LogFAQs > #970010467

I finished another watch of Brotherhood last night; amazing series, and one of the best anime ever... and yet at the same time it just made me appreciate the 2003 anime even more, and re-confirmed that for the most part I prefer that over Brotherhood.

To be clear I really do love both shows, and there are a lot of aspects where Brotherhood clearly comes out on top. Brotherhood's Big Bad was more interesting, and the plot didn't go in strange directions like 2003 did. But the two shows have different approaches, and I like that 2003 is more of a human drama that focuses less on the end goal and more on the journey and the way that it impacts the characters along the way. Brotherhood often felt a little too shounen-ish, especially near the end.

Several characters did get more depth in Brotherhood, but that can be chalked up to having more time to do so. IIRC 2003 clocked in at 50 episodes; Brotherhood had 64, and that was *after* rushing through the beginning. Even then, some characters got no depth at all; Lust, Gluttony and Sloth were all one-note, and along with Envy they often felt like flat Saturday morning cartoon villains, evil for the sake of evil. I did like how the homunculi all met their ends in ways ironic to their sin, as far as the origin of the homunculi I think the first show was more in keeping with the show's themes.

That leads into the next point. The 2003 anime had loss, atonement and redemption as its major themes, and its ending(s) stayed true to that. In comparison Brotherhood's ending always felt too safe to me. There's a lot at stake in both series and '03 isn't afraid to reflect that in the death toll, but outside of predetermined events (the characters' pasts, Hughes/Nina, and Ishval), in Brotherhood I think we only lost like three good guys (Hohenheim, Fu, Buccaneer). Even putting death aside, 2003 was a little more grounded and less optimistic. People didn't get what they were looking for or actively chose to give it up in order to do the right thing, whereas Brotherhood's ending was smiles all around (and Ed really didn't have to pay much to save Al in the end).

Music wise I prefer 2003 soundtrack, but I think that's mostly just apples and oranges (but I did think several of the opening and ending themes in '03 were better). One thing that is definitely lacking in Brotherhood is "Brothers." It's the defining musical theme of the Elric brothers, and it's just not in Brotherhood at all.

I watched 2003 and then Brotherhood, and now I just want to watch 2003 again.