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Now in Japan
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Written by maehara
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Saturday, 06 August 2005 13:40 |
 Full Metal Panic is a strange beast - so far
we've had one mech-combat series (with some comedy thrown in for good
measure), and a pure comedy series. To me, comedy is really what FMP does best, so it's a great disappointment that The Second Raid
(as this third series is called) places almost all of it's emphasis on
the mech-combat side of things. Can anything save it? Well,
some yuri-loving twin assassins might just do the trick...
1 - Ending Days
As the nation of Balic descends into civil war, Mithril intervenes,
sending Sousuke and co in to put a stop to the bloodshed. For
once, though, Mithril's weaponry isn't as far ahead of their enemies as
usual, making the mission a bit more difficult than the usual walk in
the park. Not that Sousuke ever admits defeat, especially when
there's homework to be handed in, and neither is Tessa about to leave
any of her crew behind. Meanwhile, Kaname's more concerned about
the notebook she lent to Sousuke than whether he'll make it back alive
or not, while the de Danaan crew are worried about the advanced
weaponry they came up against in Balic...
2 - What Lies Beneath the Water's Surface
While Mithril worries about just who else has Lamda Drives to use
against them, Sousuke's back at school and looking into the appearance
of some spy photos of Kaname that have appeared on an internet
website. There are some things it's better she doesn't know
about, it seems, but the havoc Sousuke wreaks while he tries to find
the culprit means it's not going to stay a secret for long.
Meanwhile, a pair of twins sisters from Hong Kong pay a visit to Balic,
hoping to uncover some more details about Mitrils defensive
capabilities.
Yay for yuri twins. Especially lethal yuri twins. They have somthing of the feel of Ein from Phantom about them, which is definitely a good comparison - it's just a shame that TSR
takes more after the first season of FMP!, and not Fumoffu!
The two aspects of the franchise come from its origins - there are a
series of novels which focus on the mecha / Mithril side of things, and
the manga which provides the comic approach. The mistake is
trying to put both aspects into one series - Fumoffu!
was so good because it stuck to one thing, and did it well. The
mecha side of things has never had quite the same appeal for me - as
mecha shows go it's average and best, so I can't
say I'm hugely interested in how this incarnation progresses.
For those staying with it, I'd say keep an eye on the twins and the
problems Mithril's having with keeping their technological advantage -
based on these two episodes, I think those are the things this series
is going to revolve around. For me, hot shower action wasn't
enough to keep my interest in TSR going. Pass.
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