How to go about reading/watching Fullmetal Alchemist

For the past week, I've been watching episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist off of Netflix, and I have to say, it's a really good series. I've watched up to episode 25, halfway through the 51 episodes in the series. But then I made the mistake of looking up on Wikipedia what the TV show was in relation to the original manga, and now I have no idea what to do:

• The anime Fullmetal Alchemist is fairly faithful to the original manga, but the plot is changed and it ends early: "The anime's later story and conclusion by Bones [the animation studio] is different from the manga due to a request by Arakawa [the author of the manga]." All that I've seen so far is pretty much the same as the manga, which just made me very indecisive.
  
• There's another anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood that follows the original manga completely. It has 63 episodes, but it seems that only 26 of them have been dubbed, and I have no idea when they'll all dubbed. I'll also have to buy or steal them.
  
• And there's the original manga. 23 of the 26 volumes have been translated, and they'd probably all be translated by the time that I read that far. I skimmed through the books and I've only gotten through three and a half of them after watching 25 episodes.
  

If you're wondering exactly where I am in the series, here's a very minor spoiler.

 minor spoiler

The brothers are on their way to an Ishbalan camp to ask about the philosophers' stone. Mechanical legs girls is up next. Still lost?

 major spoiler

Hughes was just killed by the homunculi.

So what should I watch or read? I'm thinking that I'll watch the rest of Fullmetal Alchemist, then worry about watching or reading the whole story. To anyone that has seen more than I have: is this a good idea?

i'd finish out the non-brotherhood, then if you can see the sequel movie conqueror of shamballa, then watch brotherhood.
that's what im doing, is the only reason im suggesting it like that.

I don't know if you'd read online or anything, but the entire series is translated online.

In terms of storyline, the point you're at hasn't deviated from the manga yet. It's probably better to watch the old series first since that's unrelated to the original. Also, the movie was pretty bad imo. =|

Brotherhood sticks precisely to the manga. So I'd recommend to read the manga first and then watch the scenes nicely animated. But this depends on your preference at this point.

You don't have to steal any of it or buy any of it.
http://www4.funimation.com/video/?page=show&b=280

Just watch the subtitled version on Hulu. Brotherhood is fucking great.

I guess that all of the episodes can be streamed with Japanese audio and English subtitles, but I'd rather watch them with the same (English) voice actors that were in the older series. I watched a few minutes of the older anime, and It's weird to have all of the characters suddenly speaking in Japanese with different voices. But still, thanks a lot for the advice. I'll probably finish the older series, read the manga online, and then see how I can watch Brotherhood. I wouldn't be surprised if it was all dubbed in a few months, and it might even be streamable.

I guess that all of the episodes can be streamed with Japanese audio and English subtitles, but I'd rather watch them with the same (English) voice actors that were in the older series. I watched a few minutes of the older anime, and It's weird to have all of the characters suddenly speaking in Japanese with different voices. But still, thanks a lot for the advice. I'll probably finish the older series, read the manga online, and then see how I can watch Brotherhood. I wouldn't be surprised if it was all dubbed in a few months, and it might even be streamable.

Heh, most of the anime crowd feels the exact opposite. Weird to hear English voices after watching so many subtitled shows. FMA has a good dub though. It'll all be dubbed eventually, it's a popular property.

Heh, most of the anime crowd feels the exact opposite. Weird to hear English voices after watching so many subtitled shows. FMA has a good dub though. It'll all be dubbed eventually, it's a popular property.

I would probably prefer Japanese with subtitles if I had watched that first, too, but now I'm too used to English. I can't stand watching dubbed live action, though, it just looks fake.


I actually have a bit of a problem now. I happen to have the first volume of the manga from my brother, and I noticed that all the scans online are unofficial translations. The unofficial translation are a bit different from the official ones...



...but they also don't or can't replace the text outside of speech bubbles like the official translation can.



I know I'm being a bit of a perfectionist here, but does anyone know of a site with scans from the official English manga? I wouldn't mind reading them how they are, but I like to have everything the way it's supposed to be.

[COLOR="Red"]
You really don't lose anything from reading an unoffical translation. In some cases, I think it's better translated. The main story is there. Do you understand what Ed was thinking when he screwed up? If yes, just read it online. If you can't understand that he done goof'd, then wait for a while for an "offical" translation.[/COLOR]

In my personal taste, I think FMA:Brohood did a much better job with the plot. They spent less time wondering around unfolding secrets of the Philosopher's Stone than the original FMA. The plot unfolded much more rapidly and suspense was just piling every episode. Also, plot twists out the ass.

And again, personal taste: I think you should stop FMA before you spoil it for yourself any further and go for FMA:Bro. Where you're at, they met up with that automail leg girl in episode 20-something. They met up with her in 10 I think in FMA:B. Yeah, it moves a lot quicker.

[*]It has 63 episodes, but it seems that only 26 of them have been dubbed, and I have no idea when they'll all dubbed. I'll also have to buy or steal them.
[/list]

If you don't mind subs, Eclipse and several other fansub groups did the entire series. It's also on YouTube under FUNimation.

Also, the movie was pretty bad imo. =|

Agreed.

In my personal taste, I think FMA:Brohood did a much better job with the plot. They spent less time wondering around unfolding secrets of the Philosopher's Stone than the original FMA. The plot unfolded much more rapidly and suspense was just piling every episode. Also, plot twists out the ass.

And again, personal taste: I think you should stop FMA before you spoil it for yourself any further and go for FMA:Bro. Where you're at, they met up with that automail leg girl in episode 20-something. They met up with her in 10 I think in FMA:B. Yeah, it moves a lot quicker.

I still think that I'll watch the rest of Fullmetal Alchemist, since I'll only spoil myself about a quarter of the way into the real series before it deviates. Besides, I don't really mind the pacing and I think that I'll be able to get used to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood quickly. Also, the different ending of Fullmetal Alchemist won't ruin the real series for me, will it?

No it won't spoil it for you. The problem I had with the English brotherhood dub was that 1) I had just watched the entire series in Japanese and 2) Some of the voice actors are different then the original voice actors from FMA.

SPOILERS FOR BROTHERHOOD!!!!!

I can't pineappleing stand Mai Chang's voice!!!! RAWR!

Heh, most of the anime crowd feels the exact opposite. Weird to hear English voices after watching so many subtitled shows. FMA has a good dub though. It'll all be dubbed eventually, it's a popular property.

For me it all started with princess monoke. after that i prefer subs almost always. The thing that bothers m more than just bad voice acting for dubs is that the ages are totally off. Any young character will almost always sound much older in dubs.