Fumoffu vs the First Series ? Answers Here!

[KiLlEr]

this should be a review but here we go:

1) Fumoffu takes place in parallel with season 1.
2) ODBD takes place after season 1/Fumoffu.
3) The only fumofu-like episode that appears in the first season was the "date" episode.
4) The "goddesses visit to Japan" was transposed in the anime time wise, which causes some time inconsistancies between the novels, manga and the 2 seasons. (for example, Kaname doesn't know Tessa in the Manga version of the story, but this is not the case for the fumoffu version of the arc).
5) FMP's true story is a blend of the 2 anime series since it draws on Sousuke and Kaname's two conflicting ways of life, and how they become dependant on each other.

[Weltall Elite]

Fumoffu CAN'T take place in the same time line as the first season. There's at least two events that suggest it happened after.

In the original novels, yes some of the episodes. But for the purposes of the anime Fumoffu is something of an afterthought where they took a bunch of things that were supposed to happen between the major events of the series and put them all together in the span of one month.

[KiLlEr]

No its parallel that takes place between the major events in the first season. It came about because after the manscripits for the first season were complete, Gatou realized that the short stories were just as important to the overall story line. He then got the chance to do a second season, which used to "fill in" the spaces of the first series, with the humor of the short stories. This was done even more so with the manga. He retrofitted the short stories to fit into the novels, which translated better in the manga (since a second season was not planned for initially, Gatou limited it to the original novels).

Keep in mind that the funny short stories and the serious novels were 2 completely unrelated entities in Gatou's mind BEFORE doing the anime and manga. The combining of the 2 came after the manuscripts(basically, when the decisions of what the anime was to cover, and no second season was even planned for). This idea was developed in the manga, and became animated in Fumoffu. So, the storyline that Fumoffu follows is closer to the Manga, which depicts the events occuring in parallel to the first season.

You also have to realze that the events depicted in Fumoffu are not necessarily in a gapless sequential order. So blocks of Fumoffu episodes can occur at almost any given point in the first season.

So you have now a set of anime episodes, based on a revised storyline that was initially developed in the manga, which refers to events in the first series, with many episodes that were ad-hoc'd to fit.

not even Gatou is sure of the exact timeline. LOL

[Weltall Elite]

I don't know. Maybe that's possible up until Tessa's visit. But from that point on, none of it could have possibly happened during the first season. Maybe the events before that. But there are definite references to time that place at least that point of Fumoffu after the first season.

When I think about it, a number of those events in the manga happened after the first 3 novels anyway. Some after DVMC, I think. It could be that the later episodes take place after the first season while the earlier episode take place during it. In fact, some of them might even take place after TSR like they do in the novels.

[KiLlEr]

Yeap, its most likely that that is the case. but until Gatou defines the true timeline (which most likely will never happen), All this is conjecture. But each time he revisits the story, he invareiably changes a few things. Such as the goddess visit to japan which occurs early in the timeline of the manga (which came before fumoffu), and in fumoffu it was moved to a later point in time. at least after the A21 story arc of the original series(Since in the manga, A21 occurs during tessa's trip to Japan). IIRC, Fumoffu's version made a reference to the end of the first series, so that would place it even later as the manga since we haven't gotten to the sub's takeover by Gauron.

We'll have to wait and see what the 3rd series is going to animate, since gatou is relaying the brickwork.

[chidiriidol01]

The new season of Full Metal Panic Fumoffu? is a good laugh. I think that it is a wonderful new season and it helps you get away from all of the serious talk. That is my opinion though, but i still can't deny that the first Full Metal Panic was the best of the best.
-Hannah

[KashimArbalestAS]

I personally think that Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU is intertwined with the first series, Full Metal Panic!, talking about the animes, because of what I saw in Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU episode 4. In the part about Kaname meeting Senior Muwa, her senior from back in middle school, she later scrolls down some stuff in her cell phone. It's after she meets Senior Muwa, and the stuff she's looking at in her cell phone are in Japanese, so I don't know if they are people's name and their numbers. This is the english version, Anime Network.

Anyway, I noticed when it shows a close up of the cell phone, probably to show that she was looking at Senior Muwa's number, though in Japanese, at the top right hand corner is the date. It said something like 9/8/0?-I'm sure the first 2 numbers were 9 and 8 but I forget the order, and the last 2 were 0 and something else I can't remember. Since she's in school, we know that it's part of the school year. We also know that in Full Metal Panic!, Kaname is in Class 4, and in her second year, Year 2 Class 4. But, I don't know when in Japan they start school and end it, like us in the U.S. for the most part start school in September. The dates either mean September 8, or it means August 9. Also, she is still in Year 2 Class 4 because it says it in the beginning half, when they go on the art field trip.

Meaning, Kaname meeting Senior Muwa was in the beggining of her school year if we say people in Japan go to school in September. This is my evidence. I forget what happened in episode 1 of Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU though.

[Jae]

In Japan, the school year starts in the spring

[KashimArbalestAS]

They start school in spring?!!! Wow, so does that mean they don't get summer vacation? When does their school year end? If they start school in spring, I'm guessing they don't go to school in winter. I also know that the students have to clean their school everyday after school...as some animes show.

[Jae]

They get a long summer break during the school year, and they're in session more days of the year, too.

So Kaname is still in the same year/class in Fumo as she was in in FMP!, regardless of if they're intended to overlap or not.

Here's a nice link about life for a typical japanese student

It doesn't say exactly when the school year ends, but it would seem they could only fit in a 'short' break before the next one- shorter than the 2-3 months of the typical US summer break. Perhaps their annual schedule is more comparable to year-round schooling.

[KashimArbalestAS]

I liked the link about the typical high school Japanese student. Very informative. Well, I guess my theory is obsolete now, but I only saw the date on the cell phone about my fourth time watching it. lol.

[ZyreX]

Imagine high school life without cars. How would it be different?

euh... so does this mean that all high schoolers in america have a car or...

lol

I didnt think so...

[KashimArbalestAS]

I watched Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU episode 4 again, and I saw that the date thing on Kaname's cell phone says MON 9/8/2003. I thought that Full Metal Panic was set in 2001? And the senior guy's name is Senior Fuwa, my mistake.

[KashimArbalestAS]

I also just found this. It's pretty much irrelevent, but I'll say it anyways. In Full Metal Panic! episode 8, when Sousuke is pretending to be Shirai as Mizuki's boyfriend, in the beginning of the episode Kaname yells at Sousuke for at least to stand next to her when he's guarding her. Then she says she can't wait until Golden Week, which Sousuke replies that he would like her to stay away from large crowds, so that it's easier for him to protect her. Kaname groans, complaining that he's going to follow her even in Golden Week.

Golden Week, as says in full-metal-panic.com, is a week of holidays in Japan. More info here
http://www.full-metal-panic.com/briefings/ep08.php

Basically, Golden Week is from April 29th to May 5th. In correlation to my previous post, Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU episode 4 when Kaname meets Senior Fuwa after 3 years, the date on her cell phone says Mon 9/8/2003.

[sj4iy]

It's really impossible to follow dates, though, because of the difference between the time that passes in the series and the actual time that passes in real life. In the novel series, which has been running since the late 90's, less than a year has actually passed. I can't remember what Kaname's birthday is off the top of my head without looking back at the books, but it corresponds to when the novel was first written, which no longer corresponds with today's date.