Friday, May 18, 2018

FIF#51-Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory


At the gravesite of their parents, siblings Tessa and Leonard Testarossa meet.  Leonard warns his sister: Almagam is done with Mithrils constant victories against them.  The gloves have come off and now Alagam is pulling out all the stops to eliminate the mercenary group and captured the Whispered for themselves.  This puts Sousuke Sagara and his charge, Kaname Chidori directly in Leonard’s crosshairs.  As Mithril finds itself attacked on all sides, Sousuke must stand alone to protect Kaname, the girl who has become his closest friend and more.  When the dust settles from this terrible new battle, will their be a future left for the Serious Sergant and the Beautiful Class Rep?
 
Ohhhhhh boy.  This is both terrifying and exciting.  In short, this is going to be a damn good season and ive only watched one episode.  Believe it or not, it’s been 13 years since Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid aired in Japan.  The fact that we’re actually getting a fourth season of Full Metal Panic is nothing short of miraculous but I also think it’ll be well worth the wait.
 
It looks like the time of fun and games at school is over.  While I don’t think Jin Dai High will be completely taken out of the picture, it might be a while before we return to its halls again.  Kaname and Sousuke are in for the fight of their lives in a couple of ways.  Not only is Amalgam upping the ante on a worldwide scale but there’s also those pesky teenage romance feelings to contend with.  It might not seem like much but seeing Kaname and Sousuke holding hands during a walk home was a big deal to me.  The end of The Second Raid left their relationship at a crossroads.  It seems theyre closer than ever but could that be their downfall too?  What’s even more surprising are the insights of the much welcome returned Hayashimizu from Full Metal Panic Fumofuu.  His sharpness has pieced together Sousuke’s true occupation (more or less) and even he has to offer advice on how Sousuke and Kaname can carry on if things get rough in the future.  I really, really hope that this isn’t just a one off cameo we get from the now former Council President.  All the same, I have invested a lot of interest in Kaname and Sousuke’s developing romance and would hate to see it torn apart so soon after they tried to get their stuff together during The Second Raid.
 
Bonus points should be given to Leonard Testarossa.  One of The Second Raids few flaws was how small of a role Tessa’s brother had to play and it became clear he was just there to setup future conflicts.  Well that future conflict has arrived and man is Leo a scary guy.  There’s a different air to him, much like with the rest of this new season, that makes everything Leo says the more terrifyingly convincing.  Sure there’s some new guy he’s talking to that is likened to Gates or Gaurron.  But I think Leo is set to be the ultimate big bad of this season and, I wont lie, I hope he gets what’s coming to him.  Four seasons in and I think its time for Mithril to finally deal a fatal blow to their mortal enemies.
 
Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory feels like the game changer The Second Raid was building towards.  Long gone are the days of the awkward classroom comedy antics of Season One and Fumofuu.  Not saying their couldn’t be any levity as we did get a classic moment when Kurtz got decked by Mao for checking her out in her new skirted outfit…not that I can blame him, damn Melissa Mao ive missed you and your sexy badassery.  But the game has changed for Full Metal Panic and things look set to get more intense than ever before.  I just hope that everyone makes it out alive, even Tessa.  Gripping story, fast paced intensity and some new animation from yet another studio change over (I am gonna miss Kyoto Animation’s touch though), this could be the ultimate season of Full Metal Panic…yeah I might have to cover this as a whole in the fall after show finishes up mid summer (I think it’s 12 or 13 episodes total).  Having spent all of last year reviewing every season of FMP til now, it only feels right I might add Invisible Victory to the roster.  I’ll keep everyone posted…man am I excited for this one.
 

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