Full Metal Panic

Normally anime follows some predictable formulas. The thing that this anime does well is that it combines two of them into one finished product. Full Metal Panic joins the Mecha genre with the Japanese high school genre, and actually does it pretty well. There have also been a couple of spin off animes that are also really good.

Actually, that's one of the things that I really like about anime, when it's over, it's over. The production teams for some of these stories sometimes stay on and make spin-offs, but the one thing that doesn't happen is a never ending progression of sequels that are just a pathetic attempt to cash in on a franchise. I'm not saying you don't run into sequels, you do, but when you do the same quality goes into them as it did in the original work. There's also something about the spin-offs that are just great. Some have the same characters, just in a different setting, or where a part of the story line has been changed. FUMOFFU is a great example of this, but more on that later.

I won't go into the whole story, but the general premise is that Chidori is a high school student that is being targeted by a mecha-using para-military group, AKA the bad guys, for kidnapping. Another mecha-using para-military group, AKA the good guys, have sent Sagura as an undercover student in the same school to protect her. Here's the thing, Sagura isn't 100% military, he's 1,000,000% military, and is always blowing stuff up or shooting stuff. This however is a great thing if you are a fan of things being blown up or getting shot. Sagura is a freaking nut.

Fumoffu is a spin off of this anime, but two things are different. The storyline centers on the high school and what happens to the students. The other change is a new type of mecha that is a bonta-kun (google it). It's kinda like finding out that the army's new armored division will all be dressing Big Bird. It's actually really funny, and not as stupid as it probably sound.

Sagura's peers in his military group are all a bunch of wack jobs and they play various parts in the whole story. Actually all the ancillary characters seem to slide in and out of the picture when necessary, although the action centers on Sagura and Chidori. Oh, did I mention that this is a romance comedy too? Track this one down and watch it.