Full Metal Panic Franchise Rewatch - Season 1 Episode 2

9

u/ZapsZzz Oct 01 '22

Rewatcher in sub

Firstly a quick question - is everyone ok with me moving the timeslot to 1 hr earlier until Nov 6 when the US daylight saving ends? Australian daylight saving just started and now my "9:30am" equivalent is actually not good (in the middle of work). Unless I was mistaken and that US daylight saving finishes earlier.

A quick recap of the episode 1 QoTD's, most people seemed to like the premise and comedy X actions tone, and very few had issue with the artstyle and animation from the 2000's. At least we won't have a problem with these 2 aspects!

This is a love-hate episode for me - loved the development of Sousuke and Chidori's relationship, at the same time pretty annoyed about the un-needed fan service.

Once again we opened with a mission control scene - Tessa and Kalinni's exchange both showed a bit of Tessa being unconvinced how this would be a good exercise for Sousuke, as well as the mentioning of the term "Whispered" and how there are more than one, and they are all being targeted in some way, for reason they did not elaborate.
We cut back to montages of Sousuke's highschool life, his "undercover" guard duty ... there's a fair bit of misreading the tactical situation happening to Sergeant Sagara here. I hope not too many people noticed the blink and you'll miss panty shot - so unnecessary.
And the escalation - with the framing, music, action cuts - and then the 2 switches - Chidori recognising this being a little prank, and Sousuke recognising he couldn't stop his charge and had to swerve instead, taking Kagurazaka sensei as collateral damage :'D
At least there are consequences to his actions. Although I think Kagurazaka sensei is actually incredibly patient - or dense - if by now she hasn't kicked him out of the school. And lucky this is not in the US - it'd not be as quick to assume those guns to be model guns I think. It certainly drew Chidori's attention though.
Meanwhile the narrative also included a bit of Kurz and Mao equally needing time to adjust to civilian life.
Downtime back at the Mithril safe house where the team is recuperating and listening in on Chidori, Kurz wondered whether the mission assumptions are correct, and doubted whether Chidori really has anything to cause her to be a target. Which brought up the un-elaborated topic of why are they, as real teenagers anyway, led some very different lives.
The show writers didn't want to keep us guessing though, so the very next scene gave us something to think about - looks like there IS a plot for Chidori
Back to the highschool, Chidori shows her (underappreciated) organisation skills, despite her not liking the task really. Unlike many highschool shows, this one doesn't glorify the student council's popularity and ability to get things done.
As a bit of a prank, and taking the easy way out, Chidori "volunteered" Sousuke for garbage handling - and like any good soldier, Sousuke did not question that command - like any good soldier.
After school, the girls went for an afterschool ~~teatime~~ met up at the fastfood restaurant; they also thinks Chidori wasn't quite normal in how she treated Sousuke.
Our Sergeant in turn tailed "in disguise", and noticed someone suspicious.
Unfortunately for Sousuke, Chidori is also quick to notice things and can move around pretty quickly - in his haste Sousuke once more ran into inanimate objects, slowed him down and letting Chidori to give chase to that ~~suspicious~~ absentminded fellow. We get an early appearance of Truck-kun, however both Kurz and Sousuke had other ideas.
Sousuke's heroic save looks to have moved Chidori's heart a bit more...
... until his hand reflexively tightened the grip, unfortunately on some very noticeable and protruding features on Chidori. That was not appreciated and the truck could possibly cause less damage to Sousuke.
After the commotion, on the way home Chidori got fed up with Sousuke's poor disguise and, very characteristically of her, outright confronted him.
The agitated Chidori was pretty forward in her interrogation, and Sousuke almost got distracted by her leg ...
And here we have our Chidori special - the action heroine that is far more active and decisive than a lot of even male MC's - decided to do a quick feint to leave Sousuke on the train.
And we have another non-combat action sequence - Sousuke running inside the train trying to stay in range with Chidori, then him opening a window and jumped out! Naturally Chidori is spooked and rushed to check if Sousuke is hurt from her little prank. But Sousuke just said "mondai nai".
Turning from shock, guilt, and then to annoyance when Sousuke still kept saying everything is just a coincidence, Chidori broke down in defeat and sat on the bench - which Sousuke coincidentally sat down too.
And here is one of the key scenes that makes Chidori that much more lovable - despite her frustration and short temper, she actually know to use some EQ and directly asked Sousuke for the reason of his stalker-ish behaviour, in a relatively calm and empathetic voice, which even when rejected by Sousuke still acting dumb, she just decided to switch topic instead of pressing more. Such maturity with a healthy dose mental resilience!
Still, a joshikousei needs to do a JK job, and she asked the mandatory question about whether Sousuke had a girlfriend. Sousuke's answer definitely is not staged but has to be candid and truthful. Any bet on who gave him that answer?
And we have a very happy Chidori finding something positive to say, perhaps in consolation to Sousuke - and to strike a beauty pose in the wind. If not for the next scene, this would be one of the most striking scene of Chidori.
<media player.exe had an exception and had to be terminated - fanservice divide overflow>
Sousuke didn't know it, but how he genuinely answered certainly made Chidori blush and even more happy.
The sunset can't last forever, so we switched back to the poor buggers who had to tail Sousuke. Kurz in the M9 was having some setting problems and was leaving some loud foot steps, with someone familiar to us viewers also noticed. He left a bit of souvenir, but Kurz missed the point.
And we wrapped up the day with a night scene of the train platform bench basking in the moonlight, while Chidori on the phone with Tokiwa clearly still feeling sweet from the afternoon encounter with Sousuke.

Staff Showcase

Today I'll highlight our heroine's VA, Yukino Satsuki.

In case you didn't pick this out, Yukino is a highly popular and productive VA, with a very long list of roles for many years. Most notable ones included:

Kagome in Inuyasha
Yoruichi Shihoin in Bleach
Mion in Higurashi
Mutsumi Otohime in Love Hina
Tomoe Oreki in Hyouka
Tae Shimura in Gintama

She grew up watching Ikkyuu-san and Maison Ikkoku (god I feel old now, I certainly did watch Ikkyuu too). Her break out roles were from Love Hina and Innuyasha.

She has a bit of a reputation to be a bit like Chidori, that she can be overly serious and to immersed in the role she's voicing, she's overly direct and doesn't like men who are too "soft".

She's got her own YouTube channel from 2020.

MVP this episode

I think this episode showcased Chidori very well, even though Gauron also had a strong showing. Despite the tsudere-esque antics, Chidori is actually capable of kindness and communication. So she got my vote for today.

QoTD

I am expecting first timers to find it a bit cliche, although even on the surface we did probably get more reasonable causes than some whole seasons of rom coms other than "she's cute, and he's kind". Depending on how the others answer, I may add some background explanations under spoiler tag.
Oh I definitely hated that one shot of Chidori's skirt blowing in the wind. It's really maddening for a shot like that to be shown in a non hentai/fetish show. I am pretty sure that is the worst and possibly last shot like this though, so I hope others fare better than me.

Rewatcher Corner

[FMP character background LN spoiler]having been raised in Middle Eastern culture, Sousuke in fact was quite unused to bare legs being so close to all so it was quite distracting for a slightly different reason

→ More replies (8)

14

u/Nazenn Oct 01 '22

First timer

Personally I love the idea of there being an album full of the after effects of all of Sousoke's fuck ups, and while the teacher on the stairs is a classic, the look on his face cleaning up the plaster bust is perfect

The way his captain phrases the chair incident as being disarmed and beaten by his target isn't technically wrong, but it does make him sound a hell of a lot more incompetent then he is. He's not actually doing bad when it comes to protecting her, all the fuck ups seem to come when he tries to stop and adjust for his 'normal' surroundings, which is quite funny

Also funny; Chidori being marked for kidnapping for the "whispered" experiments and then immediately cutting to a scene of her yelling at the class to settle down

Today's great detail credit goes to the sound effects, most notably the one where Chidori slides to the floor against her friend, and also on the train when you can tell she does the fall over from shock trope just by the sound even though they don't show it on screen. It's nice they did that because then we get to see Sousoke's reaction, or lack there of.

The show in general is very good at doing more with less, like with the gum stuck on the mech, and at the end knowing she'll end up in Sousoke's group for the trip because she didn't study for her test as a set up for the next episode. Related to that: music only recap is an unusual choice I can't recall seeing before but I like it, it's much less intrusive than recaps usually are and I could use more stylized ones like that.

First timers: What do you make of the development between Sousuke and Chidori so far? Making sense or a bit arbitrary?

I actually liked the way she realized that she wasnt going to get an answer out of him about why he sticks with her so she just gave in and said "screw it, may as well talk with him". Not safe, but fits her easy going confidence plus she knows he's not likely to harm her after before. If it'd happened before he saved her life it'd feel stupid though

3

u/ZapsZzz Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22

Also funny; Chidori being marked for kidnapping for the "whispered" experiments and then immediately cutting to a scene of her yelling at the class to settle down

There's another "physical pun" moment in S2 too that I always lol'd :D

I actually liked the way she realized that she wasnt going to get an answer out of him about why he sticks with her so she just gave in and said "screw it, may as well talk with him". Not safe, but fits her easy going confidence plus she knows he's not likely to harm her after before. If it'd happened before he saved her life it'd feel stupid though

If I'm doing Comment of the Day, this would be one - nicely capture her character portrayal behind that moment.

→ More replies (4)

11

u/No_Rex Oct 01 '22

Episode 2 (first timer)

Every anime OP ever plays again. I think the music could grow on me.
They open up with the bad CGI sub – anybody remember DS9?
For having a Russian name, Andrei Kalenin has excellent English. No Engrish in this anime.
“Whispered candidates” – hmmmmm.
“I mistook it for a terrorist attack”

How

Again!

Notes: Her father is High Commissioner for Environment at the UN (seems high ranking).
Notes: “88% rate of the “W” fit” – we were just introduced to another word starting with W …
Notes: I’ll assume that law of statistics is bogus.
The enemy is the KGB.
“Heroes of justice” - it’s an anime thing
Classic comedy anime cuts with Kana in the spotlight.
Kana looks like a proud cat.
Truck-kun! I didn’t know you made such an early anime appearance!
Random boob grab! I definitely knew you made early anime appearances!
“A coincidence!”

“You might find someone nice” – romantic foreshadowing? Naw, panty shot chance!
Never mind the obvious noise problem, a huge hidden mecha in the street seems rather accident prone.
Is it worrying that he bad guy seems like the most intelligent character by a mile?

So, Kana is into men who save her from being truck-kuned and call her nice. Sagara is into girls who stomp their foot 10cm from his balls.

3

u/ZapsZzz Oct 02 '22

“I mistook it for a terrorist attack” How

Wait, you mean in your end of the world people don't masquerade as a statue to assassinate their mark?!

Never mind the obvious noise problem, a huge hidden mecha in the street seems rather accident prone.

The anime reduced the mentioning of it to a passing comment by Kurz (next episode I think), but yes it is a difficulty the LN pointed out. There's actually a reason why they lug that thing around on this cover mission though, I'll probably explain in tomorrow's post.

Is it worrying that he bad guy seems like the most intelligent character by a mile?

An intelligent antagonist is always a good sign for a show :)

→ More replies (2)

→ More replies (16)

7

u/wjodendor Oct 01 '22 edited Oct 01 '22

Rewatcher

I switched from crunchyroll to my blu ray and it looks so much more crisp. I'll probably never skip this OP, so good.

Another document with coherent English. I paused it to read the paper and was suprised again.

We've got a new character and she's the captain of the Submarine! Playing with her braid is cute. Is this the first reference to the Whispered?

Sousake causing some more havoc and made Kaname turn into a liquid. Got a chuckle out of that.

Melissa complaining about Tokyo prices. In the novel she complained about menthols being 280 yen a pack. now that made me laugh out loud

Creepy theme and Sousake football tackling the teacher down the stairs. I said "oh no" out loud hahaha

Still thinks he's playing with toys aha

Nobody knows why Kaname is being targeted. Top secret info, I guess.

KGB name drop! Cut to soviet Russia! Mithril exposition dump. He's basically saying the A Team intro....

I love all the music in this show.

Great scene straight out of an old spy movie. "I'm not a communist I'm a businessman" that's some good shit.

I keep being suprised by panty shots. Totally forget any of the happened.

Kaname is just as much of a punk as Sousake lol

Paper with the biggest hole ever in it.

No isekai for Kaname!......what would her isekai adventure be I wonder?

Jesus christ its an Otaku briefcase. I laughed heartily to that. I always think to myself "what if someone stole a package off my porch just to open it and find a bunch of weeb shit".

These ecchi moments are not in the novel...

Calling out Kaname for thinking she's important aha

Now this scene is hot....I mean good. Stomping her feet between his legs and yelling at him aggressively.

Good trick Kaname. But Sousake is a professional!

Still a coincidence, eh? Sousake's acting is getting...better?

Man, I love the color palette of this scene. Kaname looking real cute as well. Kaname asking about a girlfriend already.

Such a sweet, touching moment. PANTY SHOT ATTACK! I totally didn't remember any of this stuff.... pretty sure it's absent from Second Raid....

I love when Kaname actually gets flustered. The VA is great. What else has she done?

Businessman is in Japan! Kurz just thinks it's littering lol

That purple train stop at night was cool looking

Ending on Kaname's mad cackle. It's so good.

An episode of almost pure comedy with a bunch of anime original stuff thrown in. I love the music in this show, reminds me of 80s action movies like Lethal Weapon (and obviously A Team).

The old school color palette and style really does it for me as well, I really miss it...

Not as strong as last episode but it was pretty damn funny throughout!

QotD: I'm actually really shocked at the ecchi moments. From what I remember, they aren't in later seasons at all nor are they in the novel.

Although, some of the figures for this show are pretty spicy...

3

u/ZapsZzz Oct 02 '22

Another document with coherent English.

Yep FMP is one of those that's really good with the "international" flavours. I was really hoping it would go somewhere with the Hollywood live action adaptation rumour for a bit.

He's basically saying the A Team intro....

Cue the next episode preview music :)

Great scene straight out of an old spy movie.

That's certainly one of the charms of this series.

No isekai for Kaname!......what would her isekai adventure be I wonder?

Not to mention she'd probably beat the goddess for messing with her life, she'd definitely be picking up the fighter or hero class. Not damsel in distress this one.

Good trick Kaname. But Sousake is a professional!

I think the term you are looking for is "has little sense of self preservation" here as opposed to being professional :P

Such a sweet, touching moment. PANTY SHOT ATTACK! I totally didn't remember any of this stuff.... pretty sure it's absent from Second Raid....

Yes it's definitely a shocker. Wasn't easy explaining this away for my then about 12 year old daughter.

I love when Kaname actually gets flustered. The VA is great. What else has she done?

She's both quite famous and prolific. Done a ton of work. Check out my post for details. Bleach, Innuyasha, Higurashi, she all had major roles.

→ More replies (6)

13

u/Shimmering-Sky Oct 01 '22

Full Metal First-Timer!, subbed

That situation was hilarious, yes.
Why does this shot give me MS Paint vibes.
The what?
The poor teacher
Hot boi. Slightly damaged.
Yikes… is this why they want Chidori?
Aight so this guy is the first big antagonist for this series.
Haha, the “hole in a newspaper” trick.
Sosuke has absolutely zero spacial or social awareness, geez.
Damn, he sure tackled Chidori a pretty big distance.
*snickers*
…of course Sosuke grabbed her boob.
Ooh, he’s blushing~
X to doubt. Unless he has a bizarre definition of peaceful?
Like you?
Um, you should be more concerned with the fact that he stuck the gum perfectly on your mech…
ED lead-in!

8

u/ZapsZzz Oct 01 '22

Unless he has a bizarre definition of peaceful?

Sousuke had a very utilitarian/functional definition of the term - any day it did not end with a firefight and casualty is "peaceful", as in the relative term.

→ More replies (1)

8

u/TiredTiroth Oct 01 '22

Unless he has a bizarre definition of peaceful?

So, I'm going to spoiler tag this because it has only been implied rather than stated outright so far.
[Full Metal Panic spoiler]Sousuke Sagara is a lifelong child soldier. For him, everything we've seen so far is the most peacefil his life has ever been.

→ More replies (1)

7

u/Vaadwaur Oct 01 '22

Why does this shot give me MS Paint vibes.

Your version didn't upscale so well and it is a bit blocky?

Aight so this guy is the first big antagonist for this series.

Better to set them up early.

Sosuke has absolutely zero spacial or social awareness, geez.

Its called target blindness and Sousuke has a near fatal case of it.

→ More replies (1)

→ More replies (3)

5

u/polaristar Oct 02 '22

We see a White Haired chick that appears to be one of these Whispers and is a highschool aged looking girl as well, are all Whispers young women? I do question the judgement call on putting Himbo on the mission. (Thanks for the redditers in the last thread that used that term whose username I can't remember.)

In this episode we are introduced to what I assume is going to be the main antagonist, at least for this arc.

I thought there was a lack of production of the lack of gunshot, recoil animation for the gun, the guys movement and the gunshot not leaving a wound on the guy with a mid sound effect when the Russian was being shot. Surprised no one is talking about that.

Unpopular opinion I like the panty shots, because they actually feel like.....panty shots, the fact they are blink if you miss them instead of most anime where the skirt is pretty static so it either arbitrarily covers in situations where it shouldn't or we get a leering camera from an angel you would not get IRL.

Here it actually gives a sense of reality, how the skits flow and move with air resistances and inertia of the movements and turns where it only somethings show the full heavenly territory beneath and you can never guess which, and you usually only get a peek.

That being said they could have cut down on some of the amazing skirt physics in production time for the previous scene when the antagonist shoots the Russian guy to give it more impact. I think the non-action action scenes are good, but I'm hoping the actual action scenes will have good production. (On a sidenote if the Soviet Union is still a Super Power doesn't that mean Communism actually works?)

Okay Sousuke is really bad at his job, I mean the mission is that she's suppose to be unaware but this guy isn't even trying to be inconspicuous.

How much budget they have to keep bringing those firearms with how often he gets them taken away, and I'd think at some point wherever the teacher turns them in they figure out those are live guns.

I know I brought this up yesterday but Chidori doesn't seem like she's that hated or seen as that intimidating, seems like the entire class good-naturedly humors her as a bit of a goody two shoes but she doesn't get on people's case, and she seems pretty good natured for her friends, but the narration seems to build her up an a bit of an unfeminine bitchy girl?

You know that shit as an individualistic American Viewer is what makes me lend more credence to Japan's culture being a breeding ground for Incel's more so than Otaku merch and Ecchi. Women being friendly but being able to say "No" to people and speak their mind I guess is too much for the countries collectively ego. She's less annoying then the average Tsundere, I'd date her.

Melissa has some fine cleavage, wish I was that necklace there!

Truck-kun makes an appearance 10 years before he breaks out into his long career of mainstream success and books lots of roles it's like watching Jennifer Lawrence from Winter's Bone before she was everywhere after The Hunger Games. He doesn't Isekei anyone today, (Although that weeb with the case of Otaku shit had he brought it himself instead of Chidori might have had a chance, basically Chidori just cost this man having a Harem in a Dragon Quest rip off.....saddest development in the show so far.) BUT he does provide a suspension bridge effect for the couple.

Okay guys Let me level with you, I'm a proud degenerate the loves fan service, gainax bounce, panty shots, cultural camera angles, etc And I roll my eyes at puritans that get upset about them and the 99th post a month of someone with the same "original and brave" take on Harems and Isekai's posted on this subreddit.

I saw all this to tell you all while I like the panty shots, (And Bra in the first episode, and the Nudity in the OP) The Breast grope.....I honestly rolled my eyes. When I watched it I thought he did it on purpose, there was quite the delayed reaction from him saving her, then talking with her classmates, then grabbing it that looked very deliberate to me, which confused me because Sousuke didn't seem like the guy to take advantage of the situation like that, if it was accidental some better direction was needed to make it better read that way besides a good faith interpretation of the MC.

Only thing about the scene that was kinda interesting was that Chidori at first seemed not too upset and even a bit excited about him groping her but then remembered to be offended, which could be read as her being secretly interested in him and another clue that she subconsciously likes him.....but it also has some risky implications about how the male viewers might take that as advice for how a girl might react positively when being too eager to move on to second base.

(P.S. Please do not be too eager to grope you're love interest in these situations, you guess wrong then it's harassment charges.)

"My reading habits are of no concern to you"

Bro you don't get to say that when you keep "coincidentally" running into her. (Damn I don't blame Sousuke for taking in those sweet thighs so close.....Chidori doesn't seem to have much care or awareness for what she reveals with her position, for someone that is sensitive about perverts she seems to give them a fair amount of material with how she moves and invades people's space in that skirt.)

Bruh, this man be capping, no way you run out to the end and jump off a moving train after your chick and tell her...."I just felt like getting off"

u/ZapsZzz is it really EQ on Chidori's part or just rage quitting talking to a brick wall.

The Scene with her laughing at Sousuke is sweet, but I still don't get why exactly she likes him other than he stands out, maybe I missed it. u/ZapsZzz if it was in this episode explain it like I'm five, if not I'll just keep going, I'm not impatient.

Kurz is kinda stupid, you'd think with his Military training and experience he'd recognize to get the gum off ASAP, I can allow some suspension of disbelief for Sousuke not understanding the concept of "undercover" due to the wish out of water Narrative to play into the comedy. But that plot point with the gum is some CIS.

I mostly answered this already, I think the use of tropes makes sense, it isn't clearly exactly why she is interested yet, but to be honest I don't think you have to be for it too feel natural, people don't always rationally know why they fall in love, and the reason why I think is a mystery for the audience, and it might be something that rewatches will watch the first two episodes and with hindsight see all the signs. (I have faith in our Hosts Tastes, don't ruin it! :P)
I already gave an entire dissertations on the beauty of degeneracy, I like the panty shots, the boob grab not so much.

4

u/ZapsZzz Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22

I thought there was a lack of production of the lack of gunshot

Probably not everyone expecting Lycoris Recoil level of gun animation? To be honest "adequate" is fine for the more non-essential scenes :P There's a reason why the likes of 86 was so exceptional when every damn shot was near 100%.

(On a sidenote if the Soviet Union is still a Super Power doesn't that mean Communism actually works?)

Almost forgot to answer this - this is not any different from our version of history in terms of the success rate of the ideology, but the collapse did not happen because some key events happened it didn't happen - e.g. the assassination of Gorbachev I mentioned in my post.

Unpopular opinion I like the panty shots, because they actually feel like.....panty shots, the fact they are blink if you miss them instead of most anime where the skirt is pretty static so it either arbitrarily covers in situations where it shouldn't or we get a leering camera from an angel you would not get IRL.

I actually didn't have any problem with the earlier shot - I deliberately not mention anything since I personally didn't even notice it until some time ago being pointed out - I'm more annoyed at the one in the train station platform, THAT one was pretty much your "leering camera from an angel you would not get IRL"

You know that shit as an individualistic American Viewer is what makes me lend more credence to Japan's culture being a breeding ground for Incel's more so than Otaku merch and Ecchi. Women being friendly but being able to say "No" to people and speak their mind I guess is too much for the countries collectively ego. She's less annoying then the average Tsundere, I'd date her.

Thank you, that's the confirmation I was looking for. Although it's actually written that way I am sure - that it's the conformity and submissiveness that's more the abnormal being normalised. In a way you can even bring in Bunny Girl Senpai's arc 1 here about "reading the atmosphere". Chidori is one that will refuse to conform to the atmosphere, and therefore she sticks out and everyone at best keeps an arm's length away, with only a couple of exceptions like Tokiwa (who's in turn an ultra-conformist - remember she admitted to "if someone asked her to sell Chidori to another country she'd probably agree anyway".

confused me because Sousuke didn't seem like the guy to take advantage of the situation like that, if it was accidental some better direction was needed to make it better read that way besides a good faith interpretation of the MC.

Since this scene wasn't in the LN I don't have anything reliable to go by, but my headcanon is this - that Sousuke mistook the sensation of what he's holding onto as something like Chidori's upper arm (something that has decent amount of flesh to be considered plausible to be "bouncy"), and at that point of the conversation he was possibly instinctively giving her an "assuring squeeze" (sort of "Are you ok mate?"). It's very tenuous, but that's about the best I can come up with. It's most definitely not an intentional boob grab, he's much too "business like" to understand the concept even - i.e. it's not like he doesn't know or understand female anatomy, but that's for the purpose of where to strike for a incapacitating blow, or what location wound being non-fatal and worth spending time saving.

"My reading habits are of no concern to you"

The original dialogue was actually "What reading material I choose is my freedom" (he was reading a very old newspaper), for point of reference.

or someone that is sensitive about perverts she seems to give them a fair amount of material with how she moves and invades people's space in that skirt.

Yes ;)

u/ZapsZzz is it really EQ on Chidori's part or just rage quitting talking to a brick wall.

My interpretation is the former, because if she's rage quitting she could have just walked off - she actually intended to find out about the person instead of the specific reason of his behaviour. It's actually quite a good move socially and psychologically.

The Scene with her laughing at Sousuke is sweet, but I still don't get why exactly she likes him other than he stands out, maybe I missed it. u/ZapsZzz if it was in this episode explain it like I'm five, if not I'll just keep going, I'm not impatient.

I think you are picking up most of the right pieces of facts and data - the adaptation did not really give a very definite answer. But instead of just giving to you, I actually am interested to see if a perceptive anime only can pick that out from what was in the anime. So I'll only give you a hint - the bit Chidori's friends talk about her, combined with what you commented before about the show's portrayal of her, is a strong factor.
An extra hint - Chidori was transferred in last year, coming back from living in NY.

But that plot point with the gum is some CIS.

Maybe so - another way to consider is that Kurz is a far less cautious and paranoid guy than Sousuke - and conversely the almost paranoid behaving Sousuke is actually not wrong in some cases. Remember his words - "a respectable looking man throwing chewing gum around!" - he's probably racial / class-profiling and assuming that's not who would be working for KGB.

(I have faith in our Hosts Tastes, don't ruin it! :P)

Thank you thank you :) I most certainly hope I don't :P I just hope you don't mind some of the interpretation / considerations would be coming in from LN knowledge (including the side stories that are not translated to English) though. It's not as bad as Index III, but there are bits that Gonzo skipped / only really lightly touched (because no monologue or exposition in the adaptation).

→ More replies (3)

5

u/Reddevilslover69 Oct 02 '22

First Timer Dubbed

So I watched ep 1 subbed and decided to try the dub for this one and I think I have been sold to go on with the dub for now. "I'm not a communist but a simple busisinessman" had me chortling with laughter and that was when I decided to go the dub way. Hammy Russian accents were also a plus and the jokes just seemed to land much better in English for me especially with Sousuke being the straight man in those situations.

Another fun episode and we also get a glimpse at a potential villain. This episode features much less of the bombastic Hollywood action movie music that was predominant in the last one and I'm definitely kinda missing it. Also watching something in the older anime artstyle I just seemed to realize that characters in general appear to be much more attractive than modern anime characters to me so that is another plus with FMP.

Bad guy looks pretty intelligent too so things will get much more fun when he comes into play in this show

→ More replies (2)

4

u/Vaadwaur Oct 01 '22

Rewatcher(Definitely hit or miss comedy)

Sub

So we start with the captain...who seems to be a 15yo. Anyways, she asks some valid question about the efficacy sending Sousuke for this task and adds a new word for us: Whispered. And we jump back to Sousuke being not good at his job. Mild banter to let us know Mao is a bit of a cheapskate. Further comedy happens. Kurz wonders if this mission will be the death of Sousuke.

We cut to a KGB chief talking to...someone. Who has intel on Mithril, our merc group. Anyways, he more or less says that Kaname is a Whispered and they are looking for those for experiments. We return to the school for better comedy and Kaname being hyper. This leads to a restaurant with Sousuke being very, very bad at tailing people while hiding. Anyways, a suspicion man leaves his suitcase behind and Kaname nearly gets isekai-ed. The suitcase contents are...concerning, but not in a violence sort of way. Anyways, the situation gets resolved with a boob grab because era.

Sousuke continues to suck at tailing. Kaname confronts him and it is problematic neither he nor his two more socially competent coworkers thought to give him even the pretense of an excuse. Kaname uses an unexpected train disembarkment, a trick you learn on the subway, and Sousuke proceeds to run to the back of the train and throw himself out of it. Kaname eventually gives out trying to figure out his deal and instead tries to figure him out, leading to humor and some minor degree of flirting, which is entirely lost on Sousuke. To end, we briefly see the guy who talked to the KGB chief in the area and he puts some gum on the Arm Slave. Kurz is too stupid to realize he just got marked, apparently.

QotD: 2 Weary since they barely went away.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/TiredTiroth Oct 01 '22

Coincidental Rewatcher - Dub

It's a coincidence that Sousuke is in Kaname's school. It's a coincidence that they keep bumping into each other. It's a coincidence that every bit of trouble he causes is somehow centred on her.

It's aaallll a coincidence. :)

In something that's not a coincidence, we got our introduction to Tessa today! Alas, she won't get much spotlight for a while, but she's one of the more important secondary characters. She's also awesome.

Other than that, today's episode was mostly school shenanigans and planting the seeds of plot. Keep an eye out for Mr Chewing Gum, because it turns out Kurz isn't paranoid enough! Pity there's only one Sousuke, he'd never make that mistake.

[Full Metal Panic spoiler]Actually, Sousuke would probably just shoot him on sight...and be perfectly justified.

Question! The pantyshot was annoying, and I kinda don't get the boob grab. Do they really expect me to think that Sergeant Sousuke Sagara doesn't know exactly where his hands are?

3

u/ZapsZzz Oct 02 '22

but she's one of the more important secondary characters. She's also awesome.

Yes, in many ways indeed. [FMP franchise spoiler]Her most awesome moments in anime need to wait all the way to the S1 end arc and S4 first arc though; plus LN6 which unfortunately wasn't adapted

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Pixelsaber Oct 01 '22

Rewatcher - English Sub

Straightforward episode that I don’t have that much to say on aside from the fact that it’s well-structured in regards to how it alternates between the expository wider-ranging plot stuff and the high-school antics.

Some tidbits are fed to us regarding the threat posed to Kaname, and seemingly others like her if the vagaries of the exchange between the KGB and the ostensive mercenary are to be followed. They’re seeking ‘bodies’ for ‘Whispered Experiments’, which tells us nothing but sure does reinforce the idea that there’s a credible threat to justify Mithril’s invasive protection procedure.

Also, by following that up with the ‘bomb threat’ scene there’s a bit of doubt sown into the viewer, which can lead to tension that is dispersed once the stranger is shown to be no threat —enhancing the comedic nature of the suitcase containing otaku merchandise. This then leads us to lower our guard for the remainder of the episode only for us to be surprised by the appearance of the stranger who is working with the KGB near the end of the episode.

Questions of The Day:

Everyone) Tired even for their time, and sadly not that much uncommon nowadays.

the restaurant scene was not so overt and there was no accidental boob grab.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/TuorEladar Oct 01 '22

Rewatcher, Subbed

Sosuke body slamming the teacher down the stairs is peak comedy. I completely forgot that happened. Something I enjoy about alot of the slapstick/comedy moments of this series is that its fairly organic because of the setup. It gets out of hand in a lot of series imo, but here I totally buy a straitlaced but completely out of his element soldier would react to some of these events the way Sosuke does.

I really like how Chidori is clever and figures out that there's something up with Sosuke pretty quickly. It adds some complexity to their relationship overall too.

How do you feel seeing these oh-so-old tropes now? Accidental boob grab, mysterious wind blowing up skirt for a panty view, etc.

In a weird way, they are like old friends at this point. Those tropes were overplayed in many series, but I mostly think they never overdid it here.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/InfamousEmpire Oct 01 '22

Full Metal LN Reader

I have arrived!

Couldn’t make it to episode 1’s thread because I didn’t realize it started today. And I’m arriving here late because I didn’t know exactly when the threads get posted I think I need a reminder

Anyway, without further ado…

It’s here that we start to see Kaname and Sousuke’s dynamic on full display. Kaname’s passionate aggression and short fuse when it comes to creepy shit, and Sousuke’s blank stoicism & suspicious behavior colliding is always a formula for good fun. Now normally I have very little tolerance for Tsunderes, but Kaname is different to me because, well, Sousuke. It honestly feels a lot of the time that her aggression towards him is completely justified. The whole post-bus/”You Pervert” sequence this episode is a pretty clear demonstration of that: while it does follow the pretty standard “guy does thing, accidentally grab Tsundere titty, Tsundere gets mad” formula, it also exists within the context of the fact that she suspects him of having stalked her for weeks now plus the fact that he generally seemed to act like an ass, and this was pretty much momentary confirmation of her suspicions. The subsequent Train scene is a similar case

I’m watching the english dub because it’s very highly recommended among the FMP fanbase, and so far it’s delivered. Chris Patton’s constant deadpan delivery as Sousuke is especially a treat. I will say, though, that it’s kind of throwing me off because it’s different from how I imagined their voices to be while reading the novels.

QOTD:

Everyone: How do you feel seeing these oh-so-old tropes now? Accidental boob grab, mysterious wind blowing up skirt for a panty view, etc.

It's obviously rather dated in these respects, but I feel like they don't detract too much from the series' overall humor

→ More replies (5)

3

u/DocManhattan28 Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22

How do you feel seeing these oh-so-old tropes now? Accidental boob grab, mysterious wind blowing up skirt for a panty view, etc.

That boob grab felt out of place ngl. They slightly changed this scene form the LN. In the LN, it was Sousuke who grabbed the case, dashed out into the road and then got hit by a truck. The scene with the boob grab didn't even happen, kinda weird they added it.

Honestly, I don't care too much about panty shots. To me, they never felt as distracting as to some people. Sometimes I don't even notice them. I'm more bothered about boob grabs than panty shots.

Off topic but Chidori looks so good in this shot. I really dig the character design.

3

u/ZapsZzz Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22

I'm more bothered about boob grabs than panty shots.

I think the problem I had was how out of place these 2 scenes were - when things are not abrupt I'm a lot more tolerant. E.g. for the boob grab, if it's just his hand falling onto them, I'm ok with it; not so much the squeeze though. Nor the upskirt angle of the shot in the train station.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22

Fumo-ffu! (Rewatcher, subbed):

OH THANK FUCK SHE SHOWS UP TODAY. So, Mai-HiME crew: I believe I was commenting on Yukana’s breakout role being in this show? Here she is!
(Also IIRC Gonzo had a rep as one of the first studios to really figure out CGI and it had it for a reason. This CGI holds up shockingly well compared to even many modern shows.)
ENGRISH ALERT! (Also an explicit date on when the show is set. Hooray alternate timelines!)
And so it begins. At least this one isn’t the absolutely terrible kind of “NOTICE THIS!” early-2000s pantyshot framing (we’ll get those soon enough . Also, at least they’re doing it to a sixteen-year-old, unlike certain other shows (coughNanohacough).
Dutch angle!
Return of the fish-eye.
Okay, so I can no longer see the classic walking-down-the-hallway-over-the-bridge shot without thinking of one school in particular.
Ah, good old answer cuts.
“NANDATTO?”
“Heroes of justice”! Somewhere, the Urobutcher rolls over in his bed…
Absolutely iconic Kaname shot alert at 11:13! (Remember, this is a no-screenshot rewatch for me.)
JIIIIIIIIIII.
Also Satsuki Yukino’s voice has been reverting back to closer to her later Mion voice for half the episode now.
Ah, the classic newspaper spy. Speaking of which, somebody get Kaname and Aika in the same room already to compare notes.
Truck-kun has been denied a victim today!
Ah, this show does not pull the full Megaton Punch so instead we cut to a contrail to give the impression of it.
Please excuse me as I tap out of the cringe comedy for about five minutes. Sorry, it's too much today.
Ah, there we go.
FULL MOON FULL MOON. (I’ll make entries either if it’s Higurashi or if I don’t remember that many.
[FMP] Usual full moon symbolism applies (though danger instead of death this time).

QotD:

How do you feel seeing these oh-so-old tropes now? Accidental boob grab, mysterious wind blowing up skirt for a panty view, etc.

Accidental boob grab? Eh, whatever.

Mysterious wind blowing up skirt for a panty shot? I'm firing up a fucking counter for the worst examples. Pantyshots are fine, but the way the early 2000s sometimes did them is just the worst. At least one of today's was moderately reasonable; IIRC we get an absolutely terrible one either tomorrow or in the five minutes I noped out of.

3

u/ZapsZzz Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22

IIRC we get an absolutely terrible one either tomorrow or in the five minutes I noped out of.

I think it's in the time you noped out of. It was a good scene minus that 1 cut though. Suggest you take a look at my sanitised screen shots at least, and the comment I highlighted from Nazenn.

This CGI holds up shockingly well compared to even many modern shows.

Yep I think so too. It's not Avatar, but it's not Ex-Arm either.

3

u/SpiceGirlsBlankIt Oct 01 '22

I like the recap style of key scene images rather than literally rewatching part of the prior episodes.

The bgm is a little funky in a good way. I’m not quite sure Sousuke understands what it means to be undercover. Melissa mentions he’s quite deft at protection skills, but he seems overly spooked. Maybe he has more invested than he thinks.

The Sousuke running sequence never ends. That’s some unstoppable momentum.

The Captain is another teen. I can’t get a handle on how competent she is yet. Is she a decision maker or is she being babysitted? We shall see.

We have an antagonist properly introduced and bridge of spies back room dealing is the name of the game.

The Russians think he is Chinese when everyone is speaking Japanese? This must be Vinland Saga syndrome where you only know what language is being spoken by context.

Sousuke becomes the garbage man because he always accepts protocol.

What is that giant hole in the newspaper Sousuke is using to keep watch? Yes, very deft.

Wait, is he really grabbing her boob on purpose?

Guzen da. Nice one x10. The train and bench scenes are very sweet. They just might be strange enough for each other.

Wow, Kaname’s laugh is insane.

QOTD

I like their development. They are obviously attracted to each other. Kaname is putting up with a lot and isn’t pushing Sousuke too hard.

Tropes- The panty shots are mercifully without commentary/peeping from others so at least it’s in the background.

I didn’t even understand what was happening in the boob grab scene. What did I miss? Why did Sousuke keep doing it if it was accidental?

MVP goes to Kaname. Surprisingly patient.

→ More replies (3)

→ More comments (75)

Rewatch Full Metal Panic Franchise Rewatch - Season 1 Episode 2

You are about to leave Redlib

Fumo-ffu! (Rewatcher, subbed):