Full Metal Panic!

Publisher
ADV
Director
Koichi Chigira
Production
Gonzo Digimation, WOWOW
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
24 episodes
Year
2002

Full Metal Panic! Mission.06 & 07

By John Huxley
29th Jan 06

With the bizarrely titled semi-sequel Fumoffu soon to be released, it’s time to take a long-overdue look at the series finale of Full Metal Panic!

The sixth volume picks up the story on board the mammoth submarine Tuatha de Danaan, where a typically misguided Sousuke has taken fellow student and potential love interest Kaname for a quick summer break. Any ideas about romantic strolls across sun-drenched beaches are quickly scrapped, however, when Sousuke and the crew are called in to eliminate a nearby terrorist threat. And Kaname’s adventure holiday of a lifetime doesn’t end there as the danger quickly manifests itself on board the Tuatha de Danaan, quickly developing into a highly volatile hostage situation with Captain Testarossa and Kaname herself taking centre stage. Who ever said school was easy?

Although my brief synopsis may have you thinking the last two volumes of Full Metal Panic are chock full of action and not much else, the first episode actually starts off at a rather relaxed pace. Kaname, Testarossa and Mao take the time out to get to know one another a little better in the hot tub (no, not that like you dirty-minded thing you!), as Mao retells her first meeting with Sousuke and Kurz. This flashback-heavy episode isn’t exactly the most original of concepts, but it does provide a welcome insight into the central characters and their burgeoning relationships, in particular the previously under exposed ladies man Kurz. With a little mech-related action to bolster proceedings, this is a perfectly serviceable episode even if it does come a little too late in the series to really have much effect.

Time constraints mean the remainder of the disc is spent building up to the action-packed finale promised in the seventh and final volume. Sousuke, Kurz and Mao are to take part in one final sting operation to eliminate the terrorist threat that has been the bane of Mithrill’s existence since the very beginning of the series - the unkempt maniac with a Kaneme obsession, Gauron. However, when Gauron gives himself up a little too easily and is promptly imprisoned onboard the Tuatha de Danaan, the resulting turn of events is far from surprising.

While events escalate from here on in, I’ll leave the details for you to uncover yourself. With all major characters taking part, the intricate relationships that have been built up over the course of the series get a welcome outing after some recent solo adventures. And despite the majority of this and the final volume reserved for action-packed dramatics - which it handles very well, by the way - it also has some time for a little yet much-needed comic relief. Although perhaps not the finest adventure Full Metal Panic has had to offer, these episodes are nevertheless very well balanced and go on to ably represent exactly what had made me so enamoured with the series in the first place.

The final episodes also offers a fairly satisfactory conclusion to most of the major storylines, tying up all the loose ends without drawing events to a close and preventing room for the inevitable sequel. If I was being picky I’d highlight the obvious if not entirely exciting choice of locale for the climax, as the Tuatha de Danaan doesn’t offer the same unusual juxtaposition of a Tokyo suburb or the school yard. Removing this slight element of originality does take the edge away from Full Metal Panic, if only a little.

Still, petty complaints aside, this is really a solid end to what has been a very good series. One of the best of 2005, I only hope the up and coming sequels in 2006 can live up to the lofty expectations created by their predecessor. The unique formula certainly has plenty of legs left in it, although with two full sequels on the way I fear that it could quickly outstay its welcome if a proper balance of its many and varied elements isn’t maintained. Some of the lesser episodes of this series certainly proved that Full Metal Panic is far from infallible, and the rule of diminishing returns means that things will probably only get worse from here on in

But lets not lambast the sequels before we’ve even seen them. Yes, there were some truly god-awful episodes here and there, but in its entirety Full Metal Panic was still one of the best series of 2005. And if you’ve not had the pleasure, I’d highly recommend picking up the first series before ADV get around to releasing the sequels.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 2.0/5.1 and Japanese 2.0 audio, English subtitles, clean open/close, production sketches, Japanese piracy warning, ADV previews

Release information: UK: Out now!

Notes: Again ADV continue with their exemplary releases of Full Metal Panic discs. Simple affairs lacking dynamism, the standard covers may not be the most eye-catching but they’re the perfect accompaniments to the lighter tones of the alternate designs that reside inside the box (this time featuring Mao and Kurz). In addition, two reasonably sized posters can be found stuffed inside the boxes, each presenting a fine piece of original artwork on one side and character sketches, mecha designs and other such cool tidbits on the other. The extras on the disc may be nothing particularly special, yet the package as a whole is one that really sets an example for not only other publishers, but also ADV themselves. To my mind only their RahXephon release beats out this, although it should be noted that I’m an absolute sucker for glossy pullouts...

-- John Huxley 29th Jan 06

Full Metal Panic! Images