I've never read the manga.

I think the popular opinion is that FMAB is the better anime series, because it follows the manga faithfully. Whereas FMA became its own story somewhere around the 66% mark. Personally I feel that's a shallow qualifier. I've watched both, FMA years ago, FMAB recently, and now watching FMA again... FMA is better for me.

I'm not talking about the way FMAB rushes through the first 10 episodes. That's understandable since they're retreading old ground. But even so, FMA tied in the supporting charas like Nina and Hughes nicely, and made viewers actually connect to them.

For example, in FMAB, the brothers assisted in the childbirth of some NPC pregnant lady who never appears again, with some teenage chick (who never appears again) there to help. WHO CARES? In FMA, the director intelligently made the pregnant lady Mrs. Hughes, and Nina helping the brothers in the childbirth process. With the same time expenditure, suddenly both Mrs. Hughes and Nina get more emotional connection.

And don't get me started on Hughes. In FMA he was a solid character. In FMAB, we're told by emo-Mustang that we're supposed to feel something for him.

And I really like FMA's cast of Homunculi, and the explanation to how they came to be. FMAB's explanation (and the manga's) smacked me of just too much TVtropes, with the Big Bad and his cast of minions. The Homunculi of FMA were much more personal, their origin something both fresh like Twilight Zone and horrifying like Pet Cemetery. I especially like how FMA Lust, Envy, and Wrath's names tied in with something central to them, rather than FMAB's "Duhr this is my name and therefore it must automatically be my personality."

That leads to the overall plot. Sure FMAB's story is more "epic", but AFAIC that's not necessarily a good thing. Anytime an inhuman Big Bad is planning on destroying the world, attaining godhood, etc etc, it just damns the entire story to video game territory. FMA's story felt more intimate and personal. And the same applies to the endings.

Oh and I liked the personal endings of Greed, Lust, and Scar in FMA. In FMAB, it was either way too shonen, or way too perfect. FMA basically just did everything fresher, more mature, less teenagers-aimed hero-fantasy.

Oh, and I like the art style of FMA. The art of FMAB starts out hokey, though it seems the animators got better with it halfway through.

Most of the people I've talked to seem to like the original series better, apart from the ending. I haven't really watched enough of the new series to judge it.

To be honest, I'm currently not done with FMAb. I'm avoiding spoilers, while Finishing up the manga. as far as that goes, i see the humunculi as secondary characters in a secondary storyline. The journey is all about getting the bodies back, and that is the focus.

in the original anime, i love the ending. and how the movie added, or you could ignore it all together, and still have great endings. It is literally the first anime i saw, that the ending was actually agreeable, or not dumb. (such as trigun was an excellent show until the end, or wolf's rain, or Big O.)

I give both series a 9/10. however, i still havent seen the end of the manga/FMAb.

FMA:
I don't mind the ending, but the parallel worlds thing was weird and I don't think the story needed it at all. It could have just as easily been a supernatural dimension like what FMAB/manga does. I'm rewatching FMA currently to refresh my memory, though.

Trigun, Wolf's Rain, Big O:
I don't see what's wrong with Trigun's ending. Vash's backstory was told in bits and pieces throughout the series. It was always coming down to it. Though the series does suffer from The Dragon (Legato Bluesummers) being ridiculously more frightening and charismatic than The Big Bad.

Wolf's Rain... Yeah it got existential near the end. I don't mind chara deaths but killing everybody off in 1 episode is just overkill. But truth be told, I don't think the wolves EVER had a chance. It's sad but their entire journey was a journey of sacrifice (for the world). The epilogue with the modern world is just an allegory, I think.

Big O's ending was BS, yeah. The writers didn't know what to do with their "Big Mystery" plot hook, so in the end they just threw up their hands and "It was all a dream~!!"

mlai
And don't get me started on Hughes. In FMA he was a solid character. In FMAB, we're told by emo-Mustang that we're supposed to feel something for him.

Huh, I never really thought of that. I had to look up an episode guide because it's been so long since I've seen FMA all the way through, so I was surprised that it's not until halfway through the series that Hughes died. So yeah, there's definitely more of an emotional connection. But then again, hopefully most of the people who watched FMA:B have already seen FMA or read the manga, so that emotional connection is already there.

The ending of FMA confused the crap out of me. Again, it's been a while since I've seen it, so maybe I'm just due for a re-viewing. I do agree that the origin stories of the Homunculi is better in the original anime, although I don't quite agree with you about their names in FMA:B being attributed arbitrarily. Just before Envy dies Edward points out that Envy was jealous of how humans don't let themselves get beaten down, so in that way his name is appropriate. Wrath...I'm not quite sure about.

Here's one gripe I have with FMA:B, though: in the montage at the end of the last episode, we see that WHUT MUSTANG NOW HAS A MUSTACHE OMIGOD WHY.



The very end of the manga shows a bunch of photos like in the anime, and the photo of Mustang and Hawkeye is almost identical, sans the mustache. And it's not even a flattering look for him; the thing makes him look like some creeper porn star. So...why? Talk about breaking a fangirl's heart. This is not okay, FMA:B. No sir.

korosu
although I don't quite agree with you about their names in FMA:B being attributed arbitrarily. Just before Envy dies Edward points out that Envy was jealous of how humans don't let themselves get beaten down, so in that way his name is appropriate. Wrath...I'm not quite sure about.

My point is, in FMAB, because his name is Envy, therefore he is envious of human beings. Ofc, this is because they consist of the negative emotions of the Big Bad. But still.

However, in FMA, Envy has a very intimate, substantial, realistic reason for his name. The writer who came up with it, was on fire.

Here's one gripe I have with FMA:B, though: in the montage at the end of the last episode, we see that MUSTANG NOW HAS A MUSTACHE OMIGOD WHY.

All Fuhrers have a 'stache. It's the law.

So...why? Talk about breaking a fangirl's heart. This is not okay, FMA:B. No sir.

You liked Mustang? My problem with him was that he looked too Asian, rather than German.

But considering that "China" seems to be right next door to Amsteris, I suppose it makes sense.

On that note, I'm glad FMA is contained to 1 nation. The sudden introduction of a few token Far East Asians into FMAB seemed so... gratuitous. The author could have used anyone else who is physically closer to Europe (on Earth)... Cossacks, Turks, or somesuch.

mlai
And don't get me started on Hughes. In FMA he was a solid character. In FMAB, we're told by emo-Mustang that we're supposed to feel something for him.

He is a Nazi, though. Just sayin'.

The idea of comparing FMA with FMAB and judge which one was better never really entered my mind.

I was someone who watched FMA from start to finish. While I liked the story allot I always felt like the second half took it into a completely different direction. It wasn't the same story anymore, IMHO.

I heard afterwards, around the time when I learned about FMAB being in production that it derailed from the Manga (I've only read the first book, btw) so I was happy to hear that they were doing a relaunch.

Frankfully, the fact that FMAB bull rushed through the beginning didn't bother me at all and in fact made me pretty glad. I did not have the patience to sit through 30+ episodes of the exact same storyline and was kinda hoping that the new show would start around the time where the old show drifted off path. I understand the criticism about key characters like Hughes and his family not being developed enough but that is to be expected when the storyteller is essentially going "Eh, you've heard all of this before, so I'm flipping these pages so we can get to the new stuff". I didn't need to have Hughes developed for me cause in my mind he was already a developed character. However that criticism is a fine and valid one for any person who has not read the manga or watched the old show.

There were few things that FMA did decently during the derailment but I didn't like how they developed Hohenheim at all. He just popped up all of a sudden, reminiscing about his old days, back when he was young. Why did he leave his wife and children? What was he doing all these years away? This is never properly explained and I hate it when people just up an leave their children for no good reason. Then the story goes on to explain his ties with the big baddie and that made me like him even less. In my opinion the Background story behind the FMAB/Manga Big baddie and Hohenheims connection with him is much better and made me like him as a character.

Most of the stuff I liked the most about FMA happens during the part that FMAB fast forwarded through and I liked most of the stuff that FMAB covered after it continued the story. In the end, my mind ended up taking the parts that I liked the most about the both shows and put it together. I call it having the cake and eating it too.

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Why did he leave his wife and children? What was he doing all these years away?

You must have forgotten since it was long ago.

1. He left them because his body was disintegrating. In his mind, it was better that he leaves them while he still passes for a human in their memories. Or, self-loathing made it impossible for him to believe that anyone can still love him/ accept him after knowing what he is. So he ran away.

2. He was wandering around and peacefully dying. Idle time probably passes very fast for him, given how long he has been alive.

This is never properly explained and I hate it when people just up an leave their children for no good reason. Then the story goes on to explain his ties with the big baddie and that made me like him even less.

I don't think FMA was trying to make Hohenheim a likeable father, unlike FMAB. I like that realism.

In my opinion the Background story behind the FMAB/Manga Big baddie and Hohenheims connection with him is much better and made me like him as a character.

I like the realism behind the FMA connection. The FMAB connection is just so much RPG-trope. I think too much epicness dilutes the human side of it.

I did remember that he was spotting signs of early degradation which is why he came up with the theory that their souls (his and the big baddie) were to old to accommodate a new body (or something to that extent). But it wasn't like he was falling apart around people. In fact, through the duration of the entire show and even that movie that came afterwards, he was doing fine.

That "oh I was just wandering about" explanation for where he was makes him essentially a useless character. Also, if he was trying to stay out of contact so much, why did he return? And when he find out that his wife is dead and that the house has been burned down why is he just wandering the countryside reminiscing the good old days? At least the original Hohenheim was on a quest to save his family along with everyone else in the entire country. His absence is explained.

Basically, what I'm getting at is that I always felt that the way FMA treated him didn't seem to fit. Believable or not I just didn't like the way they developed him. It was as if he was supposed to play a bigger role then that but in the end he didn't. I always wanted to see what he was up to and why he left his family and all I end up with is some carefree douchebag who ends up getting himself captured. This is understandable though, since the original writer had something big in mind for Hohenheim but the show creators couldn't possibly know what that was and thus had to come up with their own ideas.

Also, the FMAB Hohenheim was far from a perfect father but at least he seemed to fit his role in my opinion.

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But it wasn't like he was falling apart around people. In fact, through the duration of the entire show and even that movie that came afterwards, he was doing fine.

I think his main concern was that he didn't want his family (his sons) to know. I'm not sure if the wife already knew, but maybe not (unlike in FMAB ).

That "oh I was just wandering about" explanation for where he was makes him essentially a useless character.

Not every person can be a hero, or even a worthy person. But I get your point that you feel he's a waste of space in a story; he could just as easily have been dead.

But I like the fact that he's not dead, because then he can't have death as an excuse. Too many parents in animes are "dead", just because the writer doesn't have anything in particular that he wants to do with them.

Yes, in FMA he's merely a plot catalyst.

Also, if he was trying to stay out of contact so much, why did he return?

He finally grew a pair, and decided that his crazy ex needed to be stopped. He should have been better prepared, though.

I think FMA Hohenheim is just a very naive individual. Naive about the implications of alchemy. Naive that he can morally accept his method of immortality. Naive that he's someone who can mentally handle having a family. Naive that he can stop his ex because, what, she'll hold back against him?

And when he find out that his wife is dead and that the house has been burned down why is he just wandering the countryside reminiscing the good old days?

I think he'd rather face his ex than his sons. This is a man who'd never be ready for fatherhood no matter how old he is.

I do see why you think he should have a more solid role.

As do I understand your concerns about the whole uberepicness overshadowing the characters of the story. And the whole "Oh we had come up with our own supertransmution circle to counter yours.... twice" seemed like a pretty cheap gimmick.

I guess it was just the way Hohenheim was introduced to us in the beginning, I couldn't help myself from seeing that he had a good motive for it. Edward, being a child remembered him as cold man who just walked out of his life for no good reason and couldn't even be bothered to come home when their mother died. It's just such a obvious setup for a "He had a good reason" moment that I couldn't help myself from wanting to know what those reasons where. When the FMA Hohenheim was revealed, I endued up feeling let down.

Out of the whole FMAB series, the one about Hohenheim sitting around the campfire turned out to be my favorite episode. It was the character development chapter that I had always been craving, that FMA failed to deliver. I guess I just always wanted to know his side of the story.