Pretty good review. I love Full Metal Panic! (including the 1st season, which most people seem to hate or not think that fondly of). The Second Raid is also great, and is also A LOT darker than the 1st season (and of course being darker than Fumoffu goes without saying). My only problem with it is....
....that periond of time in which Sousuke is trying to come to terms with his feelings on being ordered to drop his mission of protecting Kaname, and is also forbidden to make anymore contact with her. I liked that it was trying to develop his character some more, but I found that segment of the series to be rather boring, and not very well executed.
Other than that, though, the rest of the series is the prefect blend of action, drama, and character development.
And I do indeed really like the characters of FMP above all else. Its pretty much the reason why its one of the only few mecha shows that I actually care for, since its one of the only few that makes me really care about the characters and what happens to them.
Now, it'd be really awesome if the second half of the story from the novels could be animated, since IMO it gets even better (but also substantially darker), but that doesn't seem too likely, now, since the series seems to have lost popularity in Japan over the years (according to what I've heard from some other fans of the series).
