Latenight downpour

So first of all, while it’s true that brotherhood genuinely does a terrible job of adapting the manga’s early chapters (I give a lot of shit to the manga but imo one of its strongest elements is its pacing and slow trickle of flashback and information over time), I dont think that 03 is a good substitute. Why? Because from episode 1, it makes choices that don’t just diverge or do tangents (or “filler”) compared to the manga, but that DRASTICALLY reframe the characters and tone in ways that are simply incongruous with any version of the manga. Put simply, it is not possible to follow Ed and Al and Scar and co in 03 for a few episodes and then switch to Brotherhood’s version of them without noticing vast differences in their presentation and arcs.

And this is the case from the very first minute of 03, in which ed and al are about to do human transmutation! In the manga, that choice is framed as a decision the brothers make together enthusiastically and naively, trying to bring their mom back and unaware of the horrors they’re about to stumble onto. By contrast, the very first few lines of Ed and Al in 03 are ed reassuring a deeply concerned Al that this is the right choice and nothing bad is going to happen. The Elrics’s choice in the manga and brotherhood is a childish stumbling into the eldritch, which kickstarts their arc of self-knowledge/understanding. The Elrics’ choice in 03 is directly an act of hubris and wrongness, a genuine sin that haunts them from beginning to end and is framed (not just in this moment but in near all other flashbacks) as Ed wanting to spitefully prove he is better than his dad, while Al worries but follows him and fails to stop him or stand up to his brother. Their act has far more reaching consequences than it does in the manga/brotherhood too; it isn’t the catalyst for growth or maturity, it is a visceral trauma they struggle to cope with and that will never truly be fixed. Likewise, Scar’s first appearance in 03 isn’t his intimidating killing of Tucker and Nina; he first appears as a traumatized and troubled man searching for the meaning of his brother’s sacrifice, looking more vulnerable than he ever does in the source material. His arc takes a completely different path, but his framing is also different. This early choice means that even when scar eventually does attack the Elrics, he is already a lot more sympathetic: we see him think and understand in real time what his arm is and why he wishes to use it to put an end to state alchemists. His relationship to the Elrics differs significantly as well (again without going into spoiler territory), with the show directly and verbally reinforcing the parallels between the protagonists and Scar and his brother, and Al finding a lot more kinship with Scar than he ever does in the source material.

I’m using these early examples, to kinda show why then switching to brotherhood doesn’t work. It is very hard to follow the Elrics and Scar in early 03 and then switch to brotherhood and still have a coherent arc. For one the events differ significantly! But also I can imagine the sheer confusion of someone when suddenly, the Elrics find no real affinity to Scar, when Ed finds out the human transmutation created nothing but a shell, and hell, even in the switch between how emotional and traumatized Ed is in 2003 versus the much more self-assured version of Ed in mangahood (who I know has his own insecurities, but frankly the difference is night and day). I’ve mentioned it in another post, but to put it bluntly, while manga/brotherhood Ed is meant to be a fun shounen protagonist the audience grows with and enjoys seeing him maturing, 03 Ed is not that. He is from beginning to end a deeply flawed protagonist, the narrative pointing out the blind spots in his vision constantly. 03 Ed’s growth is not a straight curve up: he regresses, he stalls, he sometimes purposefully and stubbornly refuses to face realities staring him in the face, he makes choices that infuriate the audience and other characters not because he is a genius but because at heart, 03 portrays him as a traumatized child soldier who wants to believe in the same kind of upward learning curve and universal justice the manga believes in, but who is proven wrong at every turn before he finally has to swallow painful truths. He is deliberately not a shounen protagonist, because fma 03 is not actually a shounen.

I do not mean this as a disparagement to shounen or to gloat HES NOT BC SHOUNENS ARE BAD, I mean that fma 03 genuinely does not fit the narrative structure and genre conventions of shounen. There is far less action than in brotherhood (in part, let’s be honest, because the creators had very little budget): the fight scenes tend to be sparser and much faster and end in subterfuge or a quick, brutal end. There is a lot of talking, a lot of politicking and worldbuilding---but not in the same epic way as mangahood, a sprawling and exciting tale and unravelling conspiracy. Fma 03 is not interested in making this a world saving epic, quite the contrary. It’s a deeply personal tale about a cast of people whose main goal is not saving the world but learning to accept loss. That’s the core of 03. It isn’t about saving the world from Father or God, it isn’t about unravelling the main conspiracy (there is a conspiracy but it is very different in nature, more personal and banally evil, with a very different take on who is at the end responsible for the atrocities committed by and for Amestris)—it’s about learning the nature of the world and how small our part in it is, and yet how crucial it is to accomplish said part. There is no big masterful showdown to save the planet: all the showdowns are personal, bittersweet, deal with the structures of this world that the Elrics cannot just punch in the face.

Ok, you’re gonna say. So fma 03 is not an adaptation of the manga. It is unfaithful to it and doing its own thing. But I like the manga’s story, I love it! Why would I watch a story that takes the characters and ideas I like but does something entirely different with them that is incongruous with what I like about fma? Why didn’t the creators make their own original story instead of twisting Arakawa’s plot and characters?

Well first of all, 03 IS an adaptation of the manga—in the same way Annihilation is an adaptation of the Southern Reach first book. 03 doesn’t ignore the manga, quite the contrary. In many ways it’s a reimagining of what the creators of the show thought was most interesting in the manga that Arakawa chose not to do much with. It does adapt some crucial moments. It recognizes Arakawa IS good at creating really powerful moments and images (Nina as a chimera, Ed digging up his mother’s grave, and more). But 03 chooses to recontextualize those in the context of its own themes and interests. The creators for example zero in on human transmutation and its meaning and consequences far more than Arakawa does; it is far more critical of the military structure at the hear of Amestris and, crucially, the everyday people who are a part of it and the results of their casual and thoughtless participation in fascist policies and dehumanization of those deemed “other” (including Ed himself!). It also focuses a lot more on grief and how it unites people and tears them apart; how people are willing to delude themselves and cause so much harm in pursuit of a person, a value, anything that they idealize and wish to have (again) even when that idealized thing is gone or never even existed. These aren’t things that didn’t exist in the base manga! 03 just chooses to focus on them far more sharply and critically. Often, it answers some of the manga’s ideas directly with refutation or nuance. So 03 is absolutely an adaptation, a transformative work that uses the bases Arakawa planted and takes them to their extreme logical conclusion. I think at the very least it might be interesting for you as a manga/brotherhood enjoyer to meet it where it’s at in that respect: not to see its changes as being “unfaithful” but as being their own creative take that’s worth exploring on its own.

FMA 03 to me, personally, is also just an excellent anime in its own right: it feels tonally and thematically unique even among other animes of the time, and it was recognized as such by people who’d never read the manga! Its exploration of military as a completely corrupt power structure that cannot be saved feels more relevant than ever, and so does its musings on grief and identity. It is a mature and thoughtful work, with such a strong clarity of vision that’s worth checking, despite being marred by terrible production and some stupid choices (including a transmisogynistic serial killer episode 8 that is genuinely sour and awful, and a later “joke episode” that likewise features some transmisogynistic tropes and should be skipped entirely).

Alright, you say, warily and squinting your eyes. But I thought it first adapted the manga, and then went bad in the second half, when they stopped being able to adapt the manga? Well, yes and no. The first half has some of the early manga moments, yes, as well as the Elrics’ backstory, but in a completely different order both narratively and chronologically. For example, the show decides to spend a lot more time with the Elrics passing their state alchemist exam as children, and features the meeting with Nina and Tucker MUCH earlier in their life (they are 12 and 11 as opposed to full on teenagers). The Elrics’ backstory is revealed in a single episode in episode 3. The train hostage situation takes place much earlier in their timeline too, and there are other changes to the timeline, as well as added “filler” episodes and moments (that frankly range from p good to dogshit) that unfortunately stand out. But apart from these “filler” moments/eps, the show’s adaptation of the Elrics’ past and the early parts of the manga are truly excellent both as stand-alone anime AND as adaptation, deepening a lot of the emotions and characters.

As for the second half… the truth is, the first half (that follows the manga still, albeit loosely) sets up everything the second half runs with. On a rewatch, you see early on the foundations that 03 later comes back to explore more thoroughly, the shape of certain character arcs, the chekhov’s guns and hints as to what’s to come. So why does the second half have such a bad reputation? Well for one, bc a lot of people didn’t bother to engage with what the first half says and just see a sudden drastic departure from the manga’s plot and go “this is bad and clearly filler since it’s not following the manga”. But also there’s a genuine truth in there: the second half of 03, as ambitious and interesting as it is, suffers hugely from its production restrictions—the number of episodes given to wrap up the story kept switching, with the team ending up getting one less season than planned and being ordered to simultaneously begin production on the sequel movie (whose script was written in v little time and had to be constantly cut) which was supposed to be a lot more shounen and action and fanservice in tone to attract fans in cinemas. The budget and time restrictions show; there are many times in the second half of 03 where characters get incredible scenes, but you can tell the creators didn’t bother much with connecting them logically besides “we need some random event to cause x and y characters to suddenly meet to have a Scene”. You end up with some very silly justifications as to why x is now on the other side of the country to coincidentally bump into y. the pacing is, frankly, an utter mess too. Due to the changes in plot and the production issues, a number of plotlines and arcs get…. Dropped, halfway through (no other way of putting it). Ok, so it’s bad, you tell me. No, it isn’t! it’s messy and flawed and kinda groanworthy but here’s the thing: what the team does manage to do is so GOOD. Even when the show is stumbling from scene to scene with poor logical connection, the thematic and character progression remains incredibly consistent nonetheless! The show’s vision is clear to the end, it stumbles on its broken legs but it never stops trying to reach for its clear end goals. If you are willing to meet it partway, it’s incredibly engaging and layered stuff.

You’ve probably heard about the ending, a lot of people joke about it absentmindedly or take it out of context to go ISNT IT WEIRD AND CRAZY. If you haven’t, I won’t spoil you. If you have, I’ll say that if you’ve actually followed the show’s meat and threads, what it does is sure… bold, to put it mildly, but imo it’s actually perfectly consistent with the show’s ideas and makes a fascinating point. The finale’s biggest issue that is simultaneously its greatest strength is that it suddenly throws dozens of fascinating revelations, some of which recontextualize the entire show, all in a runtime that doesn’t allow it to actually explore these ideas beyond DAMN THAT’S FUCKED. I think on a rewatch it works more strongly, bc these ideas don’t come out of nowhere and they are actually p cleverly foreshadowed and in line with the main themes. On a first watch, if you haven’t been really engaging with the show, it can be baffling and even hilarious, or infuriating. And like, I do think it’s fair to say “I do not like these final twists, bc with the lack of time and dropped plot/character threads, they just make the finale feel strange and unfinished.” That’s fair! I suggest you keep that in mind and still give it a try. You might hate the finale, or be as fascinated by its final ideas as I remain.

Finally, I think you as a fullmetal alchemist fan ought to watch fma 03 if only to appreciate its art direction and palette. I think brotherhood looks and feels incredibly flat and boring, it has a lot of budget for fights and cool animation but it just isn’t very visually interesting. 03 has far less budget and time, as said before; but I still think that visually it is the best the fma characters and world will ever look. The shapes of the faces/eyes and characters are really appealing and the animators do an incredible job at microexpressions and fleeting bits of emotion upon someone’s face to convey unspoken feelings and bitten back/buried pain. The colour palette is just…. Gorgeous, no other way of putting it; it’s darker in general, but the show absolutely loves to make use of sunsets/sunrises to showcase the characters in contrast and chiaroscuro, setting a distinctively bittersweet and melancholic mood. A lot of the choice of shots even in episodes with v little animation budget still give the show so much personality and helps you forget how stiff it can look. The audio too is worth a check: I’m not a dub afficionado but I’m told it is very very very good and I do really enjoy its script; the Japanese voices are incredible and Romi Park as Ed is stunning—her Ed feels like he ages and becomes more and more exhausted, losing his energy and stubbornness to become acceptant and jaded and wise. And more than anything, any fma fan worth their salt must MUST listen to its incredible soundtrack; Bratja is still one of the best themes composed for any anime and I stand by it. Brotherhood is genuinely much poorer an experience through the absence of Bratja.

So here’s my plea: if you’re an fma fan who’s heard of 03, either as “it’s bad don’t watch it” or “it’s really good but you should stop it at x episode and then just switch to brotherhood”, I beg of you to give the full show a chance on its own, wrinkles and all. Its lows are low, its quality isnt as consistent as brotherhood and its pacing is wonky! But the highs are so high, so consistent and so unique that if you’re fine with flawed, interesting little works of media you will be fully sated. Hell, even as an fma fan I think you might appreciate how smart some of the recontextualization of classic moments are, and how maybe we should let more adaptations get a chance at doing their own thing and be genuinely transformative rather than copy paste the panels 1:1.