Brotherhood has everything.

A world that is both interesting and realistic. It doesn't stray too far away from reality while also being just far enough away to be interesting.

Characters that are all well developed with their own motivations, backstories, powers and personality. A massive cast of side characters that all fit within the story and never feel forgotten or out of place.

A plot that is complicated and twisty but never lets you get lost in it, all the while coming together in an amazing climax that answers all the questions it raised throughout the story.

Action scenes that flow very nicely with choreography that is easy to understand and realistic. There is an emphasis on strategy and thinking outside the box that makes a good majority of the fights fun and surprising to watch.

The 'hard magic' system of alchemy is fun and engaging. It has a clear set of rules and limitations that never get broken. Fundamentally it stays the exact same from episode one right till the conclusion. It doesn't make up rules as the story progresses, it sticks to the ones set and adds depth through creative implementation instead of complexity.

The story itself has themes of romance, drama, comedy, action, and mystery. It sets a tone that can be equally dark and heavy as it is light and funny.

I could go on but you get the idea. Hiromu Arakawa made something truly remarkable and studio bones did an incredible job molding her work into a beautiful anime.

I grew up watching FMA 2003 and I have very fond memories of my time with it. It was my first anime that I really watched, and i think because of it I stuck with anime and kept exploring new shows. I've not re-watched it as much as Brotherhood, but I have recently revisited it. And the animation quality and story still holds up. It's a rough adaptation to no fault of its own, the source material was still being written by the time this animation was airing, but it still took what it could and made a pretty good story out of it.

The way I like to look at it is that 2003 focuses on a tale of two brothers, while Brotherhood tells a tale about the world.

I don't want to spend my time just comparing it to brotherhood, its a story that should be viewed on its own for what it achieved. It presents it's themes very well, asking questions on humanity, altruism, power and war while being entertaining and showing off a world full of adventure.

Most of the characters outside of Ed and Al don't really change over the story which is a real shame. It's so rare to see a Shonen protagonist screw up or fail. Ed does that plenty, and best of all, his convictions and morals get challenged constantly, almost to the point of making a philosopher stone. But the best part for me would have to be the way Ed changed after Greed's death, a character who held the conviction to never kill just took a life, and the repercussion of that stay with Ed till the end of the anime. Another great addition to 2003 is the changes it made to the Homunculi. It added so much more weight to the taboo of human transmutation and gives the villains' direct relationship to the hero's by making them the byproduct of human transmutation. The villains of the story are a direct connection to the very sin the protagonists performed. Not only do they have to atone for their mistakes but they have to actively fight and be at odds with it.

Ultimately it's good, but not great. Still a core part of my childhood and an anime I will hold fondly in my mind for years to come.

I'm just going to use this section to talk a little bit about me, and why I love Fullmetal Alchemist so much.

Humans are very flawed creatures, we make mistakes, we hurt others even when our intentions don't mean to. And we all struggle with our own complex lives and problems.

Edward and Alphonse are no different, they are characters that have made a traumatic mistake that they feel they need to atone for. They never ask for forgiveness, they never ask for their sin to be reverted or taken away from them. Their whole journey is centered around the goal of restoring their bodies. They strive to achieve this while accepting the responsibility for their actions. They never offload the burden onto others, instead they carry it with them from the start of the anime till it's conclusion. They choose to atone, to never forget.

Atonement itself involves a return to a state of harmony, of reconciliating that which you have done and restoring yourself from your sin. However despite what the Elric brothers do throughout the story, they never could atone until the final episode. Their sin was too great and the means of atonement within the world would never truly be enough to allow them to forgive and heal.

They stepped on truth's domain and only through engaging with truth were they able to atone fully.

I like many others, have made my fair share of mistakes. However despite my efforts to be better, to improve and to heal. It never feels like it's enough. I feel like my atonement is stuck in the same place as Ed and Al's. No amount of good will ever restore me from my sins and I have to carry them for the rest of my life.

The reason Fullmetal means so much to me is because of how heavily I relate to the story and the pain of carrying your guilt and striving to atone.