Michael is Low on Hit Points
The first adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist packs more emotional punch than either the new season or the original manga it was based upon
- Posted May 5th, 2009 at 4:45 PM ET
- Subjects Fullmetal Alchemist
- Tags impressions, first look
- Image sources
1- Fullmetal Alchemist [unknown] - Video searches
none
The new series (heretofore Brotherhood) is not as emotionally powerful as the original anime adaptation (OAA). That's because the OAA improved upon the manga that Brotherhood follows more closely. And it does so by drawing more emotion out of the viewer in nearly each and every scene they share.
One example can be found in the train ride early on in the manga and OAA (sorry, no Brotherhood here). When Ed drops down upon Bald at the end of the manga chapter, he slices off Bald's automail arm exclaiming "You bought the cheaper model, didn't you" Simple enough.
In the OAA, their automail arms clash, prompting Bald to say something of the effect of Ed "must have wanted more power too" in getting his automail. This enrages Ed, as that very automail arm is his brother's life. That's the part he sacrificed to merge his brother's soul to that suit of armor.
In response, Ed cuts back "Don't compare my arm to yours." There's a little deeper meaning there. Not much, but now we're going to multiple this several times over, as little differences like this are sprinkled throughout the OAA. The train ride was partly "set up" by Mustang in the OAA, showing the audience that he could be quite clever and tricky. Not so in the manga.
A bigger, more obvious example is the Shou Tucker arc. In the manga, that segment is far too short for you to build up any emotion for the characters. Same thing happens in Brotherhood. In the OAA, Ed and Al spend a few extra episodes in that household. They even witness a childbirth with Nina at their sides. This serves to ratchet up the sorrow with her later fate.
I could ramble on and on about this all. And sorry if what I wrote so far is one big ramble with only a few quick arguments to back it up. There's so many other points I could make, but I'd rattle on forever. So let's make this easier.
A direct comparison you can watch between the two series is OAA ep#3 and Brotherhood ep#2. Watch those back-to-back and tell me the OAA version doesn't resonate with you more. The increase in focus with the mother and father in the OAA. The scene when Winry gets the news in the OAA. Everything slowly adds up to a definitive difference.
As for what happens after the storyline diverges, that requires a whole different conversation which I'll probably start once we get there. So please don't get too far into that here and now in the comments, no matter how juicy the bait is.
And finally, I'm a huge fan of the term "to each his own." So I'm not trying to win over any manga fanboys with this post. I'm merely stating my opinion on the matter as a means towards a conversation. Please don't take this all the wrong way.
1 Silvie
I agree with you, though as you probably know, there's a reason why they're speeding through so quickly: to not bore the fans returning to this series, and get to the new material ASAP. So it's only natural they aren't spending as much time developing the characters as they should be. Hopefully they'll slow down the pace once we reach the fresh storyline :)
2 digitalboy
I'm very glad someone agrees. Back when I was really into the first season, i read to two volumes of the manga and thought it sucked ass. All of the gripping stuff from the show was gone. I think Bones did a much, much, much better job setting the story up, fuck the stupid original.
3 kadian1364
Agreed, but anything would look bad when compared to the exceptional quality of the OAA. It doesn't mean Brotherhood isn't worth watching, it's merely "less great". I very much consider it as a quick refresher on finer plot points until, like Silvie said, it digs into new material.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Silvie
Oh, I certainly picked up on the fact that Brotherhood is arranged and paced so as not to scare away familiar fans. But the manga "sped" through a lot of this too. It was the OAA that fleshed many areas out and added some great depth to the series.
@ digitalboy
I too only made it through exactly two volumes of the manga. I had always heard that the OAA followed the manga closely through the first half, and was shocked and disappointed that the manga was so inferior. Bones nailed that adaptation like no one else has pushed one out before or since.
@ kadian1364
That's the thing that bugs me the most about Brotherhood. As much as it can't size up to the OAA, it's still a good series in the grand scheme of things. I can't easily brush it off. Plus, I am a bit interested in how they'll handle the material once the story diverges from the OAA. Thus I keep watching.
4 Sylvie
It's quite understandable why the mangaka is rushing through with the emotional parts- given the fact that it's published in a monthly manga, if she took her time it'll be a long time before we get anywhere. She's already pushing the limits, putting out 45+ pages a chapter.
As an aside, I felt lukewarm about the FMA manga until certain group of characters were introduced. Then it kind of fell out of favour with me. Really hoping they'll do a better job than the mangaka, bringing in the new cast.
If you're wondering what I'm talking about, it's the whole Xing affair. Feels drastically out of place within the setting of the manga.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Sylvie
Nice point bringing up that it's monthly. I wasn't taking that into account. Well, I think how this adaptation is measured in the end will mostly come down to the material that diverges from the OAA.
My fear is what happens when the manga content runs out. I mean, it's still not done yet. They did a brilliant job creating new material last time. But a recent anime original ending to Soul Eater was oh-my-God terrible. Oh well. Only time will tell.
5 Charred Knight
The manga is almost over, Envy has been captured by Ed, the Armstrong siblings are fighting Sloth while the Briggs forces are trying to break into the Central Headquarters.
Hiromu Arakawa has stated that she wants to finish the manga around 100 chapters and she is on chapter 94. That's plenty of time if Bones slows down the pace.
As for which is better the manga or the first anime? Its the manga and its not even close. Sure the anime did a fine job expanding on the manga but once they went on their own they really didn't bring anything new.
In particular the Rose gangrape storyline was horrible. It was boring, Rose was emotioneless and all that did was cause Ed to whine more. They misused Hohenheim, and the rest of Mustang's group was a bunch of morons.
6 jp_zer0
I agree with you on every point but that goes without saying it seems.
I'd just like to point out that the gory moments in Brotherhood are either softly implied, or too cartoonishly explicit. While in the OAA, you get a red screen with a splash blood and flesh. The OAA has a better mix of implied and explicit gore IMO. It also shocks more with the sudden bright red screen.
7 kaei
Interesting. I read the manga before watching the original FMA animation, and thought the anime was drawing it out for too long -- especially the bit with Nina. The tragedy of a daughter used and betrayed by her father isn't diminished by the amount of time you spend with her character -- you don't have to know the character to care. The pacing in the manga was plenty tragic for me. Whereas the anime just kept going on .. and on .. and on.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Charred Knight
Well, it would be really nice if the manga wrapped up shortly. That would squarely put Brotherhood down as the "manga version."
I really, really like how the OAA used Hohenheim. I thought the Rose arc was well done and very heavy material. There was a lot of dark, gut wrenching stuff later on that I much appreciate in the OAA.
Like I said, I'll have to wait until Brotherhood diverges to really put down my opinion on which storyline I like better. But from what I've read and as it stands, the OAA is far better after the split in my eyes. To each his own.
@ jp_zer0
Brotherhood just seems to have a lighter tone overall. From what I've read of the manga, that seems to be the case there too. Though, I can't comment on how the later developments in the manga are portrayed.
@ kaei
Maybe the OAA Nina arc dragged on for you since you already knew what was coming. Because there were no signs (that I picked up on, at least) that it was going to end ugly. When it happened, it hit with such a nasty shock.
And yes, the tragedy of the daughter used like that is bad no matter how quickly it's portrayed. However, you have extra weight attached to it when you grow to like that character, just on her own. And when you come to respect the father.
They aren't one shot characters in the OAA, and that means we build a deeper relationship with them before the tragedy. The certainly serves to ratchet up the remorse.
8 digitalboy
I'll agree, Bones does amazing adaptions, but I don't know about the best ever. I think SHAFT does amazing jobs, and many have called ef ~a tale of memories~ the best adaption they've seen, even though it's of an eroge. It accomplishes all that the game does and much more as well as being insanely stylish.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ digitalboy
Ok, maybe I overstated it just a bit. There are plenty of great adaptations out there, and Shaft has had many themselves. The first ef -- I haven't seen the second -- was really good. I think my favorite Shaft series is Hidamari Sketch, but I'm just a sucker for slice of life.
9 Omisyth
I was planning to write this post as well. Completely agree with you that it packs a better punch, but having seen the adaptation and read the manga, I think there's a good reason for this, which includes Sylvie's explanation. Will elaborate further in a post.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Omisyth
Looking forward to the post. Feel free to come back and link it up if you like.
10 choux
Yes, there were changes, but what I don't like about the OAA is how it would take elements from the manga and then change the circumstances. I do agree with you on how the little sprinkles of information improved things, but changing the circumstances of the events hampered the story's ability to take it further. For instance, in the OAA, there was a birth. Good. But the manga had pushed the effects further. Due to it, Winry was able to get training (which is very important, unfortunately the OAA chose to ignore Winry much more than I'd have liked), along with the thief; and that event became a key part of an very important scene when Ed begged Winry to not and try to kill anyone ever again. Considering everything, the OAA was very well done, but in my mind, the manga will still be superior in how every scene was used to further build on the characters.
Also, the manga owns because there's more romance between Winry and Ed. The OAA ending did nothing for me ^^
Re Michael is LoHP
@ choux
I can't really comment on whether the differing circumstances allow the manga to "push the events further" because I'm not as familiar with the manga-only events as I would like to be. But from what I do know, I actually feel that the OAA changes allowed it to push the emotional envelope much further than the manga. The nature of the Homunculus with their relationship to core cast members in the OAA -- changed from the manga -- brought about great moments later that I feel the manga can't equal.
At this point, I find it nearly impossible to watch Brotherhood as it mirrors the OAA. I just can't do it, even with my strong curiosity for how the new one will play out. Maybe I can pick Brotherhood up again when it gets past the point of divergence. I'd like to, but I don't know if I'll be able to.
11 math4origami
I agree that the OAA was a very good show. To me, its two main good points were the emotional impact as you have commented on and the continuity and atmosphere in the anime even after the divergence. It stayed true to its themes throughout the show and never felt over the top or deus ex machina, like many other shounen adaptations. I think the downside you find in the manga (and by extension its more faithful Brotherhood adaptation) is that it focuses more on action as a shounen manga, instead of emotional themes that are not as common in similar shows.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ math4origami
Exactly! And seeing as what I rate as "good" is usually tied to emotional resonance, I see the OAA as superior to Brotherhood.
You're dead on about Bones nailing the continuity aspect. After watching the OAA for the first time, I was shocked to find out that the manga was radically different. I couldn't believe the studio pulled it off that well.
12 Kurisuta1
I agree that the OAA did great stuff taking moments in the manga and sprinkling more onto them. But I also think the manga has had great emotional resonance and deep character-development as it pushed further along. I find it's not fair to judge the quality of the manga by the first two volumes and then compare them to what Bones did. The first two volumes of a manga are a blink in a manga-ka's career if it's a long running series like FMA has turned out to be (at almost 23 volumes now) and Hiromu Akawara at the time was a new author. BONES was a well-worn animation studio and could undoubtedly do a better job with some of the stories the manga-ka presented in the very beginning (though it's arguable to me whether or not they did) but Akawara has greatly refined her story-telling as she's gone along writing this heart-wrenching tale. Not to mention she's greatly improved how emotionally effective her visual style can be. Really, I've never been so shaken up by anything in my life as I was by the most recent chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist. And I believe that Hiromu Akawara has by this time greatly surpassed the first anime is emotional content, story, character development, and everything else. Whether or not Brotherhood can accurately portray that is another issue.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Kurisuta1
I must admit, that is a good argument you make. Truth is, what I know of later chapters has come via spoilers on wikipedia. It's been a while since I read them, so I don't remember all the details. What I do remember reading did not seem all that compelling to me.
But that's not entirely fair. I have to concede that not having seen those developments as they were presented in the actual manga obviously weakens their impact. Still, I have to go with the OAA. I didn't see the potential for those manga specific events to rise up to the level of what Bones wrote for the first anime.
Of course, neither the manga nor Brotherhood have concluded their runs. Things change, and maybe they can pull off something spectacular. From what you wrote in your comment, maybe the manga just has. I only wonder if I'll ever be able to put up with seeing one of my all-time favorites changed, to be able to see what the manga does do...