But the differences don’t just stop at the villains. One aspect of The Second Raid not readily found in other anime is its diversity. Unlike other anime, The Second Raid enlists female characters as strong and capable beings in tough, normally male-dominated roles without unnecessary sexualizing. The commanding officer of the Mithril Operations Department is Captain Tessarossa. Though cute in appearance and speech, Captain Tessa doesn’t give in to emotions unlike too many anime girls. One of Captain Tessa’s subordinates, Lieutenant Melissa Mao, also stays strong against a cast of male characters. Physically strong with smarts to match, Mao is the most levelheaded member of the Special Response Team that Sousuke follows.  

Adding more to the social openness is that the protagonists and villains are a fairly multicultural bunch; Mao is an American military brat with familial roots in Hong Kong. Later on, the team gets Lieutenant Bel, an officer from the Mediterranean. Lieutenant Bel has dark skin, but he isn’t depicted with big pink lips that so many dark-skinned characters usually are cursed with in anime. It’s refreshing to see non-Japanese characters play significant roles.

As far as the show travels in regards to diversity, the quality in animation seems to have stayed behind. Kyoto Animation has made its reputation on rich animation in a TV series, and backed with the need to animate military operations with giant robots, expectations are raised high. While The Second Raid’s animation is better than average, it couldn’t be called “ground-breaking.” The explosive action scenes are done well enough to elicit a rushed “Cool!” but otherwise, it’s underwhelming. Where the production does shine in comparison to the next action anime is in the sound design. It captures even the subtlest of actions, like the sound of Sousuke’s hair hitting newspaper on the floor while Chidori cuts it. It’s not something I would readily notice in an anime, since it’s such a brief moment, but The Second Raid makes sure the viewer remembers it.  

Even stripped of its riveting action scenes and colossal mecha, this would still be a worthwhile show. It delves into humanity and the unfortunate sides of people. Most of the characters grow throughout the series, most notably Sousuke and Chidori. Sousuke is humanized, which makes him an imperfect soldier, and Chidori learns to fight back when there’s no one left to trust. The interactions between the characters are believable. Even with military acronyms laced in the dialogue, it makes the characters’ struggles and personalities more lifelike.

It’s rare to say it, but there are hardly any faults to be found with Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. Not quite a classic, it is rare to see a show were the worse thing that comes up is “It was only entertaining and above-average.”

“At ease, soldier.”

Rating: A-