Full Metal Panic Novel Discussion

[HunterSeeker]

Originally Posted by FeistyDreams

As of right now, it's still not 100% clear.

Spoiler for NoT:

So far, best as I can tell, it's implying that something happened in the 'real' time line that Kaname did not like and so she went to fix it and created the time line we see in FMP. What doesn't make sense to me is why she would want to work with Leonard and set history straight if she was the one that wanted to change it in the first place. (Certain lines she says and some of her actions make me think her being 'possessed' is in some ways more like a return to her 'real' self, the Kaname from the prior time line)

Another thing that makes no sense to me is that before her Whispered knowledge came to she was an average student. Wouldn't that mean that the 'real' Kaname was only average too then? How, then, would she have figured a way to reset time, and change history in doing so?

So many unanswered questions! Hopefully the next book will be released soon to answer them... I'm dying to know.

Spoiler:

For the Whispered's issue, it's mentioned before that Whispered needs time to be "awoken". Before that the potential candidates can just be normal people like everyone, until when some events triggered their knowledge to work. Take Nami as example: in BOMF it's hinted that she was potentially a Whispered, but she never knew that even though her knowledge already helped Sousuke for Crossbow's OS. (In fact, IIRC around DBD it's mentioned that Chidori's performances in subjects like chemistry were improving)

As for the NOT thingy. I though my translations were clear enough......
Basically speaking, Chidori is a "bridge" between today's world (or to Whispered to be exact) and someone/something from the future. But it's Sophia's will controlled Chidori's action so that she now helped Leo to tune the world back to what it should really be.
And before going to the next point, one must understand that TAROS/LDS/etc is a device to hook up a timeless, limitless space with the "terminals" and make those stuff within become real (that means, the "spaces" within are already around us but few can feel it). So one can expect to use a certain device to affect the world------or in this sense, tune teh world.
Now, as mentioned in NOT, it's possible to foresee the future in that "space" so that one can utilize the results (so Leo foresaw a Solar Wind and warned Solid Snake). So if Chidori saw something she doesn't like to see, she'll have the ability to avoid that (check Leo's descriptions about Gauron's assassin) or to create a new situation. The question is, what Chidori=Sophia saw about the future makes her unpleasant and want to help Leo to tune the world back?

[FeistyDreams]

Originally Posted by HunterSeeker

Spoiler:

For the Whispered's issue, it's mentioned before that Whispered needs time to be "awoken". Before that the potential candidates can just be normal people like everyone, until when some events triggered their knowledge to work. Take Nami as example: in BOMF it's hinted that she was potentially a Whispered, but she never knew that even though her knowledge already helped Sousuke for Crossbow's OS. (In fact, IIRC around DBD it's mentioned that Chidori's performances in subjects like chemistry were improving)

As for the NOT thingy. I though my translations were clear enough......
Basically speaking, Chidori is a "bridge" between today's world (or to Whispered to be exact) and someone/something from the future. But it's Sophia's will controlled Chidori's action so that she now helped Leo to tune the world back to what it should really be.
And before going to the next point, one must understand that TAROS/LDS/etc is a device to hook up a timeless, limitless space with the "terminals" and make those stuff within become real (that means, the "spaces" within are already around us but few can feel it). So one can expect to use a certain device to affect the world------or in this sense, tune teh world.
Now, as mentioned in NOT, it's possible to foresee the future in that "space" so that one can utilize the results (so Leo foresaw a Solar Wind and warned Solid Snake). So if Chidori saw something she doesn't like to see, she'll have the ability to avoid that (check Leo's descriptions about Gauron's assassin) or to create a new situation. The question is, what Chidori=Sophia saw about the future makes her unpleasant and want to help Leo to tune the world back?

Spoiler:

I know it takes time for the Whispereds to 'awaken,' I was talking about their natural intelligence, pre-awakening. If you look at Tessa and Leonard, they were geniuses before they had awoken (or, at least, I believe they were, I haven't completely read the Birth of the Tuatha de Danaan yet, so I could be wrong on this, in which case everything I'm saying is moot =P) Where as Kaname, pre- coming in to her Whispered knowledge, was only of average, perhaps even slightly below, intelligence.

I thought that it had been mentioned that Kaname was the one who wanted to change history in the first place, and that she's responsible for the Whispereds, etc, but it could be that I'm reading it wrong. Which is what I get for bouncing between several different resources when I should just buy the book and read it for myself so that I won't get confused XD

I do get that she's the bridge, receiving and sending out the information through the whispers, but I thought she was also responsible for changing history as well. Didn't Leonard put that in Sousuke's head, and then after waking up after thinking Kaname shot them, wasn't one of Sousuke's thoughts that it was so familiar and that maybe his death by her hands was why she wanted to change history?

I should probably go back and re-read everything rather than reciting this from memory and probably screwing it up... >.>

[HunterSeeker]

Originally Posted by FeistyDreams

Spoiler:

I know it takes time for the Whispereds to 'awaken,' I was talking about their natural intelligence, pre-awakening. If you look at Tessa and Leonard, they were geniuses before they had awoken (or, at least, I believe they were, I haven't completely read the Birth of the Tuatha de Danaan yet, so I could be wrong on this, in which case everything I'm saying is moot =P) Where as Kaname, pre- coming in to her Whispered knowledge, was only of average, perhaps even slightly below, intelligence.

I thought that it had been mentioned that Kaname was the one who wanted to change history in the first place, and that she's responsible for the Whispereds, etc, but it could be that I'm reading it wrong. Which is what I get for bouncing between several different resources when I should just buy the book and read it for myself so that I won't get confused XD

I do get that she's the bridge, receiving and sending out the information through the whispers, but I thought she was also responsible for changing history as well. Didn't Leonard put that in Sousuke's head, and then after waking up after thinking Kaname shot them, wasn't one of Sousuke's thoughts that it was so familiar and that maybe his death by her hands was why she wanted to change history?

I should probably go back and re-read everything rather than reciting this from memory and probably screwing it up... >.>

Spoiler:

That's why Whispered needs time to be "awoken" and it certainly depends on person. Leo and Tessa woke up early so they became geinuses even they didn't realize they're Whispereds (I didn't wholly read that chapter either though), while others may not necessarily like that (aside from Chidori, Nami and Miller didn't appeared to be much of a genius).

The reason of Chidori=Sophia's "responsibility" of tuning teh world is that she's teh Whispering of the current world who was supposed to be in control of everything related. Leo said that he found such a person for long and he finally found that to act as the key in order to tune teh world.
The shooting scene was, persumably, illusions due to the waves within the complex. Sousuke was obviously affected by that, while it's possible for Sophia to create illusions to Chidori that she killed him. It's possible for her to cooperate with Leo after this incident, but since even prior the scene she was partly conscious (from the conversations) that she wanted to help Sophia, so the incident can be seen as a catalyst as well.

[SkoolRumble4Ya]

Thanks for the explanation everybody. I was confuse about reading NOT chapter 4. I certainly hope Shoji releases the novel before the Falll season.

[selilychidori]

Here is my understanding,...

it seems they want to jump -start- the world anew again. correct, we kinda knew this...

But doesnt that mean Chidori would simply do exactly what already happen?
She's gonna try to prevent the experiement in 1984. By doing so, she causes the entire explosion of Yansak11 incident anyways. Opps.

Of course if this is true, it might be a huge OMG surprise, - we caused the whole thing! - scenerio and Leonard loosing his mind somewhere...realising he caused his own fate lol...

Basically its the - can't change the past - theory... but the future you can...

then their might be a second whisper -war?- agaist the one who controls them from the future?
Or this 'Sophia'which btw, according the mythical greek legend, is the diety of Wisdom. =/...
In one of those cover drawings of the novel, you see a segment that describes Sousuke struggling with Tessa and Chidori with these ominous eyes and it said something like "..how do you fight a God?"

what if Sophia is just a really sophisticated A.I. in the future? Yikes!

[Trudy]

Once again, thanks for all the explanations, guys. Sorry for all the really silly questions, but...

Spoiler for Spoilers for NoT.:

I was under the impression that Sofia was the one whispering; is Kaname simply "the Whispering" because of her possession, or has she always been the Whispering?

In order to change time up until then, will Kaname=Sophia be Whispering to herself/the other Whispereds as they were earlier in life?

[FeistyDreams]

Originally Posted by Trudy

Once again, thanks for all the explanations, guys. Sorry for all the really silly questions, but...

Spoiler for Spoilers for NoT.:

I was under the impression that Sofia was the one whispering; is Kaname simply "the Whispering" because of her possession, or has she always been the Whispering?

In order to change time up until then, will Kaname=Sophia be Whispering to herself/the other Whispereds as they were earlier in life?

Spoiler:

Kaname was always the Whispering, of all the Whispereds she was born first in that 3 minute window and received the most information. I believe the books also mention that whenever she hears the Whispers it's in her voice, but none of the other Whispereds make any mention of it so who knows if they hear their own voices or hers. (I could be wrong on this, I really need to re-read all the books since it's been a few months)

As for changing time, a TAROS machine similar to the one in Yamsk11 has been built on Merida Island, and Kaname/Sophia is supposed to be using that to do the trick. Beyond using it, I have no real idea on how it will go down, just lots of speculation.

[sr7olsniper]

Heh, more than jumping back in time sounds to me like they are trying to build the Matrix. Just make an altertative realitive with TAROS and ahve all the humans plugged in O.o

[Trudy]

Okay, so...

Spoiler for Nick of Time.:

Kaname's just functioning as a transmitter/router for Whispers (Whispering), which are being Whispered to her some unknown source in the future?

All right, I think I have it.

That said, a few other questions (which don't seem to have been answered in book canon, but I'd like to hear your thoughts!):

What exactly do you think Sophia is? What is her motivation for helping Leonard?

Who is Whispering to Kaname, and why?

What's up with Kaname's erratic behavior? Even in the next book spoilers, her behavior on-board the helicopter (before she is possessed by Sophia) is pretty erratic.

To thank you guys for dealing with me, here's a link to a commission I paid for of our two favorite FMP! girls. (They're so cute!)

[FeistyDreams]

Originally Posted by Trudy

Okay, so...

Spoiler for Nick of Time.:

Kaname's just functioning as a transmitter/router for Whispers (Whispering), which are being Whispered to her some unknown source in the future?

All right, I think I have it.

That said, a few other questions (which don't seem to have been answered in book canon, but I'd like to hear your thoughts!):

What exactly do you think Sophia is? What is her motivation for helping Leonard?

Who is Whispering to Kaname, and why?

What's up with Kaname's erratic behavior? Even in the next book spoilers, her behavior on-board the helicopter (before she is possessed by Sophia) is pretty erratic.

To thank you guys for dealing with me, here's a link to a commission I paid for of our two favorite FMP! girls. (They're so cute!)

Spoiler:

Pretty much!

As for speculation... I really haven't thought too hard about Sophia admittedly, it just seems like there's too many unanswered questions, I'd rather have more info before trying to figure it out. As for her motivation for helping Leonard, I'd guess it's just simply a matter of they both want the same thing. For whatever reason, Sophia wants to change the world back to the way it should be, maybe to stop whatever happened to her to put her in the lab from happening. Don't really know o.O

Don't really know what or who might be responsible for the whispers, maybe, if Kaname is the one that changed the world, perhaps she had set up some kind of TAROS, maybe scattered info about before and since it kind of ignores space and time, perhaps that's how? I don't really know, honestly I just came up with that thought as I was writing this, so there's probably tons of holes in it XD

Kaname's erratic behavior can easily be answered by... Despite everything she's been through before, she's still just a normal girl. She's been put under tons of stress. Last she saw her best friend, Kyouko was bleeding to death, she probably never got news of her still being alive. She's been torn from everything, friends and family (where the hell ARE her family through all this?! XD)...

She's basically been sitting in a house doing nothing but hating herself... Knowing Sousuke has been trying to find her and suffering, she feels she isn't worth his time and effort for walking away from him to go with Leonard, even if she did it to save him. She's swamped with guilt and depression, people under that much stress become unpredictable. She's strong, but she's not unbreakable.

And by the point she's on the helicopter with Lemon, before crashing into Yamsk11, Leonard has lost his nice guy act and he's started hitting her when she talks back, and she's exhausted from being brought from shitty location to shitty location and getting sick, then the emotional exhaustion from seeing Leonard alive and well and being hit by him, and all that... She's just at her breaking point and completely unstable.

(I ramble, sorry about that...)

[Full Metal Coast]

Originally Posted by FeistyDreams

Spoiler:

Pretty much!

As for speculation... I really haven't thought too hard about Sophia admittedly, it just seems like there's too many unanswered questions, I'd rather have more info before trying to figure it out. As for her motivation for helping Leonard, I'd guess it's just simply a matter of they both want the same thing. For whatever reason, Sophia wants to change the world back to the way it should be, maybe to stop whatever happened to her to put her in the lab from happening. Don't really know o.O

Don't really know what or who might be responsible for the whispers, maybe, if Kaname is the one that changed the world, perhaps she had set up some kind of TAROS, maybe scattered info about before and since it kind of ignores space and time, perhaps that's how? I don't really know, honestly I just came up with that thought as I was writing this, so there's probably tons of holes in it XD

Kaname's erratic behavior can easily be answered by... Despite everything she's been through before, she's still just a normal girl. She's been put under tons of stress. Last she saw her best friend, Kyouko was bleeding to death, she probably never got news of her still being alive. She's been torn from everything, friends and family (where the hell ARE her family through all this?! XD)...

She's basically been sitting in a house doing nothing but hating herself... Knowing Sousuke has been trying to find her and suffering, she feels she isn't worth his time and effort for walking away from him to go with Leonard, even if she did it to save him. She's swamped with guilt and depression, people under that much stress become unpredictable. She's strong, but she's not unbreakable.

And by the point she's on the helicopter with Lemon, before crashing into Yamsk11, Leonard has lost his nice guy act and he's started hitting her when she talks back, and she's exhausted from being brought from shitty location to shitty location and getting sick, then the emotional exhaustion from seeing Leonard alive and well and being hit by him, and all that... She's just at her breaking point and completely unstable.

(I ramble, sorry about that...)

no do not apologise you make some very valid points but

Spoiler for Novel:

to your point about
She's basically been sitting in a house doing nothing but hating herself... Knowing Sousuke has been trying to find her and suffering, she feels she isn't worth his time and effort for walking away from him to go with Leonard, even if she did it to save him.

i thought that was a bullshit excuse for Kaname as she should know better than anybody that absolutely nothing will stop Sousuke from getting to her and rescuing her whether she like it or not for the reason it is his duty to protect her (we all know how seriously he takes his duty) and that he loves her.
he has done it countless time throughout the series and now when she needs him most he would never just go "oh she told me to stop chasing her so ill stop"

i would think that Kaname would of found comfort with the knowledge that it would only be a matter of time before Sousuke came for her.

[FeistyDreams]

Originally Posted by Full Metal Coast

no do not apologise you make some very valid points but

Spoiler for Novel:

to your point about
She's basically been sitting in a house doing nothing but hating herself... Knowing Sousuke has been trying to find her and suffering, she feels she isn't worth his time and effort for walking away from him to go with Leonard, even if she did it to save him.

i thought that was a bullshit excuse for Kaname as she should know better than anybody that absolutely nothing will stop Sousuke from getting to her and rescuing her whether she like it or not for the reason it is his duty to protect her (we all know how seriously he takes his duty) and that he loves her.
he has done it countless time throughout the series and now when she needs him most he would never just go "oh she told me to stop chasing her so ill stop"

i would think that Kaname would of found comfort with the knowledge that it would only be a matter of time before Sousuke came for her.

Agreed wholeheartedly. She really should never have gotten all upset about it and feeling guilty, it's just ridiculous. If anything, she should feel guilty for thinking he shouldn't come, not for the fact that he did. 'Cause, seriously, how selfish is it to be 'Well, all the work you did the past year, risking your life for me, putting up with me beating the crap out of you... Yeah, just forget about it. Bye.' ? *sigh*

[bushido badass]

hey guys, pity i found these forums so late, i have been trying to get up to speed on FMP but i am stuck on nick of time chapter 3, does anyone have a quick link to chapter 4?? my internet is really slow so i don't want to have to search all 217 pages of this thread. thanks

[FeistyDreams]

Go to livejournal and search for the user 'shutazen' ... Chapter 4 was posted several days ago.

[grylsyjaeger]

Originally Posted by bushido badass

hey guys, pity i found these forums so late, i have been trying to get up to speed on FMP but i am stuck on nick of time chapter 3, does anyone have a quick link to chapter 4?? my internet is really slow so i don't want to have to search all 217 pages of this thread. thanks

http://shutazen.livejournal.com/

[User91411]

Gatou sure is taking his sweet time to release the final book.

[Jarmel]

Is he mostly done with the book? Anyone have any sort of time frame left? Do we even know this is the final book? I remember that the rough release date for this one was May-June, is there now an updated release frame?

[sr7olsniper]

So far we cant say if this WILL be the final book. Gatoh said it was goign to be the climax, but he also said he wasnt sure he would finish it in just 1 book.

[selilychidori]

Originally Posted by sr7olsniper

So far we cant say if this WILL be the final book. Gatoh said it was goign to be the climax, but he also said he wasnt sure he would finish it in just 1 book.

What bothers me about that is wondering what the hell ELSE can happen other then a humongous battle on Merida island with Chidori/Sophia going berserk? And a finale unknown to anyone of us on the Omnisphere issue...


what ELSE can possibly happen that requires ANOTHER book!? :s Seriously...

Unless it takes freaking 3 chapters for Sousuke/TDD1 gang to realise Chidori is on Merida.
That would suck really...takling about prolonging too much. I hate the constant streching of a story...

It would over kill it like how they did with the Inuyasha anime..-____- ...ugh...

Unless theres like...4 chapters of Sousuke and Chidori reunion...*blush*..

[FeistyDreams]

Originally Posted by selilychidori

What bothers me about that is wondering what the hell ELSE can happen other then a humongous battle on Merida island with Chidori/Sophia going berserk? And a finale unknown to anyone of us on the Omnisphere issue...


what ELSE can possibly happen that requires ANOTHER book!? :s Seriously...

Unless it takes freaking 3 chapters for Sousuke/TDD1 gang to realise Chidori is on Merida.
That would suck really...takling about prolonging too much. I hate the constant streching of a story...

It would over kill it like how they did with the Inuyasha anime..-____- ...ugh...

Unless theres like...4 chapters of Sousuke and Chidori reunion...*blush*..

I think there's too many unanswered questions to finish it in one book. I can see some set-up for the first 2 chapters, one Leonard's side and one Sousuke's side, answers for 3 and 4, action for 4 and 5 ('cause, really, some answers will probably be answered during the action) and then a cliffhanger. Then another book with a chapter or 2 of finishing the action and then resolution.

And that resolution better involve hugging and kissing or I'm going to cry. XD

That's just my thoughts, anyways. That's how I'D do it, at this point, anyways.


And for the question someone else asked on whether there's any news on the status: None that I've seen. I check Gatoh's blog several times a day as well as amazon Japan to see if a new book is up with a release date. Nothing yet. (Sigma 11 is slated for July 9th, however, if anyone was curious). The moment there's news, I promise I'll post it.

With lots of exclamation points. LOTS of exclamation points. I am quite excitable when it comes to FMP news.

(Also, about a third done with Oogui no Comrade. Will post when I finish that too.)