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#4.5

Digest episode of all the action condensed into one episode. I'm quite sure it's Mao's VA doing the narration. Nothing to see here for those who've been following this from the start. It's only on for a quarter, so I'm not sure if something like this is because the animators are running behind or it was a good place to stop anyway because of the pace.

Next week shows off some kind of Colosseum for Arm Slaves, just like part of the OP. Sagara's there and wants to be hired as an operator, so it looks like he's started on his hunt for Amalgam. No idea if the Danaan and the remnants of its crew broke through the blockade.

Episode 5

With how this episode, it kind of felt like what should have started off a season. With how the world was kind of reintroduced, along with Sousuke and his skills. It kind of felt weird how this was an episode 5, but it kind of makes me think why putting recap episode kind of worked to break up the action, as its titular intermission. This episode was a fresh start to work to something, after episode 4 and even the other episodes of this season, kind of felt like an end to the school life element that the series had rested at. The girl's revealed goal of wanting to rebuild her village, and especially the school, felt like the perfect capture for what Sousuke's goals from here will be. He is going to get Chidori back, and rebuild that village they had.

#7

Well, this was a surprise. Viewers know how good Sousuke is, but for him to defeat the surprise prepared for him shows how determined he is to overcome whatever odds he's faced. The opposing pilot is no chump yet smart use of the environment and the element of surprise bought victory, however pyrrhic.

Interesting how good Nami is at her programming skills. She was being modest but Sagara has figured out why she's so good at what she does despite the lack of formal training.

With a name like Bardet and the way Lemon is referred to as Monsieur, there aren't a lot of candidates regarding the true identity of the photojournalist and his armed friends.

Whatever the next episode title is, I'm finding it hard to believe Sagara can pull off what must be the greatest suicide trick ever. Especially as he's having visions of the unwanted kind.

#8

Kurama changing his mind essentially signed his death warrant. The episode title wasn't a hint of the easy conclusion of last week's cliffhanger, but rather the carnage that followed. I didn't think of Kurama as being in the same mould as Gauron and Gates, but his explanation in the car afterwards did make sense from a tactical standpoint, especially when unexpected reinforcements arrived to help Sousuke out of his jam.

The mechanic's refusal to help repair the Savage may or may not have contributed to it losing a leg at that critical juncture. Then again it would have been rather anti-climatic for Sousuke to pilot a Savage right into the stadium.

Lemon and friends helping Sousuke again towards the end just about did the trick, so I can't see how Sousuke can refuse Lemon any favours when his life has been saved twice in one episode. The information from Kurama is probably going to lead the audience to the final leg of this adaptation, but not before yet another digest episode to air next week.

Viewers are advised to watch this episode to the end, the post-credits scene (which became apparent once the cast credits started rolling) is an interesting one for what's to come. Especially when taking the rest of the series OP animation into account.

What they are doing is making Sousuke more and more committed to destroy Amalgam, he is not going to have an ounce of mercy.

There was also a really weird animation hiccough this week, when those soldiers showed up.

#8.5

This time the recap episode is narrated by Teletha Testerossa, which is probably a good thing since she and her crew didn't show up at all in the recently finished arc so at least viewers know she's still alive. It's a recap, so there's nothing new for viewers who've been following this series since episode 5.

If this pattern continues, the final arc will be just 4 episodes long with a recap at the end. Unless another season is announced, I doubt the entire franchise is going to get a complete adaptation despite the length of time that has passed since the publication of the final volume.

#9

The final story arc, and it starts off in a strange way. Although all is made clear in the end, the episode title isn't lying and the witch has certainly fallen. Just not in the way viewers thought based on the start. There's probably an element of truth in what Teletha monologued at the start since breaking the blockade and staying hidden isn't exactly cheap for something like the Tuathe de Danaan, its equipment and crew.

Long time no see, Chidori. Over a month now by episode count. She's not given up hope completely, but she's under the cosh mentally and is just about fending off Renard for now.

Is that the first time Mithril have beaten a Codarl without expending massive blood and treasure sans the Arbalest in support? Speaking of the Arbalest, the AI is still intact although it seems to have picked up a few tricks while it was dormant.

56 days in a coma?! Kurama was right not to be too dismissive of Sousuke's claim that love is the only thing that gave him victory. Viewers are not told what serious after-effects Sousuke has to live with, but he is in no shape to defend himself against what looks like a well-planned attack against a secret DGSC base of operations. Next week's episode title suggests the pace isn't going to slow down either for the remainder of the series.

#10

In some ways this episode is disappointing. Although there's lot of action to start with, the pacing completely falls off for the rest of the episode. Considering the animators actually have to get two of the main female cast members to go around for an extended period of time in their underwear shows how hard it is to keep viewers' attention this week after the initial action scenes.

It's not all bad though, since important plot points are dropped here and there over the episode. It's too much foreshadowing and not enough action until the very end when a surprising appearance gets viewers awake again. Although there are a few insights into the emotional and psychological state of the main characters in this episode compared to the almost non-stop action that has characterised this airing to date, it's not done very well since the animators appear to have overcompensated in the other direction.

What really annoys me is next week's episode being another "special episode". Never a good sign when animators throw in another intermission so soon after the last one. Pacing and plot wise there are probably good reasons for this, but it feels like the studio is struggling to get over the line and is resorting to desperate measures to keep everything together.

Apparently, the final two episodes will air in 18 days on July 18th as an 1-hour special.

These 10 episodes have been a wild ride although I'm somewhat disappointed by Kaname's role so far. Hoping they don't rush it but I'm having a bit of trouble getting invested in her character compared to the previous seasons.

I honestly miss Nami since I felt the time she shared with Sousuke was important during their time together. Since then, it seems she's just kinda faded from the season even in memory.

Episode 10

I've been mildly disappointed by the number of recap episodes in this season. Although, considering KyoAni was involved in prior seasons and, this time, Xebec is carrying more of the weight (I guess?) I can kinda understand why this is happening? Kinda. I'd really like to understand more about the production side of this series and why KyoAni didn't return to the project. Other than the Sagabooru blog, does anyone have any resources that could answer these questions?

That aside... episode 10. As a 30 year North Florida resident (uh oh, I'm dating myself here...), I found the North Florida scenes amusing. The series usually does a good job capturing the environment, but that place was not North Florida. And that's ok. Can't expect them to nail it every time. And for those of you wondering what was missing: palmettos. Tons and tons of palmettos. Also the lack of bugs.

@Stark700 I also miss Nami and am nervous about the one hour special as a season finale.

I'm liking that we're at least seeing Kaname again. I've missed her too. Tessa, not so much. Of course, Tessa was never best girl for me. I'm interested to see what Kaname is planning or at least trying to do. It's nice to see her using her whispered ability, even if we're only getting glimpses of it.

Even though I feel like this season is moving by really fast (almost faster than I'd like), I'm happy that it's not being drawn out with filler or lots of flashbacks. Yes, the recap episodes are annoying, but at least they aren't counting toward the total episode count. (I.e.4.5, etc.) We know they're recaps going into them which gives us the option to skip.

I'm looking forward to the ending and am also hoping that it is not rushed. I feel like there is a LOT of ground to cover and not much time to do it. But... I've felt that way the whole season and they haven't let me down yet.

#11 + #12

Over a two-week hiatus and loss of the regular Saturday air slot, but the wait is worth it just for the final episode action scenes featuring Sagara Sousuke's resurrected mount.

It looks like Gavin Hunter played Kalium for a fool and sold him the dummy. The real one was kept with Wraith all the time. Animators don't show what happened to Hunter, but his co-driver wasn't hurt when he rushed to aid the stricken ex-spy so maybe he's still alive.

A round of applause for Reynard Testarossa: he gets the whole charade right and completely forgets about random chance when handing civilians armed vintage pistols. Kalium says he was just grazed (that WAS a lot of blood though) and needs treatment, so he's most likely coming back for the final adaptation.

Action scenes for #11 were nice, but it's #12 that had the big payoff. Viewers have seen a teaser in the OP animation, but the Laevethaen trades the versatility of the Arbalest for all-out firepower. The obligatory lambda driver is great, but my word that 165mm Demolition Cannon will level small towns, let alone Codarl AS units.

After-credits scenes for both episodes. Playing the first season OP as a closing song is a nice touch for the fans. Everything is set up nicely for a final adaptation, all that remains is for the Japanese public to buy into it through the home video sales.

I don't know, without the two of them together, there is no real sense of finality. Sure things were cool, but it does not feel quite right, like something not earned. Honestly I think that Invisible Victory has not quite felt as focused as it should, too many random distractions, that pushed it into multiple directions.

As I said earlier, it felt like the 5th episode should have been a start of a season, with how it treated itself as a reintroduction to Sousuke, but it came right off the hills of the previous arc, not counting recap episode. Looking back, I still think it might have been the better choice to make it the first, then do the first arc to explain what happened. But I don't think it was even the only problem, as it felt like the other stories were also uneven, at least watching weekly, and felt like we spent the entire show with the good guys losing, which is not fun.

Maybe I am being down, and don't understand things, but I don't think it quite matched some expectations, although I also understand I had pretty crazy high expectations for the show meaning a lot for my earlier anime watching. I give a rating of Good (7/10), worth watching, but could have been more enjoyable and I want something that feels more satisfying if it gets a conclusion, which I need now.

This is a clear downgrade from the previous season, though not as bad as the original show in terms of how dumb characters are acting in the military action.

My final rank tally for the whole franchise is the following:

1. the first season gets "Good-" (formally just "Good" as there is no way to vote with minuses or pluses);

2. the second season, the Fumoffu, gets "Excellent";

3. the third season gets "Very good", it is the best "serious" instalment of the franchise;

4. the fourth season gets "Good", barely better than the original series:

-- the idea that one guy on old equipment would be trouble for a giant hostile organization with the most advanced weaponry, is absurd;
-- the main lad climbing like ten meters up to shoot an enemy after loosing like multiple litres of blood is ridiculous;
-- the main lad was in coma for a month a half, but minutes after waking up got into combat, which is preposterous;
-- one of the major characters all of a sudden betraying the good team, even though he could do so right from the first season and did not, is not believable. The same goes with the traitor being easily accepted in higher echelons of his former enemies. The season went into a dumb Orwellian propaganda about "bad" Russians and "good" Americans, even though in reality it is opposite most of the time, based on the statistics of military engagements worldwide after WWII;
-- the idea that a defeated good organization with barely any resources would win against the strongest evil organization in existence, even though it could not be done even when the good organization was at its prime, makes no sense;
-- this season does not represent a complete story, but the show was not successful enough to warrant another season. Or maybe it will happen within another thirteen year gap in 2031 or something like that. Back in the 1980s, this "Invisible" season would get about 52 episodes. In the 1990s and early 2000s, it would be 24-26. But since late 2000s, the season is almost always just 13 episodes, so the show was unlucky;
-- this point is not about this specific season, the whole time the evil organization had super weapons, developed by the white-haired lass' brother, so they could win against the good organization easily, but decided not to do this to allow the FMP series to last;
-- this point is also not about this specific season, but about the whole concept of the anime. Giant, but secret organizations with their own huge military force is beaten to death by many amine series, and it is fundamentally stupid. No way such things can exist. Only as a proxy of big countries whose military industrial complex would supply the weaponry.

In the real world, this is how a precursor of Al-Qaeda was created in the 1980s, with Bin Laden getting weapons from the USA, the UK, and others to fight the USSR. Nowadays, this is how Ukrainian neo-Nazi formations get weapons from the same backers, which will echo in years to come. The USSR/Russia oppose jihadi terrorists and neo-Nazis, so the country backs its own proxies. This is the way the world works: there are no independent organizations.

* * *

IN ALL seasons, the main characters were adorable. Things I did not like in the "slice of life" sections of the anime: the authors making the main lass to endlessly be in domestic violence mode towards the main lad; it took three seasons for the pair to even hold hands; characters smoking tobacco. All three are bad examples for the children viewers of the anime.

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Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory (TV).