The first and third series pander heavily to teenaged male audiences -- but they tell solid stories of battle, post-traumatic stress disorder, and courage. The second series can be enjoyed by everyone -- but they are fanciful farces. Kyoto Animation's work is notably better than that of GONZO, particularly in the second series.
The first series introduces Sagara Sousuke, a grim seventeen-year-old high school student who brings unusual weapons to school. Although he attracts the attention of his female classmates, including Kaname Chidori, he seems to be hopelessly maladjusted to the manners and decorum of Japanese life. Sousuke initially seems to be a fantasy-addled civilian who has played one paintball game too many and fallen into the delusion of thinking himself a soldier. However, genuine dangers arise and reveal Sousuke's fixation on violence to be the professionalism of a mercenary who has been killing since the age of eight. The first series develops many characters, including terrorists, civilian students, and Sousuke's comrades in arms. The combat sequences include some interesting settings, apparently based on Afghanistan or Tajikistan. The main villain is convincingly portrayed as a chilling, amoral killer. Sousuke is always at the most dangerous part of the battle, whether the fight is conducted on foot, or in giant robots with secret weapons. When not in battle, Sousuke always has considerable difficulty maintaining calm, civilized behavior, but as the first series goes on, the viewer begins to suspect severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
The second series continues the story of the same characters, but centers on the burgeoning romance between Sousuke and Chidori. Chidori has rivals, and a noteworthy love triangle develops. New student characters are introduced, but regardless of the violence and danger, laughter (if not love) can conquer all. This season has a great deal of sexual frustration, but it is handled with emotional maturity and humor. The jokes frequently involve verbal humor, which may require use of the "pause" button if the viewer is reading along at the pace of the subtitles. Sousuke's weird behavior is humorous and devoid of angst.
The third season throws in a bit of prurient fan service and has a pair of female characters depicted naked in the opening credits, but the characters are not well developed and the prurience soon yields to angst. The new villain is unconvincingly portrayed as an off-the-wall sadistic lunatic. The combat sequences include some interesting tactics. Sousuke is clearly gripped by post-traumatic stress disorder and demonstrates none of the humor or resilience which he showed in the second series. While the main plot gets resolved, the storyline is left open for future series. A separate OVA gives a "slice-of-life" story with a few humorous moments.
The original print stories alternated between grimly serious novels and humorous short stories, so it is appropriate that the anime continues to put the major emphasis on serious combat. However, as a story about grim combat, I doubt that Full Metal Panic will stand out. It is certainly watchable, and I doubt that viewers will throw popcorn at the screen and demand twenty-four minutes of their lives back at the end of any given episode. However, I suspect that many viewers who heard about Full Metal Panic Fumoffu by word of mouth, and who thoroughly enjoyed watching it (perhaps in the company of significant others) will be terribly disappointed when they seek out the other series and find lots of giant robots fighting with big guns.
