Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory Episodes 11 + 12: Reunited

Posted on by Karandi

While these two episodes certainly do a better job of bringing the season to a resting point, this remains pretty much not concluded with no real indication of a follow up any time soon.

FMP12b.JPG

After a couple of weeks off we finally get the last two episodes of this season and it is the big and dramatic rescue attempt of Chidori (or abduction attempt depending on which faction attacking the one mansion you are). These two episodes bring us all our favourite characters into one location, we’ve got some great fight sequences, an accidental shooting, and a radio message from Chidori to Sousuke that would have tugged at the heartstrings even without the soundtrack kicking into gear in the background.

FMP11d

Like most of the season, these two episodes were nostalgic fun and just good at doing what they set out to do. There was very little time wasted and yet the pacing didn’t feel too extreme. I did like that even after the main team reunited it wasn’t as though the months of separation and the fact that they were currently operating separately disappeared. Sure they helped each other out but they all stayed on their mission.

FMP11a

Of course, what sours these two episodes and the season as a whole is the fact that we don’t know if we’ll ever get anymore and we are still undeniably not finished. At least Second Raid had the courtesy of bringing us to a very solid end point (even though the story would continue) with the characters all back together and doing their thing. But it is hard to feel too hard done by here. There was very little more I could have asked from a follow up season to Full Metal Panic other than an actual ending and I absolutely love the journey Sousuke has been on over the course of this season. Fingers crossed we do eventually get another part to this.

Linked Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Advertisements

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory Episode 10: And So It Doesn’t End

Posted on by Karandi

After a thirteen year gap, two recap episodes, we now have a ten episode season with a totally incomplete story. If this were any other franchise I’d be dropping it for good and never looking back and yet Full Metal Panic still makes me desperately want more of this story.

FMP10c

There comes a point where a franchise knows that its core audience isn’t going anywhere and so they realise they don’t need to worry about a big season finish or even attempting to tie up their story. It is dissatisfying to say the least and makes Invisible Victory more or less impossible to recommend to anyone except die-hard fans of this franchise given you can’t start the story without knowing the history of the characters and events and then it just leaves us all hanging.

This final episode is clearly setting up the next phase of the story, but we haven’t really done anything with the current phase. The best way to describe Invisible Victory is a bridge between the previous seasons’ events and whatever they are moving toward but we don’t know what that is.

FMP10a

Still, Sousuke gets to do a cool take down even from a hospital bed, we get Kaname sighing and then swimming in her underwear, Tessa also has a changing sequences because the anime couldn’t possibly ignore the fans of Tessa, and we get a Sousuke training sequence before they reveal who some villain is and the story just stops. Kind of something for every fan of the series in this episode and yet nothing for anyone because we don’t have an announced follow up yet and by itself this story went nowhere. I don’t think I’m going to do a series review of Invisible Victory at this point because basically it isn’t a full series and other than complaining about that and being all happy about seeing Sousuke and Kaname again, there isn’t a lot to say. You are either already a fan of this franchise or you never touched this season of it.

Linked Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2
Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory Episode 9: Perfect Timing

Posted on by Karandi

Despite the fact that Sousuke has been carrying this season fairly well on his own, episode 9 of Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory brings the welcome return of some familiar faces at just the right time.

FMP9d

Despite the twist being obvious from the minute Tessa was picked up, this was a deeply satisfying return for the crew as we watched Tessa work her magic playing bait for the bad guys. The crew all got their moment to shine in a short but effective fight sequence and all and all this was a really fun reunion for the audience with these characters who have so far only really had a token appearance in this season.

FMP9b

Then we jump to Tessa’s brother, Leonard, and for the first time since episode four we get a look at Chidori. It is nice to know that while she’s being compliant enough to not be chained to a wall that she hasn’t lost all of her attitude despite captivity.

Lastly, we return to Sousuke, where we are reminded of the events in episode 8 and see the toll they have taken. This is where the episode ends and it makes me really excited for what will come next now that all the players are back on the stage. I also really liked the parallel from the beginning to the end of this episode with Tessa on the hospital bed to Sousuke being on the hospital bed.

All and all, another solid episode (provided you don’t look too closely at Sousuke while he’s lying in the hospital bed – there’s some bad shots there where his neck looks like it has disappeared entirely).

Linked Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2             Thoughts on Anime             74iz

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory Episode 8: Knowing How To Finish A Cliff-Hanger

Posted on by Karandi

If you don’t understand why Full Metal Panic has so much appeal to me, the end of episode 7 and the beginning of episode 8 will probably help clarify. This anime uses the emotional cliff-hanger to bring us gut wrenching trauma in the first few minutes of this episode that then launches us into nearly non-stop action for the remainder of the episode. Clearly spoilers coming if you haven’t watched the episode yet.

FMP8f.JPG

Last week I was overjoyed to see Sousuke back in the field even though it came at the cost of the newer and softer Sagara we’d seen with Chidori at school during the first few episodes. Still, Full Metal Panic is at its best when it points Sousuke at an objective and we watch him run at it. Mostly because the writers of this anime really like hurting Sousuke emotionally. As an audience, we never really have to fear for his life. As the main character he’s pretty much guarded with impenetrable plot armour, however that isn’t a safe-guard against either physical pain or emotional trauma and he’s been put through huge amounts of both (and I will need to get around to reviewing the earlier series of this sooner rather than later I think).

FMP8e

Episode 8 of Invisible Victory brings us the perfect culmination of everything that is great about this series (except of course any interaction between Chidori and Sousuke because Chidori is still missing in action save for a very brief mental hallucination Sousuke has later in the episode). The first few minutes of the episode dump us straight into the stand-off from the end of episode 7 and rather than drag it out or have some implausible victory for Sousuke then and there, they literally pull the trigger on a character who we’ve only known for three episodes and yet part of me assumed that of course she would get rescued.

Even then, Sousuke’s Rambo act is not the only determining factor of victory as Lemon’s group are still on the move and they briefly converse before Sousuke takes off in pursuit of Nami’s killer. As we see the rampage in the city, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the first fight of this season when Chidori cautioned Sousuke more or less at every turn about property destruction and civilian lives. As Sousuke blows holes straight through the sides of buildings to take down his pray, I wondered if he could also hear her voice or if he had shut down everything except the absolute need for victory in the here and now.

FMP8g

When we finally get to the show-down at the arena, we’re reminded once again that Sousuke is a soldier through and through. And a smart one who has a lot of field experience. Couple his natural talents with an absolutely unshakeable will and you can almost anticipate him simply kicking a grenade to the side as he charges after his foe. The final fight and the final shots are wonderfully done and then we go to the closing credits.

My only complaint then would be the post credits moments where we get exposition for the sake of it and information that kind of kills the mood of the end of the episode when we really could have just seen this sequence at the start of the next episode. But that would be a very minor complaint in the face of an episode that was just a ride from start to finish.

Linked Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2             Thoughts on Anime             74iz

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory Episode 7: There’s Something Really Satisfying About Watching Sousuke Pull A Helicopter Out of the Sky

Posted on by Karandi

In one episode so much was packed in. This returning anime has definitely continued to impress as Invisible Victory marches on.

FMP7c

It is rare that an episode can pack so much in and yet not feel like it is rushing a mile a minute or mashing things together that just don’t fit. We continue directly on from the previous episode with Sousuke and Nami gearing up to fight in the illegal battle (which is of course rigged against them and designed only to kill off Sousuke). However, in the midst of this they manage to drop a potentially major character reveal that could become fairly critical to the plot later around Nami. Sousuke starts to raise the point and then decided to let it be because his attention is still squarely on Kaname.

FMP7b

And that brings me to another excellent character point in this episode. Sousuke is fully in military mode for the majority of the fight. Its been awhile since we’ve seen him this on edge and having to think of a way around what seems like insurmountable odds. I like that for the most part this show doesn’t rely on just giving him the best equipment or being the most powerful (even when he had the Arbalest he could seldom use it at full capacity). They also don’t really rely on luck or chance. Sousuke genuinely thinks through the possibilities based on his and his machine’s capabilities at the time and manages to apply clear decision making in the heat of the moment. It occasionally helps that his opponents aren’t always the brightest bulbs.

FMP7d

Despite this, Sousuke makes a declaration after the battle that really struck with me. He tells the former Mithril mercenary that he is ‘just a man’. For those words to come out of Sousuke’s mouth really demonstrates how far he has come. Previously he would have claimed to be a soldier or to have a mission or something to that effect. This is a really impressive moment for him and yet it isn’t given a fanfare, it comes across as part of the natural flow of the episode.

We then have the reveal about Lemon and though we still don’t know exactly what he’s up to this looks like it is going to get interesting as he swooped in and saved the rest of Nami’s crew from becoming pig food.

So, a cool robot fight and some fantastic character work, meanwhile the plot progresses in a satisfying way; what more could you want from an episode?

Linked Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2             Thoughts on Anime             74iz

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory Episode 6: There Is A Plan

Posted on by Karandi

After wondering how long it had been since Kaname had been taken and what Sousuke’s plan was last week, this week the anime lays Sousuke’s plan kind of on the table and it makes everything else so much easier to swallow.

FMP6b

While I’m not against delaying reveals in order to build suspense, there’s something fairly positive about a series that is confident enough in its plot and characters to know it doesn’t need to. Holding all its cards close to its chest isn’t necessary because the audience want Sousuke to get to Kaname so letting us in on his current course of action isn’t going to take away our interest in watching the plan play out. With that said, Full Metal Panic continues to keep Kaname’s whereabouts and current state a complete mystery without even a teaser glimpse of her for two episodes. There’s some smart calls here in how the story is playing out and I’m loving the anime for that.

FMP6a

This episode mostly focuses on Sousuke using the corruption of the fights to try to get a look at what Amalgam is up to. It isn’t a great plan and even Sousuke knows he’s going to have to rely on others and that some of his friends are going to get burned along the way. And yet, the defeat of Mithril has left him with little choice. While it isn’t entirely clear, it does seem like Mithril is gone and Sousuke hasn’t been able to make contact with anyone, though I’m still kind of hoping that the rest of the crew show up sooner rather than later to help Sousuke out because while Sousuke is incredible at putting a plan together, he’s also a realist about his chances of taking on an organisation the size of Amalgam all by himself.

FMP6e

So all and all, Full Metal Panic is continuing its fairly strong run this season and I look forward to what comes next now that Sousuke has an in to the illegal battles but Amalgam is also keeping their eye on him.

Linked Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2             Thoughts on Anime             74iz

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory Episode 5: Restart

Posted on by Karandi

We could kind of view the first four episodes as the cliff-hanger ending to a previous season given how this episode makes it feel like the anime is starting over. However the absence of Kanami is keenly felt in this fifth episode.

FMP5c

This episode very much reminds me of the very early Full Metal Panic episodes. We have Sousuke Sagara being underestimated by those around him because of his age (and lack of personality), his name being horrendously mispronounced, and some cool but fairly pointless mech fights. While this call back to old-school FMP is kind of fun, it really serves to highlight how much more interesting Sousuke has become and is when he’s with Kaname.

FMP5d

Clearly Sousuke has some plan in mind but he’s alone and starting from the ground up. By default he’s reverted to what he was. A soldier in every sense of the word. As he says to the new crew when challenged about his knowledge, he is a specialist. And hearing him say that again was fantastic but hearing him say it the way he did in season one was heart-breaking. It had become more of a joke line between Kaname and him and now it’s back to being the straight truth.

FMP5a

However, where this episode falters is the new group of characters we are introduced to. Each works well enough, but there is a lot of emotional attachment to the cast of Full Metal Panic and the anime suddenly removing all of them except for Sousuke isn’t something to be taken lightly. While these characters are fine, they are just that. Fine. They aren’t the amazing crew we’ve fallen in love with and that hurts this episode in a lot of ways. Hopefully these guys will either grow on us or Sousuke will reunite with someone else soon because otherwise what had come back as a fairly roaring continuation may quickly become just a quiet rumble.

Linked Reviews:

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

avatar

Consider supporting the blog by:

Patreon2             Thoughts on Anime             74iz