Anime Expo and FUNimation Ent. have announced that the U.S. premiere of FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE MOVIE - CONQUEROR OF SHAMBALLA will be held at Anime Expo in the Main Events hall in the Anahiem Convention Center on Monday, July 3, 2006, from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm. The event will be hosted by Anime Expo 2006 official Guests of Honor Japanese movie director Seiji Mizushima, Japanese voice actor for Edward Elric, Romi Paku, U.S. voice actor for Edward Elric, Vic Mignogna, FUNimation Guest U.S. English dub director, Mike McFarland and special guest Masahiko Minami, president of Studio Bones. Following the movie, a question and answer session with the audience will be held.
"The FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST series has transformed the way anime is viewed in the U.S. and the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST movie will do the same for anime features and movies," said Gen Fukunaga, president/ceo of FUNimation Ent. "We knew when we acquired the series that it had tremendous potential, and we are just getting started."
FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE MOVIE - CONQUEROR OF SHAMBALLA has already won Animation of the Year, Best Original Story and Best Music at Tokyo International Anime Fair 2006, Japan's premiere industry event.
The film takes place in Munich in 1923. Two years have passed since Edward Elric's sacrifice ripped him out of his world and into ours, separating him from his younger brother, Alphonse. In that time, Ed's continued research into rocketry has allied him with Alphons Heiderich, a fellow researcher who oddly resembles Ed's brother. Progress has been slow, however, and Ed has become discouraged. But when he saves a quiet Gypsy girl with the power to read minds, Ed is quickly pulled into a plot by the Thule Society and the burgeoning Nazi Party that could drag both worlds into a terrible war.
CONQUEROR OF SHAMBALLA is also part of the programming for FUNimation's theatrical initiative, FUNimation Films. It is scheduled to hit theatres nationwide on Sept. 8, 2006. For more information go to www.fullmetalalchemist.com.
Located in Anaheim, California, Anime Expo, the North America's largest anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests of the general public and animation/ comics industry. AX 2006 will be held July 1-4, 2006 at the Anaheim Convention Center. More information can be found at www.anime-expo.org.
FUNimation Ent., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corp., is the leading company for home video sales of Japanese animation in the U.S. FUNimation is known for acquiring top-rated anime series from Japan and for developing some of North America's most popular anime series. The company has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, Internet and home video sales and distribution. For more information, visit www.funimation.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
