Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos was screened at the Reel Asian International Film Festival, which was likely the last time we get to see the Elric brothers in action. As a parting gift, we present to you what we thought were the Top 10 Moments of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Granted that there are many great moments throughout the Fullmetal saga, it was hard to pick only ten. More importantly, this list MOST DEFINITELY CONTAINS SPOILERS.

10. Hohenheim and Father’s origins.

After episodes (and chapters) of wondering why Father has the same face as Honhenheim, we get to see the origins of these two mysterious characters. It turns out that these two timeless figures were once friends, only to have an entire civilization wiped out, due to the greed of a “little one in the flask”. Hohenheim was forced to continue living with the souls of Xerxes citizens trapped inside of him, only to await the birth of his two sons to end it once and for all. The creation of Amestris, the Philosopher’s Stone, and countless wars were spearheaded by a little creature with a collosal God complex.

9. Alphonse sacrifices himself to revive Edward’s lost arm.

Close to the end of the Fullmetal Alchemist story, we are finally awarded with something we’ve been waiting for throughout the entire series – Edward getting his arm back! In desperation, after Ed is immobilized by a rebar impaling his left arm, Alphonse utilizes Mai’s long-distance Alkahestry to tramsmute his soul in exchamge for his brother’s long lost right arm. Renouncing loudly his younger brother’s idiotic decision, Ed valiantly fights back against Father with his reacquired right arm to end an epic battle with style.

8. Mustang incinerates Lust.

Just a fiery and intense battle between Colonel Roy Mustang and the Homunculus Lust. At first, Mustang getes stabbed in the gut by Lust, only to burn his wounds together and return the pain hundred-fold to the slutty monster. After a continuous sequence of explosions, Mustang was able to wear out the lives of Lust’s Philosopher’s Stone and claim victory to be the first to successfully kill a Homunculus.

7. Mustang takes revenge on Envy. Envy commits suicide.

Revenge is best served with FIRE! Mustang’s long awaited meeting with Envy was expected to be a fire-filled bloodbath celebrating the revenge taken for the late Maes Hughes, his best friend. Except, a few unexpected elements were added, including Mustang’s painful resistance from killing the conniving Homunculus, and also Envy’s eventual decision to take his own life. Not only did we see the moral side to this battle, where Mustang almost fell into darkness by killing for revenge, but also the sad and cruel truth of surrounding Envy. He has known for so long that humans will turn on each other when push comes to shove. But once the Fullmetal crew showed him the truly beautiful quality about humanity, it is revealed how envious Envy felt towards them.

6. Selim revealed as Pride.

This was possibly the biggest reveal of the series. Unlike the 2003 anime, where they misnamed a few Homunculi, revealing that the innocent-faced Selim Bradley as the First Homunculus was a jaw-dropping moment and a very high point in the series. Surprisingly, it was Lieutenant Hawkeye who first noticed the eerie air surrounding the Fuhrer’s son. This was also the first time we get to see Pride’s power and reach, where an ever-expanding abyssal creature with multiple mouths and eyes can spawn from Selim’s small stature.

5. Father opens the Gates of Truth of Heaven and Earth to obtain “God”

Fullmetal Alchemist at its epic finest in this scene. Utilizing the 5 human sacrifices (Ed, Al, Hohenheim, Izumi, Mustang) and the nationwide trasmutation circle surrounding Amestris, Father was able to open the Gates of Truth belonging to the Earth, which responded with the Gates of the Heavens, causing them to open as well. The planetary and celestial gates resonated with each other and Father was able to pull the “entity beyond the Gate”, whom he called God, into himself, along with thousands of souls of Amestrians. In short, he swallowed God whole.

4. Shou Tucker tramutes his daughter and dog into a chimera.

Early in the series and we’re shown what chilling dark waters Fullmetal Alchemist can take us. The Sewing-Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker, seemed friendly at first, but really is a psychopath whose skewed perception of success ruined his family and his life. Unable to provide convincing work leading up to his annual State Alchemist assessment, he resorts to transmuting his young daughter and his dog into a chimera who can speak. Toying with life at its finest, and most screwed up.

3. Edward finds Alphonse’s decaying body

Edward escapes the depths of Gluttony’s stomach by transmuting himself, ending up in front of the Gates of Truth once again. He then turns around and discovers another set of Gates opposite his own, and sitting in front of them was none other than Al’s malnourished body. Unable to bring it back without Al’s soul, he utters these powerful words, “Someday, I’ll definitely come back and get you. Just wait. Just WAIT!”

2. The ingredients to the Philosopher’s Stone.

Early on, we find out the necessary ingredients of creating the Philosopher’s Stone – living human beings. This legendary alchemic amplifier that was supposed to be the Elric Brothers’ key to getting their bodies back, was now not an option due to its barbaric contents. This was the point in the series where we find out Fullmetal Alchemist is much deeper than you see on the surface, and it only got deeper.

1. Hughes’ untimely demise.

This scene was probably the moment where many fell in love, and dropped their jaws, with Fullmetal Alchemist. It was an sad scene, but a pivotal one, that distinguished FMA from any anime series or manga of its time. Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes was the first to discover the nationwide conspiracy (that came to fruition towards the end of the series, check 5.), which sadly lead to his death. After a bloody fight with the homunculus Lust, he enters a phone booth attempting to notify Mustang of the conspiracy, only to be stopped by Envy, who took the appearance of his wife and shot him in cold blood.

Looking back, Arakawa-sensei’s decision to kill off a major character without any chance of resurrection, was extremely gutsy and unheard of at the time. This paved the way for success on all platforms for the franchise, marking Fullmetal Alchemist as an epic tale that was uniquely entertaining.

Spoilers end.

For more Fullmetal Alchemist goodness, check out our review on the entire franchise back when it came to an end over a year ago – Fullmetal Alchemist: A Closed Gate – A Review.

Philbert: @philbertlui
Banana Times: @bananatimes
Reel Asian: @reelasian

As a member of the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival’s marketing committee, I’ve been given the awesome opportunity of reviewing films from this year’s lineup leading up to the festival. It is also an honor to be a part of Reel Asian’s very special 15th year (November 9 – 19). Up next, SAIGON ELECTRIC.

A realistically desolate story about a North Korean refugee, Jeong Seung-chul, who struggles to survive in Seoul, South Korea, The Journals of Musan is a drab portrait of a man desperately trying to find a better life in the endlessly cruel world of capitalism. Unable to find any respectable employment due to his North Korean identity card, Seung-chul is forced to post sleazy sex fliers across the city.

Unlike his roommate also from the North, Kyung-chul, who embraces the contrasting lifestyle of the big city through cheating and stealing, Seung-chul finds a little relief in a local church where he develops feelings for the pretty Sook-young. Even when he begins to work in the same karaoke bar as Sook-young, Seung-chul is constantly harassed by rival poster-boys, superiors, and his roommate, only to find comfort by adopting a stray white dog. With struggles coming in all directions, Seung-chul realizes the moral difficulties with adapting to the modern world.

Written, directed, and starred by Park Jung-bum, The Journals of Musan is a film about a topic that will never be in low demand. The tension between North and South Korea is ongoing and may be considered repetitive at times, but it will never be irrelevant. Adopting a very effective cinéma vérité visual style with hand-held DV images, which at times seems unexpectedly too truthful, catapults the hard-hitting realism of Seung-chul’s hardships into an almost painful perspective. Directed and acted superbly by Park Jung-bum, even among the constant traffic of Seoul, Park was able to create a palpable and bleak slice of a North Korean defector’s life, rather than a traditional story that goes from beginning to end.

Get your tickets to THE JOURNALS OF MUSAN (Sat Nov 12th 12pm) at Reel Asian here!

Philbert: @philbertlui
Banana Times: @bananatimes
Reel Asian: @reelasian 

As a member of the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival’s marketing committee, I’ve been given the awesome opportunity of reviewing films from this year’s lineup leading up to the festival. It is also an honor to be a part of Reel Asian’s very special 15th year (November 9 – 19). Up next, SAIGON ELECTRIC.

Set in Saigon, the story begins with Mai, a traditional ribbon dancer who moves to the big city from the countryside with the goal of being accepted to the national dance academy. Unable to overcome her nerves, she fails her audition but befriends a street-smart hip-hop dancer, Kim, and the rest of her crew – Saigon Fresh.

The Fresh crew aims to compete internationally in South Korea but first they must defeat the reigning national champions at the Samsung Challenge, North Killaz from Hanoi, in order to represent Vietnam. Leading up to the challenge, Kim gets involved with a wealthy boy named Hai, and begins to distance herself from her friends. To make things worse, the youth centre they practice in is on the verge of being made into a hotel. With all these problems piling up, the outcome of the Samsung Challenge becomes more and more important.

In his sophomore feature, Stephane Gauger paints a vivid picture of youth dance culture in the bustling streets of Saigon. Although the narrative of the film may seem familiar, the characters in Saigon Electric highlight the class difference still existent in Vietnam, and in many other parts of Asia. Where Hanoi’s North Killaz “dance because they have nothing better to do”, Saigon Fresh dance because they have to. All three major characters of Mai, Kim and Do-Boy come from broken families, and they all seek refuge in dance and their youth centre. Gauger displays the growing phenomenon of hip-hop in Asia through a Vietnamese lens, showing how not only hip-hop, but also any art, should not be considered as a road to delinquency but a sanctuary for expression.

Get your tickets to SAIGON ELECTRIC at Reel Asian at the links below:
Toronto screening (Fri Nov 11th 8:45pm) or the Richmond Hill screening (Sat Nov 19th 1:30pm)

Philbert: @philbertlui
Banana Times: @bananatimes
Reel Asian: @reelasian 

As a member of the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival’s marketing committee, I’ve been given the awesome opportunity of reviewing films from this year’s lineup leading up to the festival. It is also an honor to be a part of Reel Asian’s very special 15th year (November 9 – 19). Up now, SURROGATE VALENTINE.

Goh Nakamura plays Goh Nakamura in this very sweet film, where he resides in a place no guy ever wants to be in, but likely has been before – The Friend Zone. Surrogate Valentine follows Goh through his mundane life as a singer-songwriter in San Francisco, until it is talkatively interrupted by television actor, Danny Turner (Chadd Stoops). Danny shadows Goh as they tour the West Coast to methodically study the laid-back and quiet persona of the musician, for an upcoming movie role. Reluctantly placed in this odd road-trip pairing, Goh finds an unexpected friendship and new inspiration to get back the one that got away, Rachel (Lynn Chen).

In Goh Nakamura’s acting debut, he didn’t have to travel far to be present and entertaining on screen. Without much need to step into the skin of another character, it is clear that Nakamura’s innate real-life personality is quirky and wordlessly funny, so much so that he naturally carries the film. Driving the story just as well is Chadd Stoops, who portrays the overcompensating and annoyingly narcissistic Hollywood caricature in Danny Turner. The juxtaposition of the chilled out Goh and the cartoonish Danny was a delight to watch, showing that chemistry can be created even with distinct contrasts in character.

What Director Dave Boyle has done in this film was a clever repackaging of the overused “the girl that got away” plot. Instead of having it as the driving force of the narrative, which has been beaten to death by Hollywood rom-coms, Boyle seamlessly slips it in and out of the foreground to shift the focus onto his two leading men when needed. But when it comes down to it, Goh’s true motivation is blatantly Rachel. With the tasteful support of black and white visuals, and the white-on-rice compatibility of Goh’s own soundtrack, this well done indie comedy teaches us two very important lessons: If you’re a guy and you find the right girl, go for it. And if you’re a girl, be aware of the friend zone, it’s not fun to be in.

Get your tickets to SURROGATE VALENTINE at Reel Asian right here!

Philbert: @philbertlui
Banana Time: @bananatimes
Reel Asian @reelasian
Goh: @gohnakamura