Anime 5114 Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Reviews Filter Check 2

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood gets an immense amount of praise in the MAL community. Now this is just the opinion of one guy. I'm certainly not the law of the land or anything. However, I personally feel as though calling FMA:B a masterpiece and the champion of all shows is a bit of a stretch. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it or that it isn't a very solid addition to the ranks of notable shows; I really would like to preface this review by saying that I believe that FMA:B is a very good show and I wouldn't be nearly as harsh ... on it if it weren't for the God status the show has attained in America. I would happily remand "greatest show ever made" to "greatest long-running shonen ever made if you haven't seen the 2011 Hunter X Hunter"

I'm not a huge fan of the MAL categorical rating system, as I've mentioned in some of my previous reviews. I oftentimes outright ignore it. However, looking at the categories right now, I feel as though this is one instance where I can use it to talk about everything I want to so I'm going to use it.

STORY: 8

The FMA:B plot and world-building are some of its strongest aspects. The world that it creates is an immersive, full-feeling thing with many animate pieces that move even when you aren't looking at them. It's an extremely creative world as well, adopting its own set of universal laws including alchemy through equivalent exchange, mind-body duality and its own interpretation of a higher power, and it sticks by these laws. Never once does the story contradict its own rules, instead using them in creative ways to build off of each other. The plot is also one of the most engaging parts of the show, unveiling itself at just the right pace to keep you interested whilst still keeping a few major cards to play at the very end. The pieces fall into place in a way that is satisfying because it simultaneously mind-blowing and obvious, and that's one of the marks of strong storytelling.

While the FMA:B story is certainly one of the best I've seen, I find that I have to withhold my 10 score here on the grounds that its incredible direction and creativity are marred by some detrimental weaknesses. First of all, the exposition is handled extremely poorly. The first and third episodes feel like they're from some shitty cartoon network show, the show blatantly ignores the show-don't-tell rule in the entirety of its first chunk (with characters spelling out exactly what is happening and why it's happening) and its tendency to repeat important plot points over and over again quite frankly feels insulting to me as the audience as though the show is assuming I'm not able to pay attention or figure things out for myself and need to have the fact that Ed and Al committed the sin of human transmutation and lost their bodies told to me at least twenty-five times in the first two hours of show. Secondly, there's a period of time which I would probably refer to as the third fourth of the show (episodes 40-53ish) in which the show drags incredibly, adopting a typical battle-shonen approach of having characters engage in multiple-episode long one-on-one or two-on-one battles, giving them plenty of time to pose and stand off and monologue at each other. This isn't how fighting or war works, and these contrived battles really take away a lot of the climactic atmosphere. Finally, the show's ending is not nearly as satisfying as I wish it had been. The final few episodes are for the most part brilliant, but once the show plays all its cards and it's resolution time, it wraps itself up with cliches and in-your-face themes.

ART: 8

The art is absolutely astounding 80% of the time and absolutely horrid 20% of the time. Thus the 8 score. The action is all stunning, the openings gorgeous, the backgrounds consistent and unique, building a sense of a real lived-in world. The character designs are sometimes a little bland, but for the most part they are memorable and the homunculi look brilliant so I don't have any real complaints there.

What I have a problem with is the obnoxious number of times that the show goes "anime" - reducing its characters to shittily-drawn caricatures and its animation to blocky, looped motion. Usually this is used during the shows attempts at humor, which I'll talk about later, but most of the time it was just extremely cringe-inducing and distracting, ruining the sense of continuity and immersion in this world. The show obviously wants you to take it seriously (it sure loves its drama) and when Al is portrayed as a big grey mound with a squiggle for a mouth it makes this difficult. There's a difference between having your character goof around and having the show itself goof around. It almost feels like a laugh-track, telling the audience "this is the funny part!"

For the most part, however, the art is gorgeous. When it counts, it shines, and that's really what matters.

SOUND: 10

Undeniably the strongest aspect of the show. I have no complaints whatsoever. The soundtrack is never distracting but always effective, the voice-actors (especially for Bradley and Al) absolutely nailed it and the openings and endings... dear lord. It's been said before, but the openings and endings to FMA:B are some of the very best ever made, both in sound and visuals. They tell small stories of their own. They set the tone for the episode and for their section of the show as a whole. I especially loved 'Golden Time Lover' and 'Chemistry', but I have to give special mention to SID's 'Rain'. As far as I'm concerned, that opening could have been the end of the show. It single-handedly established a sense of finality, a long-endured struggle of these characters and their causes. Everyone is portrayed as exhausted, weak and full of both despair and determination: protagonist and antagonist alike, fighting under the rain. Not for glory, not for honor, but just for the one thing they care most for. Personally, it made me extremely hyped for the final stretch of the show. It wasn't quite what we got, but at least we got some of it.

I believe that there is an intense connection between a show's opening and the audience's willingness to appreciate it. It is very likely that the intensity of many fanbases is in part due to the ability that openings such as these have to maintain feelings in regards to the show, oftentimes perhaps even distorting or altering memories of the show itself into what the opening would have you believe the show was like rather than what it was actually like. Obvious examples that jump to mind are Sword Art Online's "Courage" and Guilty Crown's "My Dearest". Remember how those shows were absolutely nothing like that? No?? IT'S TOO LATE FOR YOU

But I digress.

CHARACTER: 6

I would definitely call out the show's characters on being the weakest link and the most undeserving of the praise that the show receives. For starters, the writing is often clunky and awkward, but that's not the main issue. It's because most of them are not really characters: they're plot devices with one or two distinguishing traits tacked on. They're entirely predictable, not because they feel like real people but because they do the same things over and over again. Al talks about what he'll do when he gets his body back. Ed talks about how they'll find a way and how they will atone for their mistakes and etc. It's not that it's melodrama: it's the fact that it's the SAME melodrama over and over again. It wasn't until sometime past episode 30 that Ed stopped sounding perpetually like a broken record and started to feel as though he were actually developing, but even then he was really just defined by his arc and not by any amount of complexity.

And that's the pitfall that so many of these characters fall into. If your character's only real traits beyond their development for the sake of the show are "hates being called short" and "hates milk" they're really more of a tool with some googly eyes stuck on to them. Other characters are even worse: Armstrong is manly. His sister is more manly. Mustang wants to be Fuhrer and avenge Hughes (he's even got this great relationship with Hawkeye that could have been seriously compelling if they ever had any real conversations about anything besides "we must overthrow the government" and "Hughes!" over and over again). Winry likes Ed and automail. Ling wants to be emperor. Now, FMA:B is a complex, busy show. I could understand if it didn't have the time to make these characters anything more than chess pieces for its grand and elaborate plot, giving them a few distinguishing traits because that's really all it can manage without dragging itself out immensely. But it DOES have the time: it has all the time it spends having Ed yell about being called short. It has all the time it spends having Armstrong pull of his shirt and yell about being manly. It has all the time it spends having Ed and Al talk about getting their goddamn bodies back over and fucking over again as though I would somehow manage to forget it. Ling passing out from lack of food. May fawning comically over Ed. Mustang is antisocial LOL. The same gags, over and over again, barely even rehashed in any original way. Not only do they become painful to watch, they devour all of the development that this shallow cast of characters could have had to make me actually invested in them. They're far too static, with most of them having a single change or revelation over the course of the show's 64 episodes in order to indicate that they have grown as a person. But a good character has so much more than that: what kind of music do these people listen to? Why? Who are their role models? Why? What books do they like? What are their favorite places to eat? What do they appreciate in the people they're close to?? What are their personal histories...

Oh wait, sorry! I didn't mean to ask that last one! Please, I take it back! NOOOOOOO...

Yeah so I forgot to mention something. Screw all that stuff about making these characters possess complex personalities, FMA:B has a better way to define them.

TRAUMA

Everyone who's remotely relevant has a traumatic backstory. It's a harsh world, sure. I get that. Here's the issue: people are introduced and then defined through their trauma. Now this isn't Angel Beats bad, where horrible things happen to perfectly innocent people for no reason. Most of the tragedy is partially a result of the decisions of the characters involved, and their resulting struggle is a combination of having to cope with the consequences and with themselves and their mistakes. However, this cannot be used as a SUBSTITUTE for character development. A supplement, sure, but I still remember in episode four when Ed and Al meet a state alchemist who literally introduces himself with something along the lines of "my wife left me because we were too poor" before he even tells them his goddamn NAME. Here, come on in! Take a seat! Would you like some sorrow pie or tragic backstory cake? We have plenty! Ed and Al's dad left, then their mom died, then they f*cking ripped their bodies apart. Winry's parents were murdered in cold blood. Mustang had to kill lots of people. Armstrong had to kill lots of people. Everyone had to kill lots of people. Scar watched everyone he loved get killed, and then had to kill lots of people. These are always the first things we find out about people, and then for the rest of the show they are defined almost exclusively by them. If anyone is overly happy and wholesome, it means something horrid is going to happen to them. It's basic emotional manipulation. Look at this adorable little girl and her dog! Dead. Look at this smiling, picturesque family! Husband dead. Dead. Everyone innocuously happy has to die or lose someone close to them. The more broken and internally conflicted you are, the safer you are. There's no need to pile more grief on Scar, so he's relatively safe.

Yes, the characters suffer from repeatable and preventable problems. They exist mainly to function as morals-in-a-bottle with gags tacked on to them. They're difficult to relate to, because all we know about them is whatever themes they embody and one or two dumb jokes. Ikuhara writes characters more personable than this, and his stories don't make sense on PURPOSE. I did give the characters a 6 though, and there are reasons for that.

First off, despite their lack of humanization the characters complete their tasks of being walking themes with relative effectiveness. This isn't anywhere near Log Horizon S1 bad. These characters are here for a reason, they represent something, and they represent those things well. Sure, they could have easily been better, but they fulfill their purpose and for that alone they are not failures. I will also give special mention to Scar, who, while still actively defined by his trauma was executed far more impressively than the other characters. This is probably in part because the show actually viewed him as morally ambiguous as opposed to just making the character FEEL morally ambiguous when there was really no doubt that the show wanted you to think this was a 'good guy' (*cough* Mustang)

Second off, there are some exceptions to the rule. Most of my complaints thusfar have been leveled at the shows protagonists. They are the ones that suffer from dismal repetition and blatant violation of show-don't-tell. Where the show does excel is with its antagonists. There are seven homunculi in the show, incarnations of the seven deadly sins, and they so utterly clobber their "good-guy" counterparts in terms of being engaging, personable subtle characters that it isn't even funny. Their intensive backstories are never shoved in your face, their apparent contradictions are given plenty of time to be uncovered by the viewer, and the deliciously ironic conclusions to their arcs are done tactfully. Many times I found myself actively routing for them because they were just so much more interesting and well-executed. I would happily watch an "Adventures of the Homunculus" spinoff cataloging the several hundred years most of them lived before the start of the series.

ENJOYMENT: 7

I was constantly gripped by the plot. I actively looked forward to the openings and endings. The art was oftentimes orgasmic. The homunculi made me want to start looking for ingredients to make a philosopher's stone with. However, I was constantly frustrated by the show's apparent lack of respect for its viewers and by its absolutely abysmal humor. I've already said it, but I don't know if I've driven home just how infuriating it is to have exposition repeated to you over and f*cking over again and how cringe-inducing it is when somebody violates the show-don't-tell rule at extremely tense and crucial moments. It actively snapped me out of the experience whenever Ed and Al had a conversation about getting their bodies back after the 5th time it happened, and when God literally spelled out for Ed that he had discovered the meaning of life I facepalmed hard. That's not how you do themes, man. That just comes off as preachy. That's something the show suffered constantly from: it felt incredibly preachy. It's character's speeches about the answers they had found to their struggles felt much more pointed at the audience than at anyone in the show they were talking to, and that bothered the ever-loving crap out of me. And have I mentioned the humor? For every joke the show has that lands, it tries about five others that fall on their face. As I've already mentioned, they're repetitive and used as a substitute for meaningful character interactions and development. It seems as thought the show is trying to use them as a counterbalance for its immense amount of melodrama, but instead they end up just ripping apart the tone and stagnating the story. Despite these gripes, I did overall enjoy the experience and felt that the positives did inevitably outweigh the negatives so I will happily give it a 7 for enjoyment.

OVERALL: 7

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is not a masterpiece. It's a very respectable, unique, inspired and creative show and it's definitely a classic. I would happily recommend this to most people. However, don't go in with irrational expectations. It's enjoyable, it's engaging, it will definitely give you plenty to think about, but in my personal opinion it gets a little too much praise and a little too much hype. I probably would have enjoyed it more myself if I hadn't heard nothing but angelic worship for it before going into it. I formally apologize to any huge fans of the show that I may have offended: it's not by any means a bad show! I don't give out 7s all that lightly, believe me. This is merely an argument against FMA:B being the be-all-end-all of anime. Thanks for reading if you made it through that wall of text, and have a nice day!

Since I couldn't find any legitimate objective analysis in any of these fanboy reviews, I decided put my own review:

Here's why FMA:B and it's Manga counterpart don't work:

It's just a disjointed piece of art. The initial premise of the narrative: two young siblings that horrifically lose their mother and parts of themselves is incredibly dark and powerfully poignant. Their journey to find the philosophers stone is one that's objectively adventurous but the endpoint is still inherently adult and sophisticatedly gritty; especially as it delves into the implications of bringing a dead person back to life early on in the series.

So why is it disjointed? ... Because there's a mistranslation of tonal nuance throughout the entire series. Now I don't mean stylistic aspects such as art style choices e.g. Chibi segments (because those are minuscule details in the grand scheme of storytelling devices), but rather the way they're implemented in the story. For example, one second we're dealing with the introspective reconciliation of human birth and how beautiful it is and the very next we drop it for side-gags just to transition into the next topic/character development. It just doesn't fit. It's formulaic. It's predictable storytelling at it's finest and it absolutely ruins the pacing.

It's a huge shame because the character development and dialogue in the series is exquisitely written (some of the best in any story I've ever seen); e.g. Edward's speech about his existential crisis provided a deep psychoanalytical view into his personality and character. This is amazing character development! However it actually lessens the impact of the narrative and my personal enjoyment of the series because it contrasts heavily with the tone of the series. Right down to the very commercial transitions with the quirky voice-over of the title; every little stylistic choice is presented as a complete antithesis to the themes of the series.

Fullmetal Alchemist should NOT be sugarcoated with a light-hearted aesthetic. This is something I'd hate to say in any other series because pretentiously "dark and gritty" series (*cough* Tokyo Ghoul *cough*) are the bane of my existence but this is the one exception. If the themes of the series are of complex adult issues, why is the tone appealing to childish humour and zany adventurous antics?

With all that being said, I totally understand why Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is considered one of the greatest Animes of all time because it is substantially provocative and extremely complex behind the aesthetics much like many other great Animes like One Piece, Hunter X Hunger, Cowboy Bebop and Dragon Ball.

Personally, it just doesn't work from a narrative perspective because it feels disjointed and unfocused in the way it clashes with stylistic ambiguity. Through this loss of tone, the series becomes a chain of loose threads that are vaguely commentating on the overall themes of the narrative which is why I rated Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and the Manga: 5/10.

I was dreading having to make my way through Brotherhood at some point considering my high regard for the first series and not really liking the manga adaptation's more conventional plot developments. But considering enough people were praising the daylights out of Brotherhood and some even boasting that the first series was no longer relevant, I decided to check things out for myself and see what got people giddy over this adaptation of the series. And after venturing my way through Brotherhood, I would have to say that those calling the first series irrelevant are ridiculous considering both titles have completely different takes on their ... source material and the handling of them that whichever series you prefer would depend on what you are looking for in an anime.

In Brotherhood's case, it takes the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and makes a more closer adaptation of the source material which is quite focused on world building and creating a grand scale plot coming out of the Elrics finding out details about the Philosopher's Stone and eventually finding out about a national conspiracy and heinous plot connected to the Homunculus and powerful figures in the Amestris military. This take on FMA does follow a more conventional plot than the first TV series as much of the complex characterization found with prominent characters in the original series is greatly toned down with Brotherhood creating a more plot-focused series and morality with many characters being more black and white as the series has more purely "good" and "bad" characters with the former being always right in their convictions within the series and the latter having no redeemable traits and being wrong in their actions. With me believing that good characters in an anime should be morally grey with flawed heroes and villains with redeemable traits, I wasn't digging Brotherhood's conventional take on characters.

Brotherhood did have some elements that I did get some enjoyment out of. With Brotherhood being more focused on world building and plot advancement, the series expands more on the world of the series than what the first series did by introducing more branches of the military and some other countries neighboring Amestris, particularly Xerxes and Xing. This also allows the introduction of some new characters in the series with several characters from Xing and within the military that Ed and Al befriend and ally with when dealing with the Homunculus and the conspiracy they uncover. In addition, some characters from the original series who were underdeveloped and not having much screen time (Hohenheim, Alex Armstrong and Roy Mustang's men being prominent examples) are given more focus in this series, get some moments of fleshing out and are given bigger roles to play.

Still though, there are enough issues I have with Brotherhood that outweigh the praises I give it above. The show's first 12-13 episodes run at a fast pace providing little time to connect with characters introduced and with the events of those episodes having been portrayed in the first series, Bones appeared to have intentionally sped through the events to get going with what wasn't covered by the first series. With Bones more closely following the manga's storyline for Brotherhood, these earlier episodes had featured a major flaw to FMA manga-ka Hiromu Arakawa's earlier chapters in that her fast advancement of events gave little time for emotional investment from readers in regards to how characters reacted to major events that shook their resolves as the lack of time and depth on plotting in earlier chapters did kill their quality to a great extent. With the slower pacing and greater character focus found in FMA's first series, Arakawa had adopted these elements to a degree with her storytelling in later chapters which helped improve the quality of her writing.

I also found myself getting quite irritated with the show's comedy getting in the way of more serious moments. This was quite prominent in Brotherhood's earlier episodes where moments of slapstick and characters going super-deformed killed the suspense of serious moments. While the series does tone down on these moments in later episodes as the plot gets darker and more serious, they still pop up on occasion and when they do, I still found them to be a mood killer during most scenes.

Despite the praises I gave for new characters and expanded depth on underdeveloped characters who appeared in the original series, I couldn't give the same thing for a majority of other characters who appeared in the first series. Brotherhood's portrayal of these characters are more conventional and less complex as heroic characters aren't confronted with any possible flaws to their actions and personal beliefs; as well as all the villains being so shallowly evil that they're laughable and I could care less if they get beaten up and killed off.

The final episodes to a good extent also felt quite contrived with how things progress just to allow all the surviving characters to have a good ending. A number of moments were deus ex machina thrown in for villains to be defeated through means which the series never explored and they kind of cheapen how I felt about the hardships faced by the Elrics and other prominent characters to get what they desire.

In terms of presentation, visual details with Brotherhood are a bit simpler than the first series with color tones being more subdued. This is especially prominent with background designs in many shots as their quality looks quite washed out compared to scenery found in the foreground. Still, character designs of those from the original series still look the same as they were from over five years ago. While animation shortcuts are apparent in a good number of shots in Brotherhood, the series does have its animation highlights with the occasional fluid fight sequence and some good fight scenes involving Envy's true form.

For music, much of Brotherhood's insert music consists of stringed and piano pieces that do well at complementing the peaceful and intense moments seen throughout the series. On the other hand, many of the OP and ED musical choices chosen for the series consisted of some generic J-Pop and J-Rock that hardly grabbed my interest, though the first OP, Yui's again, did well at fitting with Brotherhood's mood.

Overall, I found my perceptions of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood to be no different from when I read the manga. It goes for a more conventional style of storytelling compared to the first FMA series and while it does have its moments of good quality involving character focus and world building, its more plot heavy and conventional focus drives it to lose much of the complexity given to prominent characters of the first series and the poor quality to its plotting in its beginning and ending episodes does kill quite a bit of the plot buildup that I would be expected to care about. While a worthwhile watch to those craving an epic-style action-adventure series or wanting a more faithful adaptation of the FMA manga, those wanting better characterization and solid drama with the series (in my case) would be better off seeing the 2003 anime adaptation of FMA.

Why do people give this such a high rating!


I saw FMAB because of the high rating and amount of praising. I was skeptical to see why it was rated highly. So, I watched it out of curiosity assumed that I would enjoy it because everyone else did. But, It’s so basic in writing that I feel bad for saying that. Also, I feel bad for saying this but FMAB fans just do anything to keep this anime #1 and they only say it’s good because everyone else says it’s good. when others animes with the same aspects of FMAB have way better storylines, characters etc. ... So anyways, I came in with no initial thoughts didn’t look at reviews ignored the rating even though the score was quite high and look at what it was offering. Now for what it truly offers and it’s not a memorable experience. Not to say fmab is bad but it wasn’t as great as I expected it to be. After I finished I looked at the score and baffled at why the score was even this high.

Pros: Great ending.
Pros: Some characters are very well written.
Pros: Simple animation and art style.
Pros: English dub VA’S match characters voice.
Pros: Great hand-to-hand fighting choreography, When there is hand-to-hand combat.

Cons: Basic story without strong story aspects as other shounen.
Cons: Underwhelming suspense/ Breaking point.
Cons: Comedy moments in serious moments.
Cons: Lots of caricature’s with 1 personality instead of multiple.
Cons: Pretty repetitive, Boring and predictable.
Cons: Underwhelming story for a long length shonen.
Cons: A lot of Uninteresting anticlimactic fights.
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Story: 5
Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood’s story feels disguised as complex but it’s really simple. Now don’t get me wrong the premise is very interesting, “It is impossible to create something out of nothing. If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. This is the law of equivalent exchange; the basis of all alchemy.”

Now the story is about 2 brother’s that lose there mom (Alphonse and Edward) So they use a alchemy technique called human transmutation a forbidden alchemy technique to bring there mom back from the dead without knowing the consequences. Alphonse loses his whole body while Edward loses a leg. Since Alphonse’s whole body is gone. Edward tries to bring his brother back by sacrificing his arm and placing a transmutation on a suit of armor. They are traumatized by what happened. They’ve lost their bodies and are in search of the legendary philosopher’s stone to get there bodies back. Now as bad as there poor suffering sounds.

The story becomes so predictable because of Edward he is literally a beta male (too kind person) can’t blame Alphonse for following him. Besides he’s the younger brother anyways. They’re too kind to take risks for what they truly want. Since they don’t want anyone to suffer. Really hypocritical for them to continuously say that how they’d do anything to get there bodies back. Then someone sacrificed there life and they were still the same characters throughout the series WHY?? There were so many instances where they’ve could’ve got there bodies back. If i’m correct the brothers had contact with a philosopher’s stone over 5 times. But, Since the philosopher’s stone is made out of basically already dead souls and humans wanting to die the brothers just denied it because they don’t want suffering souls to suffer. That brings me to another point the story changes midway because of there betamale act. They give up on finding or trying to use the philosophers stone. They now want to go find another way to get there bodies back so then Alphonse gets memories of being dead and in “the gate truth” this randomly got brought up midway and they want to perform a stupid complicated way to get there bodies back. Also there was lots dumb tropes to keep the MC alive for instance. MC was on the verge of death because he was in a fight and the fucking villains said “Aye I think the kid is badly hurt let’s save him”. What an lazy way to add a trash filler character.

The climax is handled so poorly that it’s like eating rice and bread this one villain reveals himself and the person he revealed himself to (without getting to much into spoilers) was like “Oh yeah so you were the villain?” Then the person goes tells others about the villain they have the most predictable boring reaction. Now a Anime becoming predictable is not a bad thing. But, the way FMAB predictable aspect is handled makes The story becomes bland and uninteresting as shit because tension, suspense, Turning points are poorly handled that it just isn’t at all emotional it’s bland and once you think there is emotional moment it just lands a anticlimactic feeling after that. This just makes the story uninteresting. because there is no connection with how the characters are reacting.

Also, for the fairly long length of the anime it could’ve focused on Ling’s and all the other clans struggle deeper and made him more interesting. But, They barely explored his struggle which is unfortunate because it was interesting.


Sound: 7
The english voice actors match really well with the characters my compliant but the voice acting feels monotonous which I normally don’t notice in dub but I noticed here, Great Ost and soundtrack are played alot but I don’t really notice anything at all some ost’s are great I guess. But emotionally wise they ruin it with dumb comedy during dark moments or beautiful ones making it lose suspense while the series is playing and the jokes consist of the MC being short. Charming at first and quickly got repetitive. Some examples were a baby was getting born this is a beautiful moment. Yeah let’s throw a fucking side gag.

Characters: 6
The characters are done so poorly they are basically like caricatures
They represent litterally one personality except Homheim and homucolus they are actually very great characters but they got bad character treatment. Still very amazing characters. For the sheer length of this anime they could’ve explored many characters. My compliant about Edward Elric has something very traumatic happened to him yet he doesn’t have a realistic side to him he just stays a betamale no development or change. That’s really unfortunate could’ve made a great MC because of what he went through. Also there were some characters used for Roy mustang’s development. But it was used in a lazy way that didn’t build character tension. Also Winry is probably one of the most poorly written characters. Anyways i’ll list off some caricatures:

Maes Hughes: “LOOK ISN’T MY DAUGHTER SO BEAUTIFUL”
Izumi Curtis: “I’M NOTHING BUT YOUR EVERYDAY HOUSE WIFE”
Alex Armstrong: Says Armstrong generation in every line.
Edward Elric: Beta male.
Barry the Chopper: A “I’m a evil villain” that’s goofy and can’t be taken seriously.



Art/Animation: 7.5
The art style is simple which i admire. As for the animation i didn’t notice anything wrong or bad. It was consistent but not flashy kinda of underwhelming because bones always has very amazing animation. for other series like MHA, Noragami and Mob psycho 100 Coloring looks neat. not much to say except it’s overall good

8/10 for art style and coloring
7/10 for animation.

Enjoyment: 6
Now I was bored of this series 6 episodes in it’s just so predictable. suspense and tension couldn’t even covered this because it was handled so boringly. it’s not fun to watch or gets you on the edge of your seat it’s a dreadful experience. Some parts are fun to watch sometimes the comedy can be funny. Animes and manga rated under 9.22 are way more entertaining to watch then this and have way better story aspects then FMAB. I kept I watched this anime just alone no other anime to distract my watching experience and took me about 3-5 months to finished. I found it mediocre and over scored.

Overall: 6
This had some potential if it wasn’t a shonen a seinen more like it. Throw the side gags away, Expand more on the concept of alchemy make Edward a character that would truly do anything to get his body since that’s already a realistic goal. Make more interesting characters. They’ve could’ve did already interesting characters and their triats much better. Like Armstrong family history, Ling’s struggle, Make Izumi more realistic, Edward.

While FMA brotherhood offers an overall neatly wrapped full experience in anime and is a very easy anime to watch and be entertained by, it seems like many of the series'huge flaws which hurts its overall artistic quality are either being glossed over or are just not being talked about enough. In this review, I'd like to mainly address these issues and hopefully bring forth discussion. Is the anime good? Arguably, yes, it has a lot of great crowd pleasing aspects. Is it perfect and deserving of a 10/10? Sadly, far from it. If this review sounds in anyway cynical and pessimistic, I apologize, ... for I only think the pages of praise this anime gets needs to be balanced out with a bit of honest criticism. I also felt that I couldn't give an adequate critique without using points in the plot as examples, so I'm sorry in advance for there are some spoilers included.

Firstly, I found that brotherhood was ridden with far too many lazy convenient plot devices and shonen cliches for it to be enjoyable. What do I mean by this concretely? (spoilers ahead) If you look at episode 34 isn't it too much of a coincidence that sloth showed up right when the Elric brothers did in the exact same room? Consider the area sloth has to cover and how many times he actually emerges, isn't it too much of a coincidence that he showed up at Briggs right when the brothers was at the basement? Rather than having a story which melds encounters together naturally and smoothly, we get a cheap device made purely to advance the plot on very questionable grounds. There are other examples as well where we can see characters coincidentally being brought together if you watch the anime again. This is a terrible example of bad story writing and plot advancement.

What about shonen cliches? Just count the number of times in a fight where at the last crucial moment another character shows up to hit the enemy/ally to save someone. I realize that's a really badass shonen cliche, and when used sparingly, it can be somewhat epic, but in this one, it felt too tired and predictable.

The anime is also just far too naive and the actions and consequences of its characters are far too oversimplified. Brotherhood's predecessor might have its weaknesses, but it shines in it's realistic gritty overtones, and character growth in the Elrics as they journey through a bittersweet coming of age tale. In Brotherhood, there is only the illusion of character growth as they all have their respective emotional private dialogues, but these don't wallow past melodrama and towards episode 60, the elrics, mainly ed, are still the self righteous naive kids as they were when they started their journey. They don't murder under any circumstance for one but that morality is never explored because that's too much thinking and moral ambiguity confuses the audience I guess. In the original FMA, Ed had to resort to murder because of the situation and as dark as it was, the maturity was visible and there was a lot to be taken from that experience.

Often times moral themes in this anime don't get explored beyond "X is wrong so don't do it!" just like that annoying scene towards the end (spoiler)where everyone tells Mustang he'll become a different person if he takes his satisfying revenge on the homunculus who's committed multiple unforgivable crimes against humanity, but never goes into depth about the nature of revenge or why Roy will become evil if he takes vengeance in this instance. The nature of Roy's revenge wasn't even an explored theme until this moment, and all of a sudden everyone gets on envy's side and turns their teeth on Roy for no other reason but to tell kids on the other side that acts like this is bad because it turns you into a fiend for some reason. Was I not the only one shouting for them to end envy's life already? This was after the blunder of them not ending one of the world's most dangerous beings before by "putting him in a jar and giving it to a girl to be taken on a far journey" without assessing all the risks properly. The homunculi were dehumanized in contrast to the original FMA and made completely unsympathetic (save wrath and old greed) , and we are suppose to sympathize for them at the end for some reason when they were made to barely unlikable? It seems like everyone protects envy throughout the plot. There is "explaining morality through well written actions and subtext" and there is "preachy" Brotherhood is definitely on the side of preachy.

Mustang as well as everyone else's involvement in the Ishballan war was also not exposed enough I felt. There was not enough psychological explorations on that dark. evil event in history. In the original, there were enough time dedicated to show us the gravity of what happens during war, specifically the massacre of innocents and the guilt state alchemists have to bear, but all that was glossed over in brotherhood, and I felt the weight of war in general was not conveyed well at all when the anime had multiple opportunities to do so. (not just the ishballan war, but the civil battle at the end as well) and instead, we get shallow melodrama, plenty of light comedic relief, and not much food for the mind for us to ponder on. It feels like at times, the anime is almost afraid to be depressing. Compare Hughe's death sequence in both versions and tell me the one in brotherhood has more of an emotional impact.

Speaking of comedic relief, the chibi comedy moments in this anime really ruined a lot of potential serious moments. Often times, there was too much light relieving, there was nothing left to relieve but we get comedic relief'ed anyways. The atmospheric tones was much too inconsistent at key times where the director doesn't grip you in any major emotion for a significant amount of time. For an anime which uses so much comedy, FMAB suffers from the curse of just not being funny. I get it, Edward doesn't like to be called short, ok, I had a chuckle the first couple of times it was mentioned, but for the gag to be in almost every other episode was just straight overkill. I found laughter more in the subtler gags such as ed's terrible design sense.


Another naive and convenient moment was when all of kimblee's men happened to be good guys. They needed someone to rescue ed and be dependable, so hey, the two chimeras who were just trying to kill him a minute ago turns out to be genuinely good people because we'd have a dead main character otherwise. They couldn't kill the two chimeras in the room with scar who were tied up because the anime isn't dark enough to do that, so hey, Al trusted them at their word and they happened to be good people incapable of betrayal because everyone has good in their heart and just need to be trusted and the world is a great and simple place just like that! and just like that two allies were added to the roster out of nowhere because Arakawa couldn't write herself out of that predicament any other way.. changes of hearts are not gradual and realistic, but are rather handed out like Jesus pamphlets. Scar didn't have a second thought when the elders in his tribe whom he trusts questioned his actions, but switches sides just like that when he meets an ishballan soldier for the first time? I'm just suppose to buy that and go along?

The author also ignores too many possibilities regarding the use of alchemy while writing this. In an anime about alchemy, you'd think it'd be used more. When Al and Marco's car got a flat tire at the end, where was alchemy? when ed and gang was fighting hoards of zombie homunculi, where was the alchemy to simply bind them to the ground or wall? when the gold toothed doctor was taking his sweet time to draw a transmutation circle, where was the simple attempt to clap the ground to disrupt it? These were all techniques shown to be utilized in earlier episodes but not used so the plot could unravel at a contrived pace which makes questionable sense.

What the anime excels in is the fluidity of fight scenes, and the masterful animation with fine attention to detail all throughout, to the point where we can see the scar on Roy's hand healing scene by scene, episode by episode. I found characters in general to be paper thin and ill characterized because the episodes were more plot concentrated (but then again so was geass, but it dedicated enough time to character exposition at the same time) .I really wanted to like brotherhood...but really walked out feeling I just watched an above mediocre shonen which doesn't break the chains of its genre down to the last cheesy, sappy line uttered by its protagonist at the end.

Brotherhood boasts that it follows the mangas story more closely than the previous anime adaptation, and it does. However the actual quality of the anime itself is far poorer. What realy made FMA's previous anime adaptation so successfull was the overall direction of the anime. The quality of shots used in this anime and the art itself is inferior to the original anime. Obviously it is still highly enjoyable due to the story behind it, but the anime seems overhyped. People feel pressured to believe thats its better due to the story being more accuratly followed. This is not ... the way to think. The anime suffered hugely at first as well, as it attempted to catch up to the manga, thus rushing through over half of the story. The sound was not bad, but then again it was not that good.

FMA fanatics should enjoy this as it follows the manga more closely, however if you have not read the manga then I would reccomend the original series, as in all honesty it is of much better quality.

It is rushed. Completely and utterly rushed.

I fully enjoyed the original FMA since episode 1. It was well thought out. However, Brotherhood is the completely opposite. Since the storyline completely rushed, it does not allow for explanation. The characters are introduced so quickly, making Brotherhood just like any other anime out there.

I was really looking forward to watching this new version (despite wishing for a continuation of the original series) since it followed the manga more accurately.

Brotherhood is a disappointment for me, but I will continue to watch it since I love the original FMA so much.

I know that writing a review after only seeing 10 episodes isn't really fair. But I just thought I'd share my opinion on it.

After watching and entirely loving Fullmetal Alchemist I decided to watch Brotherhood. The very first scene was entirely different, and this continued throughout the rest of the episodes that I watched. After coming from FMA, the change in character behaviour and attitude was a complete shock. I couldn't bring myself to watch the rest of the series out of fear of ruining FMA completely.

I suppose it was my mistake to start with the "original" series; it ended up clouding my entire viewing experience. Honestly, I hadn't even planned on watching Brotherhood. If I hadn't seen the "original" first, I might have given Brotherhood a solid 7. The notion that this anime should be considered the "Top 1" is a bit absurd. I understand it's a matter of personal preference, but the contrived "happy ending" felt incredibly artificial to me. It might have been acceptable for a 2009 anime, where everything had to wrap up neatly, but given the losses and genuinely sad moments, the ending didn't make sense.

Furthermore, ... there were other aspects that didn't sit well with me, although these are subjective preferences. 3D was sht. Also, introducing an entirely new continent without any further exploration or explanation left me feeling unsatisfied. A perfect anime, rated 10, should be flawless ( for me, a rating of 10 should reflect something personal, while ratings from 1 to 9 should represent objective critiques).

It seems to me that some fans are clinging to their fond memories and emotions associated with FMA, rather than evaluating the anime objectively. That's what I called the "Sword Art Online effect." I remember when I first watched SAO, I thought it deserved a perfect 10, now my perspective shifted drastically, and I now see it as a mere 3. People have been in their honeymoon phase with FMA for over a decade, making it difficult for them to let go and view it critically.

This review will be rather short.

The story is not bad in general, it is just awfully directed. The main reason which caused that I didn't enjoy this anime was pathetic humour which is ruining EVERY episode. For example, there is a situation where main characters are talking about something interesting, and unexpectedly something "funny" happens and main thread of their conversation (or even whole episode) is cutted, because "funny" situation is most important of course. It is happening in EVERY episode, sometimes few times. Yeah, that 'humour' destroyed the whole story.

But this is not the only reason of course. The next thing: main characters. They ... are boring. Typical battle shounen scheme. There were a lot episodically characters which were much better and interesting than Erlic brothers and no.1 badass - Bradley King.
I liked the whole idea of philosopher stones and homunculus thing (and their names taken from seven deadly sins)
The plot story is way too episodic too.

Art - I loved that backgrounds. Seriously, it was really well drawn. Animation was nice too. But in other side, almost all characters looked very bad and too simple.

Sound - voice actors were matched really good (as usual in anime). Of course I'm talking about original Japanese voices. Soundtrack is average, I don't like this type of soundtracks (symphonic ones, like from 'Murican blockbuster). It is boring as hell, I'm glad, that it is rather not usual in anime.

Summarizing,I felt like I was watching rather a generic USA movie (trust me, I've seen plenty of them in my life, I started watching anime, because I was bored as hell by hollywood crap) than actual anime.

FMA:B is yet another battle shounen, which are thousands. It is not bad anime, but in my opinin it doesn't deserve to be even in top 50. It would be much better, when it would be 50% shorter and without ALL that pathetic humour.
I watched it, and probably in next year I will totally forget about it.

Ehh...I loved the first Fullmetal Alchemist, but what I've seen so far of Brotherhood...sorry but I don't really like what they've done with the characters. The art style is...well, sort of like pokemon in my opinion and so not in a good way. I understand that some people might want the series to follow the manga a lot closer, but I thought it was fine the way it was in the original. I feel like they're doing more damage than good with this series.

The adaptation of manga, intead of original work. Shame really. The second part fails to capture awesomness of first part opting to do everything as differently as possible from first part. Which is a shame - charecter development is just poor (and some charecters such as Mustang are just boring opposing the brilliant and loved Mustang from first part), the speed of story doesn't leave any time for good plot, idiotic deforming of animation, poor animation in general (despite huge budjet), good OST, that nevertheless fails to shine in comparison to first part and most importantly it fails to use brilliant findings of original anime ... (such as comparison of Winry-Ed's mother with ligh shining through the hills). The originally very touching story of two brothers became just a humorous story. No drama, crying, cruelty of the world, no life-problem questions, no interesting and philosophical monologues, etc

Very many points where it could do better, but doesn't. Insted of formula "excelent manga + ecelent anime prequel" we only get so-so mainstream anime.

Though with soon to depart original series story it could still be prooved to be good anime. However, after dissapointing Soul Eater and Xam'd faith into Bones is very weak.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is often lauded as a masterpiece in the anime world, yet I struggle to see what sets it apart.

Firstly, while many praise its complex narrative, I found it overly convoluted and hard to follow. The plot frequently introduces new characters and subplots which, rather than enriching the story, seem to only confuse and distract. It is as if the series is trying to juggle too many narrative balls at once and ends up dropping them all.

Secondly, the characters, despite their number, lack depth. The Elric brothers, despite being at the center of the story, feel like archetypal shonen protagonists, lacking the nuanced ... personalities that would make them feel truly human. Their development feels rushed, their motivations oversimplified.

Thirdly, the art and animation, while technically impressive, fail to deliver a distinct visual style. Instead of contributing to a unique aesthetic, it merely follows generic anime tropes, lacking the creative boldness that defines truly great anime series.

Lastly, the pacing is erratic. The story often shifts between intense action sequences and slow, introspective moments without a clear rhythm, leaving viewers either overwhelmed or underwhelmed.

Now, if you find yourself immediately dismissive or even angry about this review, it might be worth considering why. Are you upset because you genuinely disagree with these points based on your own critical analysis, or are you upset because you feel your favorite series is being attacked? It's natural to be defensive about something you love and feel connected to, but it's important to remember that no piece of media is beyond critique.

This is a short review of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. I have seen many of the episodes, but not all of them in order and do not consider this a proper judgement of the series.

Story - 4: The story of Full Metal Alchemist is supposed to be about two tragic brothers going to search for the Philosopher's Stone that their father disappeared looking for. The laws of equivalent exchange are supposed to be really gruesome. Going out into the world and making discoveries is something really important to the Elric brothers. This impression was what made me love Full Metal Alchemist in the 2003 version. ... In Brotherhood, you do not get a big sense of any of this happening with the main characters because the first episodes that deal with these issues are terrible. They did this to save time, but it does not make sense considering that the beginning of an adventure is always the most important part to immersing yourself in the world.

Oddly enough, the majority of Brotherhood is based in creating its world while it somehow feels like just adding China to the equation made it a lot bigger. The oriental theme always feels disconnected from world-building and this was the same with Brotherhood even though it was detailed greatly and central to our two Asian characters. Ling was almost a decent character. It is definitely easy to like him, but his rather flat and plain character was simply hidden behind emotional storytelling cliches.

War seems far too encompassing in the story. It seems too mundane compared to what we should expect with alchemy. There are so few alchemy users that it is ridiculous and they do not know how to use their alchemy in new ways most of the time.

Toward the final battles of the series, everyone seems shallow and it would have been fine for most of the characters to die.

Art - 5: The art is good mainly because it is grounded in proper details and good lighting and such. The colors are done almost true to reality, which they were going for. The characters usually do not take up as much of the screen as your average anime and I felt that it was both effective and alienating. At worst, the environments are a bunch of empty, hallway-like rooms and darkness in much of the later parts of the anime. Cannon firing is over-used to make things look exciting. Expositions and waiting scenes are very common to allow for more cheaper art.

There is also the stupid rectangle effect with things getting obliterated or disappearing. It is quite detailed, but also not effective to conveying anything. Another annoying effect is Edward's alchemy, which is always spraying electricity and gray pillars rising out of the ground.

With the openings, the art was always annoyingly cliche-looking and it did not vary between seasons. Not only were they animated in an annoying or stereotypical way, but they conceptually did not form any good themes.

The first ending almost worked. The drawings were done nicely, but it thematically was pretty stupid to show as a children's drawing because no kid would think to draw these things except the Megaman-esque platform jumping part. The other endings were drawn very annoyingly, much more so than the openings.

Sound - 4: People love stupid orchestral music. A lot of this music was made to stay in the background and it sounds very dull and monochromatic. I honestly thought that there might have been only 6 songs. There actually are probably six songs they reuse in every episode because I remember getting really annoyed at hearing a few songs that were supposed to be sinister, but just sounded idiotically simple. The music department was just bare bones.

When it comes to the openings and endings, some of them could be considered the worst of all anime, but nobody would admit that. They all sound like Bleach or Naruto songs, but without half as many strong points. Anyway,

As for the sound effects, they are rather comprehensive. I would have rated the sound a 2 if the sound effects were just average, but they are definitely a step above almost any anime out there.

Character - 4: The characters are not explored enough to give you a sense of attachment. It feels like the war is the entire story most of the time. However, the developed characters are amazing. The villains are pretty terrible. This new (or orignail) rendition of Scar was one of the few awful protagonists compared to the 2003 anime. There is also Alphonse, who supposed to made deeper just because he finds a love interest. And, Edward is just a hopeless character. He has the same personality almost the whole time despite any supposed developments. This is mainly because the comedy feels like the only time Al and Ed could have shown what their personalities are, but everyone knows how bad the comedy is here. They are simply mired in conflict after conflict without being able to loosen up in a genuine way.

All of the sins are pretty bad, even Greed and Envy who get the most development. They pretty much fight and do not represent themselves with their simple to write personality traits. All that defines them as characters is combat skills and maybe some grief over what they have been doing. The Father is without character except in his background. He is pretty much a stereotypical bad guy. The somewhat tragic past of Alphonse and Edward seems to be the only thing that is supposed to carry deep negative emotion in this show, and they blew that part of the story off.

The voice actors are mismatched, making characters sound too stereotypical or too gruff (the Colonel definitely sounds too gruff) or just stupid (Lang and Greed to name two). However, I am basing it on an English dub and it is hard to really judge on voice acting because the Japanese could be loads better.

Enjoyment - 7: Despite many, many faults, it is possible to get engaged in this show and love it to some extent. Unlike other shows where you might compromise your beliefs and see bad aspects as good, you are prone to gloss over the bad aspects of this show because it is very enjoyable at times. As mentioned earlier, the storytelling can beat out the bland characters, which is very much like a movie. Despite the anime openings being weak and extremely generic, they are action-packed enough that you will be bound to enjoy them.

However, there is still the terrible comedy which always falls flat (and would even without so much repetition of the same junk). There are still lengthy scenes that seem to be going over the same details again or showing seemingly the same scenes you saw in other flashbacks and expositions.

Overall - 5: I wish it could be lower considering how annoyed I was by this show.

This show is a giant circle jerk and if you dislike the show then you will burn in Hell. I am ok with this. I did not enjoy FMAB. I forced myself to finish this show just so I could tell my friend I watched the show. The only real problem I have with this show is the story. I give art a mediocre score because it isn't anything special. The story is what I have a problem with. The very idea of the show/manga is great. I like the idea of alchemy. The story quickly became a predictable straight forward festival of nothingness. I ... really like shows with plot twists. That is where I find the most excitement in anime and I didn't find it in FMAB. Maybe some twists were when it was revealed who was Wrath and who was Pride. I just did not care. I give points though for when FMAB made me cry at (spoiler) funeral. I thought it was easy to guess what a Philosophers' stone was made of. I don't think this show is worth your time and you don't have to watch this show to be considered a true anime fan. That would be Cowboy Bebop.

Going to keep this mostly spoiler-free.
I put off watching this anime for a very long time because I was sure that I would love it, afterall, I had friends who loved it, it was highly recommended and praised as an absolute masterpiece. So why, after watching it, did it feel mediocre at best?
It wasn't bad per se, but it did feel like the very definition of average. The formulaic storytelling isn't anything that hasn't been done before, but after having it hyped as the #1 anime for so long, I almost felt betrayed as the final credits of the final episode rolled. Yeah, it was ... okay, but where is the absolute gem that everyone else sees? The final scene shared by Winry and Edward was cute, the openings were mostly memorable, but again, just average quality all around. Maybe it's recency bias, but just because it ended on a good note, doesn't mean the entire series was fun to get through, it was sometimes difficult to stay engaged and there were several side characters who's names I've already forgotten. I probably wouldn't feel bad about recommending it to friends who were only interested in shounen anime, but for most of my friends who enjoy other genres, I'd feel bad not recommending them something else. Was it worth watching? I suppose. Does it deserve its spot as the #1 anime masterpiece that it has come to be recognized as? Absolutely not.

Very middle of the road, it does many things right but it fails at being memorable.

The story while good and rather simple as a whole, telling a story that when you want to receive something you also need to give up something in return, but doesn't have a single moment or episode that stands out more than the others. We have the dog scene which was so memed to death that when it happened, it had no impact whatsoever. And then there's Roy Mustang's moments which are by far the best ones as he's the best character in the show.

While in the topic, besides Roy, ... none of the characters do anything important or relevant to be memorable, the Main Character Edward is an annoying rude brat, while the second MC Alphonse is more enjoyable to watch, but doesn't get to shine as much.
The main girl Winry is literally just there to serve as a support mechanic, and Alex Louis is important mostly by memes and not by plot. The show kinda suffers a bit in how most of the cast is in the same uniforms, making them blend all together.

The sound and animation does its job, nothing spetacular but nothing bad to say either.

It is a solid show and a good watch, but definetly not a "must watch", and does not deserve to be considered the champion of MAL and a godsend masterpiece.

Brotherhood is practically nothing more than a show you see on Saturday mornings or overall just something you see in Marvel comics.

It's filled with underdeveloped characters, Saturday morning cartoon villains, a huge cast made up of filler characters, random power- ups, characters defeating the villain with the power of friendship, teamwork, etc and everyone living happily ever after without making any sort of sacrifice. Basically, it's no different from typical anime shows like Naruto or Dragon Ball. The heart, soul and just all round effort put into the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime is clearly absent in the rebooted anime. The themes brought up were ... way more explored and the Elric brothers' relationship and love for one another gave more time to shine and bright. The 2003 show is not an anime, it's poetry. Brotherhood came out at a time where Bones was getting desperate, so they just thought "Hey, let's just milk one of our old successful series, except not put in half as much heart and effort as we did the first time around, but instead add in more mindless action and forced humor!" And apparently it worked. It's just a mindless kids show and nothing more.


Brotherhood's one-note show-off pompous characters and excruciatingly loud, bombastic and optimistic atmosphere will make you drool with boredom. Ed and Al came off as more or less your typical Mary Sues. None of their actions ever had any consequences, and the narrative very rarely bothered to challenge and/or question their misguided idealism. And even when it did, their juvenile beliefs always triumphed. In the end, they were still very much the naive little children they were in the beginning of the story. Whereas in the 2003 series, the Elric brothers noticeably grew more jaded, broken and emotionally distant as the show went on, which is understandable if you witness all the stuff they go through. They came to realize the world ain't all sunshine and rainbows and that equivalent exchange is indeed complete dog crap. Very often in Brotherhood, the narrative options to bend the show's internal physics to comply circumstances to their favor. Ed and Al were just too much of fetishistic, moralistic and tone deaf idealists. Ed and Al had flaws in the beginning of the story. But as the show went on, they just became more and more Stuish. They started taking down their opponents with relative ease.



There's nothing wrong with winning. However, if your protagonists win all the time within a blink of an eye, it just takes away all sense of tension and investment. There was never a single moment in Brotherhood where the protagonists were in actual legitimate danger. Thinking you can protect everyone is in all honesty, quite infantile. People around you are gonna die, no matter what, and sometimes there's little you can do to save them. Even when the protagonists lost in a battle against the antagonists, you knew they would always find a way to worm out of the situation, either by other protagonists making a dramatic entrance at just the right moment or through flat out dues ex ma-china. Just watch the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime from start to finish and you'll see how much more realistic, secretive, and overall thrilling the villains really were throughout that series. Yet in Brotherhood, they were all rather shallow and bland villains who lost their capability of rational thought whenever the plot called for it. If you watch Brotherhood more and more carefully, you'll see how much each and every major protagonist were shielded by plot armor just because the plot said so. Hell you even got faced-heel turn villains, most notably Scar, whose race was destructed by the military in the war, who also was shielded by plot armor till the very end and never pays for any of his actions earlier in the story. The original manga author became too much of a wimp to kill off major protagonists in later chapters after the death of Maes Hughes, a friend of the Elric brothers and Roy Mustang. She obviously gotten numerous fan letters telling her never to kill another main protagonist ever again. She became too concern with pleasing the mainstream public instead of actually trying her best to make a good story in her original manga. And by the end, her work became fully mediocre and isn't really worth reading at all after only the first time.



The protagonists are noticeably more heroic and chivalrous in Brotherhood, as opposed to broken, depressed wrecks. Their actions very rarely stray into morally gray territory. This is a story about the military and the human beings are in it. It is suppose to be a drama and tragic series, along with it being somber and realistic. Not filled with cluster forced humor chi-bi faces every few minutes during a serious moment where the author wants you to be immersed in. Overall, her writing skills are sub-par at best and doesn't have any experience on the battlefield. No wonder why her work ended up being plain trash. Most of the background music featured in Brotherhood are not good either. In fact, some of them sounded pretty childish and were overall poorly used in most cases.


It's okay to like Brotherhood, but it's in no way, shape or form better than the masterpiece that is the original anime. The original author added so much plot devices, plot armors and plot holes into her work. And don't even get me started on the ending. Words cannot describe how much I truly despise the ending to a greater degree. All I can say is that the author was just doing a rush job and never thought anything through at all. All Brotherhood has going for it is the new animation, the villain King Bradley aka Wrath, and some of the flashback scenes prior to the start of the show.

I could only get up to the episode with them finally "defeating" a certain enemy. It was so insulting to my intelligence that I had to stop. You can tell why this anime is liked, because its basically "baby's first 'serious' anime," and I don't want to take that away from people, but it is so tonally disjointed that any serious thing it is trying to say is undercut. From a technical standpoint it is good. Animation and sound are all very good. Unfortunately, that is about all the praise that I can sing it. Are there occasionally good scenes? Sure. But not enough to ... make up for all the stuff you have to slog through. Scar was the only interesting character to me. Mustang was as well, before they neutered him. It plays into the "killing villains makes you a villain," anime trope that I just can't stand. Fine, but it felt insulting to my intelligence so I just couldn't finish it. I'll eventually get to the 2003 anime adaptation which I heard does a better job addressing these problems, but I need to wash the bad taste out of my mouth first.

I get the hype and i get the social aspect of maintaining this series at the top.
But this is a heavily overrated series with its 2003 counterpart doing a better job at telling, maybe a slightly different story.
Pacing feels extremely rushed at times with some in-betweens where it feels kinda sluggish specially in exposition time.
Newcomers to anime will tag this as the goat anime but it's a trend that's very easy to fall into if you're new to this kind of media, being one of the darkest mainstream shonen there is, is easy to access to edgy kids who are transitioning to denser plot ... media.
don't let this kind of hype make you go into a 64 episode commitment of a series that for average anime consumer standards is the "GOAT". there's definitely more interesting anime plots out there with way better cinematography and animation aspects that you will enjoy if you're looking for a rich and dense plot with amazing visuals.
now if you wanna take part of the hype, the conversation and social aspects of a piece of media that gets the job done, go on. this is def the anime for you !

yes, you can definitely enjoy anime and skip this anime. don't let fmab gatekeepers restrict your fun by wasting 64 worth of time in a series that is overrated when there's plenty of animes to watch!