Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa

Received the premium edition DVD box of the FMA movie yesterday and got down to finish the film this evening. As there are another 2 discs containing making-of footage and cast interviews as well as other special items, I'll leave that for another day when I finish watching Disc 2 and 3. Thus, I will only focus on the movie for this post and the pictures featured are the front and reverse of the box packaging containing pictures of Ed and Al. In case you haven't watched the movie and do not wish to read spoilers, please do not proceed further.

First of all, the length of the movie is about 104 minutes long and constantly shuttles between the two worlds i.e. the so-called imaginary world where Ed used to be and the reality which is set in Munich. It's been 2 years since Ed was sent to this end of the world and he has been learning rocketry with another guy Alfons Hiederich who looks very similar to the Alphonse Elric in the other world. As such, that could be why Ed has a strange affinity with Alfons who looks sickly. By the way, Alfons' voice actor is Oguri Shun who recently played Hanazawa Rui in the drama version of Hana Yori Dango. Frankly speaking, if I didn't know beforehand that it was him who had taken on this role, I would never have identified Alfons' voice just by listening to him in the movie. Thus, I think Oguri has got potential to try his hand at other voice acting jobs in future since he seems to display a certain level of proficiency and versatality in this area. Oh, before I forget, Oguri's elder brother Ryo is also featured in this movie but I didn't figure out which role he had played.

While Ed is still trying to find a way to return to his own world, Al is on the other end with his memories wiped out after what happened in the series. Nowadays, Al is dressed in a similar way like what Ed used to be so I assume it must be due to him missing Ed. There's nothing wrong with this but I prefer Al in short hair as shown in the ending.

I won't go into much details on the plot though but I will just say that it involves war in the reality world i.e. when Germany lost WWI and Hitler was preparing for WWII. I'm actually quite happy with the storyline because it ties up a number of loose ends i.e. what happens to everyone after the series ended although it was a bittersweet ending.

What I found amusing was that some characters appeared in the movie through another form despite them already dead during the series. As such, we got to reunite with people like Hughes and Glacier who are not married, King Bradley being a film director who is Jewish, Rose in the form of a gypsy Noah and that ambitious Director Eckhart who seems to resemble a younger version of Dante. The most interesting appearance was Scar and Lust appearing together but they did not speak at all. This was in the ending part of the movie and I was pleasantly surprised by this. Too bad Okiayu Ryotaro did not get a chance to take part in this movie even though Scar was there. Ed and Al's reaction upon seeing Scar in another form was simply hillarious.

Talking about the conclusion, I was very happy to see Ed and Al reunited. Although it wasn't in their original world, it was still better than being apart. What a pity that nothing turned out well for Winry and Ed even though they had a brief meeting. It was so sad when Winry said that Ed had made it impossible for her to continue waiting for the day they will meet again. Another heartwrenching moment was Alphons giving up his life just to fulfil Ed's wish to reunite with Al. A lot of people died in the process but the movie brings a tinge of hope in the future despite the tough circumstances.

Last but not least, the English subs in the premium version was of great help for me to enjoy the story easily without straining my ears to hear the dialogue. However, the font, arrangement and position of the subs leave much to be desired so I hope future DVD releases with the subs feature can be modified and improved.