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Favorite adaptation of FMA: First series or Brotherhood.

I prefer the first series. Brotherhood has its moments, especially recently, but the first show has some pretty mature storytelling. To save space I’ll just go over five reasons why I enjoy the previous FMA—it has its flaws, yes, but also great qualities. (Btw can I assume this thread allows unmarked spoilers? Because I have a few spoilers.)

5. Lets the Audience put 2+2 together. The show lets the audience figure things out on their own, even to horrifying ends. Like with Tucker: During some relatively calm and happy scenes we are given enough hints about what Tucker did to his wife, and what he might do to his daughter. Hello false sense of security. At that point I thought ‘surely they won’t actually go where I think they’re going with Nina.’ And then they go there. It's more horrifying because I knew the result beforehand, I just didn't want to believe it. This is also the sort of show where you’ll see a character casually stroll on-screen. And then a second later you realize, wait a minute, that character died recently. There’s no HEY GUYS LOOK AT THIS CHARACTER HE’S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD obviousness going on. The show lets the audience pick up the clues for itself. Thank goodness, because it makes for mature viewing.

4. Flexible Change of Mood: This show keeps you on your toes. Remember how Evangelion went from relatively happy to an all-out horror show? Much of Fullmetal is kinda like that, especially in the first half, except it frequently goes back and forth. The very first FMA scene is like something out of a horror show, then it flash-forwards straight into a lighthearted scene (without being obnoxious about the change in attitude—it’s enough that it’s there and that we notice it). We also see Alphonse as an empty suit of armor, but don’t get an actual explanation until the stuff hits the fan… Showing us part of something horrible, then prolonging the result until much later is something this show does a lot. The audience comfort-zone is frequently invaded, but in a good way. Even with episodes like Fullmetal vs. Flame.. on the surface it’s a funny light-hearted romp, but it’s simultaneously payoff/setup for darker themes. In other words the sense of atmosphere in a scene isn't always trustworthy.

3. Nobody is safe. NO ONE. The show benefits greatly from elevating quickly-killed manga characters into actual main characters. The result is an environment in which virtually anyone is able to get killed. Even the ‘safe’ ones. Also worth noting is that, while the action scenes aren’t as full-blown as other series, this show still manages to keep suspense. Here’s how: nearly every time a fight breaks out, someone either ends up severely injured or dead. The stakes never really lower to the point where we can easily tell who the ‘safe’ characters are. Sometimes deaths even appear simply out of the blue.

2. The Characters. Extremely memorable, all of them, even if you can't trust any of them. There's a real sense of heart and weight to everyone. On top of Arakawa's great handiwork there’s a certain finesse to how things are handled or set up. (For the first time, Trisha sees the product of Ed and Al’s transmutation—and it is a doll. This is played out in a very calm way, but has creepy connotations in the grand scheme of things. Etc) By the way, FOILS. Lots and lots of foils, as well as ‘replacement goldfish' (link). As the manga/Brotherhood have gone on, it’s also become apparent that the first show is more similar to Arakawa’s full storyline than originally thought. IMO It’s a great adaptation—it condenses/recreates characters or events into things that have a good sense of impact in its own narrative (like the baby incident involving Hughes’s child, Winry stealing Ed’s watch in Resembool, or Father/ Homunculus’s role being split evenly between Dante and Envy, etc.) Btw: Do I even need to mention the acting or the music? Simply excellent. Stole my heart away.

1. Emphasis on Human Dignity. What does Al want? Or the Ishvalans? Chimeras? Even the murderous Homunculi? To be human.

It isn't easy. You’ve got characters whose hearts are in the right place, and make sacrifices for all the wrong reasons, and as a result, people suffer. Even the oppressed don’t come across as saintly victims, they’re human too, and just as capable of committing good or evil as anybody else. The only real character who doesn’t like being a human is Dante, however she is unable to escape her 'condition' (you could say that she’s consumed by it, a heh). In that vein, I enjoy the double-irony at the end. Throughout a series of impostors and false truths spanning the entire show, characters like Al are considered less-than-human. Then we find out that, by such standards, no one is! Ed discovers he isn’t even the original ‘Elric brother’ after at all; he’s an imitation, a "fake". And everyone in Ametris is technically a fake too, if compared to the real world. Though ultimately, as long as someone possesses a soul, he should be considered no more nor less than human.
(*And knowing is half the battle )

Also after a character dies that character is completely forgotten, due I need to remind you that Mustang's obsession with revenge is found only in the manga, and brotherhood.

Also I have no idea what you mean by "no one is human", are you honestly claiming that the whole Earth-prime subplot makes it so that Ed is any less human than say that chick who was based on a guy who was Hitler's mentor.

From Eckart's malformed point of view, Amestrians like Ed are less human than her. Which is kind of the point, thematically speaking. In the series, whenever Amestrians demoted Alphonse, the Chimeras, or the Ishbalans as sub-human, they were basing it on them not being 'real' or authentic enough. As if they were imperfect impersonations of actual humans (like the Homunculi). With the introduction of the real world, the irony is that, under those faulty guidelines, 'real' Amestrians could be considered just as sub-human. Of course, objectively speaking, everyone is equally human.