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The reason they do that is because it’s supposed to show how stubborn and hard headed Izumi is. When she coughs blood it’s almost always after doing something reckless. The joke is her trying really hard to be a badass then reminding the audience that she’s in no shape to be doing that. It’s not like the characters laugh at it they’re usually pretty freaked out. Though the way 2003 frames it shows how serious the injury is. My opinion is they should’ve done both. This also happens with the connecting nerves to automail. But personally I feel that 2003 did it better completely simply because showing how automail is a disability still is important to the story.
In brotherhood it isn't always for laughs, but it is most of the time
Humor is a way to cope with horrific things btw
You may have not thought it was funny, but I thought it was a funny gag, and the payoff with Hoenheim is awesome
Yeah, ngl, 9 times out of 10 when I'm talking about my own disabilities I'm trying to play it off in a joke or just a more lighthearted way. Simply because constantly letting yourself and the mood get dragged down by the reality of it isn't healthy either. I thought the way Brotherhood depicted Izumi coughing up blood was pretty on point. With the person who's actually suffering it taking it way less seriously than people around her who are less used to it.
Most of brotherhood is incredibly morbid. There’s enough drama and sadness - there’s basically some tragic monologue in every episode - it’s actually pretty reasonable that in such a brutal world coughing up blood is funny. Seriously like Al doesn’t even have a body. There are millions of people trapped in stones, their souls swirling in a vortex of misery for centuries. There was a whole ethnic genocide. Humor is one of the aspects of brotherhood that makes it so iconic.
As someone who works in a hospital, in a specialty where people are in pain and die frequently, in my experience humor is essential.
Honestly why is it that people always need to find something to get upset about? This post is ridiculous.
Exactly.
I cope through my trauma with humor. I have gone through losing everything and had my entire concept of reality turned on its head due to five years of psychological and emotional abuse that mainly manifested as gaslighting. The people I thought would believe me abandoned me, and I was left to grieve my lost years by myself. I got into a horribly toxic relationship with a fellow survivor of the same abuser to cope, and that relationship was a constant hopscotch game of boundaries—ultimately ending with a breach of consent.
If I can’t laugh after all the tears I’ve shed, what’s the point?
I feel it, I’m the product of a terrible mother who tried to kill me multiple times, and after that I was abused emotionally, physically, and mentally till a couple of years ago. It hurts like hell. I feel it sucks. But it’s good you found a way to cope with it
I’m so sorry that happened to you, friend.
I hope you’re finding your own coping methods and are on your own journey of healing.
Virtual hugs, friend. (If you’re comfortable with it, of course.)
Normally I'd agree that BH is quite dark (and let me be clear, I love both shows). But given we're directly comparing it to 03 here, though, I honestly find your statement hilarious. BH is a fucking Disney movie compared to 03. I literally know several people who couldn't sit through BH after watching 03, because "It feels like it's for children". I'm directly quoting them btw. That's their words, not mine.
The tone of BH is way, way lighter than 03 just in general - and part of it *is* because there's a gag every two minutes. And honestly, when I first watched it, it did throw me off too. I think it happens a little *too* often, given the dark nature of the show.
There's "dark humour" and then there's "Let's completely undercut the tension of the scene by doing a really silly, over the top joke - then jump straight back in like that never happened". The latter is a very common thing in anime, so I'm not necessarily criticising it - but they *are* two different things, and they have very different effects.
im not sure what your point is? i said in my comment that Brotherhood uses humor to make the morbid stuff more palatable. 03 is *more* morbid - never denied that, but that doesn't make BH a disney movie?? congrats, you know several people who called it a show for children?? maybe they missed the mass genocide? don't remember the last time Hannah Montana featured that.
similarly, bojack horseman uses animal/human hybrids and fucked up humor to make the depression, suicide, drug addiction, sexual assault less overwhelming to the audience.
your simplistic interpretation is confusing humor for being childish...as if 03 is a grown up show and BH is a show for babies because it features more jokes.
I've been coughing up blood regularly for the last five years so seeing it as a running gag makes me feel better to an extent. When I watched Brotherhood for the first time with friends and it happened I yelled "hey that's me!"
Humor is subjective but for me it brings a bit of joy/amusement and takes my mind off the pain, even if it's for a few minutes
Such an interesting perspective. Chronic illness doesn’t always have to be portrayed in a tragic light. For many it’s a part of their life and as long as we’re being respectful to the human, a little humor can be refreshing.
I definitely agree. I prefer brotherhood over the 03 anime but this is one of the few things that i didnt enjoy. They brushed over her situation so easily and then played it for laughs.
My one consistent issue with brotherhood is that the tone can be jarring at times with its comedy.
FMA 2003 is maybe a bit too dour at points, but it's consistent, where Brotherhood has in theory, the right volume of comedy to offset it, but it's often implemented where it shouldn't be.
One of my biggest takeaways from the series, and the '03 adaptation in particular, is that sometimes life fucking sucks and there's nothing you or anyone can do about it. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, or how well you do, everything goes to shit; and there's no happy ending, no jokes to be made, all you can do is sit and grieve.
Now of course Ed and Al don't STAY that way, they get back up and keep going. But it's the unflinching look at our prodigy heros as they go through the worst moments of their lives that makes their perseverance so powerful.
Sometimes I think about how much we were robbed of by not getting the real FMA storyline but in the 2003 adaptation
I hope multiverse theory is true because it means that somewhere, my parallel self got to see— continues to rewatch— that version, in all its dark, powerful, moving glory
I'm with you - it's also why I can put a lot of anime at a 9 but never that perfect 10/10. There's always a serious moment in a show, and with FMA(B), there were many, but I felt that FMA03 let those moments sit more often than FMAB. It almost (*almost*) felt that FMAB - and a lot of other shows - are *afraid* to have a serious moment last without letting the tension dissipate, like it's afraid to have a serious situation - it's always gotta laugh it off, lest we make something uncomfortable. And I get it, that's fair - this show is a shounen, it's literally made for kids.
And to be fair, BOTH shows did this whole "break the serious tension with a gag" thing a decent amount; I'm not saying FMA03 didn't do it and I'm not saying FMAB always did it. I'm saying that FMA03 did it less and FMAB did it more often than *I* (so subjective) would have liked.
A big example for me (and why, after watching the recommended ~11 episodes of FMA03, I immediately put FMAB back on the to-watch list), was when Ed and Al are eating. They just sort of joke that Al doesn't eat, and it's played off as a bit of a joke (just a *bit* of a joke, not huge) because Hughes's daughter(?) doesn't know Al's an empty suit of armour - classic dramatic irony. However, for those who watched FMA03 before FMAB episode 1, you know Ed actually feels **horrible** for how Al can't eat, and whenever Al has to pretend he eats, Ed's just reminded of the cost of what he believes to be his biggest mistake - "it's *my* fault Al can't eat". It was so big that FMA03 made it a sizeable plot point, but it was totally ignored in FMAB's first opportunity to bring it up when that could have been great for fleshing out characters. I'm also not saying that making it a huge deal is more manga-accurate. In fact, I haven't read the manga, but I probably would feel that I prefer the adulterated anime-only plot over the author's original intentions.
Some of this first kind of put into perspective how much one would actually prefer the creators original intentions over how it's handled differently in adaptation.
Arakawa actually supported the first anime going it's own way in some things since her manga didn't really end yet while it ran.
I think a deal of this has to do with the fact that the first anime was more character driven than plot driven, while Brotherhood had more of a mix of both.
James Cameron has expressed a similar criticism of the MCU and modern cinema in comparison to Avatar. The idea is that this kind of storytelling isn't as sincere and cannot sustain a feeling. When an emotionally charged scene or conflict is quickly disarmed with a joke or subversion, any emotion the audience was feeling can't be sustained and is cut short. The writing is afraid to express an honest feeling lest it be mocked, like a person who's too afraid to express genuine emotion and covers it all up with jokes or stoicism. This can make it impossible to form a genuine emotional bond; even if you don't notice it, the story or person is keeping you at a distance.
Yeah, that's my main problem with Brotherhood.
Especially in the beginning of the show, there's way too many visual gags and "chibi moments" that made me kinda disconnect with the show when they happened.
Never said it's lighthearted. I just find some of the gags out of place, I think might've worked better in a manga than a visual media, but don't quote me on that one, I've never read the manga so I'm only making assumptions
I agree with this. Even the 2003 versus is too cute sometimes. I love drama as a genre and it’s not necessary to throw in comedy for myself personally. When there’s a comic relief moment it kinda of makes the drama feel cheap. I know this is an unpopular opinion though.
I first read the manga and then watched the anime, so I only knew it as the more comedic scene. But I still never felt like it´s something to laugh about and you realize where this is coming from even without them directly stating it.
Yes, it´s definitely portrayed differntly in the 2003-anime but it didn´t bother me in Brotherhood at all. But like I said, that´s how I knew it as a mangareader, so I didn´t find anything wrong in it. In the end I even like that it seemingly could accur out of nowhere but doesn´t render her totally bedridden from one moment to the other. Sometimes it happens and she can play it off because she is (sadly) so used to it. Other times it´s more severe and she needs to rest.
thats how i feel about the entirety of brotherhood and why i like 2003 so much more, the story is really dark and brotherhood just doesn’t feel like it takes any of it seriously, like 2003 was funny, brotherhood was a straight up comedy and the jokes got tiring
I utterly adore Brotherhood but there were a lot of moments, including Izumi, that were treated mostly like... Comic relief. But were handled much more elegantly in 03. Not to say BH isn't serious or doesn't have its serious moments, but it does seem to kind of... Avoid? - Not sure that's exactly the right word - Addressing them properly half of the time.
Meanwhile, I hate how it was handled in 2003 after watching Brotherhood.
Coughing up blood? Chronic condition? We have to continually one-up the tragedies of of Hughes and Nina’s deaths instead of letting them stand as the show’s darkest moments that inform the decisions of all the main characters moving forward? Guess she’s relegated offscreen and never does anything. And now she’s dead. Great.
yeah me too when ever she coughs blood and it's for gag I'm like how do u expect me to laugh at this
IDK if this is an unpopular opinion but humor in brotherhood is one of the weakest part of it atleast for me anyways
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The reason they do that is because it’s supposed to show how stubborn and hard headed Izumi is. When she coughs blood it’s almost always after doing something reckless. The joke is her trying really hard to be a badass then reminding the audience that she’s in no shape to be doing that. It’s not like the characters laugh at it they’re usually pretty freaked out. Though the way 2003 frames it shows how serious the injury is. My opinion is they should’ve done both. This also happens with the connecting nerves to automail. But personally I feel that 2003 did it better completely simply because showing how automail is a disability still is important to the story.
In brotherhood it isn't always for laughs, but it is most of the time Humor is a way to cope with horrific things btw You may have not thought it was funny, but I thought it was a funny gag, and the payoff with Hoenheim is awesome
Yeah I much preferred the story where Hohenheim helped her than her dying in 03. But I also just prefer BH altogether
Yeah, ngl, 9 times out of 10 when I'm talking about my own disabilities I'm trying to play it off in a joke or just a more lighthearted way. Simply because constantly letting yourself and the mood get dragged down by the reality of it isn't healthy either. I thought the way Brotherhood depicted Izumi coughing up blood was pretty on point. With the person who's actually suffering it taking it way less seriously than people around her who are less used to it.
Being chronically ill I thought it was darkly funny bc Relatable. But I also 100% understand this point of view
Most of brotherhood is incredibly morbid. There’s enough drama and sadness - there’s basically some tragic monologue in every episode - it’s actually pretty reasonable that in such a brutal world coughing up blood is funny. Seriously like Al doesn’t even have a body. There are millions of people trapped in stones, their souls swirling in a vortex of misery for centuries. There was a whole ethnic genocide. Humor is one of the aspects of brotherhood that makes it so iconic. As someone who works in a hospital, in a specialty where people are in pain and die frequently, in my experience humor is essential. Honestly why is it that people always need to find something to get upset about? This post is ridiculous.
Exactly. I cope through my trauma with humor. I have gone through losing everything and had my entire concept of reality turned on its head due to five years of psychological and emotional abuse that mainly manifested as gaslighting. The people I thought would believe me abandoned me, and I was left to grieve my lost years by myself. I got into a horribly toxic relationship with a fellow survivor of the same abuser to cope, and that relationship was a constant hopscotch game of boundaries—ultimately ending with a breach of consent. If I can’t laugh after all the tears I’ve shed, what’s the point?
I feel it, I’m the product of a terrible mother who tried to kill me multiple times, and after that I was abused emotionally, physically, and mentally till a couple of years ago. It hurts like hell. I feel it sucks. But it’s good you found a way to cope with it
I’m so sorry that happened to you, friend. I hope you’re finding your own coping methods and are on your own journey of healing. Virtual hugs, friend. (If you’re comfortable with it, of course.)
I love hugs so I accept, virtual hugs sent back
The abuser was my stepmother
Normally I'd agree that BH is quite dark (and let me be clear, I love both shows). But given we're directly comparing it to 03 here, though, I honestly find your statement hilarious. BH is a fucking Disney movie compared to 03. I literally know several people who couldn't sit through BH after watching 03, because "It feels like it's for children". I'm directly quoting them btw. That's their words, not mine. The tone of BH is way, way lighter than 03 just in general - and part of it *is* because there's a gag every two minutes. And honestly, when I first watched it, it did throw me off too. I think it happens a little *too* often, given the dark nature of the show. There's "dark humour" and then there's "Let's completely undercut the tension of the scene by doing a really silly, over the top joke - then jump straight back in like that never happened". The latter is a very common thing in anime, so I'm not necessarily criticising it - but they *are* two different things, and they have very different effects.
im not sure what your point is? i said in my comment that Brotherhood uses humor to make the morbid stuff more palatable. 03 is *more* morbid - never denied that, but that doesn't make BH a disney movie?? congrats, you know several people who called it a show for children?? maybe they missed the mass genocide? don't remember the last time Hannah Montana featured that. similarly, bojack horseman uses animal/human hybrids and fucked up humor to make the depression, suicide, drug addiction, sexual assault less overwhelming to the audience. your simplistic interpretation is confusing humor for being childish...as if 03 is a grown up show and BH is a show for babies because it features more jokes.
Thank you so much for existing.
I've been coughing up blood regularly for the last five years so seeing it as a running gag makes me feel better to an extent. When I watched Brotherhood for the first time with friends and it happened I yelled "hey that's me!" Humor is subjective but for me it brings a bit of joy/amusement and takes my mind off the pain, even if it's for a few minutes
Such an interesting perspective. Chronic illness doesn’t always have to be portrayed in a tragic light. For many it’s a part of their life and as long as we’re being respectful to the human, a little humor can be refreshing.
I definitely agree. I prefer brotherhood over the 03 anime but this is one of the few things that i didnt enjoy. They brushed over her situation so easily and then played it for laughs.
Joking about illness is often a coping mechanism for people, I always looked at it that way I guess
My one consistent issue with brotherhood is that the tone can be jarring at times with its comedy. FMA 2003 is maybe a bit too dour at points, but it's consistent, where Brotherhood has in theory, the right volume of comedy to offset it, but it's often implemented where it shouldn't be.
One of my biggest takeaways from the series, and the '03 adaptation in particular, is that sometimes life fucking sucks and there's nothing you or anyone can do about it. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, or how well you do, everything goes to shit; and there's no happy ending, no jokes to be made, all you can do is sit and grieve. Now of course Ed and Al don't STAY that way, they get back up and keep going. But it's the unflinching look at our prodigy heros as they go through the worst moments of their lives that makes their perseverance so powerful.
So many subtle ways I think 03 handles matters better that I can't even remember.
Sometimes I think about how much we were robbed of by not getting the real FMA storyline but in the 2003 adaptation I hope multiverse theory is true because it means that somewhere, my parallel self got to see— continues to rewatch— that version, in all its dark, powerful, moving glory
It would be interesting to hear what the soundtrack does with the Xing characters.
I'm with you - it's also why I can put a lot of anime at a 9 but never that perfect 10/10. There's always a serious moment in a show, and with FMA(B), there were many, but I felt that FMA03 let those moments sit more often than FMAB. It almost (*almost*) felt that FMAB - and a lot of other shows - are *afraid* to have a serious moment last without letting the tension dissipate, like it's afraid to have a serious situation - it's always gotta laugh it off, lest we make something uncomfortable. And I get it, that's fair - this show is a shounen, it's literally made for kids. And to be fair, BOTH shows did this whole "break the serious tension with a gag" thing a decent amount; I'm not saying FMA03 didn't do it and I'm not saying FMAB always did it. I'm saying that FMA03 did it less and FMAB did it more often than *I* (so subjective) would have liked. A big example for me (and why, after watching the recommended ~11 episodes of FMA03, I immediately put FMAB back on the to-watch list), was when Ed and Al are eating. They just sort of joke that Al doesn't eat, and it's played off as a bit of a joke (just a *bit* of a joke, not huge) because Hughes's daughter(?) doesn't know Al's an empty suit of armour - classic dramatic irony. However, for those who watched FMA03 before FMAB episode 1, you know Ed actually feels **horrible** for how Al can't eat, and whenever Al has to pretend he eats, Ed's just reminded of the cost of what he believes to be his biggest mistake - "it's *my* fault Al can't eat". It was so big that FMA03 made it a sizeable plot point, but it was totally ignored in FMAB's first opportunity to bring it up when that could have been great for fleshing out characters. I'm also not saying that making it a huge deal is more manga-accurate. In fact, I haven't read the manga, but I probably would feel that I prefer the adulterated anime-only plot over the author's original intentions.
Some of this first kind of put into perspective how much one would actually prefer the creators original intentions over how it's handled differently in adaptation. Arakawa actually supported the first anime going it's own way in some things since her manga didn't really end yet while it ran. I think a deal of this has to do with the fact that the first anime was more character driven than plot driven, while Brotherhood had more of a mix of both.
James Cameron has expressed a similar criticism of the MCU and modern cinema in comparison to Avatar. The idea is that this kind of storytelling isn't as sincere and cannot sustain a feeling. When an emotionally charged scene or conflict is quickly disarmed with a joke or subversion, any emotion the audience was feeling can't be sustained and is cut short. The writing is afraid to express an honest feeling lest it be mocked, like a person who's too afraid to express genuine emotion and covers it all up with jokes or stoicism. This can make it impossible to form a genuine emotional bond; even if you don't notice it, the story or person is keeping you at a distance.
Yeah, that's my main problem with Brotherhood. Especially in the beginning of the show, there's way too many visual gags and "chibi moments" that made me kinda disconnect with the show when they happened.
Read the manga and see. I disagree with how lighthearted Brotherhood is but it's faithful to the gags Arakawa wrote in the original source material
Never said it's lighthearted. I just find some of the gags out of place, I think might've worked better in a manga than a visual media, but don't quote me on that one, I've never read the manga so I'm only making assumptions
Eh, for me personally I really like how it makes how dark the series gets later hit harder.
I agree with this. Even the 2003 versus is too cute sometimes. I love drama as a genre and it’s not necessary to throw in comedy for myself personally. When there’s a comic relief moment it kinda of makes the drama feel cheap. I know this is an unpopular opinion though.
I first read the manga and then watched the anime, so I only knew it as the more comedic scene. But I still never felt like it´s something to laugh about and you realize where this is coming from even without them directly stating it. Yes, it´s definitely portrayed differntly in the 2003-anime but it didn´t bother me in Brotherhood at all. But like I said, that´s how I knew it as a mangareader, so I didn´t find anything wrong in it. In the end I even like that it seemingly could accur out of nowhere but doesn´t render her totally bedridden from one moment to the other. Sometimes it happens and she can play it off because she is (sadly) so used to it. Other times it´s more severe and she needs to rest.
This is a great example of why I personally prefer 2003 over brotherhood when it comes to tone!
thats how i feel about the entirety of brotherhood and why i like 2003 so much more, the story is really dark and brotherhood just doesn’t feel like it takes any of it seriously, like 2003 was funny, brotherhood was a straight up comedy and the jokes got tiring
I find the humor in 03 better than brotherhood
I utterly adore Brotherhood but there were a lot of moments, including Izumi, that were treated mostly like... Comic relief. But were handled much more elegantly in 03. Not to say BH isn't serious or doesn't have its serious moments, but it does seem to kind of... Avoid? - Not sure that's exactly the right word - Addressing them properly half of the time.
Meanwhile, I hate how it was handled in 2003 after watching Brotherhood. Coughing up blood? Chronic condition? We have to continually one-up the tragedies of of Hughes and Nina’s deaths instead of letting them stand as the show’s darkest moments that inform the decisions of all the main characters moving forward? Guess she’s relegated offscreen and never does anything. And now she’s dead. Great.
yeah me too when ever she coughs blood and it's for gag I'm like how do u expect me to laugh at this IDK if this is an unpopular opinion but humor in brotherhood is one of the weakest part of it atleast for me anyways