Unfortunately, there are some differences in the plot that keep that from working. Blame for a certain murder being placed in different hands, etc. A hybrid watch might work, but it would be more complicated than that.Jackofhearts2005 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:16 pmRegarding the rushing, do you think first time watchers should watch the original anime until the funeral (I don't think it is a great spoiler to say there is at least one death in this storyline) and then switch over to Brotherhood?speedchuck wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:18 pmThat's a shame. It's one of the greatest serialized stories I've ever consumed.
That's not to say that it's perfect, or that it is my favorite. But the original story (That being the Manga and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the anime) is, in my opinion, near flawless.
Character building. Pacing. World-building. Art and style. Pathos, intrigue, realism, philosophy, relationships, etc. It's all done very, very well, in a way that appeals to just about anyone who likes any anime. That's why it is so popular. No gimmicks, no luck, nothing like that. This story is near-perfect, cohesive, and I've watched the thing 5 times. (One of those times was by myself, on a whim. I never watch things by myself.)
Literally the only flaw I can point at it is that, in the anime adaptation, the pacing starts out rushed. There are reasons for the adaptation to do this. Nevertheless, it is a tiny, tiny flaw.
I mean the rushed pacing is essentially because the same story with the same animation style and cast was already told but that doesn't change the fact that the pacing of the first 10 or so episodes of the original is done better. Since the animes are so similar with the same cast and everything, it seems like this would be an easy correction to make. It's just a matter of when you should switch.
I don't really want to specify why because of spoilers, but if you look up an episode list of the original, you'll see a bunch of plot points introduced before the funeral that don't work. Check episode 15 in particular.
If the two shows can be worked in together, it would be ideal, but it's probably too complicated. Not to mention that Ed, in brotherhood, gets flashbacks at some point to the first brotherhood episode, which is anime original and kickstarts the main plot early.
Much as I like the pacing, I recommend either just watching brotherhood or watching FMA in its entirety and THEN watching brotherhood. That's what I did.