Full Metal Panic! - Mission 01 (with Series Box)

Writer and director Gatou and Chigira not only pull off, but master the art of mixing giant robots, secret agents, battles in the Middle East and goofy high school adventures all in one pot. Think of it as Evangelion meets Spriggan meets GTO, without all the super heavy philosophical flavoring.

The first third of this series (meaning the all the episodes in this box set) deal mostly with Sousuke, a sergeant in the super-secret Mithril organization, as he tries to pass himself off as a high school student to make guarding Chidori much easier. Not so fast. Not only is Chidori the school's most popular girl, Sousuke isn't your regular 16-year-old either. He's a hardened veteran, fighting in the Middle East since he was eight; he has tremendous fighting skills, nerds out and pilots an Armed Slave, the giant, cloaking mechas that every army in the world now uses. And it shows as the class watches slack-jawed as he introduces himself as "Sergeant Sagara Sousuke" and lists off his interests as Armed Slaves and military tactical magazines. He realizes his error and finally corrects, reluctantly, by pretending to be a fan of music equivalent to Britney Spears. Backups Mao and Weber laugh the whole time, monitoring from a nearby Armed Slave and monitoring station.

This type of hilarity easily carries the first third of the show, never getting old, no matter how many times the principal doesn't realize that the guns Sousuke keeps bringing to school aren't toys. All the characters stay true to form: Mao and Weber as the older brother/sister types, trying to get Sousuke to fit in; Chidori as popular girl who would never date, but seems intrigued by Sousuke; and Sousuke as the dysfunctional teen, ever paranoid that everyone's trying to attack Chidori.

Which, generally, they are. The series turns much darker as the episodes crack into the teens. Turns out Chidori is a "Whispered," psychics blessed with an in-depth knowledge of "Black Technology"--of course the most valuable information ever--that they cannot comprehend, but have known since birth. That being the case, everyone from the KGB and various terrorist sects wants to get their hands on Chidori.

Enter Gaul, the main villain of the series, survivor of multiple explosions, stab wounds and even a direct sniper shot to the temple by a young Sousuke. This is one of the vilest, wickedest villains ever: ruthless, perverted, highly-skilled and nearly invincible. If Hannibal Lecter was ever allowed to pilot a giant armed robot, his name would be Gaul. Sousuke dispatches most everyone he comes across, but Gaul proves an eternal thorn in his side, right up to the series' climactic end.

The art, particularly in this first boxed set, is incredible. Although the art goes from a 10 to a 9.7 from the first set to the rest of the series, it's a hardly noticeable aspect. CG effects are in quite a few of the shots, especially of the Mithril moving super-submarine base the ToyBox. The fights are ninja-quick and visually dazzling. The music is one of its weaker points, leaning on poppy, guitar-riffed backgrounds, but this isn't a bother either.

It's just the right mix of things; enough tragedy to balance out the comedy, enough fighting to balance out the romance and enough character development to balance out the technology. It's a very surface-level story, not heavily-splashed with philosophy as Evangelion is. The series is self-containing and provides closure, but doesn't close itself out to the possibility that another Full Metal season could be in the works. Recommended for all anime fans and newbies.


silly with good production values   December 4, 2004
D. Tran (Seattle)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I've only watched this DVD and a couple episodes of Mission 02, but I was not really that impressed. Maybe it gets better. The good things about it are the visuals and some good character interactions. I really don't understand why people are rating it so high. The plot is..well..childish. And while it may be geared for teenagers, it doesn't mean you have to make it unbelievable and cheesy. It's almost as if the writers are trying to expunge all their schoolboy fantasies in one cathartic script.

Sousuke is a teenager in an elite military organization that is sent to high school to protect a beautiful girl named Kaname, who harbors secret abilities and is a possible target of kidnapping. By the KGB. The KGB. I was waiting for the sneering moustached villain to show up, and he does, except with a bristle 5 o'clock shadow. And military and robotic technology has progressed enough to have giant piloted robots, Arm slaves, and cloaking devices.

Sousuke is a dangerous and cunning fighter with an efficient and professional organization behind him. Which, however, fails to tell him how to act or not act in high school. Like not bringing guns to school. And that thinks sending in a 50 foot robot, albeit cloaked, is good way to go undercover. It's just so cheesy.

I wanted to like to the show I really did. But what was over top were the peek-a-boo shots of Kaname's [...], legs, or [...]. What are the writers 13?! It's just too much hormone-filled school boy fantasy to even have fun with. And the funny parts are just too predictable to be comical.

But they do a good job of cliffhanging the episodes to make you want to see what's going to happen. And the characters are likable enough that you're not too bored. But there are better series out there.



Wonderfully executed action/comedy   August 15, 2003
Steven Myers (SF Bay Area)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Full Metal Panic is not the height of originality. It doesn't try to be. In feel, it's similar to other shows by the studio Gonzo, such as Vandread, and focuses much more on execution than originality.

Full Metal Panic is an alternate-world science fiction show in which the major powers use giant robots to fight, and a secret organization called Mithril fights terrorism and illegal drugs. The episodes on this first disc (of 7) move easily and smoothly between this serious aspect, and the show's comedy side, in which teenage Mithril sergeant Sousuke Sagara is ordered to guard high school girl Kaname Chidori without her knowledge. Sousuke is a great hero--as perfectly competent in his own military arena as he is incompetent in the social setting of high school. Kaname, who is the beautiful girl that no one wants as a girlfried because of her temper, is the perfect match for him. As is typical of these shows, we see this immediately, while the characters do not. But, as I said, FMP is not about originality.

If you want mind-bending shows with delusions of grandeur, FMP is not your show. But, if you want an enjoyable romp with likeable and attractive characters and an enjoyable setting, FMP is your show. This is what FMP is trying to be, and where it succeeds.


Finally!   November 27, 2003
Jonathan Odwyer (Glenside, PA United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

At first, the title for this anime seems a bit silly. Well, please believe me when I say that the series is the opposite of that. The series combines amazing action with a solid plot. Lemme break this down for yah:

Animation: Top quality is a phrase, I feel, best sums up this section. It's perfect in every form. It really brings the action scenes to life.

Sub/Dub: Honestly, I am a dub guy, but the subs are great. The dubbing, however, is amazing. This title offers a giant leap in the quality of voice acting.

Plot: The plot swings back and forth from serious to slap stick through out the many episodes I have seen. I find the underlying subplots really balance well with the romantic notes that start to appear as you progress through this series.

Sound/Music: I love the music score from this. It, like the rest of the qualities, is quite proffesional. The music doesn't inhibit the scenes at all. Sound quality is amazing as well. Combat really comes to life with it.

Overall: A definate keeper and series for the ages. Only draw back is that sometimes things take a full volume to escalate. With a second season coming soon, it is worth the hard earned money.