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R2 DVD Reviews
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Wednesday, 05 May 2010 00:00 |
 If you go strictly by the write-up on the back of the case, this is 3 episodes of raging Arm Slave action. I think ADV have a mech fixation. Thankfully, there's more to Full Metal Panic than ADV's copywriters would have you believe - including, teasingly, the prospect of naked Tessa this time around...
13 - A Cat and a Kitten's Rock & Roll
Mrrow. Tessa's getting a little bit tense - it's been a difficult few weeks for Mithril, and for her. Tempers are frayed, and after a row gets a bit out of hand Mao challenges Tessa to an Arm Slave fight - with the loser set to run laps naked around Mithril's training camp. While she may be a tactical & technical whiz, Tessa realises she's not the greatest AS pilot in the world & ropes Sousuke in to give her some special training - although it seems that the best trainer in the world isn't going to be good enough to give her a fighting chance...
14 - Is Narashino Burning?
It's summer! It's time to head for the beach! Or at least it's supposed to be time to head for the beach, but for some reason Kana & co end up at a Self Defense Force festival instead of running around in swimsuits. We wuz robbed, I tell you. The 'highlight' of the day is an AS battle between teams from Nerima & Narashino - Shinji's dad is in control of the Narashino team, but despite having good equipment his men don't seem capable of winning anything - mainly because of Nerima's dirty tricks. Sousuke's a firm believer in fair play, though, and takes matters into his own hands when he realises what's going on...
15 - The Wind Blows at Home (Part I)
When Mithril's Intelligence Department discovers that Gauron is still alive (what does it take to kill this guy?!), the 'Assassinate Gauron' plan is put into action, & Sousuke is called in to take part - partly because of his links to Gauron, but mostly because Gauron's now hiding out in Sousuke's home country, Helmajistan. The mission plan sees Sousuke dropped into a team that have been working together for a while already - difficult enough a situation, as they don't know him or his abilities, but they've also got no appreciation of the help he can give them in their mission. It's a lack of appreciation that will cost at least some of them their lives.
In an effort to do the serious stuff first, we'll be starting at the end with this volume. When Sousuke's teamed up with a group of new characters for his return to his homeland, it's a move just screams 'cannon fodder', in that you know that his new comrades aren't going to last long - especially when they refuse to pay any attention to the only person amongst them who knows the territory. And so it comes to pass, with their mission getting off to a disastrous start that will be difficult to recover from. You know that at least Sousuke will find a way to get out alive, of course, but we have to wait for the next volume and Part II of the story to find out just how. You can bet, though that with Gauron involved the usual rules of 'plenty of AS-action' & 'more unlikely escapes from certain death' will no doubt be followed.
The other two episodes stick firmly to the comedy side of the show, with a little bit of fanservice thrown in (no, the promised scenes of Tessa or Melissa doing naked laps don't make an appearance, sadly). FMP's brand of slapstick humour doesn't need much explaining, and if you've enjoyed the show's previous comedy eps you'll enjoy these. My only real complaint (barring the usual invective I like to throw in Gauron's direction) is the way the disc is left on a cliffhanger - when they're releasing the show in a mix of 3 & 4 episode discs, it would've made more sense to shuffle the episode counts to get this story - which is a three-parter - out of the way in a single volume. The cynic in me suspects the marketing folk may have had a hand in that but hey, that's business.
All told, then, another decent volume, with the emphasis firmly on the giggles - I think for probably the last time, so enjoy it while you can. If you've enjoyed the series so far, this volume won't disappoint either.
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