Kannazuki No Miko 11

[Dînadan]

FMA Brotherhood seems to me like the same problems that Sailor Moon Crystal and Hellsing Ultimate have.

Care to elaborate? I personally found FMAB highly enjoyable and don't recall it having any (blatant/noticeable) problems (and not having watched those other two I don't know what problems those have).

[Edvarius]

Well with Crystal at least the show had a problem where in the process of adapting the manga they managed to downplay the strengths and magnify the weaknesses. Many of the little bits of humor or the characters being aware were cut out to try and make the story more serious and romantic, but this ended up making things dull. As well many of the character moments for people other than the protagonist were either left out or given to Sailor Moon instead, and even some of her moments were cut as well. Plus the show tried to keep to one episode per comic chapter, which didn't always work well pacing wise. Finally some of the few changes they did make to the story of the manga, such as having the some of the villains live past the point they did in the comic, ended up going absolutely nowhere and get used only for about 5 minutes worth of "drama" at the end that just made the characters look same-ish and pathetic before killing them anyway. Sure, it was a lot more "faithful" than the first show and cut out the heaps of filler the first was known for, but unlike that lacked any actual soul or merit outside of looking pretty at times.

[MithrandirOlorin]

I said seems cause I haven't watched any FMA yet, I just know i dislike Crystal, for the first seasons anyway, and hate Hellsing Ultimate.

[Admiral X]

Why?

[Dînadan]

I said seems cause I haven't watched any FMA yet, I just know i dislike Crystal, for the first seasons anyway, and hate Hellsing Ultimate.

So basically, you're saying we should add your name to this TVtropes page?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... uDontWatch





I'll also echo Admiral X's question of 'Why?' Why do you dislike those two shows? What are their failings? Where did they go wrong? What should they have done better? And for balance, what did you actually like sbout them?

I'll let you off Crystal if you don't want to talk about it as Edvarius has highlighted some (or all) of its troubles, but please enlighten us to at least the other one's issues.

[MithrandirOlorin]

I don't have an opinion on them. I was just stating that the way I've seen Brotherhood described reminds me of other more faithful to the Manga this time Animes.

[Edvarius]

...Right, looks like I'm stepping in for the other two as well then. Though it should be noted that unlike with Sailor Moon I actually do prefer the later "more faithful" adaptations to the earlier ones.

For any of these series there is one thing I think can be criticized in general, and that is that while the earlier adaptations had filler, filler isn't necessarily a bad thing. Besides giving a bit of breathing room between heavy plot beats, episodes that don't further the main plot can still be incredibly useful in fleshing out characters and giving them time to interact in ways they might not when they are always focused on the serious end of the world stuff. And while some might get frustrated at how much is there in the case of Sailor Moon, the characters have more character as we get time to know them. Even stuff that has absolutely no consequence can still be entertaining. One of my favorite episodes from a show called Slayers has the heroes teaming up with an insane chef to try and catch a lake dragon so they can cook it. It's nothing but slapstick the whole way through, but I still love seeing them realize they forgot an anchor, followed shortly by asking the guy with rocky skin how much he weighs (and yes, they tie him up, shove a long tube in his mouth, and toss him overboard, it's hilarious).

The criticisms I think that can be levied against Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood in comparison to the first adaptation in particular have to do with morality. Things are far more gray in the first adaptation, whereas in Brotherhood generally speaking the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. As well it's possible some people preferred the new direction they took the plot. I don't, but well, that's me, your mileage may vary.

As far as Hellsing goes, the first adaptation spent a lot more time again on issues of morality and ruminations on being on of the undead. Whereas Hellsing Ultimate is a complete, unapologetic spectacle piece from beginning to end in which there is very little character development (Seras gets some, but that's about it). Now the advantage Ultimate has in my opinion is again in plot. The first adaptation just had a kind of non-ending, where the masterminds are never discovered, they just beat a particularly powerful servant at the end, and it's a little ambiguous as to whether or not Integra allows Alucard to make her a vampire in the process of freeing her. Nothing truly comes to a conclusion. Whereas in Ultimate we know exactly what is happening. Super Dracula is beating the crap out of the Nazi vampire army. If you love watching that, great! If you prefer quieter moments and introspection, you aren't going to find much of it.

[Dînadan]

I don't have an opinion on them.

I said seems cause I haven't watched any FMA yet, I just know i dislike Crystal, for the first seasons anyway, and hate Hellsing Ultimate.

So which is it? Do you dislike/hate them or not? Because if you do, then that is an opinion. But if you don't have an opinion of them, how can you criticise something else because somewhere someone described it in terms that put you in mind of these other works?

[Dînadan]

Thank you Edvarius for the thought out response. From what you outline the 'more faithful to the source material' animes certainly sound like they're missing out on something. Having only seen FMAB and not the earlier FMA, I can only judge it on its own merits as it stands on its own, which has it come off reasonably favourably, but from your description, it does sound potentially lacking compared to the earlier one.


As for filler episodes, whether they're good or bad hinges on where they slot in I think. A fun, laid back, standalone is great early on when the main plot is still simmering on the back burner, or as a denouement between arcs, but can be intrusive in the middle of the buildup to the climax of the arc.

[MithrandirOlorin]

Dinadan, your quote of me doesn't even make the point you think it is.