Reviews

DO NOT watch FMA: Brotherhood without first watching the 2003 adaptation. The first 13 episodes of Brotherhood are fast paced without drawing the same emotions as the original FMA 03. The show assumes you are familiar with the back stories of the characters and does a very underwhelming job at introducing the Elric Brothers as a characters. This is this shows main drawback. The motives of Edward and Alphonse Elric seem not as valuable as they did in the original. You will have more fun watching the side characters of the show in action then the two leads. Which isn't necessarily a problem but it would have liked to see more impact on their story. While the original series left me emotional in the end, FMA: Brotherhood felt like another DBZ in the last 5-10 episodes which was disappointing.

Overall the sheer quality and budget of the series shows. The fights definitely are entertaining when they are at appropriate pace. (all but last 10 episodes) With an intriguing plot with an interesting concept creates for a very good anime. I would consider FMA: Brotherhood the king of the Shonen Genre which is why I rate it a 9/10. However, for guys like me who are not fans of Shonens, and prefer emotionally moving stories with more developed characters, then you are better off watching the original FMA. Brotherhood didn't cause me to feel any emotion while watching it. I didn't care about Haughes or Nina when they died. It felt forced. Same with the comedy in this show while its the same as the original, it was much more repetitive and frequent thus becoming annoying and forced. So I would say this show is an 8/10 for people like me. Overall a 9 because its the best in its genre.