The Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Movie is Impressively Bad

[@Lowart]

Hey there, folks! Thanks for watching the video. Just a couple things about it: This one isn't a part of my Fullmetal Alchemist VS Brotherhood comparison, since, as I mention later in the video, it doesn't impact my opinion of Brotherhood. However, the final FMA comparison needed a bit more time and, on twitter, I'd promised 3 FMA-related video this month, so I figured, "Why not make a video on The Sacred Star of Milos?" I also wanted to keep up my streak of uploading weekly. Anyway, time for me to go back to editing the final part of the FMA comparison. Byeeee

[@samuelazzaro]

So, I know it might be too late, but I was really looking forward to a deep dive or comparison of Hoenhiem. Honestly he's a really fascinating character and I honestly find his presentation in FMAB to be so damn interesting. Honestly I'd pay in a heartbeat for a short novel or an hour long OVA that is just Hoeniem between meeting his wife and his eventual departure. Probably just yelling at the sky here for content related to him, but thought I'd give it a try. Love your content (even if I don't always agree with your conclusions)!

[@samlerf]

You know, in Germany this film actually is quite well known, since every single character had a different dub voice than in the 2003 anime and brotherhood. It's also what makes this film stay in my collection, since comparing the voices is quite fun. There are some cool ideas in this film, yet oveall it's so bad it makes me laugh and laugh hard. But that's also why I like it more than the 2003 anime's sequel film, since that one also had cool ideas but was closer to being a good film while it failed, so it felt more frustrating than the brotherhood film.

[@kayelmarrero]

Nice! I was hoping you’d make a video on this movie.

[@JSAmember]

Hey Lowart idk if you'll see this but generally I agree that shonen filler movies are very lack luster and shallow. The My Hero Academia movie ( the second one) I thought was really good. The visuals were great. The story doesn't stray to far from what you'd expect but there was nothing so absurd or too mundane to make it unenjoyable. It's a fun time

[@MADKapo]

Love your FMA Analysis videos, Lowart! Honestly wouldn't mind if you did more videos talking about FMA filler stories like the OVAs, manga gaiden and 4-komas, maybe even video games like Broken Angel and Crimson Elixir that have original stories mixed with canon elements.

[@Brendanj101]

I like how eating the stone was considered dangerous, yet Kimblee has been doing exactly that for years.

[@light18pl]

That's because Kimblee doesn't swallow.

[@adminbob_]

@@light18pl he does he regurgitates it

[@light18pl]

@@adminbob_ oh yeah... I forgot about that

[@spiritedreviewexc]

Kimblee is a phycopath so ya know he doesn´t care about anyone i dont know if he cares if he lives or dies, but he doesn´t have attatchment to anyone but himself. so Psychopath.

[@randomenglish5056]

If Kimblee is your idea of a good outcome then we need to have a talk.

[@McKayla24798]

I remember trying to watch this movie on Netflix on my 2DS before school one day. I got about 10 minutes in before the bus came and I’ve never thought about it since.

[@Lowart]

Honestly, the only way I'd watch this again is through Netflix on my 2DS

[@franklindbrosevelt5260]

@@Lowart good thing Netflix on 2ds is dead lol

[@sombrereado5230]

@@franklindbrosevelt5260 :'(

[@BigSexyBlackMans]

@@franklindbrosevelt5260 then he never gonna watch it again

[@ComputerJunkie00]

@@franklindbrosevelt5260 F

[@xblade149]

Oh yeah the filler movie no one asked for. The animation is good though. Believe it or not Hiromu Arakawa didn't know this movie was being made and was shocked to find out without her knowledge Edit: I was wrong on a few things. While it's true the author wasn't involved in the movie she did knew about the production

[@AhsokaJackson]

Oh, man. If that’s the case, it probably explains a LOT. >.

[@xblade149]

@@AhsokaJackson explains so much

[@enterusername6953]

Some of the animation was good, but I didn't like the final fight between Ed and Ashleigh. Despite absolutely no emotional weight between the two, the fight was way too jumpy, sporadic, and all over the place. It looked like a Naruto fight with all the flashy speeds and jumps. Brotherhood's animation fight scenes were focused and looked grounded and somewhat believable. The final fight in the movie kind of took me out.

[@Christian-eq7uh]

I ain’t touching it unless Hiromu wrote it

[@illusionofquality979]

FMA 2003 has better animation that this movie.

[@corey7219]

I ironically just finished watching the FMA 2005 movie: the conquest of Shambala 2 days ago. I never knew the movie existed to end the 2003 series, so I watched it. I really enjoyed it, even though the beginning threw me off

[@mouadchaglalchimistefullme6116]

Its logic the movie have some of good idea

[@goxy287]

I mean compared to this Shambala is like perfect

[@expendableindigo9639]

He just reviewed that one last week.

[@corey7219]

@@expendableindigo9639 ooh! I'm going to watch that

[@expendableindigo9639]

@@corey7219 warning: it wasn’t super positive.

[@erickjr9]

This film has two redeeming factors tho: 1- It makes Conqueror of Shamballa look 10x times better. 2- The ending theme is "GOOD LUCK MY WAY" by L'Arc~en~Ciel, and that's always a L'Arc is always a plus for me

[@Rafa-Silva-Alt]

Hey, Conqueror of Shamballa is at least half-decent. LOL hehehehe

[@LizzieShiro]

The ending theme is such a great song. Can’t go wrong with L’Arc~en~Ciel.

[@theophrastusbombastus827]

@@Rafa-Silva-AltDon’t lie to yourself

[@Rafa-Silva-Alt]

@@theophrastusbombastus827 Still better than 99% of the garbage of today.

[@spongefan155]

Shamballa Is Good

[@FlameLFH]

The only thing I liked about the film was that it took place in Creta -- one of the only nations in the FMA universe left unexplored. The way it was presented, however, was done poorly. Unlike Xing or even what little we saw of Drachma, Creta is just a poor-man's Amestris containing very little cultural contrast. So disappointing. A spin-off movie would have been way better.

[@mercy_angel8260]

Right? Even the Milos people were not that different in retrospect.

[@akirachaossuta]

The best setting for an FMA movie would be what fanfic writers do. IT TAKES PLACE BEFORE THE SERIES STARTS! Ed has canonly been in the military since he was 12 and we jump in (BH) when he's 15, (and we got a timeskip in 03 ver) we got 3 unexplored year in which there's so much for time for Ed, Mustang, Winry, Al's literally anyone's character to be developed into what our impression of them is in present time. Relationship development of ed with all the military people he knows, let's see more of team Mustangs dynamics, Al's isolation and Ed's depression, Mustang's PTSD, Risa's traumatic childhood. Literally why do anime movies alway have to shove their plots where there's already a plot?! (I don't mind if it's between non-correlating arcs tho)

[@LunarJaguar]

I would love to see an animated side story of some kind dealing with that exact stretch of time. I've always been so interested in the idea of exploring the dynamics of Team Mustang and Ed and Al's struggles during those 3 years (since there's a lack of it in 03' and Brotherhood, but more so in Brotherhood).

[@nocquest7350]

This movie feels like a completely different anime that some of the FMAB characters are having a cameo in

[@DebonedAbsol]

perfectly describes my feeling with this movie lol, it’s good imo but it doesn’t really feel like it’s fma

[@crystaleevee1334]

You should see the behind the scenes reel on the making of this movie from the DVD. I remember watching it, and even tho it was in Japanese with subs, sugar coated with the usual “this film is gonna be awesome!” facade, there was one tidbit from that that really stood out to me. At one point when they interviewed the writer for the film. He had never worked on anything related to FMA before, and I forget his exact words but basically they where “I’m not sure why they picked me to write this, but here I am.” So they grabbed some screen writer who knew nothing about FMA to write a film for it. No wonder the whole film was off. They would have been better off adapting one of the light novels into a film instead, I mean, they already adapted the first novel into the 2003 anime. (The 2nd one was fun as hell to read too, and a much better story than this film. It starts off with Ed calling Roy his “dad” as a joke to screw with him, but then it gets really out of hand. These terrorists think Ed really is Roy’s son, so the terrorists kidnap Ed for ransom as they want revenge on Roy (for reasons I forget), there also a bunch of hilarious reactions of the other characters shocked about Roy suddenly having a “son”, Ed and Roy teaming up kicking ass, and lots of the obligatory “Ed is short” gags. Viz released an English version years back, and its now out of print, but it looks like they will be rereleasing them.)

[@connor___]

The only Anime side story movie I can really remember enjoying is the Cowboy Bebop Movie. It pairs so perfectly with the themes of the show and since most of the episodes are completely self-contained, it fits into the middle of the show so nicely

[@corey7219]

I still haven't watched the cowboy bebop movie (once again, didn't know it existed after I finished the show) to this day

[@connor___]

@@corey7219 Definitely worth checking out! The animation quality is insane, and the original antagonist of the movie is a really well written

[@LUXSTERIA]

It was a really REALLY good film. A joy to watch. A perfect example of animation in the 90s

[@ComputerJunkie00]

@@corey7219 Can confirm, Cowboy Bebop movie = damn good.

[@Cheezmonka]

I've actually only seen that movie first, and then and maybe four episodes of the series, done a few years apart, both several years ago. I'll get around to the series sooner or later.

[@averylazydevil]

"Just don't trust ratings in my anime list" Wiser words were never told

[@Shadow6OO]

Absolutely. While the overall rating for the last Evangelion movie is pretty good (a high 8) most of the commented reviews on the movie's front page are 5 or below, even a couple 1s. Some of those guys are so abysmally up their own ass it's insane.

[@tailedgates9]

Shamballa is starting to look a lot better isn't it? XD At least the characters there are consistent with who they are from 03.....

[@claireaquos6532]

And even if they weren't, around 2/3 years has passed since the end of the 03 anime so we could always assume they change since then.

[@karinakamichi4557]

This movie made no sense at all and was easily the least enjoyable of any fma content. 2003 actually incorporated its fillers to benefit the series for later stuff.

[@matteste]

I believe this shows just how weak the direction of the Brotherhood adaptation was in contrast with 03. Those working on 03 had things really working against them and they still managed to pump out something incredible. Even the movie for all it's faults was a valiant attempt in spite of everything. Contrast that with Brotherhood that had everything going for it and yet it feels like it struggles around every corner. This was especially obvious when it didn't have the manga to act on as a crutch.

[@opossumsarentrodents5550]

I would agree but the live action movie exists

[@Kutomi1]

@@opossumsarentrodents5550 Damnit. I had already forgotten about the existence of that movie and now you had to remind me. Smh my head.

[@opossumsarentrodents5550]

@@Kutomi1 I suffer, everyone suffers. I cry myself to sleep every night

[@zemox2534]

@@matteste Hey give credit where credit is due. Brotherhood did improve once it got to manga stuff and the 1 filler it did have tied into the plot pretty well while recapping oast events. Why is it people like you put down Brotherhood while praising FMA 03? Just does not sound fair to me

[@adinwilcox3836]

Gotta say, having a guy with a stolen face, then also having a guy with a missing face, kinda ruins a twist before a reveal

[@Omnipotentmonkey]

The main advantage of the big shonen non-canon movie is that you can kind of throw together reasons to just do freaking awesome shit that you can't find a feasilble way to fit into your narrative, for a recent example, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising gave us a big action brawl featuring all of the members of Class 1-A fighting alongside each other against the new original foe. and then featured a hypothetical application of Deku's quirk that makes complete sense and made for a BITCHIN' final fight, but that would cause all sorts of problems in the flow of the actual narrative. going back a lot further, DBZ's "Fusion Reborn" gave us the opportunity to see the canon fusion dance reapplied to Goku and Vegeta. something which is badass to see, but wouldn't have fit in the main story. this is one of the reasons that Milos is so disappointing, it can't even get FANSERVICE (of the not... booby variety) right. if you're gonna give us a half-assed plot, do it in service of giving us this kind of cool shit, but the action, set-pieces etc. aren't really interesting in using this opportunity, it doesn't really push the boat out anywhere that canon didn't already. we could have seen something like Ed trying his hand at Mustang's flame alchemy, Edward cutting loose with a philosopher's stone (e.g. say he made an exception given the situation) (and yes, Julia does this, but... that's a lot less cool than the protagonist we know doing it.) ... or sayone of the Homunculi are sent to check on Ed and we get a fight we didn't get last time, e.g. Mustang vs Greed as a result. there's some cool shit you can do. but they do none of it. it's a bad plot, and bad at just being fun spin-off shit.

[@HiHi-lt1cb]

Ed using the stone would have been SO COOL. Even if it was out of character, like you said, it's a filler movie, so they can do whatever the heck they want XD

[@mr7oclock346]

Not only was there great world building in FMA, it had even more potential. A good writer could put out a story in that world without even having any of the characters from the original series

[@AhsokaJackson]

7:30 LMBO. This feels like another one of those times where watching folks’ analyses of a story is way more entertaining and interesting than the actual story. As a side note, huge props on the captioning/subtitles! Stuff like that is a ton of work to do (I know from experience, lol), and I’m someone who’s always hoping to find them on stuff. It allows me to focus better and have more certainty on the content of what’s being said versus having to strain to make sure I hear everything clearly. I totally get why KZbin videos usually don’t have them, and I don’t expect them to, but it’s awesome when they do. Plus it sometimes allows for fun humor notes or Easter eggs, ha.

[@Arehexes]

The only thing I honestly remembered about Star of Milos is the ending song 'Good Luck My Way'. One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands.

[@jadedshade3136]

11:36 Ed: "Cast it into the fire! Destroy it!" Julia: "No."

[@yuewingman456]

I would've love to see a sequel to the main series, like how Ed would be able to solve the conflict despite being incapable of using alchemy. Or we can focus on Al instead as well. There's just a lot of possibility to explore considering they were going on a journey around the world about alchemy in the ending. But considering how bad this movie did, guess it'll never happen.

[@WalleBot]

Selim Bradley

[@michaeldavis9190]

I'd just like to say, thank you so much for adding subtitles. I don't have the best hearing, and I largely rely on lips to understand what people are saying, so when videos like this have subtitles, it makes a world of difference.

[@WorthlessWinner]

Ed should've yelled at the film makers to stop

[@kbaker2105]

The animation style has so much potential to be different yet amazing, and it was so jarring to see the quality change so erratically. I can't recall where I read this, but I believe the director admitted that he had bitten off more than he can chew with this project. He was interested in worldbuilding (he based Table City on Spain in contrast to Germany), but he just couldn't figure out how to do this with a single movie.

[@Kujakuseki01]

Non-canon movies can be great. One Piece has about a half dozen great movies, but it's understood they're all non-canonical.

[@samuelazzaro]

Then again given the nature of one piece half the content seems irrelevant till its not (no dis on one piece, its a damn fine series, its just that odysseus is looking at the straw hat crew and going "jeez can you guys just get their already?")

[@Chidon0]

like 2 are canon

[@abraham3673]

mha heroes rising is fucking awesome for a filler movie

[@charcoal200]

@@samuelazzaro I have to disagree on half the content of One Piece being irrelevant. If Oda has proven anything to me in the years that I've spent reading and watching One Piece, its that the man knows that world inside and out, and knows how it all ties together. And hey at least in world the journey hasn't been going on for that long

[@alfa01spotivo]

one piece movie 6 was the biggest disappointment ever

[@perkuu6937]

The animation goes so hard but the story misses. I rewatch it just to see those fight scenes

[@Phantom6.6.6]

I saw this and Shambala. Honestly I feel you were right in your assessment of Shambala rather being better as several episodes of a new season instead of a movie that lacks the time to sort everything out properly. Sacred star in the end feels like a standard Shonen movie and adds nothing more or less to brotherhood and Honestly the only good part of the movie was near the finale when the philosopher stone fight starts. Honestly when I look at sacred star it feels like such a lack of love and care was given to this movie

[@SchmitzCinemaStudies]

Personally I like this movie as a big sakuga fan. The more simple character designs definitely take some getting used to but they allow the staff to do some really wild animation. Shingo Natsume was involved as a unit director and you can definitely feel his influence. Those wide shots may not be the most interesting on a storyboarding level but they let animators show lots of movement through the frame like that shot of Julia climbing down from the destroyed prison. The plot definitely does have problems, but there's enough solid narrative there for me to enjoy the film as an action movie. Ed doesn't have much to do but Al gets more focus with his connection with Julia. And I liked the plot twists even if they were silly.

[@DrDolan2000]

Hey, as long as you had fun; you're not hurting anyone

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

The getting used to the designs isn’t even simplification for me, it’s just how darn rounded the points on everyone’s (Ed especially) hair looks combined with the greater use of highlights just gives it a distracting rubbery look which took getting used to. Love Shingo Natsume’s animation (especially his work in Space Dandy and One Punch Man) but it definitely doesn’t save the movie for me.

[@Howardpower679]

Fullmetal alchemist and the broken angel would be the perfect movie if they would adapt that game's story... but what do I know

[@dartoney]

More than the people who adapt FMA movies apparently

[@Edax_Royeaux]

I remember watching the second half of this movie at Anime Expo and was completely baffled by it.

[@AhsokaJackson]

It’s sad to hear how poorly this turned out. I kinda like the dark aspects of it, and it feels like it squandered what could’ve been a nicely satisfying underdog premise that you could get hyped over. Also, I tend to really dislike it when there are reveals/twists where they’ve barely given the audience a chance to figure things out. Unless the intent is for folks to have no chance to guess. Because otherwise it just feels like cheating; generally I expect there to be enough hints and clues that that you can see it coming if you’re either eagle-eyed or lucky. Not showing a character who’s either never or almost never been seen and focused on and saying, “Aha, the butler who had one line and was barely visible did it!”

[@worsethanyouthink]

just so you know every single anime has a movie like this, where the main characters stumble crossed a chosen character (an orphan of course) whose parents were researching the MacGuffin, but surprise surprise the McGuffin was either with or inside the chosen one all along and the main baddy either adopted the child to learn the parents secret or is hunting them down to unlock an ultimate weapon, and they do it but the chosen one works together to learn to be independent and fight for themselves but still rely on the mc to win. also the main character just serves as the wise one who is the chosen ones equal but is just super irritating and tells them not to do what the bad guy wants but they do anyways because they don't believe them. there is always man beast hybrids, and either a secret magic army, super weapon, or magic super ability. and about 60% of the time one of the bad guys is a lost family member they thought were dead but actually is alive and bad but they almost die and it turns out they are nice and its stupid, FMA has done it, dragon ball did it, heck naruto did it at least 4 times for movies and did it even more times as filler arcs of the actual anime.

[@TheLordofMetroids]

My favorite Anime Filler movie is One Piece Film 6: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island. Now like many anime films it takes the cast to a new place, and forces them to interact with new characters, does some stuff, and falls back to the status quo by the end. Standard skippable stuff, really. In fact I would argue that it kind of rehashes a plot line later in the series (from the point the movie takes place in) significantly worse than the arc that has the plot line and therefore can be actively damaging if you try to watch the movies in timeline order. It also has the issue of too many characters for a 90 minute feature, an issue most One Piece films have. They need to take the whole crew to any plot point for films, and it can get crowed to give the main cast screen time, as well as the new guest cast. So why do I love it? Well, first off it was directed by Mamoru Hosoda, a year before he would do "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," and become one of the most popular Anime movie directors, and yes his stile is 100% present through the whole film. We get absolutely breathtaking animation for this whole film. Second, it takes advantage of it's premise to give some really unique and cool action set pieces, in one "fight," for example, Sanji duel's a chef, in a cookoff while standing on a skillet, with oil pads stuck to the soles of their shoes, so they can skate over the skillet. Third... Oaky if this sounds interesting I implore you to watch the film, because I'm about to spoil it hardcore here. I highly recommend going into this film without the knowledge I'm about to drop here. Ready? It takes a sudden and dramatic turn into Eldritch Horror. A genre that One Piece has somehow never touched in canon. It's shocking, bizarre, and delightful to see. The animation is on point, and the shear shocking twist of this can really throw you through a loop. It's utterly alien, and at the same time still completely One Piece, and it's great to see.

[@zombithehomunculus4767]

I'm an Incredibly huge fan of FMA Brotherhood yet even I knew this movie wasn't worth watching.

[@kristofgriffin384]

Watching the cutscenes of "Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel" makes for a better movie experience than this.

[@HououMinamino]

Agreed. Same for Crimson Elixir. I could see those being actual movies.

[@xenencross1717]

@@HououMinamino And the third even though it wasn't released internationally.

[@NegaHumanX]

This sounded pretty typical of shonen anime filler movies, in my experience. They're usually throw away content just there if you want to see some more from the series, and don't care what. Sometimes there are cool moments or ideas (one of the Naruto movies had knights in it. I could have watched a full filler arc of Naruto ninja vs super tech knights) but for the most part they are formulaic, predictable, have no impact and are only here if you want to hear the characters voices, see some official OC art and watch some cool animation (again, from the dozen or so I've seen). honestly, I'm in the mood for that sometimes.

[@NostalJackMusic]

Man I love Ed’s dub voice so much… Vic Mignogna, we miss that legend.

[@ofgreyhairwaifu4089]

If you are looking for a good shonen side story, watch Trigun: Badlands Rumble. That was good, impacted nothing, involved the main cast (not all of it) in a meaningful way and characters acted like they should.

[@ilovecody7514]

Badlands Rumble is underrated, not great but really is serviceable and really fun. Plus it's action packed and a fun romp all the way through.

[@ofgreyhairwaifu4089]

@@ilovecody7514 also scratches the "I WANT TRIGUN REMASTERED" itch.

[@ilovecody7514]

@@ofgreyhairwaifu4089 I personally love the aesthetic of old(er) anime, but yeah the movie is beautiful to look at.

[@watcoh]

If I would need to make a FMA movie/special, I would 100% focus on Edward's adventure in the months, which he spent with Darius, Heinkel and Greed. I mean, there's literally several months of unexplored adventure! Since Edward and the chimeras specifically WORK for Greed, which is actually never explored in the Brotherhood, where they seem just friends, I wonder what how Edward would deal with serving the most greedy person on the planet and what exactly Greed would seek for those months. Come to think of it, I just want to see more of Greed.

[@user2-s6t]

I found this video exceptionally randomly while looking up something about FMA and now I'm dying of laughter, the editing and the commentary is hilarious lmao

[@andruism7]

Two things that stuck out to me watching the movie: When Ed and Al trigger a trap by lifting a lid to some kind of sarcophagus, seeing it's empty, and then putting it down exactly as they found it which triggers the handle they were holding to grab onto their wrists. This trap could only work if there were exactly two people who were polite enough to put the tomb lid back on using the provided handles. If the grave robbers weren't polite enough to replace it then it wouldn't trigger. If they held the lids by the sides instead of using the handles, it wouldn't trigger. One person probably wouldn't be able to put it back on by themselves, and if they could they wouldn't do so by using the handles, so the trap couldn't spring. If there were more than 2 people then their friends could just help them out. It literally could only have been sprung in that exact situation, making it the stupidest goddam trap I've ever seen. The other thing was all these people sitting around going 'oh, magma? We don't believe it exists. A total work of fiction.' Then it erupts through the walls and they are like 'Oh shit, it's lava, a very real and not made up thing like magma definitely is!' Like, my man, do you not realize that they are basically the same thing? Only difference is that magma is what you call it before it comes above ground. Do you only believe that it can exist above ground? Did you really think this scientifically proveable material did not exist beforehand? So yeah, pretty dumb movie.

[@solumanblevins5906]

Honestly, I wonder why they didn't just adapt more of the light novels. I know they straight up pulled The Tringham Brothers from "The Land of Sand" and they were used pretty well,, so why not just re-adapt them and go from there? Edit: While I'm sure it'd be hard to make footage I'd like to see ya go over the novels, your thoughts on how they feel next to the magnaverse and how they could be adapted.

[@jazzonajazzmaster]

There are fma light novels? And I didn't know about them?

[@solumanblevins5906]

@@jazzonajazzmaster There are 6 actually, and the sixth is finally being released in the US this Oct (original was made back in 2007). Edit: Apparently there is another based on the 1st PS2 game that was Japan only.

[@jacobharold1168]

@@solumanblevins5906 There are actually three light novels based on each of the trilogy of FMA games for the PS2. Edit: I actually would’ve really loved to have seen more episodes of FMA 2003 or even a feature-length film adapt some of the subsequent light novels and/or video game plots, seeing as some of them (imo) would actually make for rather interesting detours to the main story.

[@risurisunaa]

I think that would fit more into an OVA. Like the ones in Brotherhood. The only novel I've read is about how Ed was kidnapped though, but I think seeing that animated would be fun.

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

The animation itself threw me out of it. As much as I love Brotherhood more than 2003, I have to admit Conquest of Shambala Was a way better movie than this.

[@mauser98kar]

Wait, FMA:B has a movie too?! The fact that I have heard almost nothing about it - so little it took me some effort to remember it even existed - is quite telling, I think.

[@dfmrcv862]

Man... back in the day, when I was first getting into anime and found out our cable package included Funimation, my brother and I were hyped up for this film as we had both watched the 2003 and Brotherhood versions of the show. We were still pretty young so we didn't really appreciate a lot of the better stuff FMA offers, but even we were kind of disappointed with The Sacred Star of Milos... the only thing I really liked was the final scene because of the art and music playing.

[@arkinyte13]

I watched this movie and immediately forgot about it afterwords lol.

[@ktt7027]

You're a King! Thanks for the fma videos. You're incredibly good. Also, your voice is just perf. on every way. Another job well done

[@plasmatize8494]

To escape wolf chimeras tracking them primarily by smell, Melvin claimed he hid Julia behind a tree... sorry, what? How would that even help? That's an even bigger problem with his story than the chimeras' speed or Melvin's injury lol.

[@tristanneal9552]

Lmfao I wanted this back when I was watching 2003 and had no idea it was actually a Brotherhood spinoff until just now, especially since the artstyle is so different

[@bingusbongus1912]

damn it, i wish this movie was good because the artstyle is unironically really nice and those few fight scenes were animated so well,, arghhhh

[@matheusmartins1716]

I watched this movie for the first time, literally, last month. Was a great movie, the style is on purpose, being looser then a Ghibli movie, but more in model than a Mamoru Hosoda movie, and with stars from shows like Naruto/Shippuden and Cowboy Beebop, honestly, makes this movie look like the best FMA ever looked animated to me, but I'm a sakuga fan first, and a anime enjoyer second. But yeah, plot kinda sucks, characterization kinda sucks, but I ignored all of this really, and I had a great time because of this.

[@Lowart]

I'm happy you enjoyed it! Some of these fights are an absolute treat, so I can see why you'd enjoy it as a sakuga fan

[@AeonKnigh432]

Something I noticed is that in a weirdly large amount of the talking scenes, characters look away from camera or are so far away you can only kinda make them out. It's a asilee common technique to try to avoid animating lip flaps, but it doesn't seem like that was the reason in this case. It's just bizarre

[@CubeBrik]

I actually really really liked it XD I loved exploring the West of Amestris, I liked meeting the new culture of Milos even if it was brief, I liked meeting the other military even if it was brief, I liked meeting the freedom fighters of Milos even if it was brief. I liked the fights and I LOVED the music. Now that you point out a couple of Ed's interaction I'll say they don't perfectly feel like him in a number of them, but I feel I could explain one or two away in defense of the movie. Their is no real save and grace from the 'plot twists' Even watching it the first time super hype to be watching it... I could tell that they were overdoing this a bit. Love you and love your work Lowart

[@hana_flower875]

I remember watching this movie and being constantly distracted by the fact that the characters' soft and round hair somehow reminded me of Kaiba, and the plot was never interesting enough to make me think about something else. In fact, I finished the movie thinking that if I would have just rewatched Kaiba instead of this it would have been a better time.

[@ViewTube_Emperor_of_Mankind]

The girl looks like she comes from the Nausicaä movie is stuck in "Castle in the Sky" but on 5% of the budget.

[@ashleytuchin7693]

I'm glad you covered this. I can barely remember it to be honest, I just remember that I much preferred Conqueror of Shambala.

[@GameExplorer0115]

I think this video is helping me immensely in my fanfiction rewrite of the movie. I need to rewatch it again, I like the movie. But it's like a 6 out of 10 it's not bad bad to me but it's not completely unsalvageable.

[@AhsokaJackson]

4:20 Shoot, it was honestly looking like it could be cool even with the animation problems, and I was still probably gonna watch it with how much I enjoy the main series and its characters.… But if those visuals are the _highlight_ of all of this, then…*uh-oh.*

[@ArcTrooper269]

15:04 DUDE, THEY GAVE TRANSFORMERS ARMADA & IRON MAN 2010 A 5/10 *DID YOU REALLY BELIEVE IN Myanimelist RATINGS ONCE?*

[@Nyerguds]

yea, I watched this as a popcorn movie, and several eyebrows were raised as weirder and weirder plot points unfolded. The actual "city that is a contraption to make a philosopher's stone" idea was kinda cool, but that's about it.

[@firemaster786]

I watched the entire film and completely forgot it existed until 10 minutes ago and it took me a good 3-4 minutes to recognize it and realize I did in fact watch this whole movie from start to finish

[@ridermalak3291]

So,Conqueror of Shamballa was the FMA movie and The Sacred Star of Milos was FMAB movie? I'm I right?

[@Fatema3006]

Basically yes

[@Fanatic_Foremem]

honestly the movies interesting to me because it feels like it has more potential with only the smallest of tweaks. Like it feels like there was a really interesting story here but something happened to remove the key elements and they were just lucky the movie could still somewhat work with a completely different script. Surprised you didn't bring up how magma is treated like some mythological material for the first half of the movie, only for basically everyone to wordlessly realize "oh wait, that's just lava but underground" The only reason I enjoy it so much is because I like to theorize, and this movie sets up a honestly bonkers theory due to how none of the characters match up exactly with either continuity.

[@PropheticAnomaly]

I watched this movie and have no memory of it whatsoever. On the other hand Shamballa was controversial yes but at least it was memorable.

[@isramubashar5080]

I started this movie after watching the 2003 fullmetal alchemist Because I thought it was the sequel movie to the original series Then I stopped after a minute maybe My brother then explained the plot Then i watched the conqueror of shamballa on youtube whilst on a holiday

[@priesteskana]

My guy dropping these faster than I can watch em :O

[@4smo]

Holy shit, I forgot that this movie even existed until this video popped up in my recommended. I clicked on this thinking that it was going to be a discussion about Conqueror of Shamballa. It's been a decade since I've watched Brotherhood and well over a decade since I watched 2003 and Shamballa, but they stick out so vividly in my memory. I could barley recall watching any of this. My mind had to be jogged by the video as it played. How the hell can something with FMA in the name be so forgettable?

[@copperfield42]

15:03 everybody learn that lesson sooner or later... I learned when Pingu got to the top, and the, lets call them, controversies over the years ever since just cemented it...

[@justtheguywiththewavecheck6244]

I would rather watch CoS than SSOM

[@Lowart]

Same here. CoS was disappointing but still had some interesting ideas I could get behind, but the ONLY part of SSoM I got any enjoyment from were a couple of great fight scenes. Otherwise? Not for me at all

[@malachiblair780]

What is Cos and SSOM?

[@justtheguywiththewavecheck6244]

@@malachiblair780 conqueror of shamballa and The Sacred star of milos

[@deVillefort63]

@Just The Guy With The Wave Check I'm in the exact opposite camp. But then, I freely admit I occasionally have some iconoclastic takes on anime. I was underwhelmed by Wolf Children, for instance. [Yeah, yeah, I know.] Is Milos a great movie? No. Its pointless filler with a bonkers ending that leaves unanswered questions [ie. it actually *is* what detractors of the 2003 anime mistakenly *think* that show is.] When you've seen as many bad movies/shows as I have, however, you learn to reserve the phrase "impressively bad" for things that truly deserve it. "Impressively bad" is something like Garzey's Wing. Sacred Star of Milos is more just "meh." With all that being said, I do personally enjoy this movie more than Conqueror of Shamballa, and would sooner rewatch it over the earlier film. Why? I think it has to do with its low ambitions, and how that played into my expectations going into the movie. As someone who *loves* the 2003 anime's ending, I went into Shamballa hoping for a satisfying continuation of that show. What I got was a film with some interesting ideas, but which -in execution- ultimately fails in ways that I think undermine the effectiveness of the preceding show's final episode. Milos was pitched to me as a generic filler flick with a few familiar faces. That's what I came into it expecting and that's what I got. For me, its an amusing enough time-waster with a third act that's hilariously bat**** insane in ways that remind me a bit of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. [It doesn't hurt that in the dub, the villains are voiced in hammy fashion by the English actors for Jotaro and Dio.] So in the end, its harder for me to rewatch Shamballa because I wind up getting distracted thinking about how much better it could have been. With Milos, I can just turn off my brain, relax, and enjoy the pretty pictures. On a related note, I'd be very interested in our hosts thoughts on the FMA Brotherhood OVAs. I thought those were solid additions to the show. 4th one even retroactively added back in a little bit of the depth of the manga's Ishvallan War segments that was lost in Brotherhood.

[@xblade149]

@@justtheguywiththewavecheck6244 I wouldn't watch both I'm my opinion. I would rather they made the Wii games movies.

[@AhsokaJackson]

9:50 *UGHHH.* You’re describing on of my single biggest complaints in fiction. It happens so…bloody…much. To the point where it’s become praiseworthy NOT to see that happen! And look, writing is hard, and I don’t expect any story to be completely airtight. But it’s just way too prevalent to have characters’ being absolutely idiotic just to serve plot points. And it gets especially irritating when it makes for mangling up main/beloved characters or contradicting established traits. Ed and Al-especially Ed-are both characters who should’ve shown more skepticism and cynicism about all of this, no? It’s been a while since I watched the main series, but I can already picture Ed’s suspicious glare and subsequent questioning of the guy. XD

[@samuelazzaro]

The problem is more that studios won't pay for more complex plots.........I mean their not wrong that dumb but loud can sell like crazy, but for series like FMAB that have high brow concepts, they should just let the movies be a little smarter and deal with the lower profit (and yes, a great high brow movie will never make as much money as a dumb but loud movie in modern cinema. Thats why the smart quiet sci-fi is a dead genre and Fast and Furious is one of the longest running franchises in movies.)

[@Darkkfated]

Not to mention that Ed and Al tend to win against the bad guys by out-thinking them, or coming up with a novel way to use Alchemy to turn the tide. If Ed isn't pissed off or otherwise distracted by something, he out-smarts nearly every villain in the series at some point. Absolutely no way he would buy a story like "I, an injured 12-year-old, outran Werewolf Assassins while carrying my sister". And even if he was having an off day and DID buy into it, he and Al would talk it over in the next scene and realize it was A) total crap and B) something is up.

[@Ω3103ζ]

Now it has been a while since i watched this movie but i remember actually enjoying it for what it was. A bit more FMA after i binged the series back in 2015. Kinda is weird that you'd hate it that much

[@JamJestKesh]

plot twist sounds like some scoobie doo villain reveal, where it turns out it was some janitor, that showed up for like 1 minute before

[@sasham6124]

Me, waiting for video about the ending of 2003: Woah, new video Lowart: nope

[@MrEdit-ic7th]

15:03 trust me I learned that lesson when I saw that Code Geass R2 had a 8.92 score

[@Lowart]

Always shocked that Code Geass R2 is higher-rated than the first season on there. I find the first season far preferable

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

@@Lowart I think it’s rated higher because R1 is the only one that gets hit by ratings of people that drop the series. And as both series need to be watched in order to get an ending at all most people consider it a single whole and give it all the same rating. Even though R1 is definitely more consistent and just had better writing quality than R2, R2 has that ending, THAT ENDING! When something can’t be viewed as a singular whole I don’t see why they get separated, like something like Psychopass, FLCL, or black butler makes sense as those are completed shows that then get a sequel tacked on after already having a conclusion, but doing that for stuff like same goes for MHA, Fate/Zero, code Geass or AOT seasons makes no sense to me.

[@light18pl]

@@haosmagnaingram6992 Oof, I was so hyped for Psycho Pass season 2. It wasn't the worst but it was definitely a let down. That's the nature of the Beast I suppose. Successful shows get sequels, and we'll just have to hope they are going to be good.

[@MrEdit-ic7th]

@@Lowart same, the first season is a solid thriller with engaging twists while the second is a hot mess. Yeah the ending is good (on paper at least since I still think it's rushed) but it doesn't erase all the problems the season had beforehand. I hate to throw the word "overrated" around, but I think it applies to R2 as everyone views it as a classic thanks to the last episode alone. Endings are very important, but a car crash that parallel parks is still a car crash (thanks Gigguk).

[@BingFox]

Will you cover the OVAs? The Blind Alchemist, etc.?

[@Lowart]

Maybe one day! I'm undecided for now though

[@NemesisSP]

The only thing I thought was good about this film was the score and the return of L'arc~en~ciel to contribute the theme song. Otherwise at best this was a pretty nothing movie that I doesn't even give me conflicted feelings like the other FMA movie. And I actually quite dislike the artstyle, so just looking at the film made my eyes hurt. I have mixed feelings on Brotherhood's presentation, but I'll take it 100% over whatever is going on here.

[@nancyjay790]

Okay. I do think most of this movie was a Look-At-This cash grab. Yoko Lie. Grumpy Mustang. Oh, hey, Armstrong! Yup, Hawkeye sure can shoot. But. The climax of the conflict between Julia and Ashleigh. Sure, her using the earring to focus or amplify her attack, followed by the revelation that Ashleigh still had the other one was very tropey. She then attempted human transmutation to save Ashleigh's life, which is why she briefly saw the Portal of Truth. But the two "Stars" weren't full of souls (the energy source for transmutation) anymore, hence why afterward Julia has lost a leg, Ashleigh lost an arm, and both cough up the pitiful remnants of "Star" which instantly evaporate. I imagine that doesn't help anyone appreciate this more, but that's what I got. Besides, I loved the cash grab of Ed transmuting the tube into angry Ed face, "I'M GONNA CLOBBER YOU!"

[@nancyjay790]

Yoki Lite. I really oughta watch that spellcheck more.

[@toffeefeathers]

I’ve watched FMAB so many times and I had no idea there was even a movie at all

[@kjokjojessica]

Small thing I noticed: Why did they change eye colors? Ed has a half and half instead of gold while Hawkeye has red instead of blue. (Not sure how many more there are.) Was this movie made by a studio unrelated to the 2 shows?

[@wJermell0]

Mustang isn't having a bad day. He's having a bad movie.

[@rileywarner5258]

My hero academia does the whole filler movie thing very well. The plots make sense within the larger plot. They even fit into the larger plot in retrospect and even make it with its inclusion. The second movie is one of the original idea for the ending. It also has one of the greatest fight scenes I have ever seen

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

Also canon.

[@sartiee4957]

@@willfanofmanyii3751 no the movies are not canon

[@willfanofmanyii3751]

@@sartiee4957 They are, this has been confirmed many times already.

[@0ctopusComp1etely]

Oh, yeah! I watched this one back when I actually watched anime regularly. Before this video reminded me what the title even was, I remembered exactly three things about it: It was a Fullmetal Alchemist movie, so Ed and Al exist. There was an orange-haired girl in it. And a stone was important for some reason. That's it. And even those things probably weren't really worth remembering.

[@ItsJoeverMan]

Hahaha. I can feel the sarcasm oozing from this video, especially from the parts about the plot twists.

[@senthesanguinesinner9]

Honestly, the best filler tends to be stuff that expands on the world, rather than contradicting it or adding too much to it. Bleach has the Zampakuto Rebellion and Hell Verse. The former being a very solid intermediate story that answers some cool questions about Zampakuto and the latter just being super cool and influencing the new Hell Arc in the manga. That’s at least my formula for good filler.

[@NEETKitten]

Funnily enough, I stopped watching Bleach when I got to the Zanpaktou Rebellion arc. That's when the show started feeling *really* stale imo.

[@senthesanguinesinner9]

@@NEETKitten Hey. If that’s your stance, more power to you. But I can assure you that the next few canon arcs after the Zampakuto Rebellion really pick up. Me personally, I skipped all the filler arcs and then went back and watched them after finishing the canon material. Bleach is my absolute favorite Shounen and I feel like the criticisms of it over the years have gone from genuinely constructive to just unsupported slander.

[@NEETKitten]

@@senthesanguinesinner9 Honestly, after hearing people sing its praises, I kinda want to go back to it. The problem is that it's been years since I dropped Bleach, and while I can still remember most of the major important plot things, I forget a lot of details and have no desire to rewatch the entire thing. That and I forgot which episode I stopped at. For a long time I was convinced I stopped on episode 132, but the Zanpaktou Rebellion doesn't start until way later than that. I know I stopped on the 2nd episode of that arc, though. But some episode lists I found online include the OVAs as numbered episodes and others don't, so I have no clue which episode number ZR ep 2 is.

[@KiraSlith]

I think the part that bugs me the most aboout this "style" is the eyes, everyone's eyes are completely dead. No sheen, no detail, just flat circles with an equaly flat iris. Other than Julia's of course, because the unconditionally adored, ever perfect Mary Sue who's mere existence causes the real protagonists to drop 50 IQ points on the spot, is also the only character that got proper attention to detail.

[@Cheezmonka]

@4:03 I agree with you in general on all points in this video aside from this one. The water here appears to be illuminated from underneath or within to the point of being brighter than the area above the water, meaning seeing reflections in it from above the surface would actually be incorrect. The scene still looks kind of lame though, for sure.

[@ulkimion]

All i remember from this movie was thinking 1) the characters look weird 2) why is this a fma movie?

[@Junkyardproduxtions]

This movie single handedly got rid of my rose glasses of FMA. The story and art style was so strange and bad that it made me do a doubletake on the rest of the IP to make sure I didn't imagine it's good parts.

[@pabloosset2533]

I gotta say, listening to what you think this kind of movie should do, I got reminded of Dragon Ball Super: Broly. We know that there's more content coming after it, so we don't expect any significant changes. Instead it uses its first part to show us the origin of how it all started and dedicates the rest of the movie to Broly. We understand him, we like him. And so, we feel genuine tension as the fight goes on. We know Goku or Vegeta won't die... But Broly is the antagonist. He could perfectly die and the series could continue. It worked wonders for the movie.

[@ImmaLittlePip]

Ever thought about reviewing the ps2 FMA games

[@Bluestar-nn2uh]

Even thought it didnt feel like fma and wasn't faithful to FMA I still enjoyed this movie not as a FMA movie but as a anime movie. I agree with you with most of the flaws especially Atlas.

[@bryandacote8109]

Yeah when it came to the extra stuff for the 2 FMA animes; the OVAs and Movies. I think FMA03 had the better movie (Shamballa), but its OVAs weren't that great. Brotherhood's OVAs are FUN but its movie (Star) is totally forgettable. I honestly forgot this movie existed until I saw my notifications. And even then I'm like "Wait, Shamballa? Oh wait, yeah, Brotherhood had a movie"

[@renarddubois940]

What i didn't get was that they hyped up the chimeras like crazy, the first one was easily homunculi level, like two of those could easily threaten Bradley, And then they introduced Roy in the story for fanservice, I was expecting some crazy cool fight but no, he fodderized two wolf chimeras offscreen, What?! that was so stupid..

[@kassiny2]

idk I just don't like those roudly hair. I just look at Julia and Ed's hair and my brain just WANTS to fix it. I don't say art style is bad, it's ok, but these roundy hair are bugging me

[@nachito31]

I think the best way to make this movie would be making something similar to how it was done with rose in the start of the series, in that arc the brother go to a town and when they go out nothing has change for them, the character arc is placed around the town changing as a result of their presensce and that how I think this type of movies should be done, making the story the result of the knew characters raction to the protagonist

[@Azure70]

15:04 No clue if the rating system has changed. But most of the time sequels, movie, additional work, etc can get a high rating likely because the people who watch them are already fans of the original work. So perhaps it could help to look at the rating graph not just the score

[@simonaspalovis1204]

I can’t believe I actually watched this movie once. Now, I’m not gonna bother to watch it again in order to back up my statements, but I remember how the world building didn’t really fit with the rest of FMA lore and established rules. A giant and impractically built city? People with bat-wings flying around? Alchemy that gives you Force Lightning without any explanation? Werewolf chimeras? This movie had a strong Final Fantasy vibe, instead of being a grounded fantasy, like the the rest of FMA. This movie also made alchemy look more like magic, and less like an alternative form of science.

[@ScarletTsubasa]

As bad as this movie was, it still wasn't as bad as the live action one

[@poposao1]

I also haven't watched any "Shounen-filler movies" but part of me does want to give the My Hero ones a shot even if just for the animation and designs. Here's what I don't get about this movie -- why is it just basic filler when they didn't even need to do that since they're not tied with any source material....Conquerer o Shambala at the very least gave the story a continuation so why couldn't they do that again? The answer is probably money.

[@validark]

Honestly i watched this movie once then completely excluded it from my fma/cos/fmab rewatch that i did like 14 times in a row