Did you like the ending? (Spoilers inside) - Gekijô-ban hagane no renkinjutsushi: Shanbara wo yuku mono (2006) Discussion

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

There were too many things left unsolved, too many questons unanswered i think. Even though the fact that Ed and Al staying together was befitting and all good, the fact that several of the other relationships and state between the charcters were left open-ended, for me, sucked.

Also i hated the fact that Ed spent practically no time with any of those guys, not Roy, Winry, ect. Aside from his brother, he saw Winry and the bookworm girl the most. It pleases and yet frustrates at the same time. Defiently leaves room for at least another movie or SOMETHING.

"Your daddy wants you to know that he's nobody's bitch" - Huey

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[–] heelmaster2000 18 years ago

Yes the ending is very bitter sweet, unfortatly that is how the writers decided to go with the story, personaly I would have done what most of use would have. Have Ed and Winry get togeather, get married have lots of kids and live happily ever after, but here is the thing which I thought about after watching the film (and trust me there was a bit for me to think about, lol) the truth is that is life the hero doesnt always get the girl and vice versa. I know, before you go off yelling at me that this is an anime not real life(and trust me the most hardcore of you alreay hate my post for saying the previous statement.) But lets face it the series wasnt about Ed and Winry getting togeather, it was about Ed and Al trying to get their body parts back, unfortunatly in doing so they were taken to our world in doing so which let to another prodicament (sp?). Now the two have to find a way to get back togeather. To help out this a little bit here is a another post I made on the subject.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485323/board/thread/39271239?d=49236919#49236919

About Roy and Riza that anapana83 posted about I am fairly sure that they get togeather, and I agree that is one of the things that did get on my nerves about this film, not showing much of the other charachters from the show, but hey what are you going to do?

And I leave with this to show everyone that may or may not prove that my first huge statement may have been just a stupid waste of everyones time, or maybe not watch and decided for yourself on what the true answer is, and maybe what REALLY happened at the end of the film...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS6hjLcne-Q

It's the 80's. Do alot of coke, and vote for Ronald Regan.

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[–] Hawkeye0165 18 years ago

I completely agree with what you're saying. Although it's not the ending that I exactly imagined, it's a suitable ending and at least the brothers ended up back together again. I'd like to imagine that Roy and Riza got together, but the fact is they gave those two very little interaction and after spending so much time developing their relationship during the series and hinting at a romantic relationship, it just mad me sort of upset that they didn't show more of them. One question I did have about the movie, and it's something that I saw mentioned on other posts, did Rose and Armstrong end up together?? Because I read something along those likes and I thought Noooooo that's just ridiculous...but then I watched the movie and noticed some stuff I didn't really notice before, like the end with them in Risembool together with all the kids(same in Lior). So would anyone mind clearing that up for me?

"You're useless in the rain, so please stay back Colonel." -Riza Hawkeye

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[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] heelmaster2000 18 years ago

First off I am glad that others seem to fell the way I do and don't hate the film for the end, in which alot seem to be doing.

Secondly, I must say Futuramafan1987, that thing about the condoms made me laugh quite a bit, thanks for that.

Thirdly, that would be kind of interesting if Rose and Armstrong did get togeather, sure its a little bit weird, but honestly they would kind of make a cute couple.

Lastly, I didnt see the english version yet so I will be keeping my eye out for that scene.

P.S. the thing for people to do right after watching the film is go to youtube and look up the FMA chibi after party mini OAV it will lift your spirits up again and if that isnt enough look up that other one. Does anyone agree with me on this?

It's the 80's. Do alot of coke, and vote for Ronald Regan.

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[–] kristallnacht 18 years ago

Ending was sad I suppose...the whole scene in the Shamballa world was too short and quick...Great to see Roy in action though! Ed and Winry? Their chemistry was building throughout the series and then the movie just turned it anticlimatic but what can you do. However, the most disapointing to me was the final battle with the villain...I thought the villain was incredibly pathetic and i was hoping that at least they would entertain us with a nice action sequence during the final bout (I was kind of hoping Envy [not the dragon envy] vs. Ed in the end). Alas, they turned it into a corny 'humans hate things that they dont understand' Nazi-bashing (maybe rationalizing?) cliched dialogue.

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[–] mara-mirax 18 years ago

My number one complaint about the ending - not enough epilogue. Would it really have been so hard to take a minute or two and do a quick flyby of all of the major characters? Maybe Mustang working with his guys again, giving Hawkeye a smile, everyone rebuilding Central, stuff like that. Wouldn't have taken that long and would have made it more satisfying.

My number one complaint about the story - too much time spent on the mechanics of making everything work and not enough time spent with the characters. Characters were doing things that made absolutely NO sense when they happened, and only later they have to TELL us why they're doing it. That's the first rule of story-telling - Show, don't Tell. If the storyteller's done his job, you should be able to figure out why a character is doing what they are.

Examples:
1. Noah betrays Ed and reads his mind to help the Nazis. Why? I'm sitting there asking my aunt that, and she doesn't have a clue either. Ten minutes later, Ed asks her, and she gives her reasons, reasons that were not shown or implied in any way shape or form prior to that.

2. Eckhart(is that right?) the psycho blond Nazi girl decides to destroy Amestris. Why? My aunt and I are both going, "And why the heck is she destroying this world? What on earth is she hoping to accomplish? I thought she wanted its power?" We get our answer...when she starts monologuing to Ed and spelling it out.

<sigh>

One last thing - I usually cry like a baby at sad stuff, and I didn't even have time to mourn any of the characters that were dying right and left. It was like:

Wrath pops back up to help Al without saying a word. <Chomp> "I'm going to help you, Al." <dies>

Hohenheim pops back up and Ed sees him. "Hi, Ed, I'm going to help you out." <Chomp> <dies>

Munich Alphonse has a sudden change of heart. "Hey, Ed. I'm going to help you out." <Bang> <dies>

The most reaction I could get was a little split-second "Awww, that's sad" moment before they've moved on to something else.

Oh, well. At least Mustang got to blow stuff up

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[–] Hawkeye0165 18 years ago

wow, I completely agree with all of your points!! and the stuff about the characters dying had me laughing for a few minutes. But its sooo true they definitley didn't spend enough time on an epilogue, and it definitley would have made a huge difference in the movie, I would've been much happier at the end. And they did explain stuff waaay too much, like with Roy, I was wondering why the heck he was way out in the boonies and not using alchemy-and, what a shocker! He explains that he's all emo because of all the people he killed, etc etc etc. And they definitley killed off those people too fast, they didn't linger on it at all, it was like BAM they're dead, now on to something new. Overall there were just so many little changes they could've made that would have completely changed my opinion on the movie, I mean don't get me wrong, I still liked it, but I just wasn't completely happy with how they did everything. And there was little to none EdWin or Royai, I mean they spent so much time developing those relationships in the series and in the movie it just falls short. There was like a 2 second reunion between Ed and Winry where Ed just needed an automail pitstop and then he was off again to save the world. I felt like they were building up to some big romantic encounter too, because Winry left Risembool and she was all badass and like I'm sick of waiting around for them, I'm gonna go find them, etc, so I thought something big was going to happen there but then it didn't. and pretty much the only exchange between Roy and Riza was when he was like blah blah blah theres only room for one and she's all like AHHH YOU LIAR. I would've liked the movie a lot more if they had spent more time on the alchemy world and all the characters from there rather than trying to match up all the history stuff in our world. Basically whenever I watch it I just fast forward through all the stuff with the Nazis and Hitler and Eckhart, etc. I just don't care, I mean I'd much rather watch all these characters that we know and love from the series.

"You're useless in the rain, so please stay back Colonel." -Riza Hawkeye

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[–] kristallnacht 18 years ago

<b> I would've liked the movie a lot more if they had spent more time on the alchemy world and all the characters from there rather than trying to match up all the history stuff in our world. </b>

^agreed.

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[–] mara-mirax 18 years ago

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more it feels like they were setting things up so they could do yet another sequel if they wanted to.

I mean, Noah's whole "I can touch you and see what's in your mind" thing just felt so out-of-whack after they've gone to such lengths to make it a realistic world. Then having her say she connects to people in their dreams - and then having them say that Al was connecting to Ed in his dreams and seeing what's in his mind... it made it feel like they were setting up Noah to be someone from Amestris who got sucked through when one of the Homunculi was created or something.

Also, the ten-minute long side story at the beginning with the scientist and his bomb. His name is German and he's wearing a mask. A perfect set-up for a big reveal later when they find out that someone they've known for a while is actually this guy after he got sucked through. Well, they mention the bomb did make it through, but nothing about the guy, and Ed and Al say at the end that they're going to do something about it.

Oh, and all that talk about alchemy not working in our world? Baloney, since Ed's blood activates the circle. Seems that as long as some sort of life force from Amestris is incorporated into it, it will work. Funny how that little tidbit gets overlooked in the long run. Translation? They've already set up a loophole for using alchemy so that Ed and Al could conceivably go home.

Add to that the repurcussions of Mustang returning, the massive destruction of Amestris, etc., and it just feels like a bit of a set-up.

If they do make a sequel, and they spend more time with the characters we actually care about this time, maybe I'll forgive them

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[–] kristallnacht 18 years ago

You need a homunculus to open the gate to the other world...i dont think they were setting up anything, in fact it really seemed like a conclusion...Especially the last lines about finding the guy with tthe bomb..it was sort of a 'we still have to continue helping ppl even though it wont be shown in an actual episode' if u know what i mean..And Noah, wasn't she Roses counterpart? And i agree, the mind reading thing was retarded...Ed did say that everythign can be explained thruogh science..

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[–] mara-mirax 18 years ago

You need a homunculus to open the gate to the other world...

I was thinking that, too, but I just finished rewatching the last few episodes of the series itself, and a homunculus wasn't necessary to open a "non-permanent" gate. Dante just used a baby - who wasn't even harmed in the process.

The difference, I think, was that the gates they made in the movie were "non-closing" gates that had to be taken apart by someone as opposed to just spontaneously vanishing like the gate did before.

Or, they just made a big boo-boo in their plotting somewhere in between the two and I'm trying to come up with something plausible to cover their plot hole

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[–] vivIMOS 18 years ago

FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS! i was really annoyed the first time i watched the movie, even tho i loved it to pieces. but after the first time, i just skipped to the parts in Amestris etc, cuz I DONT CARE BOUT THE FRIKKEN NAZIS!
really, it was a cool new view on history, which i was totally psyched at, cuz i like WW2 and stuff, but this explains it well enough so that i can understand it better, so that was cool, but they spent SO MUCH TIME in germany! i just wanted to see roy and riza say their i do's, ed and winry have a makeout scene, and al and ed get their bodies back and live in amestris AND HApPILY EVER AFTER! ok, happily ever after probably wouldve just looked cheesy, and i probably wouldnt have liked it, but this ending was just so annoying! NO CLOSURE! AAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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[–] Hawkeye0165 18 years ago

Yeah, for me it was almost painful how much time was spent in germany rather than in Amestris. You can tell that the writers put a lot of effort into making everything with the historic characters work, but I really didn't even care. Whenever I watch the movie I just fast forward through those parts so I can see all the original characters from FMA. It just seems kind of rediculous to me that they spend so much time on the germany characters...I mean the series wasn't about Hitler and the Nazi's, so why should that be the focus of the movie??

"You're useless in the rain, so please stay back Colonel." -Riza Hawkeye

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[–] Warrior_Kalia 18 years ago

Well.

Probably because movies tend to be entire storylines in and of themselves. You see characters change from OAV to TV series, why would it be different here? It's kind of silly for people to assume everything in Amestris is where the interesting stuff is. The storyline in Amerstris basically ended- Ed died twice, people are depressed, the world sorta goes back to being normal. Without Ed, would you bother watchng the series?

No, the story wasn't about Hitler and the Nazis, but was it even about Ed and Al? I think they use the movie to make subtle throwbacks to the core themes of the anime- the state of humanity. It stopped being about their quest entirely about halfway through.

As for Winry/Ed... I never felt they did much building anyway. They barely managed to spend any time together, and when they did, it was generally because he needed his Automail fixed. Certainly they liked each other, but it might not have been marriage-level by the series end anyway. She loved him. He loved her. It's like Animorphs- after all that, you can't bring yourself to be around that person anyway. I think the manga touched on that a lot better with that one doctor guy who treated the Xian girls... can't remember his name off the top of my head, but...

Yeah, the exposition was a bit odd, but I honestly think that's what would've happened in real life. Both ed and the viewer are left entirely baffled by the turn of events, so they have to ask why outright. They do it in the series, too, but the answers are different. Didn't someone ask Barry why he killed people?

Because he wanted to.

Yet people seem to be a bit more satisfied with his answer than Blondie's. She's certifiable- does it even matter what she said at thar point? People don't seem to realize she's nuts until that point, and then they just consider it a side point, an excuse or something, qwhile they focus on her logic. THERE IS NO LOGIC IN MADNESS. Any logic produced is coincidental.

Done ranting. Agree, disagree, it's all one to me. The anime ended, I thought it was brilliant, lots of people disliked the lack of romance. But it was never a girl's story anyway. It's a bloody boy's story, full of suffering and war- romance is an afterthought.

And it's about a 50-50 chance Riza and Roy got together. He could've gotten over himself and worked with her just like before, but they never get together. He could've gotten over himself and they got together. He could've gone back and seh followed him. Or he could've gone back and she stayed out of respect. The two are far too independent for an assured outcome. But once again, my opinion on the subject.

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[–] thecalhouns 18 years ago

yes I did think the Hohenheim dying thing was a bit rushed, I mean heres Ed and Als FATHER who's lived over a thousand years changing bodies and as Mara-Max put it its just a *chomp* dies kinda thing without much emotion

R.O.D the tv...nuff said

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[–] kristallnacht 18 years ago

its a boys story. As a boy, i think the last fight was garbage LOL. it was more girly cause it got too dramatic.

"If my fate is to be destroyed...
I must simply laugh!"
-Magus

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[–] FallFeathers 17 years ago

It was upsetting that Ed didn't say or forewarn Winry that the last moment they spent was the final goodbye because she had done much for them. It's ok that they don't end up together because in the anime the closeness of Winry and Ed are so limited in comparison to the manga. Also in the anime Ed seemed more close to Rose and in the movie Noah (despite her very confusing decisions). Also Warrior Kalia said it was a boy's story that is why it has violence and war, and suffering. No offense, I don't want to be rude but not every girl story is girly-girly and all drenched in mushy stuff. Also, boys do fall in love, War doesn't inhibit that human emotion and to most men it isn't really considered an afterthought. I agree with Warrior Kalia that the anime was brilliant because it had everything. Romance was little but still present in Ed/Rose and Ed/Winry relationships.

Even if eternity does perish like sunsets...my bonds never fade...

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[–] Sgt_Price 16 years ago

Even though people might say the "typical hollywood ending" sometimes a happy ending after a long sad story makes the viewer feel satisified, to me the movie did not do that.

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[–] plutonax 16 years ago

Firewarrior, I couldn't agree more with you... after all they passed through, after all the suffering, they deserved a better ending to thei stories.

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[–] Sgt_Price 16 years ago

Indeed that is if the writer was ending the story for good, the movie made it even more interesting to see what happens and if they return to their world.
But meh it was a good anime, I can't fault it for that just the ending for the movie truly sucked.

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[–] PirateRaven 16 years ago

Maybe they'll make another movie with a better ending. I mean, they can't just forget about the bomb!

Ways To Annoy Voldemort, #27: Call him Ikle Lickle Voldykins and then run.
Fast.

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[–] Sgt_Price 16 years ago

Indeed and they could focus on getting back to their world.

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[–] plutonax 16 years ago

I think the sequel should be focused in the bomb and in Ed and Al getting back to Amestris (their world).

And then they would have to find a way to recreate Alchemy in our world in order to get back home... I think it would be a good plot.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] jonida_sa 16 years ago

why is everyone so obsessed with seeing everyone make out and get married. i tell you that if you actually saw something like that you wouldn't have liked it. If th e movie had just closed everything you would just have stopped thinking about the characters. But if you avoid happy endings the characters are still alive in their world. And come on stop it with this Ed and Winry. Chiby and the automail freak were never going there to be married, plus they're young. all of you just see soap operas and long epilogues about how everyone got married and pregnant, with tons of children or i suggest read tolstoy's "war and peace".
happy endings are just depressing and make no sense.

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[–] jackytran408 16 years ago

envy turned into a dragon when he came to this world and in this world his powers stop working. The gate thing and the weird creatures don't really have an explanation since it's an anime that's based on the manga. the manga wasn't done and i guess the writers didn't really think it thoroughly. Maybe someone can come up with a logical explanation for it but then it will be his/her own interpretation. Dante wasn't really involved politically with the government or maybe she was but it was king Bradley who was the one directly involved with the government and Amestris. From the anime it seems like he was doing a pretty good job except for the fact he was causing a lot of deaths every now and then for the stone. At the end of the anime a new government took over and there's not really any major war or at least the movie didn't show it. You don't really expect them to show every single city and tell u if there's really war are you? People can still transmute the dead but it's forbidden. Maybe there are other people who want to transmute the dead but there's no way to know. If you did pay attention to the anime you would know that the people of Amestris have soul. That's why Alphonse is in that big armor. His soul was grafted to the armor. I guess people will still be able to find the secret of the philosopher's stone since there are people who still know the secret.

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[–] lir1123 16 years ago

I totally agree with Futuramafan. The film by itself was actually a good one, but it sucked as an ending to FMA. It didn't feel like FMA. I was glad to see the brothers together again. That made me happy. But could it have killed the writers to give poor Ed his arm and leg back? Poor guy went through hell to get his brother's body back, why not his own?

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[–] Ryu_Darkwood 16 years ago

I don't think either the show or the movie had a sad ending to it. They both ended in a way that gives more room for future installments in the franchise. I'm quite sure that there will be a new serial and/or movie that will wrap up the unfinished storylines. As the manga is still running in Japan, this wouldn't be a total surprise to me.

And if they'd end it with the ending in Shamballa, I still don't see why you call it a sad ending. Both brothers are together again, and isn't that what they had been trying to achieve in the 100 minutes of the movie!? Poor Winry, but not everyone can be a winner.

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[–] plutonax 16 years ago

It's a sad ending, if you're a FMA fan. The whole FMA idea was of equivalent trade and there's a moment that all who saw the anime get the idea that Ed and Al left behind a lot of good things for them in order to be happy after Al got his body back. Then, when Al get his body back, they were "put" in a world where his friends were not there... Yes, they had each other, but the FMA idea was not that at all...

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[–] eceirem 16 years ago

Yeah I agree with you. The whole idea of the series was Equivalent Exchange. I mean, if suffering, fighting, battling for 4 whole years isn't an equal exchange to living together and happily in Amestris, (I don't count human transmutation cuz they paid for that) then what is?

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[–] jaricn 16 years ago

happy ending (and i mean completely happy ending) is the easiest thing to achieve and the worst cliche. so, if you like the happy endings, watch those mexican telenovelas, this kind of anime are not for the shallow-minded!
i personally liked this ending, but compared to the series, this really is kinda boring and there were too many deus ex machinas.

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[–] Wratherax 16 years ago

The fact that it wasn't a perfect storybook ending, but still the main goal of the series was accomplished, made it an excellent ending in my opinion. Of course, that's all it is. An opinion. It does suck that Winry and Ed didn't end up together and that we didn't find out what happened with Mustang and Hawkeye. But that just seemed to make the story more realistic. And the best part was that, as I stated earlier, the main goal of the series was accomplished. Ed and Al finally ended up together with Al having gotten his body back. Yes, Ed still has the automail, but that's what made him who he is, IMO. I liked it.

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[–] ruthless1867 16 years ago

Now the Inuyasha manga has finally ended, there are noises for more seasons of the anime in order to catch up. It's a really wild stretch, but perhaps a new season/movie of FMA might be in the pipeline for a few years from now.

"I wish you wouldn't pull things out of your crotch." Van Hohenheim,ch 82

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[–] Gokedu 15 years ago

I'm not sure what you guys mean. The ending was fantastic. This is coming from someone who watched all the episodes and the movie over the past 3 days.

They followed through with the goal of the series completely. From episode 1, Ed wanted to get Al's body back. We never really cared about getting Ed's limbs back because his automail had made for a more interesting character, and that Ed didn't care about getting his limbs back, he just wanted to restore his brother.

What do we have at the end? Al in his own body and Edward didn't have to die to accomplish it. I never really saw a chance at an Ed+Winry. It was one of those childhood romances that never come to fruition.

I don't want there to be another movie. I want there to be another series. The way that it ended leaves a possibility of FMA being reborn into a whole new genre. Realistic. It would be great if they made a new series where Al and Ed are detectives, or scientists, or even people who know the future after seeing the "Truth" from inside the gate. There is definitely potential for another 50 episodes. It'd have a completely different fanbase, but it would be fantastic.

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[–] rachy88 15 years ago

I'm just happy ed and al were together in the end and al got his memories back. that KILLED me in the series, so i was more than content with the movie's ending. only other thing i would've asked for was more mustang/hawkeye.

"Did Steve tell you that, perchance?"

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[–] LogansRun22 14 years ago

Am I the only one who liked the movie's ending? It was the perfect kind of bittersweet. Al popping out of the suit of armor was the crowning moment of heartwarming, and I felt like everything went as well as it realistically could have. Those of you who think Ed and Winry had some reason to get together really don't understand Ed, and those of you who think the Elric brothers could/should have stayed in Amestris have seen too many Disney movies. Yes, it sucked that the brothers were bound to spend the rest of their lives unable to return home, but was that not the case in one capacity or another ever since they burned their house down? In the end, they have each other, they're still very young, and they're forging ahead with their new lives. That's as happy as the ending needs to be, as far as I'm concerned.

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[–] Nynaeve 14 years ago

What I can't figure out is - why did Al get his memories back? What did he give up in order for that to happen when he crossed the gate?

-----
If all
else fails
use fire.
-----

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[–] angmc43 14 years ago

Alphonse gave up his home in the FMA World to be with Edward. He understood this was probably a one-way trip with no return. A major sacrifice.

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[–] smashsmack 13 years ago

I was mildly satisfied with the movie as a whole, but some of it felt kind of sloppy and not on par with the overall feel that the series had. Although I am glad that Al and Ed were reunited, Al suddenly appearing in the other world with Ed felt kind of forced. I almost would have preferred them being separated again, with there only being one Ed and one Al for each world, the lack of Winry...and well almost anything from the other world rubbed me the wrong way as well.

I don't see why they couldn't have just extend the series another 30 episodes or so and used this as the final story arc, but I guess I'll just keep the movie as an alternate ending and the one of the series as the real one.

Because sponges never have bad days.

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[–] imdb-ary 13 years ago

The whole movie felt like they tried to cram too much stuff into too short of a time. Plus some of the stuff felt incredibly contrived (eg. Going to the other world to get weapons then suddenly wanting to destroy it).

Frankly I think the series would be better if we'd just pretend the movie didn't exist.

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