Animation Revelation Forum

It's Revelation Time! => Anime => Topic started by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 28, 2010, 07:27:56 PM

Title: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 28, 2010, 07:27:56 PM
Yet another recreated topic.

Anyways, this is a discussion thread for the various FMP anime series/seasons, all of which were based off of the light novel series.

I myself finished reading the final 2 volumes earlier this year, and was generally satisfied with the ending. It made up for the convoluted plot twist of the 10th book.

Overall this is one of the very few mecha anime series that I ever enjoyed, and that's primarily because it would be just as a good of a series without the mecha. That's primarily because it has such great characters. The characters are absolutely hilarious when the show is focused on comedy, and get some great depth and character development during the more serious and dramatic parts of the series. The 3rd season (known as The Second Raid), also has stellar action sequences with actual good animation, in contrast to all of the boring fights that plague a lot of mecha anime that are pulled down by tight budgets. I really love how they incorporate martial arts style combat into the melee-based mecha battles that take place in the series. By contrast, the shooting portions are usually standard-fare, and can be rather boring to watch, but the series once again makes up for it with its great characters.

Overall its one of my favorite series from Japan, period.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on December 28, 2010, 07:39:07 PM
I still need to finish the last batch of novels. Don't know why I haven't yet, I absolutely love this series!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 28, 2010, 07:50:03 PM
So far I haven't met a single person who didn't like the ending. There was a certain aspect of the general end of the series that me and a bunch of other people were ticked off at, but on the whole it was great.

It just really pisses me off that the chances of the rest of the series getting picked up for animation are really low.

BTW, Foggle, weren't we going to do some joint-review of FMP at one point, or some sort of double-feature (like we both give our individual opinions on the series)? We should definitely consider that in the future, seeing as how we're both fans of the series. I'm not sure if Avaitor wanted any involvement in the FMP feature, but it'd be cool to have him on-board for that too. At any rate I have a couple of other projects to get finished, first, so perhaps we can consider that later on.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on December 28, 2010, 07:57:21 PM
Once I finish it, sure. That sounds swell. :thumbup:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Angus on December 29, 2010, 10:17:23 PM
If you get a chance, maybe publish a review of the light novels and a recommended sequence for watching the anime series? I've seen just a volume or two of the graphic novels.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on May 07, 2011, 10:04:33 PM
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=295590 Sounds cool to me.
Still haven't read the last novels, and I'm not sure why. :whuh:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on May 07, 2011, 10:56:50 PM
Every time I see this thread bumped I keep thinking they're going to make a new anime of it. But then I remember that no one makes anime like this anymore and I sigh.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on May 07, 2011, 11:02:38 PM
ESPECIALLY not KyoAni.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Insomniac on May 07, 2011, 11:06:14 PM
Quote from: Avaitor on May 07, 2011, 11:02:38 PM
ESPECIALLY not KyoAni.
Yeah, hopefully somebody like Bones or Production I.G. can do the job.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 07, 2011, 11:18:28 PM
You know, for as much as I can't stand most things done by KyoAni, especially since they are largely responsible for popularizing the whole moe trend, FMP: The Second Raid is a sharp contrast to anything that they have ever done before or after it, and surprisingly when they actually have good material to work with they actually proved to churn out something....well, quite freaking good. Its one of my personal favorite anime and it says a lot for me to say that despite my hate for KyoAni on the whole. Still, I wouldn't mind if a fourth season went to Mad House or something like that.

As for the announcement, I always did want to see a proper epilogue to the series, but a whole novel for it? I'm not sure what they would do for it unless it were a bunch of short-stories or something. I don't want to spoil anything, but the way that the final novel ended (and, I must say, I don't know why Foggle hasn't read it yet, either :oo: ) there isn't much that you could do in the way of plot unless this was....oh wait, they said it was a "spin-off" novel. Alright, I guess that makes some sense, but I'm still curious to see how they can do a spin-off story that's big enough to take up an entire novel, even if its just a light novel.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on June 13, 2011, 01:11:14 PM
I'm gonna' start a full run-through of FMP soon. I'll watch all three anime series, then read all the post-anime books, finally finishing up with the last three, which I have not read yet. I'll post my thoughts on each at their respective conclusions. :)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on June 13, 2011, 05:24:47 PM
I may give my own reviews of the post-anime novels sometime, myself. I think my least favorite one is "Nick of Time" (the 10th main story volume), because of that convoluted Evangelion-esque plot-twist (I have no problems with NGE, but for FMP it feels really out of place), but it only makes the final 2 volumes feel all the better since they manage to work over that fault and still bring the story to a successful and (IMO) very satisfying and climactic conclusion. Now if only the rest o the story would get animated (granted that, I wouldn't mind if the anime took a few liberties to change some of the weaker parts of the story for the better), I'd be fully content with all of the FMP material out there.

There is that spin-off novel that takes place 10 years after the end of the main story, but being that its written by a different author and will only be a spin-off, I can't say I'm really all that excited about it or even looking forward to it. I don't want to spoil anything, but I don't see how there could be a continuation of the main story in any regard after how tightly wrapped up all of the plot points were by the end of the 12th book, but I suppose I'll have to wait until its translated to see for myself and find out.

Also, Foggle, as far as the anime goes, I'll be curious to hear your true opinions on the first season after watching it again. I can admit it has faults and is not as good as TSR (though IMO its about as entertaining as Fumoffu on the whole, though for different reasons), but really I never got why it gets so much negative opinions either. On the whole, its certainly not bad, especially with a memorable villain like Gauron, and I really feel that aside from some pointless filler episodes (which even then I don't find to be that bad like most people do) and some weaker episodes, it has some pretty good stand-out moments and I still love the characters in it quite a bit. Did I also mention that it has Gauron....I mean, if that doesn't automatically forgive it for 90% of its faults, then I don't know what constitutes as awesome anymore, but Gauron to me is the definition of an awesome villain (or an awesome character in general).
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on June 28, 2011, 07:10:24 PM
I think after I finish my rewatch of Higurashi, I'll get around to rewatching all of FMP, and will aim to read the novels as well. It's a shame that the last few novels may not be adapted, but considering the state of KyoAni, it's probably for the best.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on June 28, 2011, 07:43:33 PM
Sounds like a great plan! :thumbup:

I need to get around to re-reading the novels, myself. Its such a shame that the 2nd half of the story was never adapted as, with the exception of ANOT which I don't quite like too much, its the highest quality of story-telling and characterization that the story has ever really achieved. Granted that, a certain character has to take a major back-seat in all of the action and only gets to be seen much later on, but considering how annoying that character could be in the beginning of the series (and season 1 of the anime) it may not be such a bad thing, but then again TSR actually made that very same character into quite a likeable character that you wanted to follow against all odds, so in that regard it kills their chance for further great character development.

BTW, I typed that paragraph up in such a way that it would technically be spoiler-free, but if you know anything about FMP you'll already know exactly who I'm talking about, anyways. ;)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on June 28, 2011, 07:52:09 PM
It's Mardukas, isn't it? Damn it, man, don't spoil things for him!




:happytime:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 11, 2011, 12:45:14 PM
COOL! I just found out that my Library which I haven't visited in over a year now carry's anime DVDs in their DVD library collection, and among them I found the FUNimation DVD set for FMP: TSR. I'm totally going to take advantage of this opportunity to re-watch the whole series and then review the shit out of this series. I've been wanting to review this one for a while, and seeing as how its been a long-ass time since I've done a review for this site, I figured that now would be as good a time as any.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Angus on July 11, 2011, 12:56:23 PM
Nice find! The FMP:TSR DVDs also have subtitled actor commentaries from the Japanese VAs for a bunch of the episodes.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on July 11, 2011, 12:57:26 PM
Noice! Good luck with it.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on July 16, 2011, 03:44:34 PM
The first season is on youtube courtesy of Funimation.

I'll give this a go.  :)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on July 16, 2011, 03:55:11 PM
All three series are. Hope you enjoy it. ;)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 16, 2011, 06:49:41 PM
Its probably all subbed, which is fine but I prefer the dub, personally, if only for Chris Patton and Mike McRae.

Anyways, keep in mind that the first season may not be your cup of tea. I'm not sure, but most people find it to be mediocre or just plain don't like it. Personally I find that it has a good number of high points, and Gauron is an awesome villain, but its nothing outstanding on its own. That said I think it keeps things fairly interesting most of the time. The 2nd season, Fumoffu, is straight up comedy and most people like it for what it is. The 3rd season is straight up action and drama and is A LOT darker than the previous seasons, and its widely regarded by fans to be the best anime adaptation of FMP so far. Its really worth getting into even if you aren't too hot on season 1. Keep in mind that even people who disliked season 1 of FMP still end up loving TSR. Its also probably the only thing that KyoAni has ever done that I honestly feel that they actually deserve praise for.

Overall, though, I like each season of the anime for very different reasons. The first season is a little bit lop-sided in retrospective but it has a good blend of action, drama, and the right touch of comedy in between. Season 2 is a fun but shallow comedy, and season 3 takes a lot more risks but pays off by pushing the series much higher in quality than it ever was before. The later novels are great too.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on July 16, 2011, 07:02:03 PM
Actually, they have both the sub and the dub up right now. I watched the first episode in sub and the next two in dub.

I'm on episode 3, and I like it. It's pretty funny, and I'm sure when the action kicks in, it will get better. The characters all seem pretty interesting at this point, and it will be interesting to see where it all goes later on. I think we just met Gauron in an earlier scene, so that should be fun.  :P

No complaints so far, since this is way less frustrating than reading the manga was.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 17, 2011, 12:49:15 AM
I'm not sure which manga you read, but the manga that covers the first 3 novels (which is also what this anime covers), is pretty shitty, IMO. The manga that covers everything after that (including the 2 novels covered in TSR), is MUCH better, as it is handled by a better artist and writer (the story is still by Gatoh, or based off of his novels with slight changes that are actually approved by him, but the story itself is adapted by a different writer). The thing is FMP has a bunch of manga adaptations, including various spin-offs, and each series is handled by a different writer and/or artist. So the one who did the first manga was pretty sub-standard at best.

The anime is a much better adaptation of the first 3 novels. It still has some hiccups, but its still a pretty fun anime. Its main strength is combining both sci-fi action, a bit of drama, and humor. The characters are mostly likable but none of them get too much depth or development in this season. In TSR you'll see 2 or 3 particular characters go through A LOT of change in a very good way.

Anyways, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the anime so far. It gets better up to episode 7, then kind of slows down with a relatively weaker arc (but certainly not bad). The 2 arcs after that are much better and overall I find it to be a good and enjoyable anime. Nothing standout, but a very fun watch that kept me entertained most of the way through.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on July 18, 2011, 12:05:07 AM
As far as I recall, the manga I read was mostly focused on Kaname (as opposed to the anime that seems focused more on Sousuke) and was pretty damn boring most of the time.

The anime is marked improvement for being focused on the better characters.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 18, 2011, 12:15:29 AM
Kaname is kind of annoying in the beginning of the series. That's kind of intentional since she's supposed to be a regular high school girl, and while its kind of understandable she's not all that interesting as she constantly only serves the bratty damsel in distress character who constantly needs to rely on Sousuke to be rescued. One of the things you'll see in TSR is that she is forced into a situation in which she has to develop as a character to survive. You'll see what I mean when you get to that series. She definitely becomes A LOT more likable by the end of it.

Sousuke gets REALLY interesting after TSR. I mean, he had interesting character development both before and during it, but in the later novels....damn....Not only does he become a certified bad-ass, but he probably has the most interesting back-story and overall has the most interesting parts of the story by the time it all starts reaching its climax. Shouji Gatoh clearly put a lot of effort into writing his character later on. It actually gets quite touching and emotional.

BTW, I would recommend reading Voice from the North, either the actual translated part of the short story or the manga chapter that adapts that story. Its short but very insightful into Sousuke's character, and there are no spoilers in it since its not part of the main story-line (it just shows his and Kalinin's pasts). Kalinin is another important character who has a significant relationship with Sousuke, but that aspect won't get touched upon until much later on in the story. The anime only skims over that aspect of the series which is kind of disappointing (in the anime, you never really get the feeling that Sousuke looks up to Kalinin like a father-figure), but the books go into much more depth and detail about that.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on July 18, 2011, 10:06:55 PM
The first arc was pretty damn good. I think I read it in the manga, but it was a hell of a lot better here.

I can't wait to see where this goes next; Gauron is one scary motherfucker.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 18, 2011, 10:58:37 PM
I'm glad that you liked it. pay close attention to Al, BTW. He was introduced in this arc (its the AI that's part of the ARX-7 that Sousuke got to pilot at the end of the arc). Later on he becomes another really important character (yes, the AI is actually a character). Its one of my favorite aspects of the series though the anime only really touches on it in TSR. Its still interesting to take notes on how Al develops his thought process and understanding of humans over time, though.

Also, so as to not totally disappoint you, expect a general down-turn in quality for the 2nd arc. Its not bad or anything, but it tends to feel kind of slow-paced. Its really short, though, so its not much of a problem. The 3rd and 4th arcs are really good, though, and Gauron is fucking AWESOME in the 4th arc. A true psycho villain to the core (and I don't consider it a spoiler to say that he's still alive after the first arc, because I think its made very obvious from the fact that you never actually see him die).
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 01, 2011, 06:39:34 PM
So, hey. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-08-01/full-metal-panic-another-spinoff-novel-ad-streamed)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 01, 2011, 07:02:47 PM
Full Metal Panic! Another? Really? They couldn't call it Another Full Metal Panic!? Damn it, Japan! :unimpressed:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 02, 2011, 07:18:39 PM
That title has been out or months. Its hardly a surprise by this point. Keep in mind that its being handled by a different author than Shouji Gatoh (though he gets to supervise and approve of the final version of the story), so if the retarded title is any indication and this novel turns out to be a really lame waste of a spin-off, then you can just blame it on the "new guy," instead of Gatoh. :sly:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 02, 2011, 11:49:12 PM
Question: Are the visual novels translated/being translated by anyone?

I'm thinking I would be interested in reading them when I'm done with the series.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 03, 2011, 12:02:54 AM
VISUAL NOVELS :whuh: :srs:

The FMP books are light novels (as in, actual books). ;) All the story-based ones have been translated, and they're all awesome. I can upload them somewhere for you, if you want. :)

I shall refrain from writing a rant-essay explaining my distaste for visual novels... for now.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 03, 2011, 12:08:00 AM
Oh, sorry. I heard someone describing them as such. Either way, I would probably like to read more of them.

When I'm done.  ;)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 03, 2011, 12:11:09 AM
Heh, not really a big deal. ;D I've got Volumes 6-12 saved on here, along with Side Arms 2; these books pick up directly where TSR leaves off. I will warn you, though... the translations for the latter half of Burning One Man Force all the way through the end of Approaching Nick Of Time are pretty damn rough.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 03, 2011, 12:37:34 AM
And for anyone who wants them, heeeeere they are!

http://www.mediafire.com/?83pyqa4qraxd3w8
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 03, 2011, 12:42:21 PM
Status of fourth season according to Gatoh. (http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=312443)

...Not looking good.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on August 03, 2011, 02:03:58 PM
Don't have high hopes? Can do!

A shame, since I was really hoping for the best out of this series. I'm still wishing for them to pull through, but it sounds doubtful now.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 03, 2011, 08:49:15 PM
Its a real shame. Animating the material from the later half of the novels would make for some truly captivating anime material, even far surpassing what the currently existing seasons of FMP have to offer. However, apparently the fact that it goes into darker and more serious story-based material is a big "no-no" for almost anyone in the anime industry today since it doesn't have any material that they can play it safe with and it actually requires talented writers and animators to properly adapt (as in, its not a MOE, which is why its in development hell right now). Figures....
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 03, 2011, 08:50:01 PM
It looks like moe killed the anime.

Thanks a lot, moe fans.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 04, 2011, 02:29:22 PM
Gotta love when cocky soldiers pull a Private Hudson and get themselves killed in the process. They could have listened to the guy who actually fought the psycho in the super powered mech before, but no, they charged ahead like idiots.

So yeah, I'm still digging this.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 04, 2011, 05:16:48 PM
By the sound of it your on the episodes where Sousuke visits Helmajistan with another team of mercenaries. Yeah....maybe if they actually listened to Sousuke they might have been alive by the end of the arc.

BTW, After finishing season 1, I recommend watching Fumoffu (which is the 2nd season anyways) before going onto TSR. I say this because even though its purely a comedy series it really makes the darker and more serious events of the 3rd season feel more impactful. Story-wise nothing from Fumoffu is relevant as it only adapts the comedic in-between short stories from the light novels, but it really is part of the bread and butter of what makes Full Metal Panic what it is (a combination of both comedy and intense action and drama).
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 04, 2011, 05:20:48 PM
Yeah, I'm nearing the end of the first season. I'm in the last arc now. Jesus, Gauron is one brutal MF.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 04, 2011, 05:25:07 PM
Gauron is so bat-shit crazy that he strangely comes off as likeable in a very sadistic way, compared to other FMP villains. I think one problem I've had with this series is that they've never had a villain that could top Gauron, or even be that interesting. The real point of interest is how Sousuke develops his character in later parts of the story. The villains themselves are kind of boring after Gauron.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 22, 2011, 11:22:43 PM
So, the new book is out in Japan and general opinion from fans who can read Japanese is that this story seems way too shonen-ized for FMP (not in that its light-hearted, although it is, but in that the main character feels like he belongs in a shonen series). due to this many fans are split on the new main character, Tatsuya Ichinose, in that they either love or hate him (I guess it depends on whether they like or dislike shonen series in general). As for me, as much as I love a good shonen....NO! Just....no! It does not belong in FMP.

You do get to see Tessa and Mao from the original series make a return (and Mao actually has a pretty prominent role in the story), but other characters like Kurz, Sousuke, Kaname, and others are only referenced. Also, its worth mentioning that Ono-D (a minor student character who was one of Sousuke's best friends in the original series) makes a cameo appearance in this novel as a teacher at Jindai High School.

There are also 2 borderline loli character in this story, which is a major turn-off for just about every fan of the original series (from what I can tell they are both very minor characters, though, even though one of them is the main character's younger sister).

Keep in mind that this new novel is written by a completely different author. Gatoh did approve of him to write the new novel so you can't directly blame him for any of its stupidities but you can still blame him for letting someone so inexperienced do a spin-off of his series in the first place.

To be fair, I haven't read this novel myself so I can't say whether its good or bad, and none of the fans who have read it in Japanese downright hate it, but nobody really finds it to be something great or even comparable to the original series, either.

Also worth mentioning is that this new project is officially a series. Its not just a stand-alone novel, as this novel ended with a clear "to be continued" initiative, so there will be more of this, and depending on whether the new author listens carefully and responds adequately to fan feedback (from what I can tell the Japanese fans also don't like the addition of the pointless loli stuff and the humor being more perverted than it needs to be at times), this could either potentially be a good thing (in that the story improves for the better, much like how the original series did after a somewhat slow start), or it could lead to a horrible train-wreck of a spin-off series. Going by the fact that nothing serious happened in this novel in terms of something involving dark terrorist organizations or a new big main problem to solve as a central plot point, I sort of have to question why this novel was even written in the first-pace, let alone why its being made into a full-blown series. I mean, maybe central plot issue can come about later on, but what's the point of this first novel if it does nothing more than just establish the characters?

Overall, though, I was never keen on the idea of a spin-off, and so far it sounds kind of stupid to me, but it seems harmless enough to the FMP canon and it also still seems far from terrible, so I suppose I'll excuse it for now until I get a chance to read an English translation of it for myself.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 22, 2011, 11:27:49 PM
Official fanfiction, eh? Nothing wrong with that, though it rarely ends up well.

Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on August 22, 2011, 11:22:43 PM
There are also 2 borderline loli character in this story
KyoAni will animate this before they even think about touching DVMC or COMO. :immad:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 22, 2011, 11:57:06 PM
Well, if this turns out to be one big crappy fanfiction, then I should probably be glad that no main characters seem to appear in it, since I'd hardly want a crappy spin-off story to mess around with and potentially fuck up anything that the main story-line did right with the main characters, though general fan speculation is that you'll learn more information about the status of other main characters (assuming they are still alive, which I won't confirm only because I don't want to spoil it for anyone here since none of you have read the ending to the main story) in later entries in the series. Personally I'm fine with the main story the way it ended, so if this new spin-off turns out to be crap I can just ignore it, and if it does anything that fucks around with the FMP mythos too much I can always just consider it non-canon.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 27, 2011, 12:27:38 PM
There is actual some potential good news that has come about thanks to the release of FMPA. Gatoh was on some live TV panel of some sort answering questions from fans, and one thing that came up was that FMPA totally sold out on its first print (breaking any records from the previous light novels) and is already scheduled for a reprint. The 2nd novel in the series is supposed to release later this Winter, so if the sales go good for that one as well then it may solidify the chances of a 4th season of the anime happening, being that it would show that there is enough popularity for FMP in the market for an anime to be profitable.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on August 27, 2011, 12:31:16 PM
Oh, nice. That sounds pretty good then.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on December 04, 2011, 11:56:48 PM
I'm finally going to finish reading the books over winter break. It's happening!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on December 05, 2011, 12:57:59 AM
Speaking of FMP, the 2nd volume of the spin-off novel series is being released this month in Japan. I haven't even read the first volume, but seeing as how it only involved side-characters from the original series, I'm not sure I'd be that interested (also, its by a different author, as you may know). I just thought it was worth mentioning, though.

As for the final novel (its really 2 volumes but they were released within the same month and comprise one bigger volume, anyways), I still feel that it was a satisfactory ending to the series. My only real problem with it is really more of a problem that I had with that convoluted sci-fi plot twist in volume 10, which I'm still not to keen on, but for what its worth I think that the story managed to wrap up that bit in a nice way without having the rest of the story fall to crap for it. And of course everything else going on in the final battle is just plain epic. Its a great climax. I'd be great if it were animated, but one can only dream about such things.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 09, 2012, 06:22:14 PM
So, the 3rd volume of that spin-off series is supposed to be releasing this month. I have no idea of the series itself is any good or not since it has yet to receive an English translation of any kind (at least not that I'm aware of), but what I have heard is that the spin-off novels have been selling surprisingly well (somewhere in the millions according to most sources), and so have the last 2 volumes of the main series. Shouji Gatoh is also supposed to be making an "announcement" of some kind at some upcoming event (I'm not sure what or when it is, to be honest), and due to the success of the novels people are speculating a 4th season for the FMP anime will be announced. I myself believe that since it hasn't already happened people are being a bit too hopeful, but I myself an really hopeful for a new anime announcement. It'd be really great to see the 2nd half of the story adapted into animated form, especially since the manga is almost done adapting the story-line, itself (and to be honest its been done pretty well from what I've read of it; I kind of hope that if there is a future anime, it bases itself off of the Sigma manga).
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 10, 2012, 11:01:30 PM
So, since Foggle brought up the idea of doing that FMP retrospective, I thought that'd make a good enough excuse for me to start re-watching the series from scratch. I'm going to be starting with season 1 of the anime and posting my thoughts on each arc as I re-watch it, including what I like about it as well as my critiques about it, and maybe I'll relate it to future events in the series but then again I may want to avoid spoilers for now.

I'll probably start by re-watching the first episode tonight.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 14, 2012, 06:51:03 PM
I've re-watched the first few episodes. I notice that the animation is kind of choppy and the OST for this series is pretty weak, but the English voice acting holds up as well as ever, and I still like the general look of this anime, as generic as it may be.

Gauron is also still as bad-ass as I remember, so there is that. ;)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 28, 2012, 11:15:58 PM
I'm about half-way through re-watching season 1 of the anime. Admittedly Gonzo's adaptation has more problems than I initially realized, and its definitely the weakest season of any of the anime seasons, but I do still like it since I just like FMP in general, and there is a quality to the balance between drama and humor in the first season that no other part of the series has, since Fumoffu is purely focused on comedy whereas TSR is purely focused on drama and action, and the later novels are equally dark, so I still find the first season to have its value beyond its numerous flaws.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on May 28, 2012, 11:32:05 PM
As you know, I hate the story arc with that huge AS (its name escapes me at the moment) and some of the filler episodes, but I still love season 1 for the most part. If only for Gauron.

TSR does have some school comedy near the beginning and Mr. Gates' antics are often darkly humorous, but yeah, it's a lot more dramatic than Gonzo's series.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on May 28, 2012, 11:36:07 PM
Quote from: Foggle on May 28, 2012, 11:32:05 PM
TSR does have some school comedy near the beginning and Mr. Gates' antics are often darkly humorous
And don't forget the bonus episode.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on May 28, 2012, 11:37:15 PM
Quote from: Brak's Dad on May 28, 2012, 11:36:07 PM
And don't forget the bonus episode.
Of course! I love that one, especially the pig kiss scene.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on May 29, 2012, 12:05:44 AM
Man, I gotta rewatch the show myself. I'll have to do that after I start up Mad Men on Netflix.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 29, 2012, 12:09:10 AM
Also, if you ever feel interested enough to see how the story carries out after what the anime covers and don't feel like having to read through all of the novels, the Sigma manga is a pretty damn good adaptation that's worth checking out. Its still a lot of reading, but it moves faster since its in comic form rather than having full text to have to describe everything.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on May 29, 2012, 12:11:04 AM
You should read the Continuing On My Own novel, though. It's amazing.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 29, 2012, 12:15:57 AM
Well, I'd recommend all of the novels over the manga since that's the best way to experience the rest of the story, to me, but even so, the manga is honestly a viable alternative. That said, I agree that Continuing On My Own, as well as Burning One Man Force for that matter, are particularly best read in novel form.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on July 01, 2013, 06:13:56 PM
So, uh, found this image in a recent post on MAL.

(http://i42.tinypic.com/a1pv69.jpg)

I have no idea what it says, but it's definitely related to FMP... something about its 15 year anniversary I think, which would be two months from now. I will not physically allow myself to believe it could be a new anime season, but if it was, that would honestly make my year.

Speaking of which, I still need to finish reading the novels, which I think I'll start on later this week if possible. And by that, I mean that I'll be re-watching the anime and re-reading the other books first. It's been too fuckin' long.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2013, 06:23:04 PM
People have been speculating that it'll be a new anime announcement, but I'm not holding my breath. If that does happen, though, then yeah....it'll pretty much be the best announcement that I've ever heard related to an anime series.

As for the novels, considering how much I didn't really like the plot twist in Nick of Time (too convoluted for a series that never really excelled at its sci-fi elements in the first place), I feel that the last 2 novels really did a great job of wrapping everything up and giving the series the epic sort of conclusion that it deserved. There is one major cop-out that I'm not a fan of, though, but I'm also easy to please so for me I could look past it given how the story did everything else right (IMO).

As for re-watching the series, I think I'll get around to that as well, and I also want to re-read all of the main novels. Continuing on my Own, Burning One Man Force, and Come Make My Day are arguably the best parts of the entire series (even better than TSR), so I'd pretty much die of happiness if those novels got properly adapted into the anime format.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on July 01, 2013, 06:24:39 PM
Okay, I did some digging, and apparently the 15th anniversary referred to in the picture is actually about the magazine this image came from rather than FMP itself. Said anniversary issue is coming out this month, so...

Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2013, 06:23:04 PM
People have been speculating that it'll be a new anime announcement, but I'm not holding my breath. If that does happen, though, then yeah....it'll pretty much be the best announcement that I've ever heard related to an anime series.
Same here!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2013, 06:32:01 PM
Out of all of the light novels that get adapted every anime season, I really have to question why FMP just got entirely forgotten about. As far as I've heard, the FMP serialization was VERY popular in the Monthly Dragon Magazine, and all 2 iterations of the anime series were considered to be generally successful and quite popular for their time. I suppose Kyoto Animation just decided at some point that they didn't want to do anything with the FMP property despite it being a money-maker for them if only because they had some strange obsession with moe and just wanted to ignore a mecha action series or anything that didn't have to do with "cute girls doing cute things." Its annoying, because surprisingly enough, KyoAni did do a really damn good job of adapting part of FMP with TSR, but after that they did nothing with the property, and its not like they tried to shop it out to any other studios that'd be interested in adapting it.

That's really it more than anything else. My skepticism of a new FMP anime has to do entirely with KyoAni. They just simply don't have the interest in pursuing this genre, anymore. I don't see why they'd change their mind now.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on July 01, 2013, 07:15:13 PM
KyoAni found a goldmine in another genre. That's probably why.

Anyway, it'll be an OVA summing up the first season only it'll be worse. It's best to keep RK expectations on things like this.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2013, 07:27:30 PM
Oh yeah, those RK OVAs were godawful. Just as bad as the Reflection OVA, or possibly even worse, because in this case not only do the writers not understand any of the characters, but they end up fucking up a perfectly great arc rather than just writing really terrible original material of their own while just skimming past the good (canon) stuff.

As for FMP, I've just kind of learned to give up hope on the rest of the series getting a proper anime adaptation. That said, I am at least glad that the manga adaptation turned out fairly well, and I still think that the novels are great, but I really do wish that Tokyo Pop could have finished releasing the entire series here, rather than forcing me to rely on fan translations. To be fair, all of the novels have been translated pretty well, by now, but I used to have to rely on REALLY terrible grammar with rough translations as they were just coming out. At any rate, I'm just glad that the translations exist. I don't know how accurate they are, but they were well-written enough to convince me that they were pretty much legit (the manga also confirmed this for me), and it gave the series a satisfying conclusion.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on July 01, 2013, 07:42:09 PM
Wait, are there new translations of BOMF, CMMD, and ANOT? Link please!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2013, 08:03:11 PM
Quote from: Foggle on July 01, 2013, 07:42:09 PM
Wait, are there new translations of BOMF, CMMD, and ANOT? Link please!

Well, they aren't exactly new anymore, but they DID get re-translated, IIRC. That said, I'll need to look up the link to them myself. I do remember having a PDF file of all of those novels with much better translations, but that was way before my computer crashed and I lost most of my files. I'm going to have to look up where to find the .zip file for all of the novels again.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on July 23, 2013, 01:12:36 PM
So the supposed BIG NEWS came out a few days ago... there are going to be a few fan expos about FMP in Japan later this year. That's it. Really.

I swear, KyoAni is sitting on a goldmine, and has been since 2006. If they actually finished the story by animating the rest of the novels, this would probably be my favorite anime of all time, no question about it. :shit:

Anyway, I've started re-watching the first season now, and it's still as fun as ever. E-K, are you still down to write some articles about this series with me?
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 23, 2013, 04:55:00 PM
Quote from: Foggle on July 23, 2013, 01:12:36 PM
So the supposed BIG NEWS came out a few days ago... there are going to be a few fan expos about FMP in Japan later this year. That's it. Really.

I swear, KyoAni is sitting on a goldmine, and has been since 2006. If they actually finished the story by animating the rest of the novels, this would probably be my favorite anime of all time, no question about it. :shit:

Seriously, KyoAni should just relinquish the rights to this series already. They clearly have NO intention of doing ANYTHING with it, so the least they could do is let some other studio that actually gives a shit a chance to animate the rest of the novels. I'm so tired of waiting for such an obvious adaptation to occur, already.

QuoteAnyway, I've started re-watching the first season now, and it's still as fun as ever. E-K, are you still down to write some articles about this series with me?

Yes! Oh, god, yes! :thumbup:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 21, 2013, 10:36:08 PM
I know I did something like this before in this thread, but I want to rate FMP based on each individual story arc. For the first few story arcs, I am basically going by the anime adaptations rather than the novels to form my opinion, and after that I am referring to each individual novel as it's own story arc, except for the last 2 volumes which form a single story-arc together.

Full Metal Panic Season 1: Overall - 7/10

Part I: Fighting Boy Meets Girl - 7/10

It was a decent introduction to the series. It was really predictable and nothing too exciting, but it did it's job in setting up the odd status of this show as a really good combination of action, drama, and humor. It did it's job fine on that end.

Part II: One Night Stand - 7/10

I know that Foggle doesn't like this arc, but it has it's merits, to me. Most notably, this is the arc where we get a lot of good insight into Kalinin's character (and he's my favorite FMP character of all). We also get to see how much of a bad-ass Kurz can be when he's in his element, for the first time in the series. For what it is, I thought it was a pretty entertaining arc, if a bit unremarkable, just like the first arc.

Part III: Helmajistan - 8/10

This was an anime-only story-line, but I believe Shoji Gatoh himself was involved with writing up the story for this one, so it's still part of his canon, if I'm not mistaken. At any rate, the two things that really make this arc are Gauron and Sousuke. With Gauron, he's just being his usual bat-shit crazy self, which is always a delight. With Sousuke, we get a good deal of insight into his past, here, and this is the first time in the anime where we get to see Sousuke being truly in his element, and fighting on his home turf. On the whole, I really enjoyed this portion of the first season.

Part IV: Into the Blue - 8/10

Things really pick up, here, in the final arc of the season. I think it's great to have Kaname stuck in the submarine, and finally get a direct taste of how dangerous stuff can get in Sousuke's line of work. While she did get dragged into the previous two conflicts, this is the first time that she really got to gain an understanding and appreciation for Sousuke's background, and it's where she became a bit less of a hot-head around him (only a bit, though). For what it was, the arc was well executed, and left season 1 off on a relatively strong note.

Fumoffu - 7/10

I found it to be amusing and occasionally funny enough to make me chuckle a few times. There's not much else to say about this show besides that. I will say that my personal favorite episodes are the Hot Springs and Rugby ones.

Ending Day by Day/The Second Raid - 10/10

This is easily the best of the anime-adapted story-arcs by far. Everything went from being decent and just OK to being fucking brilliant. The execution was spot-on, and the stakes in this season were through the roof. This is the first time that Gatoh showed us that he could be legitimately excellent at writing serious drama, and both Sousuke and Kaname got a ton of excellent characterization, here. There is that scene with the hooker which I still downright hate to this day, but that's really the only thing that I can complain about in this arc, and it's not nearly enough to stop me from rating it as a full 10, anyways. While I enjoyed the 1st season, this one just blows anything that one did straight out of the water.

Dancing Very Merry Christmas - 8/10

I promise that it's a lot better than the title makes it sound. This was the last "fun" part of the main story-line. The serious stuff that happened here was mostly just foreshadowing to later events that would unfold in future stories, but on the whole this one was just really entertaining. That said, it'd only get darker from after this point in the series.

Continuing On My Own - 10/10

This is the arc downright surpasses TSR, IMO, which is no easy feat. I love how the first part of this story deals with Sousuke really pondering his feelings about Kaname, and this is where he starts thinking about quitting his life as a mercenary entirely in order to live out a normal life, which he realizes that he has strongly come to desire after the months that he has spent at high school, and after all of the friends he has made. Unfortunately a happy story would be boring as fuck, so of course it just so happens that THIS is the point when Amalgam wants to execute their plan, and shit ends up going down in a way that smacks Sousuke right in the balls, downright destroying any chance that he could continue having any sort of semblance of a normal life. A massive attack is carried out on Tokyo, and Sousuke's entire school is held hostage. Of course, by this point Amalgam had already carried out their full-scale attack on MITHRIL, and with the help of certain "traitor," they had already completely wiped them out, with only a few core members surviving and escaping the island. So, yeah, Sousuke was SOL since he had no back-up whatsoever that he could contact, leaving him on his own to deal with the situation at hand. When he downright fails to stop Leonard and gets his ass seriously kicked in the process of trying, Kaname finally gives in and let's Amalgam take her in exchange for the safety of Sousuke and her classmates. That scene at the end where Sousuke reveals his true identity and background to his friends and they resent him for it, only for him to walk away from the school in pursuit of Kaname, without looking back, is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire series.

Burning One Man Force - 10/10

Hands down my favorite story arc in the entire series. This one is ALL about Sousuke, and he get's his flat-out best characterization and development, here. It's great, because none of the other characters really appear in this story, and are merely only referenced, without actually being seen. All of the characters in this story are brand new, making this quite a good stand-alone piece in such a continuity-heavy series. Just getting to see how bad-ass Sousuke can be as a solo agent working for his own cause really made me appreciate his character on a new level. I would LOVE to see this arc get adapted into animated form, someday.

Come Make My Day - 9/10

While the last story was all about Sousuke, this one is mostly about the rest of the the surviving members of MITHRIL. It does a really good job of advancing the plot, and it really pumps you up for their inevitable retaliation on Amalgam. There are a lot of great character moments, here, and of course when Sousuke meets back up with the main team at the end, that's a pure celebratory moment in the series. They still don't manage to retrieve Kaname, but this arc ends off with a lot of hope, whereas previous arcs had very dark and grim looking endings, so it was nice to see an upside after such a long while of dark stuff.

Approaching Nick of Time - 7/10

This one was mainly just set-up for the final 2 novels. It had some really great scenes, but it also had that shitty sci-fi plot twist that I'm not big on (though it wasn't bad enough to kill the series for me). This arc could really drag at times, but it had just enough going for it that it managed to hold my interest, even through some of the really stupid moments. For what it is, I think it was OK, but it's definitely the most flawed arc in the entire series, IMO.

Stand by Me - 9/10

And thus the entire series ends on a high note. I LOVE this final arc, and it really makes up for a lot of the crap in ANOT. The ONLY thing that stops me from giving it a full 10 is a major cop-out moment toward the end which really got on my nerves, especially since it kind of killed a truly great scene from ANOT (one of the few from that story arc), but on the whole it was still great the entire way through, and brought the series to a thoroughly climactic and satisfying conclusion.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 21, 2013, 10:45:35 PM
They never added the Second Raid to Netflix here and have in fact removed the first season.

Ugh.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Rynnec on August 21, 2013, 10:56:09 PM
Are you able to view the official uploads on youtube?
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 21, 2013, 11:01:01 PM
Yeah, but I have problems watching things on my computer these days. My attention drifts too easily, even when I'm enjoying it.

I'll probably get around to it eventually, though.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 21, 2013, 11:47:27 PM
I remember that they used to have TSR on Netflix for us, but I'm pretty sure that they removed it. I'll have to double check that to be sure. All of the episodes are uploaded by FUNimation on Youtube, but only the first 2 of those are dubbed, and I think it's worth seeing the English dub for TSR, since the voice talent is nothing short of excellent for that series, thanks in part to all of the already great voice actors getting plenty of experience with their characters in the 1st season and Fumoffu.

Also, for those of you who want to get into the later parts of the story that have not been animated, but don't want to read fan-translated novels, then you can always check out the manga adaptation of those novels, in Full Metal Panic Sigma (it's not licensed in the U.S., so you'll just have to read online scans). It is as faithful of an adaptation to the original source material as you can get. Once again, this is something that the original author had involvement with, and you can tell that he heavily supervised the project, which is why it takes so long for each new volume to come out. The only downside to doing that is merely that you can't currently read to the end of the story. It has adapted everything pretty close to the end, but it still has just one more volume to go before it finishes the story, so at worst you'd have to wait until next year for that to come out.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 22, 2013, 12:05:03 AM
Think you mixed up CMMD and ANOT. ;)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 22, 2013, 12:14:00 AM
Yeah, you're right, I mixed up the titles.

My thoughts on those story arcs arcs were in the correct respective chronological order, through. ;)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 22, 2013, 12:34:41 AM
Quote from: Ensatsu-ken on August 22, 2013, 12:14:00 AM
Yeah, you're right, I mixed up the titles.

My thoughts on those story arcs arcs were in the correct respective chronological order, through. ;)
Yes, and they were pretty much spot on with my own. ;) I can't wait until we go more in-depth together for the blog!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: The Shadow Gentleman on August 27, 2013, 03:36:08 PM
After getting some schoolwork out of the way, I finally finished The Second Raid. Not a personal favorite of mine, but a fantastic show none the less.

Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 27, 2013, 05:44:51 PM
Well, it's one of my personal favorite anime, but I'm glad to see that you liked it, all the same. Personally I think the best material from the series comes from the later novels, though, but as far as the anime goes, The Second Raid is easily the best anime that I've seen out of the giant robot genre, with Gundam 0080 being a close second for me (and another anime that you should watch).

And for the record, The Big O and Zoids: Chaotic Century/Guardian Force are tied for my 3rd place, and after that I don't really think there are any giant robot anime that I care for all too much.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on September 12, 2013, 02:55:14 PM
Now that I've finished re-watching season 1 of the anime, its time for me to move onto re-watching Fumoffu! That should go by pretty quickly.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on November 23, 2014, 12:21:07 PM
OK, so a somewhat random thought occurred to me.

The holidays are coming up by next month. Christmas is the ultimate holiday, and it's HUGE in Japan. And what is a big part of Christmas? Why, Christmas specials, of course! And Japan could certainly use more Christmas specials.

So, what does any of this have to do with FMP? Well, you guys know how we are never going to get the rest of this series animated. I mean, it's just flat out never going to happen. Well, what if we could at least get one more novel animated? And which one would be better than the next main story novel that takes place right after the last one to be animated?

That's right. Kyoto Animation should make an OVA based on Dancing Very Merry Christmas, and advertise it as a FMP Christmas Special (which it basically is), and then just remind people that it's from the author of Amagi Brilliant Park since that's popular right now, and in case people have forgotten that FMP is even a thing (which they basically have).

BOOM! New FMP anime material. It's basically the most that we can possibly get at this point.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on November 23, 2014, 02:15:19 PM
That would be swell. And if it sold well, we could finally get the best novels animated...
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on November 23, 2014, 02:30:18 PM
Also, some may claim that it's not really a Christmas Special, to which my response is: It's totally a Christmas Special in the same way that Die Hard is. It takes place on Christmas, and that's all that really matters. Killing terrorists in a corporate skyscraper or on a cruise ship; same thing. It's still on fucking Christmas.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Lord Dalek on October 23, 2015, 10:17:38 PM
(https://my91yearoldmom.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/hell-frozen-over.jpg)

Confirmed. (http://yaraon-blog.com/archives/72006)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 23, 2015, 10:24:59 PM
Ummmm....:whuh:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Lord Dalek on October 23, 2015, 10:26:07 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 23, 2015, 10:24:59 PM
Ummmm....:whuh:
New anime announced.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 23, 2015, 10:36:51 PM
holy

fucking

SHIT
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on October 23, 2015, 10:45:51 PM
Let me translate what it'll be about for you:

QuoteIn order to save the world from the side effects of Amalgam's latest experiments, Sousuke Sagara goes undercover as a teacher. He is immediately swept up in a conflict between the student council and the science club, who each have a member that is key to Sousuke's mission.

Here are the student's character descriptions:

Momo Kawanagare, the school's student council president. She is straight-forward and honest and has a strong sense of justice.

Beni Kinojyou, the bodyguard of the school science club. She's taciturn, brave, and confident. She has superhuman strength like an ogre.

Hachiko, the student council's enforcer. She's chivalrous, spirited, and fundamentally brave. She loves Momo and anyone who gets close to Momo is an enemy.

Hana Saryu, the student council's accountant. Contrary to her outward flirtatiousness, she's an aikido master. She has a broad outlook and is good at reading the atmosphere.

Touri Fueyama, the student council's clerk. She's brilliant and keeps her calm no matter what the situation is. Her grades are number one in the school.

Yuki Fuka, the club president of the science club. She's quick-tempered and unyielding. She searches for treasure around the school. Her science club has a rivalry with the student council.

Rui Aoi, a shy and weak member of the science club. She's big and eats more than most people. She and Fuka are childhood friends and are therefore, unfortunately for Aoi, often together.

Ukan Kurihara, Sousuke's senpai as a teacher, who offers him guidance. She uses the rod when guiding the students.

The lone screenshot:

Spoiler
(http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max700x700/cms/news/78710/aitenchi1.png.jpg)
[close]
Exactly what we've been waiting for!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 23, 2015, 10:48:59 PM
I thought you were serious for a second and almost jumped off a bridge. :il_hahaha:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: LumRanmaYasha on October 24, 2015, 12:39:45 AM
Well well, I guess you should never say never after all. Cool news! Also reminds me I still need to finish reading the light novels and Sigma sometime, which I might do before the new anime starts (since it should still be a while).
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on October 24, 2015, 12:47:12 AM
Whoa.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 12:51:07 AM
Quote from: Lord Dalek on October 23, 2015, 10:26:07 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 23, 2015, 10:24:59 PM
Ummmm....:whuh:
New anime announced.

I got that part. I was wondering what was with all of the hentai on that site....
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 12:53:37 AM
And yes, this is great news. This is automatically my most anticipated anime (and show in general) of (presumably) next year.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 01:01:04 AM
Quote from: Cartoon X on October 24, 2015, 12:39:45 AM
Well well, I guess you should never say never after all. Cool news! Also reminds me I still need to finish reading the light novels and Sigma sometime, which I might do before the new anime starts (since it should still be a while).

If you liked TSR, I really think that you'd enjoy COMO and BOMF, the two best light novels in the series. CMMD and ANOT are also great, though mostly set-up for the end-game rather than being stand-alone arcs. And then there's ASBM,  which has its flaws, IMO, but definitely gives the series a strong climactic final showdown and a satisfying overall conclusion.

And then there's FMP Another, which from what I've read of the manga, is the Goliath Chronicles or GT of the FMP series (as in I don't like it, and consider it non-canon).
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 24, 2015, 02:10:46 AM
The only downside to this is that they won't have the same dub cast. Funi owns the rights to FMP now and Chris Patton vehemently refuses to work for them, Mike Kleinhenz is sadly no longer with us, and Gauron isn't in the later novels - meaning no Mike Macrae, either. :( While the other performances are also great, there's not much reason to watch the English dub over the sub without those three, as far as I'm concerned.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 02:39:18 AM
If they adapt A Voice From The North, then Gauron would have a cameo at least (but I doubt that Mike Macrae would come back just for that). I can't imagine another English voice for Kalinin other than Mike Kleinhenz, who sadly passed away, but while the character has a big role to play in the later novels, he isn't present in that many scenes, so you could kind of get away with recasting him, as jarring as that would be.

Chris Patton's absence is a problem, though. I never knew that he wouldn't work with FUNimation. Do you know exactly why that is?

At least they still have Luci Christian as a regular VA. And Vic Mignogna, as well. I think that he does a great job as Kurz, who incidentally has a lot more scenes in the later novels.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 24, 2015, 02:57:10 AM
Kleinhenz was soooo gooood as Kalinin. His voice and tonal inflections managed to command both respect and adoration in a way few actors can, let alone dub actors from early 2000's anime. (Speaking of which, The Second Raid is over a decade old now. Good lord.) I couldn't believe where Gatoh took his character in the LNs... I wish I could hear Kleinhenz say those lines. :el_cry:

Apparently Chris Patton refuses to work with Funi because they controversially sued Sentai a few years back.

Quote from: https://lenoelia.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/funimation-sues-a-d-vision-sentai-others-for-8-million/"Oh Funimation shame on you," he said via Twitter. He was then asked by a fellow fan if he still has to work for FUNimation. "Hell no, I don't have to work for them, and you can be damn sure I never would again."

To me, Patton is Sousuke, so a lot will be lost without him. That said, I'll probably still watch the dub, unless they do a really poor job with it, if only to hear Vic as Kurz again.

And who knows, Sentai seems to have gotten pretty much every KyoAni series recently, so even though Funi owns the first three seasons, maybe Sentai will still be the company to license the new one...
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on October 24, 2015, 08:46:59 AM
Just because FUNi has the first three series DOES NOT mean they'll get the new one. They've let acquired licenses expire before (Higurashi, anyone?) without doing anything with them beyond the bare minimum, and that may be the case here. On the other hand, they might bend over backwards to get the old cast back, as other series like the Slayers revival a few years back showed so maybe they might convince him to come back if they're really nice. Who knows?

I wouldn't throw in the towel yet.

Oh, and I am excited for this even if it isn't a moe reboot where nothing at all happens.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: LumRanmaYasha on October 24, 2015, 09:12:45 AM
Spark posting on a Saturday? How rare!  :o

There's been cases where FUNi hasn't picked up licenses to stuff related to what they have, like how they have the first season of Mushi-shi, but Aniplex got the rights to Zoku Shou, and they have The Woman Called Fujiko Mine but Discotek has Jigen's Gravestone. It could fall into someone else's hands. However, considering that FUNi recently re-released the first season and Fumoffu on blu-ray as part of their Anime Classics line, the series must still sell decently for them, so I'm leaning towards them getting this over them not.

Much like with Slayers Revolution, I'd assume they'd try and get back as much of the original cast as they possibly can. But even with SR, they weren't able to get David Moo to reprise his role as Xellos and had to re-cast him, so if Chris Patton actively refuses to work with them, then Sosuke will probably be as well.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: VLordGTZ on October 24, 2015, 09:58:25 AM
I loved TSR, so I'll definitely be looking forward to a new FMP adaption.   :)

Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 10:49:42 AM
Quote from: Foggle on October 24, 2015, 02:57:10 AM
Kleinhenz was soooo gooood as Kalinin. His voice and tonal inflections managed to command both respect and adoration in a way few actors can, let alone dub actors from early 2000's anime. (Speaking of which, The Second Raid is over a decade old now. Good lord.) I couldn't believe where Gatoh took his character in the LNs... I wish I could hear Kleinhenz say those lines. :el_cry:

Oh, I agree 100%. My dream of seeing that epic final exchange between Sousuke and Kalinin, his life-long mentor and father-figure, in the glorious dub is now dead. That said, if Kalinin alone had to be replaced, it'd hurt like hell, but not exactly kill the dub for me. His character goes in a hugely important direction later in the story, but oddly enough has a huge presence by his lack of appearances outside of really big moments. So, he wouldn't have that many lines, as awesome as it would still be to hear Mike Kleinhenz deliver them.

QuoteApparently Chris Patton refuses to work with Funi because they controversially sued Sentai a few years back.

That's a damn shame. I really hope that they could put tgeir differences aside for this, or at the very least FUNi could let Sentai pick this up so that we could have as much of tge original voice-cast present as possible. Replacing Kalinin is hard enough. Replacing Sousuke's VA is absolutely unacceptable for me. Chris Patton makes the character, for me.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 24, 2015, 06:27:39 PM
Some more info:

Quote from: http://fullmetalpanicnews.blogspot.com/2015/10/new-full-metal-panic-anime-project.html
  • Shoji Gatoh and producer Atsushi Itou (FMP season 1-3) are developing the new Full Metal Panic! Anime. They've probably been at it for the past couple of years.

  • The animation studio will be Tokyo based. This would mean that Kyoto Animations (the studio behind Fumoffu and TSR) will not be involved. Some have speculated that KyoAni might actually be branching out to form a new studio in Tokyo.

  • The new Anime will cover the Light Novel material post-TSR. Basically Full Metal Panic! Sigma The Anime. It has also been said that they are planning for the new Anime to finish the story.

  • Shoji Gatoh will work on the scripts.

  • Hand drawn mechas. From what has been said at the conference they are aiming for hand drawn mechas instead of the nowadays more common CGI ones.

  • New character design. It can also be assumed by the promotional art work (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bUx1Cj2n1Ko/VitOkRwRHLI/AAAAAAAAJCM/1t0IL9k7Dzw/s1600/07_Characters.jpg) that the character design will be updated. They've already been slightly altered between season 1 and Fumoffu. The new changes can be attributed to changes in the industry over the past decade as well as the new animation studio and staff.

  • The original japanese voice cast will return.

  • We might have to wait for some time. Now here comes the salt. Yes, we are getting new Anime. This is incredible! I never thought this day would actually come. This is the best news i've heard all year for sure. But we might have to wait for it. One comment suggested they hope to be done before the Tokyo Olympics. Which could mean waiting about four more years. Now this sounds scary. And likely they were only joking. But it was said that they're not planning to rush this. They want to do it right.

Amazing! It all sounds too good to be true. :'(

Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 10:49:42 AM
Oh, I agree 100%. My dream of seeing that epic final exchange between Sousuke and Kalinin, his life-long mentor and father-figure, in the glorious dub is now dead. That said, if Kalinin alone had to be replaced, it'd hurt like hell, but not exactly kill the dub for me. His character goes in a hugely important direction later in the story, but oddly enough has a huge presence by his lack of appearances outside of really big moments. So, he wouldn't have that many lines, as awesome as it would still be to hear Mike Kleinhenz deliver them.
Since he doesn't have as many lines after DVMC, I could see a good stand-in working, I suppose. I'm mostly worried that they'll pull a Ghost In The Shell: Arise and bring back some of the old actors to play completely new characters while also getting bizarre replacements for the main cast.

QuoteThat's a damn shame. I really hope that they could put tgeir differences aside for this, or at the very least FUNi could let Sentai pick this up so that we could have as much of tge original voice-cast present as possible. Replacing Kalinin is hard enough. Replacing Sousuke's VA is absolutely unacceptable for me. Chris Patton makes the character, for me.
Agreed. Chris Patton is the heart and soul that drives not only the dub, but the series as a whole as far as I'm concerned.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 07:40:58 PM
First off, Shouji Gatoh working on the scripting of this series, combined with the fact that it's a direct sequel, really does amp up my excitement to 500%. Do you know why TSR is superior to its source material? Because Gatoh was head writer on that as well, and he knows his source material and how to make it better. The guy is a terrific dramatic writer moreso than a comedic one; and I actually like his comedy, being one of the few on this board who really likes Fumoffu, and I warmed up to Amagi after a re-watch and with a different mind-set going into it. So that's saying a lot.

Secondly, while I fucking love TSR (easy top 5 for me), the fact that this is not a modern KyoAni production washes away any potential worries that I might have had.

Thirdly, if that new promo artwork is indicative of the new character designs, then I'm definitely OK with the update, myself.

Fourthly, FUCK YES to hand-drawn mechas! :joy:

Lastly, having to wait a bit longer for this to come out actually instills me with the confidence that they are trying to get this right.

Now....that's assuming that all of this is true, and I hope that it is.

Anyways, I'm up for a re-read of the light novels, now. It's been five goddamn years since I read the last book, and over a year since I finished Sigma. I need to jump back into this shit!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 25, 2015, 12:06:56 AM
I've been meaning to read the last book for years, but now I think I just want to wait for the anime version. :lol:

Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 24, 2015, 07:40:58 PM
The guy is a terrific dramatic writer moreso than a comedic one; and I actually like his comedy, being one of the few on this board who really likes Fumoffu, and I warmed up to Amagi after a re-watch and with a different mind-set going into it. So that's saying a lot.
I love both Fumoffu and Amagi. I think he's just a fantastic writer in general, honestly. There are only a couple of hiccups in FMP, but nothing too major, and the ones from the first season might actually be Gonzo's fault instead of his.

QuoteSecondly, while I fucking love TSR (easy top 5 for me), the fact that this is not a modern KyoAni production washes away any potential worries that I might have had.
I think KyoAni could still do it, but they don't really seem geared toward long-running productions like what FMP will require to do right (it probably needs another 50 episodes). As long as another top tier studio is behind it (c'mon Madhouse or Bones!), I'll be satisfied.

QuoteThirdly, if that new promo artwork is indicative of the new character designs, then I'm definitely OK with the update, myself.
Yeah, those designs are simpler but still nice. They look more like the light novel's artwork IIRC.

QuoteFourthly, FUCK YES to hand-drawn mechas! :joy:
Yeah, this makes me incredibly happy. CG mechas are almost always terrible.

So, I wonder how they're going to do this. Personally, I'd like to see three more seasons - the first one being of the same length as the first series, with the other two about as long as TSR. This way they could adapt all the remaining main story novels, Voice from the North, and a handful of Fumoffu-style standalone episodes before/after DVMC.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 25, 2015, 01:04:15 AM
Actually, if we're just talking about the main series, only about 28-35 episodes would be needed to adapt it (about 4-5 episodes per volume, with 7 volumes left to adapt).

Personally, I'd rather have the entire remaining story adapted like in Sigma, but also artfully fit in the two major flash-back stories which were published separately from the main volumes (AVFTN and Tessa's backstory), but which are actually pretty essential to the characters. They could do a separate spin-off for Fumoffu-style side-stories.

Now, I just want Gatoh to fix up two of my major issues with the story. One is with TAROS. Just do a better job of building it up so that it doesn't come off so much as an out-of-left-field plot device. Secondly....well, to be quite frank, I wouldn't expect the second change to happen, but it would be very ballsy if it did, and that's to....

Spoiler
....have Kurz actually stay dead from his fatal wounds after his bad-ass sniper battle. I love the character, and his death hit me hard in a good way, like Spock sacrificing his life in Wrath of Khan to save his ship and crew, or Ace being killed off by shielding his brother from a fatal attack in One Piece. Kurz being revealed to be alive doesn't kill the story, but it does cheapen such a great moment, IMO.
[close]
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 25, 2015, 01:12:40 AM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 25, 2015, 01:04:15 AM
Actually, if we're just talking about the main series, only about 28-35 episodes would be needed to adapt it (about 4-5 episodes per volume, with 7 volumes left to adapt).
Didn't TSR give 6 episodes to each book? I feel like that was a good number. Since the volumes get progressively longer from what I remember, I figure they'd eventually *need* that many for the later novels.

QuotePersonally, I'd rather have the entire remaining story adapted like in Sigma, but also artfully fit in the two major flash-back stories which were published separately from the main volumes (AVFTN and Tessa's backstory), but which are actually pretty essential to the characters. They could do a separate spin-off for Fumoffu-style side-stories.
I doubt there will ever be another Fumoffu, but I do feel like they'd probably want to start off the new series with 1-3 standalone comedy episodes. Those seem to be the most popular part of the franchise, and it would help returning viewers get re-acclimated to the characters after a decade. Also, having some of those stories fresh in the audience's mind would increase the emotional and dramatic impact of COMO.

QuoteNow, I just want Gatoh to fix up two of my major issues with the story. One is with TAROS. Just do a better job of building it up so that it doesn't come off so much as an out-of-left-field plot device.
Hindsight is 20/20, so I'm sure this is one reason why the new series has taken so long to come about. :)

QuoteSecondly....well, to be quite frank, I wouldn't expect the second change to happen, but it would be very ballsy if it did, and that's to....

Spoiler
....have Kurz actually stay dead from his fatal wounds after his bad-ass sniper battle. I love the character, and his death hit me hard in a good way, like Spock sacrificing his life in Wrath of Khan to save his ship and crew, or Ace being killed off by shielding his brother from a fatal attack in One Piece. Kurz being revealed to be alive doesn't kill the story, but it does cheapen such a great moment, IMO.
[close]
I agree... both that they should make this change, and that they probably won't. :P
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 25, 2015, 01:52:27 AM
Actually, Gatoh added in some sub-plots and filler to pad out the story. The first episode is completely anime-original, as are most of the second and eleventh episodes, outside of a couple of scenes. There's also a lot of new scenes interspersed throughout the other episodes. if you're going just by book material, the anime would be at least three to four episodes shorter.

As for starting off with comedic episodes, why not just start with the next main book, DVMC? The first half of that story is already comedic in tone. It doesn't get too serious until later on.

Seeing how Gatoh handled TSR, and knowing that he's good at adapting his own source material into a TV script and seamlessly integrating new scenes into the story in a meaningful way rather than making them feel like filler, I have no doubt that he can tighten up the weaker plot points of the series a great deal, and even enhance all of the stuff that's already great. Except for that other part that I mentioned, I still fully expect him to cop-out on us there. :D

On another note, while not a major character, Kurama is a bad-ass recurring antagonist specifically for Sousuke, and if this anime ever gets dubbed, I hope that FUNi or Sentai or whoever picks it up can get Crispin Freeman to play him. For whatever reason, I always envisioned his voice for that character.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 25, 2015, 02:16:08 AM
I guess less episodes would be fine, then. But I loved the added material in TSR, so I think I'd still prefer 6 per book...

Yeah, I know the first half of DVMC is much more lighthearted than what comes later, but I do feel like they'd need at least one typical high school comedy episode to start off the series. It would make the transition between seasons smoother, IMO.

Crispin Freeman would be a great choice for Kurama. Can't wait to see him and Lemon in the anime! :joy:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 25, 2015, 02:52:19 AM
Lemon = Eric Vale

Perfect fit for the character, IMO, so long as we skip doing a cheesy French accent (please don't go that route in the dub).

I was thinking of potential replacements for Kalinin, and....yeah, nobody can possibly match Kleinhenz. However, if I had to pick someone all the same, I believe that Jason Douglas could at least get the right tone with his deep-sounding voice.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on October 26, 2015, 09:04:39 AM
Hand drawn mechs. That was oddly enough my biggest fear for a new FMP anime. The hand drawn mechs just look so good in the old series, it would be so jarring to lose them.

But you guys speculating length should keep in mind that this anime will probably have a standard production order if only for a television slot. I would guess 50 episodes would be the best bet with some comedy filler sandwiched in there. I don't know exactly how they could do it (not having read the light novels), but it seems like the safest bet without dragging out the story further.

As an aside, what light novels did the original series adapt and how many episodes did they devote to them?
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 26, 2015, 10:57:38 AM
Season 1 adapted volumes 1-3, and was 24-episodes long, but with 7 of those episodes being filler (8, and 13-18), with 7 episodes devoted to the first book, 4 to the second, and 5 to the third.

Season 3 (TSR) adapted volumes 4 and 5, and is 13-episodes long, but as I already explained, contains about 3-4 episodes-worth of filler material, though this time actually co-written by Gatoh himself, which is why it's integrated in seamlessly with the book material so well.

The full main series is 12-volumes long, so that leaves 7 left to adapt.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on October 26, 2015, 11:27:34 AM
You know what would be perfect?

If Toonami aired the first three series just before a dub was ready for the new show.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 26, 2015, 12:31:32 PM
That would be awesome, though I doubt that they'd ever really do it, since they aren't too keen on airing older shows unless they are popular battle shonen series or Cowboy Bebop. On that note, it's so strange to think of even TSR as old, now. It's only ten years old, and was only a year old when I first watched it.

I just realized that I've been a fan of FMP for nine years....almost a decade, now....
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 26, 2015, 02:30:03 PM
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 26, 2015, 09:04:39 AM
But you guys speculating length should keep in mind that this anime will probably have a standard production order if only for a television slot. I would guess 50 episodes would be the best bet with some comedy filler sandwiched in there. I don't know exactly how they could do it (not having read the light novels), but it seems like the safest bet without dragging out the story further.
They could easily slip some comedy filler in there at the beginning, maybe directly after the first arc, but after that...

Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 26, 2015, 10:57:38 AM
The full main series is 12-volumes long, so that leaves 7 left to adapt.
If they averaged six episodes per book, they could give two episodes each to the important side stories and hit a traditional broadcast number of 48!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on October 26, 2015, 03:01:33 PM
Oh yeah, I know it gets really serious later, I just figured they'd slide in filler if needed just to hit a magic number. Not that I mind, I liked the filler in the first season.

Quote from: Foggle on October 26, 2015, 02:30:03 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 26, 2015, 10:57:38 AM
The full main series is 12-volumes long, so that leaves 7 left to adapt.
If they averaged six episodes per book, they could give two episodes each to the important side stories and hit a traditional broadcast number of 48!
Put in two filler episodes at the beginning, and there's 50!

Either way, it seems pretty doable to me. Shame it took so long to happen.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on October 26, 2015, 07:20:40 PM
50 would be perfect, since if you count the TSR OVA, that would make the final installment episode 100!

Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 26, 2015, 03:01:33 PM
Shame it took so long to happen.
In hindsight, it makes sense, I think. The novels only finished four years ago, and I think their plan the entire time was to wait before continuing the anime to prevent continuity and/or quality issues. Then, after the final book came out, they had to spend some time planning the best and most efficient way of finishing the story in animated form. They also probably made Amagi Brilliant Park as a sort of test to see if Shouji Gatoh anime would still sell in the current market.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 26, 2015, 07:36:42 PM
[nitpick]Actually it ended five years ago.[/nitpick] :>
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: LumRanmaYasha on October 26, 2015, 10:01:04 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 26, 2015, 12:31:32 PM
That would be awesome, though I doubt that they'd ever really do it, since they aren't too keen on airing older shows unless they are popular battle shonen series or Cowboy Bebop.

It's not completely out of the question, since they are currently airing Mitchiko & Hatchin, which is josei and from 2008. Space on the block and availability of other, newer shows would probably factor in more into if they ever air it.

As for the shows' length, I'd assume they want to cover the series in as little amount of episodes they possibly can, so I'm not expecting many filler episodes. It really all depends on how much sponsorship/funding they have and such. Durarara!! X2, for instance, has been covering about 10 light novels in three cours, and that pace has worked fine for that series. I don't know how long the Durarara novels are in comparison to the FMP! novels, but assuming they are about the same in length and content, then I'd think that three cours would be perfectly enough to cover the rest of the series.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 26, 2015, 10:04:15 PM
Hence why I said that 35-ish episodes would be more than enough. And it's not like there haven't been a fair number of other series to have odd-episode counts.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: VLordGTZ on November 17, 2015, 11:34:53 PM
It seems that the new FMP anime may be being done by Bones (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/11/17/dragon-magazine-set-to-announce-full-metal-manic-and-saekano-anime-plans)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on November 17, 2015, 11:59:18 PM
If this is true, then I now have two highly anticipated anime to look forward to from this studio.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on November 18, 2015, 08:13:48 AM
Wow, what is up with Bones getting all the good stuff recently? Not that I'm complaining, it's actually a good thing as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on November 18, 2015, 01:28:32 PM
OMG Bones!? Yessssss! :joy:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: LumRanmaYasha on November 20, 2015, 10:15:36 PM
The Bones rumors have been debunked for now. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/11/20/full-metal-panic-bones-rumors-prove-false) Still up for speculation exactly which studio and director will be handling the show.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on March 23, 2016, 10:16:10 PM
No surprise, but FMP didn't even make the top ten. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/03/23-1/japanese-fans-pick-their-1-favorite-tv-anime-by-kyoto-animation)

But then, Haruhi season 2 outranked the first so, you know...
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 24, 2016, 12:54:25 AM
Well, of course! I mean, after all, who would be interested in a series with a well-crafted plot, interesting characters, and excellent action? All of that clearly pales in comparison to these much "smarter" pandering shows with all of their hip modern pop-culture references and lack of any actual plot or genuine comedy in favor of trying to make everything look as "cute" as possible, but in this case it's OK since those series are self-aware of it and make sure to wink at the audience every once in a while. Because, you know....that's what smart writing is, right?
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 15, 2016, 12:47:25 PM
Cast and staff reunion (sort of): http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/08/15/full-metal-panic-anime-reassembles-for-stage-event

Seriously, just stop with the teasing about announcements already. They teased about big FMP announcements coming for years, and it usually just turned out to be crappy merchandise or a crappy spin-off series. Then they actually announced a new FMP anime out of nowhere around the end of last year, and then absolutely nothing followed that news since then. Now they are teasing another "BIG announcement" when the last so-called big one hasn't even been delivered on yet.

Unless this is accompanied by some actual new anime footage or at least some concept art, I'm not interested. And I swear, if it's another action-figure line, I'm going to shoot someone....most likely Foggle, since Talon is no longer around for me to take my frustration and anger out on. :srs:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 15, 2016, 01:02:58 PM
I just want to know a premiere date, like probably everyone else does.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on August 16, 2016, 01:20:28 AM
Please don't be another action-figure line...
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: VLordGTZ on October 22, 2016, 12:06:28 AM
The new FMP season is coming Fall 2017 and is being produced by XEBEC. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-10-22/full-metal-panic-iv-tv-anime-revealed-for-fall-2017/.107970)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on October 22, 2016, 12:38:43 AM
It only took 12 long years....:cry:

The fact that it's called FMP IV is a clear indicator that this is a sequel rather than a reboot, and thus the canon story-line will be fully adapted.

I'm just praying that this doesn't suck, though. After spending so much time in development hell, I feel rather weary about how it will turn out and don't want to get too excited until I actually see it for myself. That promotional image of the Arbolest doesn't really tell us much of anything about the actual production-value of this new season.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Lord Dalek on October 22, 2016, 05:59:10 AM
Fall 2017 Yayz.

Made by Xebec.....





(http://animationrevelation.com/readables/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/LnX92sS.jpg)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on April 05, 2017, 11:29:31 AM
The Fall listing has been removed from the site. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-04-05/full-metal-panic-site-removes-fall-listing-for-new-tv-anime/.114397)

Delay incoming.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on June 14, 2017, 09:22:55 PM
Shoji Gatoh is going to be at Anime Expo. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-06-14/full-metal-panic-light-novel-author-illustrator-to-attend-anime-expo/.117472)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: VLordGTZ on June 30, 2017, 11:14:28 PM
FMP: Invisible Victory is now slated for Spring 2018. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-07-01/full-metal-panic-invisible-victory-anime-premieres-in-spring-2018/.118269)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: VLordGTZ on July 01, 2017, 06:54:11 PM
Quote from: VLordGTZ on June 30, 2017, 11:14:28 PM
FMP: Invisible Victory is now slated for Spring 2018. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-07-01/full-metal-panic-invisible-victory-anime-premieres-in-spring-2018/.118269)
Trailer from Anime Expo (https://twitter.com/alphajarmel/status/881284706330828800)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on July 01, 2017, 07:12:21 PM
From a technical standpoint it doesn't look as impressive as TSR, but it's a lot better than I expected from Xebec, and it seems to be at least as good as season 1 and Fumoffu if not better. That said, I would be excited for this even if it looked like shit. Can't wait to see COMO and BOMF animated! :swoon: I really hope Sentai licenses this since Chris Patton refuses to work with Funi.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2017, 07:43:05 PM
That footage actually looks pretty good. I'm cautiously optimistic for this to be a good adaptation of the rest of the story.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: VLordGTZ on July 01, 2017, 07:57:48 PM
Quote from: Foggle on July 01, 2017, 07:12:21 PM
From a technical standpoint it doesn't look as impressive as TSR, but it's a lot better than I expected from Xebec, and it seems to be at least as good as season 1 and Fumoffu if not better. That said, I would be excited for this even if it looked like shit. Can't wait to see COMO and BOMF animated! :swoon: I really hope Sentai licenses this since Chris Patton refuses to work with Funi.
Funimation was hosting the FMP panel at AX, so it's likely that the new anime is going to be licensed by them.  Hopefully they can figure something out to get Patton back.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2017, 08:43:12 PM
I'd still rather have FUNi get this one than Sentai. While the lack of Chris Patton will suck since I'm a fan of his portrayal in the dub, the actual quality of the English voice acting and script will be far better in FUNi's hands, and of course they will always include the option for the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. Beyond that, though, I can also trust them to come out with much more reasonably priced Blu-Ray sets than any other company in the industry.

On another note, I'll also be sad to not have Mike Kleinhenz reprise his role as Kalinin in the dub, seeing as how he has sadly passed away since the dub for TSR. :'(
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Rynnec on July 01, 2017, 10:43:32 PM
Quote from: VLordGTZ on July 01, 2017, 07:57:48 PM
Quote from: Foggle on July 01, 2017, 07:12:21 PM
From a technical standpoint it doesn't look as impressive as TSR, but it's a lot better than I expected from Xebec, and it seems to be at least as good as season 1 and Fumoffu if not better. That said, I would be excited for this even if it looked like shit. Can't wait to see COMO and BOMF animated! :swoon: I really hope Sentai licenses this since Chris Patton refuses to work with Funi.
Funimation was hosting the FMP panel at AX, so it's likely that the new anime is going to be licensed by them.  Hopefully they can figure something out to get Patton back.

Patton was in the dub for Drifters, so he's probably worked something out with Funi if that's any indication.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on July 01, 2017, 10:51:31 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 01, 2017, 08:43:12 PM
On another note, I'll also be sad to not have Mike Kleinhenz reprise his role as Kakinin in the dub, seeing as how he has sadly passed away since the dub for TSR. :'(
Same. I couldn't help but feel slightly down when I saw Kalinin in the trailer.

Quote from: Rynnec on July 01, 2017, 10:43:32 PM
Patton was in the dub for Drifters, so he's probably worked something out with Funi if that's any indication.
This is very good!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on September 19, 2017, 11:10:08 PM
Season 1 is getting a 3 film director's cut edition. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-09-19/full-metal-panic-anime-1st-season-gets-3-film-director-cut/.121595)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: LumRanmaYasha on September 19, 2017, 11:51:45 PM
Basically one film for each novel that was adapted into the first season then. It would've been cool if they completely reanimated them, but compilation films are still a good way to get people up to speed with the story before the new show.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on December 17, 2017, 11:15:11 PM
New visual revealed. (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-12-17/full-metal-panic-invisible-victory-anime-new-visual-more-cast-revealed/.125398)

Really looking forward to this.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 18, 2018, 08:23:24 PM
Full Metal Panic is Back, bitches! :joy:

The season premiere was excellent and it doesn't waste a single second. Seriously, if you feel rusty on the previous seasons you'll want to go ahead and re-watch all of the main story content because this anime picks up right where TSR left off and gives no fucks about wasting time on a recap (which just goes to show that this is already doing everything right in my book). In this regard, despite not being done by KyoAni this time, Invisible Victory really does feel A LOT like TSR, both tonally and stylistically, which is a VERY GOOD thing.

Overall, this will probably end up tying with Megalobox as my favorite anime of the season if both manage to maintain the excellent level of quality which they premiered with.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 20, 2018, 08:52:38 PM
Man, the pacing is on point, here. It really plays out just like how I imagined when I read this material an entire decade ago (still hard to believe that it has been that long).

It's at times like this that I'm a bit bummed that Foggle isn't all that active online anymore. I'm happy that he's moving on with his life, but I would've loved to discuss this show with him like we used to since he was also such a big fan. If only this came out a few years earlier....

At any rate, my only gripe so far is the out of place CG, but that isn't anything new for the series as it has literally been there since the beginning. I just wish that they'd rely on it a bit less than they do here.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: VLordGTZ on April 26, 2018, 11:23:18 PM
It looks like most of the old English cast (https://twitter.com/FUNimation/status/989640307036839936) is returning for the dub! (https://twitter.com/FUNimation/status/989641562614321152)
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on April 26, 2018, 11:30:12 PM
 :swoon:

Now this is great news!
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on April 26, 2018, 11:47:23 PM
Holy shit!!!!

I'm going to sign up for VRV, but I'm thinking of waiting for the dub to be worked on before I start the new series up. I can't imagine anyone but Chris Patton and Luci Christian as Sosuke and Chidori. I can't wait, though.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on May 03, 2018, 06:13:36 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on April 20, 2018, 08:52:38 PM
It's at times like this that I'm a bit bummed that Foggle isn't all that active online anymore. I'm happy that he's moving on with his life, but I would've loved to discuss this show with him like we used to since he was also such a big fan. If only this came out a few years earlier....
I am here!!!! I'm currently working through the old seasons with my fiancee and then we're going to watch the dub of the new series together once it airs. I'm so happy this one is as good as we'd hoped for, and that all the old English VAs are back! :swoon:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 03, 2018, 08:28:22 PM
Glad to hear from you, Foggle! :joy:

I'm also overjoyed to hear about the dub cast returning. Especially Chris Patton, who I'm glad to see put his grudge against FUNimation aside for this project. I'll be re-watching the episodes dubbed as they are released. It just sucks that we can never get the same VA for Kalinin since he sadly passed away years ago. :'(
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on May 21, 2018, 08:27:18 PM
So far I found the first 3 episodes dubbed. On VRV, the sub for Invisible Victory has its own entry, but the dub is added to the original series' page. I think TSR is also supposed to be included in there, as the episode count shows enough for it and the OVA, along with TOS and IV, but it's not showing up for me.

Anyway, this is the continuation that I've been holding on for years! Granted, I haven't read the light novels yet, but I'm just too happy to see Sousuke, Chidori and Tessa back, it almost feels like nothing's changed. Thankfully the action is on point, even though I'm still not a big fan of hand-drawn/CG hybrids like we often get. I can still get behind it, as the pacing has been incredibly tight so far. Just when I feel it gets a little too much, it slows down and all feels well. The humor is a little more gentle this time than before, but considering how heavy the material is, I think it's a good call for the time being. I just hope it keeps being this engaging past here.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 21, 2018, 08:57:27 PM
The anime is currently covering my favorite story arc from the light novels. It's really good stuff. I can vouch for it.

I still need to check out the dub, myself, but I'm glad to hear that the old VA cast has still got these characters down.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on March 21, 2019, 01:48:29 AM
Funimation advertised their limited edition blu-ray of Invisible Victory as including the audio drama, calling it "an important part of the story," and used key art from the 2016 audio drama adaptation of Dancing Very Merry Christmas for it. Of course I was extremely excited for this! Anyway, I have a copy of it right here in my hand, and the audio drama they actually included was a series of comedy specials. Are they fucking serious? They have their own case and everything in the box, and they used the Dancing Very Merry Christmas art for its cover. But it's just a bunch of dumb gag audios. I can't believe this shit.

:il_rope:
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 22, 2019, 02:10:17 PM
I've kind of grown irritated with FUNimation over the past few years. Clearly being the dominant anime distributor in North America has spoiled their practices quite a bit. They aren't anywhere near ANIPLEX bad, but they definitely suffer from a very quantity over quality approach to their releases as of late. Them being misleading about their advertising would have shocked me a decade ago, but now it's pretty much par for the course.

Also, I wasn't going to even bring this up, but I might as well: Their handling of the whole Vic Mignogna debacle has been embarrassing at best and makes them look insanely unprofessional as a company. Regardless of whether Vic actually deserves any of the slander or not, the way several FUNi VAs and staff have clearly tried to gain brownie points among SJWs with clearly forced and fake social stances makes them come off like a bunch of self-obsessed jerk-weeds. It also doesn't help that it has come out from several ex-employees that they are an incredibly terrible company to work for with questionable business ethics.

Sorry for the rant, but at any rate, I rarely buy anything from them anymore. I'm happy to re-watch all of FMP on Crunchyroll whenever I want to.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Insomniac on March 22, 2019, 05:13:03 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 22, 2019, 02:10:17 PM
Also, I wasn't going to even bring this up, but I might as well: Their handling of the whole Vic Mignogna debacle has been embarrassing at best and makes them look insanely unprofessional as a company. Regardless of whether Vic actually deserves any of the slander or not, the way several FUNi VAs and staff have clearly tried to gain brownie points among SJWs with clearly forced and fake social stances makes them come off like a bunch of self-obsessed jerk-weeds. It also doesn't help that it has come out from several ex-employees that they are an incredibly terrible company to work for with questionable business ethics.
I can understand what FUNi was doing. They were understandably in a tough position because of sites like ANN pressuring them to say and do something about the Vic situation. Despite rumors they kicked him out without proof, it's silly to think they didn't at least consult their lawyers first before making the decision. And while stating it out loud on Twitter might have been too blunt, fans would have noticed eventually that they stopped giving him roles. Seeing people take the side of youtube lawyers and clickbait content creators making money from the controversy over voice actors who have known Vic for years (https://twitter.com/ProZD/status/1092897043301974018) is disheartening to say the least, so I understand VAs getting frustrated and other VAs trying to defend their friends to varying results. If someone I knew was brigaded by lawsuit threats and harassment, I'd be pissed off too. I feel bad for Monica Rial in particular. She doesn't deserve these guys on Twitter threatening her.

This entire Vic controversy has been such a headache for the past few months. And at the beginning, I was hoping these were exaggerations and Vic was innocent. But then all the testimonies came out, and even his ex-fiance talking about it, so needless to say, it's been rough to watch.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 22, 2019, 05:58:42 PM
I'm aware of the clickbait anti-SJW crowd, and those people are idiots as well. However, it's undeniable that the FUNi VAs also shot themselves in the foot by trying to make public comments with such a touchy situation, especially ones that didn't feel genuine so much as they were more clearly trying to seem like they were on the right side all along, yet if they knew about Vic'a behavior for years, isn't it rather irresponsible that literally none of them said anything sooner?

To be clear, I'm not defending Vic, here. I'm saying that FUNi definitely mishandled the situation publicly, though. I work for a company that has had issues of firing people for sexual harassment before, and it's standard procedure for this sort of business to be kept as private as possible for all parties involved. Understandably it's a bit harder for an entertainment-based company with a huge customer-base to avoid public scrutiny, but that's all the more reason to not get any more involved than is necessary in the public domain.

In Monica Rial's case it's unfortunate since all she did was say that she supports victims. I agree that she doesn't deserve the backlash. However, people like Jami Marchie kind of screwed themselves with the kind of comments she made. Regardless of what kind of punishment Vic deserves, you can't fight harassment with harassment. Making vindictive comments only invites more opposition.

If FUNi just fired him and made a public statement that they did so after an investigation and then remained tight-lipped about the matter, then yes, that's perfectly understandable. However, continuing to entertain a flame war with Vic supporters is kind of on them.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Insomniac on March 22, 2019, 07:03:04 PM
I saw it as a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario for the VAs talking about it. When somebody famous gets outed as a sexual harasser, anyone who worked alongside them is going to be stuck in an awkward situation, like anybody who co-starred in Bill Cosby productions, or singers who worked with R Kelly. If you don't say something, people will say you're complicit in their deeds and guilty by association. And if you do say something, you find yourself involved in a whirlwind of controversy. It's a no-win situation, so I can see why guys like Sabat found themselves caught in a crossroads here. But yeah, they could have handled this better, especially compared to the previous times FUNi cut ties with VAs such as Scott Freeman and Stephanie Nadolny.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on March 22, 2019, 07:12:00 PM
That is true, people will bitch either way, and I don't think that it was wrong for some VAs to just show support to people speaking up without directly addressing the conflict at hand. But the more needlessly vindictive comments only serve to make Vic and his side look better.

It also doesn't help being associated with ANN, who's key figures have a history of bias and having an agenda. Again, even if the person being accused is being done so under just cause, ANN is an easy target for supporters to turn a mob against.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Foggle on March 23, 2019, 03:11:38 AM
I think Vic definitely deserved to be fired since the accusations date back over a decade and apparently his misconduct has been an "open secret" in the industry for ages. I'm not sure I would describe Funi's response to the situation as pandering but there's absolutely no way they were unaware of his reputation prior to a few months ago and their immediate dismissal of him feels more like them scrambling to cover their asses after being caught with their pants down. I do agree that a few of the comments made by various VAs were a little extreme but I can also see where they're coming from. Knowing that someone who has hurt you or your friends is being allowed to thrive in your profession and work with you consistently is rough, and emotions were bound to run high. I know I would probably have reacted similarly to Jamie Marchi if I was in the same situation. I have no doubt that the higher-ups at Funimation were trying to shield him prior to now, though. The company as it stands is very shady, so much so that Chris Patton refused to work with them until the new FMP series, and they have strong ties to Rick Santorum, which is bizarre.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Insomniac on March 23, 2019, 07:24:49 AM
Quote from: Foggle on March 23, 2019, 03:11:38 AMand they have strong ties to Rick Santorum, which is bizarre.
Any evidence of "strong ties" I could find seem strongly exaggerated, (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2014-01-24) and since Gen Fukunaga is no longer part of FUNi, it's hard to find any recent ties between the two. Especially since most FUNi staff I've seen have political stances completely contrary to Santorum's.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Nel_Annette on March 23, 2019, 12:14:57 PM
Yeah, I'm honestly surprised the dude wasn't kicked out of the industry years ago. I've been reading horror stories about his con behavior on anime forums since at least 2007.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on May 22, 2020, 03:46:19 AM
I've been reading the light novels over the past couple of days, and what do you know, I won a bid on eBay for the first 3 series on Blu. Now I find the Invisible Victory collector's edition on Funi's site for around the same price as that haul, and I'm seriously fighting the urge to hit it up. I need to be good with my money.

But boy, do I have the desire to watch the whole thing all over again. And I'm still hoping that we'll get one more series some day soon.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 22, 2020, 05:46:57 AM
I need to get the official releases at some point. I remember back when reading fan translations was my only option, but I really enjoyed the LNs. And I too have been tempted buy the physical releases of both that and the BRs, but I've decided to slow down on physical media as much as possible since last year due to my limited amount of storage space in my small apartment.

Still, hearing you bring it up gives me the itch for a re-watch myself. Still a personal favorite of mine.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Avaitor on May 22, 2020, 01:15:00 PM
You could buy the LNs as eBooks if you'd like. It's honestly cheaper that way vs the physical edition, although I just greatly prefer reading from a book, and really like the quality of the hardcover. They're also releasing the books digitally first, as they just released the sixth earlier this month, and the physical editions, which do 3 at a time, are taking much slower to come out. Amazon doesn't have the next one coming out until January, and that's the place that has any confirmation of it even coming out.

Space is becoming an issue for me, though. The other reason I'm holding off on IV for now is just how big the set is. It looks mighty nice, but I need to get rid of stuff, not buy more.
Title: Re: Full Metal Panic!
Post by: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 22, 2020, 03:04:32 PM
Yeah, I'm definitely with you there. I have such an overabundance of stuff that I have had to hold back on buying more. I actually sold off more than half of my comic books last year for that very reason and have only collected them digitally since then. I also prefer physical media, but I just don't have the ergonomic space for it in my current living quarters.

I definitely want to re-read FMP someday, especially with the benefit of an official translation, but I'm into so many different series right now that it'll probably have to wait awhile.

I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the post-anime books when you get there, though. Some really great stuff goes down in the finale.