FMP popular in Japan?

[Kagutsuchi]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but am a long time fan of FMP...

I was just wondering if anyone here has any clue about FMP's popularity in Japan; especially compared to other anime/manga. It's obviously well known and liked enough to run for 5+ years but how does it compare to the fanbase of other giant, long-running series? Naruto, GetBackers, Tenjo Tenge to name a few... (all these have been around for at least 5 years I think, so it should be a pretty even comparison with FMP)

Sorta on the same topic, I'm a big fan of Tenjo Tenge manga and I'm excited about the new Tenjo Tenge anime coming out... tomorrow late night!! Seki Tomokazu (seiyuu for Sousuke) is playing Takayanagi Masataka (my favorite TenTen character) and Miki Shinichirou (seiyuu for Kurz) is playing Mikihara Bob, another character I like. I've read all the translated manga released up til now and Masataka/Bob seem to be a pretty good team... the seiyuu pair for them sounds like an AWESOME choice, considering they've worked together before in FMP.

Now a totally unrelated note: I'll mention that Sousuke is my favorite character OF ALL TIME ^_^. He's exactly my kind of style, and even before I saw/read FMP I used to get comments all the time about how I'm too stoic and I have a sort of "hardcore" look (I guess I look too serious all the time). My friends used to always joke about me being a robot or a soldier/agent or something.

College is hazardous to your health. If I got more sleep maybe I wouldn't go on rants like this...

[Jae]

Hi, welcome

Perhaps someone else has more input to offer on this, but from my personal observations it appears that FMP is moderately popular but not something that will be long-lasting.

It hasn't been highly promoted outside it's home magazine (Dragon Magazine), FMP articles in anime magazines have always come as a bit of a surprise. There isn't alot of merchandising for the show, not many cheap collectibles but mostly stuff geared to long-term collectors.
Despite this Sousuke has been consistently at a good ranking in magazine reader popularity polls, but my guess is FMP just doesn't stick among a majority of japanese anime fans. I suspect that it's largely one of these things that most people like when they watch it, but it's easy to move on to the next great thing.

But that's my personal guess, and I haven't acutally seen any recent anime magazines in the past couple of months.

[Kagutsuchi]

Whoa, thanks for the quick reply.

Though I've never known enough to really say, I've always thought somewhere along the lines of what you just said Jae. Hmm, how many hours have I wasted looking desperately for FMP stuff? There's even a huge lack (in my opinion) of available FMP fansites/winamp skins/desktops/icons and other fan-fare.

I really don't like it when things get *too* popular and become annoying (i.e. DBZ, Pokemon, Naruto's getting close...). However, FMP seems a bit too underrated. Adding insult to injury, my good friends who are long-time anime/manga fanatics like me totally mock me when I say FMP as my #1 most favorite anime/manga/novel For me, characters are the most important part. I'll admit the story really isn't the greatest, but FMP's characters are just too far above and beyond anything most other series have.

It's good to hear Sousuke gets some of the credit he deserves in those magazine polls! If I could vote I'd stuff the boxes myself to ensure he gets #1 though.

Anyone else have thoughts or comments about FMP's state of popularity?

[HELLFIRE]

My friends used to always joke about me being a robot or a soldier/agent or something.

...well, say goodbye to those days Kagutsuchi, 'cuz for a few of us here,
FMP! got us hooked because it was a military-geared anime (don't run
into too many of those IMO). I wouldn't say for myself it was ONLY
the weapons that were interesting -- the little hijinks Sousuke got into
because of his (in)ability to adapt to normal life gave me good reason
to laugh.

You can always point your friends to the Armory Section of the
board and say there are CONFIRMED ppl who are soldier/agents

..or just have too much time on their hands








Regards and Welcome!

[Jae]

And... I was going to post this a few days ago and never got around to it-
Regardless of the japanese level of interest, FMP is doing very well here in the US- here.

[Charles Phipps]

Top 10 Most Popular Anime in Japan
(according to Newtype Magazine, March 2002)

Scryed
Cowboy Bebop
Sakura Wars Action Picture
Vandread the Second Stage
Inu Yasha
Gundam
Full Metal Panic!
Fruit Basket
Onegai Teacher
X


Top 10 Most Popular Male Anime Characters in Japan
(according to Newtype Magazine, March 2002)

Kazuma (Scryde)
Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
Straight Cougar (Scryde)
Inu Yasha (Inu Yasha)
Ryuhoh (Scryde)
Arcard (Hellsing)
Sousuke Sagara (Full Metal Panic!)
Ichiro Ogami(Sakura Wars Katsudo Shashin)
Tokai Hibiki (Vandread)
Conan Edogawa (Conan the Detective)


Top 10 Female Anime Characters in Japan
(according to Newtype Magazine, March 2002)

Yuta Kanami (Scryde)
Cherise Ajaani (Scryde)
Toru Honda (Fruit Basket)
Sakura Shinguuji (Sakura Wars Katsudo Shashin)
Mahoro Ando (Mahoro Mate Iku)
Mizuho Kazami (Onegai Teacher)
Belldandy (Ah My Goddess!)
Kiryu Mimori (Scryde)
Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)
Dita Liebely (Vandread)

[Teletha Testarosa]

Hmm, I am suprised NGE (Neon Genesis Evangelion) Isn't up there.

[RussianFox]

dita and hibiki are there??? right on.

[Circle]

W00t, Faye made it . Too bad none of the FMP girls are on there, and there's no Naruto or One Piece. This survey sucks :p.

[Reaper DXR-7]

Newtype USA or Newtype Japan, it does actually make a difference.