Fullmetal Alchemist vs. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I’ve been meaning to compare these two series for a VERY long time. So here’s another Original vs. Remake post to brighten your day!

Fullmetal Alchemist

Synopsis

Edward Elric, a young, brilliant alchemist, has lost much in his twelve-year life: when he and his brother Alphonse try to resurrect their dead mother through the forbidden act of human transmutation, Edward loses his brother as well as two of his limbs. With his supreme alchemy skills, Edward binds Alphonse’s soul to a large suit of armor.

A year later, Edward, now promoted to the fullmetal alchemist of the state, embarks on a journey with his younger brother to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone. The fabled mythical object is rumored to be capable of amplifying an alchemist’s abilities by leaps and bounds, thus allowing them to override the fundamental law of alchemy: to gain something, an alchemist must sacrifice something of equal value. Edward hopes to draw into the military’s resources to find the fabled stone and restore his and Alphonse’s bodies to normal. However, the Elric brothers soon discover that there is more to the legendary stone than meets the eye, as they are led to the epicenter of a far darker battle than they could have ever imagined.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Synopsis

“In order for something to be obtained, something of equal value must be lost.”

Alchemy is bound by this Law of Equivalent Exchange—something the young brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric only realize after attempting human transmutation: the one forbidden act of alchemy. They pay a terrible price for their transgression—Edward loses his left leg, Alphonse his physical body. It is only by the desperate sacrifice of Edward’s right arm that he is able to affix Alphonse’s soul to a suit of armor. Devastated and alone, it is the hope that they would both eventually return to their original bodies that gives Edward the inspiration to obtain metal limbs called “automail” and become a state alchemist, the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Three years of searching later, the brothers seek the Philosopher’s Stone, a mythical relic that allows an alchemist to overcome the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Even with military allies Colonel Roy Mustang, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, and Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes on their side, the brothers find themselves caught up in a nationwide conspiracy that leads them not only to the true nature of the elusive Philosopher’s Stone, but their country’s murky history as well. In between finding a serial killer and racing against time, Edward and Alphonse must ask themselves if what they are doing will make them human again… or take away their humanity.

My Ratings

Plot

Fullmetal Alchemist – At first, the show was really addicting. And then I saw the last 30 episodes or so. Yeah that was pretty shitty. I’m still confused about the whole Edward-going-to-a-whole-different-universe thing. But there is a reason for that, I guess. Apparently, the anime was made while the manga was still being released and it caught up to the manga in like 15 episodes. Because the author of the manga didn’t want fillers, the creators of the anime decided to continue the show and come up their own really crappy plot. Kudos to them for trying though!

Brotherhood – Awesome. It was similar to the original, but was way more exciting and interesting. The ending was WAY better too. This series also stuck more to the manga’s plot, which I liked.

Characters

Fullmetal Alchemist – I felt like the creators of the anime put way too much effort into the characters’s backgrounds. Take the homunculi, for example. The creators put so much effort into establishing elaborate backstories and pasts for every single character. While I can appreciate their efforts, I feel like they just made the whole thing much more confusing.

Brotherhood – The characters were very memorable. We were provided with a bunch of awesome bad guys and good guys. We were also given new characters that we didn’t get in the original series. This included the characters from Xing and the new and improved homunculi.

Writing

Fullmetal Alchemist – Overall, the writing was pretty bad.

Brotherhood – Funny, interesting, and just awesome.

Graphics/Art Style

Fullmetal Alchemist – Pretty good. I only had one problem with it though. In the series, Edward is supposed to be about fifteen, right? In that case, can someone explain to me why he looks like he’s twelve?!

I mean, I get that he’s short (I am too), but seriously?

Brotherhood – This was made years after the original, so the art style was slightly different. I liked how Edward actually looked like a fifteen-year-old. 

Moe

Fullmetal Alchemist – Edward was kind of adorable.

Brotherhood – Nina and Alexander were major blips on my moe detector. Little Elicia was just too cute.

Originality

Fullmetal Alchemist – Although I hated the plot, I have to admit that this anime was very original. I liked how the creators continued the show even after it caught up to the manga.

Brotherhood – This has to be one of the most creative and exciting reboots I have ever seen.

Fanservice

Fullmetal Alchemist – None that I can recall.

Brotherhood – A little bit…

OST

Fullmetal Alchemist – The first few times I saw the openings, they were pretty cool. I had to start skipping them after about three times though.

Brotherhood – I have never ever skipped an opening from this anime. EVER. That’s how awesome they are.

Bishies

Fullmetal Alchemist – Well Ed looked like a twelve-year-old, so that’s a no…

Brotherhood – Edward. Ling. Mustang. Greed. BISHIES EVERYWHERE!

Humor

Fullmetal Alchemist – Very funny, especially whenever someone calls Edward short. 

Brotherhood – I liked how they kept Ed’s height complex and his hatred of milk. 

Feels

Fullmetal Alchemist – Man that was sad. I think this show actually put me in some sort of anime-induced depression.

Brotherhood – I had seen the original, so I thought that I was prepared for the Nina Tucker and Maes Hughes scenes. I WAS NOT PREPARED. Even when I go back and watch it now, I still get hit by that train of feels. Also, Greed. I LOVED Greed.

Pure Badassery

Fullmetal Alchemist – Meh.

Brotherhood – This anime was so badass, I can’t even type a paragraph about how badass it is.

However, the most badass character would have to be Hawkeye. She’s just too cool.

Final Thoughts

I’m gonna have to hand this one to FMA Brotherhood. It was entertaining right down to the last episode, and the ending was just beautiful. The original did start out pretty good, but I felt like the plot got a little too creative. So yeah, this time the remake was better than the original. 

P.S. Whoever made this is a horrible horrible person.