Being someone who has searched the web pretty much daily (for almost three years) for official news concerning a new FMP! season I'm not going to get my hopes up yet. I won't pop the champagne until an official statement is out. Kadokawa - the company that spent the last few years trolling the Haruhists - are the ones who decide when and if another FMP! season is produced. Unless they feel that investing in an FMP! sequel will earn them money nothing will happen. I'd love for this rumor to be true though.
If it turns out that another season is in fact on the way I sure as HELL hope that it's a Main Plot novel adaptation, not irrelevant sidestory crap like Fumoffu. The best part (by far) of FMP! lies ahead as only 5 out of 10 Main Plot novels have been animated so far. 5 out of 11 if we include the soon to be released 11:th Main Plot novel that is supposedly going to be the final one. Gatoh (the author) promised us that the next novel will be the long-awaited climax of FMP! but I guess there's a slight possibility that another one will follow. Anyhow, due to the content of the remaining novels it's very hard to find a good spot in the story where they could wrap up a season and go on an indefinite hiatus...
The novel that's next in line to be animated is the 6:th one - "Full Metal Panic: Odoru Very Merry Christmas" and its story arc pretty much comes to a conclusion. They could release it as an OVA or a movie without having it end with a cliffhanger but it's more probable that it'll simply be the first arc of the new season (if it's ever produced). After that though, the story gets darker and way more serious as FMP!'s "real" main plot is introduced in the seventh novel. That story arc is still ongoing today. This is why many FMP! fans have always believed that nothing will be animated until Gatoh has written the final novel. If the soon to be released 11:th novel turns out to be the final one (it probably is IMO) I guess there's a slight chance a new season is being planned as we speak. We can all hope at least, but I'm personally trying hard not to. :P
I wonder how they would go about adapting the remaining novels into anime though. The two seasons that exist today (not referring to Fumoffu as it's nothing but side story material) covered the first five novels and as it looks today six novels remain:
Novel #1 - "Full Metal Panic: Tatakau Boy Meets Girl"
- covered by FMP! episodes 1-7
Novel #2 - "Full Metal Panic: Hashiru One Night Stand"
- covered by FMP! episodes 9-12
Novel #3 - "Full Metal Panic: Yureru Into The Blue"
- covered by FMP! episodes 18 + 20-24
Novel #4 - "Full Metal Panic: Owaru Day by Day (Upper Volume)"
- covered by FMP!TSR! episodes 5-7
Novel #5 - "Full Metal Panic: Owaru Day by Day (Lower Volume)"
- covered by FMP!TSR 7-13
Novel #6 - "Full Metal Panic: Odoru Very Merry Christmas"
- has not been animated
Novel #7 - "Full Metal Panic: Tsuduku On My Own"
- has not been animated
Novel #8 - "Full Metal Panic: Moeru One Man Force"
- has not been animated
Novel #9 - "Full Metal Panic: Tsudou Make My Day"
- has not been animated
Novel #10 - "Full Metal Panic: Semaru Nick of Time"
- has not been animated
Novel #11 - Supposedly the "soon" to be released final novel
- has not been animated
As you can see FMP! episodes 8, 13-17 and 19 did not cover Main Plot novel material. They contain some side story elements and anime original material that Gonzo felt like adding themselves.
The same goes for FMP!TSR! episodes 1-4. Gatoh added this when novels 4 and 5 were to be animated by Kyoto Animation. Gatoh and KyoAni are good friends and he has even been involved in other KyoAni productions. He wrote episode scripts and helped with the directing (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu episode 11 and Lucky Star episodes 5, 12 and 22).
Anyhow, this means that the first five novels were covered by a total of 26 episodes which just so happens to be the standard length of a 2cour season. I don't know if they could finish FMP! off with a new 2cour season though since 6 novels (at least) remain and they wouldn't be able to add any side story elements at all (or any brand new material from the author a'la FMP!TSR! episodes 1-4 for that matter). I kind of doubt it.
So, I have no idea how they would decide to go about adapting the remaining novels into anime but it shouldn't be a problem after all. KyoAni are insanely good at anime adaptations and given the fact they successfully managed to turn Clannad into an anime with a somewhat linear timeline (those who have played the game should know just how incredibly hard this must have been) this should be a walk in the park really.
By the way, a good thing about the content of the remaining novels is that IF they decide to animate some more FMP! Main Plot material they'll pretty much HAVE to see it through to the end, unless they decide to do an anime original ending... which is highly unlikely since KyoAni have always been very faithful to the source material they're working with and many employees are FMP! fans.
Crap, I've got to stop rambling. Let's leave it at that. I'm still set on not getting my hopes up but I would lie if I claimed that I'm not curious about this rumor. :P |
MeatroseOct 31, 2009 9:03 PM