English Dub Review: Full Metal Panic “A Stormy Night”/”Make My Day”

Release the Leviathan! Er, I mean the Laevatein.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

In Florida, Sosuke finishes his recovery and his team begins their plan of attack. They’ve pinpointed Kaname’s location to Nicelo, one of the bases Kurama mentioned. Security’s tight and has top of the line mechs, but they manage to get something from the bargain bin for Sosuke to pilot (and inevitably wreck). Meanwhile, Mithril is also preparing to attack the same location. Leonard knows of this and meets with other high-ranking members of Amalgam, all of whom are named after elements on the periodic table. One member, Mr. Gold, is eager to supply reinforcements to him, though Leonard knows this might be a betrayal that he’s planned for.

Kalinan shows him the mech he stole from Wraith, but something seems off about it. Leonard then meets with his new sniper Caspar to help form his own personal Legion of Doom with him, Caspar, Lee Fowler, Kalanin, and Sabina. That night, Sosuke and Mithril reunite during their attack while Leonard tries getting Kaname out of the base. Wraith arrives with another Arm Slave, likely meaning the one Kalanin took was a fake. Sosuke destroys his current one in the fight and is cornered by Kalanin while being mocked by Leonard. Wraith meets with Lemon about the new AS.

In the finale, Sosuke manages to make it into the compound. While getting Kaname to the helicopter, Leonard attempts to manipulate her by having her point a gun at him but ends up shot in the head by accident for his trouble. Kurtz, Mao, and Ben take on Caspar, Sabina, and Lee in their respective custom mechs, but the latter gets called away by the incoming forces sent by Mr. Gold. Sosuke manages to find Kaname just as she’s taken away by helicopter. Just as all hope is seemingly lost, Wraith drops by with the ARX-8, AKA Laevatein, and Sosuke gives it a proper test run by completely and utterly spanking Mr. Gold’s troops. And it has a ponytail. Why? Shut up, that’s why.

From the helicopter, Kaname convinces Kalanin to let her say a tearful goodbye to Sosuke, but soon changes her mind and tells him to come to save her and give her a kiss when he does. The couple does say goodbye, but only for now, as Sosuke formally rejoins Mithril’s forces to end this once and for all.

OUR TAKE

Man, they really know how to tug on the nostalgia heartstrings. Just HAD to pull out the original Opening and Ending songs from the first season, didn’t you? Pretty sure there might’ve been some OST tracks from then that they hadn’t used before as well, but I’ll know for sure once I go back and rewatch the whole season.

As far as individual episodes go, these ones had a lot of shining moments, but almost just as much to make that sweetness bitter. In terms of positives, the action is certainly up there with the best of the FMP fights, even if the CGI is still pretty irksome to me. Getting Sosuke back in touch with Mithril for the first time in over a decade is the homecoming it’s built up to be, and it’s such a shame that these characters don’t get more time to interact after such a long wait. The first rollout of the ARX-8 and it’s weird-ass name also pays off big time, even if we’d already seen it in the Opening credits at the start of every single episode. So, while the surprise is lessened, it’s still an amazing moment that was well worth the wait, much like a lot of this episode.

That’s only one side of the coin, sadly, and the other half is pretty frustrating, mostly due to total lack of resolution to virtually anything. Not only is Kaname still kidnapped and Leonard NOT beaten, his being taken down by an accidental headshot is super anti-climactic. Plus, now we have his people turning on him to further complicate things. I understand that this is meant to be part of setting up the last stretch of the story, but with as much waiting as fans had to do just to get this much INCLUDING TWO RECAPS AND THREE WEEKS OF NOTHING, there’s only so much silver lining to take out of this.

And yet, here we stand at the end of this season with a reminder of how great things were and how great they can be. The couple couldn’t be together, but their love still burns, and so does that of the dedicated fans of this series. I very much look forward to looking back on this emotional roller coaster and what the future might hold for the final season, but for now, these were a serviceable way to keep the hope alive. Individually, I’d give Ep 11 a 7/10 and Ep 12 a 9/10, but as they are given to us together, I’ll have to come out to an average of…