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Metal arms are cool. Heh heh, yeah, cool. That'd be sweet.
Publisher: Madman
Sun, 29 April 2007
by: Australian Ninja
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Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa is the movie that's in running to receive the award for "most ludicrously long Anime title I typed today".
And it just might win. Finally, it has arrived here at Buttonhole in all its splendifirous glory. But what's this Fullmetal thing all about?
In brief, Fullmetal Alchemist is a popular manga comic about two brothers; Edward and Alphonse Elric.
 | | He aint heavy, he's my brother... |
Ed and Al have studied the art of Alchemy from a young age. Alchemy being the art of transmutation, or turning matter into other 'matter.'
But in typical Anime fashion it's not about turning things into gold, but serves as a reason to have a world with magic and allow the alchemists to have cool pyrotechnic battles among other things.
In the beginning of the Manga/Anime they try to bring back their dead mother, but it backfires. Anyone who's ever watched Buffy will know that magic has a price and its usually a high one. They don't get their dead mother back. Alphonse, the younger brother of the two dies. Ed loses two of his limbs permanently.
Ed manages to bind his brother's soul to a suit of armor with an Alchemic Seal - but to do so costs him an arm and a leg, quite literally.
Later on, Edward receives replacement mechanical limbs [automail] and both brothers go into further training in the art of Alchemy. Later still Ed becomes the youngest ever 'State Alchemist' and his nickname is 'Fullmetal' on account of his new position and of course his mechanical metal limbs.
The TV Anime series was adapted from the comic up to a certain point. Then it went on a planned tangent, giving us a different story. A story that ended after 51 episodes with Ed being removed from his world and tossed into ours.
That story concludes with the movie special "Conqueror of Shamballa", while the Manga comic continues on with a different story. The comics and Anime DVDs are available from Madman and the complete Anime saga is available via two Box Sets You can bet on Sweet Zombie Jesus that I will be buying both of those box sets before this year is through. Believe it!
The good news my friends is that the Fullmetal movie is all kinds of awesome. First, even if you've never seen the show or read the comic you can still enjoy the film as a standalone Anime in its own right. Now that you know what's going on, lets talk about the movie...
STORY GET!
Ed is living in 'our world.' His world is referred to as Shamballa, a mythical golden age world full of wonders, where all thunderbirds are go and everybody gets free medical and dental. So naturally there is a secret society trying to open the dimensional gate to access and plunder Shamballa / Ed's homeworld.
Said society would be the Thule society, a niche group within the larger group known as Nazis. Yes I said Nazis. The film is set during 1923 in Munich, Germany and in the background is the grassroots of the rising socialist party.
While not the major focus, you will see events leading towards World War Two brewing in the background. Also, Hitler will pop up from time to time as a young handsome man, but fortunately he never speaks in the film - he is just part of the background events and chaos that Ed is becoming part of.
In this world [our world] Ed lives with an alternate Alphonse, a blonde haired blue eyed rocket scientist. Alphonse is being groomed by his employers unknowingly to develop weapons of war.
 | | Ben Affleck was Da Bomb in Fullmetal Alchemist, yo! |
The Thule society starts out as your typical 'Secret Nazi Occult Jerk Off's R Us Society' out to help their fellow Nazis and the Fuhrer by any means necessary. So when they discover a parallel world they try to open a gateway allowing them to steal weapons, money or whatever resources they see fit.
They discovered this other world because Ed and Al's father at some point crossed from their home world into our world.
Of course the leader of the Thule society is mad as a hatter. In the third quarter of the film she travels to Shamballa, [Al's home world] where she goes even more nuts after travelling through the portal, gaining magical Alchemy powers along the way and she then starts waging full scale war on the new world.
Having a whole mess of funky-zeppelin-doom-ships powered by rockets filled with armoured-zombified-soldiers leads to an epic battle with rampant destruction.
At this point the focus shifts to the usual cast of Fullmetal Alchemist, as they muster up a resistance force.[You can see them together in that crowded picture up there.] The soldiers of Ed's home world take on the invading hordes while he goes after the leader of the Thule society.
I don't want to give away the surprise ending, especially seeing as it made me laugh, almost cry and feel a little giddy, all in the space of only a few minutes. But Ed proves once again what a stubborn and determined S.O.B. he can be, as he goes after the Thule society leader like an unrelenting force of nature.
Just imagine that you had lost everyone and everything you ever loved or cared about. That you were taken against your will from your life and home, and being deposited into a totally alien environment with no money, food, water or clothing. You don't know a single person in this place and are left to sink or swim.
Then imagine you had the chance to gain it all back again, to go home, but only at the cost of other people's lives - what would you do?
What makes Fullmetal stand out from other Anime is not the cool action sequences, the gorgeous animation, [you can tell this is a feature with a nice big budget the moment the title screen appears on the DVD] or the interesting back story of Science vs. Alchemy, no - it's the humanity. Every character is this film you can feel some sympathy towards. Nobody is one-dimensional. Even the characters that make only brief appearances are complex and believable.
The previously existing cast from the TV show are all excellent. But what is even more impressive is how an entirely new cast is thrown at you in rapid succession, and each are interesting worthwhile characters that add to the story. What I like most about the main character 'Ed' in particular is that he is not the typical tough as nails action hero. Sure, he's seen plenty of fights - but his real strength comes from his love for his brother. While he may fall into that tough guy role at times, it's always for a very real reason. We also get to see Ed's vulnerability, especially when he is with Winry, his childhood female friend / love interest.
He is also a really small guy, even for a teenager. Often jokes are made about his stature in the Anime, especially in contrast to his armoured Hulk-like 'little' brother.
 | | Paaaannnccchhh!!! (apologies to you know who) |
Ed makes a lot of mistakes in his life and often blames himself for his brothers death and current existence. Although he loves his brother Al - and would literally do anything for him - he lives with the guilt and pain of what his actions lead to and nothing can take that away.
While I don't want to give away any major plot points, - because damn it's a good film and you should be watching it rather than reading about it -the film does get pretty grim at times. So much so that you forget you're just watching a cartoon, as you become immersed in the lives of Edward and Alphonse Elric.
I chose to watch this Anime twice before writing about it, and I'm glad I did. The film is much better the second time around. The small booklet that comes in the cover has lengthy explanations about many things integral to the story, and it's well worth reading.
At first it's all very confusing, but unlike a lot of Anime movies the second time around brings clarity and insight - rather than further confusion. Some Animes are just too damn clever for their own good. Fortunately Fullmetal Alchemist has a quality and depth to it that will satisfy Anime fiends, while still having enough pizazz to potentially appeal to a mainstream audience.
Overall Conqueror of Shamballa is a really classy production. The DVD cover comes with some great artwork and includes a sweet booklet that 'splains stuff tucked inside the front half. The DVD itself contains extras including trailers and an enjoyable 'making of' feature with the director walking us through the movie production process.
Grim, funny, beautiful, and touching - No matter what I write about this Anime, I can't do it justice. You really just have to experience it for yourself.
by: Australian Ninja
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This film has all the heart, grit and spirit of a prize fighter. One of the best films I've watched in ages. | |
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