Pro tip: watch the 2003 FMA anime before Brotherhood, not the other way around
I finally sat down and watched both versions back to back over the past 3 weeks, and the order really does matter. The 2003 version spends way more time on the early arcs, so you actually care about Nina and Hughes before everything goes bad, while Brotherhood rushes through those same episodes in like 10 episodes total. Brotherhood has the better ending and the animation holds up way better, no question, but starting with it made the first half feel like a recap reel to me. Has anyone else done the reverse order and felt the same, or am I just weird for caring about the slower pacing?