My review of the Second Raid series.

[Charles Phipps]

Overall, I can't say that my opinion of this series is terribly high. My opinion of the series is a lot higher than Fumoffu because I don't watch Full Metal Panic for Chidori/Sosuke. The only episodes I really liked of that series were when Tessa showed up and the brief kidnapping plot of Chidori since that involved some action along with tactical thinking from Sosuke.

The Second Raid initially started much stronger for FMP but gradually degenerated greatly. I think that I can summarize my problems with the series with five bullet points.

1. The nihilism of Sosuke

My biggest problem with the series is the implication without Chidori that Sosuke was lost. This is frankly a disgusting sentiment. Sosuke wasn't a psychopath in Mithril or a monster, he had no idea how normal human interactions occurred but he still shared a comraderie with his fellows. The fact that they chose to effectively spit on the relationships of Sosuke with Kurz Webber, Melissa Mao, Kanlin, and Tessa is insulting to the strong supporting cast element.

I've always known that Tessa/Sosuke is solely a product of fanfic (like Motoku/Keitaro-my other favorite relationship) but it still thinks that this series seems designed to deliberately offend fans of it. The Second Raid seems to imply that Gaulron is right and Chidori HAS ruined Sosuke....which is unfair to her as well.

2. The shortness of length

The half-length series seems to be very clearly half of a storyline and it seems strange that I can think that regular Full Metal Panic seemed to tell much more interesting stories in part of the length. We have the introduction of Leonardo but literally only one scene where he talks or interacts with our lead characters. No reaction from Tessa either because she never finds out about her brother!

3. Gates

Gates had a lot of potential but in the end, he ends up being a cheap Gaulron knock off. Frankly, the character is disgusting as well in ways that Gaulron isn't. Gaulron is an animal that has the intelligence of a human being. Literally, Gaulron should be walking on all fours. Gates just seems to act crazy and make perverted comments about the twins (more on them later).

In the end, when Sosuke kills Gates, there's no real emotional depth to their relationship because Gates has never harmed Sosuke. It's strange but Gaulron shows up for five minutes in the 12th episode and has more villain presence than Gates in the previous 11 put together (Ave maria comes close but that's 90% of Gates there)

4. Bitch Tessa

This is wrong on levels of kittens with Sniper Rifles.

5. The Misogyny

This was originally going to be the twins but I decided to expand it. Changing the two guys to girls was a very good decision but unfortunately it ironically backfied for me. The twins are treated as disposable canon fodder the entire series and the sexual abuse they suffer at Gates' hands along with their clear mental manipulation by Gaulron makes them figures of pity rather than hate. Worse, the manner in which they are killed is also decidedly more brutal than deserved.

Combed with the Kaname in love hotel scene and prostitution scene with Sosuke, it seems that someone was watching Evangelion before they made this film.

The storyline is just overall too dark, violent, and emotionally depressing to be enjoyed. I didn't like Fumoffu because I felt it was too light and fluffy (also it lacked my favorite characters) but this is into the realm of Full Metal Noir. Nevertheless, I did enjoy most of the action and the art was as beautiful as always. Oddly, if we assume the OVA is part of the series then my favorite episode of the entire series is also a part of it.

[Mecha]

O
Gaulron is an animal that has the intelligence of a human being. Literally, Gaulron should be walking on all fours.

Compering Gauron to animals is insult towards them. How many animals are sadistic? None. In this, only human like Gauron can be like that, sadistic bastard.

[ricerocket]

lol, i read through this, and all i see is "mommy! where's my candy!? waaah "

[Charles Phipps]

Compering Gauron to animals is insult towards them. How many animals are sadistic? None. In this, only human like Gauron can be like that, sadistic bastard.

Well he operates in "Fear" and "Dominance" mode at times. Higher psychological torture seems to be somewhat beyond him except for when he tortures Kashim with the knowledge of killing his woman and even that's very instinctual.

Still, a great villain to hate.

lol, i read through this, and all i see is "mommy! where's my candy!? waaah "

Okkkkaayyyyy.

[Circle]

I don't see how Sousuke's relationship with Chidori has ruined Sousuke at all. Before he met her, he was just a soldier. A really good one with great comrades, but nontheless, just a soldier. He didn't have any future goals or aspirations, no desires other than to be a good little killing machine for his Mithril commanders. Chidori showed him a different life and they were more than just comrades like his Mithril friends. To take him off the assignment of guarding her, to him, is worse than abandoning a fellow soldier in a battle. He felt Mithril has betrayed both of them and left her to the wolves, someone who was more than just a friend to him. So of course he's gonna be bitter and dejected. We've never seen him abandon a comrade so the first time he's ordered to, he's like, "WTF man, you're an asshole. You can't do this to me... grrrr you can but you can't stop me from being emo@!"

Hm, gota get to work. I'll finish up the rest of this reply later (at work). =]
-okay, starting with where I left off:

Anyways, I can see you point that after Chidori is gone, he became so dejected that he didn't care for his role as a soldier and went AWOL. Very unprofessional and different from the Sousuke we saw at the very begining. You want it to stay the same, "Bro's over ho's." But it doesn't work like that, even in the real world :p. Once your homies get girlfriends, it's ho's over bro's... well, you can't call them ho's at that point anymore. Haha. Even though it's not official, everyone knows Kaname and Sousuke are an item. Mithril splitting them apart is like stabbing them in the back, so no wonder Sousuke would not give a crap about the rest of Mithril anymore.

Alright, so in summary, I agree that Sousuke has changed his priorities. Girlfriend de facto over Bro's. But I don't see it as a bad thing but instead as a welcomed character developement.

Tessa/Sosuke and Motoko/Keitaro relationships are not soley fanbased. The feelings are there, the authors purposely put them in. There's a whole volume of Love Hina devoted to Motoko's budding love for Keitaro (happens after the anime story). But they are one-way relationships. Unless you meant 2-way love-love relationships... then yea, only in fanfics.

Bitch Tessa:
Multi-facet character, goood. But it just shows that teenage girls, even commanders of wannabe-righteous mercs, can be emotional and selfish at times. Sorry, she's not really a goddess. Makes me wanna argue with her but it'd be unfair cuz once she starts crying then it's gg.

No comment about the length of the series, Gates, misogyny, or EVA.

[Weltall Elite]

Oh, wow. I remember the last time we got into this. Sorry. Catch the series when it first comes out next time. I'm too far over this to argue these points again.

But I'll tell you this much: Full Metal Panic is about a boy who only knows fighting and death until he meets a girl who changes his life. If you don't like Sousuke and Kaname's relationship, either romantically or the general impact they have on each other's lives, more than likely, you're not going to appreciate the rest of the story.

If you ever read the original novels, you're going to find that as the story progresses, their relationship gets more and more involved, and the story focuses more and more on it. There's comrades, and big robots, and cool military stuff, and an interesting supporting cast, and mean bad guys, but all those things are either side points or a way to draw out certain aspects of the two main characters, either individually or in terms of their relationship. Some build up their relationship, others try to test its strength, still others just fill in the blank spots in the story. I could probably argue your individual points with you till we're both blue in the face, but the bottom line here is that if you don't at least appreciate the dynamics between Chidori and Sagara, the story is probably going to sum up to a whole lot of disappointment to you.

[Charles Phipps]

I like it fine but they're not what attracts me to Full Metal Panic.

Sosuke is shown another world by Kaname it's true but the process of humanization is something that isn't completely done by her but by all of his friends.

Furthermore, I always note that Sosuke is Tessa's Kaname. Her one link to the outside world and to be a normal girl.

That he ignored or rebuffed this was sadistic on a Galron level.

[Weltall Elite]

It's not done completely by her, but by and large, she's the center of it. Over the course of the next two or three novels, you come to understand as Sousuke starts to piece together exactly what it is she means to him.

She's a lot more than just his introduction into the real world. And while he has friends, he's never compromised his orders for anyone but her. He's never lowered his guard around anyone the way he does for her. No one's ever motivated him to try to change so that he could have a future in the real world like she has. Comparatively, the impact that everyone else has had on humanizing him has been very small.

Furthermore, I always note that Sosuke is Tessa's Kaname. Her one link to the outside world and to be a normal girl.

That he ignored or rebuffed this was sadistic on a Galron level.

C'mon now. Because he's taken from the person who means more to him than anything and he's a bit disgruntled when his orders are handed down to him (though he still complies), that, not only puts him on par with Gauron, but labels him as a sadist? Don't you think that's a bit of a stretch?

[Pyrite]

I don't really have anything new to add, so...

The Bizarre Love Triangle: It doesn't help that as far as the military was concerned, Sousuke wasn't permitted to reciprocate, Kurz be damned. And like everyone else has said, if you ignore the love theme, you're missing out on one of the major driving themes in FMP.

The twins: Note that their deaths didn't deviate from the novels, where the two guys were killed in exactly the same way. So it's not exactly misogyny, if you think about it. (Now, the lesbian twincest... that, I find a bit fanservicey for the sake of fanservice.)

Gates: Call it sick, black humour if you will, but he certainly generated a bit of humour in this relatively bleak season. He's not supposed to have a vendetta with Sousuke - he's supposed to demonstrate just how twisted some people in Amalgam really are, and he does it in such an over-the-top manner that you can sneak in a few guilty laughs in along the way before the last few episodes.

The prostitute: Fine, I agree that that was a bad idea. *shrug* But it's pretty hard to translate soliloquy onto celluloid without returning to internal monologue, like the directors intended.

[ricerocket]

Furthermore, I always note that Sosuke is Tessa's Kaname. Her one link to the outside world and to be a normal girl.

That he ignored or rebuffed this was sadistic on a Galron level.

Wrong, Sousuke is not Tessa's salvation to become a normal girl, her affection to Sousuke is. It doesn't even have to be Sousuke, it can be anyone her age, Sousuke is Bunny's replacement at best.

Whereas Kaname introduces Sousuke to a world completely different from his own, so it can NOT be anyone else around him besides Kaname.

[Charles Phipps]

Well, anyone who knows anything about the military would realize that Tessa and Sosuke aren't in the same branch of the military. It's also a mercenary organization.

And again, I like the love theme fine. It just doesn't appeal to me as much as everything else. It's sort of the old "Asuka vs. Rei" theme. Normally, I'm an Asuka man but Tessa has all the fun aspects of Ruri from Nadesico so that puts her over Chidori/Asuka.

You all raise good points though. I do think Tessa will only ever love Sosuke though

[Gunner]

I have hope (and faith) that Tessa will find someone else. Actually, even though the character of Seilor in DVMC is largely a buffoon at best, he does say something I agree with: Tessa is young, she's beautiful and she has a good personality--there is no way someone like her will stay alone for the rest of her life.
Sure, she'll be sad about the Sousuke thing for a while, but as we've already seen, Tessa is also very strong internally--she will overcome her pain (and is already doing so). First love can be a hard thing to get over, but she's only 17--with the rest of her life to find someone better. Sousuke wasn't right for her because if he was, then he would have chosen her over Kaname.

[Weltall Elite]

I'm an Asuka man

Now we're talkin'. Shinji/Asuka ftw

But Eva is one of those stories that people can argue what the canon pairing is or if there even is one until for the rest of eternity. (Believe me, I did it for years)

The point I'm trying to make is that while Asuka may be Shinji's love interest (though given the constantly strained love/hate, codependant, emotionally needy nature of their relationship, I don't think it's any more or less significant to the story than the relationships he shares with the rest of the major characters. So even if you don't care for that aspect of the story, there's still a lot left for you. In FMP, it's not that way.

The only reason I mentioned that is because I think it's a lot more direct than the Eva thing.

In regards to Tessa, there's still plenty involving her. I'd venture to say that she's the third most important character in the story. There's an OAV that's all about her that you'd probably like.

In the next novel, she finally asks Sousuke who he likes between her and Kaname, and she gets her answer. After that, she begins to really mature as a character and a leader. So there's a lot there for Tessa fans, but... it's still a story about Sousuke and Kaname.

As for Nadesico, I always liked that green haired, Asuka-like girl. I can't remember anyone's names since it's been years since I've seen it, but I liked her much better than the main girl.

[Charles Phipps]

Well it's just one of those things. I'm not dense or anything, I recognize that Kaname/Sosuke has always been the focus of the storyline. I was pleasantly surprised when they threw in the "hugging by the pop machine" bit with Teletha Testarossa at the end of the 1st series. I also recognize they were always going to end up there. Kaname is a fine character by herself. But, say what you will or not, its never actually been my favorite part of the series so I get alittle annoyed when they focus so much on it. Tessa is my AS fixation I suppose to liken my problem to a similiar problem people had with Fumoffu on these boards. It's why I have the original series but only chose to buy one DVD of the FMPF series.

I also love the OVA so much that its my favorite of the entire FMP series as a whole really.

Honestly, had Sosuke stuck with Kaname without waffling or the series NOT made Sagara so cruel to Tessa in this series, I probably wouldn't be so damned angry at it. Instead, I just feel that instead of saying "Sosuke could have been happy with either of these girls---he just ended up with Kaname" its stating "and Tessa was WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG for him" which sort of felt like the creators were telling me my reason for liking the show was unwanted and all the dollars I'd invested were wasted.

(as stated, Tessa's not my only like on the show either. I'm also fond of Kurz and Mao---whom I'm alittle disappointed barely showed up in the Second Raid)

I do admit, you have me worried though that I'm not going to enjoy the novels if I sit down and read them though and that was my next big project.

Hey, didn't the creator have an interview bite somewhere (sadly I can't find it or remember where it was from) where he said that he was surprised by the number of tessa fans but not to get their hopes up or something?

In any case, my opening post was somewhat overly harsh I think.

[Weltall Elite]

I don't know anything about an interview.

Since you're new here, let me take a moment to explain our spoiler tags to you in case you don't already know. If you're posting something that contains spoilers in a thread that's not labeled as a spoiler thread, you're supposed to use the [ ecs ] tags to make the text invisible. You can read it by highlighting the section with your mouse if you want to read some spoilers. I've put the rest of this post behind those tags since I've included some spoilers.

[ecs]As for if you'll like the novels from here out... I don't know. People are funny about what they like or don't like and why. In the coming novels, like I said, Tessa gets her answer. Even before she asks, she kind of realizes it, but it becomes obvious to her that she never really had a chance to begin with. So... yeah. It's kind of like you said. I don't know if I'd say in such strong terms that "Tessa was WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG for him" but... they make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that it just wasn't meant to be.

Like I said, Tessa learns to accept this and becomes stronger for it. I think she needed to have it put to her clearly so she could move on. Whether or not she still loves him after that, we aren't really told specifically. But whatever she feels for him, she accepts that it just can't be.

If because of that you feel that your money was wasted... well, it probably was. But I don't think the creators did this so they could throw the point in your face. They're just telling their story. I keep mentioning that this is a story about Sousuke and Kaname, not because I don't think you understand that and not because I want you to change your view and not because I think you're a fool, but because the conversation keeps coming back to this point. It was never about Sousuke falling in love with two girls and trying to decide between them. So the author never intended to appease Tessa fans by telling them that Sousuke could have been happy with either girl, but it just so happened that he ended up with Kaname. It was always about those two, and Tessa's real role in that love triangle has always been to highlight and draw out Sousuke and Kaname's relationship. Just like now it'll be Leonard's job to do the same thing, though in a different way. Later, there's another girl who turns Sousuke's head who basically does the same thing.

In fact, after the novel that TSR was based on, the author writes a note regarding how Sousuke stood up to his superiors to return to Japan. At first, he was going to have Sousuke be returned there via circumstances and windfall, much like he was after his first battle with Gauron. But instead, he decided that this was the way things needed to happen and so he had Sousuke take a stand against the only life he'd ever known for the sake of being with one girl.

Don't get me wrong. I understand where you're coming from and I'm not trying to change your perspective at all. Nor am I trying to vindicate Kaname or put down Tessa. But I am going to give you some fair warning. If you were really touched by the hug scene by the soda machine and maybe by the final conversation that Sousuke had with Tessa in TSR and were holding out in hopes of catching more subtle hints of sparks between them appearing, well, you've pretty much seen the last of it. I'd say that from here on out, that's about it.

I honestly don't think Sousuke was nearly as cruel to Tessa as you seem to suggest. I mean... it wasn't her fault, and I sympathize with her. But I also sympathize with him. And after the fact, he felt bad about it. He later appologizes to her. It's very similar to what Sousuke did to Kaname in the first season. He's not perfect. Despite appearances, he's human and sometimes says and does things that he later regrets. But the fact that his cool exterior sometimes cracks and he lashes out at someone who really doesn't deserve it just shows that he IS human.[/ecs]