Project #176: Full Metal Panic Fumoffu

(Yin-Yang): Yo. *Yin-Yang drops down from the ceiling and lands in a chair* Welcome to Project Nitsuj. I am Yin-Yang wolf ninja at your service. Normally my master would be here to greet you but he’s away on business at the moment and I volunteered to do a review this week. Lucky you. A while ago my master created a list of animes he would recommend to first time watchers, while the list was good I noticed that it lacked a bit of comedy animes. Yeah Ouran is comedy and a good one but let’s be honest this anime will mostly we watched by girls. We need a comedy anime that’s neutral and is one that both guys and girls enjoy. That’s why today I’m looking at the Full Metal Panic series. Full Metal Panic often abbreviated FMP is an anime series that came out in 2002 by studio Gonzo (Rosario + Vampire). It’s based off a light novel written Shoji Gatoh in 1998-2011. The series focuses on a military raised boy named Sousuke a member of an anti-terrorist organization who gets tasked with protecting Kaname a hot-headed high school girl. While the series was a military anime the one thing everyone remembers the most about this series is the comedy. There’s no doubt about it this anime is funny because of it’s two leading characters. Sousuke was a born and raised military man who knows nothing about how the world works while Kaname is a hot-headed high school girl trying to live a normal life but has to deal with this dense military guy who keeps hanging around her. It was like a good comedy duo and today we won’t be looking at the main series but instead its spin-off Fumoffu. Coming out in 2003 this time under the work of the great Kyoto Animation (Clannad, K-ON, and Free), Fumoffu is a complete comedy based off the original series that focuses on the day to day school life of Sousuke and Kaname rather than the action and military aspect of the first season and the later third season known as Second Raid. A lot of people think Fumoffu is the third season of FMP but no it’s actually the second season. It came out in 2003 while Second Raid come out in 2005 and the creator of the series goes on record saying that Fumoffu takes place between FMP and Second Raid. Let’s get ready to see the funny antics of high school, this is FMP: Fumoffu the dub edition.

Opening and Ending Theme

“Sore Ga Ai Deshou (I Guess That’s Love)” by Mikuni Shimokawa is the opening for this anime. I have to admit this isn’t the opening I was expecting for this anime. It’s very peaceful and slow but the animation matches up perfectly with the song. The opening almost reminds me of Kino’s Journey opening. Overall I think it’s a good song but I don’t think this was the best song for this anime. The ending is “Kimi ni Fuku Kaze (A Wind That Blows You)” by Mikuni Shimokawa. Now this is an ending that fits with the series. Once again we get a peaceful song but the tempo has been picked up a bit. The melody is nice and I do like how subtle Mikuni is with her singing in this song.

Episodes 1-4

So the anime begins appropriately enough at school where a girl puts a love letter and Sousuke’s shoe locker (I guess she’s drawn to guys who destroy public property). Sousuke voiced by Chris Patton (Keima from TWGOK) notices someone has tampered with his shoe locker so he takes the appropriate actions (does he A). Open the locker normally B). Find a teacher and tell them of the suspicious activity C). Ask anyone if they saw someone temper with his locker or D). Blow the locker up like a madman. Text your answers now. *Waits a few seconds* Alright let’s see what he does: //youtu.be/tbzfWqeaTWk?t=39s, if you choose answer D congratulations you know your comedy. Also the student council president guy is also great in this anime as he pretty much encourages Sousuke’s behavior). So after finding out that the letter is a love letter Sousuke being Sousuke believes that the letter is obviously some kind of trap set for him so he leaves to prepare. Kaname voiced by Luci Christian (Nami from One Piece) and Kyoko her best friend go to the meeting spot in secret to keep an eye on the girl to make sure Sousuke doesn’t hurt her (but in truth Kaname is there out of jealousy because she obviously has a crush on Sousuke and vice-versa). The girl waits until nightfall (man she must really like this guy. I would have waited for an hour at most and then slit the bastards throat the next day for standing me up) where she gets attacked by some thugs. Kaname tries to save her but she gets captured herself and they both get saved by Sousuke who has been there the whole time hiding in the grass pointing a gun at her and waiting for her to make any suspicious moves (he has serious issues). This upsets her and she runs away crying with Sousuke wondering why she’s upset. The next day Kaname leaves lunch for him in his locker thanking him for saving her yesterday (which wouldn’t have happen if he acted like a normal person). At the start of the second half we learn that peaceful solutions are the best solutions (scene here: //youtu.be/S1Jd0OZ84QU, if that was peaceful than I’m not doing my job correctly). The leader of the thugs (who is a girl) hears about this and tells them to kidnap Kaname which they do and deliver a message personally to Sousuke (scene here: //youtu.be/hJN5_1xkeOU, this scene kills me every time). After torturing him for Kaname’s location Sousuke goes to face the thugs where once again he resolves the problem in a peaceful manner (scene here: //youtu.be/fJltpNBili8, now that was scary and cool).

In episode 2 Sousuke causes a panic at the bread stand (scene here: //youtu.be/j50s0AgyQ4I) and is forced along with Kaname and her friends to fill in until the bread people are all healed up (assuming they’ll still want to work in this school). Everyone seems okay with this but the health teacher on the other hand doesn’t like it (why? It’s not like it concerns him in anyway. Scene here: //youtu.be/ea5fXG7SmTU). So the next day they begin to sell bread which results in one of the funniest scenes in the anime (scene here: //youtu.be/mBXEHN-P_AQ?t=1m30s). In the second half of the episode spring break is right around the corner and everyone is determined to get good grades so they don’t have to take remedial classes. Sousuke borrows Kaname’s notes to finish some of his homework only to leave them at his apartment the next day (oh no) which leads to this series of events (scene here: //youtu.be/X1LhtetCSNo?t=13m29s, this is hilarious. I know it seems like I’m not doing much reviewing but really I can’t do some of these scenes justice by just talking about them. Comedy is hard to talk about. Instead, it has to be shown only then will you understand why this anime is so funny).

It’s the beach episode in episode 3. The episode starts off with the group playing whack the watermelon where Kaname is a little upset with Sousuke’s insensitivity towards her (why are you surprised by this? Scene here: //youtu.be/DXsREQTXHBs). As this is happening a young rich boy from a mansion watches Kaname through a telescope (well that’s not creepy at all now is it?). He falls in love with her at first sight and sends his butler to get her for him. She willingly goes to the mansion where we see the young master is a young boy who due to an illness isn’t allowed to leave the house (sad). The boy is cute and he does have good manners as well (and I’m sure once he matures the girls will be all over him). Sousuke goes to look for Kaname and through some investigation finds out she went into the mansion. Believing that she’s been kidnapped and will be raped he suits up (Metal Gear Solid style) and goes to infiltrate the mansion but little does he know the staff are also trained fighters just itching for a good fight. Sousuke beats the first one with ease (blank to the head for the win) and proceeds to fight past the others (scenes here: //youtu.be/ALvJ8xscNQM and //youtu.be/P8RGxgiZa7U). Sousuke finally reaches Kaname and the boy who are just having tea where the boy tries to fight Sousuke (you’re gonna get shot in the head) and gets disarmed easily where Kaname clears up the situation, Sousuke praises the boy for trying to protect Kaname from him (yeah that took guts), and Sousuke grabs Kaname and jumps out of the mansion with her saying that he was really worried about her (he does care).

In episode 4 the class is doing sketches for art class and they have chosen Sousuke to be their model (big mistake). After some advice from the art teacher, Sousuke misinterprets the advice and turns the trip into a game of life and death with Sousuke setting up traps and the rest of the students trying to catch him just so they can complete their art assignment. Through strength and teamwork (and rage lots of rage) the students are able to catch Sousuke and complete their art project by hanging him upside down in a tree. In the second half of episode 4 Kaname is stressed out and tired from all of Sousuke’s antics (not this wolf) that she falls into a funk. This however changes when she bumps into her former senpai from school and they go on a date to a theme park to have some fun and catch up with each other. Sousuke and Kyoko watch them from the shadows (dressed as the Blue’s Brothers for some reason, //youtu.be/MKZSqd5Y8nA?t=7s). When Sousuke sees that there’s no threat he decides to leave (but he’s flustered and jealous like no tomorrow. Scene here: //youtu.be/ylOqGrOTn_c, well there’s something you don’t see everyday). After that bizarre scene Kaname and her senpai go on the Ferris wheel where he outright confesses to her (wow didn’t even lead into to it or nothing. Just came out and said it. He’s got guts. Too bad he’s gonna get turned down). Of course she turns him down not knowing why she didn’t herself (it’s because you’re in love with the military boy for some odd reason) and she talks to Bonta-Kun about what she’s been through and that she’s all better now.

Episodes 5-8

Episode 5 opens up with Kaname and Kyoko running from some thugs (no doubt thanks to Kaname). The thugs catch up to them but they get saved by some high school boy who knows karate and takes them down. Even though he saved them he acts very pompous to Kaname calling her woman and not really caring about her (asshole). The next day Sousuke and Kaname are tasked with clearly out a condemned building which is infested with a heavy case of karate club students who say their high schoolers (scene here: //youtu.be/IhAcqfI_msQ). After beating all the members the club president Issei comes in and wouldn’t you know it’s the douchebag from yesterday (scene here: //youtu.be/GxyrpDupgZ0). So the building gets torn down but Issei vows to defeat Sousuke and win Kaname. In the second half Issei becomes obsessed with beating Sousuke (too obsessed if you ask me. Is there something you wanna tells us Issei?) so he challenges Sousuke to a fight on the roof but Sousuke being his normal self destroys the lockers again and along with the letter of challenge (the real question here is where or who keeps giving him all these explosives? Scene here: //youtu.be/q1KMykoodN0, man his eyesight is terrible. Also, why are you challenging him to a dual. The point of a dual isn’t to fight each other it’s to outdo the other person). So the janitor gets injured and Sousuke and Issei have to take care of him as well as do all of his work. They keep messing up and make a mess of the school but the janitor keeps believing they have the best of intentions (no they don’t) however this all changes when they feed him a koi fish (scene here: //youtu.be/YtnLA_nKzKc, damn! The gates of Hell were open and a demon came out to kill them).

In episode 6 some pervert wearing a horse mask has been stalking girls at night and giving them pony tails (that sick bastard). Kaname gets forced by the crazy policewoman from episode 2 to act as bait for the pervert and Sousuke decides to go with her as backup. Since the policewoman knows what Sousuke looks like he dawns the Bonta-Kun outfit which he remodeled into a super suit (cute, funny, and deadly all rolled into one) and gets into a fight with the policewoman who mistakes him for the pervert (in her defense Bonta-Kun does look suspicious. Scene here: //youtu.be/WkepOw6KGu4, oh look the anime turned into Pokémon). The pervert gets arrested saying he just loves pony tails and wanted every girl in the world to have them (so this is what the bronies were like in the early 2000s. Makes sense). In the second half Kaname takes Sousuke to a haunted hospital in the hopes that she’ll get a good scare out of him. They enter the hospital that really seems to be haunted which scares Kaname but not Sousuke and since she’s too stubborn to admit she’s scared to Sousuke she continues to march on into the hospital seeing all kinds of weird and bizarre things that don’t scare Sousuke at all. One of the floors gives in and they fall. Kaname lands in a pool of blood believing it’s her own but it’s revealed that’s it just paint and that the hospital isn’t at all haunted. All the bizarre things they saw were just traps setup by some local kids and a resident of the hospital who was trying to keep himself safe because people kept harassing him (well maybe if you moved out of a building that could crumble at any second people might just leave you alone).

In episode 7 the school’s rugby club is in danger of being disbanded unless they can win their next exhibition match next week. In order to help them win the student council president sends Sousuke as an extra player and Kaname as a team manager (they even have her dress up as a stereotypical team manager). They go to meet the rugby team who while large and muscular sized men are total pansies who would much rather drink tea and take care of animals and plants than play rugby (gonna be a short game). Seriously, these guys are making the Jack Brothers, Chibi Isis, and MLP: FiM look tough that’s how weak these guys are. Sousuke takes it upon himself to train the rugby club himself (though truth be told I’m not entirely sure he knows what he’s doing. Scene here: //youtu.be/HEJWyxicvIo, Full Metal Jacket quotes. If you ever wanna find good anime quotes to insult others that is the anime for you). The day of the match arrives and it’s not a rugby match, it’s a massacre (scene here: //youtu.be/_XKiiLjvGr8?t=19m39s).

Episode 8 is the beginning of a 2 partner. The military group that Sousuke works for is having maintenance done on their base. Their captain Tessa a young girl around Sousuke’s age who happens to have a crush on him decides to take a vacation by going to the same school as him and live the life of a regular high school girl (and try to get inside Sousuke’s pants). The commander (Tessa’s dad) tells Sousuke that he is to watch over her since she’ll be sharing the same apartment as him and should anything happen to her such as injury or anything shameless he’ll kill Sousuke (he doesn’t say it but that’s what he’s basically telling him). So Sousuke overstresses at school worrying about Tessa, Kaname gets jealous and keeps her distance away from Sousuke, and finally Sousuke passes out from all the stress and has to be taken care of by Kaname and Tessa (you have my permission to jump his bones in his sleep Tessa. You too Kaname).

Episodes 9-12

Episode 9 is the second part of Tessa’s vacation. We get a quick montage of her time at school, taking up a part-time job, interacting with others, Mao showing up for support, and of course her trying to sneak into the same bed with Sousuke. In the final days of her trip the whole gang goes to the hot springs with Kurz another member of the military there for support and of course what hot spring is complete without fanservice and of course trying to peep on the girls (scene here: //youtu.be/ytBWaVAjXkQ). The boys want to peep but Sousuke and Mao have rigged the place with auto-turrets and landmines so peeping is next to impossible (I need to start doing this with the master). But the boys refuse to give up and launch one final charge to peep (scene here: //youtu.be/oE3cv35ah-U, epic win to epic fail in just a few seconds). So the trip ends peacefully, Tessa returns to her duties, and life returns back to normal for Sousuke and Kaname.

In episode 10 Sousuke and Kaname learn that their friend Ren (secretary of the student council) is daughter of a yakuza boss (good luck dating her). Her family’s gang is in a turf war with another gang who is trying to muscle into their territory since their boss is sick. Kaname lets it slip that she can summon Bonta-Kun (Sousuke in disguise) so one of the underlings begs Kaname if she can summon him to be their instructor. She and Sousuke decide to do this and Sousuke becomes their instructor training them how to fight and the proper way to deal with situations (military style of course). One day the rival gang kidnaps Kaname and Ren and it’s up to Sousuke and Ren’s gang to save them in the most embarrassing way possible (scene here: //youtu.be/vj1SzURv0uM). So the girls get rescued by the Bonta-Kuns (I don’t know what’s more embarrassing. Losing to a bunch of mascots or being rescued by a bunch of mascots) and march home.

In episode 11 the school is short on club rooms and all the clubs keep having club activities in different locations. Like the photo club is using the softball storage locker, the karate club has taken over the biology lab, and the rock band club is just practicing in a class room (let anarchy reign throughout the school). Luckily, the social science club (these guys have no life) say they’re willing to give their club room up however they’ll only give the room to the club that participates in their little experiment. The social science club is hosting a flirting experiment and whichever club can attract the most members of the opposite sex wins the club room. Sousuke volunteers to help out the photo club since he destroyed their perverted photos (good job Sousuke) and makes a bet with some guys that if Sousuke can’t get one girl he has to skinny dip in the park’s pond (camera! I need a camera). The competition begins and as you would expect Sousuke mistakes the competition as an excuse to capture women (so this is how he gets his dates?) until Kaname pulls him to the side and explains to him what flirting is (I can’t believe she has to teach him what flirting is. Scene here: //youtu.be/kFsXg-sa-H8, it’s alright Sousuke I’m not good at flirting either. Instead, I just knock my love interest out and force him on a date with me). After that talk Sousuke tries to flirt and fails miserably (it’s kinda embarrassing to watch). At the end the karate club wins the room and Sousuke gets zero girls and has to skinny dip in front of everyone (got the camera ready and everything so go ahead Sousuke). Right before he takes his dip Kaname shows up wearing makeup and dressed in a kimono pretending to be Sousuke’s date and walks away with him (I hate you so much right now Kaname. But still good save and she does look nice).

In the final episode we end the season like they started the season with one big laugh. Sousuke receives a biological weapon thermos in the mail by accident and brings it to school (I’m not surprised. He’s got guns and explosives biological is only natural. But this does beg question, what the hell is school security doing?). One of the students opens it and unleashes the virus in the classroom resulting in out sorts of panic and hilarity (scene here: //youtu.be/F43N38EAPLE, //youtu.be/Gkgdf1yiPO8, and //youtu.be/CsWoc0ODIik, the best part about all of this is how straight they play it. They really do make you believe they’re all gonna die). After everyone leaves the room Issei gets back up and demands to fight Sousuke one last time (scene here: //youtu.be/Nl5LVYrF8xo, winner, dimwit). Sousuke than picks up Kaname and takes her to the nurse’s office (couldn’t you find a more romantic area Sousuke?) and it gets revealed that the virus isn’t deadly or lethal it just eats away certain clothing and dissolves it into nothing for 2 hours (we’re calling it Virus E. E for ecchi). So nobody dies, the school is pretty much naked, and everyone is pissed off at Sousuke and is searching for him so they can kill him.

Final Thoughts

Hilarious! Honest to God hilarious! From beginning to end you will laugh your ass off in every episode. The chemistry between Sousuke and Kaname is great, the slapstick is great, the dialog is great, the stories are great. It’s just a great series from beginning to end that keeps you laughing. While not big on the action or drama as it’s predecessor you won’t mind it at all. In fact, this anime is accessible to everyone. Even those who haven’t seen the first season can watch this season and not be lost in the slightest. The animation is nothing too impressive and at times it can be a little jagged but it’s not offsetting or distracting. The music doesn’t leave that much of an impact on me either. It’s not all that memorable and is the one thing you’ll remember the least about this anime because you’ll be too busy laughing at everything else. Honestly, this is hands down my favorite comedy. It was funny the first time I watched it. It was funny the second time I watched it and it’s even funnier the fifth time I watched it.

Final Score

The final score for this anime is an obvious and very well deserved 10/10 with a must watch paw print of approval. If you watch this series and don’t laugh in the slightest than something is seriously wrong with you. It is impossible to watch this and not laugh at it. I know there are two more seasons of Full Metal Panic out there. Will I have a chance to review them? Don’t know. I’ll talk it over with the master and see what he thinks. But definitely check this season of FMP out. Well, thanks for reading and I’ll you next time on Project Nitsuj.

*Meanwhile with Nitsuj, he finds him back in his house and room*

(Nitsuj): Ohhh~ my head.

*Gets up from off the floor and leaves his room heading down the stairs*

(Nitsuj): Looks like the jump was a success. Now where is he?

*As Nitsuj searches the house he notices a laptop on the couch and goes to pick it up*

(Nitsuj): Well it couldn’t hurt to see what he’s working on now could it?

*Nitsuj opens the laptop and inputs the correct password to log in where the first thing that pops up is a word document titled Journey to the East*

(Nitsuj): Journey to the East? What’s that all about.

*As Nitsuj sits there wondering what this means in walks the man that can help him*

(Nitsuj): Hi there.

(Justin): Oh my God.

To be continued in Journey to the East. Coming out this Friday.

*All videos, clips, and music are not owned by me and belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved*

Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment in the comment section or send your comments, feedback, or request to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com

 

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