I don't want to get in an argument over someone's opinion because an opinion cannot be wrong or right. Of course It's the whole a series is "overrated" because I personally don't like it.
However everyone has a right to think FMA is not as good as fans claim. I however do personally think it is one of the best series ever made. And yes that is a very personal statement as the series means a lot to me. It's more the manga for me than Brotherhood as I was a fan of the manga long before Brotherhood came about. I am extremely happy Brotherhood exists though to introduce more people to the manga storyline.
I followed many many long ongoing series (not just manga/anime wise but also TV series & book wise) and I was always let down in the past. FMA is the one series that never let me down, right to the end I was in love. Does that make me a fangirl? Of course yes it does. But it's not because I have not seen or read enough other series.
I had a large sampling of fiction from anime to manga to literature to critically acclaimed film even starting from the silent era. I love fiction but yes FMA is special to me. That doesn't mean I am going to tell people they are wrong for not thinking it is the best series for them if it is for me because that is a largely personal statement & everyone has their own personal reasons for loving a piece of fiction and no one should tell them they are wrong or they haven't sampled enough other series. It also doesn't mean because I love FMA I don't have strong affection for other pieces of fiction. But my love for FMA is just in its own special place.
And because this is getting long this is something I wrote back on October 3rd 2011 about some of my feelings for the series. Again it pertains more to the manga but since Brotherhood follows the same storyline I hope it alright to post it here:
Spoiler for Ending Spoilers:
The very first thing that attracted me to FMA was the brotherly love between Ed & Al. It was probably the 2nd-4th volume that first really cemented me a fan of the series (don't get me wrong though whereas the first volume didn't make me a fan at first, I now adore that volume and don't know why I couldn't see it's awesomeness back then).
Overall the first anime also focuses on the love between Ed & Al and this is what made the series such a big hit. But one of the reasons why I prefer the manga and why I think FMA is such a remarkably special series is the manga takes things further.
The story starts out about the love of Ed & Al but as the story progresses we realize Ed & Al don't just have each other but so many other characters who love & care about them.
I think people mistakenly think Ed & Al are not as close in the manga because it isn't just focused on them in the story. Of course Ed & Al care about each other but they care about a lot of other characters as well. Let's just say the manga has a much more expansive view of family. And I loved the one opening sequence in Brotherhood when we see just Ed & Al suddenly being surrounded by more and more friends/loved ones/allies.
But to take it one step further all these characters that care about Ed & Al actually have their own back stories and motivations so we learn to care about them too; separate from Ed & Al's story. I know some people think there are too many characters in FMA. But never have I seen such a large cast of characters so well developed (from major to minor characters).
I would say next to Lord of the Rings FMA for me has the most fully developed world. But whereas LOTR developed it's world through mythology and history; FMA makes its world come to life by the many characters that inhabit it (all of different ages, sizes & backgrounds). Ed & Al are what started my love of FMA but as the series developed I fell in love with every character.
Finally what gets on my last nerves (because I am overly sensitive when it comes to FMA) is when people dismiss the FMA manga as just being a story of Good VS evil with no gray. Well personally there was plenty of gray in the story with characters like Greed, Roy, Riza, Scar, etc. But I feel people think this because the story has a relatively happy ending. And a common issue is people mistake darkness for deepness.
Now I have nothing against a dark/dramatic story and I have some favorite series in that category. I would even say my favorite type of endings are usually bitter sweet. However, a happy ending does not suddenly mean a story is not deep. FMA had one of the deepest, most beautiful endings I have seen in fiction. People are disappointed when things mostly go the way of the protagonists, not realizing that things only went their way because they struggled and worked together throughout the entire series. It was not an easy win, but a win with pain & sacrifice. As the series said in the beginning
A Painless Lesson, is one without meaning. One Who does not sacrifice anything cannot achieve anything
The ending did not negate this message , it strengthened it. All the characters did go through so much to get what they achieved. Nothing was gained for free.
However as we see at the end of the story Ed & Al try to overturn the law of equivalent exchange and make it something more positive. Instead of 1:1; if someone gives you 1 you give 2. Because Ed & Al are just awesome like that & are always trying to make things even better.
In the end equivalent exchange is not how the world has to work but how people should live their life. If you get something, try to give back. Work for what you want. And sometimes we might go through something painful, but we might gain something through this experience as well. I always felt FMA was looking at the best of things.
Which again is enforced by what Ed does give up in the end. I actually felt some people in the fandom were more upset about this than Ed. What Ed gave up was a big part of him, but instead of looking at it negatively he realized the positive gain of what he gave up.
In one of the best sequences of the manga, Ed is up fixing the roof with his hands and realizes how much quicker he could get it done if he still could use alchemy...but then he reflects that if he had fixed the roof with alchemy, he would have missed the beautiful view.
This overall positive message permeates FMA: Characters working together and relying on each other, looking at the best of things, not giving up even when things look bad, etc. And trust me nothing I say can truly give my feelings for this series justice. But to conclude Fullmetal Alchemist is a series that fills you with hope and personally I think that is a beautiful thing.