Fullmetal Alchemist for the medium is almost a miracle, and I don't mean just the manga or any of the adaptations it has had, but the entire property itself. It is true that most of the credit has to go to its author, but also considering the worthy adaptations it had, although the first one separated from the original story, it achieved its own identity. That a manga is good is not a guarantee that its adaptation will transfer everything to animation as it should, and in the case of Fullmetal Alchemist I must say that its adaptations have been worthy of its original work.
The manga is one of the best sellers in history and since its launch it has always been recognized as one of the best. Its publication began in 2001 and ended in 2010. But the first adaptation as such was in 2003, and with the little that the manga came, it was even normal for it to follow its own course. Anyway, the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime was widely recognized and became popular, and in fact today there are people who prefer the 2003 version to Brotherhood.
I must say that the merit of this version must be given, because even departing from the story of the original work, it managed to develop an interesting narrative when they only had a few bases on which to build, and although it has a quick and incoherent ending it is still remarkable as series. For years and years this version remained one of the best anime, until Brotherhood arrived of course, and again it was in charge of the Bones studio, and its intention this time was to adapt the original work as faithfully as possible.
The characters in Fullmetal Alchemist have a pretty clear goal, and this infers that the story has a beginning and an end. I say this because in the genre the objectives are not usually so evident, and they tend to show villains who are dedicated to appearing in the arches, and of course the typical objective of being the best in the world, those are archetypes of the genre, and FMA separates of that cliche, something that I quite liked to tell the truth. Here the characters have very different objectives and they have them quite clear, and they are the reason they fight: the Elric brothers are in search of their bodies, Mustang wants to be Fuhrer to change the country, Mei and Ling look for The Philosopher's Stone to ensure the survival of his clans in the fight for the succession of Xing, Van Hohenheim will defeat the Father and wants to obtain the power of God, and the same principle applies to a lesser extent for the secondary ones.
However, this does not mean that they always have the same objective, obviously they have a development and an evolution. Along the way there are a series of obstacles to overcome in order to advance. For example, taking a very general overview of the Elric brothers' journey: Find the Philosopher's Stone, free Lior, capture Scar, find Mei, investigate, and escape the homunculi to defeat the Father.
Having a clear objective facilitates a consistent and solid characterization, and that is precisely why there is no character that is useless and finished in the plot. Because everyone has their own paths, they separate and intersect in a very consistent and natural way.
And this makes her world in this story really feel like this, a world. It is not just a physical environment that is there, it is actually inhabited.
Because although the protagonists are the Elric brothers, the whole story does not revolve entirely around them. In fact, the more it advances its narrative lines expand, making the montage go from one point of view to another showing the progress of each one, strengthening the notion of the living world.
It is no secret to anyone that in this genre female representation always tends to be secondary and therefore is not the most appropriate. Of course there are notable female characters in the genre, but the good thing is that in Fullmetal Alchemist it happens on several occasions, it has very good female characters.
Obviously this is also the merit of the author of the manga, because the Shonen genre is historically macho and it was considered that a woman would not know how to tell these types of stories, until this manga arrived, quite ironic. Major Armstrong is a leader of her troops, she is unfazed by anything and the show does not brag about it. This same characterization applies to Izumi, Lust, or even Dante, the antagonist from the 2003 version.
Riza Hawkeye is protected by Mustang but does not patronize her, before he needs her from her and treats her as his, hers her most valuable soldier. She participates in every military action devised by him, she is very skilled in handling weapons, she never gives up. You can't think of Mustang as someone who triumphs alone, but rather as a cooperative effort.
As such the only one who is treated as "princess" is Winry. The comparison occurs because she tries to be protected by Edward and she claims that she wants to actively participate in the fight so as not to be a hindrance. Her character goes from being just a support to being the key factor in several crucial moments
Goku does not win because he is smarter than the rival, he triumphs solely because he is stronger. The same applies to most shonens: BNHA, Naruto (particularizing the case of the protagonist), Bleach, Nanatsu etc. In FMA: B all humans are on an equal footing, if he is an alchemist he can specialize in one area or another, but in theory, any alchemist can imitate him. If he is a military man, he uses only his strength or handling with weapons, that is training, not special skills.
While the homunculi are more powerful in brute force and special abilities, yet they are all defeated without the need to acquire more power. The defeat of Envy and Lust is due to the persistence of Mustang, laziness also reduces him based on perseverance on the part of the Armstrong, Gluttony betray him just like Greed. In fact the only "OP" character is Father.
And from here we go to the theme of this anime, a treatise on the value of sacrifice. In terms of the same work, it is the so-called equivalent exchange: “Man cannot obtain anything without first giving something in exchange. To create, something of equal value must be given in return ”.
All characters sacrifice something in exchange for their goals, and each is usually a prismatic representation of the idea. And even if the sacrifice has not worked, it still has its consequences, as in the case of the protagonists, this means that each action has its consequences, a subject that I liked a lot.
Especially death, which is narratively speaking the "maximum consequence" maintains its sacred status, this is one of the main differences with Alchemist of 2003 and the average shonen, where if a character dies, he can usually be resurrected or there is some artifact that facilitates it. In Brotherhood this does NOT happen, instead it is one of the great lessons of the work, death is irremediable, ensuring that it does not lose weight.
The work also raises ideas around God, truth and humanity. All through their enemies the homunculi, who also must be highlighted as one of the best groups of villains. They all maintain a coherence with the story and its world, they are fatal and frightening, they have arcs of development and thematic treatise.
I have already named him several times without going into his physical appearance. Amestris looks like a giant place, having a cold north, a desert east, a temperate west, and a tropical south. This is reinforced by the fact that their cities do not maintain constant equality, they have all been built according to the environment that has surrounded them.
You can see how religious the city of Lior is because its square is dominated by a church, the implacable north in the mighty wall of Briggs, the irresponsibility of not controlling alchemy in the destroyed Xerxes, the very mechanical city of Rush Valley, the mysterious land of Xing, the controlled formation of the capital betraying Father's planning.
All the elements contribute to the thematic vision of the work, and of equal importance is knowing when to keep quiet. Star wars interested even the midichlorians, if there had been a profound treatise on how alchemy works, it would surely have been contradicted at some point. Instead it concentrates its most important bases in a few rules.
Achieving the last rivet in the world's coherence work. The norms that do not contradict each other and do not exist as small and individual, together form a coherent treatise: "All is one, one is all."
The animation studio is Bones, one of the most recognized in terms of dedication to action scenes. His work on the first adaptation has been praised by those responsible, especially the remembered work of Yutaka Nakamura who achieved such an impressive and effective staging that it was difficult to overcome (the battle of greed against Ed).
Brotherhood is on the same level as there are well-directed and animated battles such as the Greed vs. Wrath fight, the Lust defeat, The Envy capture or the final battle against Father. Among the talented members we have Hironori Tanaka or Yosmichi Kameda.
If the following statement sounds so typical it is because most of us perceive it that way and it holds a bit of truth: If we compare the beginning of both works, the beginning of Fullmetal Alchemist from 2003 is better. More time to the characters, the denser introduction benefits future plots.
We notice this in the story of Nina, the murder of Hughes or the fall of Lior. They are very interesting and emotionally strong plots that do not affect Brotherhood so significantly, ruining such a valuable opportunity. In my case, this flaw prevents me from qualifying it as a masterpiece, but it stays on the edge.
For these reasons Fullmetal Alchemist is unique within the genre. The planning of his mangaka, a more human look at his characters, a world as complex as it is fascinating, which every little element contributes, a coarse and explored thematic treatise, etc. I prefer Brotherhood for all the differences that I have emphasized but I insist that both versions are well above the average of the genre, they have left their mark and their legacy is irreproachable.