Series Review: Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse (9/10)

Instant Summary: A Japanese-American pilot of giant alien-killing mechs transferred to a Alaskan Military base, and goes under the command of another Japanese elite pilot.

The Muv-Luv title begans with an eroge, and the very brief trailers and promotional pics leave only one impression: that the title is full of girls with HUGE tits in skin-tight jumpsuits. Naturally, I had the impression that this is a fanservice title with a mecha twist.

The image was shattered with the first two episodes. Total Eclipse is a bloody, gruesome title with tons of violence, blood and actual character deaths. So yeah, it's way darker than the name and promotion suggests. But at the same time it's what made the show fantastic. The level of violence is on par with some of the top mecha titles, and they actually made the battles and actions look really pretty, although the aliens can look awkward sometimes. There's a lot of emphasis on serious combat and realistic strategy, so yeah, you're not going to expect a fun-and-games Bootylicious Space Pirates. Which was shit.

To be honest, the early episodes kinda sucked, because we know little to nothing about the most important characters (like Inia and Cryska) and everyone is a complete dick to each other. The good thing is that the characters and story soon flowed to what Muv-Luv is really all about: harem, fanservice, blushing heroines, uncontrollable teenage romance (although none of them are really teenagers anymore). The amount of character development is a little surprising because no one really cares about it anymore these days. Together with the kickass action, it all makes a fabulous combination.

And there's surprisingly little focus on the fanservice. Well, they're not totally pandering it anyway. But they did make almost all the girls extremely HUGE and clad them in the skin-tight suit half the time. I suppose you'll call it subtle.

With a bit of research, it seems that the universe and story of Muv-Luv Alternative is as big as their bre- I mean, pretty fucking huge as well. I can't wait to see their next installment of Muv-Luv Alternative, even if they're heading for another side of the story.

Plot/Concept: Huge, expansive and a fabulous combination.
Story Style: An old-school harem development that actually worked out really well.
Audio/Visual: Fantastic VA work and action scenes. Animation can get a little wonky at times, but forgivable.
Value: 9

Top 3 Bishoujos of Summer 2012

I figured that this could become a regular thing. It's fun photoshopping the pics anyway.

3. Takamura Yui (Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse)

Despite her good looks and impossible figure, I liked how humbled her character is, without any intent on faulting her assets. Except for the body suits, of course. The studio would be insane not to service her to the viewers in some way.

I loved how incredibly strong her character was. The horrible events in her past almost broke her down, but what emerged after that was a unsympathetic, stubborn, and intimidating character. The story is playing on her tsundere tendencies though. Gap moé, right?

I always see Nakahara Mai as VA who are meant for "soft" roles, so I never imagined that she would be this good when she brought Tokiha Mai (Mai-HiME)'s voice to a deeper, angrier tone. Hopefully, we get to see more roles like these for her in the future.

2. Okita Sawa (Tari Tari)

Konatsu might be the heroine of the show, but I feel that Sawa is one who really made an impression. But rather than her personality, it's usually because of her role in the story. She always seems to be the one to offer a different opinion, a funny line, or a push in the right direction. You can even say that she is the adult of that group. Though, I wished she had a more distinct and stable personality for the story.

1. "Watashi" (Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita)

This nameless protagonist is probably one of the most unique characters you are ever going to see. It's strange, because despite being the main character, she rarely has input into anything that happened in the show. Usually all we get from her is a cynical remark that is almost reminiscent of Kamijou Touma's "Fukou da~". Even though she is more of a narrator than your usual character, she became the reason for the show's unique brand of comedy. Too bad it's pretty much impossible to replicate such a character in other genres.

"Watashi" is voiced by Nakahara Mai too. Maybe I'm giving her too much credit, but I've began to see how good Nakahara Mai really is. Takamura Yui and "Watashi" are polar opposites in character, but she did such an amazing job for both. Why didn't I realize it before?

First Impression of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse (who'd thought that it'll be so good?)

My first impression of this anime would be a mecha anime that sells primarily on fan-service. Because as far as I know, the original Muv-Luv has nothing to do with mechas, aliens, violence, war or anything like that. It was a regular harem eroge with a male high-schooler that tries to date one of the haremettes in his school... and that was it. Someone had the idea to take all the characters but the protagonist and throw them into the setting you see now. And this anime has nothing to do with those characters; it simply made use of the setting that was created as an alternate universe for the original Muv-Luv characters.

All I expected was 90% of the episode to be filled with girls with impossible curves strutting around in uncomfortable plug suits looking as naked as possible. And plenty of Gainaxing, since there's suppose to be plenty of mecha action. I don't know if you'd call that low expectations. I just don't expect a lot of variety.

So, Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse surprised me in more ways than one. First of all, the mecha, and all the CG action with the aliens, looked really good. The aliens they fight aren't random critters that look like Spore rejects; they look gruesome, they look monstrous, they look terrifying. And seeing them rip apart and eat one of your main characters just shows you producers won't hold back to make them as gruesome as possible.

The sexy plug suits are just a bonus. I feel that the anime is going to be awesome in a lot of ways.

Verdict: Definitely watching.

Summer 2012 Pre-season Impressions

I stopped writing "season previews" because for all the info you will want for the upcoming seasons, there's only three places you need to go to (except for MAL and such): Random Curiosity (probably the most famous anime blog there is), The Cart Driver (probably the most popular anime blog there is) and Star Crossed Anime Blog (probably the best anime blog there is). There's no point in recreating all that background info when someone else has already done it, and done it better; so from now on, it'll just be Pre-season impressions.