FMP! The Second Raid – 01

OP Sequence

Short Summary:
We open with a guerilla war going on in the Republic of Balic. Government troops are ready to kill a group of civilians gathered in front of a church when Sousuke and company show up, decimating them. As they’re evacuating the civilians, one of MITHRIL’s stealthed choppers is shot out of the sky by a missile. Sousuke runs off to destroy the missile site, while Mao and Kurz defend the evacuation. Mao has to use her own ECMs to divert another set of missiles, but the evacuees are unhurt. After anhilating the missile site, Sousuke makes the decision to be left behind so that the civilians can be evacuated quickly. As night rolls around, Sousuke is surrounded by troops in the city. He exhausts all of his ammo, and even has to use his lambda drivers to deflect and escape some tank shells. He’s eventually ends up on a bridge, finding himself surrounded on both sides. Fortunately, Tessa on the Tuatha de Danaan surfaces just in time for Sousuke to jump on and get away. Their parting gifts are several missiles filled with explosives, blowing up both sides around the bridge.
On the de Danaan, Sousuke is doing homework when Tessa pops in. She comments that it must be very hard, but Sousuke shows that he has notes prepared by Chidori to help. Sousuke thanks Tessa for saving him before we switch scenes to a furious Chidori at school (the next day presumably). Sousuke walks in after being airdropped on top of the school. Of course, he forgot her notes back on the Tuatha de Danaan, so Chidori smacks him. In dock, Kalinin debriefs Tessa and Mardukas about the missiles that were used earlier against them.

ED Sequence

OP: 南風 by 下川みくに
ED: もう一度君に会いたい by 下川みくに
I LOVE this OP. Best of the OPs so far, hands down. The sequence itself, I didn’t like quite as much. I liked the way it started out showing everyone, but at around the 50 second mark, the back and forth between Tessa and Chidori and then Leonard seemed just a bit jumpy, even if it was to the music. Just a minor gripe though, everything else was great. The OP really shows that we’re going for a very action oriented season (akin to the first season). ED song is nice and slow and the sequence shows Chidori and Sousuke walking along with various shots of the school and scenery.

FMP! is back and certainly with a bang! An action packed episode, with the fighting scenes absolutely breathtaking, especially when Sousuke activated the lambda drivers. Kyoto Animation sets the bar high yet again. We’ve got quite a bit in store for us this season, including several new villains. And the chemistry between Sousuke and Chidori hasn’t changed at all. All of the same seiyuus have reprised their roles, plus Mikuni Shimokawa is back to sing both OP and ED, so I couldn’t be happier.
Next episode should introduce us to several of the villains (including the twins and the old balding guy), but looks to be more about schoollife at Jindai High School.