Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

[krait]

I mentioned a while ago I was watching this, I think? Anyway, I am! Finally. :D It's practically vintage at this point, but I still think of it as 'the new FMA' because I entered this fandom in 2003 and okay wow that is a lot longer ago when I count it out than it feels like it should be.


Things I have noticed: I felt like Tucker and Hughes didn't have the same impact? Maybe it's the lack of surprise - this is the third incarnation of FMA for me - but I don't think so. Especially with Tucker, I just felt less emotional investment in both him and in Nina. There's some scenes of her being supremely adorable, and some creepy foreshadowing that Tucker is a bad guy, and in about two episodes everything is over and done with.

Hughes was definitely more intense than Tucker, and I really did love his staggering into the phone area, only to walk out again without calling - it's such a nice silent portrayal of how smart Hughes is and the connections he has made. Then at the phone booth he recognises that "Maria Ross" is counterfeit, once again proving what an intelligent guy he is... only to see him falter at seeing "Gracia" despite the fact he must know it's not her. Okay, maybe the Hughes scene was done better than I first thought. :D

A lot of my reaction to Tucker's storyline could be that I don't react to Kids Being Cute montages the way most people do, but I think it's also partly tied to the more overt nature of both Brotherhood and the manga? They both present a somewhat limited, black-and-white approach to character morality: the good guys are clearly the good guys, and the bad guys are clearly the bad guys. And yes, I know Arakawa put a lot of work into the moral ambiguity of elements of this story - sometimes I am rather dryly aware that I could describe Roy Mustang as "my favourite war criminal" - but I don't really feel that in the show so far. The Homunculi are such bog-standard bad guys, lurking in shadows and discussing sacrifices and meeting up with creepy guys in tube-strewn basements, that they overshadow the more human evils. The sympathetic members of the cast all fall into Ed's "I did bad things but I'm trying to make up for it" end of the good-guy spectrum, whether from sheer contrast with the homunculi or from the very limited screen time given to their wrong actions.

However, I've only just reached Ling's entrance, so things may change in future!

(For one thing, my irritation will shift focus. I didn't like Ling in the manga, and so far he's extremely true to canon... I genuinely love Mei and Lan Fan, though, so hurrah for them finally arriving onscreen!)

Comments

[sholio]

I think the problem with Brotherhood is that because the 2003 anime already covered this ground, they rush through the Tucker and Hughes storylines to get to the new stuff. It's kind of frustrating for introducing FMA to new viewers (which I realize you're not, but in terms of reccing the show to people), because I feel that the first, oh, 15-20 episodes of the old anime are actually much better for grounding you in the world and giving you a leisurely opportunity to get to know the characters, but then Brotherhood is much better overall.

[umadoshi]

I was likewise chalking it up to the pacing of the first chunk of FMA:B. We showed it to a friend years ago who wasn't familiar with the story at all, and more than once we had to pause and flesh out some details for him--and if he wasn't catching all the plot details, it's really not surprising that the emotional notes and undercurrents suffered even more.

[krait]

This is nice to hear, as far as confirming it's not just tragedy!fatigue on my end. (I am totally planning to watch the live-action version at some point, too, just to complete my Maes Dies life experience.)

Nina's plotline is probably sadder if you're the kind of person who finds big-eyed kids doing twee adorable kid things inescapably heartwarming. I just find it eyerollingly idealised, and therefore unengaging, like a kid in a TV commercial rather than a real person: she's just a symbol for something, innocence or family or Welch's Grape Juice. :/

[krait]

Yeah, I think they were basically between a rock and a hard place - take the time to rehash storylines from '03 and possibly rush the ending, or skim over storylines from '03 and possibly lose the impact and the early character focus.

I will probably always prefer '03, honestly, because I love the more closely woven narrative threads and the more ambiguous morality (not to mention the incredibly good animation quality and the opening music) of the protagonists. But I do love that we get more of the wider world in FMAB, with Amestris's neighbouring countries, and Xing's development of alkahestry, and the existence of Xerxes!

[sholio]

This is all making me think I should go back and rewatch the '03 anime. :D That was what originally made me fall in love with the world and characters; then it mostly got overwritten with the manga and Brotherhood, but I absolutely loved it at the time and would love to revisit it. Oh, and the music was SO good, too.

[krait]

Any time is a good time to rewatch the '03 anime! :D

I'm listening to the music in my car on the way to work! Brotherhood just switched opening songs (thankfully), but so far none of the openings or closings holds a candle to 03's music...

[anoyo]

I agree about Tucker, but disagree about Hughes. The Tucker storyline got really drawn out in the 2003 anime, and I liked it, because it matched the manga storyline best. I know they had to cut for time with Brotherhood, but boo. Also, I agree with the black & white moralistic reasoning. There was a lot more grey in the manga.

Hughes' storyline in Brotherhood was lovely, I thought. They kept the necessary parts and eschewed some of the excess fluff, which I liked. (I mean, the manga's original mix is best, of course, but I like the Brotherhood version more than the 2003 version, wherein Hughes wasn't actually portrayed as that intelligence, except in that last scene. In Brotherhood, he manages to be as intelligent as his manga counterpart the whole time, and the last scene is basically just icing on a very impressive cake.)

[krait]

Interesting! I don't remember there being significant differences in my impression of Hughes-as-intellligence-officer between the two versions, but it's been so long at this point (every time I stop and count how long it's been since '03, I boggle a bit) I don't trust my memory.

I definitely agree that they cut some fluff, and it wasn't missed! (And left in him all-but-kidnapping Winry, which always makes me laugh!)

Oh, and I liked seeing Armstrong fight and lose (or almost-lose) in Brotherhood, too, as a balance toward the humour his scenes often bring; his '03 incarnation was sketched much more lightly - in both senses.

[anoyo]

Hughes was much more there for the emotional impact in '03 than either in the manga or Brotherhood. (At least, that's the impression I got. It's true, 2003 was a damn long time ago. Kids born in 2003 will be in high school in a few months. Um.)

ARMSTRONG. Man, having his actual characterization is definitely great.

[lynndyre]

I felt the same way with Tucker and Hughes- I think 2003 just gave us more time to connect to the characters? And it had things like that Flame vs Fullmetal filler ep, which I actually really liked.

Ling annoyed me the first time I tried the manga, but I wound up really liking him by the later parts of the Greed plotline in Brotherhood, I wish there were more fic of him and Mei and Lan Fan fixing Xing together post-canon.

[krait]

My absolute favourite part of the Flame vs Fullmetal episode?

The aftermath, where we get to see Roy in his shirtsleeves plus half-skirt, leaning exhaustedly on a shovel. :D

I would probably like Ling more if we did get to see him fixing anything! (The boot scene in the manga is pretty funny, though.)