Full Metal Panic!, vol. 2

Full Metal Panic! volume 2
Written by Shouji Gatou, art by Retsu Tateo
ADV manga (defunct), 194 pp.

Full Metal Panic is not that hard of a series to jump into. All you need to know is that Sosuke is a undercover agent who's a student by day, Chidori is your not-so-average damsel in distress that kids look up to but don't necessarily want to be around. She's also got some hidden power that makes her a Whispered. Did I mention there were giant robots and lots of action? Read on to see what makes Full Metal Panic! a winner in my book.

The story starts out with Sosuke and his class flying to Okinawa on a field trip. But what happens when the plane is hijacked? We find out that one of the hijackers is Gauron, one of Sosuke's enemies that was supposedly dead. But why is the plane hijacked in the first place? Because everyone wants Chidori! She has the power that they want. But what happens when she's kidnapped and everything doesn't go according to plan? It's Sosuke to the rescue.

It sounds a bit confusing the way I typed things out, but it flows very well. There's a bit of romantic tension between Sosuke and Chidori, complicating this a bit. Even though I feel I missed a bit of something by not reading the first volume in the series, I'm intrigued by the plot. We've still got more to learn about Chidori's power and why it's so important.

The characters are good. Sosuke fits into the stereotypical hero. He's a bit quiet, but he's sort of badass when the time calls for it. Chidori is a Whispered. She seems a bit mysterious but she has her own personality that makes her someone to look up to. Gauron and his team of baddies fit the mold of menacing evil. There's also a whole class of side characters, but they don't do much.

The art is something to write home about. Maybe it's just because of me not reading lots of "action" stuff like this, but it's very good. The characters manage to look realistic while still being manga-ish. The mecha are well drawn along with their attacks and the few explosions in the book.

Quality-wise it's standard ADV. The paper is okay quality, it's a bit on the yellow side. The book's trim size is about two and one-half centimeters taller than regular manga, which will make it stand out on your shelf. If you're looking for comparison, it's the size of Yen Press's manhwa line. The translation was well-written, with no need for translation notes. The only thing that irked me was the occasional bolding of words, but I've seen that in a few of their other titles.

Art: 4.5
Characters: 4
Quality: 3.5
Story:4

Overall: 4. An A-. It's good. I'll hopefully be getting volume three when my friend loans it to me. It's a bit hard to find because ADV isn't publishing manga anymore, but they'd probably have it at the local Borders as long as they didn't pull the manga.

Credit: Jeff-chan for loaning me the volume for today's review.