I watched the anime first, and while I enjoyed it, it had some fairly noticeable flaws, even without comparing it to Brotherhood. The final battle was fairly anticlimactic, and it was somewhat disappointing that the Big Bad got suddenly killed off in an offhanded fashion that more suited Father Cornello than her. The filler episodes did help develop the main characters at times, but I often felt that they would be better used with episodes that more directly furthered the main plotline. Perhaps that might have helped with the ending, which introduced a few too many revelations near the end of the series (the Fuhrer being a homunculus,, Dante and Hohenheim\'s backstory, Al turning into a living Philosopher\'s Stone and everything involving the other side of the gate) without enough time to adequately use them.
After seeing Brotherhood, I ended up enjoying it more. A lot of characters were better utilized and had more of a nuanced portrayal, such as Bradley, Kimblee, Greed and Basque Gran. The Ishvalan campaign felt more relevant to the main plot, and not just some characters\' backstories. Most of the fights in Brotherhood were better done than those in the anime. These are only a few of the things I liked better.
Brotherhood\'s Thou Shalt Not Kill rule is less simplistic than you might think. In Volume 19, Major Miles warns Ed that his naivete in refusing to kill Kimblee will get him killed someday. After walking off, he admits to a subordinate that he has a certain respect for his principles, since he used to believe in them himself, but adds that Ed will soon realize how hard it is to follow them. After Ed prematurely believes he\'s disabled Kimblee, Kimblee mocks his ideal as he gets out a second Philosopher\'s Stone and nearly kills Ed. Ed, mortally wounded as a result, sacrifices a few years off his life to save himself from dying, admitting that \"it was (his) naivete that got (him) into this situation.\".
All in all, it\'s a decent review that suffers from comparing the anime to Brotherhood too much.
Perhaps so, but watching it immediately after really emphasised everything this series did right.
As I pointed out, this is a review I’m writing after my second viewing, so the abundance of late reveals didn’t quite register, it it was that bad to begin with. I actually thought it had some brilliant foreshadowing and slow revelations and it was actually one of this series’ main strong points.
I didn’t find Dante’s death to be all that anti-climactic. I figured it was a fitting end, as the question of what she’d do if something in her plan went awry and she couldn’t use a Stone in time was addressed, as well as the obvious Hoist by His Own Petard Sword of Damocles that was constantly hanging over her head. It felt like a satisfying natural conclusion.
In Brotherhood, even if characters are criticised for their naïveté, they always, miraculously, wind up in the right, because the evil characters pull a Heel–Face Turn or Nice Job Fixing It, Villain somehow. It was low-key for a while and I could somehow let it slide, but when even finishing Envy off somehow turned out to be for the best, it was really annoying. This did not happen here, and I believe it was meant partially as a symbolic understanding Ed came to that at some point you have to stop perpetuating your mistakes. That’s another aspect that really spoke to me.
Just came by to say how your review is more relevant than ever with the ongoing Israel/Palestine debacle.
I’m pretty sure he was permanently banned a long time ago and can’t hear you. But I get it.
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Outstanding!
I watched the series originally at 14, struggled to follow the plot. Having watched Brotherhood and feeling a bit underwhelmed
I decided to see if it held up today.
It did. Amazingly so.
The simplistic ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill humans’ (actually ‘Ape Shall Never Kill Ape’, except the apes are hairless, and everything else is fair game) in Brotherhood was replaced by a nuanced discussion, actually debating What Measure Is a Non-Human?, with genuine concern for animal wellbeing (Ed scolding Wrath for near crushing a mouse to death).
The tone-deaf preaching about war, violence, and retaliation (which, being born and raised in Israel and still living in it, I loathed) was mostly gone. It had a much more sober view of human cruelty during war (e.g. with the Rockbell’s murder, the offscreen gang rape), without the audacity to outright tell the victims not to retaliate so patronisingly.
The ugly Conspicuous CGI was also mostly gone. The animation did appear slightly less polished but I preferred it that way.
What the series did bring instead was an interesting exploration of several themes, first and foremost that of atonement and acceptance of consequences that felt very poignant. The Homunculi provided complex symbols and character arcs and were mostly a delight to watch and ponder.
Characters felt fleshed out, with actual shades of grey. The semi-filler episodes, generally disliked among other fans from what I gather, were instrumental in this and I liked how they helped with the world-building and really tying the plot together (I felt they were sorely missed in Brotherhood). Unlike in Brotherhood, here the tragic scenes still made me cry (in my first viewing I was a sobbing mess).
Ed & Al actually fighting onscreen with Al about something concrete (rather than some absurd idea Al got in his head), taking time to really resolve it, was great. Their relationship felt more realistic, and, hence, more meaningful. Same with the Not Love Interest relationship Ed had with Winry; growing up so close made their dynamic feel more ‘Like Brother and Sister’, so her becoming a Love Interest felt off.
The few flaws I can mention are:
All in all, it definitely held up since 9th grade.
9.2/10