Review of Full Metal Panic!
THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW On my quest to watch every Kyoto Animation work, i stumbled over “Full Metal Panic” a show that has been on my radar for a very long time now. This first season however is animated by Studio Gonzo, a studio that peaked in the early 2000s. Going into this show, i wanted classic military mecha action, and that is exactly what I got. Story – 7/10 The story is a wonderful mix off comedy and action. There are a number of very intense and serious military story arcs which are intermitted by light-hearted comedy episodes. The mix works really well in my opinion.i have seen some criticism online from people who say that the story does not know what it is, but i wholeheartedly disagree. The comedy episodes help to know the characters better over time, so during the serious war arcs, we actually care about them. Comedy is subjective, but I found this show to be extremely funny, just because of the way that the comedy is built around our main character. We get school-fests, beach episodes, onsen episodes, all the fun stuff.
The serious arcs however can get pretty damn intense. The show can get extremely dark at times, characters die left and right. These arcs revolve a lot about death, trauma and loss. The one arc that stands out the most is definitely the Helmajistan arc, which introduces a lot of new characters and abruptly seperates our protagonists from all of his friends.
Art – 7/10
The quality of the art is pretty much up to the standards of anime in the early 2000s. Like other shows in that era, it slowly began to incorporate 3D-CGI into some of the scenes, but everything is still very experimental. 2D-Mechs are always a treat to watch, and I also really like the character-designs. The characters have a huge range of expressions, especially our female lead, Kaname Chidori.
However, I think the animation does not hold up pretty well in the action itself. There are a lot of still shots, and the show lacks that one real wow-moment that other mecha shows of that time (Most notably “Diebuster”) definitely had. All in all, nothing looks horrible, but the show definitely shows it´s age.
Sound – 8/10
The soundtrack also seems a little bit more like a 90s Mecha-show OST, but I always thought that sound is not as prone to ageing as animation is. The early 2000s just had a very distinct style of soundtracks and I can´t really put my finger on it. If you are the type of person that vibes with it, this soundtrack will be a blast to listen to. The OP is fantastic, great j-pop song with a certain nostalgic feel to it. The ending is also solid.
Characters – 9/10
The character pool in this show runs quite deep. Of course, our main character is Sosuke Sagara. In my opinion, one of the most interesting protagonists i have seen in a long time. His military persona is super fun in a comedy setting. But where he shines the most is definitely in the serious story arcs. His backstory is really interesting, and although you get to know him better and better overtime, he still has this air of mystery surrounding him. We also get a love triangle with two female leads. First off, Kaname Chidori. She is everything you want from a classic, 2000s Tsundere: Great looks, fun personality and a soft core. The other girl is my personal favourite, Teresa Testarossa has more of calm and serene energy to her personality. She gets to shine a lot during the final arc of the show, and her relationship with her crew is a blast to watch. I honestly think this love triangle is really fun to watch, although it is pretty obvious from the start that one of the girls is a few steps closer to Sosuke than the other one.
Another thing worth noting is our main antagonist, Gauron. He has an insane amount of screen presence during every serious arc. He is ruthless, smart and extremely hard to kill. A lot of anime, even some of the best, lack a truly frightening antagonist, but Full Metal Panic does a great job with his characterization.
Enjoyment – 8/10
This was a very consistently enjoyable, classic military-mecha show with fun comedy thrown into it. I will definitely watch the whole series. If you like the early 2000s anime vibe and are a fan of Mecha, definitely check this show out.
- Marco_Yooo
FINAL SCORE - 8/10