better?

Indeed I do. It's not faithful to the manga, but that doesn't matter if it's better.

Ironically they both had lame endings for completely opposite reasons:

Brotherhood's ending was so ridiculously saccharine that even disney would need to check their glucose level. I felt second hand embarrassment just watching it.

FMA... fma's ending literally had me get out pitchforks and light torches to storm the village in rage. Like the last few episodes were already heading down a path that made me nervous, but that ending was rage inducing. That decision was enough to take back any praise the show previously had.

trivialbeing posted...

why did people hate that it connects to our world near the end? I thought the WWI shit was cool

but I also haven't seen it since 2006 so whatevs

Honestly don't know. Most of what hear as a reason for the hate is "it didn't follow the manga".

2003 blew my mind when I first watched it. All the tucker stuff and how the Homunculi were formed were much more emotional. Brotherhood felt more generic. Also, I prefer the 2003's art style. Brotherhood characters looked stubby.

Most people only like '03 because they watched it first before reading the manga or watching FMA:B

Those who started with manga hates '03.

me too

I started with the 03 and then transitioned to the manga and then was pretty stoked for brotherhood. 03 has a special place in my heart, and I definitely prefer the pacing, but yeah once it branches off to the wrath stuff I feel kinda ehhhh... Especially as it comes to its "conclusion". I feel no conflictions comparing the brotherhood soundtrack to 03. Akira Senju blew it out of the water with some of the scores in brotherhood, hands down.

I think Brotherhood is better just because it's far more cohesive and the villain has an actual plan, but 03 should definitely not be written off. I think it's generally better written and I'd agree that Brotherhood is far more shonen, though it's really only the last little bit that it's really shonen.

That said, the ending for the 03 series is just not good and it does a lotta goofy shit. Brotherhood is perhaps a bit too happy ending, but at least it ended and wrapped up its plotlines.

Terrible. I watched 03 first and still hated the ending. I went into Brotherhood knowing nothing of how it really ended and it was so much better. The homonculus were kind of pathetic in 03 but Brotherhood made them interesting

To me, and this is just how I look at it, FMA03 did better character work outside of the Homunculus. Every character felt special. Brotherhood fixed the Homunculus and Barry the Butcher while sticking closer to the manga. But outside those, I actually enjoyed the original while there were times during Brotherhood that I just couldn't care about the story. And if I'm being honest, I actually prefer Gluttony in the 03' version to his Brotherhood counterpart.

Brotherhood to me pushes off far too fast. They try to play catch up where the split happens and in the process they lose some of the charm from the original series. Some characters feel like weak versions of their 03' selves. Armstrong for example doesn't have the same aura about him. He was always goofy, but that was coupled with him actually being a well written character. In brotherhood it feels like he was forced to being second to his sister.

I never watched 03 so idk if it's actually bad or if it's just manga purists trying to convince everyone that it's bad

Where can I watch 03. I really didn't like Brotherhood but it seemed very complete. I never watched 03 or talked to anyone who spoiled.

I'll watch it and let you know what I think. I have a show hole right now after watching March Comes in Like a Lion.

Jaguar34 posted...

Where can I watch 03. I really didn't like Brotherhood but it seemed very complete. I never watched 03 or talked to anyone who spoiled.

I'll watch it and let you know what I think. I have a show hole right now after watching March Comes in Like a Lion.

At least in North America I don't think you can watch it anywhere legally anymore, Funimation never renewed the rights when it expired a decade-ish ago.