Review of Full Metal Panic!

Well this anime took LA a frickin' while to finish off eh? Ok history, 5 years ago, LA was just getting into anime and LA tried out Full Metal Panic!, watched about 6 episodes then put it on hold due to LA's growing hatred of mecha animes (not helped by Gunparade March....no seriously LA fucking hates that anime to this day BUT revived LA's mecha interest by Gurren Lagann not too long after), that and LA didn't like really intense animes at that time (ohh boy have times changed) and thus Full Metal Panic! was shelved into LA's "On Hold" until now...yes that's right this animewas probably one of LA's longest unfinished anime at almost FIVE YEARS.

Full Metal Panic! for LA can imagine is something of cult classic mecha anime combining both school life and militaristic missions of our main protagonist with little common sense to the real world Sousuke Sagara voiced by Tomokazu Seki trying to protect the rather tsundere Kaname Chidori voiced by Satsuki Yukino and the hijinks and missions they undertake in the process of it. In a ways Souskue and Chidori's dynamic is that of the reverse manic pixie girl scenario only this time Sousuke has this status while Chidori is the only getting thrown into the mess by Sousuke put her in.

The only obvious thing about Chidori as a character is that she has something up about her which is central to the plot which has the mecha element embedded into it which has to do with the Lambda Driver and the "Whispered" that and the obvious tsundere feelings she has for Sousuke though it isn't really focused on as much in this season, more or less Chidori has these feelings for Sousuke but she doesn't know what to do with it with this season. With that Sousuke being the aforementioned no common sense to the real world is somewhat justified considering his background as a child solider thus having little to no sense to what the real world expects from him and goes by orders and his own instincts as a soldier. His "backstory" as a child soldier is expanded heavily in two arcs as well as the central villain for this season, Gauron voiced by Masahiko Tanaka who pretty much becomes Sousuke's biggest hurdle and main rival throughout this season causing major trouble for Sousuke and the crew of Mithril.

The thing is, Gauron as a nihilistic major villain LA really didn't like him as much as this is considering LA adores such characters similar to Gauron like Nui Harime from Kill la Kill and Junko Enoshima from the Danganronpa series, so what is the difference between them?, well LA found out after much thinking that Nui Harime and Junko Enoshima had the crazy batshit personalities to back up their nihilism, however for Gauron he's stock generic towards his nihilistic nature and no personality to back himself up with all this, sure ALL THREE characters doesn't give a crap besides causing chaos and destruction for the hell of it, but LA much liked these kinds of villains to have their personalities to back it up their nihilism and Gauron just didn't have it, it's like Kefka without his Dancing Mad.

Main character aside, the minor characters were interesting to say the least...well those that moved the plot anyways, from Melissa Mao voiced by Michiko Neya and Kurz Weber voiced by Shinichiro Miki being comrades of Sousuke to the commander of Mithril Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa voiced by Yukana to Shinji Kazama voiced by Mamiko Noto, a school friend Sousuke befriends and having the common interest in military armaments. The minor cast do develop along with Sousuke and Chidori through this anime though considering their minor characters the screentime is justified, BUT with that, LA's favourite character was Tessa if only because of the great contrast to Chidori and that she can be VERY badass when she needed to be.

Plot-wise, the first season goes in arcs besides the early episodes trying to set the anime in place with all the characters and villains in the process. The arcs also have some fillery breakers episodes focusing on some of the minor cast members and this is justified as they do develop the lackluster minor cast members to some interesting additions to the cast as well as develop Sousuke or Chidori in the process of it, that and it's a great breather from all the intense action that took place prior to it all, so the pacing is consistent in this regard. Plot twists arrive and it's easy to connect the dots to all this especially revolves around Chidori and the "Whispered" ordeal, we don't know HOW she has it and it's never explained but all things considered it allows Chidori an ordinary civilian to interact with the more militaristic side of the cast much more. Concerning loose plot points, this season didn't do too bad and considering there are more seasons LA is expecting it answer any small loose plot points later down the line especially the romance between Sousuke and Chidori that is is in it's beleaguered stage from this first season.

Ohh and LA know this was a 2002 anime but the fanservice at times were awkward to say the least, from out of nowhere panty shots to non-nudity moments as well as some of the characters being pervy (cept Sosuke unless he unintentionally does it) but nonetheless as somewhat rampant the fanservice is, this is the least of Full Metal Panic!'s problems and again LA thinks was another way of coping with the rather intense plot arcs Full Metal Panic! gets into.

Animation-wise, brought to us by Gonzo, the character designs are expected from the time it was released in of 2002 along with the mech designs with some few PS1-ish style CGI when used but again it was released around the 2000's thus LA can give some leeway to the somewhat crappy blatant crappy CGI. Besides the crappy CGI, the animation was just decent and yes even with it's CGI, it was expected of the times and the animation in general just reminds LA of the 2000's animation style right down to the backgrounding and character designs aesthetics, another words, the animation was good for it's time thus "decent" to watch through at the very least.

As for voice acting wise, well LA was shocked to say the least that Mamiko Noto was crossdressing voices as Shinji as much of a minor character he is but nonetheless that was interesting. Satsuki Yukino was pretty decent as the violent tsundere Chidori and Tomokazu Seki's dense strait-laced personality bound well to Sousuke. Nonetheless with all the praise, LA's favoruite voice actor easily goes to...and you know it's coming...Yukana as Tessa.

Full Metal Panic! was an anime LA had out on hold and LA really shouldn't of that and LA's younger self was a picky little idiot, but LA picked it again after 5 years and LA enjoyed it for the most part though LA had a few problems such as Gauron as a villain to seeing some plot points coming a mile away to it's awkwardly rare fanservice sprinkled in, but nonetheless Full Metal Panic! was a good experience, from likable characters, some anime cliches twisted on it's head with a military twist and a WHOLE LOT of mecha action, blood and wholesale destruction. LA just hopes it's 2nd Season, "Second Raid" does flesh out the main cast a bit more especially Chidori, here's hoping!