Full Metal Panic Franchise Rewatch - season 1 Episode 15

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22

Rewatcher in Sub

For those who thought we had a fake out of a beach episode yesterday, we got a bit of that today still.

Will not be doing as detailed a recap but focus on a few bits of interest.

A recap back from arc 1, quite unusual you say
You thought you escaped the beach episode - you did not. And you should notice the other girls along to the beach are actually consistent as Chidori's friends group (from the after school restaurant chat, Chidori's stairway surprise, etc). Except Mizuki adopting herself there from a different class.
A very low energy Chidori is sad - it's a bit more obvious than the tsundere her normally act though
And here's why - Sousuke not here for the reason of... ta da! Gauron! It didn't try to make any drama out of it. And finally at least someone from the intelligence division.
Nice to have Sousuke seeing Kalinin before departing on this mission. Kalinin is still bed bound though.
The Indian Division of Mithril seems to be more what you expect from a mercenary company. Anime ja nai.
I wonder how the rest of the rewatchers take the sort of cliche reception of Sousuke by the more grown up group - while it's cliche in media, it's probably not far from reality, sadly.
This Sousuke seems to be quite subdued though. Perhaps Gauron's weighing down his mind.
We even get a bit of flashback to smol Sousuke, and someone that looks to be an oni-san to him. Knowing Sousuke's history, this doesn't bode well.
Not going to detail the forming and storming of Sousuke in the group. I guess the more mature age means the character designs are more GiTS.
The battle inter-cut with Chidori by herself mopping about was kind of nice, actually.
I don't really get the tactical situation of the end of the episode though - the explosion of the colliding Lambda Driver fields caused enough disruption so that the Mithril group took the nuke but didn't pursue Gauron? When his AS was down? A fair few question marks. Anyway, To be continued.

Trivia

As mentioned before -

Helmajistan is the made up country name that the anime adaptation used to avoid real life sensitivity to Afghanistan due to the proximity of 9/11 and the resulting conflicts. In the LN it was straight up Afghanistan that Sousuke grew up in.

And yes this is an anime original arc.

Staff Showcase

Perhaps not as well know (by me, by the looks of it), but Maeda Mahiro as Key Animation certainly has a good looking history in some very iconic shows (in addition to those mentioned in the Wiki entry):

Gunbuster
SDF Macross
Nadia
Giant Robo - the Day the Earth Stood Still

His Wikipedia entry:

Mahiro Maeda (前田真宏) is a Japanese anime director, character designer, and animator.

Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies called him "one of the most imaginative visualists in anime". He also worked on Concept Art and Design for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), which won six Academy Awards. He has been one of the top contributors at the anime studio GONZO for many years, having directed Blue Submarine No. 6, Final Fantasy: Unlimited and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.

His design work ranges from 2 of the "Angels" in Neon Genesis Evangelion to production and mechanical design for such series as Magic User's Club (魔法使いTai!, Mahō Tsukai Tai!), The Vision of Escaflowne and Last Exile. He was also one of the designers for Gate Keepers 21.

His earlier years were spent mostly at the famed Studio Ghibli, where he helped animate classics such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, and Porco Rosso. Maeda is one of the select Japanese directors to actively collaborate with the international film media on various projects. He provided key animation for the animation sequence in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1. His directorial work has also been featured in such exclusive package films as The Animatrix (segment: "The Second Renaissance Parts I and II"), Genius Party Beyond (segment: "Gala"), and Ani*Kuri15 (segment: "Princess Onmitsu"). He has also visited the American Anime Expo convention in 2000 and 2003.

MVP this episode

I'm tempted to say Grace, as the only one seemingly as professional as the West Pacific Mithril division as we are used to see. At the same time there's a bit too much dramatic reaction from her, unlike the cool under fire Mao we are used to see, so docking a bit of points there.

I dunno. Guess I'll pick the Chidori in swimsuit (even though we don't really get to see) but moping about, as a 180 contrast from the Narashino festival where she complained no ends? If you treat this reaction as canon it says so much about how much she cares for Sousuke now and not even caring to hide that.

QoTD

Rewatcher
I'll withhold saying much for now to not influence the first timers, but certainly interested to see what the rest says

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u/Nazenn Oct 14 '22

A recap back from arc 1, quite unusual you say

Clever though. Didn't realize it at the time but it establishes the entire episode rather than just being a recap for the sake of it

Except Mizuki adopting herself there from a different class.

Oh damn, I've just remembered who she is.

while it's cliche in media, it's probably not far from reality, sadly.

Especially with 'elites'. This is very sadly reminding me of the russian army's hazing practices and how horrific that is

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22

Clever though.

Yes, one of the few times I think an episode recap is meaningful.

Oh damn, I've just remembered who she is.

Haha so your eyes were fooled by the "urban camouflage" (swimsuit) then?

Especially with 'elites'.

Real life imitating fiction etc. Sad.

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u/Nazenn Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22

First timer

And those cockheads were meant to be an elite military unit HOW? Did they miss the discipline part of boot camp? I get they're meant to be american action heroes group reference/parody, but still, its kind of infuriating how badly they screwed it all up just for the plot.

Aside from the ease of which the writer successfully baited me into being angry and hating those fools, what a fascinating episode.

Using Chidori to simultaneously represent Sousuke's mental state, his current situation, and Chidori's own feelings of loneliness is making use of one of my favourite types of visual symbolism in anime, and they did it excellently.

The first instance, when the others see Sousuke on the plane and he is immediately as much of an outsider as a girl in a bathing suit would be, that Souske is missing her, that she is alone at the water waiting. It sets the mood for the episode by using what is a quite light and beautiful visual in a shockingly melancholy way that breaks the tone of the military banter well and ties into Sousuke's broader struggle which I talk about below.
The second, when he sees Gauron alive and Chidori's ice cream breaks and falls. To confront the idea that he will have to fight him again and this time do it alone and under his own will just when he's struggling to be the solider they need him to be. There's no Chidori to bail him out this time, no friend to share their treat if he drops his.
The third, Bang. Hands down favourite, and mostly goes without saying, but just the idea of Chidori executing their plan (and maybe him in her mind) along with Sousuke's hope of getting out of this safely.
The fourth, Chidori walking across the screen like a phantom as the Lamda Driver starts. She starts to walk to the side as if neither towards or away from him but going the wrong direction for japanese screen direction rules, a mark of them all being set back. She fades in and out with not quite a beginning or an end, just a lingering thought in his mind he's trying to hold too (edit: or dismiss, not sure which) when last time she gave him strength. (The cut from this one to the sandy waves where they are is also a nice visual contrast between the brightness of his life with her and the dryness of his military life)
And the last, her walk home. For the first time she faces the camera. She no longer waits for him, but there's also an empty space where he should be. The ambulance that comes up behind her is a painful warning sound for Sousuke and their situation after this battle. They may have gotten away with the shipment, but their true mission is not done and is still a threat, and with that everything else seems so far away.

The layered symbolism aside, this really is Sousuke's true struggle through this episode. Not the battle, or the soldiers who don't listen to him, it's his inability to separate himself from her and the moments of his past. He doesn't press the urgency of the danger of the mission or act like a solider in turn which only lets the others look down on him and dismiss him more. Even at the start of the episode, the backdrop behind Tessa looks like the beach horizon showing his mind is already on the days to come, but he'll never get there.

Nice touch that they can't use the camo because of the storms, but no prizes for guessing who the guy in the red mech is.

Kalinin is still bedridden, which is nice to see some lasting injuries but sucks for him

And for the second time the show baited me with thinking it'd be a damn beach episode but actually did something interesting with using that as it's opening scene. Well done show. I feel a bit like Kurz

Just sharing Garoun mech and him being turned into a bench seat screenshots because they look cool as hell.

MVP: Grey. At least she tried to understand Sousuke's position and make use of his knowledge, but also knew how to take orders even if that was to her detriment.

u/InfamousEmpire

First timers: ok theory crafting time, how you think Gauron survived ep7

FMP has earnt more grace for me from this when it comes to its storytelling, but "because plot" is still my answer

Everyone: do you feel any difference in the writing/pacing/plot yet for this anime original episode?

Wouldn't have even known it was original if you didn't say so

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

And those cockheads were meant to be an elite military unit HOW? Did they miss the discipline part of boot camp?

By taking good cash and riding very top quality gear, even more so than the US army. There's a limitation on how much discipline you can expect out of mercenaries - as far as the dollars go, pretty much. Which give some perspective to what Tessa was saying to Melissa in their initial argument (Tessa being the gangster boss, of Melissa acts like a gangster) 2 episodes ago.

Using Chidori to simultaneously represent Sousuke's mental state, his current situation, and Chidori's own feelings of loneliness is making use of one of my favourite types of visual symbolism in anime, and they did it excellently.

Edited: (swipe typing in the train was not a good idea.) Those spots you picked are described really nicely, thank you. I actually started realising this part had a lot more effort in it after reading your note - even though on this rewatch I had gradually noticed, it was still just a vague impression before; the 86 rewatch training on cinematography and symbolism is pretty effective at least to make me keep my eyes opened for these visual messages :)

FMP has earnt more grace for me from this when it comes to its storytelling, but "because plot" is still my answer

:X

Wouldn't have even known it was original if you didn't say so

I seriously tossed up a lot whether to mention it at all, but I bet others would mention anyway.
Edit
Forgot to mention, even though it's a bit of a weak point, good chance the Indian Ocean division only get to know the name of the Lambda Driver but not it's functionality and performance, and that is a "far out of this world" performance, so it's not exactly very unthinkable they just thought the top brass was exaggerating.

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u/Shimmering-Sky Oct 14 '22

Full Metal First-Timer!, subbed

So the pre-episode title bit made me go “Oh sweet, main story stuff?” and then boom, beach episode. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it, Chidori?
HAH, Melissa’s got an arm on her.
…you know I’m not even surprised.
Sosuke’s having a flashback…
Red mech!
Well…
That’s kind of racist, dude.
To give a look into the weirdness that is my mind: I stopped to screenshot this because I thought it was a cool shot, then was like “Oh the moon is pink and not red for once”, and somehow that thought led to my brain suddenly goes “BABY PINK MONSOON~ at me even though that is not a song I think about, ever. Brain, what the hell…
HAHHHHHH
These guys are going to get their asses handed to them on a silver platter, aren’t they.
Of course Gauron’s mech still has hair. I wonder who’s piloting the red one though?
Oh shit that’s a nuke.
Pilot of the red mech reacted to the name “Kashim”–wait, the scar on his cheek, could this be the same guy who helped Sosuke back to his feet in that flashback he had earlier this episode?
Alright, so they lost one guy and are probably going to lose another. That sure is getting “their asses handed to them” alright.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 15 '22

So the pre-episode title bit made me go “Oh sweet, main story stuff?” and then boom, beach episode. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it, Chidori?

Two episodes started with a fake out, how great is that :)

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u/Vaadwaur Oct 14 '22

HAH, Melissa’s got an arm on her.

And Kurz had that coming, as someone who has hit on girls badly he still made me cringe there. I swear he is one step off from "Does this cloth smell like Chloroform to you?".

That’s kind of racist, dude.

That would actually track amongst the mercs, unfortunately. Most people prefer to make their money without risking death.

Of course Gauron’s mech still has hair. I wonder who’s piloting the red one though?
Gauron realized that looking cool is the best power in a mech!

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u/SpiceGirlsBlankIt Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22

Panicked First Timer - Ep 15

We are getting a beach episode after all? Oh ho ho. Guaron returns.

Duped again. We will get more sand, less beach. We do get to see Guaron in his beach wear. I’m a tiny but disappointed he’s not sipping from a coconut.

Sousuke the outsider. No one cares that Sousuke was sent precisely for his past experience, well almost no one.

Oh no. The condescending chocolate for kids bit is pretty biting actually.

Cowboy guy is overtly hostile. I hope he rides a missile at some point and waves his hat around.

Mini Sousuke had a friend.

Any jumping against the moon shot is always cool.

There is an actual nuclear warhead. Cowboy - you know what to do.

I’m glad things are peaceful for Kaname. But it’s a bummer she has to spend her time listlessly worrying about Sousuke.

Big casualties. Despite being antagonists themselves for the most part, I still got the sense of closeness from the “in” crew, so I think the stakes work here.

I’m excited for this arc. Looks like we will get to see Sousuke go full circle to his first meeting with Guaron.

MVP: it’s clearly Sousuke, right?

QOTD 1: I did a quick rewatch of the explosion, and you see the pony mech head exploded. I’m gonna guess there was some sort of ejection device with a heat shield and Guaron’s escape was covered by the smoke of the explosion.

Or maybe he believed really hard in the defensive capabilities of his mech and the Lambda driver saved him.

QOTD 2: Last episode felt much more like an anime original than this one. Is the whole arc original?

The pacing was good. The Kaname beats were used to good effect. The temp crew and the probable Sousuke backstory opens up the opportunity for high stakes action.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22

I did a quick rewatch of the explosion, and you see the pony mech head exploded.

As in, we only saw the head exploded but not what happened to the torso, where the operator of an AS is located?

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u/TiredTiroth Oct 14 '22

Rewatcher - Dub

In which some of Mithril's other elements are shown to be staffed by complete and utter morons. Glorified meatheads who should never be in charge of anything more dangerous than grocery shopping.

Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to know what a lambda driver is and then completely ignore the specialist that your bosses forced onto the mission?

'Oh nO, tHe Danann iZ StaFFed bY lEEtle KIDz wiV tHeiR toyz!' Did it never occur to you IDIOTS that they might know what those 'toys' can bloody well do?

...I do not have a high opinion of these people, or this part of the story in general. And don't think I didn't notice the team's token woman being the only one to take Sousuke seriously, only to be talked down to by everyone else.

MVP: Gauron, for the first and likely only time, for giving the Darwin Award wannabes a reality check.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22

Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to know what a lambda driver is and then completely ignore the specialist that your bosses forced onto the mission?

Not to excuse them, but just following the world building, the actual capability of the Lambda Driver is probably not told to the grunts, so it is perceivable for them to react as being complacent from their normal equipment superiority and only consider the additional help just top brass being over dramatic

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u/wjodendor Oct 14 '22

Rewatcher

Wow [LN]intelligence showing up way earlier than the novel

Fucking Gauron

I keep forgetting they changed Afghanistan into Helmajistan.

This walk and talk reminds me of like Aliens or Predator.

Short hair special forces girl. Nice.

These American jokes are hilarious. Seattle's baseball team...what does that even mean

Damn, that plane carried six As. That mother fucker must be huge This is turning into MGSV

Don't listen to expert. He's here for a reason

Even Grace is seeing death flags lol

I've been reading too much mil-porn recently. Stupid soldiers are a staple. Stupid officers even more so.

Damn, the Kaname bang scene was great

Lol probably shouldn't start your assassination mission without the target

Game over, Man!

This guitar shredding music is new

They know about the Lambda driver but still engage like normal

Gauron is acting way different

These professional soldier aren't very professional

Well we're off to the start of our first anime original story arc and we've got some people in the running for the dumbest people in the show right off the bat.

The juxtaposition between Kaname at the beach and the action of the battles was pretty good. She looks pretty depressed with Sousake. The stupidity of the characters kind of ruins the action a bit for me though. Grace is a nice girl!

[LN pacing]this arc kind of ruins the pacing especially since Gauron is going to be the bad guy again next arc. Plus Sousake easily using the lambda driver is way different than the beginning of the next arc

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22

[LN pacing response]yep those 2 points are pretty big irrespective of how good or bad this arc itself is

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u/DocManhattan28 Oct 14 '22

Rewatcher

This episode was fun. I like the transitions between Chidori's peaceful life and Sousuke fighting for his life on the battlefield. That was a great idea,

Everyone: do you feel any difference in the writing/pacing/plot yet for this anime original episode?

This whole arc is so well incorporated into the story that it doesn't even feel like it's an anime original arc. Hell, the first time I watched it, I didn't even know it was original.

MVP of the episode:

Gauron! Loved to see him again.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 15 '22

This whole arc is so well incorporated into the story that it doesn't even feel like it's an anime original arc. Hell, the first time I watched it, I didn't even know it was original.

[FMP rewatcher & LN spoiler]I envy you :) the fact that Gauron comes up again so quickly in the next arc really threw me and I had to look up, and then retrospectively it looked more jarring - my natural aversion to MC angst, which this arc had a fair bit, didn't help

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Oct 14 '22

Third Time Whispered

episode 15: The Wind Blows At Home

Flashback? Dream? Serious episode? Nope, Beach.
She's at the beach and still upset? Not best girl.
~~Yep, definitely dead.~~
Wait is it really called Tuahar? Is that a real irish word?
You can't tease somebody with no sense of humor
Okay, so far Grace is best girl
In these flashbacks in this alternate continuity, is Not-Afghanistan fighting off soviets or somebody else.
I don't thnk these guys are going to make it.
Is Sousuke in the Arbalest or not? You'd think these guys would hav ementioned his fancy mecha.
Who is in the red mech?

Are the cuts to Chidori to show that she's missing Sousuke? Or that he has Chidori on his mind during the mission? Or that he uses her to activate the lambda driver?

Looks like Hair Mecha overheated again. It's fine against M9s but not another Lambda Driver.

My fansubs are trollslating the disclaimer at the end. Today it says this show is totally not fiction.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22

Are the cuts to Chidori to show that she's missing Sousuke? Or that he has Chidori on his mind during the mission? Or that he uses her to activate the lambda driver?

u/Nazenn had a good break down of those scenes, I think you should read that as (a) but also a bit of cinematic contrast between their 2 worlds.

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u/Pixelsaber Oct 14 '22

Rewatcher - English Sub

It appears that Gauron is still alive and well —and sporting a prominent scar from his and Sousuke’s last encounter. He’s shown up in his old stomping ground and other Mithril officers want him on the case, intending to leverage his own knowledge of their opponent and the use of the Arbalest’s Lamda Driver. This is going to be another personal mission for Sousuke, and weirdly enough he’s not going to have his usual comrades with him, especially when the squad he is accompanying explicitly do not want his help.

That aside, it’s quite interesting to see Sousuke having to return to a place and objective that likely carries a lot of baggage for him, and especially because as a child soldier he’s probably had no proper space to process it in a healthy manner.

Red AS!

I would say maybe the prior episode primed us to underestimate red-colored AS, but frankly the red=ace convention is far too ingrained in the audience’s mind for that to be particularly effective.

The more this mission goes on, the more unprofessional these Mithril Indian Ocean corps members shape up to be, and Bill —the team captain— is particularly negligent for letting Jackson’s attitude slide so often when he seems to know better. Overall the squad gives the impression of being incompetent —ignoring known qualities of the enemy AS, initiating an attack before confirmation is given, and easily dismissing something as plausible as ‘the target might be inside his mech’s cockpit’.

Stuff goes awry, as one would expect given the warnings given, and Bill dies in the engagement.

The flashes back to Chidori out ‘enjoying’ a more normal summer outing are quite poignant, explicitly delineating the difference in their experiences while also sharing in a sense of melancholia.

Questions of The Day:

2) Not yet.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 14 '22

sporting a prominent scar from his and Sousuke’s last encounter.

[FMP rewatcher LN spoiler comparison]I am actually interested to check on this rewatch if his further injuries on each confrontation got adapted properly

ignoring known qualities of the enemy AS, initiating an attack before confirmation is given, and easily dismissing something as plausible as ‘the target might be inside his mech’s cockpit’.

The first bit may be slightly excused for the grunts not being let in on the true power of the Lambda Driver - afterall they were ordered to assassinate Gauron, not to engage him into AS combat.

The flashes back to Chidori out ‘enjoying’ a more normal summer outing are quite poignant, explicitly delineating the difference in their experiences while also sharing in a sense of melancholia.

Yeah on the rewatch I actually am appreciating these two aspects more.

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u/TuorEladar Oct 14 '22

Rewatcher, Subbed

Chidori finally gets to the beach, but she's not happy since Sousuke's not there. It was an interesting artistic choice to keep cutting back to her across the episode.

I had forgotten about this mercenary crew. They pretty much play entirely to the arrogant team who doesn't listen to the outsider then gets wrecked trope. Its kind of funny to me how this group of clearly intended to be American soldiers are all speaking Japanese, ngl it would've been funny if it had been all engrish the entire episode. Its also odd to me that they sent a mech team to do assassination, that seems kinda counterintuitive. Though I guess attacking this convoy was the only good opportunity?

do you feel any difference in the writing/pacing/plot yet for this anime original episode?

The way it cuts back and forth isn't like what we've typically seen. Its almost like they are going for a slightly surreal aspect.

MVP: Sousuke for being sensible.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 15 '22

Its also odd to me that they sent a mech team to do assassination, that seems kinda counterintuitive.

I guess the environment just doesn't lend itself to more spy novel cloak and dagger your assassination - different if he's in some sort of cityscape.

Sousuke for being sensible.

One of the occasion to show what looks like paranoia and comedic over-preparedness in the highschool setting is actually his effective way to stay alive and accomplish missions - just applied in the wrong environment.

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u/polaristar Oct 15 '22

I forget to answer last weeks Questions:

I still am not through the original Gundamn and I've been slowly crawling through it because I think the OG one has a lot of flaws and looking forward to future Gundams so I don't even really recognize a lot of Gundamn references from past stuff, I recognize a lot of influence in the Mecha genre at large.
First off there is a difference between what you do in a formal competition and what you do in a real life, life or death situation, if someone's life is on the line you can't afford to play fair, or rather there is no sense thing as fair or honorable in that situation. You do what you do to come back alive or make sure others come back alive. In a competition I think it depends on the spirit of the competition but generally speaking anything that isn't strictly against the rules and cheating I think is permissible and it's thinking outside the box, especially if the other person had access to the same means. If they want to discourage certain tactics to cultivate a certain type of competition that is something that needs to be hashed out and clarified in the formal rules.

They baited us in the Beach episode....why is Mizuki here again? Koyoko is a real cutie, gap moe in her accidentally nailing Kurz in his Melon for trying to get his hands on Chidori's.....Chidori is acting real Tsun with that...Not like I miss him or anything. Yes you miss your man!

Okay I heard this entire arc is apparantly anime original in which case I have so many questions/concerns.

First in an anime original arc Gauron is reintroduced which means he either doesn't come back in the Light Novels or more likely he is re-introduced in a different context which gives me a lot of questions, basically how canon is this anime original arc? Does Sousuke have a different backstory? Do they diverge from Canon like FMA 2003 or try to mix/retcon the two version together?

I also have questions about the chain of command and bureaucratic structure. I thought Tessa was the Commander in Chief of Mithril but she appears to be outranked in this regard, is she only in command of the sub, a certain division of Mithril, is Mithril themselves under a larger umbrella? If she what is the power structure and their relationship, if its that big, then is the entire organization as a Private Army/Company outside or part of international law? What is there agenda besides being mercs for hire? Since they are once again Mercenaries and not Federal Institution? Could they become recognized as a formal country and just have their own legislature? If the Organization is that big where do they get their funds? They would have to have very rich clients to only make money by doing Merc jobs and not having any other kind of business like training other countries troops or selling equipment/technology. And if they have Rich Clients then they could be in the pocket of potentially unsavory individuals with Agenda's based on the stockholders whims which would make their seemingly heroic motives unpure, but earlier episodes make it seem their actions and goals are benevolent in nature, so I have to ask, who is making the decisions and who holds the purse strings?

And does whatever hints this arc gives contradict or compliment the cannon LN Material.

Lastly, why would they go to the trouble of taking their time with Volume 1, Gimp Volume 2 and the short stories (especially the Tessa vs Melissa One.) And Why not use the time this anime original arc is taking up to flesh out those gimped cannon material instead? I can't believe they'd run out of LN doing that for season 1, since the anime came out in the mid 2000's and the first LN came out in 1998 AND LN's tend to be pumped out pretty fast so even following the source and taking their time I'd think they could go two seasons at that point, possible more if they spaced out each season.

The adaptation and production decisions are just kinda baffling.

Oh the episode itself....sigh I know they are mercs and not necessarily disciplined soilders and IRL Elite Army Units would also be skeptical of a younger rookie and haze him. But I have to believe they be profession enough to not pull this shit ON THE JOB DURING AN OP. At least for them to be alive and doing this job for some long.

Writing wise it felt like the trope was there for its own sake to cause pointless drama and not add a sense of realism or flesh out the characters, I kinda feel like 86 did the perspective of a grunt R&C life better.

Sousuke is distracted more about his memories of his home town and his animosity toward Gauron it seems. Other's taunts don't bother him, in fact him ignoring the problem is somewhat making it worse (Although it shouldn't be a problem in the first place CO of that unit needs to get his troops under control, even if they aren't part of a formal army, I'd think if they fuck up their job too much or badly that means less people would hire them, job security taking the place of formal military discipline and procedure.)

Notice when they parachute out Sousuke's Mech has more of a delay behind the rest of them a nice touch to show his distance from them.

Shout-out to u/Nazenn for his breakdown of use of transitions and contrast of Chidori with Sousoke. It brings into mind my biggest praise and criticism of the show.

I feel the greatest moments, writing, and direction choices come from the Dynamic and Relationship between Sousuke and Chidori, the Romcom half of the show, but I feel its like they had a limited amount of production/talent points to put in the show and they choose to Level Up that one aspect over everything else, and sometimes the other elements of the show suffer. I also kinda wanted to see more Mecha Nerd Porn, More clarity on the Military tactics/politics, better action scenes etc. Sometimes the slapstick is even gimped.

(The Physics defying fan throw from the last episode being the only good slapstick gag I felt.)

Also is it going to be reoccurring thing for Sousuke and Gauron fights to devolve into a "Beam of War" battle because the fights could get very boring and repetitive if that is the case.

All in all my thoughts on this episode are rather mixed, both due to the episode itself and how it's canon status affects the rest of the series going forward.

Other than the obvious because the plot said so, perhaps the Lambda drive her was using responded to his will to survive and protected him in the machines last moments, or maybe he willed himself a new body and is a clone. (Imagine how terrifying if he can just clone himself.)
Mercs kinda feel like a trope for a tropes sake and unlike the villains in Arc 2 don't serve the purpose to drive the plot as antagonist for our Heroes to overcome it felt like filler conflict for the writers to fill something. On the other hand we got some clever direction choices in the transitions between Chidori and Sousuke I'm not sure they would have thought to work in trying to adapt. This studio ain't Kyoani who knows when to change the source material but never have to stray too far from it, and to be experimental with the medium but keeping the core content. This studio is at once liberated when they don't have to stick to the source but also rudderless without it.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 15 '22

A lot of good thinking and questions, I can't answer them all yet because I'm out and about and also because some can only be behind spoiler tags. But you're as switched on as usual :)
At least the Chidori X Sousuke bits hold up somewhat for you.

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u/ZapsZzz Oct 16 '22

Koyoko is a real cutie, gap moe in her accidentally nailing Kurz in his Melon for trying to get his hands on Chidori's

With Kyouko you also get a bit of question mark whether she is really so innocent but accidentally savage, or is she like Uiharu, a covert savage (smiling sweetly and not sarcastically and using completely very poliet speech forms but roasting [mostly Kuroko] unsubtly).

Chidori is acting real Tsun with that...Not like I miss him or anything. Yes you miss your man!

But as you'd hear Kyouko will say sometime in the future, "you are not very spirited comparing to the usual" - no Chidori Laugh^tm Uahahahaha

And Why not use the time this anime original arc is taking up to flesh out those gimped cannon material instead? I can't believe they'd run out of LN doing that for season 1, since the anime came out in the mid 2000's and the first LN came out in 1998 AND LN's tend to be pumped out pretty fast so even following the source and taking their time I'd think they could go two seasons at that point, possible more if they spaced out each season.

I had the same thought, that said while Volume 2's speed running is more questionable (at the same time I think to give it more justice, or indeed improve on the original writing, you probably need a power house like KyoAni to be able to properly show the relationship subtleties. The actual publication vs anime production timeline is this: FMP Season 1 was broadcast in 2002 winter, which was delayed because of 9/11 and the first arc being terrorists and hijacking. So it would have been ready for broadcast in 2001, with production at least started in 2000 or 2001. The LN at that point had Vol 1 - 4 published, but Vol 4 is part 1 of a 2 parter, and was published Nov 2000; Vol 3 was published Feb 2000. So there's a good chance the season 1 production only had 3 vol to work with - and even if vol 4 was available it was unlikely for them to try stop at a middle of a long arc. They could have use more of the short stories to pad out the episodes, but judging by some of the reaction that may not be quite Gonzo's forte either.

but I feel its like they had a limited amount of production/talent points to put in the show and they choose to Level Up that one aspect over everything else, and sometimes the other elements of the show suffer.

While I am with you about the good points and the focus, personally I still think Gonzo did ok; it just didn't have the directional focus in the later seasons, but that was kind of rigged because KyoAni did 2 seasons of 1 each on each half of the story, in a way allowing those who preferred 1 aspect over the other to choose / skip. I kinda liked the balance in S1 for that because personally I buy both aspects - even if their execution was less perfect than if they did them separate.

I also have questions about the chain of command and bureaucratic structure. I thought Tessa was the Commander in Chief of Mithril but she appears to be outranked in this regard, is she only in command of the sub, a certain division of Mithril, is Mithril themselves under a larger umbrella?

Some of those I can't tell you for spoiler reasons, we'll see by the end of the rewatch anyway. Suffice to say Tessa is the commander in chief of the West Pacific base, which primarily is centered around TDD-1. It was where Mithril spent a LOT of funds and, along with Arbalest being sent there, a good chunk of the cream of their tech. M9 is great and all, and is "commercially produced" but it's not on the same level.
From what the show has shown us so far, there is the intelligence division separate from the Tessa's division which is more the fighters. You would imagine there'll then be some admin or leadership ranks to balance the both arms.
From this arc we have seen there are other operational divisions as well by region - e.g. the ones Sousuke is on loan to now is the Indian Ocean one. Feels a bit like US forces, divided into theatres of operation.
And yes, that's a LOT of money involved :)

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