Kaname Chidori is one of the most popular girls at her Tokyo high school — smart, outspoken, and completely unaware that she is being targeted for abduction by terrorist organizations who believe she possesses the abilities of a "Whispered": a person with mysterious subconscious access to advanced weapons technology called Black Technology. Mithril, a clandestine counter-terrorist organization, has assigned Sergeant Sousuke Sagara to protect her undercover as a transfer student. Sousuke is a teenage prodigy military operative who has spent his entire life on battlefields and has zero frame of reference for civilian life. His approach to protecting Kaname — treating every situation as a potential combat scenario, bringing military hardware to school, and applying tactical thinking to homework and lunch — is simultaneously her greatest asset and her most exhausting daily problem. The romantic comedy of their impossible dynamic runs alongside genuine mecha action: Sousuke is also one of Mithril's top Arm Slave pilots, and the threats pursuing Kaname are real, dangerous, and increasingly personal.Full Metal Panic! is a 24-episode action romantic comedy produced by Gonzo — the studio behind Vandread, Gate Keepers, Burst Angel, Witchblade, and Chrono Crusade — directed by Koichi Chigira, with series composition by Fumihiko Shimo (Burst Angel), and based on Shoji Gatoh's light novel series illustrated by Shiki Douji, published under Fujimi Shobo's Fantasia Bunko imprint. It aired on Fuji TV from January to June 2002. The series balances its mecha action storyline — involving rival Arm Slave pilots, black market weapons trafficking, and the mystery of the Whispered — with extensive high school romantic comedy that uses Sousuke's complete inability to function in civilian society as its comic engine. The light novels have sold over 11 million copies worldwide. Originally licensed in North America by ADV Films on individual DVD volumes beginning 2003; re-licensed by FUNimation who released the remastered Complete Series Blu-ray on September 7, 2010.Notable Staff & Voice TalentDirector: Koichi Chigira (Last Exile, Gate Keepers additional)Series Composition: Fumihiko Shimo (Burst Angel, Clannad)Original Light Novel: Shoji Gatoh, illustrated by Shiki Douji (Fantasia Bunko, Fujimi Shobo, 1998–2011, 18 volumes; English license: J-Novel Club)Character Design: Osamu HoriuchiStudio: Gonzo (Vandread, Gate Keepers, Burst Angel, Witchblade, Chrono Crusade, Last Exile)Music: Toshihiko Sahashi (Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Steel Angel Kurumi, Gundam SEED, Gilgamesh)Opening Theme: "Tomorrow" by Mikuni ShimokawaEnding Themes: "Karenai Hana" by Mikuni Shimokawa / "Invisible Victory" by Mikuni ShimokawaJapanese Cast:• Tomokazu Seki as Sousuke Sagara (Chobits, Arjuna, Vandread, Gate Keepers, Sorcerer Hunters, Fushigi Yugi, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Angelic Layer, Texhnolyze, Fake, Gravitation — Ryuichi)• Satsuki Yukino as Kaname Chidori (Maetel Legend, Fruits Basket, Inuyasha — Kagome)• Yukana as Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa (Moldiver, 801 TTS Airbats, Cardcaptor Sakura, Hyper Doll, Night Warriors — Felicia)• Akio Ohtsuka as Kurz Weber (Ghost in the Shell: SAC, Night Warriors, WXIII Patlabor, Inuyasha films, Space Brothers)• Shinichiro Miki as Andrei Kalinin (Escaflowne, Gokudo, Fushigi Yugi, Sorcerer Hunters, Descendants of Darkness, Legend of Crystania)• Sōichirō Hoshi as Gauron (Gundam SEED — Kira Yamato, .hack//Legend of the Twilight — Sanjuro)English Dub Cast (ADV Films — Houston, original dub retained by FUNimation):• Chris Patton as Sousuke Sagara (Princess Nine, Spriggan, Angelic Layer, Black Bullet, Chivalry of a Failed Knight)• Luci Christian as Kaname Chidori (Black Bullet — Enju, Chivalry of a Failed Knight — Stella, One Piece — Nami)• Hilary Haag as Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa (Princess Nine, Steel Angel Kurumi, Noir, Angelic Layer, Claymore, Akame ga Kill!, Black Bullet)• Illich Guardiola as Kurz Weber (Chrono Crusade additional cast)• John Swasey as Andrei Kalinin (El-Hazard: The Alternative World, Princess Nine, Megazone 23, WXIII Patlabor, Spriggan, Gilgamesh)Blu-ray Features (FUNimation Complete Series)• All 24 Episodes on 3 Discs — Complete Season 1• Jakoichi Chigara × Shoji Gatoh Special Interview• Japanese Piracy Warnings• Original Japanese TV Spots• Textless Opening & Closing Songs• English & Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio• 4:3 ratio upconverted to 1080p (original broadcast aspect ratio)• FUNimation PreviewsSpoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English SubtitlesEdition DetailsJapanese Title: フルメタル・パニック！(Furumetaru Panikku! / Full Metal Panic!)Runtime: ~600 Minutes (Complete Series, 24 Episodes, 3 Discs)Director: Koichi ChigiraBlu-ray Release Year: 2010 (U.S. Complete Series, September 7 — FUNimation Entertainment, $54.99); reissue 2017; original ADV Films DVD release 2003–2004Original Broadcast Date (Japan): January 8 – June 18, 2002 (Fuji TV)Publisher: FUNimation EntertainmentRating: 14+Region: Region A (North America)Presented in original 4:3 aspect ratio upconverted to 1080p. Light novels sold 11 million copies. Three Director's Cut theatrical films based on Season 1 released in Japan 2017–2018. Season 4 (Invisible Victory) produced by XEBEC in 2018.Genre: Action, Comedy, Mecha, Romance, Science FictionThemes: Arm Slave Mecha Combat, Counter-Terrorism, High School Romantic Comedy, Military Fish Out of Water, Whispered Black TechnologyMedia assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.
