I'd heard that this series should be watched before Brotherhood, so that's what I did, and I definitely recommend that route. Comparison of the two is at the end of the review.
Story: 8
It's hard to say whether the story of FMA is original or not because, well, everyone knows it. But I'm going to say that it is pretty original. I'd never heard of homunculi before watching this show and I didn't know much about alchemy either. Of course, there are other anime that talk about alchemy, but this is the first one to do so.
The story of FMA starts off pretty simple: the brothers Ed and Al make a horrible mistake in their alchemy, losing some limbs and in Al's case, his entire body. In order to regain them, they vow to search for the "Philosopher's stone" which is said to surpass the law of equivalent exchange. While this does serve as the baseline for the story throughout the show, it is built upon considerably. FMA also tackles topics of religion, racism, and genocide during its 51-episode run, making an excellent commentary on society and its problems.
Of course, the ending is not based on the manga. Around episode 30, the show begins to make up it's own story because it catches up with the manga. And honestly, it was still pretty good. I was impressed with the creators of this show for coming up with a plausible explanation to alchemy and linking many events together. It's too bad that the ending is obviously set up for a movie, which was made, but it just doesn't feel right. (And to be honest, the movie doesn't wrap up the show very well either.)
Art: 8
The art of FMA is pretty average compared to other anime in this day and age, but it does have to be taken into consideration that this was made 11 years ago. And when you think about that, it's pretty amazing. The battle scenes are always smooth and the emotions of the characters come across nicely.
Sound: 9
I've seen other reviews saying that the music of FMA is pretty unremarkable, but in my mind, it was incredible. Just listening to the various themes brings back the feeling of the scene it was played during. All of the music is catchy and adds a lot to the anime itself. Just listening to it brings a sense of nostalgia.
The openings are ok; they're very "2003". If you've seen a lot of old anime, you'll know what I mean. Only the last one is memorable in my mind, just because it's pretty epic.
Character: 9
The characters of FMA are it's shining point. Almost all of them (and that's a lot) are developed nicely by the end of the series, and their interactions are very enjoyable. None of them are troupe-ish at all; in fact, many of them defy it.
Ed and Al's relationship is awesome. It's obvious how much they love each other, and it makes the show that much more emotional. At the beginning of the show, it's obvious how black and white they think the world is, but as it progresses and they're faced with complicated problems, they learn that not everything has a good solution.
The members of the military (Riza, Roy, Armstrong, ect.) are also really great. They all have a lot of emotion, and because of certain events, many of them hold a strong guilt, which they slowly accept by the end of the show.
The enemies of FMA were some of my favorite. Most of them were likable in some way, and Lust particularly stood out in my mind. She was such a complex enemy, which is a rarity in the entertainment industry. Scar, one other enemies, is also very complicated, and helps the development of other characters too.
Unfortunately, FMA doesn't elaborate too much on some of its characters, like Winry, which was disappointing. But overall, it does an excellent job of handling its large cast.
Overall: 8
FMA is a great show that every anime lover should watch. It always keeps you on the edge of your seat, and although it's a fairly long show, none of the episodes seem wasted. There's a reason this one's a legend, people.
FMA03 vs. Brotherhood
I'm going to have to agree with most people and say that FMAB is the better anime. But I also think that skipping FMA03 is a bad idea. FMAB covers 30 of FMA03's episodes in 10, making the beginning of it very rushed. In turn, FMA03 sets up the story much better. It's also interesting to compare the two's endings: I was very surprised with how good FMA03's was considering that most anime with a made up ending are terrible. Of course, the manga ending is better, but FMA03 puts up a good fight in that sense.
FMAB also delves into the characters more. You get to see more of Riza and Roy's relationship, Ed and Winry's relationship, and more of Hohenheim.
So yes, FMAB is better, but I honestly think that it would be a bad idea to skip FMA03 just because of FMAB's rushed intro season.
