Full Metal Panic! Volume 1

Full Metal Panic!, Book 1

By: Shouji Gatou

Narrated by: Luci Christian, Chris Patton

Sagara Sousuke isn't your typical high school student.

He reads military enthusiast magazines; he responds to questions with "affirmative;" he brings grenades to school in his bag. Though everyone at school takes him for a hopeless military geek, Chidori Kaname thinks there might be something more to him. When their plane is hijacked in the middle of a field trip, Kaname's instincts will prove correct: Sousuke is an elite, mech-piloting mercenary... and he's here to protect her!

©2023 Shouji Gatou (P)2023 Podium Audio

True to the anime!

What I loved about this recording is that it stays very true to the anime, while providing more details that enrich the story (internal dialogue, visual descriptions, etc). Chris Patton and Luci Christian do a great job trading off the narration and voicing the supporting characters in addition to Sousuke and Kaname. Really hope they’ll record the entire series!

Amazing story with flawed acting

To start, I watched and read both the anime and the graphic novels before I found this, so my opinion is slightly biased in some aspects.

The story is fantastic, and the original VAs for the main characters is nice, but the acting for the some of the other characters is subpar. The other characters feel way out of place with no accents or change in tone like the Russian characters and Gauron. The whisper scream when they're supposed to shout breaks much of the immersion as well.

Truthfully, while the original voices are a nice touch, I think it would have been better had they brought in some actors who can actually play the role. That being said, I do feel like Luci Christian was a great fit for this role. Chris Patton on the other hand, really only did Sousuke, Kurz, and a handful of side characters well. Practicing different accents and different vocal ranges would do him well.

All of this aside, while I was disappointed with certain parts, it does offer a lot of details that the manga and anime does not.

Mech Boy meets Angel Girl

I cannot believe how easy of a listen this was despite all the geopolitical plot that feels prescient and the scifi jargon. Having the English VAs was a total treat and they were both excellent. The direction was odd with the one off line read offs at the beginning. (used to SAO) But I'm so happy to have a mecha series, one the greats.

Pure Naustalgia

The voice actor/actress do an amazing job. They capture the characters perfectly and are very accurate. Any fan of the series will love it.

An amazing performance for an amazing story

I have been wanting to get FMP made into an audiobook for years. But they went above and beyond with this one. Chris Patton and Luci Christian are legends in the anime dubbing industry and I am so glad to see them reprising their roles here as the two main leads, Sousuke and Kaname. And they didn’t take the easy way out like some other audiobooks do. They don’t just have Chris read a chapter and then Luci reads the next. Chris reads all the male voices and Lucy does all the female voices. And while I would have loved to have seen the entire voice cast return to do this story, I know that’s not reasonable. And they both do a fantastic job. They really get into their roles and even do a commendable job of voicing the other characters.
If I could add anything to it, it would amazing if they could add in some of the music from the anime to go along with some of the scenes, but I’m not sure that’s even possible with the rights to the music and all. And maybe let Luci cut loose when her character gets loud. When she has to read a scream or yell, she kinda does it in a loud whisper, so you know she’s holding back to not blast into the microphone. But they could let her yell and just lower the volume of the recording a bit.
But when it comes to adapting Japanese light novels and then adapting them to audiobooks, this may be the best performance I’ve heard.
The story itself is a masterpiece. It’s one of my favorite stories of all time. The story of Sousuke going from a life of knowing only war to fitting into a peaceful Japanese life is both hilarious and heartwarming. Sousuke and Kaname’s relationship is among the best in an action-focused shonen story. I hope they end up doing the entire series.

And if Chris or Luci ever read these reviews: huge fan, please keep it up!