i know this has probably been said a billion times but honestly?? i really prefer the beginning of fullmetal alchemist in the 2003 version because it takes its time to actually explain a lot of major things in the plot.
don’t get me wrong; brotherhood does a great job at mirroring the manga’s overall plot–and especially the ending– but it just throws you in and you either stumble to understand or just get completely confused at first. with the way that fmab introduces alchemy, you don’t really get to understand what ed’s automail really is. a lion chimera biting into that shit really helps you understand how strong it is more than some weird ice alchemy(especially when it isn’t explained how strong it is).
i remember when i first started watching i honestly got upset at how fast paced it was and that it barely gave time for the viewer to understand alchemy and the elric brothers. granted a lot of the people who’ve watched brotherhood have seen 2003 prior to it, but with all the circumstances i’ve seen of people saying to new fans to “watch fmab first and only fmab,” it really puts me down that those people won’t be able to understand the feeling of watching an old, iconic, and classic anime that 2003 is!!
edward cries! you get to realize that ed is still a child and he’s 12-15 years old for christ’s sake!!!!! ed and al depend on each other so much, you get to see how close they are and that they’re all they have!!! there’s so much more comedic relief(see: episode 13: fullmetal vs flame), yet it reminds you that these boys commited alchemy’s greatest taboo and have to pay the price for their mistake.
tldr; 2003 is worth your time, trust me.
The 2003 anime have 2 chapters based on extra chapters from the manga: “Fullmetal vs Flame” and “The Flame Alchemist, The Bachelor Lieutenant, and the Mystery of Warehouse 13“
Fullmetal vs Flame even tell you how Riza got Black Hayate.
So yep, watch the 2 versions, both are good
yes!!!!! i love how they took the extras and actually inserted them into the overall plot without them seeming like filler episodes!!!!!!!
2003 did such a great job at giving shallow characters deeper backstories (like sheska, rosé, lust, shou and nina tucker, hughes to an extent, etc) by using those extra episodes and i give all my kudos to them for it!!
THIS IS SO LEGIT. I absolutely adore FMA:B, don’t get me wrong, but FMA03 was a gem in a completely different way. I could probably write a dissertation about why FMA03 is important (especially for Team Mustang and NINA!!!!!) but instead, I will leave you with this: my husband and I kind of compiled a list of “how to watch FMA03 and FMAB and get the full-ish story.” Now granted, it’s not perfect – you get some shots of Archer, and you kind of meet Hughes twice, and two different babies are born that the brothers see/help with, but overall, it works rather well. I didn’t do the whole we’re-going-to-tell-Rosé-this-story-in-a-flashback thing, so the beginning is actually chronological, starting with the boys and Trisha in Risembool.
Here’s the list if you’re interested:
FMA:03 – episodes 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09
FMAB – [OPTIONAL: episode 01 – husband says it fits, I disagree, you can decide] episode 03
Watching it this way helps with character development (especially in character episodes that revolve around Roy Mustang and Nina), slows down the pacing of everything (interludes with Psiren and the Tringhams help with Ed and Al’s character development, too), plus you get to see some stuff that was only alluded to in Brotherhold (the Youswell story and the story of Barry the Chopper). Like I said, it is in no way, shape, or form completely perfect, but it does help give a more complete and better-paced story than just only choosing to watch one of them.
bullshit central 