Nostalgia hits especially hard with this one. Sharper animation in comparison with the Brotherhood series always made the original feel more mature, edgier and also darker. And even toady, themes revolving around military state, power of propaganda and ethnic cleanse of the whole “othered” nation feels painfully relevant and brutal. The leitmotif of crime and punishment for people’s transgressions as well as the question of humanity and what it means to be human is embodied in the ubiquitous “Law of the Equivalent Exchange” that accompanies main characters till the very end of their journey. Most importantly, the series is a very touching depiction of brotherhood, family bonds and selfless love that moved me as a kid and It still does now. Even though the ending wasn’t as epic as the Brotherhood series and was rushed to the point that it had to be eventually tied up in a whole feature-length film, it doesn’t change the fact that the series had much better pacing overall. This made homunculi more complex and tragic beings, and their stories further emphasized other characters’ traumas.

Nostalgia hits especially hard with this one. Sharper animation in comparison with the Brotherhood series always made the original feel more mature, edgier and also darker. And even toady, themes revolving around military state, power of propaganda and ethnic cleanse of the whole “othered” nation feels painfully relevant and brutal. The leitmotif of crime and punishment for people’s transgressions as well as the question of humanity and what it means to be human is embodied in the ubiquitous “Law of the Equivalent Exchange” that accompanies main characters till the very end of their journey. Most importantly, the series is a very touching depiction of brotherhood, family bonds and selfless love that moved me as a kid and It still does now. Even though the ending wasn’t as epic as the Brotherhood series and was rushed to the point that it had to be eventually tied up in a whole feature-length film, it doesn’t change the fact that the series had much better pacing overall. This made homunculi more complex and tragic beings, and their stories further emphasized other characters’ traumas.

I’ll put in 4 stars for now, I’ll review fully after finishing brotherhood, I have high hopes for it if it will be worse than 2003 one I’ll change it to 5

I’ll put in 4 stars for now, I’ll review fully after finishing brotherhood, I have high hopes for it if it will be worse than 2003 one I’ll change it to 5

evrenin en iyisi

evrenin en iyisi

The style, pacing, storytelling, execution of this is all so well done. Old school anime will forever hold such a special place in my heart. Every frame of this show consumes me. It holds so much detail and most importantly, heart. Brotherhood is gonna have to do a lot to even come close to this.

The style, pacing, storytelling, execution of this is all so well done. Old school anime will forever hold such a special place in my heart. Every frame of this show consumes me. It holds so much detail and most importantly, heart. Brotherhood is gonna have to do a lot to even come close to this.

So this one is weird beyond the obvious deva ju. I think while it has some cool ideas it makes a few massive missteps for one the pacing feels totally off for the story as a whole. There is some stuff I like and I think the music is really good although I did notice an egregious reuse of the same 5 tracks as well as completely baffling placements. There was one bit that made me think it was by that fake deaf composer because it was just so off 🤣 The animation is another point of contention for me but not because it’s bad I thought it was really pretty in parts or at least I would if I could find any video that didn’t look like it was from 1999. Official sources and piracy it all looks incredibly compressed in that early 2000s/90s way. I think the lead up to the end is really well done but I think the way things conclude or leave off depending on the specific example is incredibly disappointing. I appreciate the time spent on characters and their relationships but I don’t feel like I got anything I didn’t get from the manga with the sole exception of Hughes. The way they handle the Homculi is super neat and I was invested (albeit after 20 or 30 episodes of indifference) but the stuff with the gate is just. Weird. One of the things I like best about the manga and brotherhood is that everything feels like it makes sense and everything is paid off. I think this is a swing and a miss, analyzing the show on its own merits is damn near impossible having seen the source material and successor. Update: I read a bunch of other reviews on here to see what people say and all I saw was people saying “it’s better” so I might be in the minority. Granted I didn’t see much reasoning behind it in the top reviews lol.

So this one is weird beyond the obvious deva ju. I think while it has some cool ideas it makes a few massive missteps for one the pacing feels totally off for the story as a whole. There is some stuff I like and I think the music is really good although I did notice an egregious reuse of the same 5 tracks as well as completely baffling placements. There was one bit that made me think it was by that fake deaf composer because it was just so off 🤣 The animation is another point of contention for me but not because it’s bad I thought it was really pretty in parts or at least I would if I could find any video that didn’t look like it was from 1999. Official sources and piracy it all looks incredibly compressed in that early 2000s/90s way. I think the lead up to the end is really well done but I think the way things conclude or leave off depending on the specific example is incredibly disappointing. I appreciate the time spent on characters and their relationships but I don’t feel like I got anything I didn’t get from the manga with the sole exception of Hughes. The way they handle the Homculi is super neat and I was invested (albeit after 20 or 30 episodes of indifference) but the stuff with the gate is just. Weird. One of the things I like best about the manga and brotherhood is that everything feels like it makes sense and everything is paid off. I think this is a swing and a miss, analyzing the show on its own merits is damn near impossible having seen the source material and successor. Update: I read a bunch of other reviews on here to see what people say and all I saw was people saying “it’s better” so I might be in the minority. Granted I didn’t see much reasoning behind it in the top reviews lol.