Current Events > Which Full Metal Alchemist should I watch first

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Currently on episode 2 of brotherhood.

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03 has a better beginning tbh. Watch about the first 9 episodes of 03 and then start bro

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watch 03 first. Brotherhood rushes through the first bit, assuming that you've already seen 03

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averagejoel posted...

watch 03 first. Brotherhood rushes through the first bit, assuming that you've already seen 03

I haven't, that's why I'm hesitating.

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I prefer 03, although most people in my experience tend to like Brotherhood more.

the '03 series, IMO.

like others have said, it gives better focus to the beginning, but I feel that it has better emotional moments and atmosphere throughout.

Brotherhood is a fun series, though, and it's consistently good, while '03 is great until the last 9-10 episodes.

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Proto_Spark posted...

I prefer 03, although most people in my experience tend to like Brotherhood more.

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Just watch the beginning parts of 03 then start Brotherhood. 03 goes off the rails completely and I don't like it at all, especially in comparison to the canon story.

Leanaunfurled posted...

Just watch the beginning parts of 03 then start Brotherhood. 03 goes off the rails completely and I don't like it at all, especially in comparison to the canon story.

Great

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boxington posted...

the '03 series, IMO.

like others have said, it gives better focus to the beginning, but I feel that it has better emotional moments and atmosphere throughout.

Brotherhood is a fun series, though, and it's consistently good, while '03 is great until the last 9-10 episodes.

03 almost goes full horror in more than a few places brotherhood kinda devolves into standard shonen shlock.

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I have mixed feelings on this. '03 truly does have the better start with a slower pace to the start of the show with a lot of the same events being given a lot more time to flesh out but brotherhood ends up being the better show overall by leaps and bounds in my view.

If you've seen 03 the early part of Brotherhood can feel like a slog which could put you off the series. Maybe there is a guide out there for the episodes to skip if you've seen 03

Watch 03 first for sure.

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Just watch brotherhood, 03 is fan fiction crap don't get involved in it lol
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ZeroX91 posted...

03 almost goes full horror in more than a few places brotherhood kinda devolves into standard shonen shlock.

This interests me. How are the two version different? Is it a tonal shift or is it like a new version of the same story as in Hunter x Hunter?

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Doctor_Dementia posted...

This interests me. How are the two version different? Is it a tonal shift or is it like a new version of the same story as in Hunter x Hunter?

03 turns into a completely different story, complete with characters not even being the same or having the same role.

Brotherhood shifts into excitable shonen affair, more about the spectacle than the message. 03 just gets fuckin' darker and bleaker. It's an entirely separate story from the original manga halfway through, and, frankly, a better one.

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I like the first one better , just from view point many like Brotherhood more because it sticks closer to the Maga .

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I also prefer 03 although brotherhood makes for a great shonen the 03 version has a more emotional and darker theme to it.

I re watched both shows last year and although I originally liked brotherhood more the 03 version definitely aged better.

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Doctor_Dementia posted...

This interests me. How are the two version different? Is it a tonal shift or is it like a new version of the same story as in Hunter x Hunter?

03 was the same up through the first half and then they veer off into a radically different plot because the manga was in progress. The first half of 03 is just a few episodes in brotherhood because they condense it (partly because I think they knew a lot of people had seen the previous series and there wasn't a point in retreading old stuff).

Meh I saw and liked both of them

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the 03 one diverges from the canon story because the anime caught up with the manga

for the parts where they cover the same stuff, 03 is better. Brotherhood is too comedic. Too many serious moments where Ed suddenly goes angry-chibi-yelling mode. Always find it annoying.

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Doctor_Dementia posted...

This interests me. How are the two version different? Is it a tonal shift or is it like a new version of the same story as in Hunter x Hunter?

In the first half most of the events are the same but the tone they take are very different , like all kinds of things like the color pallette, musics, ed and al are way less capable (while still being geniuses) and the whole thing just has a more somber tone. Then you got to where they ran out of manga and had to do their own thing which keeps the tone of the first half. Meanwhile brotherhood gets more actiony and one villian gets wwwaaaayyy cooler but just kind of becomes a battle anime (with way better fights)

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ZeroX91 posted...

03 almost goes full horror in more than a few places brotherhood kinda devolves into standard shonen shlock.

yea, this is why I preferred '03 for about 4/5's of the series.

I watched through both series sometime last year, iirc, and I forget what happened, but I was loving '03 until its final stretch.


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Aaaaaa
I'm still confused

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Brotherhood is by far the best one, imo

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They both are watchable but if I had to go with one, then Brotherhood. But if you have time I'd watch them both, starting with the first series.

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Doctor_Dementia posted...

Aaaaaa
I'm still confused

Its hard to explain without spoiling stuff...umm...03 is like more serious and spooky that is like say a "bad end" in a vn. Brotherhood is more happy go lucky flashy magic fight that is the "true end". If you get me

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ZeroX91 posted...

Its hard to explain without spoiling stuff...umm...03 is like more serious and spooky that is like say a "bad end" in a vn. Brotherhood is more happy go lucky flashy magic fight that is the "true end". If you get me

Kay I think I will watch the 03' first. What's a VN?

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boxington posted...

yea, this is why I preferred '03 for about 4/5's of the series.

I watched through both series sometime last year, iirc, and I forget what happened, but I was loving '03 until its final stretch.

I like the whole thing ,minus Shambala...which totally could have minus that real bad ending which is kinda fitting for it being part of 03s storyline, better than brotherhood but they are both good.

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Doctor_Dementia posted...

Aaaaaa
I'm still confused

Fma03 is dragon ball GT

Brotherhood is DBZ Kai
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Doctor_Dementia posted...

Kay I think I will watch the 03' first. What's a VN?

Visual Novel...dont worry about bad explination. Lol

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I liked the story of 03 better.

Brotherhood felt more like a regular action anime, in a good way, but thats not what I liked about FMA.

100% watch the '03 anime first.

To give you an idea of how much Brotherhood rushes through the plot, there are instances where a three-episode arc are condensed down into a single episode in Brotherhood. Hell, the first 25 episodes of the '03 anime are the first ten of Brotherhood - and the first episode of Brotherhood has nothing to do with the plot.

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Fullmetal alchemist 2003 have the best soundtrack

https://youtu.be/BXQLrkW33f0
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pegusus123456 posted...

100% watch the '03 anime first.

To give you an idea of how much Brotherhood rushes through the plot, there are instances where a three-episode arc are condensed down into a single episode in Brotherhood. Hell, the first 25 episodes of the '03 anime are the first ten of Brotherhood - and the first episode of Brotherhood has nothing to do with the plot.

Then again, 03 has like 26 episodes left after that, while Bro has like 54 left, so for Bro it's only the early parts that are rushed (not saying 03 rushes its latter half, since it's a completely different story from Bro's, so it works within the remaining 26 episodes)

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Both FMA '03 and FMA:BH are fantastic and well worth watching, though I'd give the SLIGHT edge to '03 due to nostalgia as I remember watching it during the anime block of Adult Swim back in the day. Hell, this topic got me in the mood to watch FMA again so I'll start with '03 and after a week or so I'll watch Brotherhood.

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Kay Ill watch 03 first then switch to Brotherhood bcs after all that's what is on Netflix, started 03 already on episode 9 so I'm really into it.

Thanks!!!

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