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This third season of Full Metal Panic "The Second Raid" is probably my favorite of the three. It's definitely the most competently made: It has fantastic action sequences, an interesting plot and features much better pacing, animation and characterizations! The military stuff in this one is actually pretty damn good and it's balanced much better with the show's campier side which is hilarious as ever!

On the dramatic side of things: Sousuke and Kaname's relationship is pushed to its limits when they're unwillingly split up! In one heartbreaking scene Kaname calls out for Sousuke's help, but for the first time in the series - Sousuke is ... not there for her. It gets very tense and you really feel for both of them during their lonesome struggles! They're obviously deeply in love but neither is willing to admit it to one another, which is of course one of the reason why we love this show so much.

My favorite scene of the whole season is where Kaname cuts Sousuke's hair. It's perfectly written, perfectly acted (at least in the English dub) and perfectly directed. I've never been into shipping much, but Kaname and Sousuke are hands down my favorite anime couple of all time so this scene was very sweet and satisfying! For all the REAL shippers out there - This is probably the closest thing we'll get to a sex-scene with these two!

By the end of the season you're left wanting more and saddened that Kyoto Animation cant figure out how to continue the anime... I award "The Second Raid" a glowing 9/10 - It's an excellent (if slightly unforfilling) end to one of the best and funniest anime series ever conceived!

NOW BRING ON SEASON 4 ALREADY!

The second season of Full Metal Panic "Fumoffu?" is more what i wanted this show to be: It's hilarious, it's sweet, it's fast paced and it's much more tonally consistent than the first series. With that said (and this is where i think they took a step backwards) it also completely forgets about character development and any overarching narrative. That's fine for some, but when you're as invested in the main characters as I am, you really want more than just joke-joke-joke-joke-fanservice-joke-joke... In the end it doesn't try much more than making you laugh and it totally succeeds in doing just that! All the characters ... you know and love from the first series are back and it's wonderful! They're much more laid back and just having fun, instead of moping around about the ethics of warfare.

My favorite episode? "The Warcry of Excessiveness" - The way Sousuke coaches this prissy rugby team into a fearless force of killing machines (of course utilizing his army training) is truly glorious to behold! The ending is surprisingly dark for a Fumoffo episode, but hey, that's what i enjoy and what i was wishing there were more of: Dark Comedy

All in all I award Fumoffu an 8.5/10 - There are hours upon hours of fan service to be had here - Fantastic season, but the best is yet to come~!

Full Metal Panic is a lot of fun! It features an outstanding sense of humor and great set of characters. Sousuke Sagara is hands down one of the funniest and fascinating anime characters ever conceived and Kaname Chidori; while she may appear to be an angry tsundere most of the time, she feels like a real person and is also very funny in her own right. These two combined is comedic genius and the situations and interactions presented here are downright hilarious!

Then there is the other side of the spectrum: The military stuff... Looking back on it, i really didn't care about most of ... it. Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed all the sitcom aspects a lot more than the Mecha-stuff which i'll probably just skip on rewatch. It's just not that interesting, outside of the Mao/Kurtz banter and for the fact that we get to know about what drives Sousuke which IS interesting. The creators just wanted to have their cake and eat it too, but only really succeeded with one.

...And despite how completely unrealistic her being a 16-yo submarine captain is (let that sink in) I like Tessa Testarossa: She's cute and the resulting love triangle makes for some fun moments (see Episode 13) but c'mon - We all know she's just a wacky obstacle in the Chidori/Sagara relationship! We want those crazy kids to get together dammit - The fans demand it!

All in all I award this first season a 7.5/10: The military stuff is decent, if a bit dull, but what makes this series great and so much fun is the characters and their witty interactions!

*I highly recommend watching the English dub sorely because of Chris Patton's hilariously methodical portrayal of Sousuke and his chemistry with Luci Christian as Kaname. In fact all the English VA's do an outstanding job - Check it out!