Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

[atlanticsloop]

What say you?
Gutter trash.... or, a worthy addition to the FMA series? I understand there's quite a load of animosity towards it.

Pros and Cons. (Opinion)

Pros:

1. Followed the story from the 2004 series, so you get a feel of continuation, thus that the care you invested in these desperate characters' continuing journey pays off. SSOM, while gorgeous, was nothing but a side story when FMA:B definitely has room for FORWARD expansion.

2. Kept the death, despair, and dreariness of FMA, and left you wanting to know more when the credits rolled.

3. All the subplots fit nicely, and ones that needed to come to an end were tied up quite well.

4. Post WWI, Weimar era Germany is a very fresh completely unexplored concept for a backdrop. No industrial mining towns or feudal Japan.

5. Interesting new characters and an alternate universe concept explored; which leaves room for many creative possibilities.

6. The last battle in Central is gorgeously done.

Cons:

1. Those CGI stormtroopers made me want to gouge out my eyes with a butter knife.

2. More time spent on character development and fleshing out motives/plots. (I wouldn't of minded a longer film).


I hope I'm imagining this, but all this disdain makes me curious how others feel about the film.

[HardcoreHunter]

More like M. Night Shamballa

State Alchemists = Nazi's

What a Twist!

Bradley = Hitler

What A Twist!!!

[atlanticsloop]

I'm familiar with Shyamalan... but I'm guessing this is a RC reference?

Plot twists do predate Mr. Ss work by centuries.

[SonjaJade]

I didn't like the first series which is probably why I thought the movie was ridiculous.  But if you enjoyed the first series, then this probably wasn't an abomination on film.

I do agree that there should be some kind of forward expansion on these characters from Brotherhood however.  I hate that SSOM is a side story.  Why couldn't they have made a 2 hr long epilogue?  Like what are Ed and Winry's kids' names? Did Al and Mei really hook up? ROYAI!!??  sigh.  It won't stop me from seeing it in the theater in January anyway

[atlanticsloop]

FMA vs FMA:B is pretty much a matter opinion. Most folks tend to prefer the much happier resolution, the authenticity to Arakawa's work, and the characters FMA:B presented, but almost everyone who's seen Brotherhood and subsequently SSOM seems to hold the same impression- "It was great, but c'mon, let's move FORWARD."

Many original anime creators seem to not like to wrapping things up 'happily ever after', but the FMA:B universe has a lot more it could cover without delving too deep; like the separate journeys the brothers begin once again at the tail-end of episode 64.

The fact they spent that time and money on a side story is quite jarring. Maybe the next years will have some new project, who really knows...

[ALchemist81]

I say COS is a slightly disappointing but adequate ending to one of the best but also one of the greatest diversions from source manga of all time! Not particularly BAD, but after seeing Brotherhood not one of the best things the franchise has to offer either.

As for SSOM and why it was a side story, well I do see the potential for more canonical side story movies. SSOM takes place in a small but significant timeskip in the storyline. A 2nd movie could also be inserted in the timeskip before the Promised Day, and then a 3rd could tell of Al's adventures in Xing while Ed goes on more journeys, possibly to re-explore the new territories introduced by the 1st and 2nd movies, all leading up to the downfall of some unspeakable Father-like evil that reveals itself along the course of the 2nd or 3rd movie. Also worked into the 3rd movie could be the temporary re-awakening of Ed's alchemic powers to put a stop to this new foe!

An FMA:B movie trilogy? HELL YEAH--BRING IT ON, JAPAN!! Just ONE thing this time: if it gets a dub (and if it's FMA anime, it will by FUNI), you GOTTA use Aaron for an 18-year old human Al. You got away with Maxey as him at 16 in episode 64, which is feasible, but that crap just don't fly at 18!

[ritster21]

I agree with you on Alphonse. My brother said that Alphonse looked and sounded like a lesbian because of Maxey voicing him as a  16-17 year old young adult.

It really showed in the resturant scene. The way Alphonse said ¨Excuse me!¨ made him sound like a complete girl. 

[mgangel1124]

I hated Shamballa. I loved the end of the first series, and the movie was just an unnecessary waste. End of the show, Roy was being nursed back to health by his hot blonde assistant. Come the movie, he's quit his job to become a basic military grunt, renounced alchemy, and sent himself up north to live in the freezing barracks and pine over a teenage boy.

Plus, Nazi Hughes. Just no.

[atlanticsloop]

So it sounds to me like you just didn't care for how some of the characters where treated, not production values. Justifyable... FMA/FMA:B fans of varying fanatiscism, seem to me, divided on how characters are handled.

[Meilag32]

It obviously should never be compared with Brotherhood, but then the entire first series shouldn't be, either. 

If you look at only with the first series in mind, it's not bad.  Granted, I didn't like the ending (I can't imagine a more depressing ending where they started in Amestris and ended up in our dumb world).  I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere, and the historical things they wrapped the Elric brothers into. 

[HardcoreHunter]

---

Meilag32 wrote:

It obviously should never be compared with Brotherhood, but then the entire first series shouldn't be, either. 

If you look at only with the first series in mind, it's not bad.  Granted, I didn't like the ending (I can't imagine a more depressing ending where they started in Amestris and ended up in our dumb world).  I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere, and the historical things they wrapped the Elric brothers into. 

---

Not just our dumb world, but our dumb world with Hitler!

[HardcoreHunter]

Really we felt bad Huges then at the end it's like. Huges is a nazi, Huges is a nazi, Huges is a nazi, Huges is a nazi O__O.....*head explodes*

[Meilag32]

---

HardcoreHunter wrote:

Really we felt bad Hughes then at the end it's like. Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi O__O.....*head explodes*

---

I'm thinking when he started dating Gracia, he probably stopped that stuff and concentrated on being lovey-dovey Hughes.

[HardcoreHunter]

---

Meilag32 wrote:

---

HardcoreHunter wrote:

Really we felt bad Hughes then at the end it's like. Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi O__O.....*head explodes*

---

I'm thinking when he started dating Gracia, he probably stopped that stuff and concentrated on being lovey-dovey Hughes.

---

If it plays out like it did in FMA's world then he will marry her have a kid then be killed by American or British soldiers.

[Meilag32]

---

HardcoreHunter wrote:

---

Meilag32 wrote:

---

HardcoreHunter wrote:

Really we felt bad Hughes then at the end it's like. Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi, Hughes is a Nazi O__O.....*head explodes*

---

I'm thinking when he started dating Gracia, he probably stopped that stuff and concentrated on being lovey-dovey Hughes.

---

If it plays out like it did in FMA's world then he will marry her have a kid then be killed by American or British soldiers.

---

But then why didn't Fritz Lang (the person Pride was based on) die?  I don't think it would play out the same. 

[Da_Killa_Ounze]

---

HardcoreHunter wrote:

More like M. Night Shamballa

State Alchemists = Nazi's

What a Twist!

Bradley = Hitler

What A Twist!!!

---

I kudo you for your compairson, not for the what a twist part, I think that is too much of a mockery of it considering it's not really a twist. I think you have just seen that episode of Robot Chicken around the time before you posted this and it was on your mind, but I think it is too far of a leap, however I did chuckle about this thread.

[mmmagus1]

Even though the first series was kind of a flop, FMA Conquerer of Shamballa somewhat made up for it. Things happened the way they SHOULD'VE HAPPENED IN FMA BROTHERHOOD! By that I mean they got their bodies back and Al became way better at alchemy and they got to fight alongside Mustang and they all kicked some ass. And fuuuuuudge anyone who hates FMA Conquerer of Shamballa. If someone absolutely hates it, then I guess there's just no satisfying them. I mean after all: there's a parallel universe thing going on in this one and people get to see how the FMA universe is like our universe. What more do people want?! The 1st FMA series should've lowered their expectations anyways.

[mgangel1124]

I wanted Roy to not become a whiny little girl in Bumfuuuuuudge Alaska pining over a teenage boy.

[mmmagus1]

But even so, wouldn't you say that the movie was a success overall?

[mgangel1124]

Not when almost all of the characters I cared about in the series got completely shafted. I guess it was a decent enough ending if the only plot point you cared about at all was Ed and Al reuniting, but that'd be it.

[mmmagus1]

How did they get shafted? And Ed and Al reuniting was the main plot line I was concerned about, but not the only one. I also loved how Mustang went back to his old self.

[mgangel1124]

Izumi didn't even make it into the movie.
Nazi Hughes.
Winry lost her best friends forever.
Roy's entire team had about two minutes of screentime between them all in the entire movie.
Hohenheim had one of the most random, nonsensical deaths.
And Roy shouldn't even have had an old self to go back to. At the end of the series, he was in good spirits as he was being nursed back to health by his hot blonde assistant. There was absolutely no inkling there that he was about to resign and swear off all alchemy, which is what we're randomly blindsided with the first time the movie acknowledges him.

[HardcoreHunter]

We can't forget ed smexing Gypsy Rose.  Really what was up with them trying to pair Ed off with Rose even in another universe he can't get away from her!

[mmmagus1]

Okay well I didnt notice all of that stuff at first, but now that you mention it, I can see how that would make the movie seem **beast**ty. But at the same time, the FMA Brotherhood ending had its downsides too. Ed couldn't use alchemy anymore and all he had to do was use the philosopher's stone instead of giving up his Gate of Truth. All of that stuff happened because of Father and that includes those people becoming philosopher's stones. By destroying Father, Ed basically avenged those people and so the way I see it, he's entitled to the stone. He should've used it. Now he can't be a state alchemist anymore. And that's only SOME of the bad stuff about the Brotherhood ending. Not that it wasn't really good, but you're talking about how FMA COS **beast** and I figured that if you're gonna bring up the bad stuff about that, then why not do the same for Brotherhood? Its only fair.

[Meilag32]

How was the first series a flop?  And don't say because it didn't fully follow the manga.  Different doesn't mean bad.