I have to admit, it was better than I expected. Not that I expected it to be bad, but well....
Long anime tend to include lots of unnecessary details. Sometimes entire episodes are completely irrelevant to the overall plot. There's also some episodes that feel like they needed something to fill in the space and decided to hire some second graders to write it for them.
FMA: Brotherhood, thankfully, had none of those. They kept the story going without any pauses. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next. Everything had its place in the story. Not a single episode passed without contributing to the plot. Hallelujah.
One problem in both long and short anime alike is often the ending. Since a lot of anime are based on manga or light novels, they are sometimes released before the source material is finished. Therefore, the anime may have that fancy "Completed" status, but it's actually just waiting for season 2. Which may never happen anyway, if the initial release isn't popular enough. Of course, there are also endings that are just plain bad, either leaving too much hanging or just not being well-written.
FMA: Brotherhood, again, did not have this problem in the slightest. The ending it gave was definite, conclusive, fulfilling, and, as if the writers were answering my prayers, happy. I hope that's not too much of a spoiler. I've seen a lot of good anime with endings that literally bring tears to my eyes. That's not a bad thing; on the contrary, that means it was really well-written. But I personally prefer happy endings.
In conclusion, if you're like me and are hesitant to watch anime longer than 50 episodes, don't worry. This anime is worth the time. Watch it. You won't regret it.
