CloudMountainJuror

I just have a small question regarding the ending that's kind of bugging me.

 

Warning for those currently reading the manga: MAJOR spoilers.

 

Spoiler

So, I have heard a couple of times that Oz should have been excluded from the reincarnation cycle because he is a Chain and I'm wondering if this is a possible plot hole or not. The only thing I can find relating to this is in Retrace 74:

 

 

Just something I was curious about, if anyone can help clear this up that would be great.

 

And on a side note:

 

Spoiler

About Alice memories, it looks like this is where she remembers everything?

 

Retrace 76:

 

She is then shown everything that happened during the Tragedy of Sablier and in Retrace 77:

 

 

Anyway, there's that. I'd forgotten about this scene until very recently and it appears to clear up everything regarding how Alice got her memories back.

Just watched FMA: Conquerer of Shamballa. It sucks major ass. I give it a 3/10. The only good part was at the end when Scar and Lust were sitting next to eachother in a truck lol.

While the movie's not really the best, there are some definite good things about it.

Also, did you finish 2003 before watching Shamballa? That's kinda really important. 2003 stands on its own without Shamballa, but Shamballa doesn't work at all without 2003 before it. Shamballa was made as a direct sequel, after all.

Archer continues to be best character. He's now even better than he was before.

Well I didn't watch the entirety of the original series yet but I think Brotherhood's doing just fine introducing and developing the characters. I didn't need any pretext to understand the story or anything. I'm only disappointed that [omitted].

Brotherhood does a fine job of introducing other characters outside the first episode, mostly. It's just the first episode cramming Ed's, Al's, Mustang's, Hughes's, Armstrong's, Kimblee's, Bradley's, and maybe even more people's introductions into it. They could have been handled infinitely better, established a lot more respectfully.

You might want to spoiler tag that part about Lust. Though, on that topic, that part's one of the most epic scenes in the show. Love that scene.

People just need to be more open and take a risk. I honestly am open to almost- almost- anything. The only genre I struggle with is Mecha tbh.
An anime adaptation that diverges from the manga a lot (but not completely) is Cardcaptor Sakura. I saw the anime first, so I was totally surprised to see that the manga was different. In the end, I ended up loving both! But the differences b/w the anime and manga of Cardcaptor Sakura were on a smaller scale than compared to the FMA (2003) and the manga.
In a way, I wonder if I should have watched FMA (2003) first b/c you know... the animation is not as good as in FMAB. - Same happened to me with Fate/Stay Night. I watched Fate/Zero first, and then the Studio Deen version (the animation- the horror!)

FMA 2003 is a better starting point than FMAB definitely, though not only because of the animation. It's a much better introduction to the central cast and concept of alchemy in general, even with the drastic differences between the two versions. FMAB just throws you in the thick of it and doesn't bother much with character introduction or world-building early on; it kinda assumes the audience is already familiar with FMA going in. FMA 2003, on the other hand, builds everything from the ground up. In that way, bizarrely, it's more loyal to the manga than FMAB is.

That being said, the animation for FMA 2003 isn't bad at all, really. It's not as flashy as FMAB's, but FMA 2003 isn't an action-driven show like FMAB is, so the gritter, more realistic animation/art style better fits the tone of the series. And when they do have significant action scenes, it's still animated well. Just don't expect any bouncing-off-the-walls action, is all; the fights in FMA 2003 are generally a lot more grounded.

 

I'm very leery about anime that divert from the manga because I generally end up finding it a disappointing experience, but you're making me want to give this one a try.

Trust me, it's totally worth your time. I fully understand your hesitation, but this one is really, truly worth it. It isn't like the others.

It does sadden me that FMA 2003 is so often overlooked now simply because of the fact that it diverges from the manga. I wrote up something a semi-recently on this; I'll just paste it here, as I don't think I can better express it now than I did then.

If it wasn't obvious by now, I absolutely adore FMA 2003. It was the first anime I saw that really opened me up to the medium (around...god, I think it was about 8 years ago now) and made me realize it could do amazing things, beyond just simple action. And it's only gotten better over time. Every time I watch it again, I pick up something I didn't notice the last time around that makes me appreciate it more. I love the show to death.

Also, it's important to note that I'm disregarding the movie sequel to FMA 2003; I'm only talking about the core 51-episode series itself. Very important to note that.

Pls, everyone knows HF is the Kirei route

 

Main reason I'm looking forward to the HF movie(s) right here.

i suggest you go for both! the anime music is pretty but the manga art is way better.

The manga should take heavy priority, though. Because reasons. Reasons of the mind-shattering sort.

Seems like we're getting quite a bit of new blood. This is good. This is very good. 

Speaking of the ending, I just realized I never posted my thoughts on it. Correcting that mistake immediately.

I've just read the first two chapters. I honestly have no idea what is going on right now, but I shall continue reading it to see why its fanbase adores this manga so much ^_^

Don't worry, the first two chapters (chapter 2 specifically) are purposefully intended to get you asking "wait, what?". Part of the mystery is finding out what really happened there, and the context behind it. Everything comes together.

Pandora Hearts absolutely 100% needs a reboot, especially now that the manga's complete. A proper adaptation to showcase how amazing it really is. A reboot would also help give it some more much needed exposure. The story's a masterpiece, and it deserves all the recognition it can get.

I can't believe this. Kishimoto is actually taking his franchise down with him. This is fantastic.

Seriously, he's trolling enough to get the point across, while doing it just under-the-radar enough for them to allow him to publish it.

Sword of the Stranger.

That is all.

I kittenING LOVE MY SIG

Saber in suit on motorcycle 10/10