Full Metal Panic!

Full Metal Panic!

フルメタル・パニック!
2002 Gonzo WOWOW 24 episodes Completed
Action Mecha Comedy Sci-Fi
Details & Synopsis
Sousuke Sagara is an elite, socially inept 17-year-old mercenary working for the anti-terrorist organization Mithril. His newest assignment: go undercover at a Japanese high school to protect Kaname Chidori, a hot-headed schoolgirl who might secretly possess world-altering Black Technology. The problem? Sousuke's idea of "blending in" involves blowing up shoe lockers with military-grade explosives because he thought a love letter was a threat.

Produced by Studio Gonzo in 2002, Full Metal Panic! is a masterclass in tonal whiplash. It takes a gritty, geopolitical mecha thriller and crashes it head-first into a chaotic high school romantic comedy. It shouldn't work, but it absolutely does. It set the stage for the pure comedy gold of Fumoffu and the incredibly dark, gritty warfare of The Second Raid.

24 episodes. Real mecha stakes. Unhinged comedy. A defining classic of its era.
Alt Title フルメタル・パニック!
Studio Gonzo
Network WOWOW
Aired 2002
Episodes 24
Genre Action, Mecha, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Status Completed
Search Go to ep Filters
Arc List (5)
The Whispered Arc (7) Standalone Missions (3) Behemoth Arc (4) Wind Blows at Home Arc (3) Tuatha de Danaan Arc (7)
The Whispered Arc 7 eps 7 canon 📷 7
001 The Guy I Kinda Like is a Sergeant Aired Jan 8, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Mithril assigns Sosuke Sagara, Kurz Weber and Melissa Mao to protect Kaname Chidori, a Jindai High student believed to be one of the mysterious Whispered. Sosuke enrolls in her class as an undercover student, but years spent surviving war zones have given him almost no idea how to behave like an ordinary teenager.
Lore · 4 Debut: Sousuke Sagara vs. the Jindai Shoe Lockers
+3
Arm Slave Generations: The Gap You Can See Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Melissa Mao & Kurz Weber SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
002 I Want to Protect You Aired Jan 15, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Sosuke takes his protection assignment so seriously that almost anything near Kaname looks like a possible threat. His surveillance, weapons and military reactions quickly convince Kaname that her strange new classmate is either a military fanatic or completely insane, while Sosuke struggles to understand why protecting someone is so much harder at school.
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003 Lingerie Panic Aired Jan 22, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Sosuke's team goes on alert when a suspicious intruder is spotted climbing toward Kaname's apartment, turning an embarrassing civilian incident into a full protection operation. Elsewhere, Tessa commands the Tuatha de Danaan during an attack on a facility connected to research into the Whispered.
Lore · 3 Debut: Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa
+2
MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Andrei Kalinin & Richard Mardukas SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
004 Kidnap Aired Jan 29, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Kaname's class trip is hijacked by forces working with Gauron and diverted to a remote military base. Kaname is separated from her classmates and subjected to testing because of her suspected Whispered abilities, forcing Sosuke to abandon his schoolboy cover and begin planning her rescue.
Lore · 4 Debut: Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers
+3
Debut: The Whispered & Black Technology: What This Season Actually Tells You MITHRIL & Black Tech Debut: Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart MITHRIL & Black Tech Melissa Mao & Kurz Weber SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
005 Whispered - The Ones to be Whispered Aired Feb 5, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Sosuke reaches Kaname while Mithril begins its assault on the hijackers' base. Mao and Kurz join the rescue as the students are evacuated, but Sosuke, Kaname and Kurz are left behind when the extraction falls apart and Gauron continues hunting them.
Lore · 2 Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers
+1
The Whispered & Black Technology: What This Season Actually Tells You MITHRIL & Black Tech
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
006 Still Alive Aired Feb 12, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Sosuke and Kaname flee into the surrounding wilderness and discover a badly wounded Kurz after Gauron destroys his Arm Slave. With enemy forces closing in and their escape route disappearing, Mithril sends Sosuke an unfamiliar new machine: the ARX-7 Arbalest.
Lore Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
007 Boy Meets Girl Aired Feb 19, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Sosuke takes the Arbalest into battle against Gauron but cannot make sense of its Lambda Driver. Kaname's awakening Whispered knowledge lets her understand what the machine needs from its pilot, and her guidance finally gives Sosuke a way to turn the impossible system against Gauron.
Lore · 4 Debut: ARX-7 Arbalest: The Machine Sosuke Cannot Treat Like a Normal Weapon
+3
Debut: The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Debut: Sousuke Sagara (ARX-7 Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Plan-1056 Codarl) FMP! Master Combat Ledger The Whispered & Black Technology: What This Season Actually Tells You MITHRIL & Black Tech
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
Standalone Missions 3 eps 2 canon 1 good filler 📷 3
008 Part-time Steady Aired Feb 26, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Mizuki Inaba turns against Kaname after her boyfriend Shirai shows an interest in her, only for Mizuki's own behavior to end their relationship. Desperate to save face in front of her friends, Mizuki recruits Sosuke to pretend to be her boyfriend, giving the least socially qualified person at Jindai High a crash course in teenage dating.
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
013 A Cat and a Kitten's Rock & Roll Aired Apr 2, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
An argument between Tessa and Mao escalates into an Arm Slave duel. Mao has years of practical combat experience on her side, while Tessa turns to Sosuke for training and discovers that commanding an advanced submarine does not automatically make her an experienced Arm Slave pilot.
Lore Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
014 Is Narashino Burning? Aired Apr 9, 2002 good-filler 📷 400 ►
Sosuke, Kaname and their classmates visit the Narashino military festival, where Shinji Kazama's enthusiasm for the Self-Defense Forces collides with his strained relationship with his father. When the annual Arm Slave competition begins, Sosuke helps the habitually losing Narashino team challenge its rivals from Nerima.
Lore Arm Slave Generations: The Gap You Can See
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
Behemoth Arc 4 eps 4 canon 📷 4
009 Dangerous Safe House Aired Mar 5, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Tessa investigates Takuma Kugayama, a captured member of A21 who may be capable of operating a Lambda Driver. When A21 attacks the facility to recover him, Tessa escapes with Takuma and brings the increasingly unstable situation directly to Sosuke's apartment.
Lore · 3 Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart
+2
Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa SRT Operatives & Command Andrei Kalinin & Richard Mardukas SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
010 Run, Running, Ran Aired Mar 12, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Kaname arrives at Sosuke's apartment and discovers Tessa and Takuma in the middle of Mithril's crisis. When the apartment is compromised, they move Takuma to Jindai High, but A21 finds them there and captures Kaname and Tessa, forcing Sosuke into an exchange for Takuma.
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
011 Behemoth Awakening Aired Mar 19, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
The hostage exchange collapses and A21 takes Kaname and Tessa to its hideout aboard a tanker. Sosuke rejoins Mao and Kurz for a rescue operation, only for Takuma to activate A21's real weapon: the enormous Lambda Driver-equipped Behemoth.
Lore · 4 Debut: Plan-1051 Behemoth: A Machine Too Heavy to Exist
+3
Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Plan-1051 Behemoth FMP! Master Combat Ledger Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart MITHRIL & Black Tech Melissa Mao & Kurz Weber SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
012 One Night Stand Aired Mar 26, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Takuma sends the Behemoth crashing through the city while Sosuke, Kaname, Tessa and Kurz struggle to stay ahead of it. Mithril delivers the Arbalest for a direct confrontation, and Tessa and Kaname help Sosuke understand how the giant machine supports its impossible weight long enough for him to find a way to bring it down.
Lore · 4 Debut: Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Plan-1051 Behemoth
+3
ARX-7 Arbalest: The Machine Sosuke Cannot Treat Like a Normal Weapon Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Plan-1051 Behemoth: A Machine Too Heavy to Exist The Behemoth & Black Tech
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
Wind Blows at Home Arc 3 eps 3 good filler 📷 3
015 The Wind Blows at Home, Part 1 Aired Apr 16, 2002 good-filler 📷 400 ►
After Mithril confirms that Gauron survived, Sosuke is sent to Helmajistan and attached to an Arm Slave unit assigned to kill him. The older soldiers dismiss Sosuke because of his age and ignore his warnings, allowing Gauron to turn their first engagement into a disaster while a nuclear-armed missile becomes part of the mission.
Lore · 2 Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart
+1
Andrei Kalinin & Richard Mardukas SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
016 The Wind Blows at Home, Part 2 Aired Apr 23, 2002 good-filler 📷 400 ►
Sosuke and the surviving Mithril soldiers take shelter after the failed attack, but Gauron has an advantage they do not understand. Zaied, one of Sosuke's former comrades from his childhood as Kashim, knows how Sosuke thinks and uses that knowledge to anticipate the team's movements.
Lore Sousuke Sagara vs. Zaied
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017 The Wind Blows at Home, Part 3 Aired Apr 30, 2002 good-filler 📷 400 ►
Zaied corners Sosuke's unit and forces Sosuke into a fight against someone tied directly to his childhood on the battlefield. After confronting Zaied, Sosuke faces Gauron again as the rest of the Mithril operation collapses around them, turning the mission into another brutal encounter with the past he thought he had escaped.
Lore · 2 Debut: Sousuke Sagara vs. Zaied
+1
The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
Tuatha de Danaan Arc 7 eps 7 canon 📷 7
018 Deep Sea Party Aired May 7, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
After Sosuke creates another expensive school disaster, he tries to make things up to Kaname by inviting her to a southern island. The destination turns out to be Mithril's Merida Island base, and Kaname soon finds herself aboard the Tuatha de Danaan as an unexpected guest at the submarine's anniversary celebration.
Lore Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
019 Engaging Six and Seven Aired May 14, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
While Kaname and Tessa spend time with Mao aboard the Tuatha de Danaan, Mao tells them how she first recruited Sosuke and Kurz into Mithril's Special Response Team. The story shows just how unimpressive the two young soldiers initially appeared before a real operation revealed why Mao wanted both of them on her team.
Lore · 3 Arm Slave Generations: The Gap You Can See
+2
MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Melissa Mao & Kurz Weber SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
020 Venom's Flame Aired May 21, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Tessa explains to Kaname how resonance can connect two Whispered while the SRT prepares for another operation against Gauron. Mithril attacks his forces at Berildaob Island and succeeds in capturing him, but the victory comes at a cost when Mao is badly wounded during the fighting.
Lore · 4 Debut: Whispered Resonance: Tessa and Kaname Sharing More Than Words
+3
The Whispered & Black Technology: What This Season Actually Tells You MITHRIL & Black Tech Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart MITHRIL & Black Tech Melissa Mao & Kurz Weber SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
021 Deep Trap Aired May 28, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Shaken by Mao's injuries, Sosuke takes his guilt out on Kaname and immediately damages the trust between them. Before he can repair it, Gauron escapes with help from traitors inside Mithril, takes Kaname hostage and uses a special program to seize control of the Tuatha de Danaan's command systems.
Lore · 2 Debut: Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover
+1
Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart MITHRIL & Black Tech
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
022 Jack in the Box Aired Jun 4, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
With Gauron controlling the Tuatha de Danaan, he turns the submarine against the nearby USS Bunker Hill in an attempt to provoke a disastrous military response. Tessa uses her resonance with Kaname to pass along a plan, allowing Kaname to escape the bridge while Sosuke and Kurz begin fighting through Gauron's men.
Lore · 5 Whispered Resonance: Tessa and Kaname Sharing More Than Words
+4
Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger The Whispered & Black Technology: What This Season Actually Tells You MITHRIL & Black Tech Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa SRT Operatives & Command Andrei Kalinin & Richard Mardukas SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
023 Field of Giants Aired Jun 11, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Kaname connects directly to the Tuatha de Danaan's systems and begins undoing Gauron's control while Sosuke and Kurz fight their way through the occupied submarine. Sosuke reaches the bridge and frees Tessa, but Gauron escapes into his Venom and forces the Arbalest into one final deployment.
Lore · 3 Whispered Resonance: Tessa and Kaname Sharing More Than Words
+2
Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
024 Into the Blue Aired Jun 18, 2002 canon 📷 400 ►
Sosuke and Gauron fight inside the Tuatha de Danaan's hangar with the Arbalest and Venom, leaving almost no room for either machine to survive a mistake. When Gauron activates Venom's self-destruct system, Kaname helps Sosuke find the solution: eject the enemy Arm Slave from the submarine before it detonates. The crisis ends with Mithril counting its losses and Sosuke returning to the strange civilian life waiting for him at Jindai High.
Lore · 5 Debut: Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Venom) — Final Battle
+4
ARX-7 Arbalest: The Machine Sosuke Cannot Treat Like a Normal Weapon Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Andrei Kalinin & Richard Mardukas SRT Operatives & Command
View all 400 screencaps from this episode →
ⓘ Legend
canon Episode adapts events from the source manga.
mixed Adapts source material but adds anime-original scenes.
good-filler Anime-original episode generally well-received by fans.
filler Anime-original episode not based on the source manga.
📷 Number of user-uploaded screencaps available for this episode.
SS

Sosuke Sagara

Primary Protagonist / Mithril Sergeant and Arm Slave Pilot

Sosuke is a teenage Mithril sergeant whose entire idea of normal life comes from military operations, guerrilla warfare and survival training. He is assigned to enroll at Jindai High School and secretly protect Kaname Chidori, a mission that would be easier if he understood even the most basic rules of civilian behavior. Lockers become suspected bombs, school arguments become tactical problems and Kaname spends a great deal of time stopping him from solving ordinary situations with explosives. None of that makes Sosuke incompetent. In combat he is disciplined, observant and exceptionally dangerous, especially once he begins piloting the ARX-7 Arbalest. The first series works by putting the same person in a classroom and a firefight and letting both sides of him be completely sincere.
+12 LORE
ARX-7 Arbalest: The Machine Sosuke Cannot Treat Like a Normal Weapon Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Venom) — Final Battle fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke Sagara vs. Zaied FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke Sagara vs. the Jindai Shoe Lockers FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke Sagara (ARX-7 Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Plan-1056 Codarl) FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Plan-1051 Behemoth FMP! Master Combat Ledger MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Arm Slave Generations: The Gap You Can See Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger Plan-1051 Behemoth: A Machine Too Heavy to Exist The Behemoth & Black Tech
KC

Kaname Chidori

SPOILER!

Primary Protagonist / Whispered Student

Kaname is Sosuke's classmate, the student council vice president and the person Mithril has secretly assigned him to protect. She is bright, outspoken and far better at handling a crisis than Sosuke initially expects, even if his military paranoia drives her out of her mind during ordinary school life. Kaname is also one of the Whispered, people who carry knowledge of advanced Black Technology without understanding where that knowledge came from. That makes her a target for organizations willing to kidnap or kill to obtain it. Kaname refuses to be reduced to a helpless objective. During the first series she repeatedly thinks through dangerous situations for herself, challenges Sosuke when his instincts are wrong and becomes the one person capable of dragging him toward something resembling a normal teenage life.
+9 LORE
The Whispered & Black Technology: What This Season Actually Tells You MITHRIL & Black Tech Whispered Resonance: Tessa and Kaname Sharing More Than Words The Behemoth & Black Tech The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Venom) — Final Battle fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke Sagara (ARX-7 Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Plan-1056 Codarl) FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Plan-1051 Behemoth FMP! Master Combat Ledger Plan-1051 Behemoth: A Machine Too Heavy to Exist The Behemoth & Black Tech
T"

Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa

SPOILER!

Major Supporting / Tuatha de Danaan Captain and Whispered

Teletha Testarossa is the young captain of Mithril's submarine Tuatha de Danaan and one of the Whispered responsible for technology far beyond the rest of the world's normal development. Away from the bridge, Tessa can be awkward, physically clumsy and openly embarrassed by situations a military commander should probably handle more gracefully. In command, that image disappears. She understands her submarine, crew and mission well enough to make hard decisions under pressure while experienced officers twice her age follow her orders. Tessa also develops feelings for Sosuke, creating a very human complication inside a mission already built around protecting Kaname. The contrast works because neither side is false: she really is an awkward teenager, and she really is the captain of one of the most advanced vessels on Earth.
+7 LORE
Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa SRT Operatives & Command Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Venom) — Final Battle fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Plan-1051 Behemoth FMP! Master Combat Ledger MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech The Whispered & Black Technology: What This Season Actually Tells You MITHRIL & Black Tech Whispered Resonance: Tessa and Kaname Sharing More Than Words The Behemoth & Black Tech
KW

Kurz Weber

Supporting / Mithril Sniper and Arm Slave Pilot

Kurz is the easygoing sniper of Sosuke and Melissa Mao's Mithril team, a professional soldier who seems determined to behave as unprofessionally as possible whenever nobody is shooting at him. He flirts constantly, jokes through briefings and enjoys provoking Sosuke's complete lack of social awareness. The moment an operation begins, Kurz becomes a different kind of problem. He is an exceptional marksman both on foot and in an Arm Slave, able to make long-range shots his teammates would not attempt. That contrast keeps him from becoming simple comic relief. Kurz understands the danger of their work and uses humor to live with it. He also serves as one of the few people around Sosuke who can treat him as another soldier without forgetting that he is still a teenager trying to function in a world outside combat.
+5 LORE
Arm Slave Generations: The Gap You Can See Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers FMP! Master Combat Ledger MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Melissa Mao & Kurz Weber SRT Operatives & Command
MM

Melissa Mao

Supporting / Mithril Team Leader and Arm Slave Pilot

Melissa Mao is the senior member of Sosuke and Kurz's Mithril field team, an experienced former Marine who pilots an M9 Arm Slave and usually has the unpleasant job of keeping both men focused. She is blunt, practical and perfectly willing to answer Kurz's nonsense with violence, but the rough edges hide a strong protective instinct toward the younger soldiers around her. Mao is equally comfortable leading an operation, fighting at close range or taking control when a plan begins falling apart. She also understands Sosuke better than most of Mithril's command structure does, because she sees both the highly trained sergeant and the socially stranded teenager underneath him. In the first series, Mao is the person who most often makes the team feel like an actual unit instead of three talented people pointed at the same target.
+4 LORE
Arm Slave Generations: The Gap You Can See Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers FMP! Master Combat Ledger MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Melissa Mao & Kurz Weber SRT Operatives & Command
GA

Gauron

SPOILER!

Primary Antagonist / Mercenary and Lambda Driver Pilot

Gauron is a mercenary from Sosuke's past who resurfaces as the most persistent enemy in the first Full Metal Panic! series. He is violent, intelligent and disturbingly amused by the effect he has on Sosuke, whom he remembers from earlier conflicts. Gauron pilots Lambda Driver-equipped Arm Slaves such as the Codarl, giving him access to the same impossible technology that makes the Arbalest so dangerous. He repeatedly survives situations that appear to have killed him and keeps returning with new ways to threaten Kaname, Mithril and the Tuatha de Danaan. What makes him especially effective is that his interest in Sosuke is personal. Gauron does not merely want to defeat him. He enjoys forcing the disciplined soldier back toward the anger and brutality Sosuke is trying to leave behind.
+6 LORE
Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart MITHRIL & Black Tech The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Venom) — Final Battle fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke, Mao & Kurz vs. the Flight 208 Hijackers FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke Sagara (ARX-7 Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Plan-1056 Codarl) FMP! Master Combat Ledger
KT

Kyoko Tokiwa

Supporting / Kaname's Friend and Classmate

Kyoko is one of Kaname's closest friends at Jindai High School and part of the ordinary teenage life Sosuke has been ordered to enter without attracting attention. Cheerful, observant and usually carrying a camera, she treats Sosuke's military behavior as bizarre rather than sinister because she has no idea how literal his background really is. Kyoko's presence matters because not every school scene can revolve around secrets, terrorism or Black Technology. She gives Kaname someone to talk to who is not part of Mithril's world and helps establish what a normal day at Jindai is supposed to look like before Sosuke inevitably does something catastrophic to it. When real danger reaches the students, that ordinary friendship gives Kaname something immediate and personal to protect.
RM

Richard Mardukas

Supporting / Tuatha de Danaan Executive Officer

Richard Mardukas is the veteran executive officer of the Tuatha de Danaan and the experienced naval professional standing beside Tessa on the bridge. He is formal, cautious and initially skeptical of the idea that a teenager should carry so much command responsibility, yet his loyalty to Tessa becomes absolute once he sees what she can do. Mardukas handles the procedural and operational discipline that keeps the submarine functioning while Tessa concentrates on the larger tactical picture. His stern manner also makes him an amusing contrast to the younger crew, especially whenever their personal lives begin bleeding into military business. When the Tuatha de Danaan is under real threat, however, the comedy disappears. Mardukas is exactly the kind of officer Tessa needs beside her: experienced enough to advise her and disciplined enough to follow when the decision is hers.
+3 LORE
Tuatha de Danaan Crew vs. Gauron's Takeover fmp-combat-ledger MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Andrei Kalinin & Richard Mardukas SRT Operatives & Command
EK

Eri Kagurazaka

Supporting / Jindai Teacher and Class Advisor

Eri Kagurazaka is the class advisor for Sosuke, Kaname and their classmates at Jindai High, which means she is one of the first adults forced to deal with Sosuke's military instincts in a completely civilian setting. Suspicious students, damaged school property and routine classroom problems become much harder when one member of the class approaches them like a combat operation. Eri is more than a reaction character, though. She accompanies the students on the class trip that becomes the hijacking crisis and tries to protect them when armed men take control. She represents the ordinary school authority Sosuke is supposed to understand, and repeatedly demonstrates just how far he still has to go.
MI

Mizuki Inaba

Supporting / Jindai Student

Mizuki Inaba is a Jindai student whose romantic problems pull Sosuke into one of the stranger civilian missions of his new school life. After her relationship with Shirai falls apart, Mizuki recruits Sosuke to pose as her boyfriend in front of her friends. Sosuke treats the assignment with exactly the kind of literal seriousness everyone should have expected, turning an awkward teenage situation into something much more complicated. Mizuki is impulsive, insecure and capable of making a bad situation worse, but her story gives the series a perfect chance to show how completely unprepared Sosuke is for ordinary dating and social expectations.
AK

Andrei Kalinin

Supporting / Mithril Operations Commander and Sosuke's Mentor

Andrei Kalinin is a senior Mithril officer with a long military history and one of the adults who understands Sosuke's background most clearly. Their connection reaches back to conflicts before Sosuke ever imagined attending a Japanese high school, which gives Kalinin a role closer to guardian and mentor than ordinary commanding officer. He is quiet, deliberate and rarely wastes words, preferring to evaluate a situation before committing people to it. Within Mithril he helps coordinate operations involving Sosuke's team and the protection of Kaname, while also recognizing that Sosuke's usefulness as a soldier can make it easy for the organization to forget how young he is. In the 2002 series, Kalinin represents the military world Sosuke trusts instinctively, making his calm approval or concern carry more weight than most direct orders.
+2 LORE
MITHRIL in the 2002 Series MITHRIL & Black Tech Andrei Kalinin & Richard Mardukas SRT Operatives & Command
TK

Takuma Kugayama

SPOILER!

Supporting Antagonist / A21 Behemoth Pilot

Takuma Kugayama is a troubled young member of A21 whose ability to operate a Lambda Driver makes him essential to the group's plan. After Mithril takes him into custody, his unstable behavior and intense dependence on Seina quickly make it clear that he is not simply another captured terrorist. A21 needs Takuma to pilot the enormous Plan-1055 Behemoth, and Seina knows how to manipulate his need for her approval. Takuma turns the Behemoth crisis into something more disturbing than a simple weapons threat: a damaged teenager being used as the control system for a machine powerful enough to devastate a city.
+4 LORE
Plan-1051 Behemoth: A Machine Too Heavy to Exist The Behemoth & Black Tech The Lambda Driver: What the 2002 Anime Actually Shows Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Plan-1051 Behemoth FMP! Master Combat Ledger Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart MITHRIL & Black Tech
SK

Shinji Kazama

Supporting / Jindai Classmate and Military Enthusiast

Shinji is one of Sosuke's classmates and an enthusiastic military buff who loves aircraft, weapons and hardware without realizing that the strange transfer student beside him has actually used most of it. That creates one of the show's easiest running jokes: Shinji can enthusiastically discuss military specifications while Sosuke responds with the uncomfortable precision of someone correcting details from personal experience. Shinji is friendly rather than suspicious, which helps Sosuke participate in school life without every conversation becoming an interrogation about his past. He also gives the series a civilian view of military culture. To Shinji, the machines are fascinating. To Sosuke, they are tools tied to memories and instincts he cannot simply leave at the school gate.
SE

Seina

SPOILER!

Antagonist / A21 Leader

Seina leads the surviving members of A21 during their attempt to recover Takuma and deploy the Behemoth. A21 grew out of a youth rehabilitation project whose collapse left its members angry at the society they believe abandoned and exploited them. Seina turns that anger into an organized campaign of violence and treats Takuma's emotional dependence on her as another weapon the group can use. Her encounters with Kalinin complicate the picture because he recognizes the military discipline and damaged young people underneath A21's revenge campaign even while Mithril has to stop them.
+2 LORE
Gauron, A21 and the Missing Organization Chart MITHRIL & Black Tech Plan-1051 Behemoth: A Machine Too Heavy to Exist The Behemoth & Black Tech
ZA

Zaied

SPOILER!

Antagonist / Helmajistan Guerrilla and Arm Slave Pilot

Zaied comes from the part of Sosuke's life that Jindai High can never really understand. He knew Sosuke when the younger soldier was still fighting as Kashim in Helmajistan, serving alongside him during Sosuke's childhood in the guerrillas. When Mithril sends Sosuke back into the region, Zaied resurfaces on the opposing side and forces him to confront someone connected directly to that past. Their Arm Slave battle matters because Zaied is not simply another enemy pilot. He is living proof that the world Sosuke escaped did not disappear when he put on a school uniform.
LORE
AL

Al

Supporting / ARX-7 Arbalest AI

Al is the artificial intelligence installed in the ARX-7 Arbalest, the advanced Arm Slave assigned to Sosuke after the machine enters Mithril service. At first Al behaves like what Sosuke expects from military software: analytical, literal and concerned with system performance. The problem is that the Arbalest's Lambda Driver does not respond like ordinary equipment, and Sosuke's frustration with the machine becomes frustration with the intelligence trying to help him operate it. Their conversations gradually give Al more personality than a standard cockpit computer should have. By the end of the first series, Sosuke is no longer simply issuing commands to a machine. He is learning that the Arbalest works best when pilot and system cooperate, and Al is beginning to sound increasingly like a partner capable of answering back.
+4 LORE
ARX-7 Arbalest: The Machine Sosuke Cannot Treat Like a Normal Weapon Arm Slaves & Lambda Driver Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Venom) — Final Battle fmp-combat-ledger Sousuke Sagara (ARX-7 Arbalest) vs. Gauron (Plan-1056 Codarl) FMP! Master Combat Ledger Sousuke Sagara (Arbalest) vs. Plan-1051 Behemoth FMP! Master Combat Ledger