All of them are based on the Elric Brothers. Edward is a State Alchemist. Edward is the youngest recorded State Alchemist. He is also one of the only Alchemists that can use Alchemy without a transmutation circle. Edward's brother is Alphonse Elric. The two make a fairly good team when it comes to research and study as well as fighting in various situations. There was an alchemical accident (though you may have to choose for yourself on the definition of accident). In this accident Alphonse lost his entire body, and Edward lost an arm and a leg. Edward managed to save his brother by sealing his soul to a body of armor. Luckily for Edward their neighbor is one of the best automail mechanics Pinako Rockbell and her granddaughter Winry who then fit him with a prosthetic arm and leg. The biggest part of both shows is the mythical idea of the Philosopher's Stone. In the world of alchemy everything requires equivalent exchange. If you want to make a wooden horse you must provide the necessary wood. If you wish to make fire you will need to separate the oxygen in the air then create a spark to ignite the oxygen. All of this will of course require an intimate knowledge of the elements and of the world around you. Which brings us to why the Philosopher's Stone is so desirable. Using the Philosopher's Stone allows a person to bypass the need for equivalent exchange. With a Philosopher's Stone a person could perform the taboo, could create from nothing, could even breach into another world full of just alchemical power.
The Elric Brothers travel across the country of Amestris in search of the Philosopher's Stone or information on it. As they do so they make friends as well as enemies. To be honest the enemy list is probably a bit longer. One of the biggest enemies (other than the homoculi) is known as Scar who is so named for the large X shaped scar that runs across his face. Scar has a tattoo sleeve on his right arm which is a transmutation circle that uses only the first stage of alchemy which is destruction (or breakdown). The second stage being reconstruction. Scar holds a specific hatred toward all state alchemists (though I would like to point out that this hatred is highly justified, though possibly a bit over the top seeing as he murders a lot of them).
The first is Fullmetal Alchemist. This television series was loosely based on the original manga but then took its own more original path. This first series revolves around the concept that a person who commits the taboo (attempts human transmutation) creates a homonculus. These homonculi are humanoid creatures from the realm of Alchemy. They each bare a name from one of the 7 deadly sins; Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, and Pride. Each of these beings are filled with powers that coincide with their name. For example Gluttony's tongue and mouth can eat through and dissolve anything. Or Envy who is able to change his appearance at will to copy anyone else's. The homonculi are in both series, but how they are created is different.
In both series the big overarching story involves the brother's father Von Hohenheim. In the first series he was once with another woman (other than their mother) and together they learned a secret to immortality. They split and the woman grew to hate and target Hohenheim (I'm not going to mention her name to avoid certain possible spoilers). She is also the main villain of the series. In the end Hohenheim and Edward are lost to the power of alchemy due to the woman. This series has 51 episodes each being about 22 minutes.
All of that leads to the movie for the original series. This movie finishes the story off from it. The movie takes place in 2 worlds; the world of alchemy where the show takes place, and our world in the time period of World War II in England. Edward is in our world while Alphonse in in his. Alphonse is spending his time trying to find and save his lost brother, while Edward is trying to live his new life without alchemy. The big thing is that all the people in the alchemy world are also in our world, just with different roles or things like that (this will happen again, but generally to more extremes when it comes to Brotherhood). Edward has to fight with the rising Nazi party and the Thule society. Through the Thule society he sees the possibilities of getting home and they use him to open a gateway into the alchemical world which they call Shamballa. Lots of fighting using guns and alchemy occurs and the story is pretty intense. The movie is 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Finally we have Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Much of the back story for this is the same as the original anime, but the end is significantly different. Though the entire series is a lot more based on the original manga that came out. In this the homoculi can die, though it still takes a lot to do so. You will find that a few episodes and fights are mostly if not completely identical to the original series, especially in the beginning few episodes. This series is based more on the destruction of an entire nation known as Xing which occurred many years ago. Eventually it all comes down to Our Father which is the father of the homoculi.
In this series Ed and Al make more friends than in the first, but pretty much just as many enemies. Though some enemies become friends eventually, and some friends end up becoming enemies. This second series is more violent and aggressive in many of its fights. The series also ends in a way that wraps up some of the smaller stories that occur on the side such as relationships, or other people's skills in their trades. This series had a total of 64 episodes with each being about 22 minutes. This series also had a movie along with it The Sacred Star of Milos. This movie is only a side story from the rest of the Brotherhood series. The reason I am not going to be analyzing that movie because it is its own story, it neither adds or removes to the rest of its series.
Now for the rating. I enjoyed all of these especially small parts of each. Fullmetal Alchemist I give an 8.5 out of 11, while it was very entertaining there were a few areas that I thought it could have improved on itself. The Conqueror of Shamballa I give the higher score of 10 out of 11. The music was fantastic, the fight scenes were enjoyable, but one of the things I liked the most was the sacrificial nature of many of the characters. Finally I give Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood a 10.5 out of 11. The fights are exciting and clever. The entire show was very cleverly done I thought in fact which is why I gave it such a high score.
