Full Metal Panic!

  As you can see, this time I chose one of my top 5 anime. After that dog turd, s-CRY-ed, I thought that i deserve to review something nice and entertaining. Well this is it. Not only did I watch the full season, but also the second season ,,Second Raid” , the special season called ,,Fumoffu” and the OVA. Actually, I even watched them twice. It’s that entertaining. First of all, it has originality. Not that mecha was something new at the time, or the idea that teenagers pilot giant mecha suits, but the way the anime explains all the technology and robot suits, is really creative and it fits in the plot well and helps the story progress nicely. The idea is that there are certain people, called whisperers, that have valuable information locked up in their mind. One of the two main characters, Kaname, is a 16 year old girl with such information, and there are certain organizations that want it. That info is the source of much of the si-fi technology, including the mecha suits. That also means that the world will be set in some kind of alternate history of the beginning of the 21st century. Countries are divided, wars and revolution are all over the world, and many historical wars ended and are named differently. In short, it`s fucked up. But as you can see, if you watch the anime everything is tied in and there are no loose ends. But the best part is the main male protagonist, Souske. He is one serious military guy that is disciplined, calm, talented, skilled… in short he is an outstanding soldier ( and he is an excellent mecha pilot ). But the problem is that he is 16 year old too, and all he ever had in his life was war and the military. So when he is appointed Kaname’s bodyguard, he has a hard time adjusting. This gives premises for a lot of comedy, but also romance and drama. But most of all, it has ACTION. Not just mecha battles, but also situation that a real life marine or special forces unit have to handle. So as you can see this anime is diverse. Now it’s time to comment on other things. First of, the title. Unlike s-CRY-ed, the title has some sense in it. Think about it ,,Full Metal Panic”. Full Metal talks about the mecha ( which i believe is made of metal ) and Panic can be referenced to… pretty much anything in the series ( either the chaos Souske causes because of his lack of understanding the day to day life , or the destruction caused by the villains, whatever ). The opening theme is really nice. It fits the teenage mood of the main characters, and it goes well with the video. The character cast is good. It has variety, everybody fells like they belong, and everyone has his own, distinct personality, meaning that you will never fell like you’ve seen him before. There isn’t a sequence that you will fell it’s out of place, or dumb. Well sure, usually Love letters don’t become terrorist threats and field trips don’t become commando operations, and in real life you probably wouldn’t see something like that, but nothing is out of place, and you will always laugh at the situation because it really is funny, it fits the mood, and defines the characters of the series. The sound effects are good, they make you perceive what they should be, the voice work is done right and it ads to the characters complexity. The graphics are kick-ass. Sharp, brightly colored and every model is well defined and detailed ( like Souske’s scar, the mecha suits, the battlefields etc. ). Not bad for 2002. Plus ,,The Second Raid” , since it’s from 2005, has even better graphics. So i can say that it is really pleasing to the eye. Overall this anime is great, and i recommend it as a ,,must see”.