T5W#98-Top 5 Sousuke Sagara Moments from Full Metal Panic Fumoffu

Since Full Metal Panic’s second season is wrapping up this week, I wanted to do something I wanted to do sooner but wanted to wait til the coverage was done.  Sousuke Sagara was on comedic fire this season.  Nearly every word out of his mouth and action taken produced hilarious results, either on his own or with Kaname to follow up with a beating.  Stuff like this makes me wonder why Full Metal Panic was never a full on comedy…til I remember how poorly it was handled in Season One (hopefully there’s a better balance in the third season, The Second Raid).  Therefore, to finish off my look at one of my favorite short seasons of Anime ever, today I’m counting down my Top 5 Sousuke Sagara Moments from Full Metal Panic Fumoffu.

 

#5-All Day Sniper (Episode 1)

When Sousuke blows up his footlocker (and several others) after learning it’s been tampered with, he and Kaname find the remains of a note.  Kaname clearly figures out it’s a love letter but Sousuke doesn’t think like that (clearly, otherwise he and Kaname would be an actual couple right now).  Instead he sees it as a challenge and vanishes.  When Kaname and the girl who sent the note are about the be attacked by lewd students, theyre saved by a nearby, sniper positioned Sousuke…who has been waiting there all day watching his supposed target…something I could easily see Sousuke doing for days on end if necessary.

 

#4-Bonta Kun vs. Pony Pervert (Episode 6)

There are three really big Bonta Kun themed episodes this season and all of them are instant classics.  This one though holds a special place with me and my sister though.  Sousuke gets to show off his upgraded Bonta Kun battle gear when Kaname is used as bait to lure out a supposed pervert.  The real fun of this episode comes not from Sousuke’s showdown with a crazy cop, but when the pervert is caught and interacts with Bonta Kun only able to say “Pony” while Sousuke in the Bonta Kun suit can only reply with “Fumoffu”.  Kaname freaks out cause they’re bonding over weird noises…but I think it’s hilarious.

 

#3-“I DEMAND A PLAIN ROLL” (Episode 2)

This not only sets in motion the events of this mini episode, but it’s also something I could easily see Sousuke doing at the drop of a dime.  When faced with a line of students at the bread shop, Kaname pushes forward.  Sousuke, however, is at first worried because the line is so big and he wants a roll.  Kaname urges him to be more aggressive like he always is…forgetting Sousuke will likely pull out a gun, shoot it in the air and demand a plain roll.  Why plain?  Who knows.  What you do know is that when Sousuke points a gun at anyone, chaos is bound to ensue.

 

#2-Rugby Commander (Episode 7)

When Kaname and Sousuke are recruited to help a fledgeling Rugby team, theyre discouraged to find that the team is actually a group of really nice guys who wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less tackle another human being in a sport.  Enter Sousuke, who uses a handbook written by Melissa Mao, to put the team through a hellish training regemine.  This comes complete with Sousuke spouting off insults so foul, they have to be censored for broadcast.  It’s pretty easy to fill in the blanks though and it is freaking hilarious.  It’s not that Sousuke actually succeeds at his job…it’s Kyoko’s observation that Sousuke probably has no idea how mean he is actually being with his choice of words. “ONE MORE WORD FROM YOU AND I WILL UNSCREW YOUR HEAD AND S*** DOWN YOUR NECK!!!”  Seriously, why cant I find any uncut outtakes online?

 

#1-Calm Before the Fury (Episode 12)

This moment from the final episode of the season (hence why I had to wait til the end of reviewing to do this Top 5) sums up Sousuke’s school adventures as a whole.  When he accidentally brings a bio weapon into class, Sousuke is forced to lock the classroom, trapping himself, Kaname and most of the second seasons cast inside.  As the class comes to grips with their own mortality (it’s not as bad as it sounds), Sousuke tries to remain his usual self, acting like this isn’t a big deal when it’s totally his fault.  It all comes to a head when he finishes explaining the facts about this supposed weapon and the potential fate of his classmates…only to be met with a brief dead silence and the image of the whole class (Kaname included) above him, ready to beat the ever living crap out of him.  It’s criminally short, almost blink and you’ll miss it…but it was a perfect cap off image to an excellent second season of Full Metal Panic.

Full Metal Panic Fumoffu Part 3 Episodes 9-12

Kaname, Tessa and friends head to a hot springs for Tessa’s last weekend of vacation.  But Kutrz and Sousuke’s classmates have other, devious ideas for their trip.  Back home, Sousuke finds the perfect use for a new breed of tech he’s been working on and a bio weapon gets loose in Jindai High, putting everyone on edge.  Sousuke and Kaname have been through a lot this season.  But can they survive  battle with the Yakuza, a school club civil war, and rabid students who think they’re going to melt to death?  Find out as the exciting and hilarious season of Full Metal Panic Fumofuu comes to a close.

I don’t want to go back to the old Full Metal Panic, there I said it.  This season has been such a fun ride from start to finish.  Comedy was more miss than hit in Season One and was an area that really needed work going forward.  Dedicating a full season to zany antics, minus the high stakes world catasrophes was a smart move but maybe too smart.  But I’ll nag about that towards the end, onto the final set of episodes, for now.

Kurtz and Mao made welcome returns this week and it’s good to see neither have lost their touch.  Mao is still as sexy as ever and is good at laying on the tease.  The real meat of the second part of Tessa’s visit to Japan came from Kurtz’s mission, with Ono-D and Shinji, to aquire sights of the girls in their birthday suits at the hotsprings.  It makes sense Sousuke would plan in advance for something like this.  But I wonder if Mao had a hand in setting up the army of defenses the trio had to get through.  Still, it was as over the top and fun as any other story Fumoffu has done this season.  We even got a subtle Gundam Seed reference, if you can spot it. 

It made sense to have one more Bonta Kun themed episode before the series closed out and they saved the best for last.  Sousuke alone in a cuddly mecha plushy is all well and good…but an squad of Bonta Kun prepared for war is the absolute best.  While I agree with Ren’s Head Yakuza father that the prospect of his men being trained by a theme park mascot is absolute insanity, the end results cant be denied.  For five minutes, we got to see Sousuke and a small team of Bonta Kun lay the hurt down on a rival Yakuza gang to rescue a kidnapped Kaname and Ren.  There was some added confusion as to what exactly Bonta Kun is, as the Head of the rival family called him a Teddy Bear, while others this season have called him a rodent.  In the end, it doesn’t matter.  The Bonta Kun episodes have been the cutest and most enjoyable episodes of the season and, as a finale to this little trilogy of episodes, this one didn’t disappoint.

The Challenge of the School Clubs is sadly the one little chink in Full Metal Panic Fumoffu’s armor.  This was the only episode that kind of felt like how they did the humor themed episodes of Season One.  It wasn’t as entertaining as other episodes and it just felt like it was thrown in without a lot of thought.  Sure Sousuke literally kidnapping women, as he thought “flirting” was a “girl hunt” was funny but the rest just seemed…meh.  We did get a nice ending with Kaname dawning her mothers kimono to bail Sousuke out of trouble.  Man does she look good, I’m glad Sousuke figured out how to compliment Kaname on her stunningly beautiful good looks.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and man did we get a gut bursting funny end indeed.  From Sousuke calmly taking Kaname’s slaps like it’s routine to the class freakout over being exposed to a foreign substance to the moment when the noise drops out and the class as a whole descends on poor Sousuke, the season finale kept me laughing from beginning to end.  I’ll admit, Sousuke knew how to play up the scary realisms of a biological attack…maybe too well.  Still, his calm acceptance of the situation didn’t drown out the humor, especially when he and Kaname engaged their class in an epic free for all.  Of course, enjoying all of this makes me realize that come the return of Full Metal Panic in Season Three, these good times might be far and away.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid could end up being really, really good.  My issue is that Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, for the most part, was too good.  For a series that wants to mix military drama with high school humor, taking away the military drama helped things a lot.  Tessa was a bearable character as a high school rival and not as a submarine, mercenary captain.  Kaname and Sousuke were still given time to grow as friends and as a couple without being shot at (most of the time).  We still got a fair amount of action…with a Theme Park Mascot with a shotgun of all things.  If anything could have been done better, I kind of wish that Hiyashimizu and Ren had gotten a bit more to do.  Yeah, Ren was kind near the center of the third Bonta Kun story after we found out she’s a mob bosses daughter, but she could have had a more sizeable role I felt.  Same with Hiyashimizu.  For a guy who seemed perfectly ok with the way Sousuke handled everything with guns and explosions, I think this show could have benefited from having the two of them have a short story of their own together.  Hiyashimizu probably could have given Kurtz and Mao a run for their money as the perfect partner for the serious Sergant Sagara.

I really wish Full Metal Panic was a full blown comedy series after watching this season.  But it cant be and for that alone, I’ll always remember the good times I spent here at Jin Dai High School this summer.  And the best part, you don’t have to know anything about Full Metal Panic to enjoy it.  Prior knowledge isn’t a bad thing.  However, since this season probably wont have any reprucussions on things going forward, Full Metal Panic Fumoffu is fine on its own.  Which is why I will be awarding this series a…

9/10

Next week I’ll have a special movie review in place for the week gap between shows im covering.  Check back in two weeks as I begin my epic summer adventure with a dear old friend.  Yes, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing will finally be reviewed on the Gundam Anime Corner…feels so right and feels so good.

T5W#97-Top 5 Most Annoying Overwatch Characters to Play Against

Since the last time I wrote about it, ive really gotten in Overwatch, like big time.  The game has somehow almost fully surplanted Halo as my most played first person shooter on the Xbox One and I’m enjoying it fully, even if the game modes do get repetitive after a point.  I’ve found new characters to like (should I do a revamped Top 5?).  But I’ve also found certain characters that are a total PAIN IN THE A$$ to play against.  I don’t think there’s a character with rich history in game that I hate.  What I hate are how some of these characters get spammed in battle…and probably the fact that I’m envious about how effective they can be played in the hands of others.  So this week, I’m taking a look at my Top 5 Most Annoying Overwatch Characters to Play Against.  Again, got nothing against some of these guys personally…just how crazy they make me trying to break their defenses.

 

#5-Symmetra

Symmetra gives off a heavy know it all vibe and her abilities reflect that.  Barriers, teleporters and, most annoying of all, MINI TURRETS.  It’s easy to rush into a control point.  It’s another to imagine Symmetra is sitting in that sexy outfit close by smirking as her turrets tear you to pieces.  Then there’s that pesky…whatever the heck gun she has.  You can litter her with bullets and she’ll just drain your health away.  Symmeta…id hate you more if you weren’t one of the Top 5 hottest characters in this game.

 

#4-Ana

Ana’s an odd choice to begin with: a sniper who provides medical support.  As a character, id love to hear more of her story: especially her friendship with Overwatch Commander Jack Morrison (Soldier 76) and her time with her daughter Pharrah.  What I HATE are the d-bags who spam Ana’s sleep dart attack with zero recharge time and will just hawk you the entire game until someone comes to help you out, which can take a while given how crazy matches can get.  To the players who have nothing better to do than troll…frak off.

 

#3-Roadhog

The geinuine definition of a big bully, Roadhog has a big gun that can kill you in a couple of hits; a Scorpion chain that they should really include “GET OVER HERE” whenever he uses it, and a rebreather that recharges his health.  I’ve seen tons of players pick on others with this hulking tub.  Even if he’s the biggest target (after D.Va and her mecha), Roadhog doesn’t care cause he can take it all and dish it all back.

 

#2-Mei

So cute, so humble, so FREAKING ANNOYING WITH THAT ICE GUN!!!  If a player can use Mei to her full potential, they could win a match for their crew.  Her ice gun can slow you down or stop you dead in your tracks before she unleashes her ice sickle function to put an ice pick in your head.  And just when you think Mei is done, she has a small ice cocoon that can save her and restore her health in the middle of a firefight.  Do not let her cuteness fool you.  Even ignoring the #1 guy on this list, Mei could very well be the most dangerous character in this game…wearing a heavy winter coat and glasses.

 

#1-Winston

If it wasn’t until real recently, Mei would have made the top of this list with her annoying freeze tactics.  But the top spot goes to Winston because if you play against him in Total Mayhem Mode (where everyone health is double and recharge time on special abilities is halved) he becomes a total pain to deal with.  He can always throw up a barriers to protect teams and payloads with barely any recovery time and his freaking Berserk mode can pummel you into oblivion.  Fun fact: I called him a “Damn Dirty Ape” just moments before his Beserk mode went into action once…I paid for that insult in spades.

Full Metal Panic Fumoffu Part 2-Episodes 5-8

Life at Jindai High certainly isn’t lacking in boredom for Sousuke and Kaname.  Sousuke has a new rival and a new special mecha suit for emergency use.  Kaname is the one trying to keep Sousuke from leveling everything around for fear of an enemy attack.  Between rugby teams in need of toughening up,  a haunted hospital, pony masked predators and crazy cops, these two are busier than ever.  And as if Kaname’s headaches couldn’t get anymore unbearable, guess who decides to take a vacation at her school…Sousuke’s captain and her rival for Sousuke’s affections, Tessa Testarosa.  Can even Sousuke survive this onslaught?

This is going to sound strange, but two weeks in and I think Full Metal Panic Fumoffu is doing things better with Full Metal Panic than Season One as a whole…and it’s just a comedy.  Maybe it’s because there’s no political backdrop or a villain who refuses to die or technobabble that doesn’t make sense.  Or it could just be I love the image of a cute plushie wielding a shotgun.  Whatever the case, I’m loving Fumoffu.  Even if some episodes are stronger than others, I mostly just have nitpicks about my lesser favorites.

The big winners this week were the return of Bonta Kun and Sousuke becoming the unlikely coach of a kind hearted rugby team.  It seems Sousuke has kept the Bonta Kun costume he acquired at the theme park and given it a tricked out, Arm Slave style cockpit for combat use.  Throw in a cap, bulletproof vest and a shotgun and man have you got comedy gold.  It helped a lot that he had to not only square off with a crazed cop, but also the most unexpected of perverts: a man wearing a pony mask (and only saying “pony” kind of like Bonta Kun can only say “Fumoffu” seeking to give girls Ponytails…yeah…I just wrote that.  It sounds ridiculous but I can vouch for the laughs it brings.  Then there was the rugby episode.  Naturally, Sousuke wouldn’t know a thing about the sport.  But in order to toughen up the sweet and well meaning guys, he tapped into his inner instructor (with help from a guide book from Mao) and turned them into merciless killing machines.  Sousuke’s montage of rabid, bleeped out insults had me in stitches.  They were lewd, crude and man I wish I could listen to the uncensored outtakes.  Hearing Sousuke utter, “One whimper and I will unscrew your head and **** down your neck,” was freaking priceless.  And the game that resulted from the training…oh man, just perfect.

I did like how Fumoffu revealed it’s willing to acknowledge some continuity between episodes, despite being a series of stand alone minisodes.  The crazy cop from the Pony episode was the traffic cop who chased Sousuke and Kaname down on their bike.  We also got the return of the kid who helped Sousuke rescue Kaname from his gang leader sister.  It might not mean much in the long run, but I like touches like that.  This leads to the biggest continuity spot of all: the arrival of Teletha “Tessa” Testarossa.  It was so weird when I admitted to myself that Tessa was actually bearable here.  It’s probably because she works better as comic relief and not as an actual military figure head.  Her attempting to find a place in Kaname’s world was great stuff.  We got to see Tessa reignite her romantic rivalry for Sousuke with Kaname and see Sousuke pushed to his limits just trying to keep his Captain safe on school grounds (best moment was Tessa reading in class while Sousuke was frantically looking for threats with his gun out).  We got a quick glimpse of Melissa Mao, with the promise that my favorite sexy military commando will be popping up next week.  We also got a very bizzare image of Tessa’s right hand man thinking Sousuke will do something vulgar to the Captain involving Bonta Kun and a banana…draw your own conclusions from there.

As I said, some adventures were better than others but even the lesser ones were still fun.  We were introduced to Sousuke’s new school rival, Issei Tsubaki of the Karate Club.  I wish Sousuke had met this guy in Season One, to give his civilian guise a bit more credibility.  Issei was hit and miss though.  His best moment came when he and Sousuke had to defend themselves against a crazed teacher with a chainsaw they couldn’t defeat.  There was also the haunted hospital episode, which was ok for the most part.  I loved how Sousuke could rationalize horror but when Kaname looked like she was seriously hurt, that’s when he got really scared.  Again, Sousuke and Kaname continue to shine as the couple who aren’t a couple but are definitely evolving, even in a season that might not matter to the series as a whole in the long run.

It’s hard to believe but next week marks the end of this fun little series.  As stated, Mao and Tessa will be back, and hopefully Kurtz too.  With four more episodes left to go, can Fumoffu wrap up on a stronger note than Season One?  I really hope so, this series has been great and I’d hate to see it wrap up disappointingly like Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 did.

Change of Summer Plans

Hey everyone,

To say this summer has been rough is a bit of an understatement, hell this year as a whole hasn’t been the greatest for me.  Making things more interesting besides the hunt of a better job is the fact that my funds are at their lowest ever and that means that I will not be attending Otakon this year.  I’m bummed to say the least but until I can get in a better financial state, this is the way things will have to be.  Now, while thinking about this, ive also started thinking about the Anime Corner as well.  I was having a lot of fun writing my nostalgia filled Top 5 this week (see here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/t5w96-top-5-things-i-miss-from-my.html ).  Thinking about those fun times as a younger otaku, compared to where I am overall in life, I miss them a lot.  And I miss some of those shows I mentioned, one in particular.

So, what’s this pity party explanation leading to?  It’s this: I’m back off of reviewing Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works as my big summer series.  Sorry if this disappoints some people but I just don’t feel as strongly about reviewing it as I once did.  I need to focus on titles I’m more pumped to review and ones that get me excited.  And I think I know which title will take that slot.

I’m happy to announce that starting mid July, following the conclusion of Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, I’ll be reviewing the timeless classic…MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM WING!!! 

The entire series is available on Crunchyroll to view and it’s long past due I gave this show another watch.  What better way to enjoy it this time than to review it in the process.  I might even find new love for it (or things to get comedically angry about) just like when I reviewed Gundam 00 a couple of years back.  The schedule of reviews is going to differ as well.  Instead of the Monday, Wednesday and Friday scheduling that I did with Gundam 00 and Code Geass, I’ll be posting reviews on Monday and Friday, similar to what I did back in April with Gundam 0080 and Gundam 0083.  This way, I have enough time to watch about 5 episodes per set and give them proper reviews.  It’s gonna be a bit long but I think I can manage and I know I’m going to have fun covering it all.

I do feel bad for the Fate/Stay series but I’ll work on getting it into the rotation somewhere down the line (2017 is pretty much mapped out in full now but more on that at a later time).  Right now, I need to focus on staying positive about my life situation and not despair too much about losing time at Otakon for the first time in seven years.  And Gundam Wing might be the show that keeps my spirits up.

Thanks for reading and hearing me out.  Look for more Full Metal Panic Fumoffu next week and keep an eye out 4^th of July weekend for a special title review before I jump on Gundam Wing.

See ya guys later.

T5W#96-Top 5 Things I Miss From My Younger Otaku Days

This past weekend, a popular Barnes and Nobles bookstore closed down after about two decades of business.  As I walked through it, I recalled a lot of time spent there growing up, lots of firsts.  And one last time, I looked at their sizeable Manga wall.  A lot has changed since I was younger and just starting to get into Anime fandom.  Things are better for sure (going to conventions, seeing more theaters screening Anime, an Anime club at my local comic book store, etc.)  However, there are times when im super nostalgic for the days of my youth, when Anime was fresh and new and an exciting new venture.  So this week I figure I’d lay out the Top 5 Things I Miss From my Younger Otaku Days. I’m not saying in any way, shape, or form, that I hate being a fan today (far from that I love it more than ever).  This was just a really magical time that I will always remember as my starting point into the realm of Otakudom.

 

#5-Rare Movie Screenings

Watching Anime weekly was awesome enough.  Seeing it on the big screen was always a dream that hardly ever came about in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.  So when I got to see Cowboy Bebop: The Movie in 2003 and Ghost in the Shell 2 in 2004 (six months after it was released in Japan), I was in awe of the experience.  Sure I had to drag a parent along with me and they probably didn’t understand my amazement, I didn’t care.  Seeing Anime at the movies was a dream come true and it rocks to know that studios like Funmation and Viz are continuing to crank out screenings every couple of months to sample new shows and movies.  Back at those first screenings though, I thought they were once in a lifetime possibilities.  The fact was, a dream was slowly becoming a reality.

 

#4-Making Image and Data Books

I don’t remember how this got started initially.  When Dragon Ball Z was all the rage, my friends and I were spending countless late night hours on AOL 3.0 (yes im seriously dating myself here) to download and print out epic amounts of official pictures, screenshots and whatever we could get our hands on. I took it one step further.  I created not only a couple of art books, but data books as well.  We were all researching DBZ far past what we had seen, so we knew about Cell, Buu and even GT before the Frieza Saga had even wrapped (more on that in a moment).  This bled into Gundam Wing, when I found a couple of sites chock full of mecha data and series synopsis.  A grand universe Gundam Book would have been insane but I did make a Gundam Wing book and I still love it.  I don’t know why I stopped doing there.  I think my last one was for Neon Genesis Evangelion in High School.  Guess it was just something cool at the time…but I’ll never say never to doing this again for another show. Just needs to be the right one.

 

#3-International Channel

It was a random Sunday night when I was channel surfing in my parents room.  Around 9pm-ish, I stumbled across a channel advertising Dragon Ball Z and switched to it.  Then I heard it, I saw it, I went berserk.  I was witnessing pure, uncut, non subtitled Japanese Dragon Ball Z for the first time.  Thankfully my parents let me watch this one episode (sadly it’s where Vegeta gets the mess kicked out of him by Frieza).  It was way ahead of where we were stuck on in the English Dub, so this was pretty big. (I should note this wasn’t simulcast as Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT had both finished their respective runs in Japan by this point in time).  While this was the only time I was able to see this DBZ, the International Channel and I kept bumping into each other from time to time.  Thanks to this network (long since passed into oblivion sadly) I was able to see Dragon Ball GT (in pure Japanese since it aired right after DBZ was done), Slayers Try (In Japanese with Subtitles, just cause) and Tenchi Muyo: The Movie (in English).  Sure other Anime themed networks…like the ADV Anime Network, would pop up from time to time.  But this was the definitive experience that I hold near to my heart and wish I had gotten more time with.

 

#2-Toonami (2000-2001)

This was it.  The fandom really took shape here.  Since I wasn’t allowed to do a lot of TV watching during the week when school was in (strict parents), I had to wait til either Friday or Summer to watch my favorite shows.  Sure enough, the Summer of 2000 and 2001 on Toonami was the line up I remember the most:  Sailor Moon, Ronin Warriors, Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, Gundam 08^th MS Team, Gundam 0079, Big O, Cyborg 009.  All of these shows thrown together for the ultimate afternoon experience that I dared not miss out on.  Thanks to the summer I was able to see Gundam Wing in its entirety (I think we all know what that led to).  It was the best time to be an Anime fan when, thanks to Toonami, Anime was finally getting the biggest boom it had seen in a long time (and seldom has since).  I think Adult Swim’s Anime line up in the following couple of years was a strong next step for more mature titles like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Samurai Champloo and Inuyasha.  But if this era of Toonami hadn’t succeeded, Anime would not have made it so big.  Shout out to Steve Blum, who’s Tom 2.0 persona was the voice of my favorite era of Anime…along with high school cause he voiced Spike in Cowboy Bebop.

 

#1-Blockbuster Video

Believe it or not, I remember a time when Anime was something you could only kind of luck your way into finding.  Thankfully, I knew of a place where I went every other weekend or so and trained my mind on titles across all genres, both on VHS and DVD.  Blockbuster Video, my home away from home (sometimes more than Suncoast or Best Buy, which both had legendary status wall of Anime like DBZ and Street Fighter).  Whenever a swim meet finished or we had some extra time to kill for the weekend, the family would stop by for some rentals and I’d always dart right to the Anime section first.  Through this, I saw Record of Lodoss War, X and Martian Successor Nadesico in their entirety, while discovering Miyazaki through Princess Mononoke and even the legendary (not for kids) epic, Akira.  My one regret is that when Blockbuster finally shut down, I found out about their sales too late and wasn’t able to get all of those complete series that they had…I think I only managed to get Appleseed…yay? (Thank God I found that Record of Lodoss War Complete Series set a couple years later)  My fandom might have been born elsewhere.  But thanks to Blockbuster…it was able to grow happily into the nerd that is me today.

Full Metal Panic Fumoffu Part 1 Episodes 1-4

Sousuke Sagara is the ultimate soldier.  He’s an expert at hand to hand combat, lethal with guns and knives and an ace pilot with an Arm Slave.  What his is NOT…is being capable of everyday life.  Yep with the terrorists dispatched, for now, Sousuke settles into her seemingly permanent position as student and secret bodyguard of the beautiful Kaname Chidori.  But Jindai High has it’s own share of problems, from shoe locker bombers to late homework assignments.  Sousuke might blow some of this out of proportion but Kaname will always be there to real him in.  The summer season has begun and it’s gonna be a hot one for Sousuke Sagara.

One of the biggest complaints I had about the first season of Full Metal Panic was its uneven balance of action and comedy.  More often than not, episodes dedicated to side adventures with Sousuke and Kaname at Jin High seemed to fail more than succeed and often was overshadowed by the superior, more dramatic storyline.  Well, if those episodes had been anything like the first four episodes of Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, the first season would have been a lot stronger.

Welcome to the second season of Full Metal Panic, Full Metal Panic (with a ? instead of a !) Fumofuu.  The question mark on the title is pretty clever as you’ll clearly ask yourself if this really is part of the series as a whole with its more light hearted tone and zany antics.  The answer is a very welcome “yes”.  From the first episode alone, this is a different show but its one with plenty of heart and still focuses on what made Full Metal Panic work in the first season, not the mech battles or the Tom Clancy like plot, but the core characters themselves.  This is Sousuke Sagara out of his element, trying to make it work and both failing and succeeding in surprising ways. 

Clearly, the season picks up sometime after the first one and the dynamic between Sousuke and Kaname remains intact.  Sousuke still likes to find military solutions to problems: from booby traps to waiting in the bushes with a sniper rifle when he thinks a love letter is someone issuing a challenges; and Kaname is there to beat the hell out of him, mostly.  And yet, their growth as characters, and as a will they/wont they romantic couple, continues to unfold just as smoothly as it did in Season One, and that’s saying something for a bunch of short episodes meant to be one off stand alones (I doubt much of what happens here will have an impact or will be referenced in the third season, The Second Raid).  As insane and manic as Kaname is driven by Sousuke’s antics, she still cares about him.  Likewise, even though Sousuke cant see that Kaname is trying to catch his eye with a sexy bikini, he still comes to her rescue when he thinks she’s in trouble and will always be there to protect her.  Unlike Keitaro and Naru from Love Hina, the mismatched relationship seems more genuine and entertaining.

What makes all of the comedy work for me is that it is suited to every single scenario you could think of to test Sousuke and see what he’ll do: notices someones tampered with his locker-blows up the locker; thinks someone has taken Kaname captive in a mansion on the beach-storm it with military precision; spots Kaname being hassled by Yakuza in a theme park when he’s not supposed to be there…GRAB THE PARKS MASCOT AND TAKE OUT THE GANGSTERS WITH A SHOTGUN!!!  Yes, Sousuke’s acquisition of the Bonta Kun mascot suit (you may remember the cute little plushie from a couple of appearances in Kaname’s room in Season One) is the highlight of the show so far (that and shooting a gun in the air to demand plain rolls from the school bakery).  The fact that he is unable to speak and can only say variations of the character’s sole word “FUMOFFU!!” is cute and absolutely hilarious when he is using it to kick some ass.  Why could this not have been in Season One, it would have been so much more awesome for it.

Besides the added comedy, we do get some new and familiar faces to join Kaname and Sousuke in their antics.  Kiyoko, Kaname’s best friend, is front and center for a lot of the action, continuing to admire how Kaname, no matter how pissed off, seems to be having a lot of fun with Kaname.  Kaname and Sousuke’s classmates Mizuki and Shinji are back as well, though they don’t have nearly as much to do as of yet.  Two notable additions are the main members of the student council: Hayashimizu and Ren.  Hayashimizu is awesome, the kind of person who Sousuke gets along with perfectly, Sousuke even calls him “Your Excellency”.  Either he is unaware of how destructive Sousuke is, or he just doesn’t care.  Either way, Hayashimizu feels like an alternate universe Sousuke who uses obscure wisdom and references (imprinted on his many fans) rather than weapons and explosives.  Ren is usually seen at Hayashimizu’s side and doesn’t really question any of his decisions.  She seems to like Kaname though and is very pretty…so there’s that.

And for those of your concerned, the season so far isnt without its share of action.  I mentioned the Bonta Kun sequence in the theme park.  There’s also Sousuke dealing with a gang of youths and their ruthless leader…which includes a disarmmament scene straight out of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome; Sousuke and Kaname outracing a traffic cop to get back to school with Sousuke’s notes; and Kaname and her classmates trying to locate a forest hidden Sousuke for an art project…to name a few.  The stand out of this set, besides Bonta Kun, is Sousuke’s one man army assault on the beach mansion, owned by a wacked out kid who crushes on Kaname.  Sousuke is in top soldier form, even if he isnt killing anybody.  He even manages to take out a knife weilding psychopath while he’s monologuing with a single gunshot…Raiders anybody?  It’s bad ass and it’s comedy gold.

What can I say?  Already I like Fumoffu better than Full Metal Panic Season One and there isnt even a mech suit in sight.  Seeing as how we see Tessa, Kurtz and Melissa in the beautiful opening theme, we can rest assured that they’ll all pop up sooner or later (Tessa did have a voice cameo in the first episode).  I doubt they’ll bring any drama with them.  This series looks like it is here for laughs and laughs alone.  And really, I don’t mind that at all.  This is still Full Metal Panic, it’s still Sousuke and Kaname having crazy adventures.  This is the sequel I might not mind at all in the slightest. 

See ya next week as the Fumofuu craziness continues.

T5W#95-Top 5 Most Infuriating Haikyu Characters

Over the span of about a week and a half, I blew through all 60 episodes of three seasons of Haikyu.  I have seen Karasuno High overcome challenge after challenge, some resulting in resounding victory, and others in crushing defeat.  But as I sat through the third season, something began to dawn on me…a lot of their opponents piss me off.  Seriously, looking at some of these guys and seeing how they act, I cant wait to see Karasuno put them in their place, especially when Hinata and Kageyama are still so sorely underestimated.  So, as a way for me to wrap up my watching the series, I’m looking back at my Top 5 Most Infuriating Haikyu Characters.  Many of the opponents Karasuno faces are actually good sports, willing to give credit where credit is due and even help out their opponents in training sessions.  The guys on this list…would rather watch Kageyama, Hinata and their friends burn in defeat…what a bunch of team players (except for one but I’ll explain in a sec)

 

#5-Kei Tsukishima

It was actually hard to come up with 5 guys for this list and sadly, Tsuki made the list soley on his attitude in the first two seasons.  The know it all and not giving a damn attitude made me wonder why he was even on this team in the first place.  Now sure, all players get a bit of backstory as to how they got into volleyball, a lot of it is kind of sad.  Tsuki is no different.  It just took him a long time to get his mess worked out.  There’s a reason he sits at the bottom of the list…and that’s because he does end up getting one of the best moments of the show in Season 3, a real F*** YEAH moment.  But why, OH WHY, did it take him so long to get to being so likeable?

 

#4-Kentarō “Mad Dog” Kyōtani

The name says it all and makes me wonder…WHY THE FRAK IS THIS KID ON A VOLLEYBALL TEAM?  Better to ask why he’s allowed to play a sport at all.  This kid clearly has some anger issues and is prone to even getting his teammates injured in order to pull off plays.  It’s a risky call, even if he can score points.  Mad Dog is like Tanaka without the restraint, it’s no wonder they became rivals and I couldn’t wait to see Karasuno’s lovable wild card put this poser in his place. 

 

#3-Wakatoshi Ushijima

For two seasons, we’d heard whispers about this guy and his unstoppable team, Shiratorizawa.  By the time we got to Season Three, the rumors were proven true and they pissed me off right away.  If Hinata and Kageyama together make up Rocky Balboa, then Ushijima is easily Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.  Seriously, the way he stares down Hinata after the kid pulls off a successful play, you know he is dying to say “I must break you.”  He never let up on the team, had one of the most arrogant attitudes of anyone in the series.  Ushijima is an example of my least favorite kind of nemesis: highly overpowered and nearly impossible to take down.  So when it does happen to him (and it does), wow was it such a good feeling to watch.

 

#2-Tōru Oikawa

That smug freaking look.  That hollier than thou swagger.  I easily wanted to slap Hinata over the head for nicknaming him “The Great King.”  Now there’s “Great” and then there’s Joffrey from Game of Thrones and Oikawa is definitely a punk I wanted to see choke on poisoned wine (spoiler alert if you havent seen one of the most satisfying moments of Game of Thrones EVER).  He’s so determined to prove he’s the greatest…that he allows Mad Dog onto the Aoba Joshai team with full knowledge that kid is going to go full psycho at any moment, even when he scores points.  Were this a fighting Anime like DBZ, you know it would be awesome to see Kageyama pummel the mess out of this Frieza wannabe…if Kageyama is Vegeta (which yeah makes Hinata Goku but I’m getting off topic).  I loved it when Karasuno managed to piss this guy off…he needs more of this shoved in his face.

 

#1-Satori Tendō

This…freaky…as hell…gahh this guy.  Tendo looks like he is the Anime version of a character from a Tim Burton movie: shrivel, lankey and with body motions that look more like Jack Skeleton than human.  And man you think Oikawa and Ushijim had issues with arrogance, this guy is something else.  Tendo almost makes it his mission to be right in his moves, predictions and his judgement of his players.  Talk about a bad sport, he loves watching his opponents squirm with that nightmare fuel look on his face.  Everytime this guys attack got broken, I gave a middle finger to the screen.  And yes, he had a tragic backstory…and I didn’t care even after seeing it.  I just eagerly awaited the smackdown the whole collective team of Karasuno High needed to lay down on him. 

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Part 6-Episodes 22-26

It’s zero hour and Tokyo is now fully under Galatea’s control.  With the fate of not just their loved ones, but all mankind hanging in the balance, Priss, Linna, Nene and Syllia dawn their hardsuits for one last battle.  What starts in the streets of Tokyo will head to the stars themselves and Galatea has all cards in hand.  Not only does she have an army of Boomers, she also can take over the Knight Sabers themselves.  It’s an all or nothing final gambit and Priss might be the only one who can end this nightmare for good.

This is a hard finale to grade.  On the one hand, this will feed into my overall final thoughts on the series as a whole, as it usually does.  But on the other, I don’t want it to cause…well…the finale kind of sucks.  It starts off well enough but the last two or three episodes are when everything kind of goes off the rails, more than it already has, and kind of struggles to sound important while also trying to deliver an action packed ending.  It gets shuffled, has some good moments, but in the end I was left scratching my head and sighing…this could have ended better.

When I said a couple weeks back that the girls would be fighting skyscrapers from now on…I would rather they’dve fought something more their size and speed but just a bit stronger.  Nope.  Galatea needs to continue to be the ultimate cybernetic pain in the ass by merging with the central tower and become a giant modest enough to keep it’s cyber boobs covered.  From here on out, Galatea decides to use existential monologues as her final weapon of choice and maybe one or two Boomers (and occasionally Metroids apparently).  Oh and she moves into space…cause we needed to end up there eventually.  I’d rather Priss have a final duel with her in Tokyo while Galatea was her sexy grown up version, looking a bit like Madame Hydra from Agents of SHEILD rather than Syllia.  This got too big, too fast and yet feels so underwhelming.

Oh and Syllia?  After the Sabers fail to take out Galatea on Earth, she is so beaten down that she doesn’t even go with Priss, Linna and Nene to finish her off.  I can understand her being distraught over Mackey’s sacrifice.  But Nene was more shaken than she was and Nene still went off to save the world while Syllia just finally steps away.  Normally I wouldn’t complain about this, I’ve never believed Syllia should have been out in the field anyway cause she’s so mentally scarred.  But this close to the finish line?  I think she needed to be there for once.  Instead, Priss, Linna and Nene battle the literal mountain and eventually, clones of themselves.  I liked this, as brief as it was.  I think that Galatea should have pulled this card a ways back and had the Sabers fight duplicates of themselves.  It could have opened up new doors to their personal struggles and given them some good, recurring foes.  Sadly, the one and only appearance of the doppleganger Knight Sabers is wasted here, but again is still kind of effective.

The final battle itself ranged from bizzare, to over the top to…well just plain creepy.  For whatever reason, the animators decided to highlight the fact the girls are all butt naked underneath these new Hard Suits and we frequently saw them in all their nude glory from within several times (especially at the end with Linna, Nene and Priss all alive on a beach, or the desert in Priss’ case, with no underwear).  When the Galatea station began to overtake their suits, latching onto them with evil wires, we kind of crossed into Hentai territory a bit…again, is this supposed to be that kind of show?  They certainly had plenty of this in earlier episodes but her it got a bit too much.  Oh and you can tell this show loves The End of Evangelion.  Cause from a giant nude Cyber Lady to the image of wings on Priss’ now destroyed Hard Suit on the Earths surface, plus Priss’ Hard Suit turning into a berserker dog Boomer, the Easter Eggs were everywhere and im not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

In the end, Galatea was about as memorable or interesting as the rest of the villains…not very.  When it all came down to it, she just wanted to take over the world for Boomers with a very warped philosophy.  It became tiresome and I was begging for Priss to put her out of my misery.  As ridiculous as the premise became, thankfully Priss did just that.  And you know what, im glad.  I know I said Syllia should have been here but I’m glad it was Priss who managed to get the killing blow in.  Priss has gone from a loner who only cared about saving people for money to becoming a full blown heroine in her own right.  She wasn’t going to let the past keep her from doing what she needed to do, which Syllia probably would have done.  And honestly, cudos to Linna and Nene both.  Nene got the girls the info they needed to survive the battle and make it back to Earth and Linna was the never ending sense of hope to both girls.  Bless you Leon for scoring with Priss…but Priss and Linna will always be the main (non existent) romance of this show to me.

Alright, ive egged the finale on enough for its shortcomings.  Was there anything good?  Plenty.  The scenes where the Sabers and their allies had a campfire with survivors from Tokyo was well done.  It gave us a chance to have the girls enjoy one last good time before things got bad again.  It sucks Linna never got anyone special in her life (again, a shame they never paired her with Priss).  Priss and Leon got some cute moments too, riding on her bike together and sharing a couple of well earned kisses.  I really liked Priss’ reasons for not liking the AD Police (they destroyed her favorite album during a Boomer attack she was in the middle of).  It shows more of the growth Priss has had over the shows run.  But the real heartbreaker is Nene and Mackey.  Nene has grown the second most after Priss, going from overbearing and annoying sidekick to “step sister” and confident hacker back up.  This is in plenty part thanks to Mackey, who himself has also evolved thanks to Nene.  It made sense he would speak to her one more time before sacrificing his memories to help the Sabers onward.  Short of “I love you Nene”, this was all the evidence you needed to see that Nene was the most important person in Mackey’s life, and they were both better for having each other around.

It's just a shame we don’t get to see much of a resolution to any of these good times and character arcs.  Priss, Linna and Nene are stuck (Naked) in various parts of the planet.  Leon’s in a bar.  And Mackey somehow gets his memories back following Galatea’s destruction.  That last parts fine I guess but it would’ve been better if we’d seen him reunite with Nene one more time.  Same with Priss seeing Leon again and making good on the promise for more romance.  They seem to leave the series on a note of optimistic uncertainty, almost Terminator 2-ish, when really…it just feels like it’s kind of stopping.  Given how overblown the finale was, I cant say I don’t agree with that cause at some points…I did just want it to end, which I haven’t said AT ALL about this show until this point.

So, that was Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040.  How was it as a whole?  Well seeing as how ive never seen the original 80’s OVA’s (Crisis and Crash), I cant compare how this reimagining is the to the original.  On its own, it’s pretty great.  The animation is pretty consistent with nary a drop in quality (though the occasional CG element does appear to mess things up a bit).  The music is top notch cyberpunk rock, a sound I would definitely associate with this kind of setting.  The action was always welcome and always excellent.  The cast, for the most part, really carried this show more than the action or the mecha.  Priss, Linna, Nene, Mackey and Leon all had stellar scenes, together and on their own.  Priss and Nene had the most character growth but Priss never stopped being a bad ass.  Nene, however, evolved from pain in the ass to reliable teammember, so she gets an MVP award this season.  The weakest parts of the show were the villains and Syllia.  The villains never impressed, even when their threat became important.  And Syllia…ugh.  Her stubbornness at handling this whole Boomer crusade ended up making things worse and it doesn’t help her case that everytime Mackey liking machines or her fathers legacy came up, she broke something and went ballistic.  And she never got passed that, even when she let the girls in.  Syllia was stagnant and infuriating…my least favorite character of the series.

In the end though, the negatives are outweighed by the positives.  Good character dynamics kept this show going strong until it stumbled across the finish line.  If you can forgive that, then this is a title I’d definitely recommend.  What’s not to love?  Sexy women in sexy battle armor.  A soundtrack that compliments their nighttime activates.  Equal parts scary, action packed and sometimes very funny.  It’s cyberpunk at its (almost) finest.  Not quite as good as Ghost in the Shell.  However, if you’re a sentai kind of fan and looking for some Akira style action…the Knight Sabers are your ladies.

7.5/10

Next week, with the summer heat cranking up, we return to some familiar faces for some fun summer comedy…with gun totting teddy bear/mouse hybrids.  Sousuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori are back in Full Metal Panic Fumofuu.  See ya then everyone.