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| Even the show's title is questioning its relation to the first show. |
Dear Internet,
"Full
MetalPanic? Fumoffu" is an odd ball series. But then again, that might be giving it too
much credit. Odd ball would better
describe "Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo" with its extremely fast paced jokes that
never go three minutes without making a joke.
Even "Azumanga Daioh" would be a better suited to being called
odd-ball, but I digress.
"Fumoffu" takes a spin on the format of the original
television series by completely becoming a no-sequential show where there is no
plot. There is a premise, but no over
arcing storyline that connects the episodes together except for two episodes
where one main character from the original show, makes a guest appearance. There are one or two characters that are introduced
like the karate kid, but that is all that his character amount to, the guy that
practices karate. The show's strengths
and weakness falls to the comedy genre that it places itself into.
"Fumoffu"
comes across as being made from a need to exist. It was needed to be made due to the nature of
the original series. The first show had
a unifying plot and constantly made sure that the viewer was aware of
this. People died if they lived under
three episodes and were often shot point blank in the head. Blood flowed everywhere from wounds from
giant chainsaw knives. It was serious
business for about 80% of the time.
There was little to no downtime.
"Fumoffu" tries to rectify this by making an entire show
center around the ridiculous nature of the original show's premise. The idea of a front-line military minded guy
being sent to do espionage/bodyguard work to a high school girl while trying to
keep his secret identity from everyone else sounds like a barrel of laughs,
right? Do not answer that.
The
need that I referred to with "Fumoffu" goes deeper than just needing
to laugh at itself. It also comes from a
formulaic approach to high school setting anime, or even most modern anime in
general. There is a set of about ten or
so situations that every anime set in a school seems to have. There is the beach episode, the hot springs
episode, the love letter episode, the school festival episode, the various clubs
episode, the summer break episode, and so on. "Fumoffu" covers many of the types
of episodes I mentioned, and yes, there are a few that the show does not
approach. The reason that I mention this
is that with the premise being established, the show is sent through the
formula to see what happens. There are
problems with using such a formula constantly, especially since it makes every
new series very similar to one another if not handled well, but that is neither
her of there. The formula is there whether
it is good or not, and "Panic," with its unique set-up, created a
desire to see it go through the formula to see what would happen.
The
product of the formula is "Fumoffu," a show that becomes a comedy
instantly, albeit a safe one. The jokes
are a bit far for apart in my opinion.
Like the odd ball comment made earlier, "Fumoffu" has a way of
going a while with no jokes. If there
are jokes every three minutes, then that means about six to seven jokes in a
show. I am sure that the show had more
than that, but it did not feel like it.
The physical humor is there, especially with all bullets being converted
to rubber. The pandering is there, and
done with enough tongue in cheek to be self aware that it is being run through
the formula, specially the hot spring episodes and its creative use of rubber
duckies. The scenarios that the
characters get into are funny, but there is something missing. Originality?
No, it has enough of that with the Bonta-kun life size teddy bear
soldiers. The ruby episode was enjoyable
along with seeing the janitor having a split personality. But the longer I spend writing this, the more
I am finding myself thinking it could have been better. Mostly it is because of those long pauses
between jokes, or when it is trying to build up a joke. Take episode 12, "5th Period Hot Spot." The entire episode revolves around a man made
virus infecting the entire class. The
episode continues to pump up the drama that the entire class is going to suffer
some horrible death. But this is a comedy
show, and one based on "Panic," with the three episode "safe-zone." An audience member knows they are not going
to die because this is not that kind of show, so the audience member then only
has one of two questions. "How are
they going to get out of this", or "what does the virus do?" Everything else is marginalized and the final
joke needs to make up for all the buildup.
When the joke finally gets delivered, it does not seem that funny and is
instead a pandering punch line. This is
what "Fumoffu" seems to be to me, a buildup to a joke that does not
equal the buildup. Do not get me
wrong. The jokes here are funny, but
could they have been better? I look to a
show like "Cromartie High School," which is the epitome of well done
build up jokes. Each episode is only
about ten minutes long, but each one delivers a great number of impacts by the
very end. "Fumoffu" is not a
hit and miss show, but when it hits, it rarely hits hard.
"Full
Metal Panic? Fumoffu" is an average show, but it has its moments. What prevents it from being better is that high
school formula compounded with too weak jokes.
It is enjoyable as a companion series with "Panic," but if
watched by itself, it will bring up too many questions that are not answered,
like the reason for the premise and how Sousuke has so little common sense, to
the point where he would not even function in his own element, yet alone high
school life. It might be a better show to
others, but I found myself rather indifferent as the show continued from one
episode to the next. After the tenth
time that Sousuke pulls a gun on someone not expecting to be staring down a
barrel, it becomes old hat. That is why
it was funny in "Panic," because it never outstayed its welcome, only
coming forth every now and again.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
P.S. Tomorrow is
"Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid" to finish off the animated series
not counting the OVA.
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