Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid Review

When Full Metal Panic! finished its run in 2002, it left several questions unanswered. Like, what happens to Chidori now? or what happens to Sousuke and Chidori afterwards? or why is Gau always laughing? It's sequel, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu was really not that connected with the ending of FMP!. It was merely an inspired stab at comedy based around some unused chapters of the manga adaptation. So in the end, the main story did not progress as the viewers expected.

Enter Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid



Based on the manga Full Metal Panic Sigma (which in turn was based on the novel The End of Day by Day),The Second Raid, as the fans hoped for, is the direct sequel of the origininal series. A lot of improvements can be seen in this sequel. The series focuses more on Kaname Chidori's Love Life, Sagara Sousuke's "becoming a real man", and the real secret behind the "Whispered". The series also reveals more about Amalgam and introduces two new villans: the twin sisters (originally brothers in the novel) Xia Yu Fan and Xia Yu Lan, and a very intrguing character which I know that bish lovers will love; Tessa Testarossa's brother. The action sequences remain smart and strategic, even when Sousuke is just blowing up things in his Arbalest and being very paranoid about "Wraith" who is supposed to be a Mithril member assigned to watch over Kaname. Of course Chidori still whacks Sousuke with her paper fan, but now it's funnier because it isn't happening every minute.



The action sequences stand out as being done particularly well, but it is solid top to bottom. There's nothing groundbreaking, but it doesn't suffer from the inconsistent character designs and lazy CG animation that a lot of current anime do. Overall, there is little to fault in The Second Raid. The only complaint would be that Chidori fans will be disappointed in her role in the first few episodes of the show, though her importance to the story will certainly grow as more about "Whispered" is revealed. There are even a few surprises thrown into the mix, which keeps the story fresh as it progresses. Fans of the original Full Metal Panic! have no excuse to not check this series out, as it promises to be a worthy successor.



All in all, I give it a very deserving score of 10/10