Full Metal Panic!

The sequel to Full Metal Panic, this series takes a new approach to the story. This time there are no mechs, and the Mithil organization takes a step back. Though nothing is truly cut completely, many characters make guest appearances and generally cause general chaos. There are many new characters as well, several of which are never fully explained. This doesn't matter too much, as they are the main source of new situations for Kaname and Souske. I found that the series started off well, and got better and better as it went on. The first episode was probably the closest to the original Full Metal Panic style comedy. From there however, the stories get more and more outlandish. The series actively states that it's worried that fans of the original might not like how outlandish it becomes. However, with the soon to be released third sequel series, it shouldn't be a problem. My biggest question is, where can i get the chemical from the last episode?

Remember back in chemistry you had to mix the various volatile chemicals in the right proportions or it will all go up in smoke? Full Metal Panic is a daring experiment that mixes serious military style action with high school humor and romance with mech battles. Dangerous combination there of serious and light hearted: too serious and the comedy loses its flavor, too comedic and no one would take the show seriously. So many anime have tried mixing genres with less than satisfactory results. Full Metal Panic on the other hand maintains its perfect balance of serious and silly, making for a very unique anime series.

Full Metal Panic takes place i a world not to different from our own. However in that world, there exists "Black technology" and selected special individuals called "The whispered" who possess enhanced cognitive capabilities. This Black technology allowed the mass production of giant humanoid mecha units called "Arm Slaves" which soon fell into the hands of terrorists. A secret organization called "Mithril" was formed to combat this rising threat of and to protect the Whispered from being captured and exploited by the terrorists. Mithril Operative Souske Sagara, only 17 but already a battle hardened soldier, is assigned to protect a newly discovered "Whispered" named Kaname Chidori. Along with his teammate, the wisecracking Kurz Weber and team leader Melissa Mao, Souske enrolls undercover as a student in Kaname's high school. Kaname's seemingly normal life comes crashing down as Souske tries to protect her in the only way he knows how: violently, decisively, like a well trained soldier, even employing some common battlefield strategies usually used to take down armed assailants. Hilarity ensues as Souske, who has only known a life of warfare since birth, tries to integrate himself into "normal" society and to fulfil his mission, much to the chagrin of Kaname. But just as it seems like the story is becoming a typical romantic comedy, a mysterious terrorist organization has discovered Kaname's whereabouts and is out to capture her by any means necessary.

Adapted from a series of novels as opposed to a manga aimed at kids or teenagers, the writing on Full Metal Panic stands out as decidedly more mature than its contemporaries. Every character is fully fleshed out and given a decent amount of development as the series moves along. Even side characters that would usually be just one-dimensional stock archetypes end up rather likable. Central to the story is the excellent chemistry the emotionally suppressed yet tenacious Souske and the hot headed Kaname. Though at first Souske only regards Kaname as a "mission objective" and likewise, Kaname regards Souske as "sergeant Psycho", the two grow closer as they get to know one another. There is definitely a theme of romance yet it is tastefully played out without any of the cheesy mushy stuff.

The way the dialog is written and lends a stronger feel of realism to the entire story. This top notch script, full of wit and charm, is complemented by equally top notch acting. Of particular note is the English voice acting by ADV films. Other reviewers must have watched the South East Asian English dub shown on animax asia to be able to criticize the English dub so. Rest assured the superior English dub from ADV films matches the quality of the Japanese track tone for tone. Some of the roles may even come across as more natural in English such as Chris Patton's role of Souske Sagara in which he peppers his dialog with military jargon and maintains a stoic drill sergeant type of tone. There is also a Chinese dub track released in Asian countries but that one is plagued by serious miscasting of roles and a certain lack of actor enthusiasm. All in all, Both the Japanese language track and USA English track are equally enjoyable and sound equally natural.

For a 2002 production, Full Metal Panic is among the better looking ones, yet it has not aged too well despite being so recent. Boasting a beautiful level of art detail and an adequate frame rate animation by GONZO studios, Full Metal Panic's quality gets inconsistent as the series progresses. Badly rendered CGI is thankfully kept to a minimum, used only on a Submarine and some aircraft, but the show has its fair share of obvious cost cutting techniques in the later half, almost as if the production went over budget halfway through. There is a stark contrast between the animation quality seen in the first episode and the last episode. Quite a disappointment coming from the same studio that produced some awesome animation in Samurai 7 and Afro Samurai.

Animation flaws aside, Full Metal Panic is a rare series that manages to feel as good as some of the best Hollywood blockbusters of all time. This makes it easily accessible to viewers who have not watched anime and is a great series for "newbies" to jump into anime fandom. Two anime sequels, a couple of manga spin offs and a dedicated fan base despite its young age, Full Metal Panic might just end up a modern classic, talked about for years to come.

Wow, a very funny anime series that has a lot of stuff, action, comedy, romance, drama, a little psychological theme ala Evangelion, but not too much of it, but a bit similar, and the main character who acts a little bit like Heero of Gundam, except crazier! In this one, a secret military organization serving no certain country, with technology and military equipment that years advanced and is ahead of Japan, US and Russia, deals with dangerous situations and rescues people from terrorist attacks, now has to protect someone, a Japanese student who is said to be a "whispered" the ones who have knowledge about secret technology, and is said to be targeted by terrorists, so they send someone, a 16 year old of Japanese descent to be the one to protect her, the 16 year old, who is Japanese, was raised in Afghani deserts and was trained as a child soldier, has had a lot of training, from unarmed combat, to piloting the M9 mechs, but has one problem: he doesn't have a clue of how to live in a normal environment with people his own age. So this maybe a tough mission for him. Overall a very funny show and perhaps one the best new giant robot animes out there, cool characters and beautiful animation, and intense action, and great comedy, especially the school scenes with Sagara, who still doesn't know a thing about high school or Japan. Sad. The only problem is that some of the characters, especially the bad guy, had very little character development, that the origin and explanation of their background was too vague. But overall a decent show recommended to all otaku, even to those who non or open to this type of animation.

In Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! the episodes are shorter and more comical with less action and suspense involved, though some opinions may vary about how good it is. I myself like the military aspect of the original plot. But if you seen the first Full Metal Panic? at the end it talks about insurance at the last episode and just ties into Fumoffu. Though its more about high school life with Sousuke being Sousuke and with Kaname keeping him in line, though there are action parts its not really as suspenseful as the first but there are newer weapons and greater laughs. In the first few episodes Teletha Testarossa appears for vacation and goes to school with them and later goes away with. With those facts in mind I hope you can come up with your own conclusion by yourself. My opinion on the matter is its a fair show that is comical and pleasing to any anime fan. The only smack about it is that its short shows are well to short. Its basically like any second season of any basic anime show. I do like the original and the TSR which in my opinion are a little bit better then Fumoffu.

I was half dragged into watching this series, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Much as the great title suggests, the series is mech based. It revolves around a special force called special "Mithril", and an elite specialist soldier named Sagara. Add to the mix a schoolgirl named Chidori and you've got the title - Full Metal Panic!

The mechs used in the show are far from the standard fare. They're unique enough and the Mithril force is unique enough that it manages to feel fresh. Sagara is a dead clone of Heero Yui, but that's not a bad thing. Sagara is described as the most "professional of the professional", an elite soldier through and through. Taking this pure military mind and placing him into a urban highschool situation is actually quite funny. There's some hilarious moments that alone make the series worth watching.

Chidori bugs me a bit, but she serves her purpose in the series. I just find her about impossible to like early in the show. I'm quite sure this is purposely done though, and as the series goes on she becomes much more likable.

The action sequences is where the show really shines. Elite forces, big mechs, guns, explosions, tanks... lots of fun for all. It's very well animated and very well timed. Being from GONZO, I would certainly expect this. They've done every bit as good as they did with the Vandread series.

If you like the title, you'll probably like the anime. It's really as simple as that. A Heero like main character, plenty of fan service, GONZO's wonderful artists, and a storyline that makes you want to watch just one more episode every single time. It's a refreshingly well put together show.

• Rirath_com