Full Metal Panic is a classic mix of mecha, military, comedy and romance. The original series managed to mix all of these genres wonderfully, making for a mildly entertaining show with potential. A few years later, after a big studio change and a wild comedy spin-off, the show returned with a completely new vibe. As a big fan of Kyoto Animation, this was one of their shows that I was the most eager to watch for a long time, as it is constantly praised for being a huge step up from it´s predecessor. But does this fun little show manage to truly exceed expectations?
Story – 8/10
After the first season relied on it´s big genre variety, ranging from fun little comedy episodes to full-on military war-arcs, the studio shifted and Kyoto Animation released the comedy spin-off “Full Metal Panic Fumoffu!”, which was a nice change of pace for the series. But “The Second Raid” flips the complete script on it´s head. This is a full on character drama with higher tension, higher stakes, formidable villains and interesting military politics. It really feels like the vibe of the franchise changed completely. The action spans across Japan, Italy and, most prominently, Hong Kong. Kyoto Animation slowed down the pace considerably, which helps the story so much. I absolutely loved the amazing setting of the second arc, the fights as a whole where much better than in season one. Mithril itself, which used to be just a simple depiction of a heroic mercenary group, now contains a huge political divide, different interest groups inside the organisation and a much realer feel to their whole structure. There are still some comedic elements, especially in the first few episodes and the Sicily arc, but the show feels just so much more mature than before. I expected something like that before watching it, but i did not think it would be this extreme. This turned into one of my favourite mecha shows really quickly!
The only real downsides were the lack of one clear antagonist (the show juggles a bit to much at once in this department) and there are also some key information to Amalgams Hierarchy that were missing to get the full picture. I also think the pacing during the final episodes slowed down a biiiit to much – more on that later in the character analysis.
Art – 9/10
What began with a huge step up in animation during the run of “Fumoffu!”, evolved into an absolute Kyoto Animation masterclass in this season. They just do not miss when it comes to this category. The character designs from the original have been kept intact, but everything else got a huge make up: Interesting backgrounds, amazing lighting (This was 2005!!) and absolutely perfectly animated Mecha. Especially nowadays, with all the CGI in the genre, you really appreciate fully hand-drawn mecha more and more. They just have a certain weight to them that just can´t be replicated with CG. The show can feel a little bit light on action in some episodes, but that just makes the scenes we get that much more potent. Guns, Swords, Bare Hands: Everything is handled with a lot of care. I think it speaks for the studio if they can do this well with a show that does NOT fit their specialized genre at all (“Kyoukai no Kanata” is the only other notable action show in their repertoire). Cinema.
Sound – 7/10
The Openings were solid as always (they brought Mikuni Shimokawa back for the theme song performance), but i think they are not quite as iconic as the first one or even the “Fumoffu!” OP. The BGM was the real standout here: Especially during the arc that focused on Kaname, the music is used to create a really eerie atmosphere, almost like a horror anime. It really sold the more serious direction this season decided to take. I love the voice actors (Especially Mao´s!) and I hope they will all return in the next season even though a lot of time has passed between the two.
Characters – 9/10
Absolute standout category in this season! Every single main character gets a huge chunk of development.
Sosuke Sagara, our protagonist, completely turns from a nonchalant soldier to a true character. There are a lot of big obstacles for him to overcome this season, obstacles, that really put his beliefs in Mithril, the Arbalest and his whole life up to that point to the test. A lot of his story arc was clearly inspired from the classic “Neon Genesis Evangelion” (what Mecha show isn´t?), but the show managed to put a whole different spin on it. He really needs to figure out who he wants to be, what he values, and who he wants to protect.
Kaname Chidori, who was just your average 2000s´ tsundere girly in season one, gets a lot of screen time alone this season and it was fantastic. I think this is really the part of the story where her character really starts to stand on it´s own. Her relationship with Sosuke is the central theme of this story, and you can absolutely see Kyoto Animation playing to their strenghts (Which has always been Drama). Great stuff.
The same goes for Tessa Testarossa, whose position as Captain of the Tuatha de Danaan gets continuously challenged this season, both from political rivals as well as her own subordinates. We get some interesting lore on Melissa Mao sprinkled throughout the season, and her bromance with Kurz is still entertaining as hell. There was also a really cool new character introduced, that completely changed the whole dynamic of the crew.
The villains were much more interesting this season. Aside from Gates, (who was just an absolute lunatic who should not ever be near a mech) i thought our main villains, the Xia Sisters, were fantastic. They really pose a threat to our heroes and carry a lot of the exciting action throughout the show. Everyone else was solid, but like i said, i think the show would have improved if they focused on one single villain.
Generally, this was a great category, but not perfect. In the second half of the show, the pacing slows down considerably, and we really focus down on Sosuke. These parts were not bad, but I think it was a little bit tooo edgy, the show did not really need alcohol or prostitues to show how far Sosuke has declined. Other than that, fantastic work.
Enjoyment – 8/10
This was amazing. The franchise changed a lot during it´s different iterations but I think this right here may be the right direction for the show in the future. I will of course read (and review!) the manga very soon. If you like your Mecha, i think this is a must-watch show. If not, watch the first season: If you like it, it´s only getting better from there on.
- Marco_Yooo
FINAL SCORE - 8/10
