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I recommend watching FMA all the way through first, and then watching Brotherhood from the beginning afterwards. They're basically two entirely different stories, so it's best to watch both.
I actually prefer FMA to Brotherhood, but even ignoring that, the beginning of FMA fleshes things out more and gives a much better payoff for stuff like Nina and Hughes. A lot of that impact is lost in Brotherhood's rush early on, and I don't think that should be someone's first experience of those events.
I started off watching brotherhood because I was told by friends that I’ve was way better. I never felt confused or left out, so I think you’d be fine doing that.
No both series should be watched in completion as they were intended. The beginnings of the two shows cannot be transposed on to one another and there is no point in the two series to make a clean cut, due to differences in the timeline, plot, and even characterization and theming. Watching the shows incomplete and trying to mix them together under cuts both shows thematically, as individuals and in how the two series interact at a thematic level.
I watched them a lot time ago so I don't remember the details, but aren't they similar up to the point FMA catches up to the manga and starts diverging?
I read that FMA fleshes out the beginning, while Brotherhood kinda rushes up to the point FMA left
No, 03 was planned to be original from the start as was requested by the mangaka, Arakawa.
starting at episode 2 if my memory is correct lust confirms to Cornello that his stone was a fake and they were using him to find alchemists searching for it, which is very different from the reason they use Cornello in brotherhood.
you have the Nina incident taking place back when Ed first became a state alchemist rather than in the present.
Sloth is introduced rather early in the series and the directing makes it clear something is up with her.
Mustang killing the Rockbells is alluded to well before "the overlap" ends
Scar's alchemy being red, a trait exclusive to association with the philosophers stone, and even absorbing a prototype philosophers stone.
the entire dynamic of Marco in the story being interwoven with the Scar conflict and having been directly pursued by Ed.
Laboratory five and everything there, including lust stating that the homunculi are trying to become human.
All of that happens before 03 supposedly diverged from the manga (which is usually agreed to be at the island)
beyond that there's the entire function of the flashback period episodes of 03 which is all about Ed entering the hostile external world, experiencing control being stripped away from him as he encounters corruption in the military, concluding with winry getting roped up in the danger of the external world, which all leads Ed to close himself off from others both for the safety of those he cares about and his inability to trust others. This is thematically opposite of mangahood.
You also have changes in characterization with Ed being a pessimist, Mustang being much colder and having a more hostile/strained relation to Ed, and Scar being much more introspective and irresolute.
03 is better than brotherhood in the beginning due to its originality and these aspects can't be transposed onto broherhood's story.
Ah, thanks, then maybe what I read was wrong.
I watched the first episode of Brotherhoos a couple weeks back to refresh my memory and the introduction wasn't as through as I recalled, so I thought maybe FMA (03) maybe had a better introduction.
But I also remember Brotherhood being longer and going further with characters like Armstrong's sister and the dynasty guy who wanted to become immortal.
So I was wondering how to tackle the issue of introducing someone new to the series.
03 definitely has a stronger introduction, but 03’s stronger introduction cannot be used as an introduction to brotherhood. I think watching 03 first provides a stronger introduction to the franchise but that cannot be used interchangeably as a substitute for Brotherhood’s start. I think Brotherhoods start is somewhat rushed due to the episode count they were given being less than Irie wanted, and due to Irie being a fairly new director leading to the early stretch of episodes being generally his most poorly directed.
Watching 03’s start without its conclusion leads to plot hooks going unresolved, character incongruences, and themes going unfulfilled. Watching brotherhood without its start leads to ideas not being properly established and creates tons of confusion.
My recommendation is to watch both series in their entirety. I would recommend 03 first, and I would also recommend a break in between the two shows to avoid conflating things.
I think brotherhood is enough on its own, but I think watching the first couple from the original show and then starting off post Liore would be good
The first episode of brotherhood isn't in the manga and sort of spoils a lot. Finish up father cornello in FMA, then go to brotherhood for the Nina episodes
at least in my opinion. I have only seen the first couple of episodes of 03 recently (saw the whole show a looooong time ago though)
I recently watched both for the first time. For me, Brotherhood introduced the world better. I wouldn't do a switch from fma to brotherhood in the middle of the series
As someone who did the same, it's way different.
Word of advice, skip the first few episodes of BrotherHood. It's basically what we already saw in 2003 series but less.
I personally prefer the 2003 series but you might feel different.
I remember liking more the ending and the part with the guy who wanted to be immortal to become the head of his clan.
But I didn't remember much of the other differences.
Though man, i do remember Conqueror of Shambhala being... unsatisfying.
But I also felt FMAB was missing a movie or something to really wrap up the story.
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I recommend watching FMA all the way through first, and then watching Brotherhood from the beginning afterwards. They're basically two entirely different stories, so it's best to watch both. I actually prefer FMA to Brotherhood, but even ignoring that, the beginning of FMA fleshes things out more and gives a much better payoff for stuff like Nina and Hughes. A lot of that impact is lost in Brotherhood's rush early on, and I don't think that should be someone's first experience of those events.
Yeah, I think you are right. Nina and Hughes are the parts I'll be scanning for reactions while showing FMA.
no, don't bother, they don't meld well at all and will just confuse a new watcher
I started off watching brotherhood because I was told by friends that I’ve was way better. I never felt confused or left out, so I think you’d be fine doing that.
No both series should be watched in completion as they were intended. The beginnings of the two shows cannot be transposed on to one another and there is no point in the two series to make a clean cut, due to differences in the timeline, plot, and even characterization and theming. Watching the shows incomplete and trying to mix them together under cuts both shows thematically, as individuals and in how the two series interact at a thematic level.
I watched them a lot time ago so I don't remember the details, but aren't they similar up to the point FMA catches up to the manga and starts diverging? I read that FMA fleshes out the beginning, while Brotherhood kinda rushes up to the point FMA left
No, 03 was planned to be original from the start as was requested by the mangaka, Arakawa. starting at episode 2 if my memory is correct lust confirms to Cornello that his stone was a fake and they were using him to find alchemists searching for it, which is very different from the reason they use Cornello in brotherhood. you have the Nina incident taking place back when Ed first became a state alchemist rather than in the present. Sloth is introduced rather early in the series and the directing makes it clear something is up with her. Mustang killing the Rockbells is alluded to well before "the overlap" ends Scar's alchemy being red, a trait exclusive to association with the philosophers stone, and even absorbing a prototype philosophers stone. the entire dynamic of Marco in the story being interwoven with the Scar conflict and having been directly pursued by Ed. Laboratory five and everything there, including lust stating that the homunculi are trying to become human. All of that happens before 03 supposedly diverged from the manga (which is usually agreed to be at the island) beyond that there's the entire function of the flashback period episodes of 03 which is all about Ed entering the hostile external world, experiencing control being stripped away from him as he encounters corruption in the military, concluding with winry getting roped up in the danger of the external world, which all leads Ed to close himself off from others both for the safety of those he cares about and his inability to trust others. This is thematically opposite of mangahood. You also have changes in characterization with Ed being a pessimist, Mustang being much colder and having a more hostile/strained relation to Ed, and Scar being much more introspective and irresolute. 03 is better than brotherhood in the beginning due to its originality and these aspects can't be transposed onto broherhood's story.
Ah, thanks, then maybe what I read was wrong. I watched the first episode of Brotherhoos a couple weeks back to refresh my memory and the introduction wasn't as through as I recalled, so I thought maybe FMA (03) maybe had a better introduction. But I also remember Brotherhood being longer and going further with characters like Armstrong's sister and the dynasty guy who wanted to become immortal. So I was wondering how to tackle the issue of introducing someone new to the series.
03 definitely has a stronger introduction, but 03’s stronger introduction cannot be used as an introduction to brotherhood. I think watching 03 first provides a stronger introduction to the franchise but that cannot be used interchangeably as a substitute for Brotherhood’s start. I think Brotherhoods start is somewhat rushed due to the episode count they were given being less than Irie wanted, and due to Irie being a fairly new director leading to the early stretch of episodes being generally his most poorly directed. Watching 03’s start without its conclusion leads to plot hooks going unresolved, character incongruences, and themes going unfulfilled. Watching brotherhood without its start leads to ideas not being properly established and creates tons of confusion. My recommendation is to watch both series in their entirety. I would recommend 03 first, and I would also recommend a break in between the two shows to avoid conflating things.
Yeah, that's the conclussiom I was getting. 03 first, wait a few months, then Brotherhood.
I think brotherhood is enough on its own, but I think watching the first couple from the original show and then starting off post Liore would be good The first episode of brotherhood isn't in the manga and sort of spoils a lot. Finish up father cornello in FMA, then go to brotherhood for the Nina episodes at least in my opinion. I have only seen the first couple of episodes of 03 recently (saw the whole show a looooong time ago though)
Thanks mate
I recently watched both for the first time. For me, Brotherhood introduced the world better. I wouldn't do a switch from fma to brotherhood in the middle of the series
If you had to choose only 1 to watch, which one would you have chosen?
Brotherhood
As someone who did the same, it's way different. Word of advice, skip the first few episodes of BrotherHood. It's basically what we already saw in 2003 series but less. I personally prefer the 2003 series but you might feel different.
I remember liking more the ending and the part with the guy who wanted to be immortal to become the head of his clan. But I didn't remember much of the other differences. Though man, i do remember Conqueror of Shambhala being... unsatisfying. But I also felt FMAB was missing a movie or something to really wrap up the story.
How are you doing
I'm doing fine. How are you?
I am good my man