by The shocking ending leaves the author feeling like he’s “watching a wake.”
Among the many “robot anime” that exist, some tell the story of good triumphing over evil by a brave hero, while others have realistic and harsh stories. Tragedies in the latter works, in particular, make you want to cover your eyes.
“Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory” Some people may remember Nami (CV: Chihara Minori), who appeared in “Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory,” which aired in 2018, as a gruesome robot anime. This is the fourth work (including “Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu”) in the “Full Metal Panic!” anime series, which is based on the light novel of the same name by Shoji Gato.
The protagonist, Sousuke Sagara (voiced by Tomokazu Seki), is a member of the secret organization “Mithril” and infiltrates the school to protect the heroine, Kaname Chidori (voiced by Satsuki Yukino), who is being targeted by the terrorist organization “Amalgam.”
However, Amalgam finally begins to take action, destroying Mithril, and despite Sousuke’s efforts, Chidori falls into Amalgam’s hands. Sousuke, no longer supported by his organization, visits Namsak, a town in Southeast Asia where a competition using humanoid weapons called “Arm Slaves” is being held. His true purpose is to find Amalgam, secretly involved in the competition.
Sousuke joins Nami’s weak team, “Crossbow,” and leads the team to victory one after another. Episode 8, “One Man Force,” begins with a tense scene in which Amalgam member Kurama (voiced by Kazuhiro Yamaji) takes Nami hostage and demands that Sousuke show himself. Kurama had said to show herself within 10 seconds, but Nami was shot to death before the deadline. Many viewers were shocked to see Nami’s pupils dilated and a pool of blood spreading as she collapsed. In addition, the episode featured a special ending with a ballad by Kayahara, who played Nami, to emphasize the farewell to Nami.
The original novel also had a similar ending; it seems Gato was very worried about this. When the anime was airing, he looked back on the time when he wrote the original novel, which was released in 2006, and tweeted on Twitter (now X), “Tonight feels like a wake… Why did I kill myself, ten years ago…” (original text, dated June 8, 2018).
