is a 2011 anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 film based on the Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist

, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...

franchise. The film was first announced after the airing of the final episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Japanese premiere was on July 2, 2011.

Funimation Entertainment

Funimation Entertainment

Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...

 has licensed the film and will release in the United States in 2012.

Plot

After a mysterious prisoner with only a few weeks left on his sentence breaks out of prison in Central City, the Elric brothers attempt to track him down. The search leads them to Table City in the southwestern country of Creta, where Alphonse rescues a young alchemist named Julia from the very man they are trying to capture. In the thick of the fight, they literally tumble into Julia's home turf, the slums of Milos Valley, and are embroiled in the grassroots rebellion of her people.

Development

The idea to create a Fullmetal Alchemist movie set during the second anime's storyline came from the series's producers. The movie's original plot was written by Yuichi Shinbo who also came up with the new characters' names. From there, director Kazuya Murata did research on India to develop Table City, intended as a contrast to Amestris, which was based on Germany. Because it was the only time in the series that the main characters traveled to another country, Murata had difficulties concluding it, wondering if it would have an impact on the canonical storyline. Therefore, the story was set during the time Edward realized Alphonse's human body existed somewhere, with the logic that that knowledge would encourage him to travel to another area to do research. Hiromu Arakawa

Hiromu Arakawa

is a Japanese manga artist from Hokkaidō. Her renowned manga, Fullmetal Alchemist, became a hit both domestically and internationally, and was later adapted into two television anime series. She often portrays herself as a bespectacled cow.-Biography:...

 was not included as part of the staff but was still looking forward to the film.

The official theme song for the movie is "Good Luck My Way

Good Luck My Way

"Good Luck My Way" is the thirty-eighth single, and first 20th L'Anniversary's single, by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on June 29, 2011. It was used as the closing theme song of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: The Sacred Star of Milos...

" by L'Arc-en-Ciel. The song is the band's fourth contribution to the franchise. On May 30, 2011, singer-songwriter Miwa

Miwa (singer)

Miwa is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She debuted in 2010 with the single "Don't Cry Anymore", used as the theme song for the drama Nakanai to Kimeta hi.- Biography :...

 confirmed that she'll sing for the opening, titled "Chasing Hearts".

New characters

• Toshiyuki Morikawa
  Toshiyuki Morikawa
  is a prolific Japanese male voice actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, was affiliated with Arts Vision. Lately, however, he has become the head of that a voice actor company he founded in Apr 2011. His name is also sometimes mistranslated as Tomoyuki...
  
   as Melvin Voyager (Matthew Mercer
  Matthew Mercer
  Matthew Mercer is an American voice actor, script writer, and independent film maker.-Biography:...
  
   in English)
• Maaya Sakamoto
  Maaya Sakamoto
  is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...
  
   as Julia Crichton (Alexis Tipton
  Alexis Tipton
  Alexis Tipton , is an American voice actress for FUNimation Entertainment. She has provided voices for a number of English language versions of Japanese anime films and television series as well as music vocals for character songs and a handful of trailers...
  
   in English)
• Sakiko Tamagawa
  Sakiko Tamagawa
  is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo. She works at Sigma Seven and is married to fellow voice actor Shūichi Ikeda.-Anime:*Akihabara Dennou Gumi as Miyama Soshigaya/Death Crow*Atashinchi as Mrs...
  
   as Miranda (Shelley Calene-Black
  Shelley Calene-Black
  Shelley Calene-Black is an American actress and voice actress who has worked for Funimation Entertainment, ADV Films, Seraphim Digital, and OkraTron 5000...
  
   in English)

Reception

In its first weekend, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos earned US$1,791,646 despite being exibited in only 90 screens across Japan, ranking #4 in overall revenue.

The film debuted in North America at the 2011 anime convention Otakon

Otakon

Otakon is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku...

 held at the Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore Convention Center

The Baltimore Convention Center is a convention and exhibition hall located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The Center is a municiple building owned and operated by the City of Baltimore...

on July 30. Funimation in coordination with Aniplex were credited with subtitling the movie and premiering it the United States only four weeks after its theatrical release in Japan. The former announced holding the license for the movie which is slated for a limited theatrical release with English dub in early 2012 and a DVD and Blu-Ray release in the spring.

External links