It's probably a good thing I didn't stay in the FMA fandom long, then. I LOVED the first series (HUGHES) and was way late in watching the second; never read the manga, was kind of disappointed by the second series because I felt it didn't focus on Ed and Al's relationship as much. (Or at least they didn't have the same amount of screen-time together.) Many of the characters were given more character development and bigger roles to play so that was good, but I found the ending and general storyline better in the original series. It was bizarre, but...idk, I liked it. (That said, it's been a long ass time since I've watched, so maybe my memories of it are askew.)