Just finished off the original series...

[Arnold]

Wow!

I suspect most people here have finished this off years ago, but spoilers just in case...

Loved, loved, loved the ending.

Al and Ed- man, what those two would go through for each other is amazing. Watching Al sacrifice himself with the philosopher stone inside him to bring his brother back from the dead got me genuinely choked up. Then Ed gives -his- own body up to the other side of the gate to bring Al back. I've always appreciated that this is a show that's always been about high stakes, the cost of bringing back the dead, human sacrifice, etc. They didn't give us a cop-out happy ending like some shows might- yes it was a generally happy ending, but not without being put through the emotional wringer to get there. It was earned, 100%.

A few other notes:
1) Roy Mustang is, once again, a total badass, though I guess he kind of lucked out in the way he took down the Furher. Still, seeing the Furher's butt get kicked after Roy got his hands on the skull was fantastic.
2) I like the extended epilogue and how the anime really took its time to show what came of everyone in the months afterward. Especially the Hawkeye/Mustang bit in the hospital.
3) Hawkeye looks hot with her hair down.

Anyway, just finished off the series, and I think I just needed to say something. Now I gotta get my hands on the movie, then start on Brotherhood again....

[ryushe]

Now I gotta get my hands on the movieMan, you was going so well until you said this :P

[Arnold]

Man, you was going so well until you said this :P


I'll take it that it's not very good? Eh, I'll still watch it anyway. :P

[ryushe]

Umm, it's not bad, but just don't expect it to be as awesome as the main series, as I thought it was gonna be.

I've actually learned to like it a lot more as time went on....if that's saying anything...

[goddessofanime]

The movie's more of an alternative world version of FMA. Just so you know.

[Tidusauron12]

The movie's more of an alternative world version of FMA. Just so you know.

Not really... it's a direct sequel to the series. They tie every bit together, so it's more like, "oh, this is what is on the other side of the gate."

It's an OK movie, but a little too far-fetched in nature for my tastes.

[MightyDustLoop]

Indeed. I prefer to forget the movie even exists myself. Without it, I actually prefer the first tv series over the manga.

[Arnold]

Saw the movie the other night, wasn't that bad, though the last third was kinda lame... Not a very compelling villain, IMO.

And seeing Mays Hughes as a Nazi was just weird...

[mooseegg1982]

Yeah the movie 'completes' the series, but I wouldn't say that it was better, you know. The series is phenomenal.

Of course if it wasn't for the movie, my wife would of never watched any anime ever, so it has that going for it.

[Mr. sickVisionz]

I've actually learned to like it a lot more as time went on....if that's saying anything...

Same here. The first time I saw it I really was like, "that was kinda mediocre" but after watching it again I've come to appreciate it more. I think the thing is that a major part of what I love about the second half of the series is all the alchemy tech talk where they explain how the gate works and stuff like that. At the end of the series theres not really anything left to explain so that entire aspect that I loved is totally missing. Plus it didn't have alot of action imo, which would have helped.

Human Al's first appearance and the Gluttony fight were cool, but that was about the only action the film has. Plus I really wanted to find out that they didn't give Dante a loser Emperor Palpatine style death that was super quick and totally unbefitting a character of that importance.

[goddessofanime]

I just finished this today. WOw...a lot of things I missed when it was on tv...

like Ed meeting his father on the other side of the gate.

Nice to see everyone in the series again...from Marcoh to the two boys that pretended to be the Elrics....even that little mechanic girl that Winry befriended was in it!

I cried at the end with Al sacrificing himself again...and then reverting back to his ten year old self. Hell, I even cried at Gluttony crying about Lust.

Never realized that Envy was supposed to be the lost Elric before...


And finally....best anime couple ever:

I will be totally sad if Riza and Roy don't hook up in the new series. I LOVED their scenes in the hospital! They soo adore each other in more ways than one.

Onto the OVAS!

[mooseegg1982]

Yeah the movie is a good ending for the series, but I have a feeling that the new series will be even better.

[Arnold]

Yeah the movie is a good ending for the series, but I have a feeling that the new series will be even better.

Movie was kind of a half assed ending, I thought. The villans weren't interesting enough (I don't know how, but they somehow made Nazis into weak villains) and there wasn't quite enough about the characters we really care about. A proper "ending" to the series shouldn't have added any new characters.

[mooseegg1982]

Movie was kind of a half assed ending, I thought. The villans weren't interesting enough (I don't know how, but they somehow made Nazis into weak villains) and there wasn't quite enough about the characters we really care about. A proper "ending" to the series shouldn't have added any new characters.

I get what you are saying. And now that you mention it, they did turn the Nazi's into a sub-par enemy.

[deadmuffin]

im just waiting for crow kun to come here and rage...

i liked the original series, i just wished hohenheim did more stuff than what he did

[Arnold]

I have to say, Brotherhood is good, but I still prefer the original. Things are happening way too fast for my tastes in Brotherhood, whereas the first series really took their time to develop the story. I mean, it's only episode 6 and you already have Dr. Marcoh...

[f2akid]

I have to say, Brotherhood is good, but I still prefer the original. Things are happening way too fast for my tastes in Brotherhood, whereas the first series really took their time to develop the story. I mean, it's only episode 6 and you already have Dr. Marcoh...

The reason everything has been so fast so far is because Bones doesn't want to re-tread ALL the territory the first anime executed so well. For example the reason Mason was non-existent in episode 12 was because it would have slowed things down and as I said the first anime handled the execution of areas like this pretty much perfectly.

Bones just wants this initial stage out of the way as soon as possible by the looks of it; the early episodes are going at a fast pace and the opening for the first 15 episodes is called 'Again' - Coincidence? And on top of that after episode 14 it reaches the exact point that the first anime headed off into its own direction. AND the next opening from episode 15 (I'm guessing it will be from this ep) is called 'Hologram' - Another coincidence? Nah!

From episode 15 expect the episodes to move at a much slower pace and be more entertaining since the canon material they are going to cover from there on out has never been animated.

[Black Cat]

does anyone know how many episodes FMA Brotherhood will have?

[ryushe]

I have to say, Brotherhood is good, but I still prefer the original. Things are happening way too fast for my tastes in Brotherhood, whereas the first series really took their time to develop the story. I mean, it's only episode 6 and you already have Dr. Marcoh...I don't know, I've watched the first 8 episodes (all today) and I have to say, I kinda prefer it to the original. yeah it kinda moves a bit fast, but it also takes out some of the needless filler that plagued the first season.

One thing I don't really like about Brotherhood so far is the added humour at some of the more serious parts. Some are more funnier though, like when Mustang first met Scar, but It's still kinda throwing me off at some parts.

[f2akid]

does anyone know how many episodes FMA Brotherhood will have?

All factors considered; it should last about 100-120 episodes. That's if Bones actually does slow down the pace from episode 15 as I've mentioned previously.

[goddessofanime]

All factors considered; it should last about 100-120 episodes. That's if Bones actually does slow down the pace from episode 15 as I've mentioned previously.

I heard as long as the manga was going, that's how long it'll go on.

Which means we might have another Bleach/Naruto/One Piece on our hands in regards to episode length...meaning that this badboy could last 200+ episodes

[crow-kun]

im just waiting for crow kun to come here and rage...

i liked the original series, i just wished hohenheim did more stuff than what he didThe off chance that I click this tread the first post I see is about me awesome. :lol:

[f2akid]

I heard as long as the manga was going, that's how long it'll go on.

Which means we might have another Bleach/Naruto/One Piece on our hands in regards to episode length...meaning that this badboy could last 200+ episodes

That is a possibility because they've skipped so much manga material in the 13 episodes so far (which have covered just under 30 chapters) that they might decide in later episodes - when the series is getting too close to the latest manga for their own liking - to flash back to the material they missed out and expand on it to please the fans that have been disappointed so far.

But see that's the thing, as I said, all factors considered. There're a lot of things to consider with this situation: from one view-point you can definitely see the anime following the manga straight to the end providing they slow down the pace very soon, on the other hand it's possible the anime will catch up with the manga too soon and flashback and/or filler will ensue, or there's also the possibility that the manga won't end in the next 20-30 chapters and something comes up that pushes the series even further back, in that scenario we might have another 50+ chapters before the story is finished. There's also the factor of timing to consider since manga chapters are released on a monthly basis whereas the anime release is one episode a week.

So because there're so many routes the anime can take with this series it's impossible to tell what exactly the studio is going to do before they do it. It won't turn out like Bleach/Naruto/One Piece though; you just can't see that happening with FMA.