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Reviewed by Michael Aronson “The students of Jindai High are bound for Okinawa on a field trip, but a hijacking changes their plans! Among the hijackers is Gauron, a mortal enemy Sosuke thought he’d killed years ago. But Gauron is after only one of the students on board . . . Kaname! The information she carries could be the key to maintaining the balance of power. When they single her out, it’s up to Sosuke to save the day again, and a crushing mecha battle for Kaname’s freedom ensues.” Er, this is volume two of Full Metal Panic, yes? Funny, it doesn’t read anything like volume one. Whereas volume one was light situational comedy that focused on Sosuke’s militaristic overprotectiveness of Kaname, barely hinting at why exactly he’s been assigned to protect her, volume two jumps headfirst into his mission, her significance, and the terrorist plot to thwart them both. It’s not bad for an action/suspense story, but it really wasn’t what I was expecting, given volume one, and the transition between genres is way too immediate and jarring. Still, we’ve got an antagonist in Gauron. We’ve got glimpses of Sosuke’s history and his relation to Gauron. We’ve got Kaname’s secret abilities, effectively turning her into a science fictiony quasi-weapon. We’ve got Sosuke, Kurz and the rest of their crew piloting giant mechas in a massive firefight on North Korean soil. It’s all very over-the-top – after the first volume, any serious action would be – but it’s still handled well enough for what it is, even if what it is isn’t what it originally was. I’m intrigued, and yet I really just want to see more of the high school comedy antics. The art is still strong, but there’s far less human emotions to convey in between all the explosions and action. The mechas are pretty neat, but the action is somewhat confusing at times. The scenes depicting human interaction are much stronger. I still really wish this didn’t feel like the start of an entirely different series . . . Comment on this review of Full Metal Panic! v2 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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