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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Wednesday, 16 August 2006 00:00 |
 Why must it end!? Yes, Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU has come to the end of its all-too-short run, and while the final three epsiodes don't quite reach volume three's dizzy comedy heights, there's still plenty here to keep you amused, as Yakuza, flirting, and chemical weapons all make an appearance...
10 - A Fancy Without Honor or Humanity
It seems that Ren, one of the Kana's classmates, has some Yakuza connections that she's been keeping rather quiet. While out after school, Kana, Sousuke and Ren run into some of Ren's group, who have been having trouble with a rival group & have taken a bit of a beating. Coincidentally, they're the same people that gave Kana a hard time back in the amusement park earlier in the series & were beat into a pulp by Sous... er, Bonta-kun. After learning that Kana is Ren's friend & can call upon Bonta-kun's services, they decide to ask for some special training...
11 - Uncontrollable Bluebird
Some of the students are worried about strange sounds they can hear coming from the PE storage shed & call Sousuke in to investigate - turns out it's just Kazama & friends using it as a darkroom to develop photos they'd taken of the girls. Poor guys were trying to run a photography club with no club room. They're not the only wannabe club with the same problem, as a rock band and the martial arts club are similarly homeless. When one of the smaller clubs agrees to give up their room, the race is on for other homeless clubs to claim the space - but the criteria for selecting who gets the room is kinda strange...
12 - 5th Period Hot Spot
Sousuke's been ordering mail-order weaponry again - but instead of the rifle scope he'd ordered, he's been sent a cannister of some heavy-duty biohazard. When he's called out of class by the Student Council, he leaves the cannister in class with strict instructions that it isn't touched. Not much chance of that happening - and so the class is quarantined when the biohazard is released. Cue a bad case of cabin fever for the students as they wait to see if they've been infected...
There's just something completely surreal about a squad of cuddly mascots running down the street in full tactical gear. What Sousuke and his new students lose in stealth, they certainly make up for in surprise. While there's a lot of fun to be had from watching them in action, some of the best scenes in this episode are just short, 5-second asides that refer to events (such as Sousuke trying to get his Bonta-kun suit to speak in a normal voice, or seeing the policewoman who tangled with Sousuke lose the rag again after seeing a TV new report on the Bonta raid.
Episode 11 brings Tsubaki and his rivalry back into the mix, thanks to a contest being run to see which of the school's club can lay claim to a clubroom that's become available. With the psychology club running the contest, they settle on an unusual idea for which club will win - the one who can pick up the most girls. Tsubaki's good looks quickly prove to be an advantage, but Sousuke seems to have missed the point when he heads out on a trap-and-release mission. Obviously someone forgot to explain there are rules to this flirting game, which Sousuke being Sousuke simply hasn't a clue about. Most of the comedy here comes from seeing the 1,001 ways that the clubs try and fail to persuade the town's girls to come back to the gathering point - and how they explain what's going on to the few that do agree - as Sousuke just does exactly what you would expect him to do. Faced with defeat, Kaname comes to his rescue in a scene that Kana fans will simply love.
The final episode is also probably the best on the disc, although you have to wonder why Sousuke brings these things to school. It's probably best not to ask. With a class full of pupils sealed into the room and only one vial of antidote available, to say that things soon get tense would be an understatement, with Sousuke looking likely to be the first to die - at the hands of his classmates, and not because of the weapon. But the problem with experimental weapons is that they never work quite how you expect them to. Once again Sousuke shows how he's much happier dealing with weapons than with people, but it is fun seeing how the rest of the class react to his efforts to calm the situation - not an easy thing to do when everyone is thinking they're going to die. I do sometimes wonder what he'd be like if he ever learnt to behave like a normal person - but that really wouldn't be as much fun to watch. It's his general cluelessness and Kana's mostly-patient efforts to keep him on the right track that have made FUMOFFU as good as it is and for my money, a better show than the original Full Metal Panic! series.
This volume was always going to have a hard time living up to the standards set by volume three's outstanding episodes, and while these stories are definitely funny, they're not quite up there with some of the earlier episodes. Needs more rubber duckies. If you're looking for a comedy series that's almost guaranteed to make to laugh and takes little or no effort to get in to, then look no further.
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