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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to ADV Films for sending a copy for a review for this site. Wow, this series is really cool. There are cool mecha, interesting story line, lots of action & also a little humor added in. Not to mention a little love story. All this to created Full Metal Panic. The action kicks off right on the first episode, but you might not understand what's really going on. A special team is sent to Tokyo to project a schoolgirl, Kaname Chidori. Sousuke Sagara, a cool top-notch Agent, was sent to gaurd her, however, he got a pretty hard time fitting in. You will see what I mean. On the other hand, Kaname keeps wondering Sousuke is always around here, but that information is classfied. Unknown to her, Kaname is a target of terrorists, trying to kidnap her. Will Sousuke be able to project her, though, all he does is making things more suspecious.
Video:
ADV Films did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. Though, they did translated the Japanese credits to English in the introduction & ending, but they left the Japanese texts intact in the episodes. The episodes are on a different track, so there will be a small loading time when you move on to the next episode. Each episodes are separated into 5 parts: introduction, part A, part B, ending & the preview for the next episode, except for the first episode, since you got prologue! I do note that you can skip all those warnings & logos when you first load the DVD by just pressing the "Menu" button on your remote control.
Dubbing: English:
The dubbing is really great. Though, Sousuke is a little, well, doesn't really suit much. He just talk too fast. Kurz's voice is now the cool dude, a little different then the original Japanese. If you seen the Evangelion series, you might even recognized Melissa Mao's voice. By the way, you get a little audio clip on the FBI warning about copyrights, done by the voice of Kaname Chidori, which is really cool. This time, I feel like watching the FBI warning. It's about 85% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 5.1:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio 02: English 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 03: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
ADV Films have selected a great font, very easy to read. They use yellow for the introduction, ending themes & the Japanese dialogue & white for Japanese signs & text. There are two tracks of subtitling. One track is for the sign subtitling & the other one is for the Japanese dialogue. I might note that every odd numbered episodes, the intro & ending subtitles are in English, while the even numbered episodes are in Japanese on this volume. Oh, just a little note, it might be me, but in a few spots, the Japanese subtitling track, some liness don't seem to fix on the screen.
Menu Option:
The menu has a little animation & a cool special effect. It's like you're moving in a high-tech machine. There isn't a "Play All" feature, just a selection of one of the 4 episodes, "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". Any selections you will make the menu move mechanically as it changes. The background music is one of the background music during the series, I'm not sure which one. The extra section same music as the menu, but the the others are just sound effects.
DVD Extras:
There isn't much extras on it, just a non-credit opening & ending, as well a production sketches. They also have the original Japanese Pivacy warning as well. It's bascially the same what ADV Films added to the FBI warning when you load the DVD, but for the original Japanese release in Japan. That's about it.
Packaging:
Very cool design! On the cover, you see an Arm Slave called an M9. In the back, keeping the same design as the menu on the DVD, you get the same mechanical design, with a few screenshots. However, the list of special features is really hard to read with the colors picken. The insert isn't really an insert, it's more of a full mini-poster of the cool M9 as the cover! In the back of the mini-poster, you get tons of information of the characters, as well as design notes. On the DVD disc itself, it's the same mechanical design. Since the DVD case is a clear one, you get to see the reversible cover & what a cover it is. It's totally different then the default one. It's mostly pink & girly design, featuring Kaname Chidori. However, you will get an episode description for all 4 episodes on this volume.
PC Viewing:
Watching it on the PC is the same as watching it on the TV. Very clean, no problem at all, very little pixel (little squares popping in & out), both normal mode & full screen mode. The sound is just great. Since the episodes are on different tracks, it will take time to load when you move on to the next episode. Like on your regular DVD player, you can skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc, just use the "menu" option to go to the menu screen.
Overall DVD Rating:
It's true, once you get into this series, it's hard to get out of it! I think this is a very good series & you should check it out. I can't wait what will happen next!
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