Avoiding Sequelitis - Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid

Sequels are always tricky business. Some films or series are able to pull of sequels especially while others fall flat on their face trying unsuccessfully to make a work that captures the same spirit of the original. Then there's the rare breed that is able to make the second series even better than the first. This is Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid. I reviewed the first series of Full Metal Panic! last week and I thought it to be an excellent show. Such a good show in fact that it was rewarded with a sequel series in 2005. The series is a textbook example on how a series can go from good to great by correcting many of the errors from the first work.

The Second Raid picks up two months after the events of the first series. Our favorite military nut hero, Sousuke Sagara is still in charge of protecting Kaname Chidori, the bubbly high school girl and one of the "whispered" whose mind contains the secrets to incredibly powerful military technology. Nothing has really changed, Sousuke still lives his double life of high school student and elite military agent and most of the cast appears unchanged. This peace is brought to an end by a mysterious organization with incredibly powerful technology that seems intent on starting civil war in China. However, it's not this plot that makes The Second Raid so good, no it's Sousuke's personal development as a character all during the show thats so good. The strain of living a double life begins to take it's toll on Sousuke and it's noted that despite guarding Kaname for six months he still hasn't made any progress towards fitting into Japanese society. This is dealt with in a much more mature manner than it was in the originals series which played Sousuke's social ineptitude for laughs most of the time. In fact, you can say that for all aspects of The Second Raid in comparison to it's predecessor, the show feels a lot more series in it's tone and it's a welcome change. The romance and comedy were key aspects of the first series and it's not as if they're not present in this work either. What Second Raid does is scale back the comedy and romance a bit in order to flesh out it's characters more, which I welcome wholeheartedly. That being said, it's not as if the main plot of Second Raid is boring either. In fact, it's an improvement over the first series as well. The original series had a plot that was handled in three episode mini-arcs and didn't have any semblance of an overarching plotline other than Sousuke's guarding of Kaname. This time, theres a clear overarching plotline which serves the show well. Being only 13 episodes, the show is paced incredibly well (although the final few episodes do pack on the revelations).

Despite a more serious tone, Sousuke still manages the time to track down pantie thieves.

Like I said in my review of the first series, Full Metal Panic! relies on the strength of it's characters to succeed. The Second Raid takes those characters and makes them even better. For example, Kaname is much more likeable character in this series. She's the perfect counterpart to Sousuke and the characters seemed to develop as a pair in this series. The Second Raid highlights her and Sousuke's relationship and it was the source of Sousuke's growth as a character. Once again, Sousuke and Kaname's relationship is handled in a much more mature way in The Second Raid than it was in the original series. Before, Kaname's feelings for Sousuke were childish and resembled little more than a schoolgirl's crush. Here, she seems to focus on the more mature aspects of the relationship and offers her hand out to help Sousuke more, rather than just obsessing over him. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Mithril's submarine captain Tessa Testarossa. I mentioned in my last review that Captain Testarossa is easily the weakest character in what otherwise is a strong cast. Testarossa seems incredibly useless and out of place in a show that has taken a more mature tone. She seems to think that she's caught in the middle of a shoujo anime and the writers still attempt to force the Kaname, Testarossa, Sousuke love triangle down the viewers throats. Occasionally, she shows signs of the character that emerged in the final few episodes of the first season but they're few and far between. Not to mention the scene where she cries in front of Sousuke because she knows he likes Kaname more than her when she was supposed to be reassigning him to a new mission. She's a superior officer, in the military who looks like she belongs in a harem anime. It made no sense in the first series and makes even less in this one. She even gets her own special bonus episode after the main series run is over called The Commanding Officer's Rather Quiet Day. Being a Tessa focused episode, it packs on fan service and has every character in the show acting incredibly out of character. Overall, it's a pretty weak installment in the series. All the other characters in The Second Raid are back in full force however. Kurz Weber and Melissa Mao are still as enjoyable as ever, with Mao taking somewhat of a big sister role to Sousuke. The show also introduces Lieutenant Belfangan Clouseau who doesn't do much other than tell the other characters how much they suck (doesn't keep him from being pretty badass though). On the other side of things, the villains aren't too spectacular. The main villain, known as Mr. Gates, is the same classic erratic, psychopath that we've seen in a billion other works. In fact, sometimes the show seems intent on shoving the fact that the dude is nuts down your throat. Seriously, he does things that just scream "HEY LOOK! I'M INSANE! BETCHA DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING!!! HAHAHAHHA" But, he still serves his purpose and he can be entertaining at times. The sisters Yu Fan and Yu Lan, start of promising but don't do much other than creep you out. Despite the weakness of the villains, The Second Raid still rocks in the character department.

Visuals wise, The Second Raid appears to have gotten a bump in the animation department in comparison to it's predecessor. Considering that the original series already looked great for it's time, the bump makes the show looks absolutely fantastic. While the first series had it's best moments in mech battles, the second series makes the quiet, more reflective scenes looks absolutely stunning. In thie audio department, things are largely the same. The english voice cast, done by Funimation, is fantastic once again with a special shout out going to Chris Patton. His work as Sousuke in this series is even better than the last. The soundtrack seems to have modernized a bit in this series, feeling less like a Gundam series and more like it's own work.

Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid is the perfect example as to how a series can go about making itself better. By removing some of the silliness that sometimes held back the series, Full Metal Panic! has turned itself into an elite member of the anime world. The more serious tone suits the show but it still makes sure to keep at least some of the silliness and comedic elements that made people love the series in the first place. I really enjoyed The Second Raid and I think it's a vast improvement over it's predecessor which is saying something because the first series was very good in it's own right. The Second Raid does what any sequel should do, improve upon it's predecessor.

My Score: 5/5