I'll post here what I posted on my Tumblr!! There are no spoilers in this review

So basically, to sum it up. If you are looking for a continuation of Brotherhood, as it's already been established, this is not it.

Like I said above, it's Ed and Al interacting with new characters in a new setting. Sometimes it's only the new characters and Ed and Al aren't even in the scenes. So you just have to go in KNOWING that that's how it's going to be and take it for what it is.

[BTW, if you'd like to know more detailed description of that scene or the movie's connection to the Brotherhood series (if any.. though other than that brief appearance of gate I don't find any so far xp), as RedAmaranth watched the movie in Japan in Japanese while she is English speaker with some Japanese knowledge (but kind enough to provide us with her general review ^^) may I recommend we also wait for acaray (who was lucky enough to be one of 400 French people who watched the movie in France with French sub) to kindly finish writing his detailed movie summary?

Missed Otakon? Don’t Worry…

Last month, in theaters across Japan, the latest Full Metal Alchemist movie was released. As the last run of the anime was very enjoyable, I had high hopes for this film. The trailers promised us a movie that happens during the actual run of the manga storyline, as opposed to after the events featured in the comic. There was at least one Chimera that we knew of, and the final trailer shown on the FMA website showed us even more. It also promised us an exciting train battle.

I assure you, fellow FMA fans, The Sacred Star of Milos does not disappoint.

The story starts out by introducing us to a family escaping some rebelling people. While things look good for the Crichton family, the people they are leaving behind are not so lucky. From the start of the movie, we are reminded that FMA is not a gentle series, and that fighting and rebellion are brutal. We then see the Crichton family a few years later, well off and safe, before their children see their parents brutally murdered in their study. Julia passes out, leaving her brother to fight off the intruder.

As the trailers have shown, years later Julia tried to sneak illegally into Amestris, only to be escorted back to a prison in Table City. The Elric brothers are brought into this sphere of intrigue after Melvin Voyager breaks out of prison, leaving one and only clue behind: an article in the paper about her arrest. The boys then head to Milos and Table City to investigate.

While the plot of the movie feels quite a bit like an oversimplified version of the oppression of the Ishvalians from the manga, that is the film’s only downfall. There are also twists here, both expected and unexpected. Additionally, the original movie characters are actually very enjoyable and not over the top. While at the end of the movie Julia and one of the antagonists do attain some pretty amazing alchemy-related powers, they are not unbelievable and are well explained in the context of FMA. While others may disagree, I feel that if something could be made in Amestris, it could be recreated in Table City and Milos as well. This was the only flaw in the movie that I really could see.

The movie also gave us a brief glimpse of FMA’s regular cast as well. While the brothers are the focus of the movie, Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye play minor roles. They also travel to Table City with Winry at one point in the movie, and arrive in time for a very spectacular final fight. For all you Armstrong fans out there, be advised that he does make a brief but awesome appearance that you will happily enjoy.

Full Metal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos was a great movie. I am very pleased to report that everyone I know who has seen it has enjoyed it. The fight scenes hold nothing back, there are deaths and sacrifices that are surprising and noble, and there are original characters that you will like, something that you do not often see in an anime movie. If you are a fan of the FMA manga or the anime, go and watch this. It was great. Thank you, Arakawa-sensei, for an excellent film.

We got to see the new FMA movie, The Sacred Star of Milos, at Otakon! It was beyond cool to see it in such a huge room with so many other fans. Here follows some general thoughts/highlights for those of you who are interested - nothing specifically spoilery (lol I don’t talk about the plot or anything at all har har) but obviously don’t read if you don’t want to know!

- Right off the bat, let me just say that getting to see Ed and Al bro around and do anything was so great. People were laughing and cheering at basically everything they did. Even in a filleresque random movie, they are flawless as always… big surprise.

- THERE WAS A TRAIN FIGHT. Very nostalgic!

- There is a lot of going on about semi-complicated historical conflicts, and exploitation of this valley of people, and evil armies of powerhungry nations being evil, and blah blah blah, which is all good stuff but… obviously FMA has already done an amazing job of dealing with those themes, so it didn’t quite have the same effect. Meanwhile everyone watching is just like YEAHHH WE GET THAT THEY’RE OPPRESSED, PLZ CUT BACK TO EDWARD ELRIC’S FLY COAT SWOOSHING IN THE BREEZE.

- There is a fake Yoki, EVERYONE LOL’D. Just when you think it can’t get any more pathetic than Yoki… A YOKI WHO ISN’T EVEN YOKI SHOWS UP.

- Regarding poster art drama: Roy’s eyes aren’t even blue, at least as far as I could tell. lulz.

- This movie is BLOODY. Like… Tim-Burton-Sweeney-Todd levels of blood spurting everywhere. It was pretty disgusting… but pretty hardcore… but mostly gross.

- There were sorta like chimera werewolves… to be honest they looked really dumb and it was lolarious

- Al is a ladies’ man. Accuracy.

- I personally did not feel like I cared overly about/connected with the main movie character, Julia (I meaaan even really minor characters in canon will always have so much more impact.) However, she was not a horrendous mary sue filler princess or anything. Which I was afraid of. So it was all right.

- …Well. She was kinda a mary sue filler princess in some ways. IT WAS STILL ALL RIGHT

- ROY DID NOT DO ANYTHING IN THIS MOVIE. Seriously, he firesnapped maybe once, and it was just to heal someone’s wound in a decidedly non-dramatic manner. LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE’S NOT ONLY USELESS IN THE RAIN….

- Similarly, Riza didn’t get to do much, but she did have at least one moment of badass, at which everyone cheered. (I never thought I would get to experience a room of hundreds of people cheering for Riza Hawkeye kicking ass. IT WAS AWESOME.)

- Also, let it be noted that it is worth watching this movie because Roy and Riza are in the same room/train compartment/country in some scenes, you guys. They don’t even sit directly across from each other on the train because that would be too fucking steamy goddamn

- oh yeah and ED AND WINRY SOAR THROUGH THE AIR TOGETHER… LITERALLY. It’s adorable.

IN CONCLUSION, this movie is pretty random overall, and nothing approaching the levels of emotion and epicness that Brotherhood/the manga or the old anime have achieved. But for anyone who loves FMA with a passion, it will still be really enjoyable to see for the little moments.

I saw FMA: The Sacred Star of Milos...
And IT. WAS. AWESOME.
Thank you, Otakon, for making your convention goers the first American audience ever to watch it.

When Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos was first announced I was a bit wary. It's no surprise that the creators of the show would want to leverage their popular franchise to support a side-story, but that doesn't necessarily mean it should be done. There have been far too many series and movies cheapened by unnecessary sequels/side-stories that were produced for the sake of money.

But after watching the movie, I feel guilty for ever entertaining those doubts. The Sacred Star of Milos continues Fullmetal Alchemist's penchant for defying pre-conceived notions, and partakes of all of the qualities the series does so well, mixing suspense, drama, action and a bit of comedy to produce solid entertainment.

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It's a big relief to report that The Sacred Star of Milos fits seamlessly into the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. Its events take place right after episode 20, and the plot makes sense given what the brothers are trying to achieve. It is almost like one of the earlier episodes in the original Fullmetal Alchemist series, where the brothers encounter various alchemists that tend to be bad, and have to save the day. Instead of feeling out of place and thus unnecessary, it enriches Fullmetal Alchemist and adds to Ed and Al's reasons for disliking the Philosopher's Stone so much.

As I mentioned before, Fullmetal Alchemist is best at mixing drama, suspense, action and comedy. The drama within this movie can be felt right from the start, when Julia's parents are murdered right in front of her eyes. This dreary tone is further illustrated with the introduction of the Milos people, who are caught between two powerful countries and subsequently treated like garbage. All they want is their land back and yet they don't have any true means of getting it. The Sacred Star of Milos really plays with the idea of desires and what an individual will do to achieve them. The plot starts out with Ed and Al chasing an escaped convict. It evolves into so much more, with several lives being at stake, clever plot twists and an action-packed adrenaline rush during the final act.

While the material is rather heavy, the movie does not lose the charm that both versions of Fullmetal Alchemistare known for. There is still a bit of light-hearted play mixed throughout the beginning, but it fittingly fades to the background as the plot intensifies. Without Father or any homunculi in the action, The Sacred Star of Milos certainly has a lot going against it. Fortunately the plot quickly introduces a new mysterious form of alchemy that becomes a big problem for the Elrics. Good, fast-paced action is a necessity in any good shounen, and The Sacred Star of Milos lives up to this expectation and then some. The choreography and various uses of alchemy all make for great entertainment, giving the movie a strong impact. The movie is also not afraid of being a bit gruesome at times, with a certain character ripping off his own skin at one point.

Ed and Al here are also the same Ed and Al the viewers have come to love. They aren't state dogs without any feelings; they actually care for the Milos people and want to help them. Julia is a great addition to the cast, and it is a shame that she was actually not a part of the series. Though she is still young, she is tough and believes in her people, and is willing to do almost anything for them. She isn't a bad marksman and even has been taught a small bit of alchemy. Ashleigh works for the movie in a number of ways. Not only does he introduce a new form of alchemy, he also carries an aura of mystery around him. The unraveling of his character and his motives is what strings the entire movie together. He is smooth, cunning and difficult to read, making him a very interesting character to follow. My only small complaint is the inclusion of Roy Mustang, who is wasted as nothing other than as a kind of fan service.

I was also not a huge fan of the animation, which is much different from Brotherhood and the original series. For a big movie, it just doesn't look high-quality. This may have been due to the speed of several of the scenes but as a whole it leaves something to be desired. It isn't horrible by any means, but it is a step in the wrong direction for this series. The music, however, is right on cue, with the opening theme "Chasing Hearts" by Miwa giving the movie a very fitting introduction.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos may have been made simply because Fullmetal Alchemist is so popular, but it has a lot of great qualities on its own. As far as I am concerned, they can make other movies so long as they have a solid story that fits into the world they has already been crafted. The Sacred Star of Milos is definitely a journey Ed and Al Elric would go on. It is a journey that any fan of the series should check out, and even new fans can have fun with it. Brotherhood definitely set a high bar for the series, a bar that I am happy to say The Sacred Star of Milos meets.

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<Caution!: Following part includes some serious storyline SPOILERS. Reading these spoilers may reduce some of the surprises from the viewing experience of this movie. Please read at your own risk. >
The story focuses on Table City, an area right on the border of Amestris. Separating it from the neighboring country Creta is a large circular valley, making the city really look as though it is a table between the two countries. Both countries use that valley as a dump and as a battlefield. Inhabiting the valley are the Milos, people who once lived in the Table City but were pushed out as Amestris and Creta raced to figure out how to create a Philosopher's Stone. In exchange for their research on alchemy, Julia Crichton's family was granted passage into Creta to live a better life. When her parents are murdered by wolf chimeras, her brother Ashleigh Crichton hides his sister and goes on the run, hiding the secrets his parents have uncovered about alchemy. Nearly five years later he breaks out of jail to rescue an imprisoned Julia. The Elric brothers quickly find themselves encountering Ashleigh, whose alchemy is unlike anything they have seen before. As they arrive in the Table City they realize just how horrible life is for the Milos in the valley and why they are fighting to take back their city. When the Philosopher's Stone is brought into the equation the limits of the Milos are tested and the true purpose of Table City is revealed.

I heartily agree with the review, save for the fact that I think the animation was perfectly fine and quite attractive. It looked like a movie to me. The Sacred Star of Milos did an excellent job sustaining & reinforcing the themes of the show without feeling like an adventure that was just rehashing stuff we'd seen before. The general idea of this small little land struggling to survive between two great powers makes it feel quite realistic and relevant despite the fantasy elements, rather like how things like the Ishval massacre lend no small amount of heavy seriousness to either Fullmetal Alchemist series. It's probably worth noting that the movie doesn't suffer from mood whiplash the way some feel that the early episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood do.

My greatest shock and pleasant surprise is that Julia was established as a credible main character. She wasn't a third wheel to Ed and Al, she wasn't dependent, she did as much as anyone accomplished in the story, and she had both principles and enough sense to listen to reason. It wasn't long before I sincerely cared what happened to the character. How many anime action movies based on an established story introduce a new character that just kind of feels tacked on? But that didn't happen at all here. Her treatment was a good as a one-shot character can expect to get.

I'm glad you feel the same way about the plot twists and suspense as I do. Show me someone saying they called it all and the 99% chance is that I'll point and show you a shameless liar. And my sense is that it was big but not over-the-top. The scope of it was about right.

The only flaws in the movie are just quibbles depending the taste of the individual viewer. For instance, Roy Mustang and Alex Louis Armstrong fans shouldn't expect lots of action from those guys. Armstrong just gets a cameo. You're not going to see Ling or Scar or other important people like that. But that's fine. The moderate number of people involved are just enough and right for the story. And all in all it's an adventure on par with the very best FMA content that there is in animation.

It's a must-buy, people. I was expecting to love it and it didn't let me down at all.

"The Sacred Star of Milos" [(mostly) Spoiler-Free Review]

Yesterday being Umi no Hi (national holiday in Japan), I got the day off work and took the opportunity to go see the new FMA movie, "The Sacred Star of Milos", in theaters. My review and impressions are below - and I've kept them as spoiler-free as possible, and will be doing a full spoiler post separately.

(Please remember before you click that I'm going to have to give away at least some of the details of the setup in order to review this thing. Nothing specific beyond the setup and some vague statements about the plot arc will be given, though.)

To be completely honest, I went into the theater with very low expectations. We all went through Shambala together, which is explanation enough, and my reaction to the Milos trailers was basically, "Batman? Really? And I'm going to end up paying money to see this?" (Yes. Yes, I was.)

The bad news is, Milos isn't The Movie all fans hope for - the mind-blowing, fulfilling continuation of a beloved canon that we'd watch again and again. The good news is, Milos is a fairly solid offering all the same, putting favorite characters through familiar paces in a mildly exotic locale with a reasonably interesting cast of new faces.

- ☆ -

When writing the story for Milos, BONES fell back on that old standard of the FMA video games: the era during which Colonel Mustang had the Elric brothers at his disposal to send hither and yon, investigating alchemical oddities. (Considering the number of video games, fanfiction, and filler episodes set during this period, which couldn't have been longer than a couple of years, one begins to wonder if Mustang has a time alchemist squirreled away somewhere. My money's on Riza "You're Off Schedule Again, Sir" Hawkeye.)

In a twist that also reminded me of the video games, the brothers endeavor to get to the bottom of a shocking alchemy-related incident (in this case, tracking down an escaped criminal who explosively broke out of jail with only a few weeks remaining on his sentence, taking with him only a newspaper clipping), and in the process become embroiled in a mysterious conflict (an ethnic rebellion in Creta, involving the ancient alchemy of the Valley of Milos) and help a troubled girl confront the demons of her difficult past.

All of this is nothing new, but it's handled with reasonable panache and flair, and for once the writers stay more or less within the bounds of alchemy as we know it (no angels or Gatebabies or leaping between dimensions, though the Milos Valley form of alchemy flirts with the boundaries of human transmutation in a way that raised my eyebrows). There are plenty of lovingly animated fight scenes, including an impressive set piece with a crashing train on a bridge (how does anyone convince the Elrics to board trains anymore?) and several chase scenes that take advantage of the unique architecture of Table City, that wedding-cake-shaped citadel from the trailers.

The new cast of characters are fun, and although you may find yourself wondering who filed the serial numbers off Yoki and recycled him as a minor villain, they otherwise feel fresh and engaging enough. The writers chose to parallel Ed and Al's sibling bond with another, more damaged sibling relationship in the form of our heroine du jour, Julia Crichton, and her older brother; it feels a bit like a rehash at times, but generally it works. They also took the interesting step of making Julia a love interest for Alphonse instead of Edward, and the resulting bond unfolds slowly enough to not feel too forced, particularly since it's based on one part rescue-romance and five parts mutual fretting about their bonds with their difficult, yet beloved, brothers. Julia herself is surprisingly appealing - she's intelligent, determined, has her own believable goals, and never loses the chance to pick up a gun and use it, if one happens to be lying around.

As for the standard cast, the movie tells us very little about them that we didn't already know (Edward cannot resist lending a hand to a lost cause, Alphonse loves his brother and cannot say no to a pretty girl, Mustang and Hawkeye are helpful in a fight, Winry shows up with a toolcase and a smile right when she's needed), but it has fun putting them through their paces one more time. There are a lot of cast cameos early in the film, but once the action moves to Creta, it's mostly the Elric Show, with Mustang and Hawkeye showing up to be Big Damn Heroes near the end and then...not doing much, really. There are a handful of very funny moments, and the barest whiff of shipservice for the EdWin fans, but Royai fans will have to content themselves with more of the usual office/battlefield back-and-forth and not much else.

In the end, the trouble with Milos isn't with what it is. As it stands, it's a fun enough romp that teaches us a little more about the world of FMA outside the borders of Amestris, and although it takes a slight turn for the weird near the end (and gets startlingly gory - who knew a human body contained that much blood?), it comes nowhere near the delirious strangeness of Shambala, or even the first anime finale. As a film released during the television run of Brotherhood, with the expectation of more films to come, it would have been a blast.

Sadly, Milos is doomed to disappoint fans of the series to some degree, not because of what it does, but because of what it doesn't do. As the first film after the series finale, it has a lot of fan expectations riding on where it might go, but it's trapped by its mid-series setting, and consequently it doesn't develop the regular characters any further, or teach us anything especially new about alchemy. It doesn't advance any ships, reveal any secrets, or move beyond the finale into any new adventures. It's just a standard, classic Military Dog-era adventure for the Elric brothers, and if you set your expectations no higher than that bar, I can almost guarantee you'll have a great time watching it. Just try not to grieve too much about what could have been.

Alright everyone, Since no one has made a post about this yet. I am just going to come out and say it.
I Have actually seen Sacred Star of Milos. I was at Otakon This year and they actually had a showing of it there.
It was definitely the most popular event at the entire convention by leaps and bounds.

anyway, about the movie. the movie was very good. I enjoyed it a lot. and the entire audience seemed to enjoy it too.

the story is pretty much kinda canon, but also non-canon. its kinda like a DBZ movie, each of which take place in a certain point in the series.

in this case the movie takes place at around after episode 20 of brotherhood, and is set in the west at the creta-amestris border. Now I am not sure how far this goes into spoiler territory, so I am just going to put this in spoiler tags just to be safe, although Im pretty sure its just the plot

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<This part tells some spoiler of the movie storyline. Please read at your own risk. ^^ >

now as mentioned before, Julia Crichtion, is one of the movie's main characters, as well as her brother, whose name escapes me at the moment, who uses water-based and lightning-based alchemy.
anyway, the plot involves Julia and her brother who's parents researched the people who once inhabited the city of milos as well as the city itself. now if I remember correctly it is their parents research notes that the amestrian officers governing Milos as well as the cretian military want to get their hands on. and Julia and her brother are part of a group of resistance fighters who I think are the ancestors of the original inhabitants of milos and want to aqcuire a great power known as the sacred star of milos, which will allow them the ability to control the earth's lava/magma,which is where the research notes come in and they want to use this power to retake the city of milos from the amestrian gov't.

and creta wants control of Milos as well, so its essentially like a 3 sided battle between creta, the resistance fighters, and the amestrian officials governing Milos. now unless I am forgetting something, thats pretty much the plot.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, the movie also features [were]wolf chimeras. ... kind of an odd distinct memory, but something to mention

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Now for my analysis of the movie
As far as the movie itself. I thought the plot was very good and the pacing equally as good. There were a few plot twists that were very good and were somewhat unexpected heel turns. I say somewhat because one of the major plot twists I called at around 45 min - an hour before it was revealed and was absolutely 100% correct. But I am pretty good at calling out plot twist, so I can't really say for sure how unexpected this one was
Now this does not mean that it was a bad plot twist. I thought that it was very plausible and very good when it comes to plot twists. if you didnt see it coming, you could see where it came from and how it played out, which is something that I liked.

Now overall the movie was very very good, and I think it will be much better received than Shamballa was, Although I didn't necessarily hated the first FMA movie but I do understand why others do.
So I think that all FMA fans can look forward to seeing the movie. it was said the movie was to be released state-side some time next year, and even with a theatrical release, which will probably come in the spring, with a dvd release in the summer or fall.

Well I think that is pretty much all I got to Say about Milos. Hope I answered some questions.

EDIT:
And also, if people think there might be links to streams of this release, I would not get your hopes up. they were very very strict about making sure that this movie didn't get out. all cell phones, cameras and other devices had to be turned off, and they had people paroling the theater making sure people would comply, and anyone that didn't would be kicked out of the convention, so I do not expect a stream link of any kind for a while

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos

A convict escapes from prison using alchemic symbols that Ed and Al Elric have never seen before. They choose to pursue the criminal, hoping this form of alchemy might hold the key to them being able to recover Al’s body and free his soul from being bonded to a suit of armor.

Sacred Star of Milos is a side-tale meant to be viewable by people unfamiliar with Fullmetal Alchemist. Even if, it doesn’t live up to its intentions. Lots of the alchemy discussion is going to be lost on people unfamiliar with or new to the series. They throw out terms like Door of Truth and Philosopher’s Stone without any explanation. Also, there are random appearances of fan-favorite characters who distract from the film’s plot.

I’m a fan of the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga, as well as the two TV anime adaptations. I still found Sacred Star of Milos disappointing. The tale is a mess. Too much time is devoted to making sure all the favorite characters get some screen time, and it hurts the plot. As much as I like Winry, Lt Haweye, Major Armstrong, and Col Mustang, they had no business being in this film.

The final third is extremely rushed. There are stacked revelations, characters show up just in time to offer special skills to help out the Elric brothers, and too many magical coincidences. The final battle scene, in fastidious, requires the consultation to fill in gaps as to why one form of attack was more effectual than another. I talked to a couple of people who were not familiar with the series, and they were confused by how the heroes ending up winning.

There was a lot of potential in the Sacred Star of Milos speech. Even if, it feels like a excellent foundational tale was sacrificed in order to pander to fans of the series. Only the most die-hard fans of Fullmetal Alchemist will delight in this film; those unfamiliar with the series should avoid the film absolutely. Sacred Star of Milos is a real shame. The Elric brothers and their fans deserve surpass than this.

Someone did a review on Youtube:

Sacred Star of Milos review

I was fortunate enough to see a screening of this movie at Otakon and felt like I finally had something worth blogging about again. Before you ask, no. I do not have screencaps, streams, or anything else of the movie. Buy it on DVD when it comes out.

The movie spends a good ten minutes showing Julia's backstory before Ed and Al get any screentime and it's interesting even though you don't really get the significance of her family fleeing from Milos to Creta until later in the movie.

With Ed and Al on the screen just in time to see someone break out of prison in Central Amestris and fail to stop him (seriously, where are Bradley and the rest of the homunculi while this is going on right under their noses?) and then chase him west to Milos in the west, a warzone between Amestris and Creta struggling for its independence from both with the probable inevitability of being used in the Nationwide Amestrian Transmutation Circle either way. Okay, no more jokes about the plot of a filler movie in the grand scope of the overall plot. Also I don't want to spoil things so I'm gonna stop talking about the plot almost entirely now that I've given you a little taste of it.

So, was the movie good? Yes. It stayed plausibly within the story of the series, had a good standalone plot with interesting movie-exclusive characters, catered to the fanbase well (if the mass cheering at the Otakon screening at every little thing that happened were any indication) and stayed true to central ideas, ideals, and themes of the original work despite Arakawa's lack of involvement in the film.

If I were to levy complaints against the film, it would be toward its handling of side characters. Given that the movie doesn't definitively state whether it takes place in the first anime's continuity or the manga's continuity there's a limited character pool you can pull from, but even those characters they didn't do justice to.
You'd expect Alex Louis Armstrong to be a pretty strong force in the movie (and chew some scenery. and sparkle.) but he's there for about three seconds.
Mustang and Hawkeye have actual roles in the movie, but when it comes to the action the Flame Alchemist who in other events has mass-nuked and burned things does next to nothing and the number of bullets Hawkeye fires in the movie can probably be counted on one hand.

Secondly, while the plot is a good bit better than your average anime movie (I've watched seven Naruto movies and three Bleach movies, some of which make no sense at all in terms of plot) the action wasn't as good as those other anime movies tend to get. But Fullmetal Alchemist was never a story about long fight scenes and such I suppose. But while fixing these grievances might've made it better, the grievances by no means make it a bad film.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the film and I honestly hope they make more filler movies like this to explore some of the other areas bordering Amestris and some of the other unknowns of the Fullmetal Alchemist universe. Would be great if they could get Arakawa on board with writing future films too.

This article can be summed up in five words: New Full Metal Alchemist Movie
I assume that got your attention? May I also assume you would like to learn more? Very well. I saw the premiere of Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos and I will tell you about it.

The premiere took place at Otakon, the largest convention in the east coast.
If I’m wrong and you know another east coast convention with over thirty-two thousand attendees, let me know and I’ll correct myself. The movie has been released in Japan just weeks prior to this screening. It should still be in Japanese theaters by the time you are reading this. This means that the movie has never been seen in the U.S. before so a lot people wanted to see it.
Click to view attachment
That's a giant mass of people who wanted to see the movie.

After the giant mass of people were seated, a few Funimation employees came out and did the required social promotion plus warning to shut off recording devices.
We were told that the translators worked frantically to sub (or add subtitles to) the movie in time for Otakon. It even “came down to the wire.” Then Kazuya Murata came out to thanks us for coming as well as provide exposition for the movie. Then it started.

Frankly, I feel the best description of the movie as a whole is solidified human waste making contact with a series of rotating blades designed to circulate air.
It was as if they were trying to cram in as many ideas that they could without breaking the movie. There were Werewolfs, natural disasters, people ripping off each other faces, bat men with machine guns, and ship launching. You have no idea what’s going on but it’s all AWESOME!

Not to say the movie doesn’t have quieter moments.
Being Fullmetal Alchemist, there are mysteries to solves and questions to ponder. Honestly, it’ll take a few viewings if you want to really get it all. The first time you see it, you’ll miss some of the finer details but get the most important points. One important plot point is how awful the Milosans have it. If you don’t feel sorry for them at some point during the movie, YOU HAVE NO SOUL!

There’s also a few new characters like Julia; the movie’s female lead.
She has a few philosophical disagreements with the Elric brothers but is also jealous of their strong brotherly bond because she has a strained relationship with her own brother. There was also this scene where Winry was riding Ed; because he used a glider to transport her to a part shop in order to repair his arm. What, were you thinking of something else?

The movie was designed to be a stand alone project.
It takes place in a whole new area of the world called Milos and the events are mainly local in scope. A general knowledge of the Fullmetal franchise would be very helpful in enjoying the film because it uses concepts from the series, which a movie from a series should do. I only watched the first Full Metal Alchemist series and I still totally get the movie even though it takes places during the Brotherhood series.

I’ll avoid spoiling the plot but I will say that I am horrified to announce that the movie has launched the Al/Julia ship.
For those not versed in the lingo, that means the movie has implied that those two characters may have a romantic relationship. Prepare yourselves for the fan fic, deviantART galleries, and forum topics devoted to discussing it. Even Kazua Murata (see next paragraph ^^) fears for it.

Oh yeah, Kazuya Murata, the movie’s director was there too.
You may recognize other series he worked in like Code Geass or Eureka Seven. He attended the premiere and answered questions for a panel afterwords. During all the questions, he revealed that he felt little pressure in making this movie even though it was for such a popular franchise. Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist’s mangaka didn’t interfere either because she leaves the animation to the animators. Murata felt motivated to make the best movie he could. He’s also pretty sure that another movie will be made. That’s good because he had a lot of ideas that couldn’t get into the first one due to budget and time concerns. He concluded by saying that seeing the audience reaction’s moved him to create more and thanked us for watching it.

Just to make sure that I say it; this movie is great and you should totally be jealous of me for watching it before you can.
The crowd loved the movie and cheered regularly. There was plenty of things in the movie worth cheering about. There is one glaring flaw that weakens an otherwise perfect cinema experience: Roy Mustang’s role in the movie was way too small! Even the Japanese audiences complained about it! Well there’s always the sequel.

Otakon 2011 was host to a few American premiers this year, and one of them was the highly anticipated Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos film. FUNimation rolled out the red carpet as best they could, and did their best to try and squeeze every single person who wanted to see this movie into the theatre as they could – they were unable to, BUT, because FUNimation is all class – they organized a second showing of the film on Sunday to make sure that every single person who wanted to see Sacred Star was present. Several members of FUNimation were present, including Social Media Manager Justin Rojas, who is incredibly open to talking with fans and made a real push for the premier to catch on across the net (using trusted friends Facebook, Twitter, and now Google +). The director of the film, Murata Kasuya, was also present for the screening, and was very pleased with the fan response to the film (The Q&A that followed afterward, however, was very hit or miss in my opinion – only about half the questions asked directly pertained to the director and his role in the film).

Overall, the experience was enjoyable and exciting – getting to be one of the first to see a new premier, especially when its the first time an animated property is being shown on North American shores, is incredibly exciting.

So, enough about the premier itself – what was the movie about? How was it? Well, let’s get into that…

Milos takes place during the run of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, around Episode 20 of the television show, and around Chapter 11 of the original manga. Ed and Al have a bit of downtime in Central, when they witness an alchemist who is using a rather strange form of alchemy, escaping the city. Mustang sends Ed and Al to the land of Creta (which has previously not been introduced in the world – it lies off to the west of the map of Amesteris) to investigate this new form of alchemy and see if it can help them further their goals of getting their bodies back. Once they arrive in Creta, however, things take a turn for the strange, and Ed and Al find themselves embroiled in a conflict that many who are savvy on history may see as similar to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in the Middle East.

From here, Ed and Al meet new characters, and get pulled further and further into a plot that seems to only generate more questions than answers. Through this journey they meet new characters such as Julia (who serves as a psudo-love interest for Alphonse) and with her, Ed and Al seek to find the answers to the conflict and hopefully resolve it before time runs out.

That is a pretty spoiler-free rundown of the movie – if you haven’t seen much of Brotherhood, then you’re still going to be alright watching this movie, as only a basic understanding and familiarity with the characters and the world is needed to grasp what is going on.

Unfortunately, the movie itself seems to suffer somewhat from the success of the series itself. There are so many points where characters are jammed into the film, its hard to tell why any of them are there at all – aside from the new characters and places introduced in the film, Armstrong makes a singular appearance (to loud fan applause) to give Mustang a message before leaving, and Winry shows up in Central to “tag along” with Mustang and Riza Hawkeye as they set out after the Elric Brothers. A show as popular as Fullmetal Alchemist is bound to have demands placed upon it from all sides, and its actually a wonder the director was able to do as well as he did considering how many characters he had to fit into the span of the film.

The plot itself is not fantastic, but not terrible either – a happy mediocre overall, though fans of the show will recognize some unique uses of some rather common tropes of the series (Hint: Pay attention to the architecture). The action sequences are plentiful, and are both beautifully animated and executed, but the action leaves the plot somewhat lacking in depth – which is unfortunate, considering the second half of Brotherhood has some fantastic writing to it.

Overall, if you’re a fan of the show, you’ll want to pick up Milos at your nearest availability - you will enjoy the story, seeing familiar faces, and the excitement of a new location with new mysteries to uncover. It should go without saying that if you don’t like FMA then you shouldn’t bother purchasing this film.

The Elric Brothers seem as though they never left as they take the step onto the big screen, and the dynamic that the two bring to the film (and the series) is great to watch and one of the largest drawing points for the franchise. The word Brotherhood wasn’t just a marketing decision – its represents one of the strongest themes and character relationships in the series, and the movie is no different – Ed and Al alone are worth the viewing, and the supporting cast just make the experience that much more enjoyable.