Full Metal Panic!

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Alternative Titles

English: Full Metal Panic!

Synonyms: FMP, Fullmetal Panic!

Japanese: フルメタル・パニック！

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 24

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jan 8, 2002 to Jun 18, 2002

Premiered: Winter 2002

Broadcast: Tuesdays at 18:30 (JST)

Producers: Kadokawa Shoten

Licensors: ADV Films, Funimation

Studios: Gonzo

Source: Light novel

Genres: Action, Military, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Mecha

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 7.67¹ (scored by 197,871 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1099²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #292

Members: 393,599

Favorites: 4,332

7.67

Ranked #1099Popularity #292Members 393,599

Winter 2002TVGonzo

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Episodes: /24

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Synopsis

Equipped with cutting-edge weaponry and specialized troops, a private military organization named Mithril strives to extinguish the world's terrorism and all threats to peace on earth. The organization is powered by the "Whispered," individuals who possess intuitive knowledge and the remarkable ability to create powerful devices and machinery.

Seventeen-year-old Sousuke Sagara, a sergeant working for Mithril, has been assigned to protect Kaname Chidori, a Whispered candidate. He is ordered to join her high school class and be as close to her as possible to prevent her from falling into enemy hands—that is, if he can safely blend in with their fellow classmates without revealing his true identity.

Sousuke, who was raised on a battlefield and has very little knowledge of an average high school student's lifestyle, must adapt to a normal school life to safeguard Kaname. However, enemy forces have already begun making their move, and Sousuke is about to find out that the adversary coming for the Whispered girl may be a lot more familiar than he expects.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Full Metal Panic! adapts the first 3 novels of Shoji Gatoh's light novel series of the same title, as well as content from the first 3 novels of the spin off series Full Metal Panic! Tanpenshuu. Episodes 14 to 17 are an anime original story.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Full Metal Panic!, Full Metal Panic!, Full Metal Panic! Tanpenshuu
Side story:	Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
Sequel:	Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
Summary:	Full Metal Panic! Movie 1: Boy Meets Girl, Full Metal Panic! Movie 2: One Night Stand, Full Metal Panic! Movie 3: Into the Blue

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Sagara, Sousuke

Main

Seki, Tomokazu
Japanese

Chidori, Kaname

Main

Yukino, Satsuki
Japanese

Testarossa, Teletha

Main

Yukana
Japanese

Mao, Melissa

Supporting

Neya, Michiko
Japanese

Weber, Kurz

Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro
Japanese

Gauron

Supporting

Tanaka, Masahiko
Japanese

Kalinin, Andrei Sergeivich

Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio
Japanese

Tokiwa, Kyouko

Supporting

Kimura, Ikue
Japanese

AL

Supporting

Murozono, Takehiro
Japanese

Kazama, Shinji

Supporting

Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Chigira, Kouichi

Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Screenplay

Tsuruoka, Youta

Sound Director

Tsuchiya, Hiroyuki

Episode Director

Ueda, Kouji

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"Tomorrow" by Mikuni Shimokawa

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Ending Theme

"Karenai Hana" by Mikuni Shimokawa

More reviews

Reviews

Apr 10, 2008

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

TheLlama (All reviews)

325 people found this review helpful

When I first started watching this series, I had very high hopes for this, due to many of my friends saying great things about this series. You can safely say that I was not disappointed.

This series follows a member of the Mithril organization, Sousuke Sagara. He has been assigned with the task of protecting a high school girl, Chidori Kaname, from terrorists and other bad people. To do this, he has to enroll in her high school. Of course, when Sousuke is a stiff with no experience or knowledge whatsoever when it comes to socializing with other people, trouble is predestined to arise.

The story read more

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Jul 31, 2008

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

YoungVagabond (All reviews)

207 people found this review helpful

What, that's it?

Despite not being much of a mecha fan, I decided to check this series out after a lot of strong recommendations from friends and online sites alike. I was expecting a compelling story, jaw-dropping action scenes, and decent humor. Those predictions went zero for three.

Instead, I got a series which seems to have no clue what kind of story it wants to tell. Is it a romance story framed around action and comedy? Or is it an action series with comedy and romance thrown in? This synthesis can work, as long as the director is talented enough, and as long as putting these different elements together actually makes sense. Here, it doesn't.

It's ridiculously contrived; there's no logical reason for a secret military organization to protect a Japanese schoolgirl, there's no explanation for why they would do so by any means other than kidnapping her, and there's no attempt at justifying a valuable military agent being used for that purpose. The whole pay-off here is supposed to be the humor in a naive member of the Special Forces going undercover in a Japanese high school.

Now, if this set-up was treated as something absurd in its own right, with the fourth wall being broken, it could work. But therein lies the problem. It's treated seriously, just like a 14 year old, pink-haired, cute girl with giant eyes and a soft voice being the supreme commander of our secret military organization is treated with stone-faced sincerity, also.

Then, the viewer is suddenly expected to care when the show takes a serious turn, and our Japanese schoolgirl heroine Chidori is kidnapped by an evil terrorist. It just doesn't work together; either stick with a humorous, light-hearted comedy approach, or go with a suspenseful action series instead.

Worse still, neither the comedy, action, nor the romance in this series is particularly good.

The humor was bland. A lot of canned, frequently repeated jokes from live action films, and too much of it based on a clueless military protagonist who doesn't understand civilians, a running gag which wears thin quickly. Most disappointingly, the show at no point mocks its own absurd premise.

The cast is filled with shallow, cliche characters, stereotypical and retarded anime conventions (high school girls beat up a highly trained military operative), and perplexing and unreasonable events. One can't make a solid romance in such circumstances, either.

The action was marginal at best, and an awful, mailed in job at the worst. The hand-to-hand fighting was stiff, awkward, and is worse than at least half the action anime from the nineties, let alone this decade. The mecha action was worse than any Gundam series from the mid 90's onward.

The positives of the series is that it has good pacing and at least tries to inject some comedy into the work. The animation is also nice. That's about it. Don't believe the rest of the hype.

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Feb 1, 2009

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

ColdBeans (All reviews)

171 people found this review helpful

STORY
8/10
Basically, Sargeant Sagara Sousuke, from the anti-terrorism organization Mithril, goes undercover to protect Chidori Kaname, a girl who holds the key to "Black Technology" and is targeted by a terrorist and mastermind criminal. The twist is that Sousuke is socially retarded and he enjoys using his military knowledge in everyday life which causes all kinds of problems and hilarious situations. This definitely was not one of the more believable shows I’ve encountered. How could one of the world’s most feared and professional military units have a 16 year old commander who tolerates abuse from her peers and subordinates? If you can get past this (I did), the storyline was pretty good.

ANIMATION
7/10
As expected from GONZO, the animation was good. The character and mecha designs weren’t the most original I’ve encountered. One good point worth mentioning was the contrasting choices of colors. The battle/war scenes were expectedly dark and brooding, whilst the naïve and cheerful school environment was vibrantly bright. It was very nice and clean, and very colorful with the variety of characters' hair colors.The unimpressove cg for the submarine was the only thing that bothered me though. Most of the animation was pretty good, but it didn't really leave a big impression on me.

MUSIC
8/10
The OP and ED were extremely pleasant songs. The ED was especially serene. Even though I didn’t listen to it in full after all 24 episodes, it definitely was near to that. The voice actors also really fit their characters. From the emotional Chidori to serious Sousuke.

CHARACTERS
9/10
This is the forte of FMP. Each and every character is distinct and very likeable. It would be hard not to find a character in this show that you would not like. Also, the chemistry between Chidori and Sousuke really drives the plot forward. My favorite characters have to be Chidori, Sousuke and Testarossa. Chidori looks like an angel but can be a tough opponent the next moment. Enter Sousuke the professional teenage soldier who has no clue how to live as a normal student. Hence he keeps seeing a terrorist in almost every person, leading him to save her many times from things harmless. It was a joy to watch their relationship develop. I can't quite put my finger on why I like Testarossa but her being there added something to both Chidori and Sousuke characters that would otherwise be missing. She is also a solid character by herself, caring for her crew and trying to do the right thing but she is clumsy to the core and I suspect a hopeless romantic.

ENJOYMENT
9/10
Great series and theres still more! Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid still awaits and it has a bundle of surprises just like this series. I couldn't stop watching this series even if my arms were cut off. Pretty grotesque but thats how fun this anime was. I loved the bipolar nature of this series. One episode a light-hearted high school comedy, the next a serious action adventure.

I would recommend this without any hesitation. A fun, enjoyable and entertaining watch.

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Mar 24, 2007

24 of 24 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

infinity (All reviews)

88 people found this review helpful

-- [ Full Metal Panic :: Eps: 24 :: Overall: 9 ] -

Full Metal Panic. Now, this is something which you will want to see! It's a very good mixture of humour, action and suspense. In fact, it balanced everything very well so that the anime is neither too heavy, nor too light. It's serious, without being too serious, if you see what I mean. Well, there aren't many things to criticize about Full Metal Panic (FMP), rather there are many things to compliment. Up to now, I found nothing particularly bad. Save perhaps for the lack of details here and there. But if you read more

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