FMA: Brotherhood

[lunasspecto]

Since you folks are the only anime enthusiasts I have any contact with, I thought I'd ask a question - is the new Fullmetal Alchemist (called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood here in the States) worth watching if I've already seen the first series? The new series is on YouTube (officially sponsored by Funimation) in both dubbed and subtitled formats, and I guess what I really want to know is this: now that I've finally finished watching the first series, should I watch Conquerer of Shamballa or the new series first? Should I watch the new series at all?

[LVUER]

Hey, really? There is an "official" FMA in YouTube? And sub too? May I know the username in YouTube?

[Midnighticequeen]

Hmmm.... I think I watched the Conquerer of Shamballa but I can't remember. I did watch the FMA:Brotherhood though, the first couple of episodes is close to the first but after that it expands into this whole other story entirely. The newer version changes a lot of things, adds new characters, a new form of alchemy among other things. I think the brotherhood is way better than the first one, but that's just my opinion.

[Wintermoon]

I haven't watched Brotherhood yet. However, Conqueror is the sequel to the original series, not to Brotherhood. If you are planning on watching Conqueror at all, do it before you watch Brotherhood.

[Red Lilies]

I've watched both, as well as the movie and personally, I though both were great in their own ways. The movie really ties up the first series nicely, so if you just finished the first series I suggest you watch the movie. Then you should check out the new series as well, it diverges quite rapidly after the first few episodes. Awesome new characters not seen in the first season as well as great character development with the old characters. You should definitely check it out.

[sake-bento]

Hey, really? There is an "official" FMA in YouTube? And sub too? May I know the username in YouTube?

It's hosted by FUNimation, but since the company only has the right to distribute in the U.S. I think the episodes are blocked to other countries.

[Deji]

The original FMA series follows the original manga story until around ep 20.

the time of Hughes' death, if I remember correctly

Then it starts diverging, though they kept the part of

Izumi and Greed

pretty much the same with minor variations on the first half, but then it becomes something of it's own that has nothing to do with the manga at all.
Namely:

Dante, homunculus being made from previously existing humans, Trisha Elric as Sloth, Izumi's kid being Wrath, Al becoming the philosopher's stone in the end, the city under Central, Envy being Van Hohenheim's son, the gate connecting to other worlds, Rose showing up again with a baby from being raped during war, and in general Edward being a broken/emo kid.

The new series tells you very quickly the same things that happened on those first 20 eps. at a quicker pace without the extra random fillers, and then it follows the manga story (also at a very quick pace), with new characters and all.
Even though the new series tell you the story of the manga, they do omit parts of it. It even omits parts that were covered in the original series.

The manga is still going on ( chapter 103 was the last one, it comes out once a month) and nearing its end, btw.
People are speculating the series and the manga will both end around the same time.

~~~~
Imo, Conqueror of Shamballa is a bad movie.
I watched it when it came out when I was very into FMA and I really disliked it >>; But everybody is entitled to their own opinion, so you may like it if you watch it.
Again, it has absolutely nothing to do with the manga/ the new series

[Vorsic]

Funimation has even more free anime on their website.

[KimiYoriBaka]

It's not just called brotherhood in the states, that's the actually name. If you do watch it, don't take the first episode seriously. They just wanted to start off with something new and exciting.

Ideally, you'd want to read the manga version for a ways in first.

[lunasspecto]

W

It's not just called brotherhood in the states, that's the actually name.

According to Wikipedia, it's Japanese title is exactly the same as the title of the first series. I swear they actually want to confuse us.

Well, I'm watching the new series now, and I'm also renting a copy of Shamballa when I can. But I'm not sure I'm up for tracking down or buying all 24 volumes of the manga.

Thanks for chiming in, all.