The action in the previous episode of Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory was somewhat underwhelming, but where “Damage Control” felt stiff, this week’s episode, “Big One Percent,” knocked it out of the park.
Nearly the entire episode was dedicated to the attack on Merida island as the SRT fights back against a group of Behemoth AS units. The defense against the Behemoths is mostly in the hands of Kurz and Mao, the only AS pilots present who have faced the monstrous mechs before. The action in this was great, despite the fact that most of it was done with CGI models, a new addition to the franchise. Previously, all the mechs were hand-drawn, but for Invisible Victory, 3D models were used, and they are actually pretty good. I say “actually” because of the countless examples of anime that use bad CGI, as well as the poorly-animated car chase we saw last episode.
But, back to the point, the action was the best part of this episode, but the drama also had its merits. In retrospect, not a lot happened in this episode, or rather, not a lot of story progress was made, but there was a lot of value in the time spent on Kurz, who ended up being the subtle focus of “Big One Percent.”
Most of, if not all the weight of the defensive mission was on Kurz’s shoulders, as he is both the SRT’s resident sniper and the only AS pilot to have taken out a Behemoth, which requires two precise shots to knock out their Lambda Drivers, the only thing keeping the massive robot from crumbling under its own weight. He is able to take out one of them, but at the cost of his comrade, and as the battle rages on, he finds he is not able to live up to the reputation that was bestowed upon him as the sniper who took down a Behemoth. Again, the drama and tension behind this is subtle, but we can see that Kurz is affected by fighting a losing battle.
In fact, all of Mithril knows they are losing this fight, and that even if they can get away on the Tuatha de Danann, they’ll be dead in the water in two weeks. It is a dreary, bleak outcome even if they try their damndest to come out alive. Kurz knows this and stands ready to take out as many enemies as he can and provide enough time for the rest of Mithril to get away, a moment that is handles subtly. We don’t see the hard reactions to Kurz deciding to go on a suicide mission, but we get a sense that next episode will reveal how things end up.
Speaking of next episode, one of the things that has me worried is the pacing of this series. There are only 12 episodes and so far not much of the plot has progressed. I loved this episode, but in terms of overall plot, not much happened, and if Invisible Victory is truly going to finish off the franchise, then they need to pick up the pace. I imagine things will truly pick up next episode, as “Big On Percent” ended with the continuation of last episode’s cliffhanger – Kyoko has been kidnapped and Sousuke and Kaname are making plans to save her, save the entire school, and save the quiet lives they have enjoyed thus far, a powerful sentiment that definitely foreshadows some dark days to come.
Join us next week for our review of the fourth episode of Invisible Victory, and check out the entire Full Metal Panic! franchise on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu and/or VRV.
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