Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory 01
フルメタル・パニック！Invisible Victory episode 01

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Tessa visits the grave of her parents and is joined by her twin brother Leonard. Tessa rejects her brother’s request to stop opposing him and declares him an enemy. The ARX-7 Arbalest mecha drops its invisibility cloak in a defensive stance for Tessa. A Plan-1056 Codarl mecha drops its invisibility cloak in a defensive stance for Leonard. The Codarl picks Leonard up and they retreat. At a nearby airport, a man named Kurama greets Leonard, expressing his dissatisfaction at Leonard not taking out Tessa and the Arbalest. He tells Leonard that unlike Gauron and Gates, he’s going all out to hunt down Sousuke and Kaname.

Sometime later at Jindai High School in Japan, the Student Council finishes up their business with the election of a new president. Afterward, current president Hayashimizu summons Sousuke to the roof, where he expresses his belief that all of the recent troubling events at school center around Kaname. Since Hayashimizu is graduating, he won’t be able to protect the pair of them and requests they discuss things. Sousuke joins the waiting Kaname and the two walk home together, eventually holding hands at Sousuke’s request.

Kaname invites Sousuke to her apartment, but upon entering, Sousuke immediately senses danger. Sure enough, Leonard is waiting for them on Kaname’s couch, protected by two human-sized Plan-1211 Alastor mecha units on the balcony. He warns them that his organization–Amalgam–is no longer going to tolerate interference from Mithril, the private, anti-terrorist military organization Tessa and Sousuke belong to. Sousuke attempts to shoot Leonard, but Leonard’s coat tails rise up to stop the bullet. Leonard requests Kaname join him voluntarily, but she angrily refuses. Leonard then leaves.

Sousuke immediately makes a report to Captain Tessa, who then makes the report to Admiral Boorda. She requests that they evacuate their HQ as she believes it will come under attack. Their communications are cut off and sure enough, Amalgam attacks the building. Further, it appears that Amalgam have used EMP weapons to knock out electronics. Tessa puts the Merida Island Base on Yellow 1 alert. She sends a helecopter with the ARX-7 Arbalest to Sousuke. In Japan, Sousuke has taken Kaname in a car to a parking lot, but  has lost communication with Merida Island. The helicopter reports it is five minutes away, but Sousuke discovers they are being surrounded by Amalgam forces.

Thoughts/Review:

Kyaaaa! Full Metal Panic returns! I’m really disappointed that I didn’t get to rewatch the earlier series like I wanted, but that’s OK. Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory 01 was very easy to get into and even provide some tiny backstory for folks new to the franchise.

Kaname and Sousuke

One of the elements of the Full Metal Panic franchise is the relationship between Kaname and Sousuke. When the franchise started, he was just some weirdo to her. For him, she was someone to be protected from those looking to grab Whispered candidates. Circumstances forced her to learn the truth and the two became closer. She helps loosen up the uptight Sousuke. He is there to protect her from those who would kidnap her.

In Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory 01, it was a delight to see Sousuke ask to hold Kaname’s hand. I don’t remember if they confessed to each other at the end of Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid or not. I do seem to remember that the two of them came to understand and accept that they loved each other. As such, it was a delight having Sousuke man up and ask Kaname to hold hands. It was an even bigger delight when she accepted, and when she didn’t want to release his hand to unlock her door.

Naturally, all of this delightfulness can’t last as the plot must move forward. By having Leonard invade Kaname’s apartment, then remind her that he is in love with her, then having her declare her hatred for him (I seem to recall that Leonard forced a kiss on her, but don’t quote me on that), I got the feeling that an NTR flag is being set. I can see Kaname giving herself to Leonard if things are going poorly for Sousuke and Mithril. And I can see Sousuke fighting to get her back, succeeding in doing so, then having to “purify” Kaname in the aftermath. We’ll see what happens.

Kaname’s Additional Strengths

Kaname is a strong, female character. Despite this, there are things that she cannot handle, and that’s completely understandable. What I enjoyed seeing in Metal Panic! Invisible Victory 01 is that while she may not like the situation, she has accepted the situation. That means that she may not be able to return to the school life she enjoys. She may not be able to see her friends again. It sucks, but if this is the life she has to lead, then sobeit.

Kaname may have concerns about Sousuke’s plans on getting her to safety, but she understood they couldn’t stay in her apartment. Further, when Sousuke didn’t have any tea, only water, she didn’t complain even though she would have preferred tea. When Sousuke told her to get down in the back of the car, she didn’t argue. Some might see this as her being a damsel in distress, but I don’t agree. True strength is knowing your weaknesses and accepting help from those who can make up for your weaknesses.

The Whispered

One of the most vague elements in the Full Metal Panic franchise are the Whispered. I actually got a laugh when Kaname remarks on how vague the whole concept of the Whispered are. That’s certainly true. All we know is that Tessa and Leonard are Whispered. Kaname is a Whispered. Whispered have highly advanced knowledge of maths and sciences. Whispered somehow have knowledge of what is called Black Technology, which allowed things like the Arm Slave mecha units to exist in the 1990s.

Since this is the last of the Full Metal Panic anime series, hopefully we’ll get more information as to what the Whispered are and how they obtained this knowledge, and in some cases, special powers.

The Other Mithril Characters

Tessa is the one Mithril character we got to see the most of. That’s understandable since she is a major character in the series. It was nice seeing Tessa again, both in how she bravely stood up to her brother, but also in how she twiddles her hair when she’s in deep contemplation.

Kurz and Mao got brief cameos when the Meridian Island Base went on alert. I laughed when Kurz does his normal routine with Mao and makes a pass at her in her standard uniform, which she doesn’t wear often. Funny thing is, this episode shows how strong women used deal with guys who were trying getting to fresh with them.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

I need to wrap up my review of Metal Panic! Invisible Victory 01. I’m highly motivated for this series, considering my love of the franchise, so hopefully I can stay on top of it (unlike Lupin III).

• Kudos to Xebec on the awesome job so far with the art and animation. Yeah, there were some cost-saving pan-and-scan shots, but the important shots all looked really good.
• No kudos to whomever is doing Crunchyroll’s subtitles (maybe FUNimation?). Seriously, I thought that we’d gone back in time to the year 2000 when ADV had the Full Metal Panic franchise. That means that Japanese honorifics are nixed, sans -chan and Senpai for “reasons.” Oh, and instead of “senpai,” which is how most publishers do it now, we have the annoying “sempai” for some reason. Just because ADV did things wrong in 2000 doesn’t mean we have to continue that in 2018. 🙄
• We got to see a villain pull out a CARROT STICK instead of a cigarette. What the actual heck is going on with that?

In the end, subtitling issues aside, Metal Panic! Invisible Victory 01 is a great start to this final Full Metal Panic series. I eagerly await the next episode.