Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Munich, Germany, 1923. Two years have passed since Edward Elric was dragged from his own world to ours, leaving behind his country, his friends and his younger brother, Alphonse. Stripped of his alchemical powers, he has been all this time researching rocketry together with Alphonse Heiderich, a young man who resembles his own brother, hoping to one day find a way back home. His efforts so far had proven fruitless, but after lending a hand to a troubled gipsy girl, Edward is thrown in a series of events that can wreak havoc in both worlds. Meanwhile, at his own world, Alphonse Elric ventures deeper into the mysteries of alchemy in search for a way to reunite with his older brother.
Conqueror of Shamballa serves as a feature-length finale to the original 2003 FMA anime series, blending Weimar Republic-era Germany with the alchemy-driven parallel world in an ambitious but uneven way. The plot is conceptually interesting, weaving real historical elements (the Beer Hall Putsch, early rocketry) with fantasy, but struggles with pacing and feels overstuffed for a single film. The acting (Japanese voice cast) is consistently solid, maintaining the emotional register of the series. Cinematography is competent theatrical anime of its era — a step above the TV series but not visually groundbreaking. Novelty benefits from the genuine conceptual ambition of the real-world/alchemy-world parallel narrative and the historical setting, though the isekai framing keeps it from feeling truly unique. The ending is the film's weakest point: the resolution is divisive and tonally bittersweet in a way that left many fans unsatisfied, separating the brothers once more after years of investment in their reunion, which undercuts the emotional payoff the franchise had been building toward.