Full Metal Panic! is cute. It's a series where you have to appreciate many of its flaws to be fond of it. Which might not be an easy task for many viewers, myself used to be one of them as I discovered it during 2022 and in my first time viewing it I did not like it very much. Here's a little summarize before going through my opinions: Full Metal Panic! is a story about a young sergeant named Sousuke going on a mission to protect Kaname Chidori (a teenager who unconsciously holds breakthrough scientific knowledge and is considered a "Whispered") from intelligence agencies and other organizations pursuing her abilities. And from there, many shenanigans between the two main protagonists will begin. To begin with, I though its inconsistency was way to evident as the tone constantly jumps between "intense" action moments and silly slapstick comedy bits; I though it was trying to hard at combining many different genres all at once; some character interactions were simply loud and obnoxious; the overall animation was a mixed bag as it goes from fluent to stiff in almost every episode, notice how I used the "" on intense because it was hard to take the action scenes seriously when the animation quality wasn't top notch. The main reason of why I was checking it in the first place was to just speed running it in order to watch the next two seasons produced by Kyoto Animation that were more well received then season 1. I let these issues biting my throat through out the majority of the run time and I came up with a simple mind that FMP! was a product of its time and it doesn't hold up with a lot of anime that were coming out in future decades, and in a way I still kinda hold to this statement. But then, a year later, something in mind told me to give it a second chance, now that I was fully aware about the craziness of the first season I decided to take it easy and having a more "easy-going" experience this time around, you can say I had a bit of "development" about my opinions on FMP!
A stable negative for this anime is the pacing. The plot is centered around Sousuke keeping Chidori safe but season 1 has five different side events without even mentioning the filler/school episodes, all in a 24 episodes' space. There're to many things happening in this season that connecting to any minor character is pretty limited, and when some of these guys will slowly pass away during battles they all probably go pass your mind in minutes. That stated, don't go into this series waiting for earth shuddering events that will scar you for days, if you want to take the war side of FMP! seriously then you'll come out disappointed.
The characters grown on me. Sousuke is a strange guy: he has enough intelligence and experience to learn about how mechs are structured and how good they are in fighting mechanics; he is skilled in combat techniques; hes has good knowledge on weapons; he knows how to handle the situation even when it seems all desperate, he's a genius in many circumstances but acts like a complete buffoon when he attempts school to keep an eye on Chidori, and being incapable to behave normally with other schoolmates. Even when it was done on purpose I kept on thinking how nonsensical was this aspect of Sousuke, and I'm sure I'm not the only person in this regard, many would find his half personality cringeworthy and for honestly good reasons, personally I got used to see him being the imbecile for comedy purposes and I think his development with Chidori's feelings helps him being more generally likable. Speaking of Chidori... she's the tsundere of the series, y'know the type of girl who keeps on abusing verbally and physically the main character while also somehow forming a lovely relationship whit him. If that is not the kind of girl that you'd like to see in an anime then she's definitely not for you, but I liked Chidori. I think that her abusing the shit out of Sousuke is pretty justified since I already talked about how that dumb characteristic of him causes awkward and chaotic problems with other students, therefore her being the meany that she is it's the most charming aspect you'll find in FMP, there are simply more egotistical girls in other shows then her and she seems fun to be around next to her closest friends, that is as long as you're not a Sousuke. Finally we have the lovable Testarossa, or Tessa to put it briefly, she's the clumsy Captain of the revered TDD-1 'Tuatha de Danaan' submarine. She's a cute hottie and I dig her clumsiness, she doesn't have significant development outside of her standing more serious and responsible in her role as a captain, but it's nice having her simply interacting with her loved ones as she's caring and gentle with everybody, and I very much appreciate how badass as a captain she is capable of being during the last act with the final Gauron's attempt to attack, I also like how close she's trying to be close with Sousuke, kinda giving the fans a comparison on who should be considered best girl between Chidori and Tessa, in other worlds the "waifu wars" that was trendy in the mid 2000', I kinda miss those silly arguments. As for other characters, well I don't have much willing to describe point blank what everyone else is worth about, Kurz is funny dude when it comes to the "pervy gags", but that's about it. Everybody else serve their purpose. The worst character might be Gauron, as a villain he kinda just sucks, there's no motive out of him to be found, he has like two or three cool scenes but most of the time he keeps on losing with whatever plans he's trying to accomplish, and to this day I still don't understand how could this motherfucker survive a direct head shot from young Sousuke equipped with a rifle during a war. So this is where I'm at: Sousuke, Chidori, and Tessa are three pleasant characters and they are good enough to carry the all cast and make the story kind of interesting.
Adding some more things to say animation wise, I still stand by saying and it has aged poorly, studio Gonzo doesn't have a big reputation for stable animation and solid adaptations, they're below average in that regard, but there is one thing that helps me like the aesthetics of FMP! and that is the character design and art style, I really like both. The characters are really expressive, they give a sense of emotion for any kind of situation, Chidori in particular is cartoonishly (if that makes sense) expressive and I love it, her smile and angry face shine from miles away. While Sousuke looks pretty generic compared to many other anime male protagonists, every other character has a distinct look to them, my personal favorite is Tessa, I love her adorable and innocent look combined with her long silver/platinum hair.
Looking on the general soundtrack for FMP, it's rather decent, good to listening it once but it isn't that memorable. However, the OP "Tomorrow" and ED "Karenai Hana" are a blast and I love coming back to listen to then every single time, they're overall (not counting Tassa) my favorite part of the series and they're incredibly nostalgic. Like many theme songs of Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky☆Star they're time capsules; once I listen to them they bring me back memories of when the early internet was a lot safer and fun to engage. Tomorrow along with the OP for Fumoffu! are perfect to listen for long and relaxing walk among the hills and long fields of grass, I don't think many can relate to that but I'm lucky enough to enjoy these peaceful songs on fresh air and beautiful countryside scenery. Tomorrow helps me to remind that things will get better, maybe not as fast as we'd like but eventually, as long as you're hopeful, life will be great.
Yes I spent hours on writing about an anime that has long lost its relevance for a review that won't get much attention because of that. Full Metal ~~Alchemist~~ Panic! is dumb fun, nothing deep or special, just simple and coherent FUN. It might not hold big value anymore especially when you consider another show like Gurren Lagann that takes the Mecha/comedy/adventure genres all in one story but has amazing execution and is perfectly consistent from beginning to end, but either way Panic! is worth checking out. The anime died without a conclusive ending but if it holds your interest you can still check the light novel that have finished over a decade ago.
