Full Metal Panic! (Katakana: フルメタルパニック!, often abbreviated to FMP!) is the name of an anime series which originally aired in 2002. It is based on a light novel series by author Shouji Gatou and arts illustrated by Shiki Doji. The anime was produced by GONZO Digimation.

The series is set in a modern, parallel world where the Cold War has yet to end and the KGB and other secret governmental agencies are running rampant. It follows the events of Sousuke Sagara, an unduly disciplined member of Mithril (an anti-terrorism organization which often operates under the guise of the UN), and Kaname Chidori, the schoolgirl whom he was assigned to protect. Chidori is considered to be one of the “Whispered”; that is, she possesses an inherent understanding of advanced Black Technology.

While carrying out his mission in an environment previously foreign to him, Sagara assumes the identity of a high school student at Jindai High School. His inability to “blend in with the crowd”, however, is quickly made transparent by his peers (though ultimately to no consequence as they merely regard him as being a military obsessed otaku). Chidori had initially mistaken him to be a stalker of sorts as he was always “coincidentally” nearby. The fish-out-of-water Sagara continues to pester Chidori — albeit with good intentions — until she finally realizes his purposes in doing so.

In 2003, a side-story to FMP! was released. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, also known as FMP? Fumoffu, focuses (almost entirely) on the high school life of Sagara and Chidori. Although it does include more slapstick humor and randomness, it is not a complete spinoff of the series as its events develop the relationship between the two main characters.

The series continued in July 2005 with Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid, which continues the events of the original. It is an adaptation of the two “Full Metal Panic! End of Day By Day” novels.

Links:

ADV’s Official Website
Merida Island
FullMetal*Panic

Source:

Wikipedia

The official website for the 2006 One Piece Movie, One Piece: Karakuri Shiro no Mecha Kyohei (Karakuri Castle’s Mecha Giant Soldier) is now online and hosts a pair of trailers here.

Source: Anime News Network

Yeah, I don’t usually review sequel series, but I’ve just seen the first episode of Rockman.EXE Beast and was completly blown away. The newest Rockman.EXE (Megaman NT Warrior in NA) series stars the same characters as the original series as well as Axess and Stream, but with the addition of a few new faces. It premiered on Friday with, seemingly, somewhat mixed reactions -the franchise has been all over the map with its plots since it began airing in 2002. Though it’s unclear what direction the newest installment will take, it’s suspected it will loosely follow the upcoming GBA game Rockman.EXE 6, as characters and elements already revealed about the game have appeared in the first episode of the Beast anime. Also to its credit, it does not depend heavily on plot elements from the previous Rockman.EXE anime series, and thus will surely draw many new viewers.

Check this one out if you’re a fan of the Rockman games - even if you didn’t much enjoy the previous two anime spinoffs, this one might change your mind!

Again, there seems to be so much enthusiam for Keroro Gunso that whenever I spot a bit of news about it, I snap it up!

From ANN:

Fuji Sankei Business has a Japanese article on the success of Keroro Gunso in Japan.

Originally a gag manga by Mine Yoshizaki’s, Keroro Gunso’s initial success was with senior high school and college students, however its popularity broadened when the TV series began airing on TV Tokyo last year. Initial ratings had 3.5% of households tuning in to watch the show, but this has grown to 5-6% today.

Hiromi Shinohara, of Sunrise’s rights sales department, explains, “With the tv broadcast, in addition to magazine readers, its popularity has spread to infants, grade school students, and their mothers.” Additionally the property gets further exposure from the very successful Densha Otoko TV Drama, in which Keroro Gunso merchandise is one of the Protagonist’s favorites.

Bandai expects the Keroro Gunso property to reach 800 million yen in business annually.

…I wonder when we’re going to see an English license and some nice R1 DVDs.

Hailed at cons as one of the most popular shows of 2004, Bleach has gained massive acclaim in North America, perhaps even moreso than Japan. Based on the manga by Kubo Tite, the show (directed by Abe Noriyuki) tells the story of Kurosaki Ichigo, a high-school student with great spiritual power. After interfering with a fight between a monster called a Hollow and a seemingly-young God of Death, Kichiki Rukia, Ichigo is forced to take on the role of Death God and protect innocent souls from being consumed by the wandering Hollows.

Later in the series, some focus is given to Ichigo’s friends and schoolmates and there are some interesting changes of scenery. All in all the series moves quickly and is fairly unpredictable, a trait that is becoming rarer in plot-based anime. You’ll have to watch it to find out!

Bleach features many high-profile voice actors, such as Kugimiya Rie (Alphonse of Fullmetal Alchemist) as Kurosaki Karin, Orikasa Fumiko (Celes Victoria of Hellsing) as Kuchiki Rukia as well as some brand-new talents - Morita Masakazu, for example, in the role of protagonist Kurosaki Ichigo. Though the anime is yet unlicensed as of this posting, it is anticipated to be picked up for North American release soon. The PSP game and other forthcoming games are available in Japan only, and both anime and manga are still ongoing.

Official Site (Japanese):
TV-Tokyo

Fansites:
Bleach Portal
Strawberry & Lion
Lyrical Pop (Japanese)

It just keeps going and going…

This boy-detective anime, based on the hit manga by Gosho Aoyama, is now one of the longest-running animes on Japanese TV. Both manga and anime are still ongoing as of the writing of this article, as the anime is just passing its 400th episode.

The story follows high-school detective Kudo Shinichi, who, upon witnessing an illegal transaction between a member of the “Black Organization” and a businessman, is knocked unconscious and fed a poison that, instead of killing him, shrinks him into a gradeschooler.

To hide from the Organization while he locates them - and a cure - Shinichi ends up living with his almost-girlfriend Mouri Ran, whose father is a private investigator, calling himself by the pseudonym “Edogawa Conan”. From there, we witness the adventures and drama between Conan and Ran, his friends the Shounen Tantei (Detective Boys), next-door neighbour (and sometime-genius) Professor Agasa, Ran’s suspicious schoolteacher, a mysterious Black Organization scientist who shares Shinichi’s fate, and many more characters.

Detective Conan is actually a spinoff of an unfinished earlier work of Aoyama-sensei’s, Magic Kaito, the story of a phantom thief that ran for 3 full volumes before Aoyama-sensei turned his attention to Conan. Kaitou Kid, the star of Magic Kaito, has made numerous appearances in the newer series as an opponent for Conan.

At first not much of a hit, but now quite popular in Japan, the anime began in 1996, and the 9th theatrical release made its appearance in April 2005. It airs on Mondays on YTV in Japan, and the second try at an English dub, Case Closed (the original was to run on Fox Family in 2000, but was cancelled due to the violent nature of the show), is currently being produced by FUNimation. In addition to English, it has also been translated into Chinese, German, Spanish and French.

Official Sites:
Japanese
Japanese (Movie website)
English

Fansites:
Dream Forest
DetectiveConan.com
Detective Conan’s Mystery File

A 56-episode series that’s spawn two large sequels, Rockman.EXE (and the subsequent Rockman.EXE Axess and Rockman.EXE Stream) is only one part of the huge Rockman craze in Japan. The franchise first emerged in the 80s with the original Rockman Nintendo game and has spun-off five alternate universes. EXE is the latest, having hit Japan in the form of a Game Boy Advance game in 2000.

The anime is only loosely based on the game and its sequels, following the exploits of Net Battler Hikari Netto and his computerized partner (aka Net Navi) Rockman. Netto wants to participate in one-on-one Net battles, pitting Rockman against the Navis of those who challenge him, in order to excel. However, he quickly becomes caught up in the cyber-war against World Three, a crime organization bent on causing chaos.

Directed by Takao Kato and with the beautiful animation of Xebec, this is one installment of the Rockman series you don’t want to miss!

Official Site: TV-Tokyo
Fansites: Rockman.EXE Online

Rockman.EXE is airing dubbed on KidsWB as “Mega Man NT Warrior,” but no uncut version is available.