A Look at Pokemon: Generation 2

Intro
Now we get to the second generation of the Pokemon series.  The games Gold, Silver, and Crystal continue from Gen 1 and gives us a new world to explore along with a revisit of an old world.  People think this is the high point of the series and it went downhill from here.  Is this really the case, is there nothing wrong with the games that I can't point out anything that might bug me... lets look.

Graphics
For the overworld graphics much as been recycled for these versions.  While there some new sprites like the old towers and the headbutting trees, it isn't enough they could have done.

Pokemon sprites do far better than the Gen 1 sprites but even some of them have their mistakes, like Raikou if you check those out.

Like Yellow before it Crystal has some better graphics done than in Gold and Silver.  Plus the first time animation is used on Pokemon sprites, simple yet is expanded on in later generations.

Plot
A squeal to the Gen 1 games set 3 years after the events of those games.  Mainly the same as a boy in the same town as the Pokemon Lab is sent out on a quest to become a trainer at the age of ten.  Though a bit more compelling than before.  The rival has stolen a starter Pokemon on his own and is determined to become the strongest, even to have a grudge against Team Rocket though that plot doesn't go into dept until the Gen 1 remakes and leading to an event to the Gen 2 remakes.  But this gives the rival a backstory as to why he is a jerk unlike the Gen 1 rival who was a prick for no real reason other than he's the rival so he has to be.

Team Rocket has rebuilt themselves and hold a better place than the last generation.  While the fact that the leaders now are nameless and just a better looking grunts, it doesn't bug me that much.  Team Rocket has gone through some get rich schemes by selling Slowpoke tails, devices to force Pokemon to evolve, and taking over a whole city to call back Giovanni.  This ups the stakes but ends quickly in the game.

Another thing appealing about the Johto region is it's history.  Ho-oh and Lugia are given much backstory to them and even the birth of the legendary beasts of the Johto region, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.  Better than Gen 1 since there isn't much history there with no tales of the legendary birds and Mewtwo is more of a modern legend in the games as to something in the far past as the Gen 2 Pokemon are.

For Pokemon Crystal the only thing added to the plot is the subplot with Suicune.  Instead of it Roaming around like the other two beasts it can be spotted at certain points and is followed by the strange man named, Eusine.  While not like the rival in the games he becomes your rival in obtaining the legendary Pokemon Suicune.

Gameplay
Types have been fixed up for this generation.  Along with how some moves affect other types two new types have been added to the battle, Dark and Steel, to balance out the Psychic types more.  This resulted in Magnemite and Magneton being Steel and Electric.  Ghost and Bug types have been given some new moves, Shadow Ball and Fury Cutter.  There is also Megahorn but in this gen it's Heracross's signature move.

It is in this generation that there is now Special Attack and Special Defence for the special moves.  Giving a defence for those kinds of moves is better than what was confusing in the first generation.  And honestly I still don't what to know how that worked, it's not important anymore.

Now there is more possibilities with items as Pokemon can hold them and when held the items can have powers over the battle.  Like the Quick Claw giving a Pokemon a chance to attack first, or items that can increase the power of certain move types.  That also leads to the first of berries in the games though their names are pretty unoriginal, only named for what they heal instead of being interesting.  There are also new kinds of pokeballs in Gen 2.  The new pokeballs are made by Kurt of Azalea Town from apricorns.  In Gold and Silver Kurt can only make one a day, while in Crystal he can make multiple of one color apricorns he his given.

Pokegear, the first in a line of devices that the main character can get on their journey to help them.  One function of it is to tell time, a new thing to the games.  Certain Pokemon can be found in the morning, day, or night, along with some Pokemon evolving during a certain time as well, along with some events happening too.  A map that works like the Town Map item.  Another is a phone that keeps a few numbers which people can call you or you call them.  Some might tell you of swarms or even rebattle you.  In Crystal some might give you items.  Only downside of the phone is that it can only have 10 numbers.  The last function of the Pokegear is the Radio.  Which does exactly what you think, having different channels which has information about Pokemon, music, the pokeflute even, and on Crystal a password channel that you can get prizes from.

The big steps to this game is breeding.  Certain Pokemon of certain groups called Egg Groups can breed to have a baby Pokemon.  The baby is always the form of the mother, but if Ditto is involved it could become the father instead.  Some Pokemon can only be obtained by breeding, like Magby and Elekid.  Pokemon can even gain moves too, called egg moves that they get from the father.  They also can get level up moves if both parents know the move.  Now scientifically this just wouldn't happen, since a child gaining more from the mother isn't how DNA works but I've seen worse fictional ways it works.  It isn't a bad thing it's just that ridiculous.  Anyways once you breed a Pokemon you get an egg that you have to hatch by walking, and Pokemon all have different number of steps before that is possible.  But with breeding comes gender, as this time most Pokemon are given genders to make it possible and some Pokemon only have one gender or even no gender at all.

For the most part trading remains the same as the last generations, with some new ways of evolution by trading a Pokemon with an item on them.  For example an Onix traded while holding onto a Metal Coat will evolve into Steelix.  Trading is possible even with the Gen 1 games.  With a Time Machine one can trade to 3 years ago.  An impressive feet to the series and while connections between the generations can happen they have yet to live up to the standards here.   Since Gen 1 doesn't have certain Pokemon and certain moves no new Pokemon can be sent to the Gen 1 games, same with old Pokemon with new moves.  That is where the move deleter comes in to get ride of moves that shouldn't be there for the player.  But with this and breeding one can send Pokemon one can't get get normally through the Gen 1 games, like a level 5 Cubone.

Happiness is also added in the game.  Originally from Yellow with interactions with Pikachu, Gen 2 really gives the idea of a Pokemon being happy much more care.  Many Pokemon now relay on happiness to evolve or to use the full power of Return.  There is also the move Frustration that relays on the opposite of happiness to use full power.  But evolution is the main detail of happiness.

The biggest thing added in terms of gameplay in Crystal is the Battle Tower a staple of all the games to come.  Though in order to go through you needed your Pokemon at the exact level, if it's over then it will not enter.  Minor additions include the Mover Tutor and the ability to be either male for female.  The ability to pick gender was to be in Gen 1 but got rid of the idea until Crystal and was in every game since then.

Pokemon
The Pokemon of this Generation has been hinted at all the way back from the start of the anime with Ho-oh flying at the end of the first episode and Togepi coming along half way through the first region.

This has been the first time starters of a generation of Pokemon to have a pure type evolution sets, Gen 5 came close to that too... but we'll get to that down the line.  Well seeing fully evolved starters as a single type was good and they are good Pokemon.

If there are any flaws it would be the number intruded and number of the new Pokemon types.  This generation as yield the smallest number of new Pokemon at 100.  Dark and Steel types both only had 6 Pokemon of that type during the generation.  Technically 4 for the Steel types since Magnemite and Magneton were Gen 1 Pokemon and only Steel types after Gen 2 came out.  Dragons and Ghost types also get the short end of the stick again with only one new Pokemon of those types added.

Since these games had more color than the last games they added the famous Red Gyarados and shiny Pokemon.  Named for the sparkles and sound effects that happen when one appears.  Gyarados is a given and while a Gen 1 Pokemon, Gen 2 made the Red Gyarados a mascot for all shiny Pokemon to future generations to come.

Pokemon Stadium 2
The last of the Stadium games, it had the basics the last game had with some updates.  Giving people who liked the first Stadium or any of the games out on the Game Boy at the time to get this game.  It had its moments that out did even the original.

Things have returned like the GB Tower, Gym Leader Castle, and Mini Games.  Nothing has changed much as far as the Tower is concerned, aside from playing Gen 1 and Gen 2 games.  The Gym Leader Castle is like a castle version of the gyms in the game like the first, though you get Team Rocket to drop by to wreck up your good time.  And the Mini Games.... big improvements with these, aside from playing as Pokemon you can use your own from the Game Boy games, and doing good pockets some coins for the game corner.  A new addition to Stadium 2 is the Academy and Room locations.  Modeled from Earl's Pokemon Academy in Violet City, trainers can learn a lot here and even have test both multiple choice and battle.  The Academy even has a Library with all kinds of information that one can get on the internet nowadays, but I would really like to see this kind of thing in other games at some point.  And the Room I noted is a 3D rendering of how the hero's room looks like in Gold, Silver, or Crystal.  Stadium 2 also has a Mystery Gift section that lets you get an item once as day without the use of another game like normal.

In terms of prizes there isn't much.  To start with a pro there is the Move Relearner that can teach a forgotten move to a Pokemon you MUST have on the team when facing the Johto Elite 4.  So yes the first of the move relearner that returns for many games, great since Pokemon that you can ONLY get at higher levels learn moves at lower ones.  The cons are only 2 prize Pokemon, a Farfetch'd with Baton Pass and a Gligar with Earthquake.  Though one can guess that the prizes from the last Stadium game doesn't matter that much with breeding involved in the game.

Replayability
Slightly better than Gen 1.  Once you defeat the Elite 4 and Champion of Johto you are able to complete against the Kanto region Gym Leaders, and travel through the Kanto land.  This is the main reason a lot of people regard Gen 2 as the best as it not only continues the story of Gen 1 but allows one to travel to the region as well.  This is a feat that hasn't been repeated in any games later in the series (not counting the Gen 2 remakes).  So with the inclusion of breeding, a few rematches, and the battle with Red at Mt Silver there is a good amount of extra stuff to keep you busy for a time.

Final Thoughts
Regarded as the best of the series this offered many changes to the series and it lives up to a good amount of that.  But it hasn't reached that point that I could honestly call it perfect for the reasons stated in the blog.  If anything the remakes that I'll get into the Gen 4 blog are far better than the old games.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And to end the look at this generation we look at the best and worst of designs of Pokemon. Now a few things to note.  Not all will be about appearance alone but how they are presented in the series.  Also no Pokemon on the worst list can be explained through species of real life animals, take Beautifly for example, it is a butterfly like Butterfree but based on two different kinds.  Also this list is hard to make, while some of my favorites are on the best list it goes by design.  Last rule is that Pokemon may be grouped in one spot by family, or if they are part of a group (Ex: legendary trio thing), and of unrelated Pokemon might be together if they have something similar that bugs/fascinates me.  Finally any Pokemon on my worst design list is not a Pokemon I hate.

Top 5 Worst and Best Pokemon Designs of Generation 2

Worst

5 Pupitar

A cocoon stage between Larvitar and Tyranitar.  My question is why?  Sure Larvitar has "larva" in its name but it isn't a larva exactly.  But does Pupitar have to be some new looking Metapod for this to work?

4 Remoraid and Octillery

Not themselves but the fact that Remoraid evolving into Octillery is a a big design flaw.  A fish evolving into an octopus is all kinds of WTF and makes no sense.  There is no connection to them.  At least for Pokemon like Magikarp evolving into Gyarados made some logic since it relates to a tale of a carp becoming a dragon, not true in any way but it's something.  These two... what got into the creators' heads to think that a fish becoming an octopus was at all a smart idea?

3 Shuckle

One of the best when it comes to defense, sporting a 230 base stat for both defense and special defense.  While usable in battle it isn't that great of a design.  Heck it is called the Mold Pokemon, and why?  It is most likely based off of mold, kind of a disgusting thought.  It also has some style based off turtles as to why it behaves in a similar way.  And if it does have that as a base as well it is kind of unappealing compared to the other turtle based Pokemon in the series.

2 Unown

To making the alphabet of the Pokemon world is one thing, but to make the letters alive for no real reason?  And they only know one move?  So not only does Unown not get a good source for their design but also given low stats and a poor move pool.  If it had anything interesting for it in terms of moves maybe it wouldn't be so high on the list.

1 Wobbuffet

A cool Pokemon that I like even the design, but I will not deny that the design is terrible, possibly in a so bad it's good kind of way.  Thinking about it, Wobbuffet could make the number 1 of all Pokemon in bad design.  Researching on Bulbapedia, this Pokemon seems to be based on a Japanese comedian named Sapei Hayashiya who is known for putting his hand to his head, much like our friend here.  Heck even it's Japanese name comes from the guy's trademark phrase, "That's the way it is."  And it's ability to take hits might come from the other basis for Wobbuffet, a punching bag.  So mixing a comedian with a punching bag yields a blueish blob with a black tail with eyes.  Wow, imagine what would happen if they combine Abe Lincoln with a motorcycle! 



Best 


5 Girafarig

Of course the main creature this is based off of is a giraffe.  And I think it works better than I would have thought.  You would think that something based off a giraffe would have a much longer neck but it pulls it off without the neck being very long yet still recognizable as a giraffe.


4 Heracross

Built to be tough though in its eyes make it kind of cute to me.  Based on a rhinoceros beetle and the insect fights we get this one.  Not a fan of the bug types Heracross comes off as a kind of Pokemon that is a badass with a heart of gold.  Look into those eyes and tell me you don't feel the same.


3 Hoothoot and Noctowl

I think it's how these two have a sense of dignity to them.  Owls have usually been a sign of intelligence, and you can see it well in the two.  With Hoothoot being the first stage it is given a cute appearance but has a look of a thinker.  When evolving into Noctowl it is almost given an air of nobility even though it isn't based around anything like that.  While not a psychic type themselves they can do psychic type moves and look brighter than many psychic type Pokemon.  Dare I say that Noctowl looks smarter than Mewtwo.

2 Raikou, Entei, and Suicune

It's the history of the legendary beasts that gets them here.  Once Pokemon died in a fire of the tower, and Ho-oh with its power gave them new life as the first roaming Pokemon in the series.  This story of rebirth for them is simple and great.  Plus the order of them on the Pokedex also tells the story of the day they died and was reborn with Raikou being the lightning that started the fire of the tower, Entei being the fire that burned the tower to the ground, and Suicune as the northern winds that carried the rain that stopped the fire.

1 Smeargle

A beagle with an artist look to it, and it is the Jack of all Trades.  And as someone who enjoys drawing and stuff, even make my own title cards the artist looks speaks to me.  Yeah Mew can learn all TMs but Smeargle can learn all TMs and then some.  While not having the best of stats anyone can work around that for a Pokemon that can pack a punch that you can't get with any other Pokemon.  From being a One-Hit KO wonder to the perfect Pokemon to catch others this Pokemon is the one of the best.  Also it can learn any move just by drawing it, so it can draw flames that become real or even draw up some wings to use fly.


Pokemon Art (c) Ken Sugimori
Information Source Bulbapedia

A Look at Pokemon: Generation 1

Intro
The start of it all, Generation 1 of Pokemon.  It is from this that Pokemon has became as big as the other franchises of Nintendo.  Originally to be called Capsule Monsters the series was started by Satoshi Tajiri who enjoyed catching bugs.  So it moved to catching monsters.  Now looking at things it took development 5-6 years to complete.  So it took a long time for this series to start, even to the point where Game Freak almost went bankrupt.  When you look at these beginnings it is very impressive that the series got to where it is today.

Graphics
For the time it took to develop the game the graphics are below average.  All the buildings are the same style and the only thing to tell the difference from a Gym, Pokemon Center, and a PokeMart is a tiny sign.

For the Pokemon sprites all of them look like little effort went into designing them.  Look at the gen 1 artwork done by Ken Sugimori, that is professional work done that I would have liked to had seen on the sprites as well but it isn't until Pokemon Yellow that the Pokemon sprites turn out much better.

Now if the first games had little time to put in work I would understand but the time frame they had here, well they could have done better.

Plot
At the age of 10 a young boy leaves to become a Pokemon Trainer.  The Goal being to collect 8 badges, beat the Elite Four and become the Champion.  Basic of the series but there is also the other plot line of the games.  The bad guys.  Team Rocket, a group of mafia like men determined to take other the world.

When you look at the Team Rocket plot here things fall apart.  The last time you really ever battle them is the Silph Co. building.  From there you don't really encounter them anywhere.  Sure the boss of Team Rocket is the last gym leader, but that last gym is treated as nothing else, a gym.  The final battle there should have had more on the line than just a badge, the gym should have been crawling with Rocket Grunts with a grand plan to stop.  But no... it's a gym and nothing else.

Gameplay
The bare elements of the game are all here.  Not perfect, with only having 15 types and moves being set by type, but most things in the series started here.

Pokemon battle one on one with 4 moves, with certain stats being more favorable than others trainers pick the right move to defeat the opponent.  Simple yes but it's a solid game style and for good reason that it has been used up to now.

But now we get to the flaws of the gameplay.  Moves like Gust and Karate Chop were Normal moves even though their true types existed at the time (so Bite was changed after the Dark type was created).  The kind of damage done by types also remained unpolished with Bug being super effective against Poison and vise versa, unlike now were Bug does half damage and Poison does normal.  Also Ice did normal damage to Fire types.  But the biggest flaw of all is the typing of Psychic types, with Ghosts doing no damage though not having any good Ghost type attacks.  Bug types did do super effective damage but they only had a few moves that were not worth anything.  There is also a flaw with stats as there was no Special Attack or Special Defense, it was just Special.  But what did Special mean?  Was it both attack and defense, or did the Defense stat take both kinds of attacks?  Before anyone says anything just think about it, without looking it up on the internet can anyone honestly look at this and figure this out?  Final nail here is Dragon and Ghost types.  I dealt with Ghost with the Psychic thing but for the first generation Ghosts and Dragons were not given much to work with only having one family line and no others.  Plus the only Dragon move, Dragon Rage, that only does a small set damage.

There is also a reason that there are multiple versions with certain Pokemon you can/can't catch, Trading.  It was a main point in the games and made to enforce the trading function to the point that some Pokemon have to be traded to evolve.  That is a good marketing tool so that with friends you can trade with.  But that is only if you know someone who can trade with you that is close by with a link cable.  There is one problem with trading and that is regards to starters.  You have one of three to pick and after that you can't get the other two.  A minor problem as you might not find someone who would easily give up their starter in a trade.

The Yellow version doesn't have great changes like the third games after it but it does have its own twists.  The main thing is that it somewhat follows the anime, with Pikachu being the starter and Jessie and James are there in Team Rocket.  Pikachu can follow you around like Ash's Pikachu and has different expressions as its treated good or bad.  It is the game I started with and I would pick this one over the others just for the relationship with Pikachu and better Pokemon sprites.

Pokemon
For the longest time Gen 1 had the most Pokemon that came from a generation, only to be outdone by Gen 5 when it had a total of 156.  But for its time it brought forth some of the most iconic Pokemon of the series, Pikachu, Mewtwo, Meowth, and Jigglypuff.  There are some good and some bad, but well deal with that in the bonus part of this look back.

Pokemon Stadium
Now the Stadium game we all know of is really the second game.  The first one being only in Japan and for good reason.  That many Pokemon where not added to the game so for the better we got this one.  Pokemon Stadium, a game that brought our well trained Pokemon to a 3D glory.

It offered challenges to trainers of all kinds with Cup battles that focused on certain levels Pokemon can have.  Also the challenge of the Gym Leader Castle.  And for those without the game, don't worry, Rental Pokemon are there for you.  The only downside to that is that they don't have moves that you would pick but it's better than nothing and have a large roster to chose from.

Stadium also offers a mini game section where you can play different games with different Pokemon.  They were amusing and there are easy to hard modes to up the challenge.  But best thing of the game was the GB Tower.  A device that allowed a Pokemon Game Boy to be played on the N64 console.  I without a Game Boy used this to play my Pokemon Yellow game.

For beating the Elite 4 and Rival at the Gym Leader Castle you are reward with either a starter, hitmon, fossil, or Eevee.  And removes the trade problem that I noted before.  And for beating the Prime Cup: Masterball Round 2 you can get Pikachu from your game to learn Surf.  Granted that you had it as one of the three Pokemon on your team.

Replayability
So aside from catching and training them all, what else is there.  You could get Stadium if you have the means for that extra challenge but what else is there in the game?  All you really have left is battling the Elite 4 over and over again.  Best that you have a friend with a game and link cable to battle with.

Final Thoughts
A good start but there is so much more that can be done with the series and in later generations they have with so much better things.  The first games get a remake in Gen 3 that we'll get to but for now as it is the games are good.  It doesn't hit any high standards at all but it's the heart of the game that kept people coming back for more and how the Pokemon series evolved to what it is today.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And to end the look at this generation we look at the best and worst of designs of Pokemon. Now a few things to note.  Not all will be about appearance alone but how they are presented in the series.  Also no Pokemon on the worst list can be explained through species of real life animals, take Beautifly for example, it is a butterfly like Butterfree but based on two different kinds.  Also this list is hard to make, while some of my favorites are on the best list it goes by design.  Last rule is that pokemon may be grouped in one spot by family, or if they are part of a group (Ex: legendary trio thing), and of unrelated pokemon might be together if they have something similar that bugs/fascinates me.  Finally any Pokemon on my worst design list is not a Pokemon I hate.

Top 5 Worst and Best Pokemon Designs of Generation 1

Worst


5 Kangaskhan

Once my sister asked me if there are a kangaroo Pokemon yet and I said no.  When it comes to Kangaskhan I don't see it as a kangaroo and it's design doesn't help much.  If it wasn't for the baby it always has would anyone think of a Kangaroo?  Plus it's strange that for being one of the first Pokemon they have yet to give the baby it's own Pokemon form and name.

4 Voltorb and Electrode

Simple yet so many things just shouldn't work with it.  For one is that they can be mistaken as items/pokeballs, while they share a look they don't have the black band in the middle that pokeballs have AND they might not be the same size.  Now looking up origin of them is that they could be based on the enemies called mimics (monsters that look like chests), now while they can be confused for items, who can look at them and say that they would honestly fall for that.  Especially Electrode who is far bigger yet you might run into one thinking it is an item in the game.  Also with their moves they might be based on bombs.  I don't know about you but explosive creatures might might good enemies but I don't have mush taste to have a bomb in my team.

3 Grimer and Muk

For this family it comes down to one thing, I have dealt with sludge before.  It isn't pretty, it isn't fun, and a lot of stuff had to be thrown out just from touching the sludge.  It's from that experience I wonder from than on why make something like that?

2 Koffing and Weezing

First thing, Beta versions of the game had them named Ny and La respectively, meaning New York and Los Angeles.  That isn't offensive now is it?  Somehow being a mutant life form that lives off pollution and they are not exactly a great looking example it if.

1 Magneton and Dugtrio

I don't hate them in any way but they are more than deserving of this spot.  While they are copy and paste of their pre-evolved forms the fact that they both are from one generation kind of kills the "losing creativity" idea people have when it comes to newer games.  With Dugtrio it's based off the Wack-A-Mole game which is odd and Magneton is well... MAGNETS!  To the credit of the creators Magneton does get more of a 1.5 since it got an awesome evolution in the 4th gen.  But really when it comes down to it designs like this doesn't prove the point old Pokemon fans claim.

Best



5 Rhydon

This one is credited as being the first Pokemon created.  And for the one that holds that spot it is kind of surprising that Rhydon doesn't get the kind of fame other Pokemon of this generation has gotten.  Even before it got an evolved form it was already a powerhouse of a Pokemon.  When looking at Rhydon, I can really feel the soul of the start of Pokemon.  That's more than enough of a reason to give it at least this spot.

4 Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar

A perfect example of simplicity done right.  The only ghost of the generation they may not have much during the first gen but they have a look to them that ghost fans would love.  As Gastly evolves its eyes get more menacing and a smile that could easily compete with the Joker's.  And as the evolution continues the ghostly Pokemon grows many spikes making it look more threatening as it becomes Gengar.  Out of the concept of the game Gengar is one of the originals, much like number 5.

3 Meowth

A Pokemon that had to be on here.  With on as the talkative member of Team Rocket Meowth is a simple design yet wonderful at the same time.  The base for Meowth seems to be the beckoning cat, an item used in Japan to draw in customers.  Considering how popular Meowth is in the series, they seem to work the same way.

2 Pikachu and Raichu

Yeah these guys.  But who can blame me.  A well balance between mouse and electricity make for the perfect design.  And like Meowth if the design didn't work Pikachu would certainly not be as popular as it is now.  Plus given moves like Fly and Surf, who wouldn't want one?  Though the means of getting one of them that knows those moves is MUCH harder now more than ever.

1 Eevee and all it's evolutions

Yes it's cheating since some of it's evolutions are from other generations but screw that.   Eevee started here and because of that all the others came to be because of Eevee.  What makes it the best is how Eevee is simple yet complex.  There are 7 evolutions of Eevee and all of them are styled to fit their element all while keeping a design that clicks into players minds to say "that's an Eevee evolution!"

Pokemon Art (c) Ken Sugimori
Information Source Bulbapedia

Reasons why the First Fullmetal Alchemist Anime Sucked!

My first big Blog, ready for a rant of a lifetime?

Fullmetal Alchemist is my favorite series in anime and manga.  But when it was first given an anime it well... it went terribly.  While the Dub and Animation was great the rest of the anime sucked big time.  There are many reasons why it failed that might be too much to count.  So instead of just overviews of each episode, this will be looking at certain details of the first anime and why they just didn't work.  Also these will be points that are in the anime itself, so no notes on things like the Tringham brothers since that plot was from the FMA light novel and was not from the manga or the anime creators.  After all for it to stand on its own one must look that the changes they went with.  WARNING: There will be spoilers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE DIRECTION

Kind of cheating for this being the first one but it is to sum up how the flaws of the first anime came to be.  The manga started in 2001 and ended in 2010, so at the time the first anime came out the original series was still ongoing.  The mangaka herself, Hiromu Arakawa, wanted the first series to be different so as to not end the way her manga does as she wanted the true end to come for when the manga ended.  An okay reason to make it different, but the direction it went in was horrible and left so many plot holes and then gave the middle finger to the people twice, once for the anime ending and second for the movie... but I'll get into the movie later.  If they wanted to make their own thing fine but the path they went in was the wrong one and the things that will be listed below are the result of it.

THE STATE ALCHEMY EXAM

One of the first things I take note of is the State Alchemy Exam.  For the brothers to take it they had to save a general on a train to get permission to take the exam.  Worthless as the State wouldn't mind as long as they had the talent for it, and if the government really felt that they are not of age then the test would have shown it.  Plus you have Bradley running it and wants them in so why have that when he would fix it for them to enter anyways?  In the first anime both Ed and Al take it, dumb considering this should have been something they would have discussed before taking it, and of course Al drops out.  The biggest problem I have with the exam would be the "only one can be a state alchemist" rule.  I understand them wanting the best of the best but since alchemists are the core fighting force of the military wouldn't make more sense to take ALL who have passed to be their alchemists than just the one?

THE START OF LOOKING FOR THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE

The Elric brothers try to think of a way to get their bodies back, after learning of the power of the philosopher's stones Ed joins the military to find clues to get the item of myth.  That is simple and doesn't make any confusing points.  But the first anime had King Bradley tell the brothers about the stone and the power it had.  I ask, why?  I know the bad guys want them to make a stone but I'll explain later as to why that is stupid.  And considering how the stone is a legend among alchemists it is a strange detail that Bradley has to give Ed a motivational speech to go look for it.

SHOU TUCKER

Tucker was a one note character for his part in the story.  But for some reason they brought him back as a chimera with an upside down face... wait Tucker, upside down face, damn it's a Family Guy reference isn't it.  In his brief time in the story he was the first to show Ed and Al the kind of world they are in when it comes to alchemy and the military.  He placed his title higher than anything else in his life, even using his own daughter, Nina, in an experiment so he can keep being a State Alchemist.  When he returns at Lab 5 it is rather pointless as he doesn't give Ed any real information that he couldn't get himself or from the Slicer brothers.  But what does he do this work for?  He is doing it so he can bring back his daughter.  This is stupid because by this point he does not deserve any pity from anyone.  After the stuff he is done there really is no point for him being tragic in any way.

WINRY

Why was Winry pushed to the side?  That's what this anime did to her.  She is the person who is always there waiting for the Elric brothers to come home and worries about them, but here they really screwed her over.  One of the major events of the story is the birth of a child that Winry delivers with the help of the other people in the room.  It showed that she can do more than just automail.  In the first anime the birth was given to Elicia Hughes and Winry is nowhere to be found, how Ed, Al, and Nina got the job done is confusing to me and missed out on some great moments if she was there.  Then there is the watch, Winry finds out what is in Ed's State Alchemist watch and they completely ignore it.  Sure she cries for a bit but afterward it means nothing, but in the original story Winry found this out at Rush Valley and decided to stay so she can make better automail for Ed and that she can't just sit there and wait.  Again it ignores that and pushes her away to the point here she almost doesn't mean anything, sure she is a childhood friend, but I felt that the first anime didn't really go anywhere with it.  And there is her parents that I'll get to, her reaction to it in the original story is heart warming and sad, while this anime is like... meh.  The first anime doesn't do much with her and in any telling in FMA that shouldn't be the case.

DEATH OF MAES HUGHES

Yeah he sadly dies in the real story and this anime but the reasons for killing him off are so far stupid.  When he is looking through records he discovers that a name has been used a few times, a dead soldier, the name of the person who shot the child that started the Ishbal Civil war, and the name of Bradley's secretary.  Now Hughes thinks something is wrong right off the bat, but at no point does he think of the possibility that there are in fact some people in the military that DO have the same name?  Odd as it can be the military is one of the biggest organisations in the country, the fact that some might in fact have the same name is indeed possible.  Now for the original story Hughes discovers the transmutation circle around the country and knows for a fact that this can't be a coincidence, while the other reason... it can be labeled that way and can be easy to fake.  When Hughes made that discovery it remained a mystery till it's reveal and it was a pretty big one and showed that one of the most loved characters died before letting anyone know of this evil plot.  They sadly screwed up here with having him killed off for something that is weak and can be worked so as the name thing really is a coincidence.

THE ISHBAL CIVIL WAR

The start of it anyways.  The idea for the civil war was brilliant.  A child dying by the hands of a soldier, not the most greatest of events but illustrates how something of a small event leads to war and how humans can go to war over an event like that.  In any telling of FMA you don't need anything else because it is simple and nothing can top it, it's not something you needed to change.  But in the first anime they had to change it anyways.  The "truth" of that matter is the child being shot was a lie and the real start of the war was some black ops mission to kill some Ishbalian leaders in the dead of night.  Now I got to ask, how do you cover a kill leaders mission with shot a child by mistake?  For the real story the child being shot by mistake was only false in the sense that Envy became a soldier who was against the military at Ishbal that shot the child to start the work.  It really killed off the kind of impact that the civil war had in the first anime.

SCAR AND HIS BROTHER

The two are left unnamed by the time the series is done but in the story their relationship as brothers was perfect.  Scar was a more traditional Ishbalian and his brother studied alchemy against his own religious codes to help advance his people in this day and age.  So how do you screw that kind of thing up?  Love Triangle!  They are both in love with an Ishbalain woman who down the line "becomes" Lust.  Yeah the brother who studied alchemy to save his people is now doing it to bring back his dead girlfriend.  And it is revealed that Scar had feelings for her too.  Was this ever needed and did it do good for the plot?  The answer to both is, NO!

DEATH OF WINRY'S PARENTS

Mustang killed Winry's parents.  Now that alone should show how moronic that twist was.  Why did they have to use Mustang, they could have had Kimblee do it, heck in the manga Kimblee was informed about Mr. and Mrs. Rockbell with the idea of having him be the one to kill them.  And to add to that it would have been that some Ishbalains killed them to be a cover-up story.  Now it was Scar that ended up doing the deed and it worked out for the military in some ways since there didn't need to be a cover-up story.  I bring up a cover-up story since Mustang not only did it but people KNEW about it.  I can't understand why they don't use it for a cover-up story to push their war plans on Ishbal.  When Winry discovered that it was Scar that killed her parents she was crying about it as she was face to face with him, and the fact Scar was one of their patients as well.  She even grabbed a gun since she was that broken up about it.  That was meaningful and the kind of stress people go through when confronted with something like that.  In the anime while she isn't happy that it was Roy she doesn't seem to break down like a normal person would.  This also screws up Roy as apparently killing them was what sparked Mustang into be the leader of the country, while his character aimed for the top without something like that hanging over his head.

ROSE

I'm going to say it, the first anime RAPES the FMA series.  Think I have no right to say it, well just keep reading then tell me if I went too far.  So Rose appears first thing as a follower believing her dead boyfriend will come back to life, the Elric bothers come along and show her, and the town the truth and leaves them to continue to walk on their own feet.  In the manga she appears again but is the same as she was then, a supporting character.  The people who worked on the anime for some reason thought it would work to make her a main character by making her the love interest... though it was meant to be Winry.  So how do they pull this off?  Well after the first arc battles start in town and Rose gets raped.  That's right... she gets raped.... do I even have to go in detail of how sick and wrong it is?  Sure it happens and it can be done well in a story but here it is used as a tool to get Rose into a love interest role with Ed, oh and she gets pregnant from the rape. Classy... And after that unsettling plot device, Rose gives birth becomes a holy mother of her own cult.  This completely contradicts the whole move forward on your own that Ed told her.  To force her into the love interest role even more she is kidnapped by Dante and is planned to use to attract Ed over to Dante's side.  It's because of the first anime that people show hate towards Rose, and the anime never shown kindness to Rose.  Heck even the far better Brotherhood they had her point a gun at Ed, why don't they like her?

HOHENHEIM

In the original story Hohenheim had a reason to leave home.  While Ed hated him for it thinking he just walked out on them, fact was that it wasn't the reality of what happened creating a reasonable misunderstanding between them.  Here?  He just walks out on them.  For anyone who says that it was because he was rotting I call bull.  In the original story Trisha was alright with who Hohenheim was, and knew why he had to leave.  I doubt that Trisha wouldn't have been alright with his problem in this anime.  When he tells Ed of his reason on leaving it really did sound like an excuse rather than a reason he had to but didn't want to.  Also before Trisha he had another wife, Dante.  Stuff like this makes me hate the man, even more when talks to Maria Ross like being a playboy to her.  Yeah he really left because it was too much for his "family" to see him rot.  For the rotting thing turns out Hohenheim has lived a long time by taking other people's bodies.  This isn't against his own will or anything, for this he MUST have taken the bodies of others to live.  So he was evil? How long did he work with Dante?  Why did he leave her?  We never know.  Also he had a kid with Dante that he tried to bring back that resulted in Envy and... well I'll get that bag of worms soon enough.  Another thing, there are too many people who have done human transmutations.  Before it was just the Elric brothers and their teacher, but now Scar's brother and Hohenheim are added to the list.  When Hohenheim did open the gate it was against is own will and it was to create the stone, not bringing anyone back to life.

NO ROY VS ENVY

One of the major points of the FMA story was the death of Hughes that drove Roy to find the one who killed him, namely Envy.  In the original story Roy had his conflict with Envy and it ended on a moving note.  In the first anime, while Envy killed Hughes but Roy didn't seem to give a damn.  I know the first anime was meant to be different but with Envy killing Hughes there HAS to be a time were Roy fights Envy with the battle being different than the original one.

THE HOMUNCULI

The story behind them in the first anime is that they are created from fail transmutation.  Odd considering that would mean that it was successful and not a failure.  But the problem comes that if they were revived humans than who were they and why THEY were revived?  Only some are explained but it doesn't work as you would need to tell the tale for all of them.  Greed, Gluttony, and "Pride" are the only ones to not have a story behind them. Plus in this story it makes no sense to give them names of the Seven Deadly Sins.  In the original story they were parts of Father that came from the every sin in which they were named.  Here though, it's only because of the villain is called Dante.  As Film Brain would put it, "SYMBOLISM!"  Admittedly the idea is interesting but the execution of the homunculi here is dull and lame.  Oh in the manga a homunculus can die if one kills them enough, and the weakness of the homunculi in the first anime... the remains of the person that the alchemist tried to bring back.  A very lame weakness.  But that is the homunculi in general as some have problems of their own.

KING BRADLEY

Head of the government and one of the toughest of the homunculi, but even he gets downgraded in the first anime.  First thing, he is Wrath, not Pride.  This was a confusing thing with having to call him Pride when he already had the name Wrath to him.  He worked as Wrath.  While appearing calm and collective, he is ready to unleash all of his rage on anyone who makes him mad.  Heck at Hughe's funeral his hands are shaking in rage at want to cut up the crying Elicia.  As Pride though, there is not point to it.  Also Bradley has an important back story in the original story, he was human at first but was used to create a new Homunculus that was able to age and lead the country the way Father wanted.  For the first anime, it is never explained how he ages, how he was created, or even what his purpose was. 

LUST

While her character may not show her identity as well as the other homunculi she does have a way with seducing people as shown with Havoc when she tries to get information from him.  The first anime however, changes her from a badass woman who is proud of who she is to a whiny jerk who wants to be human.  Also to be included in her character is like noted before is that she has a connection to Scar.  I can't help but wonder why do this when it isn't a good idea to begin with?

WRATH

I already talked about the real Wrath, but this is the first anime one.  And he's.... a whiny kid.  You know Pride is a child but he wasn't like this, while wanting a real family he was loyal to Father and was a real frighting villain.  Wrath though seems to have mommy issues and isn't at all intimating.  And thinks of Sloth as his mother I guess... I really don't know why.  He also had Ed's arm and leg, confused?  Well since this is human transmutations he was born when Izumi tried to bring back her child and sending the thing that came to be through the gate.  Made more sense before as it just died... don't know why that happened.  So it grew... somehow, and somehow came through the gate... again makes no sense.  And after all that was said and done he lived in the end, until the movie that he died.  I can't follow that at all.

SLOTH

So the thing Ed and Al created was alive and is their enemy.  Interesting but a problem, how the heck did they not notice it was gone!  The real story had Pinako burying the thing in the back yard, yet at no point do I recall them wondering where it was.  And Dante was right outside of their house when it happened, HOW did she know!?  So plot holes as far as the eye can see.  Then there are the problems with her powers.  She can become ALL water, now equivalent exchange means that shouldn't be possible.  Take Greed for example, he had the power to change the carbon in his body into a powerful armor that covered his body and not change his full body to a carbon stone.  Humans are made of 75% water, so she shouldn't be able to become 100% water.  Then comes the name, again it is all the Dante's Inferno symbolism of it all so how did she get the name... by taking a bit more time to be ready like the other homunculi.

ENVY

So yeah the child of Dante and Hohenheim, and the first of the homunculi.  I'm still lost as to why Hohenheim left them (my theory is that he is just a bastard), but his causes Envy to feel.... well envy at the Elric brothers for "having his blood in their veins", thought that can't be true in the fact that it isn't really his body... and I'll be quiet about that.  Envy was really envious of humans and took out that anger he had about it by making them suffer going so far to shoot the child that caused the civil war and taking pleasure from that.  While in the manga Envy worked since he was envious as his nature and how Mustang referred that envy is an ugly sin which all his actions are meaningful.  The first anime however... if you had not guessed already Envy's problems are well, daddy issues, you know like Wrath and his mommy ones it was just as stupid there as it was here.

DANTE

And the award for worst anime villain of all time goes to... DANTE!  Dante, Dante, Dante... this woman has so many things wrong about her that it is unholy.  Most of the topic will be focused on her because she is that big of a flaw.  First of all her plans just stink and a failure of how it gets the story moving.  In the manga Father makes a whole country to create a big transmutation circle so he could make an all powerful philosopher's stone and gain the powers of god.  The way he does this requires many people, a long time, and a lot of work.  Dante just wants the stone to live longer and get other people to make despite the fact that she can use alchemy herself to make it herself, yeah it is just head scratching.  Dante keeps the Elric brothers alive to do this, though again she has more knowledge than them on the subject, plus even if you look beyond that bit of stupidity then why kill Marcoh?  Not only does it not make sense for them to do what you can do, but you go so far to contradict yourself shows us how much of a moron you are.  And the stupid of Dante goes even farther than just that, with Greed who rebelled against her, she imprisoned him in Lab 5... though she had what she needed to kill him off herself, she even used Greed's weakness so that Ed can kill him, why not do that yourself a LONG time ago?  So for her to live longer like Hohenheim is to use the stone to take someone else's body, a strange thing since she was Izumi's teacher, so way not take her body?  Then comes the problem with taking over another body, like I noted before the new body rots away, going faster every time she transfers to a new body.  How does she plan to avoid the death that is coming towards her though she doesn't want to die? NEVER EXPLAINED!  Also why does she need control of the government?  Again in the original story, Father created the country itself along with the government to create the stone, and had battles fought in order to make the circle.  Dante though doesn't take that route, and in fact the wars that break out in the first anime is more or less pointless now as here they have no meaning as they did in the manga, so she had war for no reason whatsoever.  It really stinks in the end that all she aimed for was a stone made out of a city when Father aimed for SO much bigger.  By the end like above she takes Rose to be her next body to be in love with Ed to get back at Hohenheim.  One why not Winry, she's the childhood friend who has a much closer tie to Edward than Rose.  Two trying to hook up with your Ex's son... there is no creeped out face in the world that can match how gross that is.  Finally how does the worst villain die out, well in the lamest written way that's how!  She made Gluttony into a completely mindless eating machine but somehow had no control over him so Gluttony ate her in the end. A pathetic end to a pathetic villain.

AL'S BODY

One of the great things about Fullmetal Alchemist is it's explanations of the plot, people, and alchemy.  As the Elric brothers try to find a way to get their bodies back to normal it dawns on Al as to what is happening to his body, and it is explain what is happening to it.  Again the first anime fails to give us anything that explains what happened to Al's body.  Sure it was taken, but where to, who had it?  I give this anime a little credit with it's excuse of what happened to Ed's arm and leg.

THE GATE

In the series it was the door way to the Truth, or to God in some ways.  Here however, Truth isn't there and the gate doesn't work like it should.  It is a doorway to "our" world, *face palm* of all the badly written plot details.  And it goes on to state that the powers of alchemy come from the lives of the people in that other world.  Now the problems with that, one that just makes the philosopher's stone pointless.  Think about it, if the power you use already is the equal to the power you are looking for than why look for it?  The stone was meant to to increase the powers of alchemy, because it used a different power from what alchemist tend to use.  Second point is that how does no one know where the power of alchemy comes from?  In dept to the story alchemy comes from the power of the moving plates of the planet, but it's not all true since Father uses the stone to control the alchemy of the land.  But there it worked because Father had control of all the knowledge of alchemy in the country.  In the first anime, well Dante didn't use any such control for anything.  So how does no one know?  Like so many things, never explained!  Heck anything else could have been passed the gate and it would make as much sense as the first one.  Look even I can do it, what is beyond the gate? KINGDOM HEARTS!  Strange, confusing, devoid of logic you say?  Well it's just as good as what the first anime gave us.

THE ENDING

And the end, where everything wrong comes together and gives us all the middle finger.  There's the reveal of Dante's plans that I already explained, what Envy is that I also explained, and the truth of the gate from the last problem.  How does one add on the mountain of stupid we already have.  Al uses the stone to get his brother back and only his brother making Al a dumbass. A point of note is that during their journey is that when they found the stone they decided not to use it as it is using the lives of other people, but here they don't care.  Another point being that with the amount of stone he had he could have easily get Ed and his own body back and HAPPY ENDING!  So by not doing that they avoided an easy way to end on a good end just so they have a bad one.  I don't mind ends that don't have a happy final note but don't do it in a way that is forced and when the BEST choices are there.  Then there is when Ed looks stupid as well.  After Al needlessly gives himself to bring back Ed, Ed does the same for Al, making Al's sacrifice useless.  In the real end of FMA Ed thinks of a way to bring back Al's body but not to pay with the stone or his own body, knowing it would be a bad thing to leave Al without his only family giving him the idea to give up his gate for it, and it was genius!  However the end here doesn't give us the same feeling of heart and emotion that the manga had.  Lets not forget the stupid way the villain died, classy.

THE MOVIE

So after one middle finger what do the fans get with this movie that continues the story one last time, a SECOND middle finger!  First off I must stress the thing from this movie that pisses me off more than anything that is in this, they made Hughes into a Nazi... I repeat, they made Maes Hughes into a Nazi.  If that isn't a reason to completely rage out on this movie I don't know what is.  So yeah Ed is in "our" world where there are people that look like the people in his world.  And we see him with a guy that looks like Al, so he needed to find someone to that looks like him and stay with him.... this is how yaoi is created people.  And he tells Not Al of how the nuclear bomb isn't from our world... no no no no, Ed and Al battled a mad scientist in their world and it got transported to ours.  Yeah that didn't sound stupid and forced in the slightest.  Oh and lets add a NEW love interest that resembles Rose... that's SO Mary Sueing this on so many levels.  And the movie ends with Ed AND Al in "our" world.  So to add to all the terrible ideas the series brought forth this one ends it all with the downright dumbest of ideas, Ed and Al in some other world, when they should be in their own world.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I listed several comparisons to the original story, but in more ways than just to compare them, I did it illustrate how to write in a good way, while the choices made for the first one was well terrible.  Even if you look at these plot points by themselves they are still bad and lowers the quality of the series.  If it did anything right it was what they got out of the manga, and even a light novel.  That maybe that is why it did well, but when you take a good long look at it, it really shouldn't have.  Honestly I started with a game for the PS2, The Broken Angel, it was okay and was it's own thing but that got me into the anime.  I watched the first anime before anything else... and I'm ashamed of it.  By the end I was just left feeling confused by the whole thing.  If it wasn't for the manga and even Brotherhood I would have let the series and forgot about it.  There are other things but I'll leave it with these since this is more than enough.

I've been typing this up for a while to draft all the points I listed.  And while doing this blog I watched JesuOtaku's review of the anime.  I disagree on many things, and at times what she said sounded more like how Brotherhood is in it's quality.  Yeah I know it's her favorite anime but I still feel that there is so much more wrong with it than she really gives it credit for.  She seemed to think that the plot point with Tucker was interesting for a twist and plot points when really the whole deal was like noted before, forced and unneeded.

Now at Youmacon of 2011 I was able to see Vic Mignogna and Caitlin Glass and from what I heard they did say they liked the first series.  Now for me I personally believe that they have feelings towards it because of the work they did.  Their voices were fantastic though it didn't help the final product that much.  But they did say they thought Brotherhood was the better anime, and for the right reasons too.

As for Brotherhood, it has it's problems but it doesn't drag the anime down as much as the first anime.  The plot is presented in an orderly fashion and sticks with the core of what the story is, great. Problems being that at times there is a lot of Brotherhood going fast forward to catch up to the end of the manga which Brotherhood ended just about the same time.  This could have been longer so that problem doesn't exist but it's a problem that can be looked over.