I wrote a post on the differences between the original FMA series and FMA: Brotherhood early on when Brotherhood first began (which you can read here). With the completion of FMA: Brotherhood and the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, here are a few rambling thoughts about the FMA universe - and the two very different anime series that it produced.
The Original Fullmetal Alchemist Anime Series
The original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series came about through an accident of birth. Apparently, only a few months into its serialization, the FMA manga story caused such excitement among the Japanese fans that the anime rights were bought up immediately. Hiromu Arakawa, the creator of the manga, gave the producers her blessing to develop the anime story on a different track than the manga.
This resulted in the first FMA anime series paralleling the manga story in some ways, and deviating greatly from it in other ways. As the manga storyline continued on its track, the anime series did its thing, and eventually came to an ending - of sorts - in 51 episodes.
In the original FMA series, Ed and Al were indisputably the main characters and the sole focus of the story. And they looked so vulnerable... the character design had Ed being younger and smaller, with a rounder face. In FMA: Brotherhood, Ed looks older and bigger, his face more angular and less "prettified," in keeping with Arakawa's manga vision of him.
The brothers' vulnerability went beyond just the character design in the original series. There was the sense that they were two young boys--children--surrounded by a world of darkness, with adults who seemed to be on their side like Col. Mustang, but about whom they could never really be sure...
The darkness included the shadowy visage of their absent father Hohenheim, with the eventual revelation that their father was the source of evil in the story.
The music in the original series was fantastic - I have the first three CDs from the series. The major recurring themes and even the incidental music is just hauntingly beautiful.
The original Fullmetal Alchemist series was one of the first anime series I watched. I think at that point I'd only seen Pokemon and maybe some Vandread and Street Fighter II dubbed episodes on the Starz network on TV. So you might be able to imagine my reaction upon seeing scenes like Ed losing his leg and arm in a sea of blood, and his mother emerging from the beyond as a sickening, monstrous half-alive thing. The visceral reactions of dread and chills these scenes raised in me (that I can feel again, sitting here typing this) are something I can never forget. My first realization that anime was a true art form came when I watched Fullmetal Alchemist.
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa
The original series storyline came to a sort-of conclusion in the movie Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa, at the end of which Ed and Al wind up on our side of the Gate and exiled from Amestris.
The Conqueror of Shamballa is a flawed film - I think even fans of the film would say as much (and I'm one of them). The story is too slow in its set-up and only really comes alive towards the end, with the imminent destruction of Amestris and the great scene when Roy Mustang arrives to save the day. ;) Even Ed and Al's reunion in Amestris is dampened down and anti-climactic - and of all the scenes that should've been played for a huge emotional impact(!). In short, The Conqueror of Shamballa was an oddity, though a mostly enjoyable one. What it wasn't, unfortunately - was a great ending to a great story.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the anime fulfillment of Arakawa's vision from beginning to end - the canon story of the manga.
Brotherhood is much more of an ensemble piece than the original series. In Brotherhood, the sense that Ed and Al are part of something bigger than themselves is apparent from early on. The scenes in the original series where the two boys seemed so isolated were recreated in Brotherhood to show Ed and Al being part of a larger picture. To me, unfortunately, this took away the emotional impact from the original series, where the brothers had only each other to rely on.
I really didn't like that Scar turned out to be the one who killed Winry's parents, and not Roy. In the original series, Roy's guilt over assassinating the Rockbells in the Ishbal War tied him more closely to Ed, Winry and Al, and gave his character more depth and dimension. In Brotherhood, to have it be Scar who did the act (and for no particular reason either) didn't add anything to the story or to the characters.
(On the other hand - I did like that Roy studied alchemy under Riza Hawkeye's father in Brotherhood. That made the bond between Roy and Riza deeper and more believable.)
Also, for me, the music of Brotherhood didn't come close to the quality of the music for the original series. Even the opening and ending themes... it wasn't until Brotherhood's 4th opening theme that I heard music that I even found memorable and actually liked:
The complaints above aside, I have to say... Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is fantastic - one of the best anime series I've ever seen.
Hiromu Arakawa's complete story, as fully realized in Brotherhood, is a story of sweeping scope - involving not only Ed and Al and Hohenheim, Col. Mustang, Izumi Curtis and the others from the first series, but ultimately all of Amestris in the war against the enemy.
The things I especially liked about Brotherhood were:
The Enemy
The Dwarf in the Flask is one of the best villains ever.
The original Homunculus - not only is he (it?) cunning, but as the power behind Pride and the other Homunculi, he is also genuinely frightening. In the end, what brings him down is what brings down most villains: the lust for power, particularly as untempered by any kind of regard for humanity.
Hohenheim
Hohenheim is a much more sympathetic character in Brotherhood than in the original series. Just the fact that he was a slave, and that he never sought to be transformed into a near-immortal being by the Dwarf makes you feel for him. Of course, he's still a putz for leaving Ed and Al when they were young ;) - but by the end of Brotherhood he obviously redeems himself and even makes a graceful exit at the graveside of Tricia Elric.
General Armstrong
Who wouldn't like this woman? She beats the crap out of her brother Alex Louis Armstrong to become the head of the Armstrong family and leads the crack forces of the Briggs fortress to triumph in Amestris's capital city - and she's dead sexy to boot.
Ling
Ling was fun and a nice addition to the Fullmetal Alchemist universe.
The Ticking Clock
Around the midpoint of Brotherhood comes a moment that is a stroke of brilliance, pacing-wise, when we see Alphonse's soulless body beyond the Gate, wasting away.
Unlike in the original series, Brotherhood gives us a ticking clock. Alphonse's body can't wait forever for its soul to rejoin it. This added a powerful sense of urgency to the last half of the series, as once you glimpse Al's emaciated body, you can't forget that he's waiting - and that he could die.
The Happy Ending
I watched Episode 64 in a ballroom at Anime Expo 2010 filled with screaming fans.
Seeing Al back in his human body was like a revelation. Every time Al smiled, or turned around, or just walked down the road with Ed, a ripple of energy went through the audience - almost a sigh. It was easy to forget that Al was lacking his body throughout the series, so engaging was his character in that huge suit of armor. But in the last episode, you almost want to reach out and touch him just to make sure he's really back. If the happy sniffles I heard in the dark around me were any indication, Alphonse regaining his body was the best thing of all about the ending of the story for the fans, even more than Ed hooking up with Winry. ;) At least that's how I saw it - when I could see through my own tears, that is.
Conclusion
There are things about the original FMA series that I missed in Brotherhood: the intense, singular focus on Ed and Al, the complicated relationship between Ed and Roy, Izumi's whole backstory, etc. And yet Brotherhood triumphs on so many levels that it has already eclipsed the original series for most fans.
I guess this strange situation of two anime series telling essentially the same story will always be left where it is - unresolved. On the MyAnimeList site, Fullmetal Alchemist is listed as being the "Alternative Version" of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood; and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is listed as being the "Alternative Version" of Fullmetal Alchemist. If this is where we must leave it, then let's appreciate both series for what they gave us: the story of two boys named Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric and a very long and adventure-filled journey home.
