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Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA and FMA: Brotherhood)

Okay then. This rant is inspired by: Splashpaw and icaruslock

Before I get to everything else, let's talk about the anime and it's history in general (For those who do not know what the hell this show is.)

In 2003, the manga Fullmetal Alchemist was made into an anime. The author, Hiromu Arakawa hadn't finished the manga when it was first greenlit so she said that the people making the anime could create a totally different plotline. This is why the original 2003 anime version followed the manga for a few episodes until going off on it's own original plot. It also had a different ending (obviously), hence the movie that followed the 2003 anime series, Conqueror of Shamballa. Fast forward a few years, into 2009, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is born, following the manga's plot from start to finish with little changes.

Now, if a person asked an anime fan what was their favorite anime, anyone who has seen the show can easily tell you that either Fullmetal Alchemist and/or its reboot series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is their all time favorite. Both have spectacular animation and plot twists and the use of alchemy is downright genius, epic and intelligent. The characters are memorable, whether it may be main (heroes and villains), supporting and minor who all have an important part in the series and not just there because they needed to be there. There's no fillers and absolutely no fanservice, which I am incredibly thankful for because while I like stuff like Fairy Tail and wish that people would stop degrading it just because it's "mainstream crap and overhyped" and instead focus on the positive aspects of the series, it does have its share of filler arcs and a dosage of fanservice to the point of not being able to show it to my parents like I would be able to show Brotherhood and Cardcaptor Sakura. 

(Keerthana, get back on track. There're here for the FMA rant.)

(I'm leading into that so wait.)

Also, if we're going to talk about "mainstream crap and overhype", please use Dragon Ball Z and Sword Art Online as an example cause those shows go to the extremes when it comes to hype. At least Fullmetal Alchemist lives up to its own hype.

(......Get back on track, Keerthana.)

(ALRIGHT YOU STUPID CONSCIENCE, I'M GETTING TO IT)

The music for both series is also something to note. A lot of people usually don't pay attention to background music, aka soundtrack music. But I'm a soundtrack dork who has soundtracks to basically every anime and/or movie I watched, so I have a bit more appreciation for it than most of my friends in real life. The music matched up with the series quality perfectly, including the opening and ending themes, I love them all, especially the ones from Brotherhood. The composer for the 2003 anime was Michiru Oshima while the composer for Brotherhood was Akira Senju. (If, by any chance you read the first one shot from my Mysterious Fates one shots book, yeah, "Trisha's Lullaby" is what inspired me to write a father-daughter relationship between Natsu and Meena. Actually....that's what created Meena to begin with.....)

(KEERTHANA-)

(SHUT IT!)

Anyway, the series has an important and relatable message about souls and the morality of society. Politics are talked about in a way that doesn't hurt our ears and therefore done beautifully. If I say anymore more than that, I will basically spoil the entire show.

Now, I hope that was informative for you because we're going to dive into what the entire fandom has a hard time deciding on: which series is better, the original 2003 anime series or the 2009 reboot. Mind you, while I love Brotherhood, the original 2003 series is important, because for the people who think the beginning of the reboot is rushed (cause it is and I did say the reboot had little changes), they can just simply check out the first few episodes of the original and then get back to the reboot. (At least, that's what I did.) My friends who recommended the series told me that they got bored of the 2003 anime and that I should watch Brotherhood but I gave the original a chance before quitting after around episode 10.

Also, Hiromu Arakawa stated that she enjoyed the 2003 series take on the Homunculus (how true that is, I don't know but I do remember reading about it somewhere.) Some say FMA was the best and FMAB was crap. Some say the exact opposite. As for me, I never really made any hateful assumptions about the 2003 anime other than the fact that it was boring. But I did watch the rest of it sometime after finishing Brotherhood and all I have to say is that while the original has its certain perks and certain flaws, I don't necessarily hate it. I really don't see much about the fandom that's really that bad though. Other than this debate, which gets heated because some idiots are inconsiderate jerks, most of the fandom is pretty chill. 

And surprisingly enough? Not that many shipping wars. (Possibly because majority of the pairings are basically canon so I guess people can't complain too much.)

The fanfics, I don't really have an opinion on. Although, I do find the "Ed and Al's long-long sister" trope a little cliche. It exists in other fanfics, but by the amount of summaries of FMA fanfics that I have seen, I'm gonna guess it's pretty overused. Yes, I know I use this in Mysterious Fates with Subha Patel and Harry Potter but in my defense, one there's also Sakura Kinomoto. Two, they aren't related by blood but rather godsiblings. And three, (in my opinion) the entire story is not centered around her being related to him but rather a parallel to their pasts and how they react to their own problems. Four, she's not more powerful than him but rather in her own unique way. Cliches aren't bad as long as you can make it clever and unique.

I recently came across a Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter crossover called "Penence." Its on fanfiction.net (of course all the good fanfics are on fanfiction.net) and a good example of how a FMA fanfic should be. Honestly, the way Ed and Al were interacting with Sirius, Remus and Snape in one of the chapters is the most hilarious thing I have seen since I discovered fanfics. I always think that when you're doing crossovers, the interactions between the characters you're mashing up have to be like something that could totally happen if they were mashed up canonically. Hell, they're sometimes more important to me if the plot isn't exactly up to par. A crossover between FMA and Harry Potter is no exception to this. 

Another time, I was reading a rant book when someone mentioned that in some FMA fanfics, people make Winry Rockbell a snobby jerk. (From what I have seen as well, this is specifically in Ed x OC fanfics.)

One word I have for this: WHY.

Winry is one of the nicest characters in the series. Just...just WHY?! I have absolutely nothing to say except......why?! It's like making Lisanna Strauss a *bleep* just because you ship Natsu and Lucy in a fanfic. And most of my followers by now know how much I hate that with an absolute passion.

And I think I better end this rant. The length of this is longer than my Kuroshitsuji one. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this slightly over lenghtly rant.

Next up is either How To Train Your Dragon or Pokemon. But this one took me a while so I may do smaller rants as well as one on Steven Universe and/or Gravity Falls.

So what is your opinion on FMA and FMAB? Comment and/or vote if you like it! :D