Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
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| Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu | |
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| フルメタル・パニック？ふもっふ (Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu) |
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| Genre | Comedy, Military, Romance, Shounen, Ecchi |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Yasuhiro Takemoto |
| Studio | Kyoto Animation |
| Network |  Fuji TV GMA 7 A+ MTV Italia Animax LA Animax (March 2007)
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| Original run | August 26, 2003 – November 18, 2003 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (フルメタル・パニック？ふもっふ) is a companion series to the anime series Full Metal Panic! by Kyoto Animation.
Markedly different in tone to the first series, Fumoffu emphasizes the high school romantic comedy aspects of Full Metal Panic! and focuses on the romantic tension between Sosuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori. It sometimes parodies itself on other anime stereotypes, and features none of the mecha combat and political intrigue which characterized much of the original Full Metal Panic!.
There is little ongoing plot, also contrasting with the first Full Metal Panic! series: most Fumoffu episodes can stand alone, needing very little recap if any. The only breaks from this pattern are a handful of two-part stories told over two episodes. Many of the stories in Fumoffu are adaptations of plots in the original Full Metal Panic! short stories that ran on the Dragon Magazine.
The name "Fumoffu" is the sound made by Bonta-kun, a fictional mascot in the series who resembles a giant yellow teddy bear. During the series Sousuke designs and places into production heavily modified Bonta-kun suits for the purpose of aiding in tactical situations. Except for only being able to move at normal walking or running speeds for a human, the suit is essentially a miniature Arm Slave--however, the suit's "voice changer" renders all speech into either "Fu", "Mo", "Ffu", or "Ru", and the F.M.M.F.O. OS (possibly a reference to the G.U.N.D.A.M. OS of Gundam SEED, from which Sousuke's Bonta-kun suit borrows many elements) will immediately crash if the pilot tries to deactivate it (as referenced in Episode 13). This results in Kaname needing to act as a translator via headset radio if Sousuke needs to make himself understood.
There were 12 half-hour episodes created, but only 11 were broadcast on Japanese television. The omitted stories are said by ADV's "Mysteries of Fumofu", --on the first American DVD-- to have not been broadcast because their plots deal with kidnapping and similar child kidnapping events happened in Japan in real life shortly before the planned broadcast.
The television series was produced by Kyoto Animation, replacing GONZO from the previous series. The English version was produced by ADV Films. The original broadcast in Japan aired from August 25-November 18, 2003, ran for 11 episodes, and 2 volumes of videos were released on DVD. To coincide with seasonal change of the last three broadcasts, the ending song images which were of summer at the beginning were changed to that of the fall.
While FMP? Fumoffu may seem to be a sidestory, in fact many of the episodes were taken more or less directly from the actual run of the FMP! light novels. It may have been that the producers sought to keep the core story straight during the FMP! series, but then wanted to explore some of the less important stories at a later time.
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[edit] Characters
These are characters not found in the original Full Metal Panic! anime or in Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid. However, they do appear in the light novels.
- Atsunobu Hayashimizu
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Hayashimizu - The president of the Jindai High's Student Council. He is in his third year. He often considers Sousuke's behavior a reasonable response to the kind of situations he finds himself into, much to the frustration of Kaname; this is why he assigns Sousuke the job of Security in the Student Council. His behavior is calm and he is never seen angry. Sousuke and Hayashimizu share a mutual respect. He is also known for holding a white fan, on which various Japanese characters are written.
- Ren Mikihara
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Ren - The Secretary of Jindai High's Student Council, friend of Kaname and daughter of a Yakuza boss, Ren is a yamato nadesico, an example of the Japanese ideal of feminity. She is beautiful, dependable and caring. She seems to have feelings for Atsunobu Hayashimizu, the Student Council's president. However, much about her is still unknown. Because the women in the time of Tokugawa were given names with two syllables only, usually adding the prefix "O-" to refer to someone who is considered honorific. That is why even if her full name is Ren Mikihara, Kaname prefers to address her as "Oren-san." Despite not being a character in The Second Raid, she was mentioned in Episode 7 entitled 'Left Behind'.
- Issei Tsubaki
- The leader of Jindai High School's karate club, he is extremely skilled at karate. However, he is extremely nearsighted and can see clearly only when wearing his glasses, which leads to several comic incidents. His sense of pride cannot accept the fact that he was defeated by Sousuke, and is constantly challenging him to rematches, which Sousuke usually avoids, intentionally or not. He has a huge crush on Kaname, but in the short story Irrelevant Emotion accidentally indicates Sousuke when he is confessing his love for Kaname. Thus, it is thought throughout the short story that Sousuke and Tsubaki are homosexual. In the Fumoffu! anime, Mizuki falls in love with him in the last episode, but in Irrelevant Emotion she falls for him after he narrowly saves her from falling out a window.
[edit] Episode guide
Five of the episodes of FMP? Fumoffu are divided into segments that are 15 minutes long, and the remaining seven episodes are full 30 minute episodes. This complete episode list is based on the DVD release - the actual broadcast omitted the segments A Hostage With No Compromises and Hostility Passing-By, as well as cutting out the communication between Sousuke and Tessa at the start of the first episode, and the delivery of the latest damage report to the school to the principal.FUMOFFU
[edit] Episode 1
The Man From The South - The vice-principal screams into the principal's office carrying the damage report for the previous week, and seeks punishment for Sousuke. But the principal defends Sousuke on the grounds of him having to fight wars in various places overseas when he was young, and that he is unable to accustom to the normal lifestyle in Japan. The vice-principal accuses the principal of letting Sousuke go because the school received a huge donation when he transferred to the school, but she denies it. A secret admirer leaves Sousuke a love letter in his school locker (reminiscing about how she would watch him from afar as he planted mines in the school flowerbeds). However, Sousuke had left a strand of hair across his locker in order to tell if anyone had disturbed it. The next morning, a yawning Kaname (exhausted from watching a Sylvester Stallone movie the night before) and Kyoko arrive at school to be greeted with a massive explosion that wrecks the shoe lockers in the lobby - the work of Sousuke finding that his locker had been disturbed and proceeding to dispose of the "unsafe" locker with high yield explosives. As Sousuke explains that it was "the most appropriate way" to an angry Kaname, the two notice the remains of the letter in the debris. After being called to President Hayashimizu's office and explaining the perceived threat (and being agreed with, to Kaname's disbelief), Sousuke begins to reassemble the fragmented letter; though missing several pieces, Sousuke comes to the conclusion that the letter written to him is a death threat. When Kaname points out the handwriting is a girl's, Sousuke responds that it would be disguised to fool analysts. He then stands and walks out of the classroom, declaring that he would take the initiative.
After school ends, Kaname, feeling jealous about the letter, stakes out the meeting place with Kyoko (who came along because it seemed like fun) and watches as the girl arrives to wait for Sousuke, through the afternoon, past sunset, and into the night. As nighttime falls with no sign of Sousuke, three upperclass punks wander up to the girl and begin harassing and groping her despite her feeble protests. Angered, Kaname leaps from her hiding place and challenges them, but only attracts their attention. As they close in on her, one reaches out and grabs her shoulder, prompting her to punch one of them in the face; now angry, they grab her and talk about rape, and Kaname yells loudly. Suddenly, three shots ring out and the three are blown off their feet with rubber bullets. Sousuke asks if Kaname is alright, rising up dressed in a ghillie suit, and revealing that he had been monitoring the girl the whole afternoon, ready to neutralize her if she showed any sign of threat. While Kaname is horrified and furious that he would point a gun at a girl and begins stomping on him, the girl comes forward and asks if Sousuke read her letter--when she finds out that Sousuke had blown it up, she is stunned; Sousuke, trying to determine if she is an enemy, points his gun at her and demands to know her intentions. She runs off, heartbroken. Sousuke, being oblivious as always, asks Kaname if the girl is the paranoid type, which causes Kaname to hit him with the harisen.
The next morning, Kaname catches Sousuke preparing to detonate the lockers (again) and whaps him over the head, opening his locker to reveal that the only things in it are a letter thanking him for the rescue the other night (and reminding him to eat his lunch), and a bento box prepared for him by "A Mysterious Terrorist".
A Hostage With No Compromises - The episode begins with Sousuke playing a light gun game at a game center. He shoots the first few enemies down, but as more appear and his gun runs out of ammunition, a panicked Sousuke draws his pistol and shoots the machine, causing it to explode. This results in Sousuke getting banned from the arcade, as well as Kaname and Kyoko. As a furious Kaname lectures him on the proper method of reloading in those games (which Sousuke considers dangerous), they are suddenly accosted by the thugs from the previous episode. The thugs challenge Sousuke to follow them into a nearby alley, and Sousuke follows them. The girls, meanwhile, worry for his safety--except for Kaname, who is more worried about the thugs' safety. The girls hear the angry, threatening voices of the thugs, followed by a sudden burst of gunfire, then Sousuke casually exits the alley and apologizes for the delay. A stunned Kaname hesitantly asks if he shot them all, but Sousuke had merely fired around them to scare them; "It is best to seek a non-violent solution to everything", in his words.
That night, the three thugs are chewed out by their female leader for being unable to get revenge for their insult, even being three-on-one. When one of them protests that their target had a gun, he is met with a boot to the face. At that point, she decides the best way to take away his advantage is to kidnap Kaname and force him to meet on their terms. The next day at school, Sousuke is called into Hayashimizu's office over the game center incident, and the both of them wonder where Kaname is. Just then, one of the gang members enters the room and starts threatening Sousuke about how things would be different this time. The gangster's accent is so thick, however, that Hayashimizu must act as translator; after understanding the threats, Sousuke states that he could not be beaten and to go home. Stunned, the thug pulls out a phone and calls his leader, who reveals that the gang has Kaname held hostage and will have their way with her if he doesn't show up, alone. As the gangster gloats, however, Sousuke walks past him and locks the office door, and Ren draws the curtain shut. As Hayashimizu muses aloud on the foolishness of his actions, Sousuke draws a length of piano wire and approaches the now terrified thug, intent on getting some answers...
After school, at the appointed time, Sousuke enters the warehouse, where the gang is waiting for him. The leader demands Sousuke to disarm, resulting in a growing pile of weaponry (including various pistols and magazines, grenades, and even a rocket launcher, with the leader demanding to know how he carried all that). Their enemy disarmed, the leader calls for them to attack--just as they begin, however, Sousuke points to the ceiling - revealing that he has the leader's younger brother, Yoshiki, held hostage, tied by six ropes to the ceiling. Sousuke pulls out a remote, demonstrating explosives that the ropes are attached to, and musing how many ropes it would take to keep Yoshiki from falling. The leader holds a knife to Kaname's throat and threatens to kill her, but Sousuke is unconcerned; "Never negotiate with terrorists" is his rule, and if Kaname dies, so will Yoshiki. The leader is in a tight bind; if she releases Kaname, she would lose face with her gang. If she doesn't--but then Sousuke proceeds to point out other gang members by name, listing people, animals, and objects that they held dear, and making sinister insinuations of what could happen to them, resulting in the gang running off in panic. Defeated, the leader returns Kaname to Sousuke, and Yoshiki reveals that he had actually burst into Yoshiki's class and begged him to help, pulled a gun on the teacher, and also he promised Yoshiki an RC car for assisting. As Kaname and Sousuke walk off, Yoshiki muses that he was a strange man, while his sister ponders that perhaps Sousuke's not just a psychopath after all.
[edit] Episode 2
Hostility Passing-By - The daily lunch rush to the bread stand is a race Kaname intends to win. As the last seconds of a boring Economics class tick down, she nervously hears the chatter of other students being let out of their classes as the teacher drones on. Finally, the class lets out, and after standing and bowing (which she ducks out of), she is off, dashing down the hall. The stairway is clogged with a hungry mob, forcing her to jump out a window and run along the outside of the building before jumping into the courtyard below. Shoving her way through the heavy crowd, she yells out her order for a custard pastry, and is delighted when she receives it. Leaving the throng of students, Kaname spies Sousuke with a troubled look on his face; he had run out of his usual lunch of vegetables and rice. She tells Sousuke that if he wants to get any good bread (other than the leftover Plain rolls), he needs to order in a loud demanding voice, and make sure to put spirit into it. Sousuke thanks her, and approaches the crowd, drawing his pistol and firing it into the air; he demands (in a loud voice) that he be given a Plain roll, before leveling his gun at the workers and the crowd and threatening to shoot, otherwise. This causes a stampede, with the panicked students trampling the stand and its workers, and fellow students. Once more called into Hayashimizu's office, Sousuke and Kaname are informed that the workers were not harmed, but due to the "incident", the food workers are refusing to return due to the mental stress that they had to deal with at that moment, and the Sousuke, Chidori and her friends are being called to take over in the duration. Kogure-sensei, the school PE teacher is opposed to the idea in general and to Sousuke in particular. He makes it his mission to ruin the student operation. Unfortunately he underestimates Sousuke's inventiveness in keeping their food supplies secure, falling victim to two traps and being caught by the Principal the third time. After this, the bread stand is a success and after ten days the original workers return and everything goes back to normal as Sousuke muses about the time when Kogure-sensei was still a commander in the army before he had a mental breakdown.
A Fruitless Lunchtime - The episode begins with Sousuke trying, and failing, to translate some Man'yoshu Japanese classics. Note: this scene identically mimics the opening scenes of Apocalypse Now where there is a Napalm strike on a tree line with Charlie Sheen's head upside down like Sagara's. Kaname, in a good mood, decides to lend Sousuke her notes. An all-nighter ensues for Sousuke, and he manages to complete the homework assignment. Just as Sousuke begins to nod off, a piercing scream rings out. Sousuke jumps to the conclusion of a burglar, but in reality it is only a roach. This mix up results in Sousuke getting sprayed in the face with bug spray. Due to this, he forgets to bring Kaname's notes to school with him. An enraged Kaname drags Sousuke out of the school and, rather forcefully, stops a cab. She gives Sousuke a lecture, but feels slightly bad about it after seeing his reaction to what she said. They retrieve the notes, but find that their cab driver has left without them. They steal a nearby bike, and ride double so that they can get to the train station in time. On the way, a police car spots them, and calls out to them. After a frenzied chase, they manage to lose the cop car. With barely any time left, they dive onto a train just as the doors close. A moment later the conductor announces that they are on the express train, the wrong train. When they finally arrive back at school, it is far too late. Sousuke, who had been feeling poorly all day though kept it to himself, collapses. Kaname takes him to the nurse's office where they find Mr. Fujisaki, their teacher, sick with a nasty cold, the same one plaguing Sousuke. It turns out Sousuke knew Mr. Fujisaki was sick all along, but Kaname never really gave him the chance to say. In addition, collection of the homework was moved to the end of the day, as well as being Kaname's responsibility, making their crazed journey pretty much pointless.
[edit] Episode 3
Summer Illusion Of Steel - This time they're at the beach for a little Summer fun! At least, that was the original plan. When the time to smash watermelons rolls around, things get a little messy, particularly for Kaname. Sousuke blasts the melon apart with a shotgun, drenching the hapless Kaname in juice and sand. After slamming Sousuke in the face with a baseball bat, Kaname storms off to clean up. In reality, Kaname is upset that Sousuke didn't say anything about how nice she looked. Little does she know, she is being watched from afar by Masatami Hugo, a seemingly adolescent boy who appears to like bugs, as he refers to them a couple of times. He sends his driver, Washio, to invite Kaname to have tea with him. At first Kaname thinks the rotund man means have tea with himself, but Washio clarifies, and Kaname agrees. Elsewhere at the beach, Kyoko tells Sousuke that Kaname has been gone for such a long time because she is mad. Sousuke then sets off to find her. It doesn't take him long to get a lead from two boys that Kaname is in the large manor atop the cliffs beside the sea. After being rejected at the gates, Sousuke decides that Kaname is being tortured. He preps for battle, and begins to scale the cliffs. After he defeats Masatami's three bodyguards, Sousuke finds Kaname. After everything is explained Sousuke sweeps up Kaname, and they leap out over the sea.
[edit] Episode 4
The Hamburger Hill Of Art - In this episode, Jindai High's students go on an art field trip. The entire school endures a long and confusing lecture from the art teacher, Mr. Mizuhoshi, though their attention spans seem to end far before the speech. Once it's time to pick a model for the project, which is drawing humans and nature, no one wants to volunteer. Kyoko then nominates Sousuke, stating: 'It looks like he'd be good at standing still.' Sousuke accepts, and backs off while the rest of the class try and decide on a pose. Mr. Mizuhoshi speaks briefly with Sousuke, who asks him for his instruction on what a model is supposed to do. The talkative art teacher explodes into a flurry of words, inadvertently giving Sousuke the idea that he is literally supposed to become one with nature. When Kaname gives up in frustration over what pose to use, she realizes that Sousuke is missing. After a call to his cell phone, she realizes that Sousuke won't be coming back anytime soon, or of his own volition. Mr. Mizuhoshi will not allow them to choose another model, so they end up forming search parties to find the missing sergeant. Little do the students know, Sousuke has been laying traps down for them, intent on being a good 'model'. After several injuries, even to Kaname herself, the class manages to capture Sousuke. They tie him up, and hang him upside down on a tree limb. They paint their pictures while he is in this pose.
Single-Minded Stakeout Kaname complains to Kyoko about Sousuke's inability to adapt to normal life. After boarding the train, she meets her senior, Fuwa-senpai, and arranges to meet at an amusement park the following Sunday. As of late Kaname has been thinking of stepping away from Sousuke's antics since he has still has not been able to adapt to the lifestyle of a high school student. Worried, Sousuke asks if something is bothering Kaname, yet she claims nothing is bothering her. Kyoko then askes Sousuke if he is free the following Sunday, and the two of them spy on Kaname and Fuwa-senpai. Sousuke, as gullible as he is, believes that Fuwa-senpai might want to steal some of Jindai High's "secrets" and should be taken out immediately. However, Kyoko reminds him that if he shows up in front of Kaname and does something Sousuke usually does, not only will Kaname distance herself from him more, but, furthermore, she will hate him. Following Kyoko's plan, they keep an eye on Kaname throughout the day while hidden from her. Sousuke comes to the conclusion that he sees nothing wrong, but is feeling awkward because Kaname is with another guy. Regardless, he and Kyoko are about to leave when a couple of drunk professional Yakuza appear in front of Kaname and Fuwa-senpai. Kaname insults the Yakuza for drinking alcohol during the afternoon and being stupid for doing so, and the situation becomes a bit tense. Sousuke wants to step in, but is reminded by Kyoko that he should not be seen by Kaname. He then notices an amusement park staff dressed in Bonta-kun costume, and decides to knock out the staff and steal the costume. Wearing the Bonta-kun costume, he steps in and defeats the Yakuza members, but runs away as the park security begins chasing him. Later in the afternoon, both Kaname and Fuwa are riding the Ferris Wheel. Fuwa finally comes out and says that he likes Kaname and wishes to date her. Kaname is surprised, but confused about her emotions. She looks down and notices the same Bonta-kun running in the park, trying to escape from amusement park staff. She then begins to smile at Bonta-kun and explains to Fuwa that she can't. Fuwa then asks if there is someone else that she likes, noticing that whenever she looks somewhere else, that she must be thinking of that guy. Fuwa also says that the guy Kaname is thinking about must be mature. Kaname, however, tells Fuwa that the guy isn't and that he is worse than immature, but blushes soon after (hinting that she does have stronger feelings for Sousuke.) In the end, she leaves him, finds Bonta-kun and diverts the amusement park staff away from him. After they are gone, she talks to Bonta-kun. She explains her day and says that she felt better after someone (Sousuke) was worried about her and asked if he could do anything. Soon after, she tells Bonta-kun that she'll be back to normal the following day and leaves. After this, the amusement park staff discovers Bonta-kun, forcing Sousuke to run away again.
[edit] Episode 5
The Pure Yet Impure Grappler
The episode begins with Kaname and Kyoko are being chased by a group of thugs. suddenly a mysterious martial arts kid working at the nearby store defeats all three members with ease. The mysterious character rejects Kaname's thank you and calls her 'woman' quite scornfully. Kaname brushes this insult off and gives him a bandaid jokingly saying that she would have given him a kiss. Latter, Sousuke and Kaname are ordered by the Student Council to shut down the School Karate Club. The club dojo is to be torn down and the original members must be asked to leave. When Kaname and Sousuke propose their intentions to the three obnoxious identical Karate Club members, the members refuse to leave unless Sousuke can beat them in battle. Kaname is used as a wager should Sousuke lose. Sousuke fights all three members with very deceitful tactics including a gun which fires rubber bullets, a tear-gas weapon and an uncooked grenade. Following these fights, the mysterious misogynistic martial artist who saved Kaname appears claiming that he is the final karate club member and the master of the dojo. Sousuke and Tsubaki, the dojo master, fight and Sousuke is slammed into a wall. Sousuke states that he now understands the feelings of those who fight without weapons and drops his remaining armaments. Tsubaki claims that he missed Sousuke's vital spots last time but that he will hit them now. With this he puts on a set of glasses, recognizes Kaname as the girl he saw before, enters a state of hormone induced stupor, and is then easily taken down by one punch delivered by Sousuke. After that, Tsubaki admits he lost but promises to Sousuke that he will fight him again over Kaname.
Trespassing On Good Faith The day starts with Tsubaki at the roof of Jindai high waiting for Sousuke. Meanwhile, after finding out that somebody put a "strange object" in his school locker, Sousuke detonate an explosive on it. After getting angry and hitting him, Kaname asks what it was, and he says that looks to be a letter. The next morning, an angry Tsubaki asks to Sousuke why he didn't come to the duel. As Sousuke tells him that he didn't know about it, Tsubaki finds out that he has destroyed the "letter of challenge" without reading it. After that, they start to fight, and while fighting in the corridor, the janitor gets hit by Tsubaki. At Hayashimizu's office, Tsubaki explains about the bet he and Sousuke did over Kaname, and after explaining that they can't bet for Kaname, the president offers a way to settle the dispute: Helping the janitor in his duties while he is recovering, which they accept. At first, they only create more problems for the janitor, as they try to do everything themselves, and destroy everything the other one did. But after the Janitor asks them to help each other, they tell him that they are already doing it and show to the Janitor what they cooked for him. The Janitor compliments them on their good work and asks them where they got the fish. After Sagara and Tsubaki mention that it was a koi that they had found the janitor then goes into a dark mood, saying that the koi was the school mascot whom he had grown attached to and taken care of for 15 years. In a berserker like state and eyes flaring up the janitor proceeds to try and kill the two with a chainsaw. Sagara and Tsubaki defend themselves with their usual martial arts, grenades, guns and etc. The following day it is shown that a large portion of the school has been destroyed and the two just lying there murmuring all their failed attempts to stop the janitor.
[edit] Episode 6
The Hard Sell Fetish
The episode begins with Kaname reading a bulletin written by Sousuke (including phrases such as "There will be no air or artillery cover"). The bulletin states information about sightings of a sex offender in the area. The bulletin also mentions something about a "pony" although at the time the meaning of "pony" is unclear. Kaname lectures Sousuke on his writing and Sousuke accepts her criticism (although he points out that Kyoko understands the bulletin).
Later that evening, Kyoko is walking home by herself at night down a dark alley, when a man in a horse mask and trenchcoat walks out from underneath a streetlight and utters, "Pony!" The man then approaches Kyoko with wire and a hairbrush. Kyoko attempts to run from the man but is caught. The scene ends with Kyoko screaming.
The next morning Kaname walks out from the train station and greets Sousuke. Sousuke, however, is in a more serious mood. Sousuke proceeds to tell Kaname a suspensful story about the prior evening's assault on Kyoko, which alarms Kaname. Sousuke concludes the suspensful story with, "...he gave her a ponytail." Kaname, realizing that Kyoko is unhurt, "wakes up" from her worry. Presently, Kyoko arrives greets Kaname. Kaname notices the ponytail and Kyoko states her hair is pulled back "with wire and glue", but despite washing it, she can't return her hair to its normal braided pigtail style. Kaname loses her temper over the scare Sousuke gave her and hits him with her harisen and lectures him.
Later that day, Sousuke is coming up with morbid ways to make the sex offender talk when they capture him, but Kaname suggests they go to the police, which they do. However when Kaname mentions the sex offender, a hyper cop who looks like she hasn't slept in days slams her foot on the officer on the desk (not paying attention) and grabs Kaname saying "We can't talk here, come with me."
A little later, at a local restaurant, the woman states her name is Yoko Wakina. She dropped traffic duty, cut down on her sleeping, and even mapped out the location of the attacks by the sex offender just to catch this guy. She wants Kaname to act as a decoy but Kaname is reluctant to do so. Yoko then states she was chasing two kids on a stolen bike and got demoted when she wrecked her car. Kaname realizes this is the crazy woman who was doing those insane stunts while chasing them (back in episode 2). The woman states she remembers Sousuke's face perfectly while she does not remember the girl's face, vowing to catch him and "give him a beating he can't get in school!" Sousuke begins to let Kaname know with big cards that if she notices him, he'll kill her. Kaname begins screaming at him, and even more so when he states (on the card, "I've procured the information. This woman is of no further use." Luckily Kaname is able to pass off her screaming as having "psychological" problems with radio waves. Kaname is willing to take the case to avenge Kyoko--and to avoid being arrested by Yoko.
That evening, Sousuke comes to the stakeout in his armored Bonta-kun outfit. Yoko, however, spots Bonta-kun and assumes he is the sex offender. Yoko and Sousuke exchange fire, however Yoko proves to be a formidible opponent. Meanwhile Kaname is underneath the light and ends up running away as the maniac chases her. Sousuke and crazy Yoko continue their combat, eventually pulling out melee weaponry (specifically stun rods). Yoko finally manages to knock Sousuke off the bridge. Yoko then whips out her pistol and Sousuke pulls his weapon and they both fire one (nonlethal) round each. At just the right moment, Kaname comes running by and both bullets hit the sex offender directly in the face. He flips a good distance and comes to a stop. Yoko realizes that the sex offender was chasing Kaname and demands to know what is up with the Bonta-Kun. Kaname states it is her friend. The sex offender and Bonta-Kun (Sousuke) then begin "conversing". Kaname slaps Bonta-Kun on the forehead and asks, "So you two are bonding over weird noises?!" Yoko decides she gets all the credit and unmasks the sex offender. Yoko then asks the man why he did it He states it was because the ponytail is the combination of "short hair", and "long hair". He's sad because he sees fewer and fewer women with ponytails. He says he's happy and Yoko tells him she is taking him to prison. Kaname states "This is wrong. There is something very, very wrong here."
The Patient Of Darkness The episode begins with Chidori telling a horror story which leads to her friends getting terrified except for Sousuke. They say that Sousuke has never shown signs of fear and is dared to go to a supposed haunted hospital. As they near the hospital and talk about the dare Mizuki sees an old lady near a window and decides to make a run for it. Kaname and Sousuke decide to go ahead with the ordeal. Kaname then complains that she understands why Kyoko didn't go but when Mizuki said there was an old lady, she didn't believe her so when Mizuki ran, Kaname saw it as bizarre, Sousuke agrees but totally freaks out Kaname when he says "Yeah it was just an old lady near the window."
Incident 1: Sousuke enters the hospital with Kaname in order to find the lost old lady. At the end of the hall, a beaten patient flies out from around the corner and, as fast as it appears, it zips back around the corner. Sousuke only sees it as odd. Kaname backs up in fear. Sousuke tells Kaname it is just a child. Kaname begins yelling at Sousuke, and Sousuke says "I'm not sure, but what you're saying sounds very rude. Sousuke tells Kaname if she is scared, she should go home. Kaname, being head-strong, refuses.
Incident 2: the phone in the hospital goes off. Sousuke throws a coffeee mug at the phone, making sure the receiver doesn't explode. He picks up the phone then tells them to call a different hosptial, but it appears they aren't listening. Kaname listens and hears children screaming in a fire, yet Sousuke is still completely calm and keeps looking for the old lady. Kaname once again yells at Sousuke about how he seems to be invincible to fear. He again suggests kaname go home. Kaname gets angry about Sousuke suggesting she's afraid.
Incident 3: A head is flying outside the window. Kaname asks Sousuke if he's afraid of that. Sousuke says "I'm just glad it's not a bomb."
Incident 4: Voices are coming from upstairs like that of small children. Sousuke says they are just voices.
Incident 5: Kaname sees a ghost of a young girl soaked in blood holding a hammer. She keeps saying "Go home, drop dead". Kaname, thouroughly terrified, asks Sousuke about this one. Sousuke states that the axe she's holding couldn't possibly do much damage. Kaname then argues with him that it's not the weapon, it's the fact that she's soaked in blood. Now, relatively angry, Kaname yells at the ghost girl and demands she do something terrifying. When she smiles, Kaname loses her temper and storms over to her. Upon making it halfway across the room, the floor collapses.
Kaname wakes up disoriented. Sousuke in a panicked state tells Kaname to sit still and rushes over to her, seeing blood splattered all over the slab Kaname is laying on. At first Kaname isn't even sure it is hers. When Sousuke checks it, it is paint. The ghost girl and and Yoshiki are on the floor above asking if the two are all right. Another man walks by.
It is shown that the little girl and Yoshiki were helping the man, Mr. Gen. Kids were apparently coming to just pick on the guy, but the two kids scared everyone to keep people away. When Kaname questions about the old woman however, the kids are surprised, they never used an old woman. Freaked out, she faints. The kids panic and run. It turns out the old woman was real. It is the man's mother. Kaname wakes up halfway home and is very tired so Sousuke pedals home. When Kaname asks if he was worried when she fell, Sousuke quietly admits yes, then says he said nothing. However Kaname keeps pushing the issue and hugs him, throwing off Sousuke's coordination. The episode ends with Kaname laughing.
[edit] Episode 7
The Warcry Of Excessiveness - The episode starts off with Goda, Jindai High's rugby club captain, pleading with the principal to reconsider her decision to disband the club. Goda lists out all of the good things the club has done, namely community service. However, as the principal points out, the rugby club performs exceedingly poorly when it comes to game time. Atsunobu Hayashimizu, the president of the student council, calls on the help of Kaname and Sousuke. After negotiating with the principal, the reason being that this decision interfered with the autonomy of the student council, they managed to put a deal in place. If the Jindai rugby club was able to defeat the Garasuyama rugby club, one of the best high school clubs, then the club would not be closed down. In order to bolster the Jindai club's ranks, Hayashimizu sends Kaname as the new club manager, and sends Sousuke as their fifteenth player. After a pitiful attempt at practice, Kaname quickly realizes that they really don't have much of a chance. After a fight with Garasuyama, which took place in a restaurant, Sousuke states that he will train the bruised and battered rugby team. After three days of intense 'boot camp'-style training up in the mountains, coupled with Sousuke's incredibly inventive and crude insults (many of which were taken from the movie Full Metal Jacket), the rugby team gains confidence and aggressiveness from the training. The time for the decisive match arrives. Sousuke, not understanding the rules, quickly hurls a kick into the face of the opposing team's captain, taking him straight out of the game, but also landing himself in the penalty box for the rest of the game. This has the effect of encouraging his teammates to play as aggressive as he did, to terrorise the opponent. The match is terribly one sided and violent, with the hardened Jindai players utterly destroying Garasuyama. The final score is 142 to 5.
[edit] Episode 8
A Goddess Comes To Japan (Part 1: The Suffering)
After Gauron's attack on the TDD-1 with Venom, Commander Mardukas insists that Captain Testarossa take a vacation while the damage was being fixed. She agrees with the idea, and after getting his word that he would support her decision no matter what, choses to visit Japan--specifically, the area where Sousuke is living. The Commander, shocked at her suggestion, immediately tries to dissuade her, citing both aesthetics and security safety reasons, but the Captain stands firm, holding a reluctant Mardukas to his promise.
A new day dawns. Sousuke, having endured three days without sleep, is finally finishing up a report in class on the incident as part of his mercenary duties, when Kyoko runs in suddenly, yelling about how a masher had appeared in the south building of Jindai High. As Kaname and Sousuke head to the scene, she urges him not to use his usual violent methods and he promises to only torture the suspect a little, to her annoyance. Reaching the suspect whose back is turned, Sousuke quickly throws him to the ground, sticking his gun in the man's face and demanding answers--only to become terrified as he realizes the subject is a decidedly unamused Commander Mardukas. Snapping to attention as Mardukas greets Kaname, the commander explains that he was inspecting the high school grounds when he'd accidentally walked into the girl's locker room and was unable to explain himself. As they join him on the inspection, Mardukas explains his cover story--he is a visiting college professor with his "daughter" as a two-week transfer student and being a good friend of Sousuke's "father", Kalinin, chose this school. Walking into a random classroom, Mardukas orders Sousuke to read something written in Japanese on the chalkboard and explain the meaning; while Sousuke translates the message, he is unable to explain the meaning--Kaname explains that it is a congratulatory message for a local band. Sousuke is then rebuked by Mardukas for his inability to blend in with school society.
The two then leave for Sousuke's apartment, where after complaining about it being "unsuitable", orders him to clean up and rearrange every inch of it. Reluctantly, Sousuke works throughout the entire night; the next morning, a burnt-out Sousuke opens his door to a smiling Captain Tessa. Horrified and speechless, Sousuke is immediately ordered by Mardukas to keep a very close eye on her, lest "drastic measures" be needed. Furthermore, with growing anger, he swears "to God and Her Majesty that if Sousuke attempted to do anything perverted to the Captain that he would tear him limb from limb. Finally, Mardukas informs him that Melissa Mao would arrive that evening to help with the situation. The next day, "Tessa" is introduced to Sousuke's class as a two week transfer student and immediately impresses both the guys and girls, each for their own reasons. There is immediate, palpable tension between Testarossa and Kaname; as the class representative, Kaname offers to teach a "clueless Captain" where everything is in the school, while "Tessa" is eager to be taught "lessons in love". Meanwhile, Sousuke stands unobtrusively in the corner, yet is breathing heavily and having chest pains...
Sousuke, now having to guard both Kaname and Tessa, follows the pair down the halls with his gun in plain sight; a male student wanting to talk to Tessa is quickly forced to the ground at gunpoint. During gym period, Kaname's class has is doing laps at the pool; while everyone else is wearing Jindai swimwear, Tessa wears a tight-fitting outfit intended for junior-high girls--due to the advice of Kurz Weber, the pervert. Though Tessa admits to being very uncoordinated and unathletic, she says she can hold her breath for a long time, and dives with the other girls. As the other swimmers cross the pool and reach the other side, Kyoko notes that Tessa isn't coming up--and suddenly, Sousuke, wearing his normal clothes, runs through the crowd, yelling and diving into the pool to save her. Tessa eventually makes it to the other side, but Sousuke is still floating facedown at the bottom. After Sousuke is dragged from the water, Tessa declares, that being in the "water business" (which could be interpreted two different ways), that CPR needs to be performed. She nervously begins the steps--when Kaname stops her and tells her that Sousuke's been moaning for a while after he got out of the pool--at first, Tessa believes Kaname is trying to get in the way of both of them, though. Tessa explains that both her "father" (Mardukas) and Sousuke's "father" (Kalinin) knew each other for a long time, and that Tessa and Sousuke always played with each other. As Sousuke comes to, Kyoko asks him point-blank about their "special" relationship. Naturally thinking of their "professional" relationship, Sousuke responds that while he cannot give the specifics, it is "beyond their imaginations". Everyone immediately concludes it to be a romantic one, which makes Kaname furiously jealous, and she stomps away.
As the school day winds down, Sousuke gets a call from Kalinin that Seargent Mao was just arriving in Japan and breathes a sigh of relief that his burden would soon be eased, before noting the ominous storm clouds rolling in. Getting another call, Sousuke learns that Melissa is caught in a typhoon at an island off the coast of Japan and would be delayed a day. As Sousuke protests, she slyly tells Sousuke that she will "permit" him to take advantage of Tessa since they would be all alone that night. Now frantic, he pleads for Mao's assistance over the phone, making urgent requests for "backup" from 'Uruz 2' (Mao's unit callsign) for his unit callsign 'Uruz 7', to no avail. Reluctantly, he turns to Kaname for help with sleeping over since Tessa is there--angered, she coldly refuses, vowing not to get in the way of their "special relationship" before walking out. Sousuke, completely cut off from any assistance and stretched to the breaking point, silently wonders why this burden was ever placed on him. As Tessa approaches, ready to go home, he can take no more and blacks out.
Meanwhile, word has reached the TDD-1, and Mardukas insists to anyone who will listen that he was right--Sousuke was too weak to fulfill the position of "being the Captain's lover". Standing nearby, Kalinin realizes that it would have been impossible to get close to Tessa thanks to Mardukas, and silently urges Sousuke to stay alive. In the end, Kaname ends up staying over to help take care of Sousuke with Tessa, but since they both like him and are at odds with each other, they just make things worse--like spilling a bowl of hot rice on his face.
[edit] Episode 9
A Goddess Comes To Japan (Part 2: The Hot Spring)
The second part of Captain Testarossa's vacation at Jundai High. With her vacation time running down, the group tries to think of a good way to spend the last few days they have together. Tessa comes up with the idea of going to a hot springs resort and the group agrees with the plan. Melissa Mao and Kurz Weber join the party in this episode, and along with a few friends from school. After Kurz introduces himself to the rest of the class, and subsequently tries to get the girls to call him "Kurz baby", Melissa takes charge (after kicking Kurz in the head). They all pile into cars and begin the drive to the resort. Upon reaching the resort, Kurz begins to make plans to spy on the girls on their side of the fence that divides the hot spring. While Sousuke's schoolmates are all for the idea, Sousuke himself declines the invitation to join them and remains in their room, inviting them to enjoy a normal bath. Kurz proceeds with his plans, but is foiled repeatedly by things such as an impregnable armour layer within the fence that separates the men and women bathing areas, and sentry laser cannons set to target anything that tries to peek around the edges of the fence. The next day Kurz finally decides to just make a run for it and storms the women's side by force. After the group trips a landmine and realizing that Sousuke is probably behind all the boobytraps, Kurz devises a plan to use his sniper rifle to cover the other two guys by destroying the seemingly endless supply of sentry guns as they run. One of them finally makes it, but discovers that the men and women open air bathing sides change everyday making their endeavour pointless. After driving back home, Tessa receives a heart felt farewell from her classmates, and heads back to the TDD-1 with fond memories of her vacation and a renewed sense of duty, promising to protect her new friends.
[edit] Episode 10
A Fancy Without Honor Or Humanity
The episode begins with Kaname watching a yakuza movie, with Ren in the back of the room finishing an assignment for school. Sousuke then walks in, depressed, because his new mass-produced powered armor suits for military and police use were only purchased by the FBI and Miami Police, forcing him to accept the remaining costs. Later, Ren, Sousuke, and Kaname walk home from school and on the way encounter a struggle between the Mikihara and Ryujinkai gangs, in which Kaname becomes a commentator of sorts. The Ryujinkai manage to defeat the Mikihara and take their money. Apparently, the boss of the Mikihara gang is ill and the Ryukinkai use this time to take advantage of the situation. Ren Mikihara, daughter of the boss of the gang, comes to the aid of one of her father's henchmen. The henchman, Shibata, realizes that Kaname is present and is reminded of their previous encounter when Bonta-kun (Sousuke in disguise) saved her. She threatens to summon Bonta-kun again if they cause her trouble, which causes Sousuke to blush. Shibata then apologizes to Kaname, not realizing that she was a friend of Ren.
At the home of the Mikihara head, Shibata suggests to his boss that they hire a bodyguard. Sousuke (in the Bonta-kun costume) presents himself along with Kaname, who acts as Sousuke's interpreter due to the suit's voice changer. The boss thinks this to be some sort of joke and pulls a sword near Shibata's face. Sousuke (still in the suit) runs up to the boss and tosses him into the nearest pond, and afterwards criticizes him for judging Sousuke's appearance. Sousuke then begins the training of the yakuza members by having them do such things as running a lap around town. They are led in military manner around town and are laughed at by the townspeople. Target practice and raiding become additional training for the Mikihara yakuza. On a distant hill, the Ryujinkai view the training and plan on kidnapping Ren.
The next day, the Mikihara request Sousuke's help (still in the Bonta-kun costume) after reporting that both Kaname and Ren have been snatched by the opposing yakuza. The Ryujinkai plan to use Ren in order to kick the Mikihara off the turf. At night, Sousuke and the Mikihara yakuza raid the building, using Sousuke's newly developed weaponry, where Kaname and Ren are being held hostage. They are all dressed in Bonta-kun costumes each with a unique number, with Sousuke's suit differing in color. They fire off smoke grenades in order to run into the building and utilize tactics somewhat similar to a SWAT team. Sousuke reaches the room with Ren, Kaname, and the Ryujinkai boss with a gun to Kaname. After being slightly intimidated by Sousuke, Kaname bites the hand of the boss holding the pistol. Sousuke manages to land a rubber bullet on the boss's forehead, which knocks him out. Kaname admits to being slightly embarrassed being rescued by a group of Bonta-kuns. The next day, the Mikihara gang, in their Bonta-kun suits, go jogging around the city again, as a news report on television details a drug-smuggling operation foiled by the Miami Police, in their new Bonta-kun suits.
[edit] Episode 11
Uncontrollable Bluebird
The conflict of this story revolves around the sheer amount of clubs at Sousuke and Kaname's high school. There isn't enough room in the school for each club to have its own clubhouse so the Biology Club ends up doing an experiment on cockroaches next to the disgusted Cooking Club, because the Amateur Karate Club is practicing in the Biology classroom. Kaname yells at everyone a lot but since that rarely solves anything, President Hayashimizu is forced to find an alternate solution. He talks to the Social Sciences Club and since they only have two members, they agree to give up their clubhouse, but on one condition. In order to decide which club obtains use of the clubhouse, they must participate in an experiment.
All of the participating clubs meet, (including the Music Club, the Amateur Karate Club, the Model Club, and the Photo Club) and a member of the Social Sciences Club explains the rules. The name of the game is flirting, and each club must submit three of its members to snare as many members of the opposite sex as possible before four o'clock. What makes this episode a true delight is the simple fact that Sousuke has joined the Photo Club and signed on to help pick up girls. A rival in the social experiment makes a derrogetory comment about Sousuke's outfit (which consists of army fatigues) and Sousuke retaliates with the clever, "I think you are the one who looks foolish." The result of this vicious dialogue is a bet in which Sousuke must attract at least one woman, or else he'll be forced to skinny dip in a nearby (public) lake. Confident, Sousuke agrees to the challenge.
The only flaw in Souske's flirting tactics is that he took the phrase "woman hunt" literally. He then proceeded to capture seven women by baiting them with money until they were lured into a waiting cage. This seemed to be working relatively well, until Kaname found out and smacked him around with her infamous paper fans. She let the victimized women go free, and then proceeded to explain the true concept of flirting to Sousuke.
He tries valiantly to initiate conversations with various girls on the street, but since most of his opening lines had something to do with military tactics, he rarely succeeded in doing anything more than embarrassing himself. The only woman he managed to talk to for more than four seconds was rather geriatric in appearance. She was an elderly woman searching for a gift for her grandson. Sousuke offered her a model of a French tank and she accepted it gladly, thanking him profusely. Kaname watched on from a distance as Sousuke waved the old woman goodbye and wished her luck.
The various clubs meet up again at four o'clock to tally up their women and announce the winner of the contest. Surprisingly enough, Tsubaki (the head of the Amateur Karate Club) won the promised clubhouse. Not so surprisingly, Sousuke had absolutely no girls to show for his day of hard work. But since Sousuke is an honest mercenary, he was grudgingly willing to fulfill his promise. He had just begun to remove his shirt (much to the girls' delight) when the crowd hushed. A gorgeous woman with turquoise colored hair, wearing a kimono strolled right up to Sousuke. She said that he had promised to take her out to dinner, and that she had been looking forward to it. The woman led a very embarrassed looking Sousuke away.
As soon as they were out of hearing-range from the crowd, Sousuke asked, "Who are you?" And in response, the mystery woman burst out laughing. It was only then that Sousuke recognized her as Kaname. Then Sousuke, for the first time shows his affection for Kaname by telling her she's beautiful.
[edit] Episode 12
5th Period's Hot Spot
This episode opens with Sousuke receiving a bacteriological weapon by mistake when he attempts to order a special part for his gun. The capsule holding the strain of bacteria looks like an average water canteen so when Ono-D eats some spicy curry bread, he takes a drink from the container in desperation but spits it out. The strain of bacteria is consequently released into fifth period's classroom. As soon as Sousuke realizes what has happened, he seals off the classroom from the rest of the school and informs the students that the bacteria spreads through air, they're all infected and they're probably going to die.
Chaos ensures as class 5B tries to accept their imminent deaths. Chidori gives one of her emotionally motivational speeches, which works wonders to calm down her fellow classmates until Sousuke informs the students that he has the vaccine--one dose of the vaccine. Chaos ensues yet again.
Class 5B decides to draw for the dose. Each student draws a slip of paper, and the student who draws the paper stating "Atari" (winner) gets the vaccine. Much to the class' fury, Sousuke wins the draw and the vaccine. Out of rage the students attack Sousuke, inadvertently breaking the container of vaccine.
Hearing the commotion, a teacher opens the door to the classroom. Since the strain of bacteria spreads via air, the whole school is consequently infected. The students from fifth period finally leave their classroom, each saying goodbye to life in their own separate ways. Tsubaki attacks Sousuke to settle their score one last time, but Sousuke knocks him unconscious with a rubber bullet. Ren states that she'd prefer to be with the one she loves but since that can't happen, she just wants to enjoy a final cup of tea in the Student Council Office.
The strangest interaction takes place between our two protagonists, Kaname and Sousuke when he takes her to the nurse's office, leads her to a bed and tells her to take off her clothes. His true intentions are never directly stated, but Kaname is under the impression that he wants to sleep with her and since Sousuke never denies it (or simply doesn't understand), fans are left scratching their heads.
Meanwhile, Senior Hayashimizu walks in on Ren finishing her tea in the Student Council Office. When she tells him that he has to leave her, he responds with, "I can't leave you."
Kyoke and Ono-D meet behind the school, where Ono-D says that he can barely move and it looks like he'll be the first to go. He and Kyoko share a passionate conversation and Ono-D has just said, "I just wanted to tell you that..." when he suddenly sits up and stretches, leaving Kyoko dangling. Before viewers can begin to wonder why Ono-D isn't dying, his outer clothing disintegrates, followed by all of Kyoko's clothing. All around the school people's clothes are disappearing at a rapid pace. In the Student Council Office, all of Ren's clothes disintigrate and Senior Hayashimizu gives her his jacket.
Cut to Sousuke speaking on the phone with the weapons handler who originally sent him the capsule. He is still in the nurse's office with Kaname who is waiting naked on one of the beds. The weapons handler explains that the container never held a deadly virus. That particular strain of bacteria (called the Full Monty) was developed to break down petroleum based products. A researcher was trying to develop it for military use, and accidentally made a strain which multiplies at human body temperature. It then becomes active and devours products such as polyster and nylon. The bacteria dies in about two hours.
Sousuke turns to Kaname and explains that the strain of bacteria wasn't deadly. "But whatever the case may be," he says as the cries of angry (naked) students fill the air. "I doubt that I'll live for much longer."
After the credits, Sousuke is sneaking along a wall. He pulls out a radio and states "This is Sousuke. Requesting immediate backup. I repeat, immediate backup." Suddenly all the students are heard screaming that they spotted Sousuke. The series ends with Sousuke backed up against the wall and a group of students equipped with highly (yet comical) deadly weaponry.
[edit] Episode Trivia
[edit] Episode 2
During the return journey after securing Kaname's notes, the two are chased by a Tokyo Police Mini-Patrol car, which is a spoof of You're Under Arrest. The seiyu of policewoman Youko Wakana is Akiko Hiramatsu, who also played Miyuki Kobayakawa in You're Under Arrest. Kaname also commented on the Skyline GT-R while on the journey returning to the school.
In the preview for this episode, Sousuke says "Next time we use the human-shaped mobile suits called Arm Slaves." This is a reference to the mecha units used in the original Full Metal Panic! series, and more importantly to Mobile Suit Gundam, which pioneered the use of the term mobile suits. In response, Kaname explicitly tells Sousuke that there will be no Arm Slaves in the next episode (or the rest of the series, for that matter but for the Bonta-kun's in the later eps).
[edit] Episode 3
Student council president Hayashimizu is seen on the beach throughout the episode reading various books. These books are: "The Prince" by Machiavelli, "Death in Venice" by Thomas Mann, "The Elementary Particles" by Michel Houellebecq, "Five Women Who Loved Love" by Ihara Saikaku, and "The One-Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fukuoka, respectively.
This episode includes a scene reminiscent of a famous one from The Matrix where Neo (Keanu Reeves) seems to dodge bullets in slow motion on the rooftop. This is now known as bullet time. This scene is also has references to Goldfinger, in which Oddjob (Harold Sakata) throws his razor-edged hat as an attack, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, where an expert swordsman gives a display of his aggression and sword prowess by fiercely spinning about his blade. Indiana Jones' (Harrison Ford) reply is the somewhat comedic act of easily dispatching him with his gun instead of his whip.
[edit] Episode 5
Three macho brothers have unexpectedly adorable names: Maron (chestnut), Waffle and Chocolat. (For most of the sweets, namely cakes, French words were imported).
Takeshi Aono (the Janitor) is known for doing the voices of typical mad scientists. In the original novel, the janitor's laughter was described as having the same quality of insanity as Jack "Heeere's Johnnie!" Nicolson did in the movie "The Shining." It turns out Mr. Aono did in fact dub his voice in the Japanese TV broadcast of "The Shining."
[edit] Episode 6
The author of the "Full Metal Panic!" novel, Shoji Gato, shares the same attraction to women with ponytails as the stalker, Poni-O. However, Gato insists he does not look like the character, including the mask.
[edit] Episode 7
The "Training" scene in which Sousuke is training the Rugby Club is reminiscent of scenes from the first half of the movie "Full Metal Jacket" in which the drill sergeant is verbally abusing the troops as part of the training.
Also, the scene when the club is shining and talking to their rugby balls (after their "transformation") is similar to what Private Pyle did in the movie Full Metal Jacket.
If one listens carefully, in both the English and Japanese versions, the voice actors for Sousuke can be heard actually saying the actual vulgarities that are edited out.
Miki Matsuura is a reference to the girls from Hello!Project.
[edit] Episode 8
The shape of Melida Island where the De Danan is located looks similar to the base used in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
Tessa explains that she's got required skills for reanimating Sousuke due to her being in the "water business" (mizu shoubai), in order to cover up her true identity of working as a captain in a submarine. However, she doesn't know that "water business" refers to businesses catered to pleasure their customers, for example, by prostitution.
"Paladium Reactor" The news of nuclear fusion supposedly created by Paladium electrode in heavy water, as was reported by University of Utah in the late 1990's. However, the experiment could not be replicated, and was thusly disregarded as a hoax. In the alternate universe of FMP!, it has been made usable thanks to advances provided by Black Technology.
[edit] Testarossa shower scene in-joke
As Mardukas is threatening Sousuke, there is a short homage to the movie Psycho where Tessa, as she is taking a shower, is attacked by Bonta-kun, armed with a banana. This reference comes from the closing scene of "Ruby Wax Meets... OJ Simpson" that is also a reference to the original source of Monty Python's Flying Circus; Mardukas is British, and in the original novel he makes numerous references to the Flying Circus as Sousuke cleans up his apartment, such as walking behind Sousuke yelling “Hurry up or I'll make you do “Silly Walk” through the base”, and “I'll make you the instructor of self defence against people armed with bananas!” The anime writers removed this scene, no doubt thinking the references to be too obscure; the movie reference was well-known enough on its own, and the banana was left in as an in-joke. The author of the light novels, Shoji Gatou, is a self-proclaimed Monty Python fan.
[edit] Episode 9
During the peeping scene after Kazama faints from a nosebleed, he says "She is the best" with his lower face covered in blood, this is a reference to the end of the Full Metal Panic! anime where Tessa says the same thing of Chidori after she gets the sub back under her control.
After Kurz gets shot in the behind by one of the sentry guns during his "peeping mission", there is a parody of Gundam Seed where a "dying" (not really) Kurz angrily urges Shinji Kazama--the only "surviving" member of their group--to complete the mission, despite Shinji's hesitation. Enraged, Shinji charges through the gauntlet of lasers and enters "SEED mode", similar to what happens to Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala--except the image of the seed is replaced by a pair of panties. Everything else is the same--the electric and mental flashes, and the Newtype "pwing!" noise from the original Mobile Suit Gundam series.
Kazama's "I can see the enemies, Kurz!" echoes Asuka's "I can see the enemies, Mother!" in the Evangelion movie, psycho bewildered eyes and all. It can also be noted that in Episode 73 of Saint Seiya, the main protagonist also said the same words before defeating Gemini Saga.
When Kazama jumps into the air and begins spinning around shooting all the targets around him, it appears to be a reference to The Last Starfighter, an 1984 movie about a teenager who is recruited in an interplanetary war after beating an arcade game that is actually a recruiting test. In the final battle, the teenager defeats the entire enemy fleet by using the experimental Death Blossom weapon, which causes the starfighter to spin around rapidly and shoot down all the enemy ships.
The scene when Sousuke is playing ping pong against the wall and the part when Kurz says to Kazama "Run, Kazama, run" are all parodies of the movie Forrest Gump.
[edit] Episode 10
"He looks like a dog after all." "You're right" -Kaname & Ren. In fact, the Super Deformed version of Sousuke is usually drawn with dog ears and a tail.
"If I blow the whistle three times, he'll show up." "No Way! That's just like Ambassador Ma(beep)ma!" -Taken from Osamu Tezuka's Ambassador Magma. The beep has to do with copyright issues.
Yoko Wakina makes another appearance toward the end of the episode. She goes berserk inside a police station by firing P90 submachine guns after she overheard a police officer receive a call about the Bonta-kuns' raid on the Ryujinkai base.
The system boot sequence of Bonta-kun OS is actually that of MSX, the attempt to create standardized computers back in 1983. Microsoft provided the BASIC ROM and various hardware companies (namely Sharp, Casio, and Hitachi--but not NEC, since they already had the PC-88 & PC-98 dominating the market.
Souske's Bonta-kun has an antenna on the helmet, a reference to the command antenna found on the MS-06S Zaku II that Char Aznable pilots in Mobile Suit Gundam.
[edit] Episode 12
In the beginning of the episode, Ono D purchased and ate a "Bakunetsu God Curry Bread". This is presumably a reference to the Bakunetsu God Finger, the signature move of the God Gundam, of Mobile Fighter G Gundam fame. It is worth noting that Sosuke and Domon Kasshu, God Gundam's pilot, are voiced by the same actor in Japan (Seki Tomokazu). After the Full Monty bacteria attacks, Mizuki puts Issei in the Camel Clutch; a professional wrestling hold originally performed by The Sheik. When Tsubaki draws his slip of paper, it read "Atatatatatatatata!". This is the attack yell of Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, which fits Tsubaki's character as a fighter. In addition, Tsubaki attempts to perform one of Seiya's moves when he is about to attack Sousuke, but is interrupted.
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Full Metal Panic Series
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Full Metal Panic! • Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu • Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid Studios |
[edit] External links
- ADV's Official Website
- Fuji TV's Official Website (Japanese)
- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
