Individual chapters are published on Monthly Dragon Magazine, followed by a paperback compilation released by Kadokawa Shoten's Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. The novels are split between stories focusing on Sousuke's mission as a soldier of Mithril and comedic side stories centered on his life at Jindai High School.

Full Metal Panic! has been adapted to other media a number of times, including an animated television series by GONZO in 2002.Anime

[edit] Full Metal Panic!
Anime title screen (English)
Anime title screen (English)

The anime series originally aired in 2002, produced by GONZO Digimation, after its real premiere date was canceled because of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York. The series was licensed for North American release in 2003 by ADV Films, and the manga released by ADV Manga. The first three of the novels form the basis for the Full Metal Panic! anime.

The animated series follows the events and relationships surrounding Sousuke Sagara, a professional soldier of a covert, international, anti-terrorist mercenary group named Mithril, and Kaname Chidori, a spirited Japanese high school student that, unbeknownst to her, is more than she seems.

Due to his Japanese heritage and young age, Sgt. Sousuke Sagara is selected to go undercover as a transfer student and secretly remain Kaname's undetected bodyguard. With orders only to protect her from abduction by an unknown hostile force, neither Sousuke nor his two fellow Mithril soldiers assigned to the mission - Sgt. Kurz Weber and Sgt. Major Melissa Mao - are told any further details except to remain undetected and avoid drawing attention to their charge.