Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos
The Elric brothers pursue an escaped convict into a border city.
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos is a 2011 Japanese animated fantasy action film based on Hiromu Arakawa's manga series Fullmetal Alchemist. It was announced following the success of the anime adaptation Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The film debuted on July 2, 2011, and attendees received an exclusive manga volume titled Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 11.5 ~Tabidachi no Mae ni~ (Before Embarking on the Journey). Funimation licensed the film and released it in the United States in 2012, with Eleven Arts distributing it to over 100 theaters in North America. In the UK, Manga Entertainment screened it at BFI South Bank on June 8, 2012, followed by a home video release on September 3, 2012.
The story follows the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, as they pursue escaped convict Melvin Voyager, who flees. They discover Melvin escaped with two months left of a five-year sentence. Among his belongings, they find a newspaper clipping with a piece cut out; comparing it to an intact copy, they realize the missing part is a photo of Julia Crichton, arrested for illegally entering the remote Table City, located on the border between Amestris and Creta.
Intrigued by Melvin's alchemy and his connection to Julia, the Elrics travel to Table City. A wolf-chimera takes control of their locomotive, and while the brothers try to regain control, flying soldiers called the Black Bats attempt to rescue what they think are civilians, but retreat after discovering the prisoners are Amestrians posing as a trap. Melvin escapes the train, pursued by the Elrics, and reaches a prison where he destroys the walls to find Julia. Miranda, the Black Bats' leader, also tries to rescue her. Julia and Alphonse fall into the Valley, a village in a vast chasm around Table City, where Melvin follows and reveals his true identity as Ashleigh. While searching for Al, Ed learns that Table City was originally the Hill of Milos, until Creta and later Amestris invaded, forcing the Milosians to live in poverty in the Valley.
Inside the Black Bats' secret base, Julia and Alphonse become friends as she learns about their tragic past with human transmutation. When Ed meets up with Al at the base, wolf chimeras from the Cretan secret police, dispatched by Colonel Herschel, hunt them, forcing them to retreat.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Kazuya Murata
- Producer
- Masahiko Minami / Hirō Maruyama / Ryo Ōyama / Nobuyuki Kurashige / Fumi Teranishi / Arimasa Okada / Shin Furukawa
- Screenplay
- Yuichi Shinbo
- Based On
- Fullmetal Alchemist · Hiromu Arakawa
- Starring
- Romi Park / Rie Kugimiya / Maaya Sakamoto / Toshiyuki Morikawa / Sakiko Tamagawa / Shin-ichiro Miki / Fumiko Orikasa / Megumi Takamoto / Kenji Utsumi
- Music
- Taro Iwashiro
- Cinematography
- Yoshiyuki Takei
- Editing
- Kumiko Sakamoto
- Production Companies
- Bones
- Distributor
- Shochiku
- Released
- 2 May 2011 · Tokyo · 2011 · 7 · 2 · Japan
- Runtime
- 111 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film follows the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, as they pursue escaped convict Melvin Voyager. They discover his connection to Julia Crichton, a woman arrested for illegally entering Table City, a remote settlement on the border between Amestris and Creta. Traveling to Table City, the brothers become entangled in the conflict between the occupying Amestrian forces and the Milosian resistance, who live in poverty in a chasm called the Valley. Julia, a member of the resistance, believes the only way to free her people is by using the Sanguine Star, a red glowing stone of power that the Elrics recognize as a Philosopher's Stone, which requires human sacrifice to create. The film introduces new characters including Melvin Voyager, an escaped alchemist who claims to be Julia's long-lost brother Ashleigh but is later revealed to be an impostor named Atlas; Colonel Herschel, the Cretan commander who is actually the real Ashleigh; and Miranda, leader of the Black Bats resistance faction. The climax involves Atlas attempting to create a Philosopher's Stone using blood transmutation, the real Ashleigh's return, and Julia's sacrifice of her left leg to save the Valley.
Reader's Guide
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos expands the world of the Fullmetal Alchemist series by exploring the neighboring country of Creta and introducing a new form of alchemy focused on healing. The film was released as a standalone story set during the timeline of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, offering fans additional context about the geopolitical tensions between Amestris and its neighbors. Its significance lies in deepening the series' themes of sacrifice, nationalism, and the ethical use of alchemy, particularly through Julia Crichton's arc as a young woman willing to use a Philosopher's Stone for liberation. The film also features exclusive content, including a manga volume titled Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 11.5 ~Tabidachi no Mae ni~ (Before Embarking on the Journey) given to attendees of the premiere. While not directly adapting the manga, the film was written with Hiromu Arakawa's involvement and maintains the tone and moral complexity of the original series. Its release in over 100 North American theaters via Eleven Arts and subsequent home video distribution by Manga Entertainment in the UK helped introduce the film to international audiences.
Did You Know?
- The film was distributed by Eleven Arts for North America, showing at more than 100 theaters.
- Julia Crichton uses a form of alchemy from Creta that allows her to heal injuries, which is unfamiliar to the Elric brothers.
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