The Anime's Global Status

Dec 3, 2025 1:53 PM

Offline

Feb 2021

277

Hey there! So, I just completed FMAB some moments ago, and I can say that it was an enjoyable show for me; beginning to end. But, I'd like to ask why viewers consider this show to be one of the pinnacles of Japanese animated series. The MAL community can be very biased sometimes when it comes to scores and upvoting/downvoting series because of petty bias, but with FMAB, it is different. It gets that reception of 'Overwhelmingly Positive', like we see on video games reviewed on Steam, outside of MAL. Personally, in terms of overall execution and portrayal, I view FMAB as one of my top anime series of all time. Back to the point of it being a pinnacle of anime, I won't list out (in order to avoid unnecessary banter and slanders) but I'd say that there are a number of titles, even recent ones this past decade, that are better than FMAB as a whole. Now, my question: Why do y'all give FMAB the hype that it receives? Tbh, the series was so hyped up that after I watched it, it didn't come close to reaching that hype for me. I saw some old MAL reviews, posts, comments; dated around the time of the series conclusion, saying that they were hardly any show as good as that during time. Could that be another reason for the hype? As subsequent anime shows that may have followed were poor and couldn't matched what FMAB offered. What can you site as the cause of the massive hype around FMAB? Please, I'd love to see thoughtful responses. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Dec 3, 2025 2:14 PM

jazzgolem

Offline

Jan 2013

I think you put my answer to your question(s) in your opening statement. You thought it was one of your top shows, and it was executed very well. I agree, not just with it being done well, but also with the fact that I think there are better shows out there though. It's pretty close to the top of my list, and it seems most other users would agree.

As for why the FMAB community steps on other upcoming shows out of a defensive need to be on top? I don't know; humans kinda suck sometimes.

Dec 3, 2025 3:26 PM

chaps28

Offline

May 2023

So the issue is that you didn’t view this show as your favorite anime? No show is going to be a 10/10 for everybody.

50,000 individuals on this app alone rated the show a 1/10

High approval rating doesn’t mean universal approval, it just means more people like it than don’t and people on the app in general rank this higher than most others.

Dec 3, 2025 4:48 PM

Daianmoi

Offline

Jun 2022

There will not be a simple answer for this. It is a perfect storm of many different factors that ultimately led to FMAB’s massive success. To name a few:

-Hiromu Arakawa did a masterful job of storytelling in the manga, the research she did is apparent in how intricate the world-building was, overall great source material.
-Extremely cool hard magic system.
-Great memorable original character designs that span a wide range of body types/aesthetics and tie into the world-building.
-It’s a coming of age story. These kinds of stories have allegories for things we experience in our lives (death of a parent, leaving home, understanding the self and one’s place in the world), so the connections we make to these kinds of stories become very personal.
-Quality of the animation was good, entering into more modern style with tasteful use of 3D animation (not so noticeable that anyone complained)
-Banger OPs and EDs
-The episode count was increased to tell the whole story without weird rushed pacing at the end. Pacing was pretty good throughout, I think. Having multiple storylines running parallel kept interest.
-It came out at the right time when global interest in anime was increasing.

That’s just to name a few things off the top of my head. It all works together.

Dec 3, 2025 5:42 PM

uwayn

Offline

Sep 2021

Because its perfect. What additional answer do you want lmaooo

Dec 3, 2025 8:02 PM

Kreshre

Offline

Mar 2019

387

don't worry about ratings and what's the best it ruins anime enjoying experience everyone has different taste and what they think is the best anime ever etc

Dec 3, 2025 9:50 PM

Realicle

Offline

Aug 2023

201

Well FMAB doesnt really have any noticeable flaw like most other anime do. Sure you could say that the first twelve or so episodes are rushed, but as the show goes on and you keep watching, everything from those episodes make sense. So yeah, at the end of the day it just comes down to the story and if you like it more than other shows. If not, who cares? Its not for everyone.

Dec 3, 2025 11:05 PM

solo_rider340

Offline

Feb 2025

It’s just a well executed story from start to finish, with very few characters that are annoying or tropey. I don’t have it rated as a 10, since I like the series overall but a few things just take away from my enjoyment of it, for instance Alphonse not acting as an independent character for half the show was pretty annoying.

Dec 4, 2025 1:00 AM

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

jazzgolem said:
I think you put my answer to your question(s) in your opening statement. You thought it was one of your top shows, and it was executed very well. I agree, not just with it being done well, but also with the fact that I think there are better shows out there though. It's pretty close to the top of my list, and it seems most other users would agree.

As for why the FMAB community steps on other upcoming shows out of a defensive need to be on top? I don't know; humans kinda suck sometimes.

Yeah, human behaviour can be scary sometimes, lol.

Dec 4, 2025 1:02 AM

#10

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

chaps28 said:
So the issue is that you didn’t view this show as your favorite anime? No show is going to be a 10/10 for everybody.

50,000 individuals on this app alone rated the show a 1/10

High approval rating doesn’t mean universal approval, it just means more people like it than don’t and people on the app in general rank this higher than most others.

True. 99% of the world could love a product, and one can be part of the 1% that dislikes it. Everyone's different at the end of the day. Just wanted to hear what others felt.

Dec 4, 2025 1:04 AM

#11

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

Daianmoi said:
There will not be a simple answer for this. It is a perfect storm of many different factors that ultimately led to FMAB’s massive success. To name a few:

-Hiromu Arakawa did a masterful job of storytelling in the manga, the research she did is apparent in how intricate the world-building was, overall great source material.
-Extremely cool hard magic system.
-Great memorable original character designs that span a wide range of body types/aesthetics and tie into the world-building.
-It’s a coming of age story. These kinds of stories have allegories for things we experience in our lives (death of a parent, leaving home, understanding the self and one’s place in the world), so the connections we make to these kinds of stories become very personal.
-Quality of the animation was good, entering into more modern style with tasteful use of 3D animation (not so noticeable that anyone complained)
-Banger OPs and EDs
-The episode count was increased to tell the whole story without weird rushed pacing at the end. Pacing was pretty good throughout, I think. Having multiple storylines running parallel kept interest.
-It came out at the right time when global interest in anime was increasing.

That’s just to name a few things off the top of my head. It all works together.

I felt the same as well when watching. There wasn't any excess about it as oftentimes when some stories try to be complex, they end up being complicated with contradictions.

Dec 4, 2025 1:06 AM

#12

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

uwayn said:
Because its perfect. What additional answer do you want lmaooo

Yup, that's your opinion, and it's fine. I am just looking for diverse opinions about the topic.

Dec 4, 2025 1:13 AM

#13

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

Kreshre said:
don't worry about ratings and what's the best it ruins anime enjoying experience everyone has different taste and what they think is the best anime ever etc

Honestly, I don't care about ratings. It's enjoyment that counts the most. I'm 22, and for about 70% of my life, I've watched anime not knowing it was a large global community until about 5 years ago because I wasn't social media present. I watched AOT and many other animes without knowing about the hype and had a great time. I enjoy things more now by avoiding social media a lot, not knowing about it. Difficult, but not impossible. Was just curious as to what people think about FMAB, that's all, lol.

Dec 4, 2025 1:13 AM

#14

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

Realicle said:
Well FMAB doesnt really have any noticeable flaw like most other anime do. Sure you could say that the first twelve or so episodes are rushed, but as the show goes on and you keep watching, everything from those episodes make sense. So yeah, at the end of the day it just comes down to the story and if you like it more than other shows. If not, who cares? Its not for everyone.

Yup. Everyone's different.

Dec 4, 2025 1:14 AM

#15

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

solo_rider340 said:
It’s just a well executed story from start to finish, with very few characters that are annoying or tropey. I don’t have it rated as a 10, since I like the series overall but a few things just take away from my enjoyment of it, for instance Alphonse not acting as an independent character for half the show was pretty annoying.

Yeah, Al could be unbearable sometimes 😂

Dec 4, 2025 2:19 AM

#16

LifeBurst09

Offline

Jun 2024

i think most ppl on earth rate things on the basis of whether they like it or not
and humans are conditioned
An anime or any show that fits perfectly with their conditioning gets liked more,and therefore gets rated higher
anyways,fmab is prolly rated so high because of how well of an execution it is,its genuinely a really peak series,not just a peak anime
and when it comes to shonen,with all that slop,fmab is ons of the best one out there(along aot),even big 3 has pacing and filler issues
I mean ,it's pretty rare to see a series that has very few flaws

Dec 4, 2025 3:11 AM

#17

BigHomieTrapa

Offline

Feb 2021

277

Reply to LifeBurst09

@LifeBurst09 True.

Dec 4, 2025 6:42 PM

#18

ryzxgum

Offline

Apr 2022

8302

that's what i thought when i first completed it. and that was while it was still number 1 on mal.

Dec 5, 2025 12:36 AM

#19

Liental

Offline

Apr 2024

125

Alright so I checked the line ups again the biggest releases during that time that FMAB was airing were:
Dragonball Kai
Hajime no Ippo
Spice and Wolf II
Fairy Tail
A Certain Scientific Railgun
Inuyasha
Durarara!!
Angel Beats
Maid Sama!
Kon!!

With continuing animes being:
Naruto Shippuden
Bleach
One Piece
Gintama

In attempt to explain the phenomenon around FMAB being hailed as one of the greatest anime series. Your going to need context so back to the time before anime went mainstream as it is now. Where it used to be looked at as nerdy, weeb, dork and so on in the 2010s. So the whole viewership of anime was lower than it is now.
Also we are currently living in the best time of anime since more anime series get green light to go into production with a studio than it used to be even if they miss. Where back then you were watching these series and the niche genres that you liked that weren't guranteed of getting a new series in your genre seasonally as it is now.

Alright so the other goated shows like Code geass, and Death note that aired before FMAB were all you had to base your opinion on what was great. Steins Gate, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate Zero dont come out until 2011 when FMAB finished 2010 summer. The next year 2012 you get Psycho Pass, Hyouka, and Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. Then we finally get to 2013 where Attack of Titan released.

So I understand that in hindsight of 2025 that sure, people think other shows are better than FMAB. You have Frieren, Vinland Saga, Mob Psycho, Attack of Titan, Kingdom, Fate/zero, so on. FMAB is the first big fantasy show, you get a good story from start to finish, banger op and ed, no fillers (all the big shounen animes had this), satisfying ending. What more do you want. So it was a bright shining series in the line up released at the time. I believe people have been spoiled (which is great) with how many great shows we have now than if you were to go back to 2010. I started anime in 2015 so it's all my conjecture, I wasn't present then. But I don't think I'm off the mark by alot.

LientalDec 5, 2025 12:52 AM

Dec 5, 2025 1:05 AM

#20

Irshiki

Offline

Apr 2022

445

MAL is not a reliable source. If I take a look at the comic and series at the top, no one of them have the right to be there. That's why I use the platform only to take track and to chat sometimes.
In this case, Fullmetal Alchemist is series which fuse simples morals and teachings, with an enjoyable art style and animations. I'm not saying it's not good, I'm saying that is a story simple to understand and to casual viewers, who may stumble on this series as their first series, is the pinnacle of story telling. I want to reiterate, I'm not saying it's not a good series, I'm saying people overvalue it.

Dec 5, 2025 5:02 AM

#21

Aminthesaiyan

Offline

Sep 2022

219

yup this series is okay at best and somehow ranked as the highest on this platform.

Dec 5, 2025 10:15 AM

#22

MizoguchiWins

Offline

Jun 2020

I gave the series a 9 out of 10 score because I think the story presented is very good, filled with likable characters and even though I prefer the soundtrack of the original series, everything else is much better on Brotherhood.

The one "1" missing on my score is because a few of these reworked shows lose the touch on the way some things are presented to the audience. On both FMAB and Sailor Moon Crystal, everything happens so fast that you don't have proper time to process what just happened and the next menace is already knocking on the door.

Sometimes, even missing a single line of dialog may put down a whole explanation and you have to go back and see it again because they will not explain it again for time restrictions. The plot being presented without fillers is always for the best, but sometimes they should work the pace a little bit.

Dec 5, 2025 1:42 PM

#23

Neyker3716w2t

Offline

Nov 2025

BigHomieTrapa said:
Hey there! So, I just completed FMAB some moments ago, and I can say that it was an enjoyable show for me; beginning to end. But, I'd like to ask why viewers consider this show to be one of the pinnacles of Japanese animated series. The MAL community can be very biased sometimes when it comes to scores and upvoting/downvoting series because of petty bias, but with FMAB, it is different. It gets that reception of 'Overwhelmingly Positive', like we see on video games reviewed on Steam, outside of MAL. Personally, in terms of overall execution and portrayal, I view FMAB as one of my top anime series of all time. Back to the point of it being a pinnacle of anime, I won't list out (in order to avoid unnecessary banter and slanders) but I'd say that there are a number of titles, even recent ones this past decade, that are better than FMAB as a whole. Now, my question: Why do y'all give FMAB the hype that it receives? Tbh, the series was so hyped up that after I watched it, it didn't come close to reaching that hype for me. I saw some old MAL reviews, posts, comments; dated around the time of the series conclusion, saying that they were hardly any show as good as that during time. Could that be another reason for the hype? As subsequent anime shows that may have followed were poor and couldn't matched what FMAB offered. What can you site as the cause of the massive hype around FMAB? Please, I'd love to see thoughtful responses. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Hello, thank you for your opinion as far as I am concerned animes are like colors and if you don't like it it was simply not for you, I as a normal person do not consider myself an expert in anime or anything like that but I have seen more than 50 anime and I have never seen anything similar to FMAB because it is not the anime it is the messages that are beyond and that you will find it. The creator is leaving what do you realize is a genius since the series As anime is crazy in world building, balanced power system Character writing All that makes FMAB such a good series only in the anime section as a work is even more the madness of themes it touches on and how much you can get out of it if you delve into each character and connect with the series thank you very much for reading me Byee

Dec 5, 2025 5:23 PM

#24

CaptainJames2000

Offline

Nov 2020

To me, the reason Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is so highly rated isn’t just that it’s a great show, it’s that it actually finishes what it starts. It ties up almost all of its loose ends, delivers a complete, satisfying ending, and does it with an original premise instead of leaning on clichés. On top of that, it has a strong moral core: it talks about sacrifice, consequences, grief, and responsibility without ever feeling preachy. It also manages to hit a ton of genres; action, comedy, drama, mystery, political intrigue, even light horror without losing its identity. Most importantly, it doesn’t feel like a cash grab or a never-ending franchise; it tells the story it wants to tell and then bows out, which is rare and part of why people hold it in such high regard.

Dec 5, 2025 11:27 PM

#25

SciTails

Offline

Feb 2025

Even if I don't rate it as high as everyone else, I have to admit that it does what no other battle shonen I've seen does: Have consistently good pacing.

Its genre really isn't my thing, but on the whole, battle shonen doesn't get more polished than this. The animation is consistently good and it doesn't drag the story on for hundreds of episodes with nothing happening like other shows do. Really the only misstep it makes story-wise IMO is the episodes where it randomly becomes a zombie survival show.

SciTailsDec 5, 2025 11:32 PM

Dec 6, 2025 8:23 AM

#26

Titadou

Offline

Oct 2013

1568

Cool and diverse cast of characters.
Super original fantasy comtemporary universe with alchemy and automails.
Good pacing with well mixed comedy and drama.
They're not scared about killing off and amputate characters.
OST is a banger
It has a beginning and a end in one series.

⚔ Anime Watching Challenges Club

★ Challenges Badges ★

Dec 7, 2025 9:36 PM

#27

Celox

Offline

Jan 2018

Plenty of shows are better in one or a few aspects, but FMAB is great at almost everything. Plot, worldbuilding, characters, action, drama, animation and dub quality, etc. So it appeals to a wide variety of people. It also came out at the right time and was a gateway anime (nostalgic) for a LOT of fans.

Dec 7, 2025 9:45 PM

#28

Wematanye

Offline

Aug 2019

2689

Why do y'all give FMAB the hype that it receives?

It's weird that you'd even ask this when you yourself already said that the anime is one of your top anime series of all time. So if you've watched it like you claim you have and consider it to be good, then you already know why it receives the hype that it does.

Anyway, I've seen much better bait threads in this section before.

Dec 8, 2025 1:07 AM

#29

Genesis007AUT

Offline

May 2017

418

In short, I think FMAB does everything it does extremely well. It may not be the absolute peak in certain aspects, but in my taste there is really nothing missing overall. Very good interesting characters, a complex world building, amazing and well used magic system and visually as great as with its soundtrack. Also it checks off every classic shonen trope without exaggerating it. There is the classic comedy for instance but it is always used well and never weird. For me its the best "classic Shonen" of all time that also uses more mature topics very well.

Dec 8, 2025 1:17 AM

#30

Zarutaku

Offline

Sep 2016

24244

BigHomieTrapa said:
What can you site as the cause of the massive hype around FMAB?

Global mass appeal

*kappa*

Dec 13, 2025 8:45 AM

#31

COMPLETE_myths

Offline

May 2025

simple. there is no such thing that can be created to perfection and all peoples liking.
if such an thing was possible then nothing would be fun and everything would be fun
cancellation of the human limits and extreme
on the contrary

Dec 15, 2025 8:46 AM

#32

XthHaseo

Offline

Jan 2018

I agree that it was done, but the original FMA has a special place in my heart.

Dec 17, 2025 6:06 PM

#33

xZabuzax

Offline

Nov 2016

4295

I didn't like FMAB at all. I believe it's an overrated piece of crap. The thing I hated the most about it is the dogshit comedy, which was getting on my nerves. I simply hate shit comedy, especially when they shoehorn that shit in serious or emotional moments, and that shit happened A LOT in this anime; this anime wasn't even taking itself seriously because of it. I want my serious and emotional moments to stay serious, and FMAB failed horribly in this aspect with that cringeworthy comedy that ruined most of those moments. And that's not my only complaint either, I also didn't enjoy the OST that much, and the overhype killed it for me too, since I was expecting something big here, I was with high expectations thinking that I was about to watch something phenomenal, and what I got in return was a shitty anime so in the end, I felt like I wasted my time with this shit.

I enjoyed FMA (2003) more since this one was darker and more serious.

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