Sousuke brings Kaname to Mithril’s HQ for a special
celebration. But life can never be
simple for these two. Gauron invades the
base, takes Tessa hostage and steals the Tuatha de Danaan. Trapped onboard their own ship and headed for
certain destruction, Sousuke, Kaname, Kurtz and Melissa are the last hope for
the Mithril crew. The mission has never
been more desperate than it is now.
Sousuke and Kaname will have to trust each other more than ever if
Gauron is to be stopped once and for all.
Failure means the end of Mithril…not if Sousuke Sagara has anything to
say about it.
Ive had mixed feelings about the first season of Full
Metal Panic. What I will say, without
much reservation, is that the series pulled off a really good season finale,
complete with raised stakes and moments for every major character to
shine. It all culminated in a pretty
intense thriller that could have been a movie…and in a way I sensed much
inspiration from a certain movie in particular to get the ball rolling.
First we got our long awaited backstory of how Mithril’s
A-Team of Sousuke, Kutrz and Melissa came together. Their first mission felt a little
underwhelming but the lead up was great.
The fact that Melissa didn’t even know about her two future teammates
cause they were content to chill under the radar was interesting. Sometimes it’s the ones you least expect to
pull off an amazing performance that surprise you the most. And while the mission could have been a bit
bigger in scope (it was just a hostage rescue from some less than average
terrorists), we did get to see our happy trio in action together for the first
time. It’s funny I call them Mithril’s
A-Team and the show seems to acknowledge the same thought since they have their
own rendition of the A-Team theme from the 80’s playing throughout the season
(trust me, im not kidding). For an added
bonus, this story was all told while Melissa, Kaname and Tessa were bathing…so
you got your fanservice (oh Melissa).
Onto the finale, whew.
This was the first time all season I thought that the main cast was
really in trouble. Melissa got seriously
wounded in a mech fight, Kurtz was getting sliced up good fighting a traitor,
Tessa was at Gauron’s feet in a very inapporpriatley suggestive posture, even
Kaname was freaking out…things weren’t looking good. But this intensity served the finale well,
giving us stakes not really felt early on in the series. It was a strong follow up to Sousuke’s recent
mission to the Middle East. Still shaken
and full of doubts, he couldn’t activate the Lamda Driver in Arbelast and he
took out his frustrations on Kaname. It
was a good moment for both of them to let out their anger with each other but
realize they need each other. Sousuke
admitting to Kaname that she is the reason he is still alive today was one of
the shows best moments so far, capped off later by the two of them fishing
together.
I LOVED all of the Hunt for Red October references
sprinkled throughout the finale (the show taking a small break from all the
Metal Gear references lol). One of my
all time favorite movies, The Tom Clancy novel turned film starring Sean
Connery and Alec Baldwin could be felt every few seconds: from the fact that a
highly dangerous submarine was going rogue (under a terrorists direction but
still) to the insane, Ahab like commander determined to bring down a sub he and
his crew couldn’t detect. I wish there
had been a bit more payoff to the Ahab Commander (he has a name but someone
nicknamed him that, so im sticking with it) as he kind of just vanished along
with his crew at the end. Sure they
weren’t bad guys per say but still…a moment of hilarious frustration that his
prey got away again? That wouldve be great. All of this helped propel some great action
for everyone. Even Tessa got a rare
moment to shine and help Kaname retake the De Danaan’s AI. Seeing her in the Captain’s chair steering
the ship to safety was the first time I believed she was a decent captian. And wow, Kaname got to pilot the De Danaan
thanks to her Whispered abilities? Talk
about beefing up her role more than it already was. Lastly, Melissa in her underwear saves
Kurtz’s life…sigh every man should be so lucky.
I’m just going to call it right now: Gauron’s not
dead. This guy has survived two
explosions, he’s practically immortal. I
kind of kick Mithril for not killing him outright on the shore…but without that
stupid move, we wouldntve gotten the finale we observed. Still, his annoyance was at an all time high,
much to the point where Sousuke finally snapped and shouted as he sent him
flying off of the De Danaan in his exploding mecha “WE’RE NOT FRIENDS YOU S***
HEAD!!!”. That was funny. But yeah, I expect Gauron to show up again
down the line, more than likely in Season 3.
It is curious to see where things go from here now that the immortal
terrorist is gone for now. Will Sousuke
still have to protect Kaname? Will
Kaname suffer any blow back from merging with the De Danaan’s AI briefly? Well I know the answer to the first question
since Full Metal Panic: Fumofuu will be all about Kaname and Sousuke’s
adventures at Jin Dai High. As for the
latter and more, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Overall, Full Metal Panic Season One suffered from pacing
and genre merging issues in the first half of the season. The second half (The Middle East mission to
the finale) was solid and proof that this show might’ve worked better as an all
out action series without the high school humor (or just less of it). The show had a great cast from Kaname and
Sousuke to Kurtz and Melissa. The
villains felt a bit lacking in that they ranged from generic to just plain
annoying more so than threatening.
Animation wise, the show was consistent but I did get tired of the same
De Danaan CG shots getting used whenever it was on screen. But, naturally, the real power of the first
season came not from the animation but the growing bond between Sousuke and
Kaname. While not a full blown romance,
a powerful trust was built between them, to the point where they admitted they
needed each other in more ways than one to survive and be better people. Here’s hoping their friendship becomes more
later on, but even without a kiss or an “I love you”, Kaname and Sousuke do
stand as one of my favorite couples in Anime, ever.
All that said, I give the first season of Full Metal
Panic a:
7/10
And that’s that for now.
Full Metal Panic will return in the summer with Season Two, the humor
filled Full Metal Panic: Fumofuu. And
look for Season 3-Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, to arrive in early
fall. Til then, see you all next week as
we head into the uncertain month of March…ok it’s certain in that I know what
im reviewing…well next week’s a surprise at least. See ya later everyone.
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