These first two Full Metal Panic! audiobooks are based on the first two original light novels. It may seem odd to review these as a new production, given the age of the series. Full Metal Panic! is practically an institution at this point, having been around for twenty-five(!) years. It throws me for a loop typing that out, as I recall when this series was the new hotness when the anime hit in the 2000s. However, I never jumped on the bandwagon all those years ago, and it has never been something I've engaged with until now. So, these works are retro throwbacks to most of you, but for me, this is a new experience with a beloved series.

It's easy to see why Full Metal Panic! caught on the way it did. The premise is pretty approachable despite some of its allusions to headier geopolitics. Typical high school hijinks setup with a comedic duo at the center of a big dangerous ball, and there are also mechs. It's cut from the same cloth as many superheroes and modern action-adventure stories where teenage heroes must balance their school tasks and the demands of their heroic double-lives while finding a way to navigate new feelings and responsibilities. This makes it pretty accessible to most audiences right out of the gate. Add in the special sauce of our heroes having access to giant mecha instead of superpower, and the appeal becomes pretty apparent.

After these first two volumes, it's clear that what drew people into Full Metal Panic! was likely the excellent balance of elements in play. I'm not sure I would call the series a general audience crowd-pleaser type, but a lot offered could appeal to many different tastes. There's a bit of Cold War political adventure-thriller, technobabble, stompy robots, comedic riffing, over-the-top characters, high school drama, and will-they-won't-they framing – it checks a lot of boxes. Most importantly, you never feel that any one element is overpowering the other parts.

For example, I typically bounce off school-based stories. Without belaboring the point, it's just not a setting that appeals to me all that much. I love tropes as much as the next person, but many of the conflicts and setups in school-based stories feel too identical for my liking. Even magical school setups – wizards, mutants, or whoever you want to toss in – don't deviate enough from the norm. Despite taking place largely at Kaname's high school, Full Metal Panic! never feels too heavy on the school element that I was checked out. The pacing and blending of the elements involved keep everything fresh and never dwells too long on one subject. I imagine this also appeals to folks who may not enjoy things like mecha (I have to assume such people exist; I'm certainly not one of them) or the zany comedy hijinks or other elements.

There's also just enough detail in the mecha element to be engaging without feeling overwhelming. I'm biased towards the stompy bots in any form, from the primary-colored super robots who shout their attacks to the grim and gritty real robots counting ammo and grumbling about war. So, I certainly appreciate the mindful approach to the mecha, their designs, their functionality, and so on. It adds a layer of realism to the proceedings. That said, it's never so much that it overpowers other story components in the process. At the end of the day, a giant walking robot is not practical or realistic, so there are diminishing returns on adherence to copious detail and explanations. Full Metal Panic!'s mecha details are carefully weighed to add texture to the narrative without forgetting to have other key story elements like plot progression and character development – it's well-thought-out without being overwhelming or an afterthought.

The cast, for that matter, are interesting enough characters to be enjoyable. Sousuke and Kaname, as the leads, have a lot of pressure on their shoulders, but overall, they work as intended. I find them more interesting as a comedy duo than a romantic pairing, but there are plenty of hints at the latter, even in these early two volumes. The rest of the cast – primarily Mithril supporting characters like Kurz and Mao – are one-note but not necessarily in a negative way. They fulfill their roles, and that's all they need to do. The best characterization by far is Takuma Kugayama, the villain in the second book. I'm not sure I'd call him sympathetic, but he is a good through-the-glass-darkly take on who Sousuke could have become. Takuma is menacing in his mecha and his finale is tragic – what more can you ask of a villain?

The voice performances are excellent as well. Both Luci Christian and Chris Patton read pleasantly and clearly. I prefer releases where the novel has more than one narrator because it helps differentiate the voices. This helps me remember the characters and breaks up the monotony. It also keeps things from becoming unintentionally funny, like when one person is stretched to their limit trying to come up with so many different voices.

The weakest elements for me are some of the spy thriller aspects. It's hard to tell if these scenes are meant to be satires of Tom Clancy-esque shenanigans or reveling in them to add tension. Most of these fall a bit flat to me. Some officers are in a room talking, someone says something dramatic, and another person pulls a gun to shoot someone point blank in the head to end the scene. If it's meant to be a parody, then I think the scenes aren't funny, and if they're serious, they feel far too generic.

But this is a pretty minor negative in an otherwise solid package. After many years of missing the Full Metal Panic! train, I finally got a chance to poke around and see what the fuss was all about. And honestly? It's good stuff. There are a few bumps here and there, but the package is far more than the sum of its parts. It's easy to see why this series took off the way it did.