Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
Publisher
ADV
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
11 Episodes/ 25 Minutes
Year
2003
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu Volume 3 Full Metal Fervor!
By noghri
12th Apr 06 Intro Well, at the 2/3rds mark of the Series I have come to a few conclusions the first two volumes of this series set the tone for this show very well. I have become used to the slightly disjointed half episodes and the differing of the pace and learned to love this show, much to my surprise that this volume is another kettle of fish entirely. The show is still as zany as before but the show appears to have returned a little more to its roots, firstly most of the old gang make an appearance and there is at last a continuing plot line at least for a short time. What ADV said Bring it on! Sport is war. At least, that’s the attitude Sousuke takes when he and Kaname get enlisted to help Jindai High’s flagging, pacifist rugby team. Against Kaname’s will, Sousuke decides to bring the spineless squad up to speed with a little over-the-top, all-out-hilarious “basic training.” And while school may be in session for Sousuke and Kaname, vacation has just started for Tessa. Her destination: Jindai High…and a nearby hot spring! Mao and Kurz are there to provide backup for Tessa, but it may be Sousuke who needs it! Tessa has her sights set on him, and nothing – not even Kaname – is gonna stop her! Sports, skirmishes, slapstick, and skin – it’s all here in the third pulse-pounding volume of Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU!
Review
That being said, does this volume really do it for me? Well, lets find out This volume is 3 episodes long just the same as before, but as far as storyline goes there are two main storylines the first is episode 7. Episode Content (may contain spoilers) The action focuses on the Rugby club of Jindai High, they been given an ultimatum by the principal and the student council, win a game against the interschool champions, or the club will be disbanded. This may seem a little harsh, until that is until you meet the ‘club’. These guys may be built like rugby player, but they don’t act like any team I’ve ever seen in my life. The guys do a lot of volunteer work around the neighbourhood and are more interested in things like flowers and tea parties. Although there is nothing wrong with these pastimes, the team has never won a game and the reason becomes evident quickly. They are afraid to tackle, scrum, run or throw/kick balls. In fact I would be doubtful they have ever played rugby at all. This in mind the ultimatum has been laid out and the student council volunteer Sousuke and Kaname to be the missing player and the team manager. It is their combined responsibility to whip the team into shape. Neither of them know the game, but this is surely not going to be an issue is it? The rugby club feel discriminated against by the ultimatum and while they sit down to discuss this over tea, Sousuke manages to destroy the room trying to defend Kaname from nothing in particular, in a typical Sousuke Fumoffu style. The first thing that happens to the new team is a run in with the local school rivals a skirmish occurs and the team are left wanting the ability to get some payback. Enter drill sergeant Sousuke. This transforms this rerun of the karate club episode into a full-fledged spoof of full metal jacket. The team metamorphoses into brand new army rugby regiment with only one war cry, KILL KILL KILL! The ensuing match is entertaining to say the least, this is one of my favourite episodes probably mainly due to the heavy referencing of full metal jacket in this episode.
The next episode is part one of a storyline entitled A Goddess Comes To Japan. The stealth submarine of Mythril is in for a service and the crew are given two weeks R&R. captain Testarossa (Tessa) decides to make a visit to Japan, she can visit Sousuke and Kaname, but also visit a hot spring, Mao and Kurz from the original series show up to give support to Tessa.
Tessa arrives in school as a new transfer student and Sousuke is ordered not to show her his skewed and dangerous perspective in life. Little does the teacher know that Tessa is Sousuke’s commanding officer. Mao is sue to arrive and protect Tessa from a potential lecherous attack from Sousuke, or as it appears in the episode him from her advances. There is however a problem Mao is delayed due to a typhoon and so she gives Sousuke permission to “jump the Captains bones” this is the last thing he needs to hear as he is desperately trying to avoid her advances. He begs Kaname to stay over as well, but she refuses as she wont be a party to something so vulgar as a threesome. This is too much for Sousuke and succumbed by stress and exhaustion he passes out, and Kaname and Tessa fight to care for him, this is closely followed by a musician montage which shows the passing of the two week vacation. The story then changes scene to the hot spring. What would a hot spring be without nude nubile ladies?, I ask you. The wrap around towels of Love Hina are no where to be found to hide the girls decency, but there are however plenty of conveniently placed rubber ducks and rocks to obscure any more than a glimpse of anything. Kazuma, Kurz and another boy are spying through the fence for a peek at the girls and Kazuma is suffering a nosebleed of Near fatal proportions. The only thing standing in their way is a fence, or is it? The security makes short work of any of their attempts to spy or enter the spring. The fan service in this episode is not only for the boys, there is a scene where Kurz is left naked and a couple of ass and pants covered crotch shots follow. This was a little unusual, as I don’t think I have seen any male nudity in an anime before with the exception of Evangelion where Shinji is conveniently and comically covered by some toothpicks. If fan service isn’t your thing, then there is plenty of other features to entertain you in these episodes, but to be honest it was only a matter of time that fan service features again in this series. The beach episode had to bettered by something and this is it. The final episode also features an insane gauntlet like run through a defence laser grid with Kurz providing sniper cover for the boys, Kurz realises the boys are in trouble and dives to protect them and gets shot in the arse doing so. Kazuma takes up the gun and runs on to his goal, he arrives at the hot spring, only to land on his knees with a face full of Sousuke’s privies. As the baths are now open to the boys and the girls have left. To round the episode off nicely Tessa is presented with a bouquet of flowers and card from the class mates. Presented by Kyoko and she then leaves to reclaim her place in charge of the Submarine. Thoughts This volume is probably my favourite yet, but it is completely different to the rest of the series so far. It has a lot more similarity to the no-action episodes of the original series of Full Metal Panic? This is personally a hit to me as I am a big fan of the original series. The expansion of the cast has certainly had an advantageous effect on the series, the funny gag show that was very entertaining was missing something, although I didn’t realise it until just now. But this volume has really made an improvement towards perfection. Well going back to my opening question, does this volume and series do it for me; the answer is of course it does. This is a fantastic episode featuring hysterical insanity from beginning to end and I personally cannot wait to see the final volume of this series. The show appears to have found itself in this volume and instead of being something of a hit and miss show; I have loved every minute of this volume.
Best quote: Tessa “I’m a submariner, getting wet is my business!”
R2 DVD Notes
Features: * Japanese 2.0 Language
* English 5.1 Language
* English Subtitles
* Character artwork
* Japanese DVD Promo
* Mysteries of FUMOFFU
* Clean opening animation
* Clean closing animation
Release information: ADV 17th April
Notes: Video:
Due to its relatively recent production the series is presented in its original full frame aspect ratio.
Packaging:
The decided dominant females from the series are displayed her in the very picture of a Otaku’s dream, the pose, the blushing and the lighting all come together nicely and it works well here as both are in cute schoolgirl uniforms, looking all innocent and slightly nervous as they hold each others hands. The back cover continues the style of the series so far, and features areas such as the summary, the discs features and the technical/production section. While there's little here that's actually set horizontal, it's all easy to read and easy to find the key technical information. The insert is rather cute as it folds out to four panels and is an amusing eye-chart provided by Bonta-kun which im sure would be fun if I could see it inches from my face, it’s a very pretty blur from 3 metres away as the instructions say.
Extras:
The extras continue on as expected and are essentially the same as the previous volumes. New to this volume is a brief promo for the first Japanese DVD release of this series which is cutely done by Tessa. This time the Mysteries of Fumoffu goes into brief detail about the way the show was made in regards to these particular episodes with a sense of Japanese humor to them that's evident. In addition to the text section, we get the standard clean opening and closing sequences, some commercials from before the show aired and a round of characters sketches. A good all over provisioning for extra features, but nothing to really write home about here.
-- noghri 12th Apr 06
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu Images    
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