In the first DVD of Full Metal Panic!, the integral characters are introduced, and the last episode (4), leaves Chidori taken captive by the vicious Gauron. Souske is free from the plane, but a bomb threatens to kill everyone still onboard. A lot has been previously explained, but I'll quickly summarize the main plot of the series. Chidori Kaname is presumed to be a Whispered, one that knows all about a so-called "Black Technology" since before birth. Souske Sagara of Mithril is assigned to protect her at all costs. Unfortunately, while Souske is a very adept soldier, he's pretty inept in social situations. This leads to most of the comedy and tension with Chidori. Episodes Episode 5 Whispered: Souske arrives just in time to save Chidori from being injected with some experimental drug and they escape. The only problem is enemy arm slaves end up chasing them. Chidori still thinks Souske is a military nut and insist he not attempt to pilot one of the spare enemy arm slaves. He, of course, does anyway, and uses it to get Chidori off the enemy base. Trouble doesn't let up, however. Gauron appears in a new arm slave, in which he easily defeats Souske. Kurz comes in the nick of time and tells Souske to head back to the enemy base for pick up--along with Chidori. They get back, but are unable to catch the flight out and run back into the forest they just came from. Episode 6 Still Alive: Apparently, Gauron's arm slave has some extra abilities that make it nearly invulnerable to conventional weapons, and Kurz arm slave is blown apart. He survives, but is badly injured. Fortunately, Souske and Chidori come across him in their hike. They are able to signal for help, but it also alerts the unwanted attention of enemy ground troops. Episode 7 Boy Meets Girl: Mithril gets the signal, and after reviewing the infomation on Gauron's arm slave, decide to send out the experimental ARX-7, or Arbalest. Like Gauron's AS, the Arbalest makes use of the hot Black Technology. That should make the playing field even, but Souske has never used anything with Black Technology before! During the fight, Chidori starts to recall certain parts about the Black Technology. Episode 8 Part-Time Steady: After inadvertantly causing the breakup of one girl and her boyfriend, Souske attempts to understand the whole concept of dating. Over the course of this, he ends up "becoming" the boyfriend of Mizuki, citing his lack of expertise on the matter. Chidori seems a little jealous...hmmm. Mizuki tries to show off Souske as her beau to some junior high friends, but Souske's social ineptness comes through again and the dupe blows up in her face. While FMP! is a fairly serious series (say that five times fast), watching our hero's attempt at dating is downright hilarious. Summary This disc is setup like the first one, so if you're disappointed by the lack of extras, you'll be disappointed again. Also, like the last disc, you get a fold-out poster and a reverisble cover. The animation and voice acting are both superb. Thumbs up on ADV's dubs.
