Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid

Director
Yasuhiro Takemoto
Production
Full Metal Panic! Film Partners, Kyoto Animation
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
13 episodes
Year
2005

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid OVA R2 Japan Review

By Stephen Lerch
23rd Jul 06

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid ~Wari to Hima na Sentaichou no Ichinichi (“Captain’s Day Off” is the best I can translate it to) is a single 31 minute episode OVA that was released as a DVD exclusive on May 26, 2006.

Short Synopsis:

This OVA follows a day in the life of Tessa Testarossa, the beautiful young Captain of the Tuatha de Danan submarine as she tries to find her Bonta-kun the night before. As it turns out, Melissa Mao tricked Tessa into drinking a beer, which caused her to do some rather un-lady like things. Having never drank before, she wakes up the next morning in the Captain’s chair of the Danan in a stupor, completely forgetting the events from the night before.

It should be noted that as this is an OVA based on a TV series, there is little to nothing by way of character introduction. You are fully expected to already be familiar with the characters, though you don’t necessarily need to have seen The Second Raid as this episode easily would fit into Fumoffu’s humor.

For all of the seriousness of Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, this single episode attempts to make up for the lack of humor in the series in single handed fashion. And honestly, with the amount of laughing I did when watching, I’d say they made a noble effort and succeeded. This episode would fit in well with the Fumoffu series actually.

Video:

The video quality is exactly what you would expect from an OVA these days. Animation is perfect, the transfer is spotless and there are no compression issues to be seen. The video is, however, interlaced.

The animation and characters match all of the FMP Anime that came before it, which is a good thing as it retains the continuity.

Audio:

This time out they have opted out of Dolby Digital of any sort and instead presented us with Japanese LPCM 2.0 audio. This is forgivable as there is little to no action to be seen in the series, so it isn’t like any directionality in terms of rear audio is needed.

There are no English options on this disc. No subtitles and no English dub.

Characters are voiced once again by their original Japanese voice actors, so the continuity is retained this was as well.

Extras:

There are 2 versions of this release. There is a regular edition and a limited edition. The regular edition comes with just the 31 minute DVD, a booklet and standard cover art. The limited edition comes with the same DVD and booklet, but also has a drama CD included and has a more perverted piece of cover art in that Tessa is seen sitting on a bed in her bra and panties with a button shirt, unbuttoned, over top of it.

Packaging:

The cover art is well done and high quality, as is the included booklet. The LE has an Amaray style hub for the DVD with a hinged hub to hold the drama CD.

Final Analysis:

This episode has to be one of the most fun episodes of Full Metal Panic available. I laughed deeply at several of the scenes and enjoyed every minute of it.

One of the more memorable moments was the scene with Kalinin. Seeing him in an apron, cooking, wasn’t exactly something I had expected. You also have to enjoy how Tessa manages to get mixed up with Grouseaux and Kurz; a scene in which she is scolded along with them, even though she wasn’t part of their antics.

For those looking for a bit of humor to lighten the heavy mood left after watching The Second Raid, this is definitely worth a try. Don’t expect any Arm Slave action (other than a rather twisted dance scene orchestrated by Melissa) or a resolution to the love triangle. Look to be entertained by light hearted humor.

I definitely recommend this.

-- Stephen Lerch 23rd Jul 06

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid Images