That was one hell of a “Tsuzuku”…
A new Full Metal Panic episode after almost 13 years is an event whose significance obviously threatens to overshadow the content of the episode itself (spoiler: that was very good). It’s not just a matter of a very popular franchise coming back after an interminable absence – which would put the kettle of anticipations to the boil to begin with – because there’s the deep-seated neuroses of the FMP fandom itself to consider as well. Don’t get me wrong, studios matter – as a fan of the Sangatsu manga I can attest to that. But the situation with FMP is pretty unique.
I’ll say this much – as a die-hard fan of Rurouni Kenshin, I would be thrilled to hear of any announcement of an anime continuation (not that there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of that now) by pretty much any studio except Shaft. But somehow, Full Metal Panic (which actually started its anime life at Gonzo) and Kyoto Animation have become so intertwined that it’s hard to know where one starts and the other ends. The problem is, in part, that many devotees of the KyoAni versions are KyoAni fans as much as FMP fans – and for them, FMP represents the pinnacle of the studio’s work. They can’t let it go, so the announcement that a new series Invisible Victory was coming to Xebec was greeted not with exultation, but largely anger.
To me that’s sad, more than anything. I confess I’m not a die-hard fan of this franchise – I’ve enjoyed the anime versions but never considered them great enough to have a profound sense of ownership. So yeah, it’s easy for me to say “chill”, but damn – be happy for cripes sake. The fact is that Kyoto Animation is largely uninterested in doing anything (at least for TV) that’s not a wholly-owned part of their perpetual self-promotion machine, so stuff like FMP and Hyouka is always going to be last on their priority list. It is, as they say, what it is.
Mind you, I do understand some skepticism about Xebec, whose recent track record is both sparse and inconsistent. And if this premiere had been a disaster that would be a real shame – but it wasn’t. Full Metal Panic is back, and if the first episode is any indication it’s in damn good hands. There was a time when Xebec (who’s a sister company of Production I.G. by the way – just like Wit) doing this sort of classic sci-fi would have been considered as normal as the sun rising in the East. They put a very solid Gainax-Khara stalwart director (Nakayama Katsuichi) in charge, and left the original creator, Gatoh Shoji in charge of scripts (as he was with Hyouka). There was never any reason to think Xebec wasn’t treating Invisible Victory as their top priority, and that shows in the first episode.
Setting aside the obviously singular Fumoffu (which is actually this franchise’s anime pinnacle IMHO), what I want from Full Metal Panic is for it to be retro, timeless, and classic – and the premiere of Invisible Victory was exactly that. It looked really good – old-school without being cheap, and the CGI was judiciously-applied and reasonably integrated. There wasn’t much preamble or recap, but once I more or less remembered who the chess pieces were the narrative flowed smoothly. This is what anime sci-fi looked and sounded like 15 years ago – and that’s exactly what I would have hoped to see happen.
There is another side to that, though. I think Full Metal Panic is an object lesson in both the pluses and minuses of bringing back seiyuu from a long-ago series, and a real test of the “ever 17” mindset in voice-acting. I happen to think Seki Tomokazu is a great seiyuu, one of the best ever – but he does sound kind of ridiculous playing Sagara Sousuke. Yukino Satsuki does better – it’s easier with female seiyuu, generally speaking, to get away with this kind of age gap. For someone like Ohtsuka Akio it doesn’t really matter of course. I’m not sure what the right answer is – there’s no denying the original cast was great, and I get the impulse to bring as many of them back as possible. But it creates a kind of cognitive dissonance in some cases.
Apart from that, I thought the first ep of Invisible Victory spoke for itself pretty eloquently. The struggle between Mithril and Amalgam feels as relevant as ever, and the dichotomy between the desire for a normal life and the demands of world order on Sousuke and Kanami as relatable. I’m not familiar enough with the source novels to know whether 12 episodes is enough to tell this part of the story properly, or at least get to a logical stopping point (before the next sequel in 2031) but I really didn’t see any yellow flags in the premiere, never mind red ones. I think Full Metal Panic fans should be very happy – and I hope most of them aren’t too determined not to be to savor the moment.
sonicsenryaku
April 14, 2018 at 8:25 pmFirst things first: yes; Fumoffu is the franchise’s anime pinnacle; I rewatch that shit to this day
Secondly, maaaaaaan did i appreciate this premiere just diving right into this shit. No fucks were given that it’s been so long (then again that’s just like Gatoh Shoji); if you want to catch up, you know where to find the first 3 seasons, thank goodness. Sure there are some slight refreshers like the concepts of “whispered” and “black technology”, but other than that, this premiere did not skip a beat. It’s good that we got Gatoh on the scripts as he probably doesn’t want anyone fucking shit up after the series has been away for so long. Can we have that be a thing from now in anime production? If a series based on a manga or LN has been gone for a while or has been discontinued in by a publisher/magazine, just get the author to write the scripts for the anime. This is what needs to happen to HunterHunter. As impulsive as this may sound, Togashi should just come to terms with the fact that he cannot continue the manga anymore and just write scripts for madhouse so that they can preserve his work through the anime under his perpetual supervision; it’s the perfect solution. Why is no one telling him this?
Anyway thank goodness that my concerns have been waived in regards to the writing and direction. This episode was an exercise in aptly building tension and suspense right until the proverbial rope snapped all thanks to Nakayama deft and meticulous hand directorial hand as well as Gatoh’s screenplay, which also captures the tender and bittersweet nature of Kaname and Sousuke’s relationship so effortlessly here; i couldn’t be happier. By the way am i the only one who thought that Kaname and Sousuke’s little night alone might escalated to them “sealing the deal” if Leonard didn’t crash the party? (Kaname not wanting to let go of Sousuke’s hand while trying to find her apartment key regardless of knowing she was impractical was just adorable). Again, the only thing that bothers me a bit is some of the production blemishes i.e. the CGI; it’s sticks out man. A part of FMP’s appeal is its hand-drawn mech battles in a similar vein to gundam, so it’s kind of a bummer that we will no longer be getting that. Still, that is something i can ignore if we continue to get episodes of this quality and the mecha action is directed well. While it’s still a bit jarring, the cgi looked better on the mechs than anything else, mostly due to sleekness of the mech designs.
Oh and about the seiyuu’s returning, that’s a fair point that Seki’s voice has changed a bit; and while you can hear the difference between TSR and invisible victory, it’s not that stark, mostly because Seki has always portrayed Sousuke with a deep tonality in his voice in the first place. If anything, you can see this disparity more with him being recasted asTouya in card captor sakura. His voice was much younger in the original series than it is in the clear card. And while Toya is a college student (first year i believe), the differences in his performance is much more noticeable; afterall, he’s only supposed to be 19 during clear card. Eh, I don’t mind though. Satsuki Yukino on the other hand fits back into a role like a glove as i expected too; she’s one of the great seiyuus on my list along with the likes of the three Megumi’s, Maaya sakamoto, Itou kanae, Atsuko Tanaka, Nazuka Kaori, Misato Fukuen, etc. Satsuki just as a naturalism in her voice acting; her irritation when Sousuke used to do something stupid back in the previous seasons felt so real because maaan does she sell that shit. She’s actually one of the first seiyuu i was exposed to through listening to the sub of inuyasha back when i was little (she’s one of the main reasons i gave the sub a chance when i was but a fledging getting into japanese dubs of anime; that and i appreciated Kappei’s more dynamic portrayal of the character Inuyasha). Overall, I’m down for this season of FMP.
Guardian Enzo
April 14, 2018 at 9:56 pmI agree Satsuki is great. And yes, I did have that thought about their night together – were one or both of them thinking that?
As for Togashi, I don’t assume no one has told him that. And if not, I would guess it’s out of a fear of insulting him.
HoTaRu
April 14, 2018 at 8:35 pmI was thrilled with this first episode. It’s been so long since the last season came out that I hadn’t even considered we would get any more, so this was definitely one of my most anticipated shows of the year from the moment it was announced. Full Metal Panic holds a special place in my heart because the first season was one of the first animes I ever watched back in the day. I am onboard for any studio producing more, and I certainly hope that this will not end up being the last we see of this show no matter who makes it. What was jarring for me after all these years was the voice cast. I realized as I started watching this episode that I have only ever watched the show with the English dub, making this was my first exposure to the Japanese cast. Sagara’s seiyuu didn’t quite work for me, but somehow fits the character despite that. The absolute ridiculousness of such a mature voice being used for a soldier who can be such a bonehead was amusing to me in its own right. Apart from that, everything about this first episode was able to meet my expectations and I can’t wait to see what direction this season goes.
JJ
April 15, 2018 at 1:02 amShaft producing FMP, now wouldn’t that be something…
I’ll be blunt and admit to Seki’s Sagara throwing me off. Hopefully that will subside as we get into the flow of things (which won’t take long judging by the premiere). Apart from that, this was a good opening. Let’s not waste time with (re)introductions, we’ve got a story to tell.
P.S. – Another nod for Fumoffu as the height of the anime side of the franchise. Sore ga ai Deshou is, to my mind, the perfect OP.
Jindujun93
April 15, 2018 at 1:50 amReading that this first episode was good has me relieved – I intend to watch the previous three seasons specifically so that I can watch this season (though I’m aware that The Second Raid and Fumoffu are also supposed to be good, so that’s a bonus), and it looks like going through with that should work out just fine. Mind you, I’m not familiar with the work KyoAni has done on it yet, but I’m not worried at all – if they want to, they can do great work (though unfortunately, most of what they do just isn’t for me). Their ongoing effort for the remake of Space Battleship Yamato proved that very well, if you ask me.
Arashi
April 15, 2018 at 3:10 amI was so happy that FMP is back. I never understood back then how it took us 13 years for another season when the anime had pretty good sales.
If there is only one thing that I didn’t like, its that they skipped one volume of the LNs. (Original FMP covered Vol 1-3 while TSR covered 4-a and 4-b). While I do get that if we really want to maximize viewers experience and hype, going straight to Vol 6 is the sure way for it, there were still important items that was mentioned in Vol 5. Hope some studio picks it up for an OVA or so.
elianthos
April 15, 2018 at 11:41 amWell well well I have no real complaints personally. That’s the excitement, the anticipation, the thrill of the FMP I know and love 8D, with maybe some of the excesses (and most of the slapstick-y UST ) toned down just enough to soften the occasional mood whiplash/uneveness of tone of the previous seasons (the SRS BSNSS ones at least. While I understand the love for Fumoffu I happen to quite like the FMP serious business bits thank you very much).
I can’t say how much of this is due to the new studio, to my fuzzy memories of the novels being covered here vs previous material or maybe Gatou is working wise magic on his own story buy oy it’s working. There are a couple elements both on the plot and the romance front that would have benefitted from animating the DVMC novel bridging the TSR season with the current Victory but we’ll see if and how they choose to reference them in the next episodes :).
Sosuke sounds definitely much more mature compared to the other returning VAs but oh well. Leonard is as perfectly irritating and hateable as I remember him already and I’m looking forward to see what’s gonna happen. On screen at last 8D. Btw… Mao x Weber <3
SauskeS
April 21, 2018 at 8:24 amHi! I am watching the second episode and I feel like I am watching a cheap computer game animation. Details are few in movement, picture, and emotion. And I feel that even the script is just pretending to be FMP.