Full Metal Panic! Mission.03 (2002)
Animation Production: Gonzo/Digimation
Released by: ADV Films
Official Website: Full Metal Panic
Episodes: 4
By Keith "JC" Hayward

Introduction

Full Metal Panic is certifiably awesome. Like, whip out the DVD if you want and show it to anyone of your friends without fear of them getting bored or making fun of you, kind of awesome. If I had any doubt as to the potential of this anime, it’s pretty much gone as of this third volume.

Story

“A young boy flies into a psychotic rage passing through customs, and Mithril flies into action. Is he some sort of brainwashed terrorist? Or is he something even more dangerous and sinister? Hidden away in Mithril’s secret research facility, Captain Testarossa and Lieutenant Commander Kalinin attempt to find out. Has someone done experiments to fit the boy for the mysterious Lambda Driver?

Suddenly, their research grinds to a halt when an armed group attacks, reducing the facility to a burnt-out shell. With Kalinin injured and missing in action, Captain Testarossa turns to the only person who can help her: Sergeant Sousuke Sagara. Little do they know that waiting in the shadows is their biggest enemy yet – and we’re talking really, really big! All-new enemies, all-new mecha, and all your favorite heroes are all here in full force! ” -- ADV's Full Metal Panic Page

Review

Full Metal Panic! has something for pretty much any anime fan. It has an absurdly cool mecha launch sequence for those of us who strongly dig on our robot action, but it's balanced out for those who like reality in their fantasy, in making it look plausible at the same time. Anyway you cut it the mecha battles are superb, and would make any Evangelion fan proud. It even has something for the ladies. When it comes to getting one of my girl-slash-friends to watch anime with me, it’s not unlike getting an 6 year old boy to sit still, enjoy and watch a documentary on the history of cereal. Yet the love/hate tension that Sousuke and Kaname share was too much for her (and myself for that matter) to turn away from as practically every moment the two of them share is just that much more a tantalizing time you have to wait until they finally confess their love for each other and kiss. But, before you worry about the show getting too sappy, terrorists blast out of the wood work and it’s up to a combined effort of Sousuke, Kaname and the rest of Mithral to take down the latest super threat, be it a hostage situation or a marauding giant robot.

FMP!’s definitely a good watch, because when I pick it up I know I’m getting some top notch quality. Just one of those anime you know you’re going to enjoy ahead of time without having to make allowances for this or that, or need to be patient for the show to catch its stride. From the opening scene, you know you’re in for something good.

Full Metal Panic Misson .03 is a four episode volume that contains what seems to be a self contained story and arc about troubled juveniles who’re taken away to an island and trained in military espionage to become the terrorist group know as, A21. When Mithril secures one of their members and holds them for questioning, A21 hits back and hits back hard with mecha fury and while they fail in their first attempt to get back their psycho comrade who seems to have the same ability as Sousuke to activate the mysterious almost “AT-Field”-like Lamda Drive, they manage to take hostage the high ranking Lieutenant Commander Kalinin. Captain Testarossa (Tessa to her friends) manages to escape with the mysterious boy and heads straight to Sergeant Sousuke’s place. Sousuke though has problems of his own as he tries to maintain a postive relationship with the girl he’s charged to protect as their relationship has not been too good on account of him missing a scheduled study date due to being out of the country on a covert operations mission.

This volume grips you fast and throws you right into the action opening with some covert mecha action, then drops us right back into a high school setting where our hero tries his best to fit in the best he can. Unfortunately he feels far more at home with a machine gun in hand or at the controls of his ARX-7 Arbalest than he does in a high school cafeteria. The undercover school drama doesn’t last long in these four episodes as it quickly turns into a game of cat and mouse when Sousuke’s Captain shows up with the hostage and nowhere else to run. Before Sousuke and Captain Tessa are able to plan their next move, Kaname shows up with the intension of bringing over dinner, but instead finds Sousuke playing house with some girl she’s never met before, predictably she isn't happy about it. By the time the love triangle straightens itself out, the damage is done and once again Kaname finds herself in the middle of another Mithril mission.

There’s a lot of personal interaction as you find the inner thoughts and desires of characters you don’t normally experience on the forefront of this series. The stoic Lieutenant Commander Kalinin speaks volumes in his silence and shows that, age be damned, he’ll always be a soldier to be reconned with and one not to be underestimated. The unlikely Captain herself takes a moment or two to show her more human side and innocent affection she holds for her subordinate, Sgt. Sousuke.

The action is also second to none when it kicks in and as the whole series is, it’s all fantastically animated with that digital sheen the best of anime series seem to have lately. From Kurz Weber’s crack shot with his rifle to watching Sousuke go all out in his Arbalest, each episode will have you clicking right to the next as you won’t be able to stop watching until you see this story arch through to its climactic robo bustin’ finale. Like I said before, my friend’s no major anime fan in the least, but right from the first episode and even though she had prior plans, she immediately asked if we could watch another episode after the first concluded, blowing off her plans, she kept asking until we finished out the entire volume and I was more than happy to oblige.

The DVD sports four episodes. The episodes in this volume include:

Episode 9 – “Dangerous Safe House”
Episode 10 – “Run Running Run”
Episode 11 – “Behemoth Awakening”
Episode 12 – “One Night Stand”

With this you get an insert poster of one of this story arch’s key characters and a brighter reversible cover as well.

Final Thoughts

Full Metal Panic! continues to astound with its high production values, entertaining charismatic cast, full tilt robot military action and just a very well pieced together world that keeps you coming back for more and you won’t be able to put down until you seen this through to the end.

Keith "JC" Hayward