Sunday, July 22, 2018

Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory - Fan Support

FMP!IV Promo Art Work By Shiki Douji
Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory just finished airing. The season adapted three of the remaining light novels. As assumed by most of us, each light novel arc was turned into four episodes. Those included the books ON MY OWN (ep 1-4), ONE MAN FORCE (ep 5-8) and MAKE MY DAY (ep 9-12). This leaves three more light novels. Namely NICK OF TIME and STAND BY ME 1+2 (there's also the skipped Light Novel VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS). As mentioned before, NOT and SBM 1+2 will likely make for the final 12 episodes. Will we get those? Unknown.


Here are some thoughts:

  1. Kadokawa is a book publisher and license holder of Full Metal Panic. They usually produce Anime when they hope to sell books. Which is part of the reason why everyone was surprised when a new FMP Anime season got announced. The books have been finished for years. The fact that we got IV was likely due to FMP creator Shoji Gatoh pulling some favors.
  2. We know from what was mentioned in the years leading up to IV that they set out to animate FMP up to the end of the LN. It can be very much assumed that they always planned to make it 2 cour (24 episodes). It's also likely that they only got funding for 12 episodes. 
  3. If they just wanted to produce 12 FMP episodes, they could have done Fumoffu 2, or pick up with VMC. Or have Gatoh write a new ending for the Anime. It should be assumed that it is and always has been their goal to produce the now remaining 12 episodes.
  4. You should also at least assume that having no word about the future of FMP Anime could be sales tactics. 

It might be that the second cour is already in production. However, I think it’s not. For the following reasons:

  1. Based on my April report it has to be assumed that at least some of the production issues came from delayed scripts by FMP creator Shoji Gatoh. The guy has written all 12 episode screenplays by himself which is a huge task. The script for episode 7 was finished in December 2017, while that episode was originally supposed to air in November before being pushed to June 1st of the following year.
  2. In a Tweet from June 3rd Shiki Douji - illustrator of Full Metal Panic - has been hinting that the future of FMP will depend on the overall sales.
  3. The Thank You Card at the end of IV should be taken as a clear hint that there are currently no episodes in production. If that's not enough, Shouji Gatoh himself going on press tour/vacation half way through production of IV is at least a hint that he's currently not writing scripts for any more episodes. Furthermore, the japanese VA of Kaname Chidori tweeted in late May that she finished all of her voice work on Invisible Victory.
Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory - Thank You Card
Therefore, even if Xebec wanted to produce 12 more episodes right away I doubt they could. I am assuming that it will take them until late 2019/early 2020, to pull off another season. Unless of course the sales are bad.

As mentioned before, the secrecy around the future of the Anime could be sales tactics. But if you wish to support FMP Anime, there’s not much of a choice. So what is the most efficient way to help make more episodes become reality? Buy the Japanese BluRays. You can buy toys and it will help. You can buy hats and merchandise. You can pay 5 bucks a month to Crunchyroll and FunimationNow and it too will help. But nothing helps like buying the Japanese DVD/BD. It is most certainly the one defining factor on whether or not more Anime will be produced.

I’m not saying that should do it though. 150 USD is a ton of money for each of the three BluRay Boxes - likely containing no English dub or even subtitles. You shouldn’t buy them if you don’t have the money. I will buy those because I can afford it and because I was always planning on doing so. I’ve seen some Japanese fans online who are planning to buy 3 boxes of each volume. They certainly have more money than I do. But that’s the point. Spend what you’re able to. Buying the Japanese BluRays is the closest thing to FMP crowd funding that you’ll ever get. It’s a waste of money on useless boxes but has the highest chance of giving you more Anime. And your purchase does matter. There’s not millions of these boxes. They will likely sell 8.000 volumes each if sales go well. 1000-2000 if sales are really bad.

Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory BOX 1 Content
Once again, you can and should support FMP any way you see fit. You should not waste money you don’t have. By October 2018 the sales numbers for all three volumes will be in and Kadokawa will know whether or not producing more Anime makes sense financially.
If you wish to import one, or even all three of the Japanese Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory Blu-ray boxes, go here:

BOX 1:
Release date: July 25, 2018
cdjapan.co.jp

Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory BD-BOX 1 Cover Art
BOX 2:
Release date: August 24, 2018
cdjapan.co.jp

Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory BD-BOX 2 Cover Art
BOX 3:
Release date: September 26, 2018
I've used all of these sites before and they are all trust worthy. From my understanding you will get a promo code with each box that you pre-order. If you have all three promo codes, you can claim a special reward at some promo page.

Two more things: Most BluRays have region codes. This should not be a problem with FMP though as the previous Japanese releases have all been code free. This includes the recently released FMP Movies. Also know that Japan shares a BluRay region with the US. But once again, likely region code free.

The other thing is Fantasia Festival 2018, which will be held in October in Japan. All major announcements regarding FMP Anime came from the FMP panels held at this convention. If more FMP Anime were to be announced, it's likely gonna be there. So, see you in October ... maybe?

4 comments:

  1. Man I really wish I could buy those blu-rays, I know I’ll immediately try to get the American blu-ray when it’s available for pre-order probably from like Funination’s website or something. Now I’m just rewatching Invisible Victory a bunch of times on a free account on Crunchyroll, same on VRV, and the 2 episodes I can watch on Funimation. Man I just really freaking want another season, an OVA, a 5 second clip, anything honestly. I just really wish I had money but I don’t have a job yet so well crap.

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  2. 150 USD each O_o

    That's equal to 7,500 philippine pesos
    X 3 volumes=22,500 pesos!

    Maybe if i get at least a Call Center Job earning 15K/month i can buy one volume each year?

    But most westerners can afford that.

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  3. I have pre-ordered my limited box from Funimation. Not sure how much that will help... but hopefully the final number is good enough for another season!

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