News from Japan:

Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala

A special trailer (interviews with the producer and director, plus Ed's Japanese voice actress) has been put up on the official Fullmetal Alchemist movie website. Please take note that this trailer will only be avaliable for download from there until the 10th of February. This trailer was shown at the recent Fullmetal Alchemist Festival.

Instructions: Click on either button of the two buttons under the bunch of yellow text to copy the URL, and replace the 'MMS' section of the URL with 'http' in your brower's address bar. The video is TOTALLY in Japanese, but I've translated the interviews (which contain eyebrow-raising content...) below.

======================================





Screenshots:
Topright : Paku Romi (Edward Elric's Japanese voice actress)
Bottom Left : Director, Mizushima
Bottom Right : Producer, Minami

Rough outline of the video (with translations):

=======

--- Short clip with sequences from throughout the TV anime series with lines from various episodes. ----


--- Short interviews with the movie's director, producer and Ed's voice actress (Paku Romi). ---


Tell us about the movie?
Paku Romi : "I know absolutely NOTHING about the contents of it..."
Producer Minami: "I can't tell you anything..."
Director Mizushima: *Laughs*


What's the movie's story about?
Director Mizushima: "Well from the TV animation series, comes the movie..." <-- ??????
Producer Minami: "Hmmm... Ed and Al go in search for something..."
Paku Romi: "What kind of adults do they (the characters) become...."
Director Mizushima: "What kind of experiences they (probably the Elric brothers) go through, and what they make of it all. It'll probably go all in accordance together with what happens in the animation series."


What is Shambala?
Producer Minami: "The Conqueror of Shambala...
Paku Romi: "Wasn't it Janbara or something...? That I was told by Minami-san..."
Producer Minami: "So... what is Shambala..."
Paku Romi: "Shambala is paradise."
Director Mizushima: "Shambala means paradise"
Producer Minami: "Think of it as something like the Philosopher's Stone..."
Director Mizushima: "Since it's the title of the movie... it's got a pretty deep meaning to it"
Producer Minami: "Does it actually exist? You'll have to see for yourself..."


What's the theme of the movie
Producer Minami: "Simple, pure love"
Paku Romi: "Al has some love-love scenes"
Director Mizushima: "A chance meeting and paradise..?" <-- ???????
Producer Minami: "And it's not with Ed..."
Paku Romi: "Of course, I think it's the brotherly love between Ed and Al.... right..???"
Producer Minami: "... unfortunately...." <-- I really don't know WHAT to make of what he said here... -_-;


Any lines from the movie with strong impressions?
Producer Minami: *Flips through book* "Give me a moment..."
Director Mizushima: *Flips through same book* "Where was that..."
Producer Minami: " 'WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL?!' " <-- note: This line was in Osaka accent. Why, I have NO idea...
Director Mizushima: " 'I am who I am, here right now.' " <-- from the use of words, I'm guessing this is Al's line...
Producer Minami: "That's it."


How is production coming along?
Producer Minami: "We've finished writing the screenplay, and are proceeding on with the storyboarding and animation from now."
Director Mizushima: "We were told not to storyboard the movie, thinking of it as a movie....
Producer Minami: "Ed's dubber will be changed, so we're holding auditions right now." <-- At the event, the whole stadium was filled with "WHAT?!" yells, including mine when we heard this.
Paku Romi: "Of course I'm going for that audition, if it were real..."
- JOKES ASIDE - <-- ARGH the producer was just kidding us on Ed's voice being different... *PHEW*
Producer Minami: "We will be finishing production in summer so everyone will be able to hear Paku Romi's (Edward Elric's voice actress) voice. (Voice-recordings will be completed in June)
Director Mizushima: "We're not actually that into production just yet... everyone's still waiting for the storyboarding to be done. Our work has yet to begun...."
Producer Minami: "Where the animation series left off was a tense cliffhanger. We're aiming to create something better than what (fans) expect. Even work(ed) hard through January to make sure of that."
Director Mizushima: "We're quite excited about getting down to the actual production.."


How do (you) feel about the movie?
Paku Romi: "It looks like its shaping up to be a really production. No matter what the story, I'll work my hardest to bring Ed(ward) alive again!
Producer Minami: "We plan to work through January so we can start production as soon as possible; to create something we can call 'good'. <-- Note: this interview was done in December 2004
Director Mizushima: "Almost all the staff involved in the animation series are doing the movie too. We want to create a anime/ movie that'll make be able to make the viewers feel 'pain'. We'll work hard to make it good, so do come down to theaters to support us~<-- Don't understand what he means with the 'pain' part...


--- 2nd trailer clip ---


======================================


Sources:
Official Movie website (Jpn) >> (link)

T_T Paku Romi is still voicing Ed. Thank the lord.
Translation is tiring. x_x

*__* Thank you so much for the translations~! I'm gonna go see if I'm able to view this special trailer [at all]... ;;

Um, Al's got a lovey-dovey scene? And Ed and Al in paradise?? XD Muwahahaha~

Sorry, just had to comment about that.

Thanks so much for that!
Its great to see how much they care about making this movie great :::tears well up in Blue's eyes:::
I'm so glad Ed's seiyuu will def. stick around! (The deeper his voice gets, the better! so sexy!) hehehe

I'm gonna watch that again, the mix of scenes from the series was well done and very nice to watch.

Meh, I shot up straight in my seat when I read about the Director's 'joke'. >_> He shouldn't joke about such horrible things~

You shot up your seat? I nearly wanted to rip out mine at the event and hurl it at the stage when I heard it... XD

... note to self... never translate at 3am in the morning again... x_X

It's a streaming video... can anyone save it to a proper mpg file or something? I'd like to keep it... : |

Luckily you didn't otherwise they might ban you from future conventions. Can't have that~

Oooh, that's a great idea! I'd like to keep it too, saved all nice and comfy on my harddrive. I wouldn't know how to do that though... Hmm, do you think someone might fansub it and upload it on Animesuki.com like they've done with all trailers so far? That'd be great.

That was my first thought as well....alas I've not been able to..(Must get my laptop back online!!!)

I have no idea... oo;;; I never download subs... :P I lurve rawz.

>_< Really? Can someone save this streaming video (the large version) as a mpg / avi and send it?! I'd love to do it myself, but don't know how.

I wouldn't know how to convert something into an mpg. or avi.file, especially because it's a streamload... -.-

As far as I know, our best chance is waiting for someone to fansub it and put it up on Animesuki.com so everybody will be able to download it. But maybe bryantq or Rolfie know how to do it? (Since the video will only be up 'till February 10 - why's that??)

ARGH! *Goes to beg brantq or Rolf to send her the raw T________T*

Hmm as for why the video's up until the 10th, it's supposed to be 'special stuff', so they want to take it down after a while. Japanese tend to like to do this. The Japanese game sites (FMA games) had official wallpapers, but those were taken down after some time too.

This seems to be their Idea of foreplay....(seems more like s&m to me.. )
For every little bit of info they give us, they leave us w/ either more questions or drive us to some state of otaku insanity

My, you Japanese are sneaky/smart people then. It's working, God is it working.

Haha! "Love-love" . . . cute. It's nice to know that Al will finally get the love he's been wishing for for a while now.

Very nice job on this report, Sycia. Thank you very much.

HET: I'm so hoping it's going to be Winry~

SAM: I'm so hoping it 'really is' going to be Ed~ X3

I hope it's Winry, too.

For a second there, I was also thinking Elysia. Hit me now.

i could live with both >:)

what am i saying.... you guys have turned me into an edward fanboy

@Quistis: Elysia~ Before I say anymore, how old is she at the end of the series again? (It could happen if she's not a toddler anymore - just have to wait a few years)


@bryantq: o.o Were you referring to Quistis' post or mine? (I'm praying it was mine X3) And what pray tell is so bad about being an Edward fanboy? (Inwardly I'm rejoicing )

Al/Elysia?? Cute except for one problem:

Hughes' ghost might possess a soldier with a rifle and attack any male that gets near her

But if it's Al, I'm sure Hughes would approve.

He'd even protect his daughter against Al?

Hehehe... 'love-love' scenes for Al. Sorry, that just kills me. Aww, but I bet it'll be cute. Maybe it's with a new character? But I don't think he'll be with Winry. I mean... she's technically older than him now, right?

Anyway, this looks promising. Although this part:

Paku Romi: "Of course, I think it's the brotherly love between Ed and Al.... right..???"
Producer Minami: "... unfortunately...."

Had me confused. Why 'unfortunately'...?

He's never seen Al (well in a body) He might get confused...he's set on (auto protect Elysia mode after all)





haha, I guess we have Ed/Al fans all around the world

The producer wants Al, I knew it!


Oh, yes, that's true . . .

@Cloud: The two can't be in a relationship because Winry's older than Al? (If Hawkeye turned out to be older than Roy, all hell would break loose for sure~)


@blueices: Temporary memory loss? Or just blinded by rage?

That 'unfortunately' part, I can't tell if it means 'unfortunately yes' or 'unfortunately no' .... o_o

I hope Al's "love-love" isn't with Winry lol. WinryxEd I hope for...

I think its an unfortunately, yes

However, does this mean that he wishes it to be gone?
or does he wish it be more more than just the brotherly love?


@Omakase: Hmm, maybe not so much rage as it is the blinding fire of fatherly love?? hehehe

Maybe it means another sacrifice...?

Oooh, blinding fire of fatherly love's a good one. ^^v

WHAT do they mean by inducing pain on the audience?!? or something like they want the audience to feel pain?!?!??!

if they kill off ed, then that would be EXTREMELY painful. i really really REALLY hope that they do NOT do that. T__T

It only confirms that the movie is just a side-story

I don't know why but imagining someone screaming this to the producers makes me laugh quite a bit...

Seriously: This could mean two things:
1. Major characters dying
2. Proof that the movie will be a sidestory we can fit between episodes 26 and 27 (In which case I would be furious!!!)

I captured the video from the website, it's 12.6mb and in ASF format. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a direct download link, though...?

Anyways you can contact me through MSN or PM me and I'll send you the file (or you can download Net Transport and capture the file yourself ).

And thanks Sycia for translating!

Sycia will definitely love you for that Peachy!

Thanks! (I'll PM you my email soon)

wahhh is it just me? because i can't find where to download this trailer. the only video files i can find are those 1 minute teaser things.

that wouldn't cause us pain, but it would definetely change the way we respect the damn producers for sure.

The direct translation would be, "a film that would actually give a feel of pain" <-- Weird english, I know, but I really can't find anything better to substitute it with... my apologies for my bad translation... o_o; I kinda found the video at 3am in the morning and was kinda sleepy.

:P I wouldn't get worked up over it just yet... I'll watch to watch, post the summary down here, THEN get mad / ecstatic. lol~

Peachilicious: O_O *Embraces you* I'm improving my translation skills while doing this (????) :P

Guest: Read the instructions on my first post carefully please.

If anyone gets this from him/her would you please send it to me over AIM(I don't use MSN). My WMP doesn't work and I can't get any other program to stream it.

irkevlar

Ok, I PMed the link to the video to everyone who wanted it so far.

It's uploaded on yousendit.com, which only allows 25 downloads before you have to reupload the file again. So... it would be gone in no time here, to put it simply.

Is there anyone who can host the file for awhile? If you can, I'll PM you the yousendit link so you can download the video and then upload it for everyone. As stated earlier, the video is 12.6mb.

I can host the video in my domain all the time you need ^^ PM me and we'll talk XD I'm very interested in that trailer too >o<

Thanks for the translation, Sycia.

But... I don't think that this has been mentioned yet... The opening and ending is done by L'Arc~en~Ciel and... some other group written in Kanji? @__@ Or does this mean something else?

I uploaded it! ^o^ Click here!

If direct linking isn't allowed, please, let me know, excuse me and I'll remove the link ^^;;; Then, if the people is interested, only PM me ^^

Thank you both for making it possible for me to keep this precious trailer~ Thank you, thank you, thank you~ -^^-

Felidae: I mentioned it in my FMA festival Osaka Report translation, but didn't make a whole new topic for it. ^^; Yes, it's L'Arc~en~Ciel that will be doing both the opening and ending songs for the movie.

You mean the same op and ed they use in the series itself? Aaw, I was so hoping for new footage and music...

Nope, they'll be making new songs for the movie. ^_^ I'll post the titles when I get hold of the news... }:D

Oh, my sadness was all for nought! Great news! I like L'Arc~en~Ciel songs~ It's kinda like an added bonus for me!

:P I'm not a fan of their songs, but with the animation to go with it, it's all good (personally likes Tobira no Mukou e & Rewrite best).

I think I liked all openings equally. Or it's just been such a long time since I last saw any of them that I can't remember which I liked bestest. -^^- I do know I had two favorite endings (the first one, with the alternative Nina footage T__T and the second one I think...)

My assumption about the "pain" comment was merely that they hope to create intense drama in the film.

It's in keeping with the rest of the series: So-and-so dies. They're back to life! They're dead again. This guy's happier than he's ever been; his wife dies. Small children playing in the street -DEAD! Little birdy flies abou-DEAD! KITTENS! DEAD KITTENS! So-and-so is stricken blind, then wanders into the river and drowns. Then is eaten by alligators. Then the alligator dies from poisoning. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Girl turns out to be animated corpse of best friend's sister, murdered last year by psychopath. Long lost love of main character's life runs around corner into character's loving arms AND EXPLODES INTO A GORY MESS!!

Obviously, these aren't specific examples. These are just examples of things that wouldn't seem out of place happening in Hagaren. Seriously it's one of the most 'painful' shows I've ever seen. So in that respect, I assume they're just trying to match the kind of gutwrenching, heart-stomping drama we've all come to expect.

...ergh Thanks Sycia wow Paku Romi is going to still be playing the part of Edward. it would have been terrible if she didn't.