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The Anime Backlog - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood


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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2699
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 9:50 am Reply with quote
Glad to see ANN once again feature a column similar in concept to what Justin had done back in the day with Buried Treasure/Garbage & Pile of Shame, and I'm curious to see just what Lynzee has in store moving forward. By his own nature Justin's picks tended to err on the more esoteric &/or forgotten (which I loved), but I'm all for seeing where Lynzee will take us with her picks.

I do wonder, though, if this will only feature titles that are currently available in English in some official fashion, or if Lynzee will venture more into the "depths" that Justin did. While it's been easy to see that Kadokawa's ownership of ANN hasn't really affected what the staff say in their articles, I do wonder if writing about stuff that's never been licensed before is maybe a little less likely now than it was before (& even then it was only really reserved for specific columns, like Justin's stuff or The Mike Toole Show).
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Durdanios



Joined: 08 Oct 2018
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 10:00 am Reply with quote
Too bad the FMA 2003 isn't available, as I think that may have been more enjoyable to start out with. Brotherhood kinda speed ran through everything 2003 had already covered, including Hughes, so the emotional impact of that was lessened a lot. May was also not in the 2003 version, so there is another plus.
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 14 Jan 2011
Posts: 638
Location: inland US west, pretty rural
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 10:08 am Reply with quote
Excellent idea for a column. Even though I'm not a big FMA fan, I thought this was very interesting, especially given that there are two versions of the show.

Looking forward to the next column.
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Eilavel



Joined: 16 Apr 2024
Posts: 136
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 10:29 am Reply with quote
Good column.

For me, the problem with FMA (both incarnations) is that it spends quite a lot of time- especially earlier in the series- on comedy that I find totally unfunny. Painfully so, though this is of course to taste with comedy. I just can't personally get through it to finish the series even though I can see underlying that is a quality shonen piece where that probably drops off over time.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4669
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 10:29 am Reply with quote
Durdanios wrote:
Too bad the FMA 2003 isn't available, as I think that may have been more enjoyable to start out with. Brotherhood kinda speed ran through everything 2003 had already covered, including Hughes, so the emotional impact of that was lessened a lot. May was also not in the 2003 version, so there is another plus.


2003 is my personal favorite, so I still lament that Aniplex decided to shelve it along with so many other shows it chose to not only not renew for licensing, but do nothing with itself.

I second that it is a fun idea to sort of revive the old "Buried" column. With so much stuff coming out every season, it's pretty easy for even the really good ones to wind up in that stack of stuff that we say we'll get around to. It's why I've gotten more comfortable with the idea that dropping something that is only barely holding my interest is ok.
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bravenewdust



Joined: 20 Jun 2023
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 11:42 am Reply with quote
This is such a fun idea for a column! I can't wait to read more of these, hopefully it'll inspire me to get through more of my backlist. Hell, if you feel like announcing titles ahead of time, I could use that as a guide for what to watch next, a la a book club.

I actually haven't seen Brotherhood either, I'm perpetually stuck on FMA 2003.
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redvelvetdoll



Joined: 16 Feb 2022
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 11:59 am Reply with quote
I look forward to this being a longrunning column, and maybe one that could inspire me to cross off stuff that's covered that I haven't seen either. Unless something long like Naruto gets covered. I won't touch that many episodes...
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 6363
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 12:03 pm Reply with quote
Durdanios wrote:
Too bad the FMA 2003 isn't available, as I think that may have been more enjoyable to start out with.


I mean yeah until it diverges from the anime and becomes far too depressing to say engaged with

Durdanios wrote:
Brotherhood kinda speed ran through everything 2003 had already covered, including Hughes, so the emotional impact of that was lessened a lot. May was also not in the 2003 version, so there is another plus.


I don’t know how that’s a plus when she wasn’t close to being the worst or most unlikable character in the series.

That would be Armstrong’s cold as hell sister.

Eilavel wrote:
Good column.

For me, the problem with FMA (both incarnations) is that it spends quite a lot of time- especially earlier in the series- on comedy that I find totally unfunny. Painfully so, though this is of course to taste with comedy. I just can't personally get through it to finish the series even though I can see underlying that is a quality shonen piece where that probably drops off over time.


Well it may be unpleasant to learn that the original manga has more or less the same comedy. And yes it does dial back a bit as the series goes on.


Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Mon May 20, 2024 12:07 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Gem-Bug



Joined: 10 Nov 2018
Posts: 1333
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 12:04 pm Reply with quote
Great new column, and a wonderful series to begin with. Hard to believe it's been 15 years, honestly. I still remember way back to when I had seen the 2003 series while also reading manga scanlations every month and that was what there was to the franchise(besides the character book and a few light novels). The premise of a new manga-accurate anime was wild news, and during the end game, it was really cool to see things animated not long after reading the chapters online(Brotherhood ended like, the month after the manga did in the Summer of 2010). Obviously, all of these experiences are going to differ compared to someone only seeing FMA:B, and just now in 2024, but I appreciate a review of the series without all the other stuff attached to it.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 799
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 12:22 pm Reply with quote
Glad to see this type of column come back!

I actually only crossed the FMA franchise off my list a few years ago (maybe in pandemic lockdown?) despite also being hype adjacent from when it initially aired and have some similar feelings, except I also did '03 and the manga all concurrently since I own all of them. I read the manga first, but then watched the anime adaptations to compare as I went along every few volumes. Finished '03, then started Brotherhood as I continued along in the manga.

My impressions were that the manga was the best paced version, '03 had the best soundtrack score by a wide margin, '03 was the best anime version up to Greed's introduction, Brotherhood's speed is super breakneck for the beginning, '03's anime-original ending is weird and terrible, Mei and her whole deal is more tolerable in the manga (Ling too), Brotherhood's cities felt really empty (a limitation of animating background extras but it really stood out to me comparing crowd scenes in the chaos at the end side by side), and I always kinda felt like Brotherhood was rushing me out the door to show me the next cool thing.

So I had some overlap with you for sure. If you ever feel like revisting the world though, the beginning of '03 is still pretty good and you said you had it on your shelf. Give it a try sometime for Oshima's score and the Hughes screentime. He's more present there.
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Theozilla



Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 150
Location: Oakland, California
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 12:26 pm Reply with quote
I honestly believe if it wasn't for the success of and people's fond memories of FMA 2003 (and the 2003 anime just being really good) the first quarter of FMAB's 64 episodes being so (relatively) weak would not have allowed FMAB to be loved and succeed as well as it did.

The weak first quarter of FMAB is also why I can't ever in good faith recommend it as the best way to experience the Mangahood story (as in I recommend reading the manga over watching Brotherhood). And I say this as someone who loves both FMA 2003 and Mangahood about equally (though I like FMA 2003 just a little more).
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Turro



Joined: 22 Jun 2016
Posts: 76
Location: México
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 1:04 pm Reply with quote
Great to read a new column in ANN, and very good idea.


I miss Justin's columns terribly and especially Mike Toole's. I'll be looking forward to the next entry.
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NeverConvex
Subscriber



Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 1:07 pm Reply with quote
Joining the chorus of, "No 2003? Awwww." Bummer to hear it's inaccessible.
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MartinWisse



Joined: 22 May 2022
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 2:16 pm Reply with quote
Good news for those of us outside the US: in Europe at least, FMA 2003 is available on Netflix for streaming.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5525
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2024 2:46 pm Reply with quote
Despite its rushed beginning, I still hold Brotherhood up as the gold standard for adaptations. After about the midpoint, 03 becomes its own original story, and not in the way similar long-running adaptations do, padding it out with filler before slapping an ending on.

Trivia: This wasn't the first time that Aikawa(03) and Onogi(Brotherhood), worked on different versions of the same title. Aikawa was a writer for the original A.D Police and Onogi was a writer on the reboot.

This might just be a rumour, but I recall hearing that Brotherhood was made because BONES wasn't doing that great at the time, so they went back to FMA, as it was a safe bet.
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