To find "classic" anime, one really needs to venture back a bit to a period before they got into the culture. I got into anime around 2007, and most modern fans probably did around 2011, or possibly 2015. Older fans will fondly remember shows from around 2001, and some may even talk about their discovery of anime circa 1998. It's a matter of perspective, I suppose. Anyway, there are a handful of shows in the early 2000's that still come up in discussion today. One such show is "Full Metal Panic!," the first 24-episode season being broadcast in Japan in 2002. No, not "Full Metal Alchemist" or "Full Metal Jacket," and yes, I often confuse the titles too. To this day, additional volumes of the light novels and manga continue to be written, and most recently, the show came back in a fourth series in 2018. Surely, when a show has that much staying power, it MUST be good.... right? While this is usually true, older shows are also subject to a fatal weakness: they're old. And some factors simply don't age as well to modern tastes.The story of "Full Metal Panic!" (2003) is a mixture of two otaku-preferences: military and high school. Sousuke Sagara is soldier for a secret organization called Mithril, typically working with a joking sniper named Kurz Weber and alchohol-loving leader Melissa Mao, with the entire group led by a young woman with white hair named Tessa. This is a alternate present reality where covert ops are necessary, and large mech suits are used on the battlefield (think "Gundam," but unable to fly, so a bit more grounded in reality). The three soldiers are assigned a new task: protect Kaname Chidori (yes, her last name sounds like a pet name for a chipmunk), a teenage girl with blue hair at a Japanese high school. Why? The details aren't specified, but Kaname will turn out to be a girl with an unknown secret that could change the fate of the world should she fall into enemy hands. Until then, Sousuke will have to blend in with the high school for Kaname's protection, which (despite being the appropriate age) isn't easy, since the straight man has little social experience outside of combat. Shenanigans ensue. At least, that's partially true. "Full Metal Panic!" is a show of two very different genres: high school romantic comedy, and serious war and spy thriller. The show doesn't really blend them all that well... in fact, it doesn't even try to. The introduction falls into comedy, with tom-boy and class rep Kaname barely being able to handle the new kid in class stalking her and occassionally pulling a gun on random students, while wondering if she's starting to fall in love with the mysterious stranger. After a couple episodes, it falls into serious spy drama, the type of story that would feel at home with Jason Borne or Tom Clancy, or in anime, in "Ghost in the Shell," "Patlabor" or even "Black Lagoon." That's pretty high praise to compare against those pillars of the genre, but the individual thriller arcs actually come close to that level of quality. And then... back to school comedy. Then spy thriller. Then comedy. In most episodes, only one of the two genres actually appears, such that one could easily split this into two separate shows.It's a shame, since the military episodes actually hold up much better than the school comedy. In the multiple arcs (each arc taking up the time of roughly one feature film), there's always a peak where the direction, writing and camera shots come together perfectly to create memorable scenes that rival modern anime. But it isn't always perfect; the military arcs don't flow into each other with much planned intention, especially when series villian Gauron, despite being a strong antagonist, never seems to die, even after multiple seemingly successful attempts. And as for the comedy... it's fine, I suppose, but definitely a product of old anime, where most of the jokes and facial expressions don't work as well as they used to. The direction doesn't feel as strong in these episodes. And taking up only about one third of the series, I wonder if the show would have been stronger without those comedic school episodes altogether. Generally, pacing for the whole show is a bit slow, which I don't mind as much when it's building up to something during the action plots, but DO mind when everyone is just hanging around.
Characterizations are also a bit hit or miss. Sousuke is a bit "too" serious, and while he makes for an interesting hero, his "fish-out-of-water" joke at the Japanese high school gets old a bit quickly. Kaname is a refreshing female lead, able to both play as a heroine and a damsel to save, but her "secret" never gets a proper resolution within this season. Outside them and Guaron, the other characters are developed in confusing ways. Kurtz Weber is enough of a hopeless pervert to make him somewhat irredeemable, and Tessa being a mixture of quiet/clumsy/strategic/strong-leading/secretly-in-love-with-Sousuke never felt right, making what should have been a show-defining character a bit too forgettable.Most of that would still be in the range of acceptability, but the visuals are not. Animated by Studio Gonzo, the first season success of "Full Metal Panic!" would arguably be the start of a mini-renaissance for the company, but they put out so many shows that the majority of them don't look particularly good, something that remains true for "Panic!" The strongest highlight is the mech designs, and the general gritty detail to military life. Otherwise, the show's character designs aren't great, especially looking back at it decades later. Notably, the director must have a foot fetish, because Kaname runs bare-foot a lot, even when no reason applies to it. Animation is pretty poor, using limited frame rates, or often no movement at all, among other shortcuts. Early use of computer graphics is used for the submarines and other environment details, and while it doesn't blend well, it was ambitious at the time and adds a bit of variety. The show was animated at a 4:3 aspect ratio, of course... although the opening theme is shot in 16:9?Speaking of the opeing theme, while the opening and ending songs are surprisingly forgettable, the music is fairly strong elsewhere, in genre-typical but cinematic scores. The English dub is fair, and if you listen closely, a couple side characters are voiced by the English actors from "Neon Genesis Evangelion" in roles that match the archtype from that show, a funny detail. It's the type of dub that feels like it came from 2002 (NOT a compliment), but also makes the show a bit more nostalgic and easier to watch. Funimation's Bluray release comes with a nice bonus interview with the original producer, director, and novel writer, each discussing their memories looking back almost a decade later. While it took me a couple of tries, I am glad to have finally sat down to watch "Full Metal Panic!" and was pleasently surprised for what I got. But my expectations were low to start with, and the lack of animation really took me off-guard. When it comes to military-anime not set in outer-space, there isn't much quality content to choose from, so I suspect "Full Metal Panic!" will be on a few top 10 lists for specific niche-audiences. Personally, I'd be satisfied skipping it, but there's enough quality story to not write it off. Maybe a tighter and re-animated film trilogy would fix things a bit...