FMA vs FMA: Brotherhood
Manga is the Japanese version of the comic book and over the years has grown in popularity in many countries outside Japan, particularly in the United States and Europe. Its literal meaning in English is ‘whimsical drawings’ which are one of its greatest appeals – Manga stories and characters are often fantastic in nature. While printed versions are still popular, making animated adaptations or anime has become the trend for many Manga creators and publishers.
Anime is the term used to describe Japanese animated films which are considered very different from western animations. One famous Manga title that has enjoyed tremendous success as an anime is Full Metal Alchemist. It’s been made into a TV series with the same name despite the fact that the Manga version wasn’t finished yet. Creators had to make changes later to appease fans of the printed title.
The Full Metal Alchemist franchise became controversial when after the TV series ended, another show was announced – the Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Fans were taken by surprise and they thought it was a different story altogether. However, the first episodes that aired showed the same storyline and the same characters but with slight changes, which infuriated many viewers. This led them to think they were being duped to watch a remake that had very little improvement compared to the first one.
Finally, producers of the new Full Metal Alchemist series came out explaining that although both shows start off the same way they will eventually have different endings. The first one was supposed to be based on the original Manga series, but since it wasn’t fully complete at the time, creators had to deviate from the original plot so as not to spoil things for avid readers. The result was a different end that both satisfied fans of the Manga and anime versions.
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, according to producers, is a different entity from the original one. This time round, the series stays faithful to the Manga version, which means another ending. It might be a bit confusing at first, especially for those who’ve seen the first animated series. They can easily say it’s a remake, but essentially, it’s a whole new version.
There were also some changes made in how the story unfolded in the two versions of the series. The first one started off with a slow pace since producers wanted first time viewers to understand the story without having to grab a copy of the Manga print. In FMA: Brotherhood, the story was faster paced with producers anticipating viewers to have seen the original one.
Animation quality in FMA: Brotherhood was executed well but was deemed less complicated and simpler than the first version, which pulled out all the stops to make an impact among its audience. Another big change effected in the new series is putting less emphasis on the two main characters and highlighting others, which wasn’t done often in the Full Metal Alchemist.
Summary:
1. Full Metal Alchemist was not entirely based on the Manga version, while Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the full animated version of the popular comic book.
2. FMA’s story was slower in pace to allow non-Manga readers to understand the plot, while FMA: Brotherhood’s storyline was sped up to move up to the parts that weren’t shown in the first adaptation.
3. FMA’s animation quality is still considered superior, while FMA: Brotherhood was a bit simplified to put more emphasis on the story.
4. FMA highlighted its two main protagonists, while FMA: Brotherhood showcased other characters of the story.