Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
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| Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Seiji Mizushima |
| Produced by | Seiji Takeda |
| Written by | Shô Aikawa |
| Starring | See Voices and characters |
| Music by | Michiru Oshima |
| Distributed by | Aniplex |
| Release date(s) | |
| Running time | 104 min |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| IMDb profile | |
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa (劇場版「鋼の錬金術師 シャンバラを征く者」 Gekijōban "Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Shanbara o Yuku Mono"?) is a theatrical feature that premiered in Japan in July 23, 2005, and acts as a continuation of the Fullmetal Alchemist television series. The Japanese DVD was released on January 25, 2006, including with it a limited edition with a special box, English subtitles and a series of other extras. The U.S. version was shown in a limited number of theaters starting August 25, 2006[1], and the DVD was released September 12, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Story
The movie's story is set two years after the events of the Fullmetal Alchemist TV series's last episode. Dragged from his homeworld of Amestris to this world, Earth, Edward Elric lives in Munich, Germany, in the year of 1923. Stripped of his alchemical powers and some of his limbs, but not the attachments for his automail(from his previous journey through the Gate), he has spent all this time researching rocketry together with Alfons Heiderich, a young man who resembles his own brother. Our Earth is a parallel world to Amestris, and as a result Edward encounters many people whose faces are familiar to him. After rescuing and taking in Noah, a troubled Roma woman, Edward is thrown in a series of events that opens him a path to return to his homeworld, and a conspiracy that can bring serious consequences to both worlds.
Unaware of Edward's situation, Alphonse Elric ventures deeper into the mysteries of alchemy in search of a way to reunite with his older brother.
The movie is set against the backdrop of the depression and economic collapse of Germany after World War I, notably the events leading up to and including the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. The antagonists frequently make references to it, though the actual event and its key real-life figures (including Adolf Hitler) and its aftermath are only shown in fleeting shots.
[edit] Voices and characters
| Role | Japanese Cast | U.S. Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Elric | Romi Paku | Vic Mignogna |
| Alphonse Elric | Rie Kugimiya | Aaron Dismuke |
| Alfons Heiderich | Shun Oguri | Jason Liebrecht |
| Noa | Miyuu Sawai | Leah Clark |
| Winry Rockbell | Megumi Toyoguchi | Caitlin Glass |
| Roy Mustang | Toru Ohkawa | Travis Willingham |
| Riza Hawkeye | Michiko Neya | Colleen Clinkenbeard |
| Alex Louis Armstrong | Kenji Utsumi | Christopher Sabat |
| Dietlinde Eckhart | Kazuko Katou | Kelly Manison |
| Mabuse/Fritz Lang | Hidekatsu Shibata | Ed Blaylock |
| Karl Haushoffer | Masane Tsukayama | John Swasey |
[edit] Primary characters
- See also: Characters of Fullmetal Alchemist
Edward Elric - The movie's protagonist. After bringing back the body and soul of his younger brother from beyond the gate at the series finale, Edward finds himself on the other side of the Gate, Earth (the premise being that the world of Amestris and Earth are parallel universes). He befriends a young man named Alfons Heiderich, who looks like his younger brother Al, and the two follow an interest in rocketry and travel to Romania. Edward shares tales of his previous life with Alfons. Edward leads a rather calm life for the next two years, until he comes across a young Roma girl, Noa, and the Thule Society.
Alphonse Elric - "Al" is Edward's younger brother. Upon being resurrected by his brother in the anime, he lost all of his memories of the events following his and his brother's attempt to resurrect their mother. Since then he studied alchemy as a student of Izumi Curtis once again, and after her death he started walking his own path hoping to one day find a way to reunite with his brother and retrieve his lost memories.
Alfons Heiderich - A rocket engineer that bears a resemblance to Alphonse Elric and befriends Edward in the movie. When Ed talks to him about his travels around his original world, Alfons feels a bit doubtful because although he finds his stories interesting, he can't believe in the fact that Ed came from another world where alchemy is real, and his brother looks like him. He's studying under the father of modern rocketry, and wants to prove the scientific worth of his fellow Germans by achieving a rocket that can actually be ridden. He also has his own reasons to do it as fast as possible. Throughout the course of the movie he seems to be afflicted with an unspecified disease (possibly tuberculosis) causing him to cough up blood. Alfons speculates that this is caused by prolonged exposure to rocket fuel.
Noah - A Roma woman whom Ed befriends. She had been sold by her own people to the Thule Society and Edward helped her escape. She is a withdrawn and introverted person, because she has the ability to read people's minds (an ability so accurate that makes people afraid of her), and due to her Roma origin, she is an outsider everywhere, always being discriminated against. Noa's dream is to find a home for herself. She is likely the Earthly counterpart of Rosé although this is not explicitly stated, the two girls share similar appearances and personalities, and both have lived a life of tragedy.
Dietlinde Eckhart - The movie's main antagonist. She occupies an important position as an occultist in the Thule Society. After obtaining information regarding the legendary Shamballa (Amestris), and the mysterious powers of its inhabitants, Dietlinde, with the help of other Thule Society members, developed a plan to open a gateway to Shamballa and invade it, in order to learn its secrets and claim its power. While she claims to be interested in helping the Nazis in their plan to overthrow the German government, her real intent is to reach and plunder Amestris for her own ends. Her plans are supported by real-life Nazi members like Rudolf Hess and Karl Haushofer. Perhaps not coincidentally, her name resembles that of Dietrich Eckart, real-life Thule Society member.
[edit] Secondary characters
Winry Rockbell - Winry remained friends with Al over the two years lost between the show and movie sequel. She has been waiting for Edward's return and when she loses contact with Alphonse, she goes to find him. She is confident that Edward will return and even carries around an automail arm and leg for him when he does.
Huskisson - Huskisson appears only at the beginning of the movie, and serves mostly as an introductory element to Edward's quest as a State Alchemist and alchemy and its principles. He is a pretentious physicist who despises the science of alchemy, and tries to surpass it with his own work. He presents his invention, a fission bomb made from uranium, to Edward and Alphonse, but upon their rejection of his accomplishment he attacks them with his machinery. At the end of the battle, he attempts human transmutation and is pulled into the Gate. His final fate, whether trapped within the Gate or beyond it, is unknown. However, by the end of the movie, his uranium bomb seems to have reached the other side, and Edward and Alphonse thus set off in search of it.
The Traveling Circus - It is a carnival wherein Alphons Heiderich demonstrates his rocketry. Numerous Romanians and Germans alike populate the Circus staff, many of whom parallel characters in the series. Noa's Gypsy family came to the Carnival for work, but Noa (the resident fortune-teller) was sold to the Thule society by her fellow Roma and a less-than-sympathetic ring master. Among the spectators are the Earthly counterparts of Lt. Colonel Frank Archer (the ring master) and Loa, Dorchet, Bido, Barry the Chopper (sporting a blonde goatee) and another (nameless) member of Greed's gang of misfits as assistants to Alphons Heiderich. At the end of the movie, the Elric brothers and Noa hail a wagon resembling one of the wagons seen at the Circus, which is driven by the Earthly counterparts of Lust and Scar.
Officer Hughes - A Munich police constable, Officer Hughes is the Earthly counterpart to the late Brigadier General Mäes Hughes of Amestris. Unlike the rather care-free Hughes, however, he is somewhat more stern and a tad cowardly, although he has a soft spot for the local inn-keeper Gracia (Earthly counterpart to Mäes Hughes' wife). He is a staunch Nazi party affiliate, though his reasonings and views for it are left unexplained. At the end of the movie he leaves the Nazi Party.
Mabuse/Fritz Lang - A resident Jewish filmmaker, Fritz Lang is the Earthly counterpart to the human that Führer King Bradley (Pride) was created from. Because he has the same appearance as Pride, Edward was suspicious at first. Lang is a polite, self-humoring man who is traveling through Germany in search of a fabled Dragon within an ancient castle. He confronts the Thule Society, who knock him out and leave him. He is intrigued by Ed's description of his world, and is eventually moved to help Ed interfere with the Thule Society's plans (his ethnicity also played a role in that decision).
Originally claiming to be "Mabuse", he later identifies himself as filmmaker Fritz Lang when he invites Ed to the set of Die Nibelungen. His disguise name had been that of the titular character of his 1922 film Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler and its 1933 sequel, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse which was banned by the Nazi government. Lang is himself a Roman Catholic, though of Jewish ancestry.
Roy Mustang (the "Flame Alchemist") - Mustang had lost his left eye during the event of his battle with Führer King Bradley (the homunculus Pride), and now (ironically) wears an eye patch as Pride once did. Haunted by his past sins, Mustang simply refuses to use his flame alchemy (instead choosing simply to use matches), and thus resigns from his rank as General of the State. He is then formally demoted to the rank of an enlisted soldier, and designated to a remote outpost of his choice. First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye previously revealed signs of her attraction for Mustang. The situation didn't develop any further as Mustang is now a Corporal and lacks the cocky confidence he once had. When Mustang returned to aid his former comrades, Riza Hawkeye appeared happy to see the man Mustang used to be. When he hears that Edward could be returning to their world, he returns to Central and commands their former subordinates in the battle against Eckhart and her armored battalion.
Envy - After traveling through the Gate to Earth with the sole intention of hunting down and killing his father, Hohenheim, at the end of the anime series, Envy becomes trapped within a massive draconic serpent - the form he physically assumed as he passed through the Gate, because his shapeshifting ability is nullified in our world. He was captured by the Thule Society and ironically forced into the shape of a living ouroboros circle around and above another transmutation circle, in hopes of using him to gain access to "Shamballa". Hohenheim was placed within Envy's jaws to appease the beast's rage and in his final moments he insisted Ed shouldn't save him, because he was trying to open the gateway so that Ed may return to his own world. Hohenheim then encouraged Envy to crush him and Hohenheim's blood helped activate the transmutation circle. Though not explicitly stated, Hohenheim's death inside of Envy's jaws while perched above the transmutation circle may have provided the energy required to open the gate. This is consistant with his observation that life energy from our world is moved upon death to the alchemist's world as transmutational energy. Although Edward's return through the gate at the end of his first (and brief) visit to our world bares some similarity, it would be entirely inconsistent with the idea given that he survived and later returned again unharmed. Though it is possible that the death of the body of our world's Edward allowed Edward to return to the gate where his original body was located.
Alex Louis Armstrong (the "Strong-Arm Alchemist") and Rosé - Both are participating in the rebuilding of Lior. They also appear at times near three children, with whom Armstrong is playing with.
Wrath - Wrath has been wandering around since the events of the original series. He is in a weakened state of being, most likely from expending the energy from the red stones that he digested during the time period prior to the movie. He also seems to have become emotionally tame, and seems depressed over the passing of Izumi, whom he previously detested. He has also aged physically into a young teenager and bears a greater resemblance to his mother. He offers willingly to help Alphonse with opening the Gate. As the anime stated in episode 51 by Winry Rockbell, Wrath has an automail arm and leg, as where Edward's original limbs were. Wrath's desire to return to his mother motivated him to assist Al as they returned to the underground city beneath Central, to transmute a gateway to bring back Ed. In the process Wrath engaged in a losing battle with a misshapen and monstrous Gluttony. Wrath devoured some of the red stones that bled out from Gluttony to give him temporary strength, but in the end Gluttony ate him alive right above Al's transmutation circle. Wrath's final moments was to plead with Al to transmute Gluttony and himself, so Al won't have to give up his own body for the equivalent exchange. Within the alchemical diagram, the gateway opened and Wrath finally found the peace he was looking for in a loving embrace by his welcoming mother.
Gluttony - Gluttony makes an appearance in the underground city below Central which Wrath leads Al to. Due to Dante's alchemy at the end of the anime series, his mind is lost solely in his hunger. Gluttony no longer displays any signs of intelligence, only the desire to feed. In their last encounter (which ends in a cliffhanger) Dante is stuck with Gluttony in the elevator she tries to escape in. It is speculated that Gluttony devoured Dante, also digesting her Philosopher's Stone in a process which has malformed his body into an enormous humanoid shape sporting extra legs, limbs and several tentacles with faces on their ends. Due to the fact that the philosopher's stone is much more powerful than the imitation stones, which the Homonculi eat to survive, his body is so oversaturated that it bleeds out red water. His body is capable of taking many shapes and can extend parts of himself at long distances. Gluttony engaged Wrath in which he was lured into the transmutation circle to act as the catalyst needed to open the gateway to the other world realm where Edward is trapped.
Lust and Scar - An unscarred Scar and the human equivalent of Lust appear for a brief moment near the end of the movie. They are a part of the group of Roma Gypsies, which fits with the movie's theme of paralleling these Roma Gypsies with the Ishbalans.
Hermann Oberth - The rocket scientist/teacher of Edward and Alphons Heiderich and others who is mentioned in the final episode of the series. He also apparently sold a book, which made his work popular calling forth a large crowd at the carnival and demonstration.
Unnamed Characters - Three unnamed characters show resemblence to Bido, Dorchet and Loa where they are co-workers of Alphons Heiderich of the (Oberth's) rocketry project.
[edit] American theatrical premiere
The movie was premiered on August 25th in a small number of theaters by Funimation Films with little promotion. Some only ran less than 10 showings of the film. Some promotional activity was done after the film was already gone from theaters. The movie trailer was shown to a group of about 300 persons at Shiokazecon in Houston, Texas on April 27th, 2006. Vic Mignogna, the English voice actor for Edward Elric, heavily promoted the film at anime conventions.
According to a press release from Funimation and the SPJA, the first official screening was shown at the 2006 Anime Expo on Monday, July 3 at noon. The session was presented by Seiji Mizushima (the original director), Mike McFarland (English voice director and voice of Lieutenant Havoc) and voice actor Vic Mignogna (Edward Elric's voice for the English version). Romi Paku (Edward Elric's voice for the original version) was supposed to attend but she did not because she (a Korean national) did not have a valid visa. Other screenings of the movie occured at Otakon 2006, Gen Con 2006, Sugoicon 2006, and Anime Weekend Atlanta 2006.
The special edition DVD release will be premiered at Nan Desu Kan in Denver according to news published on their website.[2]
[edit] Soundtrack
- Opening
- "Link" by L'Arc~en~Ciel
- Ending
- "LOST HEAVEN" by L'Arc~en~Ciel
"KELAS [LET'S-DANCE]" - the song performed by the Roma women while Edward Elric and Alfons Heiderich hitch a ride. Composed and guitar by Ferenc Snétberger, with vocals by Tayo Awosusi.
All other songs composed by Michiru Oshima.
[edit] Track List
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01. Scientist of the Alchemic World |
18. Citizen of the World |
33. Overture of Destiny |
[edit] Awards
The film won in three categories in 5th Tokyo Anime Award competition at the Tokyo International Anime Fair[3]:
- Animation Of The Year
- Best Original Story (Hiromu Arakawa)
- Best Music (Michiru Oshima)
It also won the 2005 Animation Grand Award prize in Mainichi Film Awards.[4]
[edit] Official sites
- (English) FUNimation Films site to Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala
- (Japanese) SONY Music's Official Hagane Renkinjutsushi - Conqueror of Shambala site
| Fullmetal Alchemist | |
|---|---|
| Common characters: | Edward Elric | Alphonse Elric | Winry Rockbell | Scar | Izumi Curtis | Hohenheim | Minor |
| Anime-only characters: | Dante | State Military | Homunculi | Minor |
| Manga-only characters: | Main | State Military | Homunculi | Minor |
| Media: | Anime (Episode list | Voice casts) | Manga | OVAs | Conqueror of Shamballa | Video games (characters) | Trading cards |
| Items/Concepts: | Alchemy | Automail | Chimera | Equivalent Exchange | Gate of Alchemy | Philosopher's Stone | State Alchemist | Transmutation circle |
| Locations: | Amestris | Ishbal | Lab 5 | Lior |
