Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Dispensing with most of the elements that make Full Metal Panic so great, Fumoffu is little more than a tacked on series of fanservice episodes.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner December 18, 2010

Created as a comedy-based spin-off of the initial 24-episode anime production, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu reunites viewers with Sousuke and Kaname, as they continue the high school awkwardness established during the early episodes of the first season. To some fans this will serve as a welcomed diversion from the serious tone found in the closing episodes of its predecessor, though others will undoubtedly feel the lack of drama or thrills drags this down in comparison with the other two Full Metal Panic productions. I personally fall into the latter school of thought, preferring the serious themes in Full Metal Panic: Second Raid over this tedious stab at fanservice.

Nothing says tough like a teddy bear with a gun...

Picking up a short time after his epic battle with the terrorist Gauron, Sousuke has settled back into his role as Kaname’s not-so-silent guardian during her routine days at Jindai High School. Blessed with a knack for missing romantic cues, Sousuke’s personal brand of protection often involves an overbearing or violent reaction to even the most innocent situations, causing Kaname more worry than he’s often worth. Fortunately, she’s borderline infatuated with the young mercenary and would rather deal with the fall-out of his obnoxious behavior than lose the constant attention. Mixed into these daily interactions we find a series of brief adventures that range from the disastrous loss of the high school lunch cart, to the appearance of a serial stalker with an infatuation for pony tails. I guess life as a teenager isn’t fulfilling without a healthy dose of danger along the way.

Appreciating Fumoffu requires a certain taste for the more outrageous elements in Japanese comedy. Despite my longstanding romance with everything anime, the comedy subcategory is still something I struggle to fully embrace. I’ve sat through my fair share of outlandish gags or jokes that barely register a smile, so I’ve learned to approach productions such as this from a skeptical perspective. That’s not to say I hate all anime comedy, but given the choice between a serious-themed production like Full Metal Panic: Second Raid, the decision is simple.

Aside from my lukewarm reaction to the comedy, I found two other areas that weakened the overall presentation during my viewing session. First, there’s a missing element of immersion in this sequel that was never a problem in the original. It’s one thing if subplots develop within each episode to further build character background or develop relationships, but it always helps move things along when there’s a good underlying story arch to pull it all together. Fumoffu never goes in that direction (aside from a two episode plotline where Tessa visits Jindai High as an exchange student), leaving every episode independent of one another. This moves us into my second complaint, which has to do with the division of most episodes into two stories. I’m not sure if this was done to include more storylines or simply a result of the superficial plotlines, but no matter the reasoning, it tends to drag down the pacing of the show.

By now you can likely guess this wasn’t my favorite anime release of 2010, but fortunately all is not lost. Longtime fans of Full Metal Panic will still enjoy glimpses of their favorite characters in various cameo roles (even Sousuke’s mercenary friends), and though the action has been sucked out of this particular series, the personalities of each role remain intact. If you count yourself among those who adore the “fluffy” aspects of the original 24-episode series run, this follow up should fill a desire for more of the same.

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (in the original aspect ratio of 4:3), Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu looks as decent as anyone expected going in. The series was initially released in 2003 (one year after the original series), so we're witnessing a production that wasn't created with a focus on high definition visuals. What that translates into is a Blu-ray experience that demonstrates increased stability over the prior DVD version (reduced banding, aliasing, and other transfer specific anomalies), but rarely offers much improvement in the precision of lines or a reduction in haziness. Thankfully, the series never looked overly weak in the first place, so most scenes still offer average detail levels, though those looking for a significant overhaul will likely feel underwhelmed. On the positive front, we have a boost in the richness of the color scheme throughout the series, which seemed a bit muted on the prior DVD box set. Additionally, black levels and contrast appear consistent and well defined in all but a handful of scenes (typically those with intentional brightness boosting to simulate a bright room), adding to the depth of the predominantly hand-drawn animation.

In summary, Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu won't knock your socks off with tremendous visuals, but for non-HD source material there's little to complain about.

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with most Funimation offerings, Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu includes a lossless English 5.1 offering, and a Japanese 2.0 offering. Switching back and forth between the native language mix and the dubbed version, I failed to notice much difference in the level of surround separation, leaving almost every element firmly entrenched in the front sound stage. While this may be disappointing to most audiophiles, it makes it much easier for most of us to justify a decision to stick with the better of the two tracks (I always tend to prefer the original rather than the dubbed option, despite the impressive voice talent utilized by FUNimation). Getting down to the particulars of the lossless upgrade, the show contains a reasonable level of clarity, but never reaches the robust heights of more recent productions. I can't complain too much, since most of the spin-off series remains completely devoid of action-heavy surround elements, but as with the video portion of my review, there's a minimal upgrade in the transition to a lossless presentation.

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only extras included on the disc are original Japanese television spots, textless opening/closing songs, and a collection of trailers for other FUNimation releases.

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As with various genres under the anime banner, Fumoffu will appeal to those with a distinct taste for elements that may not appeal to the masses, but there's nothing wrong with that. I can readily admit my personal preferences sway me in a different direction, but that doesn't mean you should shy away if your enjoyment of Japanese comedy is more robust than mine. My only suggestion is you keep your expectations in check, and go in knowing this won't follow in the footsteps of the other two Full Metal Panic productions.