Full Metal Alchemist
I just finished watching the anime series.
Okay, anime and manga?
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALLY different.
More often than not, when an anime based on a manga and the manga are different the anime leaves out massive amounts of stuff that was in the manga. In this case, the basic starting premise and a large amount of the characters are the same, but that's about it.
It's two different stories told with the same material. A few of the story arcs are the same but much of the detail in them does not match up. I've read up to chapter 60 something of the manga previous to watching the anime (i was waiting for the whole series to come out in a box set for a very long while but was finally thought, 'oh screw it,' and watched it online). The manga is up near chapter 80-something and still continuing (so i have about 20 chapters to catch up on). I'll have to watch the movie again, the first time I saw it was at the Fantasia Film Festival a few years ago. At the time I had only seen a few episodes of the series. And... well, here is what I thought of that. I'm sure it will actually make sense now.
As far as comparison goes, I love both of the stories, but like any good super nerd, I favor the manga over the anime. It outranks Fruits Basket and Angel Sanctuary as my favorite manga by a smidge or a unit or whatever. The overall story is more epic, much more character development, and things that happen to people that are totally fucked or terrifying are presented in such a manner. I found myself much more emotionally involved in the writing of the manga, even when I was reading a not so great fan translation. It's something that has me sitting in my room reading comics and crying like a geek.
Okay, anime and manga?
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALLY different.
More often than not, when an anime based on a manga and the manga are different the anime leaves out massive amounts of stuff that was in the manga. In this case, the basic starting premise and a large amount of the characters are the same, but that's about it.
It's two different stories told with the same material. A few of the story arcs are the same but much of the detail in them does not match up. I've read up to chapter 60 something of the manga previous to watching the anime (i was waiting for the whole series to come out in a box set for a very long while but was finally thought, 'oh screw it,' and watched it online). The manga is up near chapter 80-something and still continuing (so i have about 20 chapters to catch up on). I'll have to watch the movie again, the first time I saw it was at the Fantasia Film Festival a few years ago. At the time I had only seen a few episodes of the series. And... well, here is what I thought of that. I'm sure it will actually make sense now.
As far as comparison goes, I love both of the stories, but like any good super nerd, I favor the manga over the anime. It outranks Fruits Basket and Angel Sanctuary as my favorite manga by a smidge or a unit or whatever. The overall story is more epic, much more character development, and things that happen to people that are totally fucked or terrifying are presented in such a manner. I found myself much more emotionally involved in the writing of the manga, even when I was reading a not so great fan translation. It's something that has me sitting in my room reading comics and crying like a geek.