 A four-part story arc on one disc, here, as Full Metal Panic
tries to merge its Mithril / military & high-school personas into
one story. No-one is more surpised than me that they managed to pull it
off...
9 - Dangerous Safe House
Young boy who we haven't seen before goes psycho while dealing with
Japanese immigration - what significance could this have for Kana &
Sousuke? Cut to the deDanaan & a few clues from Mithril - he's a
member of terrorist group 'A21' and may have the ability to operate the
Lambda Drive (as used by Sousuke & Gauron) - so may be after Kaname
& her Whispered ability. Who better to investigate such things than
the Captain herself? And so Teletha comes to visit. No problems so far,
but when she ends up hiding out in Sousuke's apartment, it's time for
the sparks to fly as Kaname finds her emerging, half-naked, from the
bathroom...
10 - Run, Running, Run
A little bit of explaining & Kaname's wrath is averted for another
day - although she's having an understandably hard time believing a
16-year-old can be captain of a submarine... No rest for anyone,
however, as A21 are hunting down their missing member - with the help
of a micro-transmitter embedded in his arm. A moment's drop of the
guard & Teletha and Kaname are captured by A21, leaving Sousuke
with a hostage situation he'd rather not deal with...
11 - Behemoth Awakening
With Sousuke's rescue plan undone by Kaname & Teletha's
stubborness, it's up to him to come up with a Plan B. Just as well
reinforcements have arrived in the form of Kurz & Melissa. A21 have
an ace up their sleeve, however, in the form of the Behemoth - an Arm
Slave of mammoth proportions, just waiting to be unleashed on Tokyo...
12 - One Night Stand
With the JSDF unable to offer much resistance, it's Mithril -vs-
Behemoth, but with Teletha aware that she would have been able to avoid
the havoc wreaked by Behemoth if she had taken her chance to kill its
pilot when she had the chance previously, she's having a crisis of
confidence in herself. The delivery of the Arbalest to Sousuke gives
the forces of good a fighting chance, at least...
Remember, kids, don't try microwaving your arm at home. It's really
not good for you, embedded micro-transmitters or not. And that's it for
Public Safety Announcements on this page...
This disc is pretty much one self-contained story arc in a nice
bite-sized chunk. Unlike the previous 'hijack' arc, this 'Behemoth' arc
manages to mix serious drama & comedy fairly well - while it's not
as much fun as the 'high-school life' stories, it manages to make all
the serious military stuff more fun to watch than the previous foray
into Mithril territory did. The big difference that makes it work? The
presence of Tessa & the way her and Kaname play against each other,
which is a real joy to watch. Much as Kana may not want to admit she
has feelings for Sousuke, the presence of a rival doesn't half fire her
up...
Another big difference is that, unlike stories involving Gauron, the
members of A21 are much easier to feel some sort of sympathy for -
their leader in particular, with her apparent connection to Kalinin
& the tale she tells of A21's formation. For all that these are
one-trick guest appearances, they manage to be more fleshed out &
believable characters than Gauron has managed to be - and he's the big
series badguy. Go figure.
Overall, then, this is a fairly impressive disc that manages to bring together a large chunk of FMP!'s disparate cast for a sidestory that manages to work a lot better than the main arc sometimes manages. Recommended.
|
Reviews Archive 
