Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory anime general discussion thread

[Oboro]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

And I never implied otherwise.

What I stated is that the developments he should have got from earlier arcs are almost inexistent, especially for the Behemoth arc.
Back during the days I've watched the original FMP series prior reading the LN, that impression was present already, as it was more plot oriented than character centred in general. Sousuke felt almost like a one trick poney, which didn't sit well with me after the behemoth arc, as he was pretty much the same guy without much response to what changed around him (except when he went postal against Gauron's "Kashim!" shenanigans in the Tuatha Danaan arc).
Upon reading the LN after TSR, the absence of the characterization for most characters is quite apparent, which could have been done if it wasn't for that random afghanistan arc.

In fact, as silly as it might be at the first glance, Fumoffu beach episode has put a huge emphasis in the relationship between Sousuke and Kaname by a long shot.

That's why his outburst during TSR felt sudden for some people because his pent up frustration from earlier arcs was barely present, especially his resentment towards the Lambda Driver system.

Well sousuke characterization grows slowly, but i belive that you miss a thing.

In the main story there are 12 novels (the animation reach Ending Day by Day so 7 novels to go) but the total of the novels released for full metal panic was 23.
9 novels contains short stories (barely the material from 5 novels was in fumoffu) 2 novels for side stories

what you miss is that the beach episode you talk about (Koutetsu no summer illusion, third episode in fumoffu series) came from the second novel overall "The Lone Wolf I Can't Leave Alone" , released the day before the first novel "Fighting Boy Meets Girl", (it was also the first of the short stories novels, released in japan December 17, 1998)

now follow me for a bit, i can't explain better.

if we split the main novels and the short stories ones the order, will be:

- Fighting Boy Meets Girl
- One Night Stand
- Into the Blue
- Ending Day by Day, part 1
- Ending Day by Day, part 2
- Dancing Very Merry Christmas
- Continuing On My Own
- Burning One Man Force
- Come Make My Day
- Approaching Nick of Time
- Always, Stand by Me: Part 1
- Always, Stand by Me: Part 2

but if we consider all the novels released, without splitting the Main story (m) novels and the Short story (s) novels, and with the release date so in order chronologically

- Fighting Boy Meets Girl (m) December 18, 1998
- The Lone Wolf I Can't Leave Alone (s) December 17, 1998 (yup the short stories one was released before the first)
- One Night Stand (m) March 18, 1999
- Can't be serious at Two Outs, Bases Loaded? (s) May 18, 1999
- The Unenviable Triple Crown Winner? (s) October 13, 1999
- Into the Blue (m) February 14, 2000
- No Sympathy for the Surrounded on All 4 Sides? (s) June 14, 2000
- Ending Day by Day, part 1 (m) November 10, 2000
- Ending Day by Day, part 2 (m) April 20, 2001
- Helpless and Lost in 5 Miles of Fog? (s) October 19, 2001
- The Undependable 6 Statute Books?(s) June 20, 2002
- Dancing Very Merry Christmas (m) March 20, 2003
- The Uneasy Seven Tools? (s) July 19, 2003
- Continuing On My Own (m) October 20, 2004
- Can't Worry About Being Trapped On 8 Sides?(s) July 20, 2005
- Burning One Man Force (m) January 20, 2006
- Come Make My Day (m) March 20, 2007
- Approaching Nick of Time (m)February 20, 2008
- Always, Stand by Me: Part 1 (m) July 17, 2010
- Always, Stand by Me: Part 2 (m) August 20, 2010
- Seriously dangerous narrow escape from death?(s) August 20, 2011

this is the "right" way to read fmp and how the japanese audience read it.
Sure, you can skip all the short stories novel, but you'll miss also some developement and characterization, and this is the reason why in the first anime series for exemple ep 8&9 (Part Time Steady and Dangerous Safe House come from the first short story novel) ep.13 (Neko to Koneko no R&R came from the second short story novel) ep 19 (Engage Six, Seven is a short story from the third short stories volume) etc.

The main stories novels are mostly plot oriented (except the later ones, obv) while the short stories are mostly character centric so at the end of the TSR arc (ending day by day) you missed 4 novels of short stories that develope the chars a lot and very early in the novels
As i said previoulsy the beach episode from fumoffu you talk about and you praise it the for emphasis in the relationship between Sousuke and Kaname come from a short stories novel written 3 years before the Behemoth arc, and readed from the audience at the same time with the first main story novel

Forgive me for my english.

edit: did you get the phun fact that every short story volume got his number in the title? "lone wolf", "two outs", "triple crown"... "8 sides"?

Gatoh is a freaking genius

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Oboro

Well sousuke characterization grows slowly, but i belive that you miss a thing.

You actually misunderstood my point entirely. I didn't mean that they have to put scenes from episodes like the fumoffu beach episode whatsoever. Instead, I've pointed out that episode, despite being not within the scope of the "main story" was much more meaningful than ANYTHING from the first series, and that's though it is prior the behemoth arc as you pointed.

While it is obvious the main novels weren't as character centred as the short stories, the ones that were present in the actual novels were mostly glossed over by Gonzo.
Sousuke's struggle with the lambda driver wasn't something secondary after his first confrontation against Gauron's Codarl, and ignoring it nearly completely during the Behemoth arc was dubious at best.

I don't expect an adaptation to go as far as borrowing stuff from short stories to make the main story flowing better with the anime medium, but it was rather plain if you catch my drift.

Again, I believe the direction of the first series was average at best because it did little to nothing regarding Sousuke and Kaname interactions at large, or Sousuke and Al interactions despite they went as far as padding stuff like the afghanistan arc or the school sport festivel episode.
It isn't "bad" by any means, but considering how things goes for the characters thereafter, I really would hate to see a Gonzo-FMP direction for the rest of the story.

[dasvik]

@Klashikari, you say there's lack of characterization. I never thought so, and I almost instantly liked Sousuke, and Kaname too, even if less than him. Ofc, everyone's entitled to their opinion and feelings about a certain thing, here's what I think:

It's been a while since I last watched the series, and even though I watched it many times over, I don't quite remember all of it. But from what I remember, at least in the first 7 episodes, there's plenty of "characterization", especially regarding Sousuke and Kaname.

First episodes show us the "Fumoffu-Sousuke", always military-oriented and unable to adapt or even understand normal high-school life. He's always suspicious of what happens around him, follows Kaname closely and gives her those stupidly-amusing reasons for being there when she sees him.
Kaname is the authoritarian and no-nonsense girl we all got to know so well, organizing things in their classroom and smacking Sousuke every time it's required, while also showing signs of starting to care for him in a romantic way.
We also get a peek at what kind of man Gauron is when he shoots that Russian (?) officer on the bridge.
We also get to see Kurz as the ... well... the Kurz that he is , and Mao as the one who has to suffer both of him and Sousuke
And then comes the plane hijacking. We see Kaname scared at first and then angered about the tests that are being done on her, surprised and confused when Sousuke rescues her and tells her about Mithril. Then we see her confident and optimistic on the hills near the airport, encouraging Sousuke when he thought there was no way out, and angry when he suggests that she should escape alone while he and Kurz hold up the enemy.
We see Sousuke struggling between obeying the orders given to him, and his desire to save Kaname, thinking of what happened to Sarah Miller (imo that last part of ep. 4 is one of the best parts of the series), then deciding to tell Kaname the truth about him and Mithril, being a pragmatic and self-sacrificing person / soldier in the hills, ready to stay behind to give Kaname a chance to escape. We also get a little info about him and Kalinin's common past.
There is probably more in those episodes (Tessa, Kalinin) but I think I've written enough.

As for the Behemoth and Danaan hijacking arcs, I don't recall them very well, but I'm pretty sure there's enough characterization there too.

I DO have to agree with you on Sousuke's LD-struggle, I never understood where or why it started from the anime. I just assumed it was a lack of trust/concentration on Sousuke's part after what happened to Mao. Not quite a minor plothole in the story, but not one that would ruin it either, imo.

[Dauerlutscher]

OMG ...is it really true and not fake?

[Oboro]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

You actually misunderstood my point entirely. I didn't mean that they have to put scenes from episodes like the fumoffu beach episode whatsoever. Instead, I've pointed out that episode, despite being not within the scope of the "main story" was much more meaningful than ANYTHING from the first series, and that's though it is prior the behemoth arc as you pointed.

While it is obvious the main novels weren't as character centred as the short stories, the ones that were present in the actual novels were mostly glossed over by Gonzo.
Sousuke's struggle with the lambda driver wasn't something secondary after his first confrontation against Gauron's Codarl, and ignoring it nearly completely during the Behemoth arc was dubious at best.

I don't expect an adaptation to go as far as borrowing stuff from short stories to make the main story flowing better with the anime medium, but it was rather plain if you catch my drift.

Again, I believe the direction of the first series was average at best because it did little to nothing regarding Sousuke and Kaname interactions at large, or Sousuke and Al interactions despite they went as far as padding stuff like the afghanistan arc or the school sport festivel episode.
It isn't "bad" by any means, but considering how things goes for the characters thereafter, I really would hate to see a Gonzo-FMP direction for the rest of the story.

Well, maybe i misunderstood your point, what i try to say is that, considering the "whole Fmp" as it was done in the books, we got novels plot oriented and other novels character centric. In the first anime adaptation the focus is just for the main story while a little part was about the character centric novels (obv, this changes in the further novels) so maybe this is the reason about the lack of characterization you talk about. On the opposite during fumoffu, the adaptation of the short stories more character centric, you can see the char develope more. So probably this is a problem about the gonzo adaptation as you said (usually Gatoh take active part in the adaptations, check amaburi for exemple, but i really don't recall if he does it also in the first fmp season) or maybe could be also the results of the focus of the adaptation done by Gonzo: adapting mostly the main story while skipping most parts of the short ones.

[Sackett]

Yes!

Spoiler for Rough summary of next event:

Now please tell me that they are going to give me my "Die Hard on a Boat" parody with Tessa as the unwilling sidekick to the McClain wannabe.

They better not mess that up, because that was some hilarious comedic action there.

[Izumo]

I wonder how many things are going to get some "changes" this new season, specially for some interactions between some characters...

[amehmood16]

New info on FMP anime coming out in next Dragon Magazine on Nov. 20.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Izumo

I wonder how many things are going to get some "changes" this new season, specially for some interactions between some characters...

Since this will be the last anime for this franchise, Gatoh really has no reason to maintain continuity with anything. In theory he can change EVERYTHING in any way he likes with little consequence. But of course, he would be aware of novel reader expectations.

[Sacredus]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Since this will be the last anime for this franchise, Gatoh really has no reason to maintain continuity with anything. In theory he can change EVERYTHING in any way he likes with little consequence. But of course, he would be aware of novel reader expectations.

Full Metal Panic: Another. It's not from Gatoh, but he keeps eye on it. Also it's on-going and adapting it as anime after last FMP series would be good idea to promote it (actually I think that's their plan - finish FMP and move to FMP: A).

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Sacredus

Full Metal Panic: Another. It's not from Gatoh, but he keeps eye on it. Also it's on-going and adapting it as anime after last FMP series would be good idea to promote it (actually I think that's their plan - finish FMP and move to FMP: A).

I really have serious doubts that Kadokawa have that kind of patience for this franchise. The new anime would have to be a number-1 seller for them to even think about making any more, and the original shows were never that big a hit.

[dniv]

This is the most hype announcement of my last four years. This is perfection and it sure is beautiful.

[pwnagemaster]

So what will (eventually) be done about the English dub? The guy who voiced Kalinin passed away, and I read that Chris Patton, Sousuke's VA, was going to stop working with Funimation. Did he actually stop? I realize the article is almost 4 years old now. https://lenoelia.wordpress.com/2012/...for-8-million/ The part about Chris is in the 3rd to last paragraph.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by pwnagemaster

So what will (eventually) be done about the English dub? The guy who voiced Kalinin passed away, and I read that Chris Patton, Sousuke's VA, was going to stop working with Funimation. Did he actually stop? I realize the article is almost 4 years old now. https://lenoelia.wordpress.com/2012/...for-8-million/ The part about Chris is in the 3rd to last paragraph.

Whoever licenses this prospective new series for the US will either cast as many of the originals as are available, or go with an entirely new cast, or end up somewhere in between. That's how it always works. The original cast aren't always available. Even the other "fullmetal" series couldn't keep all of its American voice cast for its second iteration, and that was only after five or six years. The Japanese version didn't even try to for several of the major characters.

Either way, I can guarantee that nothing involving the US voice cast is even being thought about at this point.

[dark44]

Originally Posted by Sacredus

Full Metal Panic: Another. It's not from Gatoh, but he keeps eye on it. Also it's on-going and adapting it as anime after last FMP series would be good idea to promote it (actually I think that's their plan - finish FMP and move to FMP: A).

full metal panic another is boring no thanx i only hope they adapt the original novel well and with good quality

[NWJY]

waiting for it........it is going to show the end???

[Mugen26]

Originally Posted by NWJY

waiting for it........it is going to show the end???

According to the info released, the plan is to adapt the rest of the Light Novel content, so the story will be completed in anime form! How long it is, whether it be TV, OVA, or movie content is still unknown at this time. Only very vague information so far.

[Shinji103]

There's no way it'll be an OVA. The remaining story is way too long for an OVA. (unless it's a long OVA with hour-long episodes like Gundam Unicorn)

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

There's no way it'll be an OVA. The remaining story is way too long for an OVA. (unless it's a long OVA with hour-long episodes like Gundam Unicorn)

If they gave this the Gundam Unicorn treatment I would be a very happy camper. Sadly I highly doubt it.

[dniv]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

There's no way it'll be an OVA. The remaining story is way too long for an OVA. (unless it's a long OVA with hour-long episodes like Gundam Unicorn)

Negima also god a decent OVA treatment (after they finally got around to doing it past the midway point), though I honestly hope that this is better quality than that... considering the animation PV that we got of the characters.