Anime: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (2009)

The art here is well drawn and overall well stylized with the bright and some times dark colors. The animation is solid outside fight scenes but within them shines as some of the best in the business.
The sound and music is consistently amazing and works within the context and out of it as amazing work.
The story is well told and complex with many layers and twists throughout to keep you on your seat.
The characters are well fleshed out and polished from side characters to mains.
This holds a good amount of value as a adaptation of the manga and on its own of two brothers and their pact.
I enjoyed this quite a bit and reccomend it.

The art blew me away with its unqiue style with 3-D charaacters like A's armor to Eds arm. The aniamtion gets better over time and stays strong. The sound is well polished and feels vibrant like the world itsef around them. The sotry is very covnaluted and ends satifsylingly.
The characters are extremely in depth and grow as we learn from them their backstories and lives and feel so human. This has value on war, democracy, and death that can help others. The enjoymnet is throught the roff.
CONCLUSION:
This anime is one that you wont forget. It starts out great and ends from there.

FMAB es uno de esos raros casos en los que no puedes odiar al show o siquiera considerarlo menos que muy bueno. En serio, tanto normies como veteranos en el mundillo del anime no pueden hacer mas que tirarles flores por todo lo logrado, y cuando hay alguien con semejantes caracteristicas, siempre resulta o ser un contrarian o un weeb de la mas baja calaña. Posee todos los elementos para ser un éxito rotundo, acción constantes, buenos valores de producción y emociones fuertes para los normies y una gran elaboración e intelectualismo para los mas criticos. Y para ser un shonen de peleas, está muy por encima de sus compatriotas, incluso más que los mejores arcos de los mejores shonens existentes.

Empezando por lo que se nota a primera vista. La producción es muy buena. Fuera de los momentos en los que se implementa CGI o por su movimiento no tan fluido, es maravilloso. Los diseños de personajes son variados los unos de los otros, por lo que nunca verás que se vuelvan genericos; el lenguaje corporal es bien manejado; las escenas de acción son increibles por la fluidez y los juegos de camara empleados; los fondos pese a lo caricaturescos que pueden llegar a ser, como es el caso de la casa de los Elric, no se sienten fuera de lugar y resultan mas que pintorescos, aparte que son muy inmersivos con el escenario presentado sin mierdas que no vienen a la epoca representada; el uso de color es muy bien manejado en cada escena, no lucen empañados o dejados a medias y varían mucho el tono para jugar con la iluminación. En fín, no es el mejor trabajo que ha hecho el estudio Bones, y es algo inferior en cuanto al uso de coloración e ilustración de la versión del 2003. Aun con todo es excelente.

La banda sonora es igual de buena. Los OST son muchos, son variados en cuanto a las emociones que intentan evocar y son orquestales, que si bien ya para este punto decir eso no es la gran cosa en el mundo del anime, al menos no suena como un intento de copiar a Satie y posee un estilo propio, e incluso varias canciones son memorables. Lo mas criticable serían sus openings y endings. Muchos pegan con el sentimiento de ser una serie de acción o poseen aspectos que los diferencian de otras series del mismo tipo. Pero otros no son lo mejor en este apartado, como el op 3, y similares. Las voces no me agradan mucho, son funcionales para el caso, pero algunas se sienten como fuera de lugar, como la de Edward, quien ya para el final debe tener unos 19 y habla como un protagonista chillón de shonen. Por eso diría que es mas disfrutable con doblaje. Aún con todo está bien trabajado.

Pero que hay del apartado mas importante se preguntarán. Pues solo diré que para ser producido por BONES, no es una mierda total. Porque eso es lo que caracteriza a este estudio, excelente producción, excelentes premisas y ejecuciones de mierda. Por suerte, la obra es una adaptación de un manga, por lo que no se dio la posibilidad de que la cagaran. Y cuando este estudio metió las manos dentro del guión, en efecto, la cagaban. Lo que se refleja en sus primeros capitulos, donde muchos eventos ocurren en apenas un capitulo, como la muerte de personajes importantes o parecidos. Por lo que no tuvieron un impacto suficiente en comparación a la versión del 2003. No obstante, no es un error autentico, ya que su relevancia tanto en la historia como en los personajes se mantiene intacta y sirve en todo caso, no son malos capitulos o mala introducción y por el contrario presentan todo lo necesario para que te enganches a la historia.

Tomen a los dos personajes principales por ejemplo. Que a diferencia del 99% de los protagonistas de este tipo de series, poseían un trasfondo, objetivos y motivaciones mas que humanos y sin ser unos chillones desagradables. Por el contrario, si bien no se puede decir que sean tridimensionales, el montón de sucesos traumaticos, emocionales, retos, aprendizajes, desarrollo entre otros aspectos son tantos que sus dimensiones son completamente irrelevantes para ese punto. Edward es todo a lo que un protagonista no solo de shonen sino en general debería ser. Es un chico algo maduro para ser edad, sumamente inteligente, carismatico pero algo testarudo y un poco infantil en momentos puntuales. Su arco tiene tantos retos que es dificil resumirlo, culpa propia por lo que pasó con su hermano junto a la creencia que le había hecho un daño a su madre, odio a su padre por dejarlo que se transforma en un conflicto en él viendo que Hohenheim tenía razones mas que validas para hacer lo que hizo, que descubriese que no puede resolverlo todo con el uso de la alquimia, etc. Y su desarrollo no podría ser más que satisfactorio. Alphones se caracteriza por ser un chico jovial, un poco timido y con una enorme presión encima al carecer de un cuerpo propio, por lo que no puede sentir o tener necesidades humanas, cosa que en parte es una bendición para él pero también una maldición, al no poder sentir o siquiera poder dormir. Sus conflictos son en su mayoria los mismos que los de su hermano, el cual al igual que Edward llega a una realización satisfactoria, pero con resultados un tanto distintos, acordes a su personalidad.

El resto del cast es sumamente bueno. Uno podría criticar como algunos homunculos palidecen en desarrollo frente a otros, pero no me molesta. Parte de ellos no poseían siquiera un conflicto e incluso se podría decir que están lobotomizados por los pecados que representan al ser mas carnales en contraste con los homunculos con deseos mas psicologicos. Ya hablando de los personajes en sí. He de decir que estoy atonito por su manejo. El cast tiene alrededor de 30 personajes y nunca sientes que sean irrelevantes, todo lo contrario, cada personaje es de importancia y poseen agendas, pasados, motivos, sueños y aspiraciones. Incluso los personajes más basicos contribuían de una u otra forma al desarrollo de la historia. Roy Mustang es posiblemente el más carismatico del cast, con su sueño de derrumbar el gobierno dado a la corrupción transcurrida durante la guerra en Ishval y por la dirección que su nación va tomando. Riza Hawkeye, sabiendo junto a Mustang las asquerosas verdades de su gobierno. El doctor Marcoh, por los traumas que le causaron el ser parte de los horrorosos experimentos a civiles en el pasado. Winry Rockbell, con su sentimiento de ser una inutil al no poder contribuir dentro del conflicto. Scar que se deja llevar por el odio, justificandolo con su fundamentalismo religioso para matar cual yihadista sin escrupulos. Ling Yao, al tener que cargar con lo que representa ser un lider de verdad y los sacrificios que conlleva ser uno. Izumi Curtis, con la pérdida de su hijo y su relación con los Elric. O Hohenheim, siendo un hombre inmortal que solo desea la muerte. Y vaya que me falta hablar de varios personajes mas.

Los villanos en la serie van desde lo funcional hasta lo excelso. El villano principal, Father, por darte un ejemplo, si bien no es Meruem, al menos poseía un motivo que iba mas allá del mero poder con impicaciones tanto filosoficas como psicologicas, aparte de ser el villano mas aterrador e inteligente del cast, es practicamente el diablo en persona. Wrath alias King Bradley es el mejor villano en lo que respecta a personalidad y caracterización. Ya que era sumamente carismatico, con un codigo de honor y un conflicto al no poder hacer nada mas de lo que Father ordenaba. Envy es el personaje con la motivación mas psicologica, al ser un ente envidioso que quería ser igual a aquello que tanto despreciaba. Y con Greed no podría decirse que fue un villano, sino un anti heroe, dejando a Father al ver que no podía tener el mismo poder que él, yendo por su propio camino, deseando el tener todo, en especial amigos, que se pasa al bando de los buenos por distintos motivos. Los demas homunculos como comenté son apenas utiles, pero no me parece algo malo a decir verdad.

Y ya que hablamos tanto de los personajes, hablemos de la historia. Es una muy compleja, mucho para un shonen de peleas y podría decirse que para la mayoria de los animes. El nivel de elaboración deja en ridiculo al 99% de anime existentey que es superior a animes con niveles de elaboración magistral como Shinsekai Yori o Evangelion, solo perdiendo frente a Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Un mundo en el que la alquimia puede ser usada, sirve para demostrar todo tipo de cosas en las que se usaría tal ciencia. Como es el caso de la implementación en el campo belico, para permitir el avance de una nación que quiere convertise en imperio, que sea de utulidad para construcciones e infraestructura , su uso dentro del area de la experiementación cientifica y medica o llegar tan lejos como violar las mismas leyes del universo y de Dios. Todos estos elementos nunca se sienten alienigenos al cuadrar con los conceptos de la serie. Y con ello la historia está plagada de tramas políticas, conspiraciones, conflictos ideologicos, manipulaciones, problemas sociales, culturales y politicos producto del expansionismo de Amestris y demas eventos que van aún mas profundos que la propia nación. Sin desperdiciar en parte el misticismo y visión espiritual y existencial representada en la verdad, la cual es una de las mejores prepresentaciones de una deidad que haya visto. Por otra parte, los poderes no son muy rotos, y cuando lo son es porque hay reglas para que lo sean, sin contar que los mismos forman parte de la filosofía de la serie, para ganar algo, hay que sacrificar algo de igual valor. Lo cual es una mas compleja de la tipica moraleja de "con esfuerzo puedes lograr lo que sea". Un tema tan cliche en los shonens pero con tantas implicaciones que puedes hacer analisis detallando en cada sentido de la palabra.

Aparte el ritmo es perfecto, salvo el inicio. Cada evento, revelación y giro de tuerca son tan bien hecho y mostrados con tanta constacia y precisión que no puedes dejar de ver la pantalla por lo buena que es la serie. Y como cada evento posee una buena planificación, los agujeros argumentales son inexistentes. Y yendo mas al terreno del entretenimiento, las batallas son superiores a la de los demas shonen. Son altamente estrategicas y la exposición de las mismas no queda fuera de lugar, en vez de durar horas explicando porque una pelea tuvo sentido. Y hablando sobre el aspecto al que mas le critican al show, la comedia. Muchos dicen que es anticlimatica por lo tonta que es y que la meten en momentos serios. Pero discrepo con dicha aseveración. Los momentos en los que meten comedia y que puedan considerarse serios no son tragicos o algo por el estilo, son mas momentos de cierto grado de tensión como en una batalla o similares, nunca pusieron comedia durante una muerte.

Y ya para resumir, esta serie es una de las mejores historias que haya visto. No solo en el anime, sino en cada medio. Que le falta solo un cacho para ser una obra maestra y sin duda el mejor shonen que haya visto. Y no me salgan con que en final es tu tipico final feliz al compararlo con la versión del 2003, es una de las conclusiones mas emotivamente satisfactorias que hayan existido. Y que al menos ese final no está escrito por putas BONES, la serie que hizo el infame final de Soul Eater.

Esta es una serie que hay que ver si o si. Una gran obra que de manera esplendiada, refleja muchos aspectos de nuestra realidad y que te dice que debes salir y descubrir las cosas de este mundo.

Filled with a lot of hype, FMA: Brotherhood is well known among anime fans as one of the highest rated shows on many anime sites. It is a sequel series to Fullmetal Alchemist, adapted to be closer to the manga. Does this show do Fullmetal Alchemist better than its predecessor, or does it fall short?

At this point, who doesn’t know the story of FMA? Edward and Alphonse Elric use their knowledge of alchemy to bring their dead mother back to life. In the process, Ed loses an arm and a leg, and Al’s soul is entrapped into a suit of armor. The two proceed to journey through the world of Amestris to search for the Philosopher’s Stone, in hopes of obtaining their original bodies. The series starts off much like the original series, though I think unlike the original series, this show doesn’t have very good pacing. Early on they are speeding things up because they expect people to have already seen the first series, however in here lies the problem. If the show was intended to replace the first series (which a lot of people just skip the first one and go straight to Brotherhood), I think this more botched up version of the original story just doesn’t give new viewers enough. The drama of the first show really is gone when you speed through the first half of the story, which Brotherhood initially did. They also did another thing I greatly dislike, and that is adapt the comedy straight from the manga. The comedic moments in comic panels don’t translate to anime format, and they never have. Because they do this, serious scenes are ruined by comedic moments. This becomes less noticeable later on, but it starts out as a bit of a hassle.

Referring to when the show diverges from the first anime, the manga content sometimes is better than the original, other times it isn’t. There are specific plot points I feel are much better presented in the original, such as how homunculi die. In the first series, homunculi came to be after you performed human transmutation, thus the only way to kill them was to weaken them with bones or other remains of the person you tried to revive using alchemy. In this series, you just need to kill them enough times until they die. I thought that was rather weak reasoning. There are, however, some things I did like more. I liked how larger the world is in Brotherhood, the original show you were limited to Amestris, here the audience is introduced to other parts of this world. So, when it boils down to the story, there are some elements I prefer in the original, there are elements I prefer in Brotherhood.

The pacing when the new content starts coming in is a mixed bag. Some parts of the show have perfect pacing, such as Briggs, but near the end it kind of drags. The fights go on a bit too long, and some plot points are unnecessary. That being said, in terms of action, it has plenty, and the scale is much larger than the first show. Unfortunately, I think the show just got saddled with an inexperienced director, and I feel like had the show had better direction, the pacing and presentation would have been better.

In terms of the ending, I liked the first series’ ending a bit more, since I felt it captured FMA’s theme of sacrifice a bit better. While there is sacrifice in Brotherhood’s ending, I feel as if the exchange at the end was not quite equivalent. Overall, the story of Brotherhood is far from perfect, but it is enjoyable. I may have a lot to nitpick, but don’t get me wrong, I quite liked the show’s story.

Not unlike its 2003 counterpart, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has a huge cast of characters. They all have different personalities, motivations, and a lot of them are memorable. I really loved Scar’s character development in this show, as well. The new characters, such as Ling, are really cool. They go through troubles, but also develop as characters, which I approve of. Ed and Al aren’t as focused on in this show as they are in the first one, but they still develop, even if their development isn’t quite as good in this one. I liked Mustang’s development here, and I honestly have a hard time choosing which show I like him better in, because I really like him here, too. Mustang’s crew does manage to develop as well, though I miss the stand-alone episodes that involved them a lot more in the original.

The characters I really think were underdeveloped or poorly developed were the homunculi. Wrath was made to be completely predictable, unlike the first series where he was a lot more mysterious. His backstory showed promise, although I was disappointed to see they didn’t do much with it. Pride was alright, though I would have liked to have seen more backstory. I did like Envy in this show a lot, as the character development there was actually quite fantastic. Sloth was as one-dimensional as you get. Lust was also extremely one-dimensional here, and I missed how well developed she was in the first series. Gluttony was also really one-dimensional here, but he wasn’t exactly well developed in FMA 2003, either. At least he has some cool powers in this show. Greedling could have been cool; however the show lacked subtlety in his development, so the whole thing came off as really cheesy. Father was a cool villain, and I really liked the backstory behind him, though the final fight was a little underwhelming as a whole, considering how strong of a villain they had built him up to be. Overall, I’d consider the characters ranging from great to weak. A lot of them are quite good, though. Considering the show has so many characters, that is a lot of hits, although the show also has its fair share of misses, as well.

The animation and art looks quite nice here. Backgrounds are detailed, the character designs are nice to look at, and the shows action scenes look good and are well choreographed. My problem is that the colors are a little too bright. Considering this was supposed to be based off the manga, Edward’s hair is a little too light, and the lighter colors are really bright. This is most noticeable with the overly bright green grass. Overall, though, the animation looks really good, and is mostly what I would expect from an FMA reboot.

The music is not that great. The background OST sounds really cliché and generic. It really makes serious moments come off less as scary and more as cheesy. The openings and endings, on the other hand, are really catchy. My personal favorites are the second opening, “Hologram” by Nico Touches the Walls (who you may know for “Matryoshka” in [C] – CONTROL), and the fifth ending, “Ray of Light” by Shoko Nakagawa (who you may have known for “Sorairo Days” in Gurren Lagann).

The voice acting is better than ever, at least in the English dub. While the first show started out a little rough, here they all have had experience, so they all sound really good. The only one who sounds rough here is Maxey Whitehead, who now plays Alphonse Elric, due to the previous voice actor, Aaron Dismuke, no longer being able to play Al due to puberty. She starts out sounding a bit too much like a girl, but later on really grows into the role, and sounds just as good as Dismuke. Todd Haberkorn as Ling is a solid performance, as is Troy Baker as Greedling, and Monica Rial as May Chang.

In the end, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood isn’t exactly perfect; however it still proves to be an enjoyable show and a “must-see” for anime fans. Would I personally consider it to be a better show than the first Fullmetal Alchemist series? No, I would not. The show’s direction wasn’t as good, and I didn’t like the story or the villains as much. That being said, I still believe fans of the original should watch this show and decide for themselves which one they like better. I also believe the first series should be watched before Brotherhood to fully enjoy the FMA franchise. With that being said, both FMA shows prove to be top shonen series well worth both a watch, and the manga is also well worth a read.

Well... what can we say other than it's the masterpiece the first Hagane should have been!

The first one was produced before the end of the manga, so that explains the changes in the story (in for once changes for an anime weren't that bad at all), but now we have the right story.... WOW!

Synopsis : Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, is searching for the fabled Philisopher's Stone to get back his limbs and the body his brother Alphonse lost in an "accident", thus his soul being tied to a suit of armor... but the real truth behind the truth isn't so simple...

Art & Animation : Great design, great animations, great fight scenes, great comic relieves, etc... just enjoy, it's not the best you've ever seen, but it comes close. Not too much CGs, and the 720p resolution makes it look even better.

Sound : The score is fantastic, always right on with the flow of the story, moving when it needs to be, energetic for the action, watch before going to sleep and listen to the score in your dreams (really, it stays!).

Story : Just incredible! I don't want to spoil it, but you'll have to watch all 64 episodes pretty quick if you don't want to be lost, there's so much to know and remember.

Characters : You just want Ed and Al to be happy... right from the 3rd or 4th episodes, you'd be happy with the anime ending just to see them live the nice life they deserve... but it would be a shame to miss the rest...

Value/enjoyment : You'll get what you want, whatever kinds of anime you like (except hardcore sci-fi fans, but even then, they shouldn't miss that one!).

Review
Stop. Watch the original Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA). Watch it. Why? Well, because although Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (Brotherhood) is an entire product on its own, it offers only a rushed glimpse of the early episodes this time around. Character development is deeply harmed in this department, as well as the darker and more high-stake atmosphere of the 2003 masterpiece. So do yourself a favor and watch the original first. It will make Brotherhood more enjoyable and it will allow you to see the amazing setting crafted in this tale with other eyes.

The original FMA was a mix of dark fantasy with your usual teenage comedy moments. It could be cheesy sometimes, but when it got serious the experience was superb. You had a struggle against beliefs, diplomatic secrets, mysteries about past and presents experiments, fights the protagonists had no option but to run and a more believable simulation of the harsh reality, where someone can't do anything with will alone (but that surely helps). The issue there was the different ending, finishing the show before the manga and thus creating an alternative closure to avoid being left like dozens of manga-inspired shows out there. The ending was not bad, it was in fact very good, but it had a narrowed scale and more complexity that made it hard to understand first-hand. So came Brotherhood.

Why create Brotherhood? You ask. That's a hard question. Perhaps to simply end the show the way the manga creator wanted. Perhaps to deliver more of the same to the great number of fans the series already had, or maybe to screw up everything. Anyway, Brotherhood succeeds in creating a very good and enjoyable show, but fails in delivering the same kind of experience as the original. Where you had more dark fantasy now you have shounen super-power, where you had tears and sadness now you have stupid jokes, where you had despair and struggle now you have amazing powers and flashy characters.

Summarizing, Brotherhood delivers an experience far more fitting the typical shounen-super power genre than before. We still got the same good setting, which is in fact expanded to fit a whole world instead of being narrow, and we still have some intrigues and bits of dark fantasy elements, but those became so rare that when they have an importance you'll probably ignore it and follow the great sequences of fights and super powers clashing.

If you don't know what this is about, I got your back: this is a tale about two brothers that tried to use alchemy to bring their mother back to life, only to fail and lose part of their bodies in the process. These brothers then start a journey to recover what they lost when they gambled with human transformation, and for that, the older brother, Edward, join the military ranks of the State Alchemists.

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1. It has enhanced graphics
   Brotherhood is a superb show in this department. While the art style is the same as before and is of dubious liking with the large-maw characters, big-eyed kids and overuse of cartoonist smiles, the animation is top quality. The show presents many battles and scenes that make good use of animation and here you'll have no problem. Brotherhood is, in fact, the best job in animation for a 50-or-more-long series that I've seen and that can surely catch your attention. Perhaps the art style is a bit too childish, but as the episodes goes on you'll overcome that with no problem and see that it fit the show nicely, much like the original FMA.
   
   It also got some new shounen sound direction
   The original FMA established an epic parameter for sound track and sound direction, perhaps only failing with some noisy characters that yelled more than necessary. Brotherhood tries to reach that parameter. However, while the voice-acting is pretty much the same, the sound track was changed in style so it could better translate the new focus of the show. The merging endings are present to increasing the addictive value, the background music are good but not that lasting, sound effects never become an issue, but openings are not as good as the original FMA. At least two of the more pop-style music of the intros aren't consistent with the show, one even has some kind of south-american rythm mixed with arabic stuff that was completely bizarre. They're not bad, only lost in the middle of a shounen show like this.
   
   Same Story, Different Focus
   Brotherhood has the same basis overall. The main change in the plot is on the villain side, changing the secret and nearly absent villain for a more direct and common one while also throwing more fantastic elements to the story. The overall feel of Brotherhood is that the storyline is more childish, giving more importance to fights and over-the-top scenes than to character development and political intrigue like it was in the original FMA. We still have good amounts of comedy parts, maybe even more than before, making some very important story elements less serious in Brotherhood than in the old show. The tale and also be divided in three parts:
   
   Part 1: Rushed Initial Events
   Brotherhood starts rushing the story that is the same as the original FMA. A part that once had 30 episodes, and a very good pace, now has about 12 episodes and a terrible rushed pace. You'll see some awesome characters from before appearing only for one episode, many development arcs missing, etc. The focus of the narrative is clearly rushing things, as if in a urge to reach the different story parts. It's easy to understand that, the audience don't want to see the same show again, but the amount of great character development lost here is tremendous. A shame, because for the other two parts Brotherhood rarely tries to develop its characters.
   
   Part 2: Typical Shounen Sequence
   The second part is where things are new. You are presented to a new villain, the once immortal enemies are now nothing more than powerful foes that can be beaten by the main characters with some effort, the cast expands exponentially with the presentation of foreigners and chimeras and many other flashy characters, etc. The show grows bigger and finally gets interesting, making for a far better pace and delivering an awesome shounen experience, with thrilling fights and some revealed secrets.
   
   Part 3: Bones Convoluted Ending
   The third and last part is your typical bizarre ending. There is some passage of time to ready things for the ending, but then the pace goes downhill, becoming so slow to the point of taking 10 episodes to pass a single day. Characters vaporize for many episodes to coincidentally appear someplace else and save the day. Flashy entrances become overabundant. Etc. That's fine, every shounen show has this, but the last episodes try to bring mind-twisting stuff, throwing god into the fray in a Evangelion-like scene and delivering nothing truly good in the ending. A shame, but not unexpected. If people thought the alternative ending from the original FMA was not good, I think this kind of typical closure was what they were expecting.
   
   The cast change
   Much like the story, characters are only a shadow of what they were in the original FMA. The rushed start harms character development a lot and after that very few bits of story are separated to increase the cast quality. What happens in fact is that only the cast number goes up and never goes down. The death of three important characters that were simply major events of the original FMA turns to be one-episode short stories, and from then on, all characters that die are completely unimportant to the show. Those who have some importance or at least are "cool" enough, always return from the dead, be it from some magical miracle or for some stylish plan that faked their deaths. The cast is still charismatic, but now it's more in a shounen way then by their depth. You have many over-the-top scenes where the characters do awesome things to deliver some fan-service, but besides that you'll be watching something more akin to Saint Seiya, where the protagonist always struggle but always manage to surpass the problem by force/magical power/will; The support cast gains in number, but not a single new entry is truly magnificent, and every single one fails to develop from their starting points. From a more analytical point of view, this is the biggest flaw of the show, especially when comparing to what it has done back in 2003 with the original FMA.
   
   And we can blame the manga
   It's easy to identify a shounen show that is based on manga. It usually exaggerates in cast size because it's easy to create new characters in the paper to please fans. It also focus more on combats because they take more pages and usually require less work by the artist. When working with animes though, things are different. A numerous cast means the narrative needs a workaround to give enough screen time to everyone and you need convincing voice-acting so they're not complete dummies. Combats require a lot of animation time and usually use a big budget for a small amount of minutes. Brotherhood certainly succeeds in making it more like a manga-tale, a rare feat by all means. The combats are awesome, with top-notch animation, even the workaround for the additional characters is well done. The cost for such a good manga-inspired tale is the rushed initial part and the change of focus from the original FMA. Where you had a tale that focused on the struggle of two brothers in their journey amidst secret military plots, now you have your usual save-the-world stuff that you see in almost every shounen around there.
   
   The mood
   Brotherhood is certainly one of the best shounens out there. It has lots of action, thrilling combats, silly jokes, a cast with a character for every design-style, super-powers in form of alchemy, etc. But, as other shounens the show is clearly targeted at younger audiences. The original FMA had the silly jokes and some great fights, but it had more mystery, secrets, struggle, and other elements that made it pleasing to a more demanding audience. That's not what happens here. In many episodes (most, in fact) when things start to become sad, depressing, or simply serious, you can be ready for a stupid joke to break the atmosphere and remember that you're watching a kids show. A pity, but still a superb watch.
   

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Comments
FMA Brotherhood is to alchemy like Naruto is to ninjas. Alchemy here became more like super-powers disguised. The original FMA also had such a concept, but the references to equivalent trade, the limitations that many alchemists faced, etc, made it at least not so over-the-top. Now you have super-warriors that move in unbelievable speeds, villains that are extremely powerful simply because the author wanted, enemies can now be defeated by the protagonist or major characters but are simply unbeatable by any other way. They can burn to death when facing Mustang, but can't be bombed to death by an army of soldiers.

Important or "cool" characters, never die. The show fears losing characters like many others, perhaps to preserve them for future products or simply because the targeted audience is not old enough to endure and understand death. This type of thing really annoys me, especially when grouped with the absurdly rushed earlier parts and the lack of character development, making me create a love-hate link with Brotherhood.

I can recommend it to anyone. It's a great show by all means. But I can't watch it without comparing to the original FMA, and when doing so it's impossible for me not to notice how childish Brotherhood became and how many good and more mature elements were sacrificed to create an experience that could target a larger audience. I can understand their strategy. The audience that had 15-20 years back in 2003 was about 21-26 years in 2009 and most probably stopped watching animes because of work or other reasons, so they needed a show that could target those in their early tens to increase the audience. But it's sad to see that happening to one of your most cherished shows.