- #146
I prefer Brotherhood for expanding on the action and giving this manga life with animation, sound and voices,
but most of the slight cuts and changes from Brotherhood, I prefer the full scenes of the original manga.
The only superior scenes I prefer in the anime are Nina/Alexander becoming a Chimera, and Hohenheim's reunion with Ed and Al being more serious and not comedic, or when Ed sees his father cry.
Otherwise, I'm disappointed that Brotherhood cut or changed a lot of brief moments from Izumi and Hohenheim.
Aside from that, a few scenes with some other characters, like Al, May, Mason, or Winry, etc.
Although the expanded action of the anime is great.
I originally watched FMA around 2009, and FMAB later in 2010.
Today, I read and completed the manga for the first time while rewatching Brotherhood.
From what I've read of the great shounen.
When I compare Fullmetal Alchemist with all of them, it remains as one of the top best,
but I feel like Tokyo Ghoul and Attack on Titan are better in some form, even with their own flaws.
Fullmetal Alchemist is a great story for a reason.
The use of religion in life, with the power of alchemy, the mastermind of 500 years from the Dwarf in the Flask,
The life and journey of the brothers, the evolving mysteries of the truth, and the events of survival as they fight for their lives.
The characters, particularly the villains are quite good, as well as the conflicted allies.
Overall, it's great.
The biggest flaw of Fullmetal Alchemist is its comedy though.
I think it's effortlessly entertaining that it's not bad at all because it's enjoyable, but it does take away in the seriousness of their situations of life and death.
As teenagers, the logic of their immaturity in tense situations of potential death could be accepted, but regardless, the comedy in those moments are meaningless, and would be better excluded.
Fullmetal Alchemist would be better if it took itself more seriously by not including comedy in most of these battles of death or any danger.
As for the world building and lore of alchemy, including "God" and the Dwarf in the Flask,
I personally can't figure out any flaws to them, because it just makes sense, so I think that's fine.
My nitpicks would be some events after the second half before and during judgement day.
Any moment with Sloth is dull. He's ugly and obnoxious which makes him boring, and some battles with soldiers is a little dull as well.
The Mannequin Soldiers aren't very menacing or scary I guess which is arguably a problem in making the battle with Sloth somewhat boring.
The characters are very good.
Somehow, they're not exactly great or incredible though when I compare them to the characters of Tokyo Ghoul.
They are great in their own right, but they almost feel underutilized.
The Homonculi of the Seven Sins of Men is a great concept, and their personalities are fairly good.
Envy and Greed stand out the most since they have the most character development.
Lust and Gluttony die first so... but Pride is intriguing as well. Wrath is awesome. Incredible villain.
Edward is solid, but it's interesting how well the story did in avoiding him to murder.
As for the supporting characters, they're all very good in their own right of their personality and goals.
Hohenheim is a bit odd for how cowardly with comic relief he is in the beginning which I'd consider a flaw, but otherwise his excuses are solid.
I could waste hours in tryng to breakdown each character or plots, but whatever. I think they're all good for the most part.
I'm glad May didn't instantly start (or never) dating Al though, because her love for him starts as a disgusting fantasy replacement of what she envisioned in Ed.
Lan Fan, I'm surprised only stayed a bodyguard and seemingly never revealed her romantic feelings for Lin in that ending picture.
Selfishly, I wish there was more romance afterwards with Edward and Winry, but as subtle in slow development their love is, their ending is very sweet.
Even if it's not a grand romance with a lot of moments and only very few developing moments, yet well done for hinting that she fell for him since she was a child.
... I barely explained anything properly but...
The constant evolution of mystery and their journey was great. The finale battle as Edward wins is beautiful. The finale is nice.
It's all very good, but when I compare it to Tokyo Ghoul or Attack on Titan,
as great as it is in its own right, while being solid overall. Individually, the plots, twists and characters are better in shock value or drama in Tokyo Ghoul and Attack on Titan.
The flaw with Tokyo Ghoul is the many left unknown mysteries and the somewhat disappointing ending because of that for not knowing more.
As for Attack on Titan... its only flaw is the finale. It's very disappointing and conflicting in feeling. It's confusing as well.
But, compared to Brotherhood.
A lot of the scenes in Tokyo Ghoul or Attack on Titan are more tragic, dramatic and dark.
Particularly Tokyo Ghoul, the characters are more sophisticated with more complexity.
The characters in Fullmetal Alchemist are good, but TG has a cast that's more complex with more experience in their lives, while FMA's are more simple yet well used in the story.
It's hard to explain maybe without seeming like I'm hating. They have more backstory and goals, with difficult relationships, while FMA some supporting characters are simpler.
Because FMA has less plots and complicated bonds then TG. Anyway. Incredible manga nonetheless.
Even though I feel that Tokyo Ghoul is "better", FMA is less flawed, thus more close to flawless in some form, because TG left out- I don't know, they're both great. Whatever, lol.
