This isnt a "which one is better" question, im just curious how different they are. i watched the anime, enjoyed it, and am curious about the manga. like if the anime followed the manga closely i wouldnt bother reading it, if that makes any sense. im too lazy to elaborate further.

"When god gives you lemons, find a new god."

The anime is different, I don't remember until wich part it follows the manga thoug. Probably after they defeat the first homunculus (Lust). But the rest of the anime is completely different from the manga.

This week's favorites:

• Golden Kamui

ççççççç[Ô.Ô] tsutopodus© will eat your manga and steal your cats!

Ya, its different. A lot of the beginning is similar to the anime, but as it goes on it gets more and more different. I can't really recall the part where they start diversifying though 😕

[img]http://a539.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/100/l_9f5f786e30fa033cec5573c441ac8552.gif[/img]
Ikuta Toma
"Ore wa Homo Janai!"

I think that the main storylines of the manga and anime begin to noticeably diverge around the time that greed is introduced in that bar with a bunch of different chimera. There are also a bunch of fillers before then:
-The alchemist thief that Alphonse likes
-The story of the old lady with blue flowers and the alchemist who uses human-like puppets
-the arc of two alchemists posing as Ed and Al

Overall, the manga and anime for FMA can really be considered as having two separate storylines with a bunch of different characters.

"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained."

• Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain

interesting, because i liked the anime's plot, and if the manga is different i will definitely look into it because manga plotlines tend to be better anyways.

"When god gives you lemons, find a new god."

For me anime was... good to the part, where they follow the manga. And the rest was bit strange, I don't like how they developed the story. In my opinion manga is a way better, matured and what's also great... it's still going out! ^^