Full Metal Panic! Volume 4 (2025)

The basis for the first half of the anime THE SECOND RAID is a little different from what I'd been expecting. There's no sexy incestuous twins. No deranged '80s action movie villain. No exciting raid on an underground labyrinth, not even a hint of a possible civil war brewing in China. Granted, all these things may be present in part two of ENDING DAY BY DAY, but their absence here was still a surprise.

Not that one should judge a book based on its adaptation, and not that this book isn't excellent unto itself. It's a heartwrenching chapter in Souske and Chidori's lives, and though it feels more like a table-setting volume for part two, it's still got plenty of action and intrigue to keep the pages flying. I docked it a star for not, y'know, having a proper ending, but I suppose these things can't be helped. Regardless, both the writing and the translation remain excellent. I hope these releases continue to sell well, and that J-Novel Club is able to not only finish the series, but bring us the short story collections as well. Fumo?

I am giving this particular volume 4.3 stars mainly because it has my favorite scenes from the anime.

That said, I like how the anime fleshed out said scenes more, even added some elements not in this novel. But the novel still gave us some introspection, especially from Sousuke and I love it.

*spoilers*

My favorite scenes are the haircut scene and the Sousuke withdrawal command. I remember the emotions those two particular scenes gave me.

This one is shorter than the predecessors and I am looking forward to part 2.

Character development galore

While this volume ends on a cliffhanger from hell, it also contains some of the finest character development to date in the series. It also "introduces" two characters who have technically already appeared or been mentioned: the new Lieutenant and his black AS that almost looks like Arbelest and Wraith, the intelligence operative assigned to Kaname. While the story is, necessarily, incomplete, it is one of the best so far.

This is the first of the whole series, whereby the story was divided into 2 books. And the setting have moved overseas again. The first few chapters were quite a surprise to me. The protagonists were forced to separate and that isn't the worst.... The book also introduce a few more key characters to the grand finale and one of them was another 'Whispered' who was the sibling of...

Part 4

The 4th novel in the series ended in a real cliff hanger that has me impatient to read number 5. Sousuke and Kaname were really starting to understand each other only to be pulled apart. How will they handle the separation? Will they get stronger or fall apart? Will they find each other again? I can't wait to find out!

Belfangan! ♥️

Offensively short

Exciting and fun as Full Metal Panic always is. I loved the chase scene through Italy. The middle slowed down some, but it picked up steam again after a chapter or so. Being part one of two this left off on a massive cliffhanger! Guess I’ll just be that much more motivated to pick up the next one.

Owaru Day By Day (Ending Day by Day) is two volumes that encompass the story arc of the Full Metal Panic follow-up series, Full Metal Panic TSR.

Reading these makes me want to watch the anime again. They’re not the greatest, but they’re an easy, breezy read with fun characters and good action.

A decent beginning for a new story arc but I was a little annoyed with the abrupt POV changes.