Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa is a 2005 Japanese animated film directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Sho Aikawa. A sequel to the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, the film follows the story of alchemist Edward Elric as he attempts to return to his home world, having lived for two years on a parallel universe Earth, while his younger brother Alphonse is also trying to reunite with him by any means necessary. Edward's search attracts the attention of the Thule Society, which seeks to enter his homeworld, believing it to be Shamballa, in order to obtain new weapons to help them in World War II.

Conqueror of Shamballa premiered in Japan on July 23, 2005. In Japan, it has been edited in a standard DVD, as well as in a limited edition. It was later licensed in North America by Funimation whom featured the film in cinemas for a short time, and also released it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Most of the staff from the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime started development on Conqueror of Shamballa shortly after the anime's ending. The original script had to be shortened to fit the film's length of 105 minutes.

On February 27, 2006, Funimation announced that they licensed the film in North America. Funimation released the English DVD on September 12, 2006, while the limited edition was published on November 14, 2006. Similar to the Japanese version, the English limited edition features several extras such as interviews with the Japanese cast, a video explanation of the film's creation, and an 18-page guidebook featuring character sketches. A special edition featuring extras, a book and cards was published on June 23, 2009. In May 2009, Funimation announced that the film would be released in Blu-ray format. It was released on November 17, 2009 and features the same special features on the limited edition except for the 18-page guidebook.

The movie premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami block on December 21, 2013.

Synopsis
In Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric tried to resurrect his mother through alchemical techniques, but it failed, resulting in the loss of his brother Alphonse's entire body and Edward's left leg and right arm—this last he sacrificed to affix Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor. The film starts two years after the events that occurred in the end of Fullmetal Alchemist, where he recovered his arm and leg, and his brother's body. However, he was dragged from his homeworld through the Gate of Alchemy—the source of all alchemical energy—to a parallel world of Earth in 1923, which is fundamentally governed by the laws of modern science instead of alchemy. When it occurred, he was stripped of his alchemical powers and his newly restored arm and leg.

In this parallel world, Edward researches rocketry in Munich, Germany with his friend Alfons Heiderich, a young man who resembles Alphonse, in the hopes of returning to his world. Edward rescues a troubled, persecuted gypsy woman named Noah from being sold. Noah is taken in by Edward to live with him and Alfons, and begins having visions concerning Edward's life in his world. The next day, Edward meets Fritz Lang, a Jewish film director resembling King Bradley, who persuades Edward to help him hunt down a dragon he has been seeking for inspiration for his next film. The dragon, which turns out to be the homunculus Envy, attacks Edward until he is weakened and captured by members of the Thule Society.

The Thule Society, led by Karl Haushofer and Dietlinde Eckhart, use Envy and Edward's kidnapped father Hohenheim as catalysts to open a portal to Edward's world, believing it to be the utopia Shamballa after learning about it from Hohenheim. A number of armored soldiers are sent through the portal, only to emerge on the other side in the city of Liore as mutated zombie-like creatures. Alphonse, who had come to visit Liore, fights off the armored soldiers and merges a part of his soul to one of their suits to aid him in combat. Meanwhile, Edward breaks into the Thule Society headquarters and accidentally reopens the portal, returning the dead armored soldiers to Earth and allowing Alphonse's armored form to briefly reunite with his brother before his soul returns to his body, increasing Edward's determination to return to his world.

Alphonse is guided by the homunculus Wrath to the underground city beneath Amestris's Central City to reopen the Gate of Alchemy. There they are attacked by the homunculus Gluttony, who fights and mortally wounds Wrath. At Wrath's insistence, Alphonse transmutes and sacrifices the two homunculi to use as material to open the Gate. Meanwhile, in Munich, the Thule Society persuades Noah into guiding them on how to correctly open the Gate based on what she had learned from reading Edward's mind. Edward learns from Lang that the Thule Society plans to use the weapons from his world to help Adolf Hitler in his attempt to start a revolution, and heads to stop them. Hohenheim and Envy are both transmuted at the same time that Alphonse transmutes Gluttony and Wrath. With the Gate opened, Eckhart leads a fleet into the other world, where she gains the ability to use alchemy. However, she begins to go mad with power and fear of her new surroundings and launches an attack on Central City. Alfons launches Edward in a rocket-powered plane to return him to his world before being gunned down.

Edward appears in his world and is reunited with Alphonse and his friend Winry Rockbell, who fits Edward with new automail limbs. The Amestris military manages to stop most of Eckhart's soldiers with the help of Roy Mustang. Edward battles Eckhart before Alphonse transmutes parts of his soul to a group of armors, which attack her and force her to retreat. Upon reappearing in her own world, Eckhart is covered with shadow creatures from the Gate and killed by an officer out of alarm of her new, monstrous appearance. Understanding the danger posed by the connection between the two worlds, Edward returns to Earth to seal the Gate on that side, knowing he will be trapped on Earth forever. Instead of sealing the Gate on the other world's side as per Edward's request, however, Alphonse has Mustang seal the Gate and follows Edward to remain with his brother. Following Alfons' funeral, the Elric brothers leave Munich with Noah, intending to destroy the weapons meant to be used in Hitler's attack and enjoy their new lives together on Earth.

Heroes

 * Edward Elric
 * Alphonse Elric

Villains

 * Dietlinde Eckhart
 * Karl Haushofer
 * The Thule Society
 * Envy
 * Gluttony

Supporting Characters

 * Hohenhiem
 * Roy Mustang
 * Winry Rockbell
 * Alphonse Heiderich
 * Noah
 * Fritz Lang
 * Maes Hughes
 * Wrath
 * Sig Curtis
 * Sheska
 * Alex Louis Armstrong
 * Riza Hawkeye
 * Jean Havoc
 * Heymans Breda
 * Kain Fuery
 * Vato Falman
 * Rose