I remember being pretty unimpressed by FMA, but that was only because of all the hype. "Anti-" is definitely overkill though. It was still pretty good...the Nina episodes were especially emotional for me, and it's one of the very few series in which I was actually happy with the way it ended.

BTW...doesn't this thread technically count as trolling/flamebait?

I liked FMA. So fucking sue me. Of course, I watched it episode by episode as it was fansubbed. The english version makes me cringe.

Th ending left me kind of confused, because the manga went a different route with the story.

Then again, I had the same complaint with Hellsing. It's like, it had me believing it was going to follow the manga, then BAM! episode 8 hits and I'm like WTF? Who the fuck is incognito? The new series is promising, though. Hellsing isn't Hellsing without pip and the fourth reich.

The anime was quite good, but it's NOTHING compared to the manga.

The way I see it: the anime of Full-Metal Alchemist is like the best fanfiction ever.

So yeah. The only "hate" I feel is when people who watched the anime first can't get into/don't like the manga

I watched Fullmetal Alchemist, and I enjoyed it. Not only the characters, but also the music and story itself. I've always enjoyed stories about alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone, and I wanted to see this take on it. I didn't see the fan-sub when it was all the rage. In fact, I didn't see it until I saw it on Adult Swim--so maybe that helped me by not clouding my opinion before watching it.

As for the names of the Homunculi....They fit.

Pride--Dante was proud that she was able to make a homunculus that could age--hence the name.
Lust--Using this definition of lust: "An overwhelming desire or craving" (as in "lust for power")--it fits, since it seemed she desired to be human more than the others.
Envy--"A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another." He was jealous of Ed and Al since Hohenheim stayed with them, and not his first son. (and he didn't use his "normal" shape because he looked too much like Hohenheim, and Envy hated that)
Gluttony--okay, we know his name fits...LOL
Wrath--"vindictive anger"--I'd be pissed at the world too if my mom transmuted me--and in fact, abandoned me. And, of course, the love she should have had for her child went to Ed and Al, so there's just a little resentment....
Greed--He even says he's a greedy bastard. He didn't want what the others did--he just wanted stuff.
Sloth--"apathy and inactivity in the practice of virtue"--yeah, she was virtuous, wasn't she? (This is the definition for the deadly sin, by the way.)

In theatre (and I've noticed in anime) some characters are named to give the audience a clue to their identities or habits. This doesn't always apply, but it's still a habit used today.

Pride also felt that he was better than humans. I forgot the context; it's been a long time since I watched the anime.

All of the generic "Manga>Anime" people can suck my hairy balls. Comparison of fiction from different media has to be the most retarded criticism method humanity came up with.

I really disagree with everyone saying this anime is overrated. IMO, it deserves all the credit it gets. It`s a great, compelling and deep anime that had me from the first episode to the last (and movie). I haven`t watched the US version of it, though, so I can't really tell if some things got lost or whatever (hate dubs). Moreover, I haven't read the manga, so there's really nothing to be disappointed about for me personally.

Back when I was watching the subs I actually loved FMA. At the time it was a generally perfect anime with action, comedy suspense and a good story. And now after it came on adult swim, I'm down right sick of it. It's hard to talk about anime with anybody now with out them bringing up FMA. It was great the first time I watched it but now people are ruining it for me.

I have yet to read the manga but I'll probably get around to it so I can see the real full story.

Ah, yes...I forgot about Pride's beliefs.

And how many anime have actually strayed from the manga? You know, there's only a certain amount of time in each episode/season, so there's only so much the anime producers can do.

Look at Inuyasha--the anime stopped before the manga did.

Look at Rurouni Kenshin--there was a whole story arc that had nothing to do with the manga.

And, when you read a novelization of a movie--the book doesn't always match to the movie, or movies based on books don't always match the books (DaVinci Code, anyone?)

And, ZeroSlash has a point--There are other anime on Adult Swim (Lupin's back!), but to constantly talk about one is like a particular song being played incessantly on the radio.

There's truth behind Manga>Anime. It's just better the majority of the time. It's similar to Novel>Movie. The Count of Monte Cristo? Les Miserables (the musical... shudder)? But since movies have a MUCH higher budget than anime, sometimes the Movie>Novel. This is debateable, but The Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, just to name a few.

The Anime>Manga situation is rarely the case, much to manga readers' chagrins. Even I can't name one case.

Dee--you are talking about movies based on novels, right? If you are, then I agree with you. In novels, you have so much more to work with; there's no time table to follow. Fitting a 500 page book into a 90 minute movie is hard. Fitting a monthly manga into anime episodes is also hard. That's why some animes have "filler" episodes.

These episodes "flesh out" the characters and (sometimes) the story, and they can do it, since it's "based on" the manga. That doesn't mean it has to be followed exactly.

You're completely ignoring the different necessities for different media. Manga and anime serve vastly different functions in entertainment and experience that comparing them is like trying to compare milk and ice cream*. Either they suck or they don't by their own merits as what they're supposed to be, anime or manga, not by comparison. Same for novels and movies.

The manga ain't that impressive, either. who is father???? find out as we eventually reach 200 chapters!!!! heres some generic lackey homunculi to tide you over

Not that the movie was all that great, mind.

*Ice cream is an embarrassment to milk. :mad:

I loved FMA back when I watched the subs each week, and I still love it. Even the movie was better than I expected, and I like most of the English voices for the dub.

Is it over-hyped? Hell yes. Back when I was still getting Newtype-USA it got to the point where FMA was on the cover every damn month rather than giving the space to any other anime coming out. I just don't let it get to me. Aside from the irritating fangirls (who are around for a lot of shows, 'sup Fruits Basket) it isn't that bad.

As for the whole manga>anime debate, I can see where people are coming from. I purposely avoided reading the FMA manga until after the series was finished, and the show is very good without knowing the direction the manga takes. The manga is a lot more fleshed out (Maria Ross, the people from Xing, and most recently the whole Northern military outpost of Briggs) and has some interesting plot twists, but I think it's a little unfair to say that the anime sucks just because it took a different direction.

I'll have to make a note to bring up FMA every time I see you around campus. Perhaps even hire one of the common fangirls to follow you around, giggling about how uber hawt Ed is.

I read the first 10 volumes of the manga (I got them on a CD that I read on my computer) and I barely made it through. I didn't get into the story or anything at all. This was before the anime hit the States and I have absolutely no desire to see it. I don't hate it, it's just not something that I got into.

Hahaha, then I shall only counter with the hottness of Kazuki Mutou from Busou Renkin. :cool:

One of the best animes ever made, so nope I'm not anti-FMA. ;)

P.S. Sorry if I don't like fruitiness but FMA was a good shounen anime and didn't have 10 episode long fights so it was perfecto. I hope the manga gets animated properly someday since the show did stray from it (but still kept up the high quality).

I think the Fullmetal Alchemist anime suffered incredibly by being made when they were only a tenth of the way through the manga. The result of this was that nothing really made sense and plot elements had to be rushed through with little thought to them. I challenge anyone to read the manga and like it less than the anime. There's just so much in it. Where the anime only dealt with the Ishvar/Ishbal war, the manga has a far grander story encompassing all the neighbouring countries of Amestris.

Granted, there were a few things about the FMA anime that I liked over the manga, for example the first few episodes of the anime were far more exciting and involving than the first few chapters of the manga. The point at which things really changed for the worse was Episode 26. At that point, it descended into shounen territory with the odd multi-episode fight and oddly placed filler episodes.

I enjoyed the anime, but I never read the manga. I imagine my opinion might change after I read a few volumes, but the anime was still a cool piece of work. It managed to get me emotionally involved a few times, which anime almost always fails to do.

As for dubbing, was I the only one who liked the voice acting? Ed's fit just fine and I thought he worked the dramafied scenes pretty well. Everybody else pulled their weight, too. It's been said a lot in this thread already, but the anime is neither the best or the worst. It's well-rounded and definitely up there, and while it's somewhat overrated, I think it deserves some of the praise it gets.

Evangelion fucking sucks, though.

What filler? The only two episodes I can think of that didn't go anywhere were Majhal and Psiren.

Fix'd. Just because YOU couldn't understand it doesn't mean that its bad. Evangelion is one of the deepest most thought provoking animes ever made.

No, you douches. We understand it and it still sucks.

Going off topic in responce but with all due respect the series has it's good points, but as for the climax movie the director pretty much throws everything besides the religious references he built up on the floor, stomps and craps on it then shows his middle finger to the audience. That's not even mentioning the budget problems with the original series so the guy was being hassled to do it in the first place by fans and was seeing a shrink at the time.

i don't see anything wrong with it. when i decided to download and watch it i thought it was hilarious and interesting. and THEN the dubbed version hit YTV and i watched one episode. the only thing i hated about it then was the dubbing. i can't stand bad english dubs - no offense to those who like dubs.

Well, I've checked out the anime and the manga. To tell the truth, I don't usually enjoy reading and/or watching popular anime/manga series, since they have commercial story plot, plain conflict, and easy-to-guess ending. In the end, I found out that THIS popular anime doesn't really follow this pattern. It was an enjoyable anime.

However, I agree the fact that FMA is indeed overrated. Although it is good, but it is not really special. The background of the story is nice, but not 'very'. You know what I mean, right?

Another fact: after I watched the whole series, I didn't really wish to watch it again. It is too...commercial, I think. Uncommon anime/manga series are more attractive to me.

Jesus, you can't bring up Evangelion. You just can't. It's like bringing up art, religion, or politics. Look, it's my favorite show. I've gotten used to it getting hate (as all popular things seem to attract a vocal minority of), but I still get mad when I see people diss it. Because.. I love it, as mentioned before. But I'm going to bite my tongue about it because I'm sick of arguing it and it's not like I'm going to change anyone's mind about it.

On topic, (and by topic I mean "overrated anime", as this thread has become), I love anime in general. I'm going to guess a lot of people here don't. I love a deep, convoluted anime like Eva, I love a goofy romance CLAMP anime like Chobits, and I love a Shonen Jump (get badass, fight a badass, get badass, fight a badass) anime like Bleach or Naruto. It's silly to say one type is worse than another or to claim love of one to the exclusion over the other.

YES you can like Death Note AND Dragonball Z. Just like how I love American Beauty and Starship Troopers.

As for FMA, I watched it all, it kept my interest. I thought the insta-alchemy thing was fun and I enjoyed everyone's various versions of it. The story was okay but not great or terrible. Overall, as many have been saying, there's no need to get "anti" about it just because it's popular.

The reason people hate on Evangelion is because it's depressing bullshit that people find to be deep because the director went emo crazy one day and said "Let's fuck everything up! Uahahahaha!!! -gag, cough, wheeze-."