Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos Anime Movie Review

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos is the second FMA movie to be released after the Conqueror of Shamballa and is supposed to be taking place somewhere in the time window between Edward becoming a state alchemist and *Brotherhood spoiler alert* the Elric brothers reclaiming their bodies. Needless to say that, first of all, there might be spoilers about the whole show in the following review, and second, the movie has indeed very little to do with the FMA story and legacy.

Synopsis

The movie takes place in the western part of Amestris, where the Elric brothers’ homeland has borders with Creta, a prominent rivaling nation, apparently equally enthusiastic about military operations. The people of Milos, a small country existing between Amestris and Creta, have been long abused by both countries for their ‘stars of Milos’, or philosopher’s stones, which Creta was attempting to dig out, only to create a huge valley of crap next to Table City that once belonged to Milos, whose original residents are now forced to live and breathe Amestris’ rubbish. The story follows the troubles of two siblings: Julia and Ashley Chrichton, whose parents where alchemists and sought refuge in Creta, to be later murdered by the Cretan Military. Edward and Alphonse get involved in the story trying to find and capture Ashley, as he’s escaped the Amestris prison, and end up in a huge mess, always caring about other people’s business way more than they should because of their noble morals. You guys…

Plot & Story

Even for a hardcore fan like myself, the mediocrity of this movie is way too obvious. I love everything FMA, but I feel like this film has been an abuse to the franchise, hardly relating or contributing to the original plot and drama whatsoever, unlike its predecessor, Conqueror of Shamballa, that did an amazing job wrapping up the 2003 FMA series. In fact, the only relation to the actual Fullmetal universe in this movie is the use of alchemy. Popular secondary characters such as Winry, the Colonel, Hawkeye, and Armstrong appear here and there, but their presence is completely redundant to the plot and story. Actually, even the Elric brothers have absolutely no role to play in the movie, apart from being catalytic deus-ex machinas that save the day where there is little hope left and without failing to flaunt their superior morals that are obviously higher than anyone else’s in the show.

The new characters are quite typical, with the Crichton siblings being the only exception, drifting between good and evil by making rather questionable ethical choices, but still remaining true to their original motives regardless of how they pursue them. Even though the film’s closing scene is supposed to present Julia having gone through some serious development, I did not find it to be so.

Art & Music

I was quite put off by the different style of animation studio BONES went for in this FMA endeavor. From the very first scene, you can tell there’s something significantly different in the way the characters are drawn and the style in which they move. The design is a lot more draw-y and flat in colors, with impressive special effects taking place but lacking the breath-taking weight and allure that Brotherhood was known for. I guess it could be seen as variety or experimentation, but I simply do not like it. Also, for some reason, Edward’s eyes are now half-green, which has been bothering me throughout the film.

On the other hand, I found the music to be pretty good and related to the southern (and probably Mediterranean, maybe Greco-italian-ish) character the people of Creta and Milos seem to have. Rough violin themes gave the rather mundane dialogues that extra punch of action they were missing. The voice acting is, of course, commendable, with Romi Park traditionally playing Ed and Rie Kugimiya as Alphonse.

Themes & Trivia

FMA themes and tropes are, of course, omnipresent during the movie. There’s a rather slow introduction to the characters in the beginning of the film which I found quite odd, given there was hardly any in Brotherhood. I don’t suppose someone who hasn’t watched the FMA series would be watching the Sacred Star of Milos (and if this applies to you, I am really, really sorry, just forget what you saw and go watch the series).

I found the whole earring symbolism particularly interesting, something Arakawa has used as a perk to the Elric-Rockbell relationship as well (she must really like earrings). An interesting thing to look into is the abundance of Greek names being thrown around, such as Milos (a Greek island situated in the Cyclades) and Creta (Greece’s largest island to the south) that you may find translated as Cleta, for reasons I do not comprehend, since it is clearly written as ‘Creta’ in every single map. Maybe they didn’t want its residents to sound like cretins (or most likely has something to do with the Japanese people having difficulty distinguishing the /r/ sound from the /l/ sound).

Comments

What can I say? I didn’t enjoy this movie at all. I found it hard to stay focused while watching it and walked away from my screen several times. I think that there was not really a need for a second FMA movie; Brotherhood had done a great job wrapping up the whole thing. I’d rather have seen two hours of fan service on Ed and Winry’s family life, or Alphonse’s travels to the east. If you haven’t yet watched it, I’d suggest you skip it, as you’re not really missing out on much. Quite the opposite.

Time to See The Series (Again)

Plus:

Consistent FMA themes like war and human suffering
Some interesting plot twists

Minus:

A constant feeling of overall redundancy
Incoherent plot
No connection to the FMA story

In conclusion, I’d like to say that this is my honest opinion on the movie while being a sucker for everything Fullmetal. Hell, the first time I watched it, I was crazy excited. But I found it a disappointing spinoff of a show I love dearly, and this is never a good thing.

Did you enjoy Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos? Let us know in the comment section! See you next time for another review, here in MANGA.TOKYO!