742 replies to this topic

[Fyuria'sLeo]

Lid told me about Golden Time

 

8.5/10

 

I wasnt prepared for this journey because Lid told me literally nothing about it.

Edited by Fyuria'sLeo, 08 May 2015 - 10:21 PM.

[Aizen-Sama]

That's good to hear. I heard some people don't want to start the original b/c it doesn't follow the manga, but I'll try not to let that influence my overall impression.

Haven't watched the original but I might someday. I heard Lust is less evil in that one.

[CloudMountainJuror]

That's good to hear. I heard some people don't want to start the original b/c it doesn't follow the manga, but I'll try not to let that influence my overall impression.

 

FMA 2003 is one of the very few anime to handle its manga divergence extremely well, to the point where it forms its own themes and tone (and characters, in many cases) completely separate from its source material. Some plot points are similar (and you'll definitely notice the recurring ones early on, having seen Brotherhood), but the intent behind a lot of them is altered and the story builds in a completely different direction by the end.

 

Even when similar plot points are happening, there are a lot of minor differences in the background setting up for what happens later in the show. It doesn't follow the manga exactly up to a certain point, and then suddenly get different. It sprinkles the differences in all throughout before it ever even reaches its "solid" divergence point. Definitely leave the manga/Brotherhood at the door; the experience will be a lot less confusing, and a lot more enjoyable.

Haven't watched the original but I might someday. I heard Lust is less evil in that one.

 

Lust ends up being of the most developed characters in general in the original series, funnily enough.

Edited by CloudMountainJuror, 08 May 2015 - 11:37 PM.

[trang95]

 

FMA 2003 is one of the very few anime to handle its manga divergence extremely well, to the point where it forms its own themes and tone completely separate from its source material. Some plot points are similar (and you'll definitely notice the recurring ones early on, having seen Brotherhood), but the intent behind a lot of them is altered and the story builds in a completely different direction by the end. Definitely leave the manga/Brotherhood at the door; the experience will be a lot less confusing, and a lot more enjoyable.

 

Lust ends up being of the most developed characters in general in the original series, funnily enough.

Thanks for letting me know that beforehand ^_^ Do you happen to know if Hiromu Arakawa took part in the development of the original series?

Edited by trang95, 08 May 2015 - 11:25 PM.

[CloudMountainJuror]

Thanks for letting me know that beforehand ^_^ Do you happen to know if Hiromu Arakawa took part in the development of the original series?

 

I'm not sure if she did. On one hand it wouldn't surprise me if she did, considering how well thought-out it is, but on the other hand it's so tonally different in comparison to the manga that I have trouble seeing her contributing much to the production.

[trang95]

 

I'm not sure if she did. On one hand it wouldn't surprise me if she did, considering how well thought-out it is, but on the other hand it's so tonally different in comparison to the manga that I have trouble seeing her contributing much to the production.

I see. I've seldomly seen an anime that is still good when it diverges from it's original source completely (Akame ga Kill- the horror). Oh, that reminds me! Brotherhood has a movie so I'll watch that soon.

[CloudMountainJuror]

I see. I've seldomly seen an anime that is still good when it diverges from it's original source completely (Akame ga Kill- the horror). Oh, that reminds me! Brotherhood has a movie so I'll watch that soon.

 

Same. Both Soul Eater and Blue Exorcist diverged from their manga counterparts, and they were both underwhelming in the end. But that's partly why the original FMA is so special. It pulled it off.

 

Sacred Star of Milos is worth a watch, at the very least for the interesting world-building it does.

[Aizen-Sama]

I like Yugioh but it really is a lame show. Rewatched all 200+ episodes and it is terrible. The filler arc with the grand championships is the absolute worst. I give the show a 4/10.
Bakura is the only decent villain in the series. Was also disappointed that Mai & Joey and Yugi & Tea never hooked up. Kaiba's hilarious but dramatic cheesy voice-acting over a card game isn't enough to save this show.

[Fyuria'sLeo]

I like Yugioh but it really is a lame show. Rewatched all 200+ episodes and it is terrible. The filler arc with the grand championships is the absolute worst. I give the show a 4/10.
Bakura is the only decent villain in the series. Was also disappointed that Mai & Joey and Yugi & Tea never hooked up. Kaiba's hilarious but dramatic cheesy voice-acting over a card game isn't enough to save this show.

 

Yugi and Tea...the feels killed me.

 

Also if you ever watch another Yu Gi Oh I, 5D's is pretty solid.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

 

FMA 2003 is one of the very few anime to handle its manga divergence extremely well, to the point where it forms its own themes and tone (and characters, in many cases) completely separate from its source material. Some plot points are similar (and you'll definitely notice the recurring ones early on, having seen Brotherhood), but the intent behind a lot of them is altered and the story builds in a completely different direction by the end.

 

Even when similar plot points are happening, there are a lot of minor differences in the background setting up for what happens later in the show. It doesn't follow the manga exactly up to a certain point, and then suddenly get different. It sprinkles the differences in all throughout before it ever even reaches its "solid" divergence point. Definitely leave the manga/Brotherhood at the door; the experience will be a lot less confusing, and a lot more enjoyable.

 

Lust ends up being of the most developed characters in general in the original series, funnily enough.

 

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.

[CloudMountainJuror]

 

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.

 

The post is spoiler-free, just putting it in spoiler tags so it doesn't eat up space

I’ve often wondered why FMA 03 isn’t considered one of the great/classic anime out there anymore. It’s definitely not because anime viewers aren’t interested in mature material. FMA 03 was adored by critics on its initial release, and series like Cowboy Bebop and Monster remain widely praised and loved to this day. Anime fans dig mature material, as well as the more straight-forward/fun material.

 

So, why then has FMA 03 been so widely dismissed after FMAB’s release? There’s only one reason I can think of: it’s because it’s chained to a franchise whose dominant fanbase couldn’t care less about it. I feel like FMA 03 is shackled by being a part of the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.

 

So many people prefer the storyline of FMAB (likely due to it mostly following the manga) to what FMA 03 has to offer that FMA 03 is completely overshadowed by its mere association with FMAB. This trend only continues to grow as more FMA newcomers are directed straight to FMAB by the FMAB-dominated fanbase while said fanbase promptly dismisses FMA 03 as “that adaptation that didn’t follow the manga”, drastically oversimplifying the situation and potentially robbing people who might enjoy the vastly different tale FMA 03 has to offer of the chance to do so.

 

Instead of being classified as an entirely different series (like it deserves to be, in all honesty, as it differs from FMAB and the manga in almost every significant way), FMA 03 remains an entry in the FMA franchise only to be swept under the rug, gathering dust. It really saddens me to see it so widely disregarded and/or blatantly ignored. It deserves so much better, especially when equal or lesser shows are in turn being given more of a spotlight (simply because they aren’t weighed down by an apathetic fanbase and association with FMAB; no, that’s solely FMA 03’s burden to bear).

 

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.

Edited by CloudMountainJuror, 10 May 2015 - 12:02 AM.

[trang95]

 
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.
 

The post is spoiler-free, just putting it in spoiler tags so it doesn't eat up space

Ive often wondered why FMA 03 isnt considered one of the great/classic anime out there anymore. Its definitely not because anime viewers arent interested in mature material. FMA 03 was adored by critics on its initial release, and series like Cowboy Bebop and Monster remain widely praised and loved to this day. Anime fans dig mature material, as well as the more straight-forward/fun material.
 
So, why then has FMA 03 been so widely dismissed after FMABs release? Theres only one reason I can think of: its because its chained to a franchise whose dominant fanbase couldnt care less about it. I feel like FMA 03 is shackled by being a part of the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.
 
So many people prefer the storyline of FMAB (likely due to it mostly following the manga) to what FMA 03 has to offer that FMA 03 is completely overshadowed by its mere association with FMAB. This trend only continues to grow as more FMA newcomers are directed straight to FMAB by the FMAB-dominated fanbase while said fanbase promptly dismisses FMA 03 as that adaptation that didnt follow the manga, drastically oversimplifying the situation and potentially robbing people who might enjoy the vastly different tale FMA 03 has to offer of the chance to do so.
 
Instead of being classified as an entirely different series (like it deserves to be, in all honesty, as it differs from FMAB and the manga in almost every significant way), FMA 03 remains an entry in the FMA franchise only to be swept under the rug, gathering dust. It really saddens me to see it so widely disregarded and/or blatantly ignored. It deserves so much better, especially when equal or lesser shows are in turn being given more of a spotlight (simply because they arent weighed down by an apathetic fanbase and association with FMAB; no, thats solely FMA 03s burden to bear).

 
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.

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!)

Edited by trang95, 10 May 2015 - 12:47 AM.

[Aizen-Sama]

 
Yugi and Tea...the feels killed me.
 
Also if you ever watch another Yu Gi Oh I, 5D's is pretty solid.

I did like the Yugioh movie, I remember watching it in theaters. XD But overall the series is actually painfully lame, a bunch of guys shouting over a card game and treating holograms as real things. I remember wanting to skip to the final arc where they actually start talking about ancient Egypt and the spirits instead of the stupid game. If the story had focused more on the characters, Egyptian history and immortality & death themes it would've been a far better show.

[CloudMountainJuror]

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.

Edited by CloudMountainJuror, 10 May 2015 - 03:48 AM.

[Aizen-Sama]

 
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 actually like how Brotherhood starts off right in the thick of things, I don't need an anime encylopedia to explain the basics of fictional alchemy. I hate manga like that, if I wanted to read a manual about made-up things I'd buy the profile books or something. Nardo sucked in that way by always explaining the crappy chakra systems Kishi made up instead of focusing on the story and on less trivial things.

[CloudMountainJuror]

I actually like how Brotherhood starts off right in the thick of things, I don't need an anime encylopedia to explain the basics of fictional alchemy. I hate manga like that, if I wanted to read a manual about made-up things I'd buy the profile books or something. Nardo sucked in that way by always explaining the crappy chakra systems Kishi made up instead of focusing on the story and on less trivial things.

 

It doesn't need to be an anime encyclopedia, it just needs to competently tell a story. FMAB's single biggest weakness is how it didn't bother doing that at the start, just shoving all the characters on-screen without properly introducing them, instead reducing most of them to simple gimmicks.

 

Now, FMA 2003 wasn't an alchemy textbook, if that's what you're implying. It just introduced the concept in general a lot more naturally.

 

Also, whether you like it or not, a story's universe needs to make sense. If it doesn't make sense, it has nothing to stand on. For Naruto, there needed to be that bit of chakra explanation to ground the tons of things that were going on. Otherwise, it would just end up a nonsensical mess any time a fight started happening, and because of the lack of coherency, a lot of the battles early on would have just been all style and no substance. Hell, Shikamaru vs. Temari was one of the best battles of the Chuunin Exams because of its fleshed out strategy. If there was no explanation behind how Shikamaru's shadows worked, there would have been no tension or excitement. It would have just been mindless.

Edited by CloudMountainJuror, 10 May 2015 - 09:25 AM.

[Aizen-Sama]

 
It doesn't need to be an anime encyclopedia, it just needs to competently tell a story. FMAB's single biggest weakness is how it didn't bother doing that at the start, instead just lazily shoving all the characters on-screen without properly introducing them, instead reducing most of them to simple gimmicks.

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 Lust was killed off so early but it just means that the author knows how to kill off villains and keep them dead.

[CloudMountainJuror]

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.

Edited by CloudMountainJuror, 13 May 2015 - 05:20 AM.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

 

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.

 

The post is spoiler-free, just putting it in spoiler tags so it doesn't eat up space

I’ve often wondered why FMA 03 isn’t considered one of the great/classic anime out there anymore. It’s definitely not because anime viewers aren’t interested in mature material. FMA 03 was adored by critics on its initial release, and series like Cowboy Bebop and Monster remain widely praised and loved to this day. Anime fans dig mature material, as well as the more straight-forward/fun material.

 

So, why then has FMA 03 been so widely dismissed after FMAB’s release? There’s only one reason I can think of: it’s because it’s chained to a franchise whose dominant fanbase couldn’t care less about it. I feel like FMA 03 is shackled by being a part of the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise.

 

So many people prefer the storyline of FMAB (likely due to it mostly following the manga) to what FMA 03 has to offer that FMA 03 is completely overshadowed by its mere association with FMAB. This trend only continues to grow as more FMA newcomers are directed straight to FMAB by the FMAB-dominated fanbase while said fanbase promptly dismisses FMA 03 as “that adaptation that didn’t follow the manga”, drastically oversimplifying the situation and potentially robbing people who might enjoy the vastly different tale FMA 03 has to offer of the chance to do so.

 

Instead of being classified as an entirely different series (like it deserves to be, in all honesty, as it differs from FMAB and the manga in almost every significant way), FMA 03 remains an entry in the FMA franchise only to be swept under the rug, gathering dust. It really saddens me to see it so widely disregarded and/or blatantly ignored. It deserves so much better, especially when equal or lesser shows are in turn being given more of a spotlight (simply because they aren’t weighed down by an apathetic fanbase and association with FMAB; no, that’s solely FMA 03’s burden to bear).

 

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.

 

I'm sold. I was planning to watch FMA:B again soon, but I'm going to go ahead and watch the first series before I do that.

[trang95]

Wolf Children- 9.5/10

This movie is such an emotional ride, I'm done right now:

EDIT: Btw, the movie was directed by Mamoru Hosoda, one of Japan's most talented Japanese anime film directors in my eyes. He also directed the movies The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2007) and Summer Wars (2009), both of which got awards (similar to the Oscar in the US). He also directed the first Digimon Adventure Movies.

Edited by trang95, 13 May 2015 - 01:12 AM.