Well, I was disappointed that she died, however, I felt that her cameo was awesome. Yeah, and I hated it that she died, yeah I knew it was inevitable, but I just hated the way the killed her off. She could have had a scene of some sort, you know?

There's a possibility she will live in the manga. There is a possibility she will not. I am hoping that she will. Even if she doesn't, my life will go on just the same.

And no, I did not scream at the TV.

And thanks for being so incredibly nice to a n00b like me... You don't have to be insanely rude to make a point.

Perhaps, but the plot called for Alphonse to reach Lior, and a death scene might have dragged the pace (Maybe Al could have flashbacks of Izumi's death in the desert?). Still, it's not like Izumi was completely absent. Her death motivated Wrath.

Good. You behaved a lot better than some viewers.

I apologize. It's just that CoS has been badly treated by this discussion board. Since no one seems willing to defend it, it's up to me. Yes, the movie has flaws, but it's not the turkey the majority thinks it is, and undeserving of unfair criticism.
And you seemed to treat the film unfairly. By your words, Izumi is the real star of the series. Therefore, I hypothesized that your major dislike of CoS stems on the absence of her. Never mind that she isn't the star, never mind that she was on borrowed time, No Izumi = CoS sucks. Judging the film on that basis makes no sense. It's like me hating the series for killing Maes Hughes.
And once again I really cannot understand why everyone see the ending as depressing or unbearable. Ed and Al are together again, and have accepted their new environment. And every good guy who didn't have a terminal ailment survived. This isn't End of Evangelion!
Of course, I could be misinterpreting your criticism. If so, I apologize for that.

Claudius: Self-appointed defender of FMA: Conqueror of Shamballa

Well, I appreciate your consideration. It wasn't just because of her that that the movie was kinda bad in my opinion. The whole entire movie I actually wasn't thinking about Izumi--I was focusing on the plot. I simply didn't like it, and for many reasons, her being one of them. That's all.

And yes, no one can sway my opinion that she is the star of the series, cause she is in my eyes, even if she's really not. Just...don't mind that lol.

Oh and just a question I've always wondered, and I'll ask you since you seem to know a lot about the movie. How do we know that when Wrath says "I want to see mommy" or whatever when he's being eaten that he's talking about Izumi? Do you think he could be talking about Sloth? The reason I ask this is because Wrath seems to hate Izumi during the series, and it doesn't make a lot of sense for him to just start wanting her again.

Well, the two big clues that Izumi is in Wrath's thoughts is (1) His presence at Izumi's grave, and (2) His joy to see Izumi at the Gate.
Wrath does have feelings for Izumi. In ep. 47, Wrath remembers himself in the Gate being coddled by a woman who switches from Sloth to Izumi and so on. However, he denies Izumi. By remembering and accepting Izumi, Wrath remembers his human death and the Gate, which he fears. So he rejects the Gate by rejecting his human past (just like Sloth denied her human past by trying to kill the Brothers Elric) and his human mother.
Two years pass. Sloth is dead. The Master has betrayed him. Ed and Al's self-sacrifices leave a big effect. Wrath is alone now, a broken shadow of his former self. I think his experiences has caused him to accept Izumi's love. She is all he has left now (It seems no one seems to care about what Daddy Curtiz thinks of all this!). But she's dead, and Wrath probably feels very sorry about hurting her. It gives him a death wish; he doesn't care about the Gate as long as he can be with Mommy again. So he has Al kill him (an act that will haunt Alphonse for the rest of his life).

Ahhh. The grave part is what made me think he wanted Izumi, who is his real 'mommy'. Thanks for clearing that up.

Yeah, and poor Sig. lol

@Claudius: I enjoyed the film and will also do my bit to defend it but I just can't decide how I feel about it!

Yes, the brothers are in the 'wrong' world so to speak (but that's just the way things go, nothing is perfect), but in the end they're together so that makes me really happy. I suppose, for many other reasons also, I do really like the film because I'm not sure what else I should have expected from it. So yes, ignore my first post up there^.

It was good!! I really liked it!! ^-^
FMA 4ver!

Well, even though it wasn't exactly how I expected it too be,
I'd have to say I liked it

ya that is what i have to say also. but i like them both. (japnesse and english dub) ( both on dvd)

I liked the movie at first because it was the first thing I saw in the fullmetal alchemist universe. it was an accident and of course I ruined the anime for myself but that didn't stop me from watching it. So now that I've seen all the anime and read all the manga up to date, I really really dislike this movie. It does not make sense and is full of holes, and by the way the official explanation as to why gluttony turned into a giant weird monster as said in the handbook that comes with the dvd " It's because he ate dirt ". That that is actually funny but, come on really dirt is the reason. anyways oh yeah and why would mustang wait in the middle of nowhere in the show for ed? doesn't make any sense. why not wait for him in central where he disappeared in the first place, but I guess snow is a better place to wait right. I guess since the movie exposed me to all this originally it deserves some thanks. but the boss fight was lame, and the boss was all like, " I want to destroy your world" enter devious plot device " JUST CAUSE" : ( really you want to destroy it because it tickles your fancy COME ON!. anyways thats about it. I doubt anyone will read this because the last person to post here was nearly a year ago.

LOL~ not just GOOD but FANTASTIC!!!! XD

Glad that you have read the manga. I actually like the manga so much more than the anime and movie. Although, the movie is quite interesting except the part where there is no Royai. That makes me so mad. But luckily, the new series is out and I believe I will like the new series.

Okay, this may sound slightly off-topic with all the discussions of the new series but..

I just watched The Conquerer of Shamballa and I have a few (actually, A LOT, but I'll spare you those) questions that's boggling my mind:

1. What purpose does it serve to the Thule Society by opening up the gate and leading a bunch of army into Shamballa? I thought that they were supposed to aid Hitler, not start up their own agenda into a parallel world... *forgive me if I got my facts wrong, my memory's a bit hazy*

2. If the German soldiers didn't survive the passing through the Gate from Amestris to the real world (they were all corpses), so how the heck did Al survive by merely hiding in an armor?

3. Why was Roy hiding in the north again? Any purpose beside 'I don't deserve this all because I caused so much sins blablabla'?


Anyways, on-topic... I kinda liked the movie. Sure, it may have some WTF moments, like Hohenheim sacrificing himself for Ed or Al transferring part of his soul to an armor (?!!??) to have it 'conveniently' end up in Ed's world...

The cinematic presentation was breathtaking. And that was back in 2006! I love, love, love the backdrops and scenery, it's so vivid and detailed. That's one part that I enjoy more than FMAB -- the backgrounds in the first series were prettier. Not to mention more realistic. The music was great.

The plot was a bit lacking, because it seemed like an obviously contrived way to bring Ed back into his world (and force him leave it again for the 2nd time... wtf?!). But that didn't mean I didn't enjoy the story for what it is. After all, the movie won tons of awards. That definitely shows that it is a pretty much solid movie.

Conquer it, and take its secrets and weaponry for their world and the Third Reich. Since the anime makes it known that the FMA World's alchemy is powered by the dead of our world, the Thule Society tried that exchange in reverse.

How did Ed survive the return trip? I have two theories:
1.) Since the Brothers Elric have successfully retrieved something from the Gate (Al his body, Ed his life after Envy took it), they gained some interdimensional immunity in their travel through it.
2.) Two counterparts cannot exist in the same world at the same time (That's why Edward possessed his real-world self in episode 49). Evidently all those soldiers had counterparts in FMA-world and could not make the trip intact. Since Ed and Al's real-world counterparts have died (Ed's in that zeppelin crash; Al's getting shot by Hess), they can successfully enter the real world. This could mean Nazi Hughes could visit the FMA World with no harm

I'm afraid that is the main point. His revenge on Bradley, the death of Selim, and the long-overdue grief of Maes Hughes have left Roy very depressed. I suppose his hiding out was to find some meaning in his wrecked life (or maybe he believed himself to be a death magnet). For a better insight, check out my Roy's Defeat essay in the Chapter Discussion thread.

Thanks a lot, Claudius! I'll check out your essay

The counterparts in both worlds thing do make sense, after all. At first I was wondering what was the significance of Alphonse Heiderich being sickly and getting shot to death like that...

I loveeeeeeeeeed the movie ^^ !!

It wasn't a "Just cause" thing, she said so herself that Ed's world scared her and that she couldn't trust the people in it because they were different from her. That fear is the reason why she wanted to get rid of that world, not for kicks and giggles.

Now I like the movie, but it moved even slower than the anime. (And the anime was just barely able to pull it off.) You can't watch it often or too many times because after the second time you'll be bored out of your skull.
I didn't think it left too much open like other people says it does, all my questions were answered. However I don't like that they ended it with the Elric brothers on another search. True, Alphonse stated he wanted to travel with his brother like they did before, but traveling and searching are two different things. Traveling=Slightly stressful. Searching=Extremely stressful. They've been through enough, LET THEM REST!

I thought it was just "okay", really. I mean, as far as production values? Absolutely stunning. The details in both the art, the music, and the research into that era of human history was excellent. I also enjoyed several sequences, such as Alphonse taking out the armors, Edward talking to Fritz Lang, the battle between Wrath and Gluttony, Ed and Al teaming up with Roy, and the epilogue. Some breathtaking bits.

The story itself, though, was sort of unnecessary, especially when they were sort of driving home what we sort of already got about the similarities between our own real world and the world Ed's from. I mean, in the series I had no problem with it, but a lot of the movie seemed to be an excuse to show historical figures mingle with characters that looked like old favorites from the series. That in itself isn't bad, but since this was a supposed conclusion to the story of the first anime, it came off as being slightly hokey and at times detracted from the story about Ed and Al's reunion. I understood why they did it, but it didn't always work.

I had two other problems. One was Roy's sudden change of heart, in which he was perfectly fine at the end of the series (happily recovering with Riza's help), and then severely depressed and living in an outpost as a simple enlisted man in the movie. Is he so broken up about everything? I mean, it's implied he was just waiting for Edward to return to make his move, but what's the point of that? Roy Mustang may respect Edward, but to be waiting around like a war widow for a subordinate when he had plenty of them around him to support him seems sort of stupid and against his character, for both the manga or the first series. His return to confidence was cool, but I had a feeling the only reason they made him depressed was so they can do that scene with him returning. Ugh, it frustated me.

The other issue is, why would they have to destroy both sides of the gate? Didn't both sides have to be open, or something? Not thought out enough in that area.

Still, I loved the theme of "searching for a perfect world", and how the Thule Society (and by extension the Nazis) wanted a pure world of their own, and Noah wanted a home, alternate Alphonse wanted to show his pride as a German citizen and as a scientist before he died, and Ed was trying to find his way, too. It made me tear up to see Hohenheim attempt his own redemption, too.

A somewhat unnecessary, but still pretty enjoyable film.

I suppose Roy either lied to make Riza feel better, or he ended up relapsing after the end of the series. These things happen, especially for someone with Roy's sad record. Read my 'Roy's Defeat' essay (in Character Discussion) for more insight on why Roy went emo. His depression is definitely more than writer's fiat.
As for waiting for Edward, look at it this way: What has Roy Mustang done in his life? Killed thousands of innocent people, had a plan that led to the death of his best friend, threw away all his ideals for revenge against Bradley, and only that plan succeeded via the sacrifice of an innocent child. Not a very good record to justify a happy life (he does attract death, doesn't he?). The only good thing he did was enable the Brothers Elric to find their missing parts. Only one part of that goal has been achieved: Al is human again. But Ed is still missing. If the brothers were reunited, then maybe Roy can get some meaningful success in his wreck of a life and recover.

Remember that the Thule Society's first invasion (in Lior) only needed one side to be successful. Even if Roy closes the Gate from his side, the Nazis can still invade from their side.

Eh, I don't know if I can necessarily buy that, about Roy. It seems like a lot to swallow, especially since, with all the time they took to establish the stuff in our world, they did little to establish Roy's attitude. In other words, the execution of that plot thread was definitely lacking.

Yeah, the 'why Ed?' theory has much lesser evidence then the 'why Roy depressed' theory (which has loads of it). I would agree on the lack of attention. Even Nazi Hughes has a A-B-C-D progression. But Roy gets only A (depressed over his past in a station) and C (to the rescue!) but not B (why does he return?) and D (how does he survive the falling wing?)

Obviously, Roy survived by being awesome.

it wasn't bad but it could have been alot better. you learn to aprreeciate itthe second time round though

I liked the movie. It had a good plot and all, the beginning was my favorite with the dude on that curious island/oil rig thing. I really like the line "Brother, he drilled holes in me" XXD i started laughing when he said that. Although, I hate how it ended. Yeah, i love how Al and Ed were reunited and all, but I just wish that they ended up back in Amestris, not in Germany with the Nazis and such. Otherwise, the movie itself was good, except the ending. XD

-i like the movie! just like WW1! cool!!






OT: really? that's so cute!

I vote bad XD lulz i actually hated it, i won't rant but yeah growl, and i can't get over the fact that they got the timing for WW2 wrong, Ed would be 40 by the time it even started

Ed went through the gate at the end before the war or at the very start of it, so he only aged a few years from the end of the series to the movie.

eh? i don't get it thats confusing XD well im assuming the gate time warps or something since in amestrias years ed is 18 in 1917 and WW2 don't start till 1939, whatever the reason for the time gap, it was very unobvious

In the last episode 51, it was revealed that Edward went to the real world in 1921.

Two years pass.

The movie begins in November 1923. In that month, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party tried to take over Germany with the Bavarian Putsch. It failed, with Hitler getting arrested. That's what you saw.
What you don't see is what happens after the movie ends: Hitler was in jail for a year, then was released. He reorganized the Nazi Party and rather than take power by force again, he gained power the democratic way in 1933.

lol well in that case the gate still time warps just not as much XD and I certainly didn't pick that up when watching it, I don't know much about WW2 and stuff at all XD you like history? And that aside I still just dislike EVERYTHING about that movie, *don't shoot me its only my opinion >_<* lulz but i guess I should be a LITTLE thankful because if i was satisfied with that ending i might not have read the manga oh noes >_< i would cry lol

I vote for confusing.
Is that the real ending on the first series?
I mean I want Ed and Al get the hell out of that world and go back to amestris.
i want to see the conclusion between ed and winry same with roy and riza.
there's a lot of things left behind.
I really want to continue that journey even if they didnt follow the manga.
I mean it's a good story also. I want another movie or another season maybe..

It was the final chapter for FMA03 but it felt so incomplete.

I just felt that way ^^;

I actually like the first series ending. I think it was a pretty cool idea, the two worlds being connected and the one allowing the other to exist. And that the force needed to use alchemy in Amestris comes from the lives/souls of the people in the other world. That's something yet to be explained in the manga, where alchemy actually draws it's power from. What I don't like is all the fillers in between the good start and good ending, such as Sloth and Wrath, and the weird things that goes on in some of the episodes that just doesn't really feel FMA at all.

Anyway, after such a nice ending to a great series, too bad the movie sucked. The ending of the very last episode is dramatic, sad, and yet a little hopeful. Then they ruin it by producing a crappy, and unnecesary cash-cow movie for a sequel. I mean, it really is bad. IMO. First time I watched it I liked it, that was when I had seen zero episodes of the actual series. The second time I watched it, after finishing watching the anime, my expectations were pretty high, remembering how good I once thought it was.

And I felt stupid for actually liking it in the first place =/

the manga has said where the power comes from

Wuut? o_O When? Where? How? If this is true I'm sure to feel stupid x.x

EDIT: Realized/remembered that Amestris' alchemy draws its power from the force generated by the movement of the tectonic plates, or something like that. Still, it hasn't been explained on a very technical level, right? It's still sorta like "How can alchemy work" and someone would shrug and respond "magic?". It' still rather fuzzy IMO.

Or, is it anything else that I've missed/forgot for some weird, unclear reason? x(

I never watched the first anime, so a lot of things didn't make sense to me, however, I thought the movie was okay. Not very memorable, but it's a good show to watch. Not exactly the best story-wise, as it had a lot of ignored potential as well as holes deep enough for Gluttony to fall through. I feel that Noah and Heiderich were wasted potential, as they were always there, but somehow I feel their development was discarded. I didn't even know Echkart was that woman until I watched it a second time. Though, I think this is partially due to the fact that they had to omit a lot of scenes from 100 pages of script (which is around 3 hours) just to make it fit.

I do, however, love the animation and the music. There were also some scenes that were very touching, and I enjoyed watching them battle. Long story short, the show was okay, but it could have been way, way better.

Just for the record, this is my FMA history.

FMA Brotherhood [1 to 5] --> FMA Manga --> FMA First anime (skipped directly to 15)--> FMA Movie --> Continuing the manga/Brotherhood

I didn't like the FMA Movie. It got boring and I stopped it after 15 minutes. The manga appealed to me more.

15 minutes?! That's like when Hughes makes his appearance, or when Edward gets examined. You've pretty much missed the film and its good parts.
I should know about the time, because I once wrote the plot summaries to publish on Google. They were in four parts, so I separated them by about twenty or so minutes of the film:

Part 1 ended with Ed spotting Fritz Lang.
Part 2 ended with Al breaking into tears.
Part 3 ended with Edward rocketing into the Gate.

I liked the way it looked and sounded (animation and music). But otherwise, I wasn't too fond of it.

Reasons why:

1) Ed was basically paired with Noah and Hei, and even Roy a little, which made it seem like the romance/pairing side of the movie was all fanservice to make everyone happy. There was examples of:

a)WinryxEd - they hugged and he blushed
b)AlxEd (brotherly or romantic) - hugging and crying and etc.
c)EdxNoah - his interest in her, her returned interest in him, wanting to go with him to the Amestrian world
d)HeixEd - apparently in some official book it is said he had confusing feelings toward him, was all yaoi-ish towards the end when he died
e)RoyxEd - ditched EVERYBODY to help Ed [and Al].
f)RoyxRiza - looked at each other fondly, she ran after him when he flew up

2) Roy. I hated him in this movie. He was so...out there in terms of his priorities and feelings. At the end of the anime, he basically outright said he had feelings for Riza and was all upbeat and healing from his injuries, then went all emo for a year NOT out of isolation from Riza and the military like its suggested by Havoc, but because of ED. I was just like, srsly? EDIT: I'm not saying this because I support Royai (RoyxRiza). I said it because of exactly what I wrote.

3) Hughes. D: I read that whole thread about him, and the analyzing and such, but I will simply say that I strongly disliked his strange, cold behavior, no matter the meaning or reason behind it.

Sorry for the ranting and such. I am not trying to beat down on other people's pairings or opinions, and am not looking for a fight, but this is honestly what I felt after watching the film.

Rating: 4.5/10

Animation: 1.5/2
Music: 1.5/2
Plot: 1/2
Characters: .5/2
Ending: 0/2

I just have to say - I saw the movie once, about a year ago. Liked the beginning (Ed's dream about him being back in Amestris with Al), liked the idea that our world is like a nightmare to him, having to meet with people who are familiar yet not "themselves"

I liked the jewish director, he was the only chracter I truly loved.

Loved the moment Ed realizes the "magic" circle he discovered is alchemical and the awe he's in for it.

But otherwise... what was THAT supposed to mean?

I got feeling that the movie didn't bring anything new (except the surprising fact that Ed and Al didn't end up in their home). All the emotions I saw were like repeating anime. Al trying to revive somebody on a whim (don't remember who it was, sorry)... this was already delt with in the anime, though Ed was the one who went through the emotion of seeing people killed or killing them himself.

Noah's acting is sooo illogical. First she betrays Ed and then she's desperate he didn't take her to the other world even when she was all traitory to him just a few moments ago.

Heidrich's death reminded me of something from anime but can't remember what BUT I didn't feel a thing for him, not even a hint of sadness. (probably my problem, not the film's I guess)

Wrath's death seemed pointless. He gained a human life in the anime and now he's dying just to make the viewers all teary and there's no way the crators could kill any of main characters...

Mustang... yeah, DistantBlue, I agree with you. Ending of the anime showed him happy and at peace with himself and WALKING which means some time has gone by and he completely HAD TO know of Ed's disappearence at that point of time. Didn't seem to bother him the least.
OK, I can understand he threw off his previous ranking and just did his duty to guard his land, I can understand he decided not to use fire alchemy. But if he decided to be there, why is he so depressed about it? Not like him at all. One would assume everything bad's over for him so he should be happy.

Hohenheim. Why could I be devastated that he's bitten in half considered how he acted in anime? I hated this guy's guts in the anime1 (love him in manga-rality). He proclaims he wants to die in the body he met Trisha with and that he understands the simple joys of life, yet he endangers the world again by trying to go back to Amestris (to be able to work with alchemy again?) and opening the gate between the worlds.

Sorry, if this sounds too angry but I WAS angry after I finished watching. I deleted the film from my computer and advise anybody who asks me never to watch the movie. Sorry again to the people who enjoyed it.

Not on a whim. Al saw a dead child, and its technically the first time he ever encountered a violent death (Remember, Al has amnesia about his armor years, so he has no memory of Nina, Hughes, Marta...), thus he got hysterical about it.

Not so illogical. Seeing Hohenheim's situation and Eckhart shooting Edward, Noah has realized the error of her ways. So naturally she is trying to get Ed's forgiveness. It would be like Armstrong betraying Ed to serve the Fuhrer, only to learn the truth a few minutes later and turn the other leaf.

QUOTE

Not pointless. He is still a Homunculus, and he desperately wanted to be with his mommy again.

Well, his proclamation happened before Ed got stuck in the real world again. And I bet the boy let daddy have it over his omission about Envy's family relation (considering the 'older brother' killed a father-figure of Ed's and Ed himself). Hohenheim is now trying to atone by taking care of his first born and reuniting his two favorite sons.

Sigh...One would think the recent events of the manga would resolve things, but here I go again.
Roy is depressed over Edward's disappearance, but there are other major reasons...

Do you remember Manga Chapters 94-95, when Roy went apenuts over Envy being the murderer of his best friend Hughes? Remember when Riza and co. told him that getting revenge is a big no-no? And Roy relented.

It's different story in Anime1. In one episode, Schiezska, Winry, and Al spoke about Roy honoring Hughes' memory by taking the noble path and not being consumed by revenge. Well, what does Roy do? He goes after Bradley for revenge, and succeeds! (No Riza to talk him out of it). So he pretty much dishonored his best friend's memory, and ruined his dream to become Fuhrer (If you're going to condemn Anime1Roy for lacking discipline, remember MangaRoy had the same fault).
Also add the fact that Roy's revenge only succeeded through the sacrifice of an innocent child. Ouch! And there is probably no timetable for Roy to get over Hughes. The revelation of Bradley must have made it very clear to Roy that getting his best friend's help was similar to writing his death warrant. Such things are not so easily forgotten, or forgiven. Hence his line about seeing the innocent people who died because of his mistakes.

There's two ways you can view Roy's happy expressions to Riza at the end of the series. Either he is lying to Riza's face (Roy is very good at poker faces), or he is actually making an attempt to get over it, only to relapse. Sorry fans, that happens.

For a more detailed discussion, read my Roy's Defeat essay in the Character Discussion.

Thank you, Claudius, for your opinion. In Noah's case, you're absolutely right. She didn't like the ones she cooperated with. And there's no doubt about Al loosing his memory, I just felt the issue was just repeating of what was already seen in anime1 previously.


I'm still mad because of Wrath's death because something inside me tells me it was not right. It's nice he'd finally recognized Izumi as his mother but to be reunited with her like that...
And I don't like anime1 Hohenheim but he probably hadn't comitted any wrong in our world.

I try to seperate manga!Mustang from anime!Mustang but if you put it together this way I see where you came from.

OK, no new imput on the matter but I give it a year's wait and then watch the film again. I guess the first time I watched it expecting to see how Ed and Al meet each other again and come back to Resenbool(sp?) so I was easily disappointed.

one word : Confusing !

it seems like I never heard of the countries mentioned in the first anime in the movie because they usually name it as 'germany' and blah blah ... it's soo crazy !

Well, it was weird. Yeah, that's it. But I sorta liked it, because Ed and Al finally got to be together, and that was all I wanted XD. As a movie I'm not sure was it so great, 'cause the fact it was FMA itself made it better, soo. But anyway it was ok.

it was confusing wen i watched it for the first time....but after rewatchin the thing , i understood the plot and i really liked the movie.....lack of roy was an epic fail in this movie though

What a depressing ending!!!
I cried at one part... and then... bam, it's over

The story should continue!!!!!!!!!!!!!