Full Metal Panic: The best anime you have never seen

[dangermousie]

Today's recommendation of the day? One of my favorite animes of all time, Full Metal Panic. FMP consists of three series: the first one, called simply Full Metal Panic, then Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu (which takes place during some of FMP and after) and, my favorite of them all (and probably my favorite piece of TV animation ever), Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid.

Here is a MV:

FMP is the story of Kaname Chidori and Sagara Sousuke, who remind me, a little, of a modern-day, younger versions of Kaoru and Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin. Kaname is your seemingly average Japanese school girl: strong-willed and bossy, but very well-adjusted and living a pretty normal life. However, unknown to her, she also happens to be a 'whispered', a person with the ability to read and understand newly appeared complex technology of unknown origin, an ability which makes her a target to a wide range of organizations.

Sousuke is a mercenary who has known no other life than that of combat. He has no memories of a family and has been recruited by his present organization after being found as a child soldier in a fictional Middle Eastern country. He lives to serve, really, and has no other conscious idenity than that of a soldier, having never really considered any personal wants and needs.

His latest assignment? His organization dispatches him to guard and protect Kaname, assuming he can blend into the environment by pretending to be a fellow student, because not only is he of Japanese ancestry, he also is about 17 (he doesn't know his real age, but he looks about that). Problem: he has never had any normalcy and has no more idea of how to blend in than how to fly.

Of course, Kaname notices the new oddball following her around all the time and is by turns amused and exasperated. But then, a routine school trip turns into a kidnapping mission by a different mercenary outfit, and Sousuke is left all alone (his group thought the danger had passed and withdrew cover) to try to rescue Kaname, a decision that might be more emotionally motivated than it should be, for such a perfect soldier. And it goes on from there...

FMP is a huge favorite for me, behind only Trigun. Why do I love it so? A clever plot. A tough adorable heroine. A conflicted, tough good-guy hero who is also a naif. Plus, it has everything: love, gun battles, school hijinks, emotional break-downs, quests for identity, and uniforms.

Kaname/Sousuke are one of my hugest OTPs in any genre: he might be a tough soldier but he is also a lost little boy who is slowly beginning to learn what it is to want for himself. And Kaname is cheerful, pragmatic, entirely too straightforward and not a pushover in any way. She rescues him as much as
he rescues her.

Here is a TSR mv:

FMP has made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt (Fumoffu), made me bawl (TSR), made me blazingly angry and giddily happy. TSR, especially, is amazing: it really is one unbroken storyline over 13 episodes, with Sousuke having to cope with being ordered away from Kaname and Kaname having to cope with danger in her life without him, and how neither can deal, and it's a character study more than anything, of someone systematically breaking down and falling apart and then, at the last minute, being pulled back together. I just...I have no words for how much I love TSR. But the rest of it is equally good.

So yes, watch. Sousuke and Kaname want you to:



ETA: these are based on a series of graphic novels which are ongoing (though the anime wrapped up their storylines very well and so it's not in flux) and I just read spoilers for some Kaname/Sousuke stuff which made me DIE of glee.



Kaname's bravery and determination came to a head in the climax of the novel Continuing on My Own. Following Sosuke's defeat by the hands of Leonard Testarossa, she gives herself up to Leonard and Amalgam to save his life. As she is picked up by the Belial's giant hand, she whispers something to Sousuke before being whisked off. After being taken by Leonard, she was imprisoned at an island villa by Amalgam. In the novel, Come Make My Day, Sousuke arrives at the island in order to save Chidori, but is unable to do so, because she's taken away in a helicopter. During the flight, Kaname is able to communicate with Sousuke, and that's when they both confess their feelings for each other, and Sousuke promises Kaname he'll find her no matter what the cost is...At the end of the novel Come Make My Day she finally expresses those feelings to Sousuke while in radio contact with him and extracts an absolute promise from Sousuke that they will kiss the moment they are reunited.

In the most recent novel, Semaru Nick of Time...Leonard Testarossa takes Kaname back to the Omni-Sphere after recovering from his wounds in Come Make My Day. There she is forced to resonate with Sophia, a key Whispered, who overtakes Kaname's personality. Under Sophia's control, Kaname is shown the illusion of shooting and killing Tessa Testarossa and Sousuke Sagara. Under Sophia's control, she leaves with Leonard for Merida Island, where Amalgam has built a machine to utilize a final ability of the Whispered; still believing she killed her good friend and the man she loves.

MAD SQUEE OF LOVE.

Comments

[bzoppa.livejournal.com]

The opening theme is one of my favorites ever. My mp3 was messed up when I tried to transfer to my player... will have to remedy that for my tournament this weekend...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hope you get it fixed in time!

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec! :D
I've been looking for an awesome anime to watch (also you like Trigun which I also totally love!) I'm putting this on my to-watch list (damn that list just keeps getting longer and longer).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It is an awesome, awesome anime, so I highly rec.

[sundae-sweet.livejournal.com]

I love this series and I really hope that they would continue the anime since they still have a lot of the source material left.

Its amazing how many left turns this series has taken. I watched it at first thinking it was some bizarre hybrid of mecha drama/ highschool romantic comedy and then it became screwball comedy with Fumoffu and then high angst with TSR.

And the novels are insane! I haven't really read any of it after Continuing on My Own but I pretty much spoiled myself for what's happening. And the angst just keeps hitting the fan for this OTP! Since COMO, the OTP really aren't catching any breaks so they are long overdue for a happy ending.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I want that to be made into more anime so badly!

And I neeeeed those books.

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, I'm reading one of the young adult novels right now (the one with Venom, which comprised the final story arc of the first season of the anime). I can't say they're particularly well-written (or well-translated, for that matter) but they do provide such good source material for the anime, which just rocks (all three seasons, especially TSR). I feel a bit guilty about reading those spoilers (I have no self-control :-), but - hoo boy, do I ever hope they animate them!
Fumoffu!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I just got my hands on the very first novel in the series and I agree, either the writing is clunky or translation is not up to par (I find a lot of novels translated from Japanese clunky, so not sure how much is the writer's fault v. the translator) but I am grinning anyways because I am remembering the anime scenes.

TSR is just one of my favorite things out there. The scene where Gauron lies to Sousuke that he had Kaname killed and Sousuke just shoots this helpless, dying man dead, and keeps shooting is just...one of my favorite moments in anime. A lot of stories don't usually like having a good protagonist break but TSR went there and I love it for that.

hoo boy, do I ever hope they animate them!

I think I would even watch them raw if they did that. I was incredibly amused to note that Kaname tells Sousuke to come after her even if it means tons of people dead. I hate heroines who are weepy about sacrificing themselves for strangers :)

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

salimbol
2008-09-04 07:41 am (local) (link)
Comment Posted Successfully
I love TSR for so many reasons: the character development, the actual acknowledgement of actual feelings, the superb action scenes (talk about nail-biting), creepy antagonists, fine animation. Damn it's good! And what about that hair-cutting scene? Even I, the Great Unromantic, loved it :-). And you're right about the novels; I keep reading them just because they bring the anime to mind and occasionally provide a bit more background and explanation than the anime did. Plus they're very quick reads; I read an entire one while waiting for
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('xiaobellsa') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

I love TSR for so many reasons: the character development, the actual acknowledgement of actual feelings, the superb action scenes (talk about nail-biting), creepy antagonists, fine animation. Damn it's good! And what about that hair-cutting scene? Even I, the Great Unromantic, loved it :-). And you're right about the novels; I keep reading them just because they bring the anime to mind and occasionally provide a bit more background and explanation than the anime did. Plus they're very quick reads; I read an entire one while waiting for xiaobellsa who was having a root canal (needless to say, I enjoyed myself far more than she did that evening!).
(Reposted due to Livejournal misbehaving with the HTML)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

the character development, the actual acknowledgement of actual feelings, the superb action scenes (talk about nail-biting), creepy antagonists, fine animation.

Oh yes, all of those. It's hard to make a compelling character study that is also full of action and giant robots and blond assassins and make it work but it does.

Also, I just find S/K so romantic in TSR even if the most contact they get is an almost hug (I want my smoochies, dammit! :P). It just all works.

And the hair-cutting scene...*sigh* I think what gets me the most is how Sousuke, who is so paranoid he can barely function in the shop, is so relaxed and guard-down with Kaname he falls asleep as she has the scissors around his neck, basically. And how she tells him she trusts him. *puddle of goo*

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

Aw, I so have to rewatch this! I remember my friend emailing me right after we'd both watched TSR (separately) and gushing 'That was the most romantic hair-cutting scene ever!' I totally agree; it's just lovely. He'd never let his guard down like that around anyone else. And the blushing when he accidentally gets glimpses down her cleavage is very cute :-).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The hair-cutting. *swoon*

I loved the bit where he accidentally sees a bit of her cleavage and goes beet-red. SQUEE. Controlled and trained or not, he is a boy :) That was so adorable.

[stardreemer.livejournal.com]

I love FMP! Though I've never watched TSR. I own it...I've just never gotten to it. I think it is because I marathoned the first two seasons and by the time I got to the third I needed a break and never picked it up again. Maybe I should watch it this weekend....

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

TSR is really really awesome...*tempts*

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

I love FMP sooooooo much! Sousuke is just so dorky and awkward and fantastic. I'm hoping that they will produce another anime soon.

Do you happen to know anywhere that is translating the novels online? I really want to read more...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't know where they translate. I would love to find it. OMG, I think I would die.

I so hope they make another series. It would be perfect.

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

More Souske is always good :)