Novel Review: Full Metal Panic Volume One

[Eric]

Title: Full Metal Panic!: Fighting Boy Meets Girl
Volume: One
Author: Shouji Gatou
Artist: Shikidouji
Originally Published by: Dragon Magazine (Kadokawa Shoten)
Publisher: Tokyopop
Genre: Light novel
Price: $7.99/US

Kaname Chidori was a fairly normal, straight laced student at Jindai Academy until Sousuke Sagara transferred in. Little does she know, the sullen troublemaker is her personal bodyguard and she is in terrible danger from the KGB! Discover the mystery as this comedy-action-science-fiction story unfolds.

The set-up for this story is interesting, I'll admit. Sagara has never known anything but the military all his life. Without any social skills whatsoever, he is inserted into a normal Tokyo high school to bodyguard a high-strung, tsundere* nut bar, Chidori. It's truly unfortunate that it’s all that is interesting about this.

Okay, I'll admit: I'm not a fan of the FMP anime. Then again, it's not because I dislike it, I just haven't seen it yet. But this is exactly my point. This novel is for fans of the anime, and people who haven't seen the anime won't be won over by this novel. I found it was missing a lot of the visual imagery that you would find in an anime or manga, so I think that it's resting heavily on fans who’ve already seen it. If you haven't seen it (like me), then you might be just a bit bored by it.

Also, as I've noted before in previous reviews, Japanese writing seems a bit sparse and weak, compared to western writing, and this is entirely due to the use of kanji. Each kanji transmits a wealth of meaning behind it and authors can choose kanji with the exact overtones and undertones he or she wants. However, while a kanji like "michi" can mean, a road, a path, a passage, a way of life, love, the universe and even God, translating it into English, the translator has to pick ONE of those concepts.

Why am I saying this? Because this novel is missing anything that might give it some life, some charm. This book is pretty much for fans of the anime. Can a reader get some joy out of it without knowing the anime? Well, of course, but don't expect too much.

I said above that this is volume "one" only because I know that there is a series of light novels for FMP. I have no idea if TP has any plans to translate any more of them or not. [Editor's note: Tokyopop has released volume two of this novel series with possible plans to continue with the third in 2009.]

*Tsundere: common anime and manga archetype - the girl who covers up her soft side and affection by acting mean and harsh.

Reviewer: Eric Turner
Proofer: Eduardo Menendez
Editor: Lissa Pattillo