Title: Full Metal Panic!
Studio: Gonzo
Year: 2002
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Sousuke Sagara is not an ordinary Japanese teenager. Orphaned overseas at a young age, he’s an ace pilot and former child guerrilla employed by Mithril, a secretive counter terrorism organization tasked with missions too sensitive for regular military forces. Now this elite soldier must face his most difficult assignment yet: to go undercover at an ordinary Japanese high school and protect Kaname Chidori, a girl infamous throughout the school for her fiery temper. But why would terrorists and intelligence agencies want to kidnap a seemingly ordinary high school girl?
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Set in an alternate 2001 (1998 in the original light novels) where the Cold War is ongoing and giant suits of powered armor called Arm Slaves fight alongside tanks and aircraft, Full Metal Panic can perhaps best be described as a "Romantic Action Comedy -with Mecha." While the series has some interesting mecha designs (which actually make use of their humanoid forms rather than just being walking gun platforms) much of its popularity can be attributed to its characters. Badass but socially inept Sousuke and fiery, iron willed Kaname make for a memorable lead couple, while those who prefer their heroines a little (okay,
a lot) less violently tsundere may appreciate the brilliant but klutzy Teletha Testarossa. There's also Sousuke's fellow pilots, lecherous sniper Kurz Weber and foul mouthed former marine Melissa Mao as well as numerous other characters.
The series has two sequels, the purely comedic Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu and the rather dark Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (which is actually the
third season). A fourth season, titled Invisible Victory, is set to air in Spring 2018.