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Old 04-29-2011, 05:19 AM   #1
Doppleganger
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Muv-Luv

At 1:48 AM, 31 March 2011, I completed Muv-Luv Alternative and effectively completed what has been a troubling time for me - one of intense, focused obsession. It's bothered me more than it has the regulars in this forum, since it felt (to me) like every word coming out of my mouth either rhymed with "muv-luv" or was compared with to a Muv-Luv game. Sometimes this innocent, other times malicious. More than once I spammed my posts with Muv-Luv as a subtle urging for certain individuals to immediately download this VN and wallow in sorrow with me at the inability to complete it, or be given an ending that didn't encourage me to rip my hair out. After completing MLA, I have earned the closure I sought, but like all stories of powerful visual novels, and the various tragedies and bittersweet endings weigh heavily on my mind.

I feel I've forgotten how to write a review. I wrote one once upon a many years ago, when I was young and full of energy. I look back on it now in awe, as if it were a kind of carefully carved monument meant not simply to recognize merit, but to commemorate and capture a personal experience. A rush of heterogeneous emotion. I'm proud to say that even today I'm still susceptible to such feeling, though I lack the tact and rhetoric artistry I once had. By comparison, this review may be rather crude and inelegant, but it is backed by no less confidence and conviction with what I had in days long past.

That previous review, for Ever17 - the out of infinity, holds a special place in my heart. Ever17 was the first visual novel of its type I ever played, but it was also the first visual novel of such high quality and length I ever played. Previously, I'd only been exposed to one path of Fate/stay night, Narcissu and Planetarian - incomplete, or small/kinetic novels that tell simple, but memorable stories. Ever17's length, its unique setting, characterization and deep mysteries captured my imagination. It was the best Japanese [anything] I'd seen/read/played at the time, and even after four years, few things can rival its hallowed position in my history.

But these are not the most important reason. Ever17 came to me at a time of personal crisis, and I was able to learn from that novel and apply what I learned to my life at the time. It's often looked down upon where people draw life lessons, morals or ideas from anime/manga, as if those mediums are somehow beneath the ability to influence their readers. For me, this attitude isn't much different from others snubbing anime/manga in general as inferior to cartoons and comic books, but this isn't a view that came naturally to me until Ever17. So in a sense, Ever17 helped me overcome my crisis, bringing me to who I am today.

This review has spent a long time in thought, but not in writing. I had various reasons for not writing it up sooner, things that weighed rather heavily on my mind and encouraged procrastinatory behaviour - online, the most significant was recommending Natsu no Arashi! to Talon, a title I unabashedly love but isn't one that others would. I've taken a step back from that and put a lot of thought into not just reflecting on what I like, but trying to come up with something I like and someone else would enjoy - words are cheap, and while I tend to write a lot of them, a far greater investment in time/enery is spent downloading and watching an anime. This is something I didn't consider since my interests align pretty closely with my friends. While this certainly wasn't the only reason I've delayed this review, it was a major contributor for why it was delayed - a fear of my reputation and credibility eroding in my friends' eyes. Afterall, if I needlessly hype every title I see, is there really any worth in what I say? I've always carried an air of superiority and having seen "substantial" titles and appreciated them, but blind hyping doesn't distinguish me from someone who only reads Jump shounen manga. Pot calling kettle a racial slur.

So here I am, mustering the courage to finally talk about this title properly and giving it the undivided attention it deserves. Unfortunately, I'm not drawing on this courage through personal revelation or a G-Stone. What I learned in Alternative has influenced me greatly, making me aware of things I didn't know, elaborating on things I did know, and giving me the ability for greater appreciation for my experiences.

I'm not even sure if I could call Alternative my favourite novel, since my emotions are still swimming even after waking up from a dreamless sleep. But there is one thing I can be confident of-

It is the best visual novel ever written.

Undoubtedly, personal experience and personal expectations played big roles in my experience with Muv-Luv. On top of what I said about Ever17, I want to join the military in my late 20's, and though the wars in the Middle East were winding down and I'm not applying for a field officer position, the possibility exists that I will get assigned a combat zone and be killed. I also have a very conservative and idealized attitude toward love/romance, which has lead me to largely eschew relationships beyond simple friendship. It's in my nature to delay things as long as possible so I don't limit my flexibility and options, but that habit often goes overboard and I end up in a limbo of no accomplishments. What do I need to do to overcome this? I'm not comfortable with experimentation, but if I don't experiment with these kinds of things, will it be too late? These were questions I wanted Muv-Luv to answer, based on what I knew of the title beforehand.

However, I don't think or feel any of that matters as far as others appreciating Muv-Luv Alternative. We readers can strongly relate to the characters in the story, and even if we don't at first, our experiences overlap. Alternative in particular is very good at getting readers to be conscious of different opinions and attitudes, and since Alternative was intended for a Japanese audience, we of different cultures can get even more out of the title.

One of the hardest things to do for a novel like this is to criticize it, but criticism is necessary to, at the very least, leave an impression that an argument isn't biased, or is at least trying to weigh evidence. After what happened with NnA!, I realize I need to do my best to criticize Alternative whenever possible. If take this approach, and I'm unable to put forth criticism, one would have to conclude criticism wasn't possible. I'm saying this as a disclaimer since objectively, I feel Alternative is flawless, even perfect. Whatever I put may feel like a fanboy grasping at straws, but know that it is a sincere effort to give a balanced perspective. Almost all subjective criticism was actually addressed by the game itself, and to hold that against it is equivalent to showing that I didn't understand Alternative. So I have to rely on objectivity, which makes my criticisms non-unique to other reviews. Sorry in advance, but it can't be helped.

This review is intended for Talon and Corsola, since BBB is already knee deep in it. Though I also encourage BPK to try it out, since I know he's got a lot of reasons for not liking mecha (and I owe him thanks, since our talks have given me at least some ammunition to criticize Alternative) but Alternative will probably be the first title to ever fight him back.

However, to any and all future readers who may come to this subforum and join our community, I am also thinking of you in this writing, and so will strive to structure it in a way to be presentable to someone unfamiliar with visual novels. For those wandering eyes who arrive at this topic by coincidence, this review is not meant for you, but if you read it out of your own curiosity, I hope you find something of worth in it.

That was pretty long for a foreward, but I feel I had to get that off my chest. This review may seem uneven, as it's a composite of what I had already written for my partial review of the incomplete patch on top of my initial impressions of Extra, Unlimited and my impressions after digesting them several times over. I'm sure that since December this title needs no introduction, but I'm going to write this anyway.

Introduction

"Muv-Luv" is a general term that refers to a compilation of three visual novels which collectively tell a single story, created by the visual novel company age. However, the third game wasn't released with the first two, and so often people just refer to the first two games as Muv-Luv. I'll be using Muv-Luv generically to refer to any game related to the series, the triology or just the first two games.

Muv-Luv is divided into two games, Extra and Unlimited. Extra is the first game, while Unlimited the sequel. They are bundled together and Unlimited cannot be played until Extra has been completed. Extra has a fandisc called Supplement that also serves as an alternate sequel to Unlimited. Alternative is the direct and proper sequel to Unlimited, and is a large novel and the source of much critical acclaim for the series. It also has a fandisc, Altered Fable, which is a canon sequel, although I am unsure if it will be a proper sequel. Functionally, that seems to be the case.

There are two primary universes that serve as the setting for Muv-Luv, that of Extra (EX) and Alternative (AL/Alt). The majority of the Muv-Luv materials involve Shirogane Takeru and his group of friends, but the universes are much bigger than that group and don't revolve around them. Extra served as the setting for three games before Muv-Luv - age's obscure Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu, a story of four sisters in love with the same man, and the far more famous Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien, a story of two best friends vying for the same guy when tragedy strikes. Akane Maniax is the direct prequel to Muv-Luv and takes place only a few months before.

Unlimited (UL) and Alternative take place in the same universe, as do any side materials that bear the Alternative name. However, Altered Fable (AF) takes place in a new universe, supposedly an "uncorrupted" Extra.

Chronologically, the games occur in this order-


Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu

Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien

Akane Maniax

Muv-Luv Extra

Muv-Luv Unlimited

Muv-Luv Alternative

Muv-Luv Altered Fable

The company behind all Muv-Luv materials is age. Along with TYPE-MOON, KEY and Nitro+, it is one of the most influential and famous visual novel companies in Japan, primarily, but not solely, for Muv-Luv Alternative. It had gained fame for Muv-Luv and Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (KGNE), but it became huge following Alternative's release. Like AliceSoft, however, a lack of representation of age's work in English has given them a slow start at earning recognition, which will likely change in the future.

History

This brief section will cover the release history of Muv-Luv. The original game came out in 2003, while Alternative came out in 2006. The English patch for Extra and Unlimited came out in May and July of 2010, respectively, by Amaterasu Translations. Alternative's "first partial" patch, which covered roughly 30% of the game, was released in Octoner 2010. Amaterasu Translations then decided to negotiate and official release of Muv-Luv with age - thus, the "second partial" intended for a January release never happened. Development continued in secret and a week after the final arc in the "third partial" was translated, the completed QC'd patch was leaked to 4chan's /jp/ board on 27 March 2011.

This review was originally written with the first partial and all of Muv-Luv in mind, not the completed game, and so will make reference to the partial divisions of Amaterasu from time to time.

Mechanics

The game engine Extra, Unlimited and Alternative run on is called ruGP, developed by age and notorious for being ridiculously difficult to hack. This leads to a number of inconsistencies in the patched version of the game, where it is impossible to add subtitles if they're not already hardcoded into the scene (such as during movies) and various pictures, namely maps and schematics, are not translated due to ruGP's resistance. Thus, some scenes in Unlimited and several scenes in Alternative's first partial are only partly translated. No scenes in Alternative's final two partials had any translation at all, which lead to some confusing scenes during mission briefing, which will be covered later. As I am unable to read Japanese, I don't know how essential the briefing diagrams were to understanding the mission protocols, but I definitely felt when they were translated, I was able to grasp the objectives more easily.

rUGP is widely reviled beyond its resistance to reverse engineering for many other reasons, but I feel I had a rather good experience using the engine. This is rather exceptional, and may be due to a lack of experience with visual novel engines, but I found it very convenient to simply right click and be able to save my progress, review my backlogs, return to a previous dialogue choice or load my game. Many other engines were far less efficient with those actions, notably Sharin no Kuni's and Koihime Musou's, and I valued the economy of clicks. It allowed for faster paced return to the novel material.

Two versions of rUGP apply to the Muv-Luv trilogy - the old v.5.5 that was used on KGNE was retained for Muv-Luv, while the upgraded v.5.7 was applied to Alternative. v.5.5 had a text box like a typical VN but also enabled synching of voices and text, with mixed results. The speeds were more often than not slow, sometimes too slow to keep up with the voices. Increasing the speed would lead to the exact opposite effect. I found myself disabling the synch altogehter quite often just so scenes could go faster. v.5.5 was also less responsive than the later v.5.7, and the obtrusive box obscured at least a third of the screen. In CG Mode, I found several of the CGs that pan were permanently resized, and so looked pixelated and small. Additionally, the CG selection sometimes malfunctions, where clicking a picture automatically cancels its selection, so you have to click several times before it properly displays.

v.5.7's major flaw is it lacks a CG mode entirely. I thought I'd unlock it after clearing the game, but NO, there was nothing of the sort. It's also prone to crashes when one uses the skip function, and one CANNOT skip some movies or speeches. Unbelievable. Granted, v.5.7 has a "widescreen" look to it and lacks the text box in the earlier version, creating the impression that one is watching a subbed anime movie from Gainax rather than playing a visual novel. It really adds to the science fiction and romance of the title.

Story

As said before, there are three main games in the Muv-Luv series.

Extra

"Save in the name of true love!"

Although set in the same universe as age's infamous earlier work, Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien, Extra isn't depressing or shocking. Rather, it's a comedic school romp. Extra borrows heavily from 1980's and 1990's slice-of-life anime and manga, and so comes across as very romanticized, with a blending of new and traditonal cultural views. While the first impression is that this is quite generic, the story takes itself quite seriously beneath its light-hearted exterior, giving Extra a bit more depth than the setting and characters alone would imply.

There's isn't much of a plot - Shirogane Takeru is an intelligent but unmotivated student who attends the prestigious Hakuryou Academy. One day, a young woman named Mitsurugi Meiya suddenly appears and proclaims that she and Takeru are fated for one another. She has comically exaggerated wealth and an army of devoted followers who obey her without question. Meiya moves into Takeru's house, thus creating romantic tension between him and his childhood friend Kagami Sumika.

Unlimited

"Even if your own life is what's most important to you, you can't protect it alone."

If Extra draws its influence from 80's-90's slice-of-life, Unlimited draws ideas from all forms of science fiction, particularly mecha anime by Gainax and Sunrise and science fiction novels of Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein. The contents of Unlimited were a spoiler back in 2002, when Muv-Luv was first released, but in the years since it's become common knowledge and a major draw for the novel, since a lot of people don't have the patience for Extra.

Shirogane Takeru wakes up one day to discover he's in parallel universe to Extra. This world is devastated by a long war against several alien species collectively called BETA. He finds himself at Yokohama Base, which exists in place of his school, and undergoes training to become an Eishi - this world's name for those who pilot mechs - with

Alternative

"A very great, very small, very precious, tale of love and courage."

The most important game of the series and one that has a particular reputation it cannot escape; it is the highest rated VN on erogamescape, a website regarded as representative of consensus among Japanese VN players. It also legendary for allegedly having visually graphic, unbelievably violent death scenes, pulse-pounding action and deeply moving and emotional speeches and dialogue.

I can't really say anything about Alternative's plot, since spoilers would damage the impact of many of the major twists in the story, but it's a compilation of everything. Yes, everything. In the same way that Giant Robo the OVA combined ideas from all of Yokoyama Mitsuteru, Alternative takes ideas from every one of age's prior works. It is a hard military science fiction story embraced by a poignant romance.

Characters

One of the major pitches for Muv-Luv is that it starts off with characters who are fundamentally stereotypes, then over the course of the story develops them into unique, believable characters. Even though every character begins Extra with his or her own habits or personality quirks, it's not enough to distinguish them from a generic stock character. Only after the characters escape their pasts do they start to grow and break their moulds.

There are far more characters than who I'm convering here - the cast is enormus and diverse - but my discussions would approach spoilers or be largely covered in previous entries, so I'm only going to cover the most important characters in depth.

Shirogane Takeru



The protagonist of the story, Takeru is an average Japanese guy in modern day Japan. He lives a peaceful life in Hiiragi Town, Yokohama and attends the prestigious Hakuryou Academy with his childhood friend Kagami Sumika. It's implied he's got a lot of hidden potential and talent, but squanders most of it on video games and slacking off. Takeru has a playful personality, and is quite insensitive to the feelings of women, but he's a caring and dependable person at heart. This qualities of him never change no matter where he goes.


...

I'm going to devote a lot of time to Takeru because, as the main character and first person narrator, he's omnipresent. I must first give a warning, however, in that he's very much a "hit or miss" kind of character. For many people, his base character - that of a dense but good guy who is prone to emotional fits - is annoying, and many find they can't relate or empathize with him at all. I can empathize with the feeling that he's very repetitive in his thinking, though I feel it's fully justified given who he is and where he came from. Takeru is the best lead I've ever played as in a visual novel, and it's not because I find his character entertaining. It's because he evolves as a literary construct from what is essentially a caricature during Extra, and through his experiences in Unlimited and Alternative, becomes a full-fledged character and ultimately a real person.

He's a visual novel analog to Pinocchio, a wooden puppet who becomes a real boy who then grows up and joins the Marines. The quality and detail of Takeru's logic and emotion, guided by the mistakes he makes, the lessons he learns, and how those experiences integrate or fails to integrate into who he is give him a depth of characterization unprecedented even for a visual novel. Love him or hate him, admire him or revile him, he's a real person by the end of Alternative, and knowing this, feeling this, even people who can't stand him are driven to at least sympathize with him.

I hated Takeru in Extra and made no secret of how much I loathed how he acted. He was kind of pathetic and mean spirited, but not a lost cause or genuinely malicious. The perfect word is "immature". He was a product of his world, but was a decent human being at his core. This impression served as the basis for Unlimited, where he struggled with the culture shock but ultimately learned to act more mature than how he did in Extra, and I admired him for it. I was quite pleased when he brought that maturity into Alternative.

Alternative showed to me, though, the true nature of Takeru's character. He's the kind of guy who needs a reason to be motivated. This is based on how he grew up in Extra - he can't have the "it's natural to do this" attitude of Alternative because of how he wasn't born there and accepted the conflict as the status quo. He can act without reason, like on an order, but he's at his strongest and is most capable carrying out the best decisions when he understands everything. Thus, my impression of Takeru as being "mature" was actually not true maturity, as he lacked the strong conviction and respect characteristic of adults who grew up in the Alternative world. This was particularly evident at the end of the first partial, but I would have no idea how deeply rooted the problem was for him until I played the rest. Takeru spends all of Alternative growing as a person, and at the end even admits that as long as he's alive, he'll never stop growing.

This conclusion is why I hold him in high esteem - no other visual novel lead I've played as underwent such dynamic experiences and allowed them to transform him. On top of it, Takeru's completely aware of how future experiences will change him over time. He no longer can be neatly summarized in a paragraph like I did at the start of this discussion. Takeru truly understands what it means to be an adult, but not for the sake of being an adult, but to protect what's important to him. If Extra is the story of a puppet, Unlimited is the story of a boy. However, Alternative isn't the story of a man, it's the story of a boy becoming a man.

Kouzuki Yuuko



Eccentric, confident and very vain, Yuuko is the homeroom teacher of 3rd Year Class D at Hakuryou Academy, and acts as the physics teacher for Takeru's class. A mad genius by nature, she is often seen performing bizarre experiments or rambling about complicated quantum mechanical phenomenon. She is an old friend of her cowoker Jinguji Marimo and prefers older men. In Unlimited's universe, she is the Executive Officer of Yokohama Base and one of the most powerful individuals on the planet, spearheading an ambitious project that will dictate the fate of humanity - Alternative IV.

...

]Yuuko is merely a side character in Extra, and isn't even one of Takeru's love interests, but she is elevated to main character status in Unlimited/Alternative due to her partnership with Takeru. She is his most trusted ally and confidant, and they can accomplish together what would be impossible individually. Yuuko's a very amusing character, as her extreme vanity is played for laughs in all worlds where she appears. However, she's a very mature person at her core, and is shown to be extremely calculating and ruthless in the pursuit of her goals. Because she already has this understanding, her attitude doesn't change at all through Alternative, but we readers gradually learn who she is as a person. My opinion of Yuuko changed several times throughout

Mitsurugi Meiya




A mysterious young woman who appears in Takeru's bed one day, Her rivalry with Sumika forms one of the defining conflicts in Extra.


...

Kagami Sumika




Themes

Historically, themes are neglected in Japanese media. Most manga and anime are "skin deep", only interpretable at face value. Said works might have recurring motifs, but no underlying message that the author wants to commuicate to the viewer so the viewer can understand how the characters behave. One of the greatest visual novels I've ever played, Sengoku Rance, excelled in all of the other categories I've listed but didn't have even one single underlying theme. There is a theme of sorts in Kouhime's route - "you never know the value of something until you've lost it" - but that only specifically applies to Kou and Rance's character, it can't be generalized to the rest of the cast. The novel is, at its core, a command & conquer H game, and nothing more.

Muv-Luv is quite masterful in how it balances its many themes and ideas. Most of the ideas are introduced in Extra, but they aren't fully developed or understood until Unlimited or, more likely, Alternative. Even if one knows why Meiya moved into Takeru's house at the start of Extra, one can't understand it until playing through Alternative, two games later. The interaction isn't enough to make the viewer believe the characters feel what they say they feel, and recognize what they're feeling. When I played Extra, I felt Sumika and Meiya's routes, while good, were not "excellent" or "superior" because I had a nagging feeling of under-development. When Takeru says he loves Meiya, I never really got the sense that he understood the weight of those words. From his sheltered life, I felt that he only had a superficial understanding of what love was, and so when he says the words "I love you" they don't really carry genuine feelings. It's not his fault, of course - at that time, Takeru was immature and he, Meiya and Sumika were all forced into a dead-lock. Had I only known of Extra, I would have called this "bad writing", because I would have felt age was trying to claim that such superficial, naiive romances are what love is really all about. But knowing that it was deliberately done that was as a setup for Alternative, I can't call it anything less than brilliant.

The main themes, in my opinion, of Muv-Luv as a collective are -

1. Love
2. Growing up
3. How the world changes a person

Love is definitely the strongest theme, so prevalent it's even part of the title! But it's definitely not just romantic love, it's a complex theme that questions the very nature of relationships between people. "What is love?" transcends all three games - in Extra, Takeru didn't really know what it was. In Unlimited, Takeru began to understand, but didn't want to admit it. By Alternative, he both knows and understands it, but is denied it by various hardships for most of the story. "Love as motivation" is also a thematic extension - in both Extra and Unlimited, it's obvious to the viewer that, aside from Sumika, all the girls in Takeru's life are more talented than he is. Even though Takeru's not a bad student, we get the impression his friends are destined for greatness while Takeru isn't. Yet, in spite of seeming unworthy of the girls around him, Takeru appeals to their emotions and helps them overcome their insecurities - aspects of humanity that transcend talent and social status. It reminds me of the legendary episode 10 in Natsu no Arashi!, where Hajime learns of Arashi's past and is momentarily intimidated, but his love for her helps him to quickly get over it. Yuuko notices this effect early on in Extra and calls Takeru a "love nucleus", but I see it as charisma - his personality, and unerring support & devotion, leads them to fall in love with him, and this provides the motivation to bring out the full potential of all the girls in Muv-Luv.

I wrote the preceding paragraph during my review of the first partial, and it's even more true now that I've completed the game.

Growing up implies finding a source of motivation and devotion, plus having the courage to do what is necessary

In Extra, Takeru lives a peaceful, sheltered life and takes everything for granted. He is incredibly naiive. By Unlimited, he's faced with the reality that his old life in Extra was the product of lacking a source of motivation. He never had to work for his food, or fight to protect his life,

The third theme plays only a minor role in Extra, through Meiya, but it's a rather large one in Unlimited/Alternative while pertaining to Takeru. Takeru's unfamiliarity with "common knowledge" in Unlimited/Alternative

There are minor themes that weave into the main ones as well. One of the ones I really liked was Takeru's subjectivity on what is real and what isn't. When he leaves Extra from Unlimited, he often refers to the people in Unlimited as "this world's Yuuko-sensei" or "this world's Meiya", as people "with the same appearence and personalities" as the ones he knew at home. The implication is Takeru thinks of Extra as the real world, and Unlimited as a fake one. The people he's met in Unlimited/Alternative are not the "real" Yuuko/Meiya/etc., they are different people with similar bearings. In Unlimited, Takeru also has an underlying fear of becoming accustomed to the "fake world", which makes him rather oblivious to how the people he's interacted with feel about him. Even if Takeru doesn't accept Meiya, Class Rep, Tama, Ayamine and Mikoto as the "real ones", they see him as the real Shirogane Takeru, because to them, he's the only Shirogane Takeru they've ever known. This idea of Takeru also breaks down in some parts of the story, like when he meets Kasumi, someone who didn't exist in Extra.

Another one is "excellence" or "doing what only you can do". Plato was the philosopher who first introduced the idea of "one man, one job", i.e. there's a task that each human is best suited for, and that's what they should be doing. There might be other humans who are better than they are at said task, but that doesn't change the fact that they excel in one category. Each of the girls in Takeru's harem has something they excel at.

Replay Value

Very high. This is quite unusual for a VN since the

Overall

Add Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative to your Christmas lists. I don't care how you do it, get your hands on this game as soon as possible. Using the Christmas method might get you a "Santa Rabbit" instead of MLA, but that works too.

I cannot recommend this game anymore strongly.
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Last edited by Doppleganger; 05-13-2011 at 05:14 AM.
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Old 03-02-2012, 04:18 PM   #2
Sakamoto
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RE: Muv-Luv

Thanks for the post, your writing skills simply are to be commended. Also, reading your review was definitely not a waste of time despite the fact it is not even meant for general populace. I've finished ML/A and could easily sign under most of the stuff you've pointed out so I guess my own enjoyment of the novel is therefore somewhat apparent. Luckily I'm not nowhere near depressed as I was after finishing Kara no Shoujo. Not that these two are comparable, though ;)

Is there something interesting you could recommend to me after MuvLuv? I've been through the good translated ones (Ever17 and Fate).

Cheers!
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Old 03-04-2012, 07:59 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakamoto View Post
Thanks for the post, your writing skills simply are to be commended. Also, reading your review was definitely not a waste of time despite the fact it is not even meant for general populace. I've finished ML/A and could easily sign under most of the stuff you've pointed out so I guess my own enjoyment of the novel is therefore somewhat apparent. Luckily I'm not nowhere near depressed as I was after finishing Kara no Shoujo. Not that these two are comparable, though ;)
Thanks! I presume you found us through Google Images? I've noticed my pictures seem to pop up rather frequently there. The review isn't even finished...I never got around to it, though that's something I really should do before the TE anime comes around.

(thanks for the name-drop of Kara no Shoujo, I will probably check it out!)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakamoto View Post
Is there something interesting you could recommend to me after MuvLuv? I've been through the good translated ones (Ever17 and Fate).

Cheers!
It's tough for me to pick something I find interesting, because my standards are so high now the number of titles that qualify can be counted on two-thirds of a hand. big bad birtha would be a better person to ask for titles like that, as he's read more than I have and so has a bigger resume to draw from.

The only title I have on hand is a strange steam-punk story called Shikkoku no Sharnoth, also by Amaterasu TL's. I haven't gone far enough to say anything with authority, but a friend is really enjoying it.
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Old 03-04-2012, 06:00 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Thanks! I presume you found us through Google Images? I've noticed my pictures seem to pop up rather frequently there. The review isn't even finished...I never got around to it, though that's something I really should do before the TE anime comes around.
I was searching for someting written involving ML but can't remember what the exact keywords were, sorry. Now I'm curious about Total Eclipse anime although I haven't try to play the game yet (and most likely won't in the near future since there's no english patch that i know of).

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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
The only title I have on hand is a strange steam-punk story called Shikkoku no Sharnoth, also by Amaterasu TL's. I haven't gone far enough to say anything with authority, but a friend is really enjoying it.
By description it looks very promising! Art doesn't seem bad either so I'll give it a shot. Thanks again.
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Old 03-06-2012, 11:24 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakamoto View Post
I was searching for someting written involving ML but can't remember what the exact keywords were, sorry. Now I'm curious about Total Eclipse anime although I haven't try to play the game yet (and most likely won't in the near future since there's no english patch that i know of).
Total Eclipse doesn't have a game yet, per se. There was an intro chapter in Altered Fable followed by a light novels series. A game proper is due out, but it's not available yet.

What were you looking for exactly? I have a lot of written stuff saved because I love reading it over and over, lol. I might be able to find it if you could give me the jist of what you're seeking.
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Old 03-07-2012, 08:15 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Total Eclipse doesn't have a game yet, per se. There was an intro chapter in Altered Fable followed by a light novels series. A game proper is due out, but it's not available yet.
You're right, I just checked vndb and it says it isn't out yet, for what it's worth. I also checked who the director for anime version is and... well, let's just say I'm not too excited about it anymore We can only hope they won't ruin Alternative atmosphere too much.

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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
What were you looking for exactly? I have a lot of written stuff saved because I love reading it over and over, lol. I might be able to find it if you could give me the jist of what you're seeking.
Hehe I know what you mean, unfortunately it's been days. This page came up near top on google so you could say I was looking for it. How is that possible I don't know, probably memory bleed from parallel universe

BTW, I'm already playing Shikkoku no Sharnoth and so far it's very much to my liking although I can understand why it's possibly off-putting to some, given it's weird cybersteampunk horror setting during second-ish wave of industrial revolution. Plus, I really like incorporation of real historic figures into fiction (in general).
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Old 05-04-2012, 06:32 PM   #7
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Here's an interview with Muv-Luv: Total Eclipse's director. TE is almost upon us and here's hoping it'll +1 off of Fate/Zero (unlikely, but possible).

Not for those faint of heart when it comes to minor spoilers.

Spoiler: show

Q: First off, how did you became the director for Total Eclipse?

A: I had already played the game Muv-Luv in my spare time. I also read the novel Total Eclipse as it was serialized in Tech Gian. And so, since I work in the anime industry, when I wasn’t busy I would tell a producer I knew “Let’s make an anime of Age’s works!” And then one day, by coincidence a friend of mine was transferred to the company managing the Muv-Luv copyright, and he told me “We’re moving forward with making an anime of Total Eclipse, so do you want to direct it?” The Muv-Luv world is very large, and the setting is very detailed, so perhaps I got the job because they felt that somebody who didn’t know that world well would have a hard time as director.

Q: What did you think when you first played Muv-Luv?

A: Even though it starts out as a love game, when it gets into Unlimited these TSFs start appearing, and I was really surprised (laughs). But I like time paradox stories, and I like mechs and beautiful girls, so I really got hooked on Muv-Luv since it has all of these. But it sure was a long wait until Alternative came out (laughs).

Q: It was about three years between Muv-Luv and Alternative.

A: But I was a fan of Age since their debut work Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu, and I had played all of their games. So even though I was thinking “Hurry up and release Alternative!”, I knew it takes a long time for Age to release their games, so I was used to waiting (laughs).

Q: What did you think when you played Alternative?

A: I remember not sleeping (laughs). It was very long, and every time thought it was going to end, it never did. It was tough to find a good spot to quit and take a break, so I finally thought, “If that’s the way it’s going to be, I’ll just keep going to the end!” (laughs).

Q: What did you think when you read the Total Eclipse novels?

A: Compared to Alternative, it seems like a simpler story, but I liked it too. Alternative threw around ideas like parallel worlds and you had to read a lot to understand it, but Total Eclipse is more focused on the mechs, and it’s easier to read. Also, during its serialization, Volks’ TSF action figures were also brought up a lot. At first I didn’t bother to pick them up, but it seems they became very popular, so I thought it was pretty amazing that everybody was spending so much money on them (laughs). I think there were some that you could only buy at certain events. Lately, they’ve been putting out more variations, like plastic models and Revoltechs, so they’ve become easier to buy, and I finally started buying them myself (laughs).

Q: Did you particularly like the TSFs in the series?

A: I started out as an artist, and I loved doing the animation for mechs, so I was thrilled to see mechs appear in Muv-Luv. TSFs are based on fighter aircraft, and I’m a huge fan of fighter aircraft as well, so I got a big kick out of seeing which TSF designs were based on which aircraft. It’s the same feeling as when I first saw the Valkyries from Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which were based on the F-14 Tomcat. I love seeing things like how the TSF jump units are modeled after the original aircraft’s designs. The Total Eclipse novels include passages like “the Pratt & Whitney engine”, with lots of detailed setting descriptions, so I knew that somebody who really loves aircraft must be involved with this, and I really looked forward to each chapter (laughs). The book “Integral Works”, with its collection of setting descriptions, is so huge. Even the anime staff would tell me “Reading this is hard work!” I’m amazed they managed to put together so many descriptions of the background setting (laughs).

Q: How are you depicting the TSFs in the anime?

A: The TSFs are being drawn in 3D CG. We’re still creating the modeling data and going through tests, so we haven’t really started doing the final animations yet, but Satelight is handling the animation. They did a lot of works with 3D CG like Genesis of Aquarion, so I’m confident that they will be able to make it as we are imagining it. Also, Tech Gian and Hobby Japan run a lot of pictures of the action figures depicting fights between TSFs, so we’re referencing those to make our battle scenes as well.

Q: Are you designing the anime TSFs to be able to move easily?

A: We adjusted the design balance so that the polygons won’t interfere with other parts when they move. However, as much as possible we tried to replicate the movements of the TSFs as they are portrayed in the original work, so I’m sure it won’t disappoint fans of the original. We’ve included many of the dogfight-like movements described in the original, like the “Kukri Knife”, and I’d also like to include things like being able to fire the guns on the back as well as the ones in both hands for a 4-way attack. One major headache is the way every country’s TSFs have different varieties, so completing the 3D CG for all of them will be tough, but we’ll be relying Satelight’s strength for that (laughs).

Q: What are you paying special attention to in the battle scenes?

A: I feel that in today’s anime, the trend is to stage scenes like the Transformers live-action film, where the movements are too quick and don’t remain in your memory. I want to make something more like the Gundam vs. Gouf scene from Mobile Suit Gundam, which really remains in the memory of the people who watched it.

Q: In the old robot anime, they couldn’t show the robots moving very much, so they often directed the scenes that way instead.

A: Since techniques have improved so much now, CG itself is easy to move around, and it’s true that at first glance it looks cool to have everything moving, but that kind of direction easily fades from your memory. When you watch films like Transformers or Starship Troopers, the first impression is really strong, but it feels like the fun of the battle scenes gets diluted. But images like the fight scenes in Gundam, or the firing of the Wave Motion Gun in Space Battleship Yamato, leave an incredibly strong impact on you. That kind of lasting scene gets passed down through different generations. Those are the kinds of scenes I want to make in Total Eclipse. But, having said all that, of course it’s not like there won’t be any movement at all; when they move, we’ll put all our efforts into making them move. I want to make sure we capture that balance.

Q: We heard Yoshimune-san was asking to see things like “the engines firing reverse thrusters as the TSFs land”.

A: When Yoshimune-san and I talk, we often say things like “I loved that scene from that show!” Even when we’re supposed to be having a meeting about something else, before we know it we’ve drifted off into fanboyish or military talk, and we have to scramble to get back to the main point (laughs). In that way, Yoshimune-san and I have a lot in common with respect to our love of mechs, so I would definitely like to put in a lot of scenes that will please that kind of military or mech fan.

Q: It appears Yoshimune-san will be involved in the story construction, so what kind of story are you making?

A: This is a work with many core fans, so our first priority is making them happy. But this is a TV series that will be aired on a public channel, so Yoshimune-san and I talk a lot about constructing the story so that people who don’t know the original work can understand the story easily.

Q: By that, do you mean inserting some exposition about what TSFs and BETA are for the people who don’t know the original work?

A: Yes, but animation is meant to be entertaining, so we’re trying to avoid exposition for the sake of exposition. I want to make something that people who don’t know the franchise can still enjoy, while those who do know the franchise will smile knowingly. It wouldn’t be good to make a show that exists only for exposition.

Q: It seems that Yoshimune-san wants to make the anime a standalone work that stands apart from the original novels.

A: There’s a lot of that, and it can be fun to compare an anime to the original work and point out where things are different, but if you make too many changes, people can get confused. I am continuing to consult with Yoshimune-san to find the right balance as we go on.

Q: How are you portraying a world that has been pushed to the edge of destruction by the BETA invasion?

A: Alternative and Total Eclipse are in part about how humans behave in a horrifying condition like war. This is supposed to be a piece of entertainment, so the viewer doesn’t have to think that hard about it if he doesn’t want to, but we’re making a show where you can get a feel for how humans behave in extreme conditions.

Q: How will be the BETA be portrayed in animation?

A: The BETA left a strong impression in the original, and Yoshimune-san told me that the BETA were inspired by zombie movies, so I want to put in a touch of horror. I think they’ll be pretty disgusting, but we’ll be putting this on TV, so we’ll have to suppress the more grotesque stuff. But I think fans have been waiting a long time to see the BETA and TSFs moving, so please look forward to it.

Q: We heard it was hard work gathering staff members who knew the original work.

A: There are a lot of detailed settings and it’s easier on staff members if they already know the original, so we would ask each staff member “Do you know Muv-Luv?” So rather than gathering people who liked it, it was more like we wouldn’t gather people who didn’t like it. Because of that, the staff members would make the character designs and mech designs exactly like the original, and when I told them “If you try to animate that, the animation process is going to become very difficult, so you need to cut down on the number of lines”, they hated me (laughs). But if we try that, we wouldn’t be able to animate an entire TV series, and as the director I just can’t approve that, so they made the revisions while weeping (laughs). The meat of a mech show is the mech designs. When I was an animator, I would often see animators who would receive the mech settings and say “This mech design looks stupid and I don’t want to draw it”, and throw it away (laughs). But the Total Eclipse mechs look cool, and the staff members are fans who feel “I want to draw this properly”, so I think this is a happy project that is beloved by the staff.

Q: The Total Eclipse novels describe the mech settings in great detail, so how is the anime going to handle this?

A: Of course, since this is a story about TSF production, I also want the anime to go into detail about the mech settings. In the novel, there would be many detailed descriptions like “The jump unit’s engine output was such and such . . .”, but in the anime, we can depict that directly with visuals, so in fact it might be easier to understand than the novels.

Q: How is the story being constructed?

A: Fundamentally, we’re following the original. But the novel is written from an outside point of view, so we’re going to go a little deeper into characters’ motivations and viewpoints. The novels end with a very gripping cliffhanger, so we’ve been talking a lot with the original creators about how to handle that. Whether we do it like the novels or create an original ending will be “something to look forward to in the final episode” – that’s probably something we’ll be saying right up to the final episode (laughs).

Q: Finally, please give us a message for the fans.

A: Fans have dreamed for years of seeing TSFs and BETA move in animation, and as a fan of the original myself, I too feel like screaming “They’re finally moving!” (laughs) This work will not betray the fans’ expectations, and even for fans who don’t know the original, this work will let you enjoy some awesome mechs and awesome girls, so please look forward to it.


Looking forward to it, Mr. Inagaki.
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Last edited by Doppleganger; 05-04-2012 at 06:34 PM.
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Old 05-16-2013, 07:22 PM   #8
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More than a year after Total Eclipse started airing, the legendary (forever delayed) VN finale to TE got a console release. Not sure what console! No ETA on when it gets a PC port.

Shocking(!!) spoilers:

Spoiler: show
-Yui is Yuuya's younger sister.
-Cryska dies after Yuuya admits love for her, and becomes a ghost of sorts.
-Yuuya dies
-A new species of BETA was created to fight the Susanoo but was deployed at the wrong hive, and ends up fighting the Alaska base unit. Tentative name is Chimera-class BETA, it's like a Fort-class but with a bunch of Heavy Laser-class stalks attached to the back.
-most of the cast also dies
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Old 10-27-2020, 07:51 PM   #9
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Lil' Bluey

Muv-Luv Alternative Animé in 2021
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Old 10-27-2020, 08:13 PM   #10
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Oh, cool. So the decades of rumours have finally come to fruition.

It honestly looks a lot better than I'd feared, but I'm still way more stoked for the Tsukimichi adaptation after seeing all the PV's. D:
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Old 02-05-2021, 01:45 AM   #11
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sounds really cool
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Old 04-06-2021, 05:04 PM   #12
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Fascinating. Yoshimune Kouki gives an interview on the themes and ideas of ML!

BORKED
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