Full Metal Panic!

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

First off, I haven't written many reviews on IMDb this way, so if I do, that means the piece I'm writing on is really impactive. Full Metal Panic is to me, more or less, amazing.

The show is a perfect blend of high school romance, slapstick comedy, hard-pressed drama and balls-out action. It follows 17-year-old military sergeant Souske Sagara (pronounced "soh-skey") as he is assigned to protect 17-year-old Japanese high school student/orphan with the body of a goddess, Kaname Chidori (pronounced "kuh-nah-may") from unknown dangers. The dangers become apparent throughout the series as a bad guy with a scar on the side of his face, Guaron (pronounced "Gar-on") hijacks a field trip plane their class is on to kidnap Kaname and use her for mysterious reasons. You soon find out Kaname is part of a secret and extremely rare breed of people known as "The Whispered". Exactly what The Whispered are or who, we find very little out throughout the series. But it leads to some extraordinary events in the show's 24-episode run.

It's almost impossible to compress the series' events in a single review, so I'll just stop right there and let the viewer learn for his or herself. But know that if sounds like a typical weird explosion/sex Anime, you're pretty wrong. Yes, there does seem to be a focus on the guy genre (lots of robot action and hot half-naked babes, etc) but I know plenty of women who enjoy the show as well. And, it's not a "cutesy" Anime that the other half of the population seems to generalize it as. It has plenty of warm-and-fuzzy moments, but it's not what the show is based on.

The show is such a wide mix of emotions, I don't know how it could be done. And all in all, the show hooks any viewer into wanting to know more. The story arcs are excellently put out, the character work, though a little scrappy, is raw and enjoyable, and the dialogue (both original Japanese and the English dub) are very well-written.

I wasn't too big of an Anime person before I started watching this show. Before it I LOVED Miyazaki films (still do) and I thought Ghost in the Shell was a good movie. I caught a few episodes of this show's spin off series, "Full Metal Panic? fumoffu" (which is more romance and comedy, and almost completely different from this series) and thought it was enjoyable. When I bought this series on a whim, I was blown away.

And you will too! Just make sure you watch them from the beginning. You don't want to miss an episode of this legendary Anime series.

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?

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.

one of the funniest shows ever and you have to see it to understand. This is the classic story of boy meets girl, except the boy is a child solider lacking the most basic of social skills, and the girl is for some reason targeted by many government institutions, and said boy is assigned to guard the girl. Oh and the catch is that Souske (the boy) is not allowed to let anyone discover that he is actually a bodyguard not even Chidori (the girl).

Some people complain of how Gonzo changed the storyline (they really didn't), but with the exception of episodes 15-17 all of them are actually part of the original novels, which are also very funny.

I also suggest the side story series, "Full Metal Panic Fumoffu?!" and the main story continuation "Full Metal Panic the second raid". I would also recommend the novels which are still being written and translated. You really have to see them all.