Fullmetal Alchemist Manga vs Anime

October 17, 2007, 10:32 PM

For those of you out there who are manga readers of this series and have seen the anime, then you would know that there are major and significant differences indeed. So, which story do you prefer more? What is it about the manga that you liked better or the anime that you liked better? What was about the manga that you disliked or the anime that you disliked?

For me, I truly love both of them, but in all actuality I prefer the manga story over the anime. I wish they would have carried on longer with the anime, going along with the story in the manga and such. I was disappointed with the movie ending and felt there were things left open.

With the manga, I love the artwork of Arakawa-sensei. She's amazing at really grasping your heartstrings with the story, especially in the most recent chapter. Some of the chapters the anime did recreate, but took them to a different degree than the others. There are major differences when it comes to the homunculi and how they were born, etc...

So tell me guys, which do you prefer? Anime or manga and tell me why.

October 27, 2007, 4:51 AM

I perrsonally like the anime better because it gives you a better description of whats really happening.

October 29, 2007, 10:06 PM

But how can you say that based on how significantly different both stories are?

October 29, 2007, 11:59 PM

I've never read the manga before, but some different stuff happens in the manga, right? And, when comparing manga and anime most people usually say that the manga is better than the anime (I do too most of the time). I watched the whole anime and liked it, so I guess I'd probably end up liking the manga too, if I decided to read it, but collecting manga is an expensive business. Anyway, the manga would probably be better.

October 31, 2007, 4:14 PM

You can read the manga online here: http://www.onemanga.com/Full_Metal_Alchemist/

We get a new chapter once a month and it's completely translated and up to date. If you liked the anime, I highly encourage the manga. It is after all the true canon story and where it all began ^_~

November 11, 2007, 2:55 AM

I, surprisingly, ended up liking the anime more.

November 11, 2007, 4:01 PM

Can you tell me why though Host instead of posting a once sentence answer? I take it, conisdering you said surprisingly, you're more of a manga reader?
As for me, I hated the ending to the whole thing. I hated how Winry was left behind, I hated how they ended up in "our" world and didn't get to stay home with all the people they loved. I hated how the characters were actually portrayed in the movie. I felt that they could have been more in-depth. As for the anime in general, it was awesome, but where the manga is going as of right now, I'm loving it better than the anime/movie.

November 11, 2007, 4:15 PM

By law anime movies that are meant to wrap up popular series usually are disappointing in some way. I thought personally thought that the movie wrapped up everything fine and although the ending may not be the exact one I was expecting it was nice for a change even though it did leave me wanting to see more.

However I've never been unhappy with the manga ever, without the restrictions that the anime has it can have a far deeper and complex story that has far more characters and a darker sense around it which I love. To put it simply it's far more epic than the anime although both are to a better standard than most.

November 11, 2007, 5:59 PM

While i view both Anime and Manga both highly, I do tend to read more because its cheapter (and yes, im one of those PRETTY MUCH LAW ABIDING fans). Also since a manga is created, usually, by one to two people (with mabye a couple of assistants), you can really see the emotion and hard work put into manga, more so. Onwards, The anime of FMA really drew me into "the world" of it so to speak, much more than the manga did. The characters developed much better with animation and voices. For instance, the whole Mom Revival thing really hit alot harder with the anime, although this may be due to the character sloth. The fight scenes are alot better in the anime. The only draw back of the anime, for me anyways, is that [spoilers] Greed 2 isn't in it [/spoilders] So yeah.

November 15, 2007, 10:44 PM

Are you talking about Ling? None of the Xing characters are in the anime. Those are strictly manga-canon only.