Full Metal Panic to be made into a movie

[Onmi]

http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=8224

Words can not describe how pissed I am feeling

[kamikasei]

Eh. The only detail is a possible actor. Not enough to fuel outrage yet. This is at the "Daniel Radcliffe to play Shinji" stage.

[Cubey]

Don't worry. This is as likely to come out as the Neon Genesis Evangelion movie. Or the Dragonba... wait. Okay, let's not think about that one.

This has a lot of potential to be horrible. Let it be stuck in Development Hell, forever.

[Rogue 7]

Eh. The only detail is a possible actor. Not enough to fuel outrage yet. This is at the "Daniel Radcliffe to play Shinji" stage.

If he could pull off a decent non-british accent, I wouldn't have too many problems with that. Zac Efron as Souske, though? No. Thank you. You'd need a good actress to pull of Kaname, though- who on Earth in the West can pull off such a Tsundere role? It's not exactly a frequent character type. Will wait for more information, but getting cast ethnicities right is going to be a challenge- Kalinin's Russian, Mao's ethnically Chinese, Souske's Afghani...

And that synopsis is making me nervous- "manga series"? No, it's primarily Light Novels. "mysterious powers"- The Whispered are more "secret information carriers" AFAIK and giving Kaname psychic abilities or somesuch would be bad. And "world of almost no adults?" At school, yes. In Mithril? Not so much. You discount Tessa as the commander and there's still Commander Kalinin, Mardukais (forget his rank), Mao, Kurz, and the rest of the crew. But that's a brief summary. Hopefully the actual movie producers know a bit more.

[kamikasei]

Souske's Afghani...

I thought he was a Japanese kid adopted by an Afghan warlord?


"mysterious powers"- The Whispered are more "secret information carriers" AFAIK and giving Kaname psychic abilities or somesuch would be bad.

It's implied that they're psychically receiving information from aliens/the future or something, right? Not to mention that Kaname/Tessa do in fact engage in some psychic-ing at the end of the first series.

[Rogue 7]

I thought he was a Japanese kid adopted by an Afghan warlord?

No, he's a child soldier from Afghanistan. As I recall, It was Commander Kalinin who got him out of there and brought him into Mithril.



It's implied that they're psychically receiving information from aliens/the future or something, right? Not to mention that Kaname/Tessa do in fact engage in some psychic-ing at the end of the first series.

The furthest I've gotten is The Second Raid (*grumble grumble Tokyopop slow on the translations grumble grumble*), but I've never heard an explanation for the Whispered, and certainly nothing about aliens or the future. Point is, "mysterious powers" implies a lot more than what Kaname's actually got- "secret information that even she doesn't know of" is more like it.


And I can't help but fear that this will turn into a more straight "romantic comedy" type thing when I see it first and foremost an action series- it'd better have a decent SFX budget to cover the Arm Slaves and the Tuatha De Danaan.

Well, maybe this will encourage Kyoto Animation to make another season or Tokyopop to localize more of the novels...

[Artemician]

No, he's a child soldier from Afghanistan. As I recall, It was Commander Kalinin who got him out of there and brought him into Mithril.
IIRC, he was the only survivor of a trans-continental flight that crashed in Afghanistan. It is more or less clear that he is of ethnic Japanese descent, even though he grew up in the Middle East.

[Cubey]

No, kamikasei is right. Sousuke is of Japanese ethnicity, even if he spent most of his life as a child soldier in Afghanistan/Helmajistan (totally different countries, honest!).

[kamikasei]

No, he's a child soldier from Afghanistan. As I recall, It was Commander Kalinin who got him out of there and brought him into Mithril.

I thought he was adopted by the guy who named him Kashim after his parents were killed? Wikipedia (for what it's worth) confirms that he's of Japanese descent, though apparently orphaned at a younger age than I'd thought.


The furthest I've gotten is The Second Raid (*grumble grumble Tokyopop slow on the translations grumble grumble*), but I've never heard an explanation for the Whispered, and certainly nothing about aliens or the future. Point is, "mysterious powers" implies a lot more than what Kaname's actually got- "secret information that even she doesn't know of" is more like it.

That's only as far as I've gotten, too. And I don't mean there's an actual explanation, just that that's the feeling I got from the way they hinted around the issue in the show. However, the specific example I reference still shows Whispered displaying paranormal abilities far beyond just knowing things inexplicably.

[Rogue 7]

...Huh. When is that revealed? I'm actually kind of disappointed- I liked Souske being Afghani, but I guess that's how he blends in in Tokyo.

[Manga Shoggoth]

...Huh. When is that revealed? I'm actually kind of disappointed- I liked Souske being Afghani, but I guess that's how he blends in in Tokyo.

The mind reels! "Souske" and "blends in" being used in the same sentence?

(And yes, I know what you meant...)

[Closet_Skeleton]

...Huh. When is that revealed? I'm actually kind of disappointed- I liked Souske being Afghani, but I guess that's how he blends in in Tokyo.

No protagonist in a japanese story is going to be completely lacking japanese ancestory unless it would be utterly impossible (and even then the impossible happens), such as him being an alien or in a fantasy world with no Japan (or interdimensional travel).

[Onmi]

Regarding the whispered

in one of the later novels Leonard reveals that a soviet experiment was the reason the whispered came into creation, they day they were all born is the 25th of December, Not sure the exact specs of the experiment but it resulted in lost technology (and non-existant technology) being imprinted in their brains

So no, not magical at all, yes they are all interconnected and can use black technology, but it is scientific in nature

[Rogue 7]

Regarding the whispered

in one of the later novels Leonard reveals that a soviet experiment was the reason the whispered came into creation, they day they were all born is the 25th of December, Not sure the exact specs of the experiment but it resulted in lost technology (and non-existant technology) being imprinted in their brains

So no, not magical at all, yes they are all interconnected and can use black technology, but it is scientific in nature

Goddamnit, I want to read the later Light Novels. The official translation's only up to #3 (the first season! The Second Raid's been out for how long?!) Anyone got a link to a fan translation?

[Onmi]

Goddamnit, I want to read the later Light Novels. The official translation's only up to #3 (the first season! The Second Raid's been out for how long?!) Anyone got a link to a fan translation?

I have translations up to the end of 'Continuing on my own' and I believe on a blog they have translations up to book 9 or 10 (no link on this laptop)

[Jahkaivah]

Replace "Panic" with "Alchemist" and make sure it's good.