Full Metal Panic!

That giant robot you saw earlier this week on the cover of Full Metal Panic - Mission 01 is actually called an Arm Slave, a deadly mechanical exoskeleton operated by a human soldier on the battlefield. War tactics and soldierly bravery make up the shōnen aspect of the series, which is supposed to appeal to guys. One of these soldiers, Sosuke Sagara, is taken out of his Arm Slave and charged to go undercover as a high school student in order to guard Kaname Chidori. The relationship that develops between these two provides fodder for the girl-pleasing shōjo audience.

So, why is a battle-hardened soldier guarding a Japanese high school student? That's where the science fiction comes in. Though Kaname doesn't know it, she's a Whispered, a young woman who can hear distant voices that speak of technology beyond anything previously dreamed by humans. Kaname isn't the only Whispered- we also meet Captain Tessa, a frail American teenager in charge of a futuristic submarine she designed and built with the help of the whispering voices. What I like about Full Metal Panic! is that advances in technology come with very realistic consequences. Anarchists and terrorists are drooling to get their hands on one of these young Whispereds so they can put them to work designing weapons. They are successful in getting their hands on some Black Technology, which allows them to soup up an Arm Slave with the Lambda Driver. I won't tell you what this nightmare weapon does- you'll have a lot of fun finding out. But I will say that the only way Sosuke can defend Kaname against the Lambda Driver it is to learn to use it, himself.

Full Metal Panic! digs into the psychology of the soldier, explores sense of duty in military organizations, gives an interesting twist on the child prodigy, and even offers insight into Japanese culture. But let's not forget that it's also got Sosuke booby trapping school lunches and blowing up shoe lockers. And, most important of all, it's got Kaname hitting hopeless Sosuke over the head with her fan every time he makes a civilian blunder- and falling deeper in love with every swat.