VulturEMaN

Most shows generally have a very clear path for the main characters to follow. Usually in any given show you can think ahead to how that chunk of story will likely go.

This show manages to thread the needle of not going too slow on character development while still making it feel normal and human the length of time needed to make certain decisions.

You get guys and girls becoming better friends separately and together. You also get true character growth with noticeable changes to the characters' thought processes and actions in the following episodes. But most importantly, you end up with something quite human that I haven't felt or seen in anime in a while. And I've jumped across all sorts of different genres.

This isn't so simple as to say it's a very plain story that you would expect. It involves all aspects of every character's daily life. It's got love, friendship, and a very genuine feel without a lot of the standard tropes.

I've had Full Metal Panic! turn anime haters into anime lovers, but most said that they loved how FMP wraps everything up with an EXCELLENT....feel. Put the plot, characters, scenery in the back of your mind...and focus on the overall feeling of the series. Sure, the other stuff is great, and they're done very well...but a lot of other anime series have that. FMP! has the FEEL of something interesting...something worthwhile...something just plain enjoyable. I could sit down and re-watch it over and over again and pick up something new every time...it's like watching a good actor play his part.

Maybe that's what I'm trying to get at...these characters don't feel like drawings with people reading their lines. They don't do something so predictable that you already know the next scene. This anime feels original because the characters feel original...as if they were real people. They're people that you could imagine meeting on the street, but know that you never will. They all have personalities, consciences, etc...facial features actually show what mood they might be in...it's something that could be easily converted into a real-life acted movie, just because it's so apparent that the storyboard operators went down to every excruciating detail of what everything needed to look like...

I'll stop rambling now. Just go watch it. And make sure to keep, in the back of your mind, a mental note of what Sousuke's eyes look like between each episode...it may come in handy when you watch The Second Raid