Full Metal Panic!

[Spark Of Spirit]

 

Now this is great news!

[Avaitor]

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.

[Foggle]

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!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Glad to hear from you, Foggle!

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.

[Avaitor]

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.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

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.

[Foggle]

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.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

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.

[Dr. Insomniac]

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 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.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

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.

[Dr. Insomniac]

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.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

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.

[Foggle]

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.

[Dr. Insomniac]

and they have strong ties to Rick Santorum, which is bizarre.

Any evidence of "strong ties" I could find seem strongly exaggerated, 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.

[Nel_Annette]

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.