I would like you to expand your opinion. Why exactly is the art of the first series superior and why does the one in Brotherhood "suck"?

They both have their strengths and weaknesses. My main gripe with Brotherhood's art is the backdrops. The first anime's backdrops had bold, rich colors and stuff. Brotherhood's tend to look drab.

I think Brotherhood is more close to the manga's art. The frist anime had...thier own style.
I'm personal not into art style like the frist one had. I'm more into brotherhood style.

I'm agreeing with Kasumisty here, I would like a constructive opinion on why it sucks, xMinty. I respect the opinion, and I find things from the first anime's art to be superior to that of Brotherhoods. I'd just like to know how it is suckish.

well,
the first anime has amazing shading and the hair is so shiny. it looks very neat and professional. brotherhood has hardly any shading, the hair isn't outlined which looks odd, the people often look out of proportion, and they have very little movement.
also, ed doesn't look as good in brotherhood. he was actually very attractive in the first anime but in brotherhood he isn't at all.

The occasional lack of shading in Brotherhood does bug me. It makes the characters look so... flat.

I see. Althrough I don't agree at some things, you have good points.

I need to rewatch the first series, but I think we could find cases on bad animation in both.

The first anime had its share of weird art too. It's unlikely for any anime to have perfect artwork unless it's from KyoAni. =P

Now I'm wishing KyoAni animated FMA.

D:
I have it the other way. I find Ed more attractive in Brotherhood/manga, or rather hot. I did not even like Ed in the frist one..

My only problem with Ed in Brotherhood (in terms of hotness) would be that he's noticeably less muscular than Ed in the first anime. I like buff guys.

But he is only 16 and younger in the series...

Besides, I wouldn't say he is not muscled.

Well, and I like Ed's appearance from manga more (=Brotherhood) He looked quite girlish in the first anime.

^ that picture is believable for me. Ed's been with Greed, Heinkel, and Darius for 6 months doing more than just sit around. Plus, Ed is well over 16 in that image.
Unlike the first DVD cover for the first anime. I'm to believe a 14 year old has an 8 pack? No. I've always found that image to be ridiculous.

I think Ed looked really young throughout the majority of the first series. The only noticeable difference in age with the first series is in the movie. He definitely looked older then. Maybe towards the very end of the series also, but it's been a while since I've watched it so I might be wrong.

In Brotherhood I notice him looking older more gradually. I mean, I know he is young, but people do change.

sorry , but have you heard of something called COLOUR TRACING/SHADING . .

And thank heavens a great studio like bones is doing fma . If kyoani was doing it , i'm certain most of the fan base would have already dropped the show . (lookin at kyoto's projects , doesn't make me too excited)
the only other studio , that could actually give justice to fma , is MADHOUSE . . Those guys are awesome .

KyoAni is actually pretty popular for animating Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star.

I've noticed basically three 'different' "Eds" throughout the series. Starting with "young Ed", during the beginning. After his trip to Xerxes is the first significant change (even Winry comments on it), "medium Ed". Finally, "mature Ed" appears after his injury in the north.

well of course . All of us know that , but kyoani is not on par wit bones when it comes to animation . Seriously . If lucky star has great animation , then i dunno what has bad animation .

I like both art styles, but I prefer Brotherhood.

For Ed, I liked his goldish hair and the shading, it was done beautifully IMO. In Brotherhood, I don't really like the lack of shading, but what I DO like is how he grows, like the earlier posts. He looks hotter in Brotherhood--those muscles...*.* And he gets a growth spurt, too (being with Greed & the chimeras after the North), so he's not a shrimp to me anymore (which means I have greater respect of him being good looking).

The only thing I like better about the first anime was Ed's hair, but that's about it...and I can tolerate his hair in FMA:B. Every other character's art style I loved in Brotherhood much more. I love Riza's larger eyes and Winry's cuter face. I love how Rose's skin color doesn't confuse me as her being Ishvalan. I LOVE Hohenheim in Brotherhood! Such a big improvement. In the first anime, I did not like Hoho's looks...at all...he seemed less mature and had darker blond hair...almost greenish. >.> I love Al's light blond hair, it looked like it SHOULD be colored that way. Did anyone else noticed how Lust looked slightly different? Her bottom lip looked thicker in Brotherhood...it took me a while to get used to it, but I now think that it suited her. And Gracia looks good, too, as her hair is more detailed than in the first anime.

And my favorite part about Brotherhood's art is how it's clear and less gloomier. ^^

Ed's pretty muscular in the first anime, if not moreso. In the earlier episodes, at least. He's noticeably buffer in, say, episode 61 of Brotherhood.

In my opinion, YES, Brotherhood has much better "quality" in shading, color vibrance, and the fact that it is HD.

But, for some reason, I felt like the first anime had a more muted, somber, almost impressionist feel to it. And I loved it! I felt like it carried a lot of weight, and just flowed with the storyline, and era. I especially loved the art direction in CoS, it was just stunning.

I feel like sometimes Brotherhood went a little overboard with the color saturation, and dark strokes outlining the faces of all the characters. It just seemed TOO SHARP, & TOO BRIGHT at times. Maybe, since it was based on the manga, they were going for a sharper more "comic book" feel. Which is fine, but sometimes the tone gets lost.

Oh, and yeah, I love how Ed actually "grew" in Brotherhood .

i have to say , that i agree wit every word you have posted . Its so . . . TO THE POINT .
Well . . Brotherhood's major problem is the inconsistency . The artwork was really inconsistent . But that can be due to the production costs and various artists working for the show . .
And Cos was absolutely stunning . . It was just perfect . The scenes , the backgrounds etc . . Were just gorgeous . .
But we can't compare Cos to Brotherhood . . Cause movies tend to have bigger budgets behind them . .

I actually liked the art in the first fullmetal, but I love the look of Brotherhood. Everyone who comments on the inconsistancy is right though. It does take away from it to a certain extent. Still, if you go back to FMA1 there are plenty of scenes when the characters are off-model too. Especially if they are in the background at all. I remember one with Maria and Brosh that was particularly off-putting.

Actually though my biggest prob with anime1's artwork is that the first time I saw it I was convinced that Ed was a girl. And then out came the 6-pack...... on a 14yr old. I found that verrrry weird.

So... yeah. I realllllly prefer FMA:B's Ed.

You know it is possible to have a 6 or 8-pack at 14 years of age!

Case in point: Richard Sandrak "Little Hercules" - By the age of 8 he could bench press 210 pounds.

Inconsistency is probably the best word to describe FMA:B's art direction and animation. I'm assuming it was budget, and perhaps they were a little hurried at times??

I think the standout moments for me in FMA:B were Roy's fights!!! WOW...Those were done SO WELL in this series. Roy vs. Lust and Roy vs. Envy were just EPIC!

And then Father vs. Ed (well most of it) was awesome too.

I also recall the operatic drama of Ed vs. Greed in the fist anime series. That fight imo, was much better in the first anime. Of course, Greed was a pretty different character in the manga.

It's possible to have a six-pack at fourteen, but it probably isn't exactly healthy. I wouldn't know, though. I still think it looks great on him.

14? O_o When did we see Ed at 14 in Anime1? I thought we skipped from 12 to 15, then he turns 16 later on. Right? So does him being 15 legitimize the six-pack more so than if he were 14, lol? XD

The Brotherhood style adapts the art of Hiromu Arakawa better than the style of the first series. I'm a big fan of Arakawas art, it's quite unique. In Fma 1 they had a more mainstream-friendly stlye. Fma1 looked like just any other Anime. The usual pointed chins, every guy turned into a bishonen. And everyone. Looks. The same.
But there are some things, that bothered me REALLY much even before there was a FMA:B:

- Eds Bangs. THAT:


Seriously, what's up with his hair? what kind of hair falls that way? It was like that all the time. I always wanted to jump into the screen just to correct his hair. And beat the fanartists up who do it like that as well.

- Als Hair & eye color.

ew. Who thought that Al had this ugly shade of blond? It's almost brown. Ed and Al have the same hair and eye color. Always had. Always will have.

- Hohenheim

Who is this guy? In fma1 there is someone else posing as Hohenheim. He has no resemblance to the real Hohenheim. Hair and eye color are different, facial features are different, his hairstyle is different, his nose, his beard. And the look on his face. He always looks like he's falling asleep any moment.

- the NOSES

Are. Too. Long. Their faces look so long, and since everone has the same nose there is no characteristic about it.

- the facial features...or the lack thereof

They all have the same face minus the size and color of their eyes and their hair. If you would remove them, everyone would have the very same face.

now on to FMA:B:

The colored outlines of Eds, als and Hohos hair was a bit weird for me as well at the beginning. But I got used to it. However, what I don't like about Eds hair:

- His braid

It's too...fluffy?

- the length of his hair

or the inconsistency of it. In one episode it's rather short in the next one it's way longer. you can see that especially well in the period of time between um I think episode 44 and 45. it grew...a lot.

- his bangs from time to time

they look really weird sometimes. too lazy to get a screenshot, but when he was in hospital after lab 5 (dunno which episode it was) his bangs looked...really...weird. Too spiky... divided strangely.

Brotherhood has some flaws here and there, but it's not like there weren't any in the first series. overall I like fma:b more, obviously. Maybe I'm biased, because I read the manga even before I watched fma 1. But seriously, fma 1's style of art looks like any other anime. It's really unoriginal and hiromus artwork was adapted rather poorly.

Maybe you're right that he was 15 rather then 14. I still maintain that he looks like a girl in anime1 (except when his shirt is off of course). But that is exactly what made it soooo weird ;D

HAIR HAIR HAIR!!
I personally liked the hairstyles more in FMA 1. The hairstyles in FMA:B were just too.....Naruto-ish?? Especially in the begining. And I was a bit disappointed how they changed Ed's hair from a ponytail BACK to a freakin' BRAID....UGH....I just liked ponytail more, made him a little more grown up.
LOL

However, I wouldn't say that everyone "looked the same" in the first anime. I think FMA, as in both animes and the manga, has a very distinct style with its characters. They all look pretty different to me. Whereas other animes (well, many animes) just use the same faces and body types, and simply change the hair color or eye color. (lame)

FMA's characters are all distinct, and I don't agree that they ever looked the same (even in the first anime).

I noticed you pointed out the faces looking too long in FMA 1. The only character I can say who's face looked significantly "chibi" at times in FMA:Brotherhood was Roy Mustang. And that was ANNOYING. I prefer a longer face. (imo) XD

Well , both shows have awesome art . But inconsistent . . Barring the last 10 episodes (which were almost flawless) fma1 had its fair share of problems .
This is what i noticed on many occassions . . The characters lack life . Big time , the art is too simple , no fine lines , nothing . . . It just feels like an image on a cardboard . . I hope i make sense .But otherwise , barring a few inconsistencies in face designs , fma1 was awesome .

Brotherhood's art impressed me further . But it has had its major issues . We get artistic masterpieces in the form of episodes 1,5,8,10,19,26,35,40-46,49,53,54 and not forgetting 60-62 , and also terrible art in episodes 7,17,37,47,57(yuck),58,63 .(all the other episodes have had terrific art) . This is the major problem.. . The inconsistent art . .
But all said and done , it was a thrilling journey . . Right till the end