I ordered the FMP TSR box set last week. I’m a regular renter of DVD’s, but recently I haven’t found anything I really wanted to buy. That changed when I came across this while just browsing around some online distributors. I don’t usually blog about the stuff I buy, unless I’ve got nothing else to do. In this case, I was pleased with my purchase to such an extent that I thought I would share it with you guys.

First off, Full Metal Panic is a very funny and entertaining series. On the off chance that anyone reading this has not watched the series, just go and buy all the box sets now. If you can afford it.

I have the FMP and Fumoffu box sets already; so, this completes my set. I was a bit surprised by the amount of stuff that was included in the collection. My other two sets are thin-packs with nothing but a fairly good collector’s box (thick cardboard). This pack does away with the cardboard collector’s art box and replaces it with a booklet folder. Included in the collection are “Mithril Reports,” which are standard story introductions, character bios, and equipment specs. The whole thing folds up into a plastic sheath that has some additional art on it.

For some reason I hadn’t expected them to include the hilarious Tessa OVA. It’s on the 4th DVD as an extra.

What a nice surprise.

I often talk about the emotional impact of viewing art. In particular, I put a lot of focus on empathy. It’s almost always used to describe the personal understanding of the plight of another person. This is contrasted with sympathy, which is simply feeling sorrow on behalf or for another person. We may not understand the pain, but we do understand the resultant feelings or distress.

I bring this up because I came across these 5.12 EARTHQUAKE STRIPS. It was a link that appeared on reddit. As always, there is a great spectrum of comments on the post. The comments show a range of feelings on the matter. Some were moved, and others were joking. There are mocking tones, and complete apathy towards the matter.

It shows that empathy and sympathy are dependent on the individual. As for me, the strips were very moving.

I find Nozomu far more tolerable than Chizuru. These two characters are polar opposites; therefore, one is forced to choose between them. It’s entirely possible to like both characters (or dislike), but more than likely one will form a preference.

On the one hand, we have loud, big breasted, dark long haired, fox demon Chizuru. On the other, there is soft spoken, flat chested, silver short haired, wolf demon, Nozomu. One would think that mathematically they should cancel each other out. Obviously, the two characters are necessary for the plot, what plot there is. Love rivals are among the most common plot devices in these types of shows.

What type of show am I speaking of? I could do some work and try to figure out exactly what genre this show falls into. I’m guessing slice-of-life or school comedy. Maybe, slice-of-scomedy? Not that it really matters. Basically, what we have here is a show about two girls trying their hardest to bed Kouta, the male lead, where the end result is a lot of fanservicing.

So, basically, it’s about fanservice.

Also, Asahina is growing on me. It’s the hairpins.