Estudio: Yumeta Company, Graphinica, Flagship Line
Sinopse:
The world has been engulfed in a desperate, three-decade-long war against the BETA—an alien species that invaded the planet in 1973. Amid this chaos, a high school student named Takeru Shirogane suddenly wakes up from a terrifying nightmare where he sees mankind in utter defeat. Soon after, he realizes that his dream was nothing more than the recollections of his life in an alternative universe. In those memories, the Alternative V project is implemented, sending hundreds of thousands of people into space as a last resort to preserve humanity, while leaving the remaining billion on Earth to suffer a cruel fate.
Yearning to change this grim future, Takeru joins a military base in Yokohama, which happens to be his former high school. There, he manages to convince the base's vice-commander and leader of the Alternative IV project, Professor Yuuko Kouzuki, to prevent Alternative V from happening. To ensure the success of Alternative IV, Takeru must pilot the gigantic humanoid machines Tactical Surface Fighters (TSF) alongside his fellow cadets. However, he has only two months to complete his training and exploit his partial knowledge of the future—lest the ensuing tragedy take place.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
ejennsyahmixcel
First of all, don't be tricked by VN-only readers who can't even stand the design being changed partially on just on the hair design and not even care to see the goddamn good later part of this season. Secondly, for those coming in to see only the mecha vs monster and feel frustrated, I also want to say Muv-Luv, isn't like what the poster shows. It's a drama, yes a drama that's why they have a lot of talking. But it's a goddamn good drama actually if you go in full. Some VN readers also made this mistake and cursing it without knowing the truth (that'swhy even if you gonna start the VN-don't rush the romcom first part).
As a VN reader, I can say that this adaptation is actually serviceable. Although not adapting Extra or at least Unlimited make it start with a shaky base (since the early part requires Unlimited as a context), they nailed most of the later scenes very nice. Yes, the later part of the anime is very interesting with drama part is enhanced and the battle part is actually goddamn good that they even care to put thing from the manga too.
And because of things are still delivered that good despite the low expectation and hanky-panky on the 2D department, I can praise the anime productions to that. OP and ED are surprisingly a banger too, although originally sounds a bit off from what was known from the original VN OSTs.
Overall, it is a good adaptation of Muv-Luv Alternative, but of course without the missing two first part and this season being 1/3 of the full series, it is still incomplete. But still, I want to give a good rating on this because it is still good despite that, no doubt on that.
Infinite
Muv-Luv Alternative is a disaster, and not even an entertaining one. It is a failure across the board; The animation is bad, the art is bland, the characters come across as flat and generic, and the pacing is atrocious. However, the biggest failure of this series is managing to make a story taking place in a world on the brink of annihilation so utterly tiresome. Muv-Luv Alternative is an adaptation of a spin-off of a standard school romance visual novel, where the protagonist from the main game finds himself in an alternate universe where BETA (giant monster aliens) are trying to exterminate the human race. The originalsource was far too long to be adapted into one series, so only part of it could be adapted. The choice of part is the main reason why this show is so incredibly boring.
This series starts part way through the story. Takeru, the protagonist, has already experienced this timeline once, but failed to prevent calamity. This time he will strive to change things. The issue this brings is that this means that Takeru knows when and where the BETA will attack, which means that within this series, the BETA, the central antagonists and threat of calamity, are entirely trivialised and barely appear in the series at all.
Instead, what this series should be about is politics and mystery. The issue with this is that starting half way through the story robs us of context. The show takes often far too long expositing simple things, but fails to cover the information anime only viewers will have missed. It seems that the pacing took a hit so they could stretch this section of the story to 12 episodes.
The other reason the politics and mystery in this series fails is that the characters, the reasons we should care about what’s happening, are weak. The reason why we care about stopping Alternative V should be that we care about the characters being saved, but the way they are characterised is generic and bland. It doesn’t help that the voice acting is often mediocre.
What should have been the climatic arc of this cour felt unnecessary. The questions I kept asking myself when watching it was “why does this matter?” and “why should I care?”. The situation itself was actually fairly well written, and the politics were grounded (if not seeming to promote nationalism). But you cannot just try and set up a situation like this without making the stakes seem meaningful. In the original medium this probably had a lot more weight, but in the anime it just feels like filler.
The production values being as low as they are also hurt considerably, and likely explain their decisions in choosing what to adapt. The animation is bad, with minimal movement and characters often looking off model. The art direction is also bland. This seemed like a tick box exercise of getting scenes from the visual novel and putting it into anime form, there was no concern in making scenes more interesting and suitable for the anime medium.
Overall, this series has repeated every mistake that was previously made in adapting the spin-off Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse, and is even worse than it overall. It fails to deliver a positive experience for both fans of the original source material and first-time viewers of the Muv-Luv franchise.
My recommendation to anyone considering this is to watch the first two episodes of Muv-Luv: Total Eclipse and stop there. Those two episodes are the height of what this series should be achieving, and is never replicated again, either in its series or in this one.
OppaiSugoi
There is no Muv Luv Alternative anime. Full disclosure: VN reader. STORY: Yes, dear reader, as you can see, things are not looking good for MLA. Alternative is the third installment of the Muv Luv Trilogy, you will need to read Extra and Unlimited to understand the character interactions and basic background of the plot. It’s like watching Star Wars 3 – Revenge of the Sith without watching The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, you’re going to skip Anakin’s whole character development and skip to where he turns to the dark side? The story speedruns on a bunch of arcs that really make no senseand skips a bunch of character build up especially on Takeru. Avex pictures is lying to everyone when they said that anime only’s can understand the lore from this adaptation.
ANIMATION: Oh boy, these LAZY. ASS. Animators. First off, they nerfed all the characters, they just look like plain jane anime characters, can’t tell them apart other than hair color. The distinctive hairstyles kinda makes the character personality, plus it’s the trademark of the franchise. The worst part about the designs is when its zoomed out or a group of them shown at one time, it’s really lazily drawn, like F/SN DEEN bad. That last ep with Meiya crying, You Have Got To Be Kidding Me.
SOUND: Eh, it sounds ok? Nothing to write home about, would be nice to use the OST’s from the VN, even better if they used the same VA’s. The VA’s selected are ok, but what really irked me is Takeru’s VA being a noob, lets just say he didn't really do a good job.
CHARACTER: Referring to my Star Wars comparison, there was barely time to get the sense of character development. This mostly happens again in Extra and Unlimited. Because anime only’s are only introduced to Alternative without any prior info, Takeru is basically going this anime with a gameshark modded mindset because he knows what is happening. All these events happened in Unlimited. Also because this is only focusing on Takeru’s POV, you barely get to even know the other characters. I bet for the anime only’s, you can’t even name the heroines off the bat, because of the speedrunning of the storyline that there was very little time to flesh out character traits.
ENJOYMENT: To quote TheReportOfTheWeek, “My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.” Historically, anime adaptations of VN’s are not really well received and are scored accordingly, mainly because in most VN’s, there are routes where you can read for a heroine and there are multiple heroines. Muv Luv Alternative doesn’t really have this issue because it’s a linear/kinetic continuation of a previous storyline but at the same time gives off a “spinoff what if?” vibe. The main issue is poor decision making on what is being adapted and how they’re adapting this, at this point they’re just pissing off the VN community with a butchered turd while leaving the anime only’s more confused on what are they even watching in the first place.
OVERALL: Just play the VN trilogy, ignore this anime adaptation. You'll be glad you did.
Spirit_Chaser
Among the dedicated Muv-Luv fans, I, as an anime only and first time viewer into this franchise, felt as if I was standing in the middle of a warzone as they broke down with meltdowns every week over how horrifying this adaptation was. Low effort 2D showed hilariously drawn faces, and animation that felt weak and hollow. People were disintegrating before the beams hit, and some soldier's eyes were drawn so bad it was just sad. Episode 1 prepared you for what's not going to happen in season 1 because the BETA weren't even the focus. It felt like bait but at least it hadthe BETA introduced. The pacing is so rushed, it felt as if the story was watered down and irreversibly neutered. As bad as this started, at least it got better and became decent towards the end.
The music was memorable only for the wrong reason because all I remember is how badly it sounded in the first episode. It felt like a struggle to get through all the boring and overuse of exposition in the beginning. It was as if the staff crammed the visual novel's story so much they managed to pound it into a low quality jewel. Some weeks I just couldn't watch the new episodes. There is a huge cast of characters and a lack of development for most of them, thus it was a challenge to try and follow along without doing a re-watch. Don't make the mistake I made and read what was released before to understand the characters better.
Fortunately, towards the end, despite there was still comedic 2D animation, the final arc began turning the quality around a bit. Most fall season protagonists are terrible, but Takeru's growth throughout really made me respect him more as the series went. The politics and dialogue was saved by Yuuhi with her passionate leadership. The CGI shown here was actually decent. It ended with a small decimal of dignity but at least they tried towards the end. Season 2 was announced as well, and I will be watching it regardless of how rough this season was.
Maybe this series was trying to be friendly for the new fans to get them to read the visual novel, but it's opposite for me because I have a bit of interest to read it because of how bad it seemed and what could have been.
Despite the stronger second half, Muv-Luv Alternative overall did not do what I want, and did not do what I need.
Riptos
Just to clarify here guys, I read the VN, but I read it all the way back in 2014. But oh man, where to start. I saw the announcement for this anime before the season started and was looking forward to this more than anything else this season. However I shouldn't have expected anything as soon as I realised it was going to be a one-cour series. MLA is probably one of the darkest and gloomiest stories I've ever read. But to truly be able to appreciate it, you would need to read through both the Muv-Luv Extra and Muv-Luv Unlimited stories, BOTH of which are skippedhere for some reason.
So what we essentially get is the second half of a story that in an ideal world has already had around about 60 hours of playtime from the reader to build the characters and the world up taken away. So it is exceptionally hard to piece together exactly what is going on, even for the initiated.
The overall idea of the plot is that an extra-terrestrial race known as the BETA have invaded Earth from space and consumed alot of the main land (Europe/Asia) and are on the cusp of invading Japan. It's something we have seen before in a lot of different anime, just done a bit more PG (Strike Witches etc). The first episode is an original story which is sort of a prequel to the main plot where the BETA take over an island just off the coast of Japan. Through this we get to see just how futile humanity's efforts are to stop the threat and how little regard the BETA have for human life whether it is soldiers or civilians. It's honestly the highlight of the series as it gets the point across pretty well that humanity is pretty much boned unless a miracle happens.
Then we get to Episode 2 onwards which introduces us to our protagonist Shirogane Takeru who has already experienced both the worlds of Muv-Luv Extra / Unlimited so he has the knowledge from those worlds but the watchers here do not. So he just knows things for "reasons" from an anime only watchers perspective which is just really shoddy writing. Most of the heroines of his unit are just kind of there as the series expects you to know their quirks but they get so little screen time that I bet most people won't even remember their names over "the pink-haired one" or "the one with glasses" etc. It's really such a let down as these characters make the visual novel what it is just as much, if not more so than Takeru himself. The story is trying to compress about 50+ hours of playtime into a 12 episode season, or 11 if you remove the original first episode. Any remotely experienced anime watcher will tell you that that would shoot the pacing to hell and it shows so much here. I found myself scratching my head at what was going on more often than not. I even binged episodes 9 - 12 just so I would be able to try and keep a handle on the action as it was unfolding. But I can promise you, I still only had half an idea of what was going on. Some of the soundtrack that was playing in the background during battles was pretty nice though, I will give it that. Not memorable but definitely serviceable. The art was generally very dull, most characters looking pretty similar with hairstyles being the only real differential between some characters.
The story ending where it has for this season is a bit bland too. We get the BETA as this all encompassing threat but we spend the majority of the plot with humans fighting humans for the sake of national pride or political influence which felt really stupid to me. I think the BETA are in like two episodes outside of the first one, so they are just a threat for plot convenience and not the harbingers of the apocalypse like they are supposed to be. There is talk about "Alternative IV" being the saviour of humanity, but it's only spoken about in the first half and then not mentioned again. It would have been a bit better if that particular reveal had come up as a season finale instead of what we got. (VN readers will know exactly which reveal I mean)
If Season 2 does come, I hope the studio understand the concept of pacing and actually reads the source material instead of cherry picking some pretty irrelevant moments from the visual novel and making near full episodes out of them instead. This series has had some of the highest potential to be a true classic but it has sadly tripped over itself and landed face first in a bear trap.
I know there is a stigma that visual novels are generally badly adapted but there are anime such as Kanon 2006, ef and Clannad that would beg to differ. It can be done but it seemed that the studio had this as a cash grab for the many fans of the source material.
So to summarise, there is only one word that wraps up how I feel about this anime as a whole and that is "disappointing".
Anyone looking to delve into this universe, for the love of god, read the visual novels and leave this to the side.
DorjCat
As someone who played the VN first, there's too much undeserved hate for this adaptation. First of all, for everyone complaining this doesn't include Extra or Unlimited, the name of this anime is Muv Luv Alternative, not Muv Luv. It clearly indicates it's an adaptation of just Alternative. Yes, it sucks for anime only people, but Extra would be received terribly nowadays so they have no good choice. Then there's everyone complaining about the fact the anime doesn't cover the whole story, but that's common in most adaptations yet people don't endlessly complain when the source is an LN. As for the anime itself, it's rushed, especially inthe beginning, and the art quality outside of the mechs is pretty bad, but they did an amazing job on the mech parts and the story in the second half of this season is well done.
It's worth watching as a VN fan to see the story fully animated. If you haven't played it, I recommend the VN first.
algoPotaku
When I started it I expected death and destruction I had it but to measures. This first season is very good as post-apocalyptic anime works very well I like how they make the world work. I also liked that at the end of the 12 chapters they put a lot of politics into it, in the gundam style of why some things are done and I liked that a lot. The fights are very good, I liked the design of the enemies, although somewhat typical. But I liked it a lot. I do not give it a ten because the soundtrack was not as epicas I would have liked and as one of the few nimes of highlights of the season it deserves a 9 out of 10. Besides I saw the 12 episodes in one day so it hooks a lot .
En español:
Cuando lo comence me esperaba muerte y destruccion lo tuve pero a medidas. Esta pirmera temporada es muy buena como anime postapocaliptico funciona muy bien me gusta como hacen que funcione el mundo. Tambien me gusto que al final de los 12 capitulos le metan mucha politica, al estilo gundam de porque se hacen algunas cosa y eso me gusto mucho. Las peleas estan muy buenas, el diseño de los enemigos me gusto aunque medio tipico. Pero me gusto mucho. No le pongo un diez porque la banda sonora no fue tan epica como me hubiera gustado y como uno de los pocos a nimes de mechas de la temporada se merece un 9 sobre 10. Aparte me vi los 12 episodios en un dia asi que engancha mucho.
Soulmask
So I think there's a lot of VN fans that are hating on this. I read half of the VN which amounts to 14 hours and honestly the writing was way too slow pace. This anime has better pace, although it does skip a lot of character interaction during the training/school part. The opening song is awesome! Good opening song is enough for anime to be a bit more enjoyable. The Beta CGI is not that good but they manage to capture the feel of Beta battles anyway, which is horror. It was the same in the VN, and it does achieve some of that altougha bit more limited in the anime.
So lets talk about why the VN fans are so mad. The anime skips a lot of rapport scenes between the characters so you dont get to know a lot of the main heroines that fall in love with the MC in the VN. Personally I dont mind the skip and understand it since its a lot of set up for romance and the story isnt only about that and very long, but they end up skipping the vast majority of it. Even then this comes as a boost in the pace of the anime which I welcome. Also, the hair of the heroines in the VN is often in the shape of "cat ears" and Im pretty sure a lot of sweaty nerds are mad that they dont look so much like cat ears in the anime lol but I really dont mind.
Then there is the civil war arc which in the VN was SO LONG. Here it ends up only taking a handful of episodes which is way easier to digest.
Overall I think this is a very well made adaptation and better to watch this than the VN imo because its too long and altough its sold as a nukige and the romance are so long theres only 2 H scenes one of which is tentacles... So yeah, better just get the story which is pretty cool in shortened format like this. Waiting for season 2!
CherrysDelight
TL;DR: To make the most out of this anime, watch it for the mecha action at Episodes 1, 9, 10 and 12. You can skip the rest and watch something else worthwhile. Story: We were bamboozled. If you saw the trailer expecting lots of mecha action and humanity's desperate war for survival, I don't blame you if you feel mislead after watching a few episodes in. Episodes 2 to 7 is an absolute chore and should not have been there if they cant fit a ~50 hour..? VN content in that time frame. It is incredibly slow paced that any hype you had from Episode 1is straight up gone by the time you reach Episode 8, that is, if you decide to stick around up to that point.
I understand that this is supposed to get us to invested in the characters, but it fails really hard that you just cant care at all, and you shouldnt care because these characters are hardly used. There is 0 sense of urgency here either, so why should you care if Japan is in the frontline in the war against BETA if our characters loves to dick around? Is it really too much to ask for a Muv Luv anime that focuses on those fighting at the frontline and their desperate, hopeless efforts instead of those in the rear talking and dicking around 90% of the time?
Characters: Who cares???
I hate this MC, this MC has not proven himself to be likeable in any way - he's basically a Kirito without plot armor. I couldnt care less about the harem, they are incredibly bland that they may as well be background characters. The 6-7 episodes spent dicking around at base that the show tried to make us invested in the characters is absolutely wasted and a chore to go through.
Walken is the only likeable character here, Sagiri and Komaki too if you can vibe to their beliefs, but the rest are a snooze.
Art & Sounds: It's not bad, but it's not good either.
The CGI is noticeable if you're looking for them and the fights are fun and enjoyable. However, if you're expecting for the movement to have a sense of realism and physics, then this is not it since there is no sense of weight and TSFs move in 50gs with no consequences unless plot related.
Aside from the opening and ending, the only time where the music is memorable is at the end of Episode 9. There were not any other standout, but no bad ones either.
Personal Enjoyment: Entertaining if you cut out the filler.
I consider myself to be a Muv-Luv fan, I haven't played any of the VNs, but I've read some of the short stories, watched Total Eclipse, Schwarzesmarken and dived on some of the lore here and there. This show is incredibly painful to watch as a whole, it is a terrible experience on average in huge part thanks to Episodes 2 to 7. However, if those episodes were cut out and Episode 8 was moved down to Episode 2, then I can easily see this being a 7 or an 8 as Muv-Luv fan or a 5-6 as a newcomer that has no context.
Summary: It can't stand on its own.
You shouldn't have to play the VN or rely on outside material to be able to enjoy this show, because it really cannot stand on its own. As a newcomer, the show will not explain why TSFs are a thing or why aircraft seemed to have gone extinct. It will not tell you in full detail why the Japanese seems to have a hate boner towards the Americans outside of some hints here and there or why the Americans are acting the way they are.
My hopes is that these first 12 episodes are the ground work for Season 2, because it's really hard to invest in this show, even as a Muv-Luv fan.
Graciaus
There are two types of people who would watch this: Those who are anime only and people who have read the visual novels. Chances are you won't like this. Anime Only You should not watch this. There is absolutely no reason to watch this unless you've read the VN. You could get some enjoyment out of this but you are robbing yourself of an incredible experience. Muv Luv Alternative is the final part in a trilogy of games that does not even do a good just adapting it. You can stop reading here. The first episode does not happen in the VN and ruins the most memorableexperience in the entire trilogy and any forms of media. You hear about the BETA many times but first actual contact is something else. You can figure out the gist of the story but how it all comes together will be lost on you since you missed the first two games. The characters while new to you are well established to source readers. A central plot point later is about a character you don't even know and never really will. It also moves lightning fast to get to the part where Muv Luv Alternative truly begins skipping a lot.
Visual Novel Reader
You can save yourself some anger and time just by asking yourself a simple question: What do you want from this?
Full 1:1 Adaption
Stop. Don't even attempt to watch this. You will hate it. Voices/character art are different to boot. First episode is anime original to introduce a character not from the original. From there it moves extremely fast skipping anything not needed to get to before the coup where it slows down to normal pace and will end after those events. All preliminary reviews are from before it slows down.
Everyone Else
I was hyped as hell for this. But my expectations were actually in check. MLA could in no way be adapted in 12 episodes and is pointless for an anime only without the previous games. It isn't short either so a reread of the entire trilogy would take 50+ hours at bare minimum for a fast reader skipping some voices doing only 1 route each. That's a good chunk of time. Did you know a sequel to MLA is being made? It's a pretty good recap. I'll admit this is probably objectively a 3/5 but I love this franchise so seeing it animated was great.
The story moves fast and anything that isn't needed is cut. All references to Unlimited and Takeru's growth are gone. While people were having meltdowns over skipping the TSF certification it is pointless without Unlimited. The story slows to somewhat normal pace around halfway leading up to and adapting the coup.
The character art is different. From my experience half the community doesn't like the original art anyway. This is the typical modern anime style. I don't mind it but I also didn't mind the original. What is an issue is sometimes the art is terrible when not fully in focus. This could be fixed later but I wouldn't count on it. Voices are all different. Hold the pitchforks they actually did a pretty good job getting people to sound similar to most of the original cast. The original would have been better 100% but ML is old and some don't even work anymore.
Where the budget really went was the TSF. These look incredible and is what a good chunk of MLA concerns. Sadly this doesn't cover the entire game. While you do see them in action a lot during the coup the Sadogashima Hive assault would have been amazing. Next season is going to be great.
Graine
I think the key problems with the ML:A anime adaptation can be broken into three categories: 1) WE ARE MISSING THE ENTIRE SETUP OF EVERYTHING! A lot of people know about this but the original "Alternative" visual novel was the 3rd(!!) entry in a series of stories (titled Extra, Unlimited and Alternative). We are missing 2 visual novels worth of content here and that introduces some obvious problems. There's no way they could have woven in the information from the first two VNs into the anime to make it work flawlessly as a self-contained story, but they could have minimized the damage by writing some crucial bitsfrom Extra and Unlimited into the existing scenes and dialogue. But they don't really do that. Instead, a lot of Alternative's (the VNs) own content has been axed as well. I can sort of appreciate their efforts to streamline things – some scenes in the VN are agonizingly verbose and they'll make Metal Gear Solid codec conversations feel like high-octane action in comparison. But this is a case where they needed more, not less! The biggest casualties, I think, are the girls of 207th – our main characters! We get to know next to nothing about their personalities or their group dynamic. Sumika, "the childhood friend" from the other world, is another huge casualty. If you are looking at this show in a vacuum, you will think this is the flattest cast of characters imaginable. There's also the brain, the Game Guy, the cat's cradle thing, Takeru's personality shift, the bunny doll, Tsukuyomi and the three idiots, Jinguuji... I could go on. None of it is properly set up in the anime.
2) THE LACK OF PROPER PRODUCTION VALUES
If something in the source material had room for improvement, it is the action. A VN from the early 2000s is not gonna be great at presenting action and this is where the anime had a clear edge. Unfortunately, the show doesn't really look that great. The character animation stuff is awkward and inconsistent. The 3D stuff doesn't blend in properly with the traditional animation. The various mecha models all just blur together for me. Whether you love the visual designs of the mechas or hate ‘em, it’s a little difficult to tell which faction’s vehicles you are watching sometimes. But I don't wanna harp on the visuals too much. It is what it is. I'm sure it mostly boils down to lack of budget and time more so than incompetence or negligence, since at it's best, the show does look perfectly presentable.
3) THIS IS THE WEAKEST PART OF THE ALTERNATIVE STORY
The story bits covered here in the 12 episodes (11 if you discount the Sadogashima story) are essentially the crud of the original VN. The beginning of the story is really just treading water, as Takeru is repeating things he has already done before. The first major story event is the coup subplot. And while I wouldn't call it a bad plotline per se, it feels more like a world building thing than an integral part of the story. It is a little detached from everything else. So, if they do make more of the anime, they've now gotten the weakest parts out of the way and there should be better stuff coming. That's something to look forward to, I guess.
I’ll end with some positives. Watching the first couple of episodes of this show gave me the final jolt I needed to go through the original Muv-Luv VNs. That's something I've been meaning to do for years and I'm glad I finally got around to it – they are very much worth the while, even though they start real slow. So the anime did re-ignite my interest towards the setting. Also, the Sadogashima battle in the first episode is pretty good! If this is your first contact with the Muv-Luv universe, I think the opening episode showcases the nature of mankind's hopeless war against the BETA rather well. I do wish they had used the opportunity to set up some major plot-related characters as well while they were at it, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. At least we get some more context for Sadogashima, which will be useful in the future. I also like how the anime is gradually weaving the Valkyries into the story! The VN basically just drops them on you (almost) out of nowhere and that’s quite a lot of characters to introduce so late into the story. Doing it gradually like this is a good call.
I can recommend this anime to people who want to re-experience the original story without the insane time commitment that the visual novels require. If your memory serves you well enough that you can figure out what everyone and everything is about with only small reminders (because that's all you're getting), I think you can enjoy this. For everyone that's not already familiar with the source material, I feel like ML:A will be an underwhelming and confusing experience.
PoDH
Dude why the people who are demanding for adaptation are the same people who hating this. I'm a VN reader and tbh this is like a pretty good adaptation. Is it perfect? No, but if you think they need to stuff 100+ hours long VN to possibly 2/3 season, there will be a lot of cut content. Not to mention they also need to make the anime accessible for people who just know about Muv Luv. STORY: Aka about the cut content or how they skip the first two novel. Yeah it sucks, I wish they start at least from Unlimited because Unmilited and Alternative arelike one set, but then you're looking at 6+ season worth of waiting, and the last 3 season is going to be a repitition. Yes one of the enjoyment of the VN is seeing the repititon again and seeing the differences the MC makes, and we don't get enjoyment from the anime because we never see the world where Takeru failed.
They did an amazing job on Episode 1 where they set the setting and shows the brutality and the despair humanity is at, and after the anime "goes down" well because that's how the VN was setup. It's sad we don't see more of the forest training session because that's where Takeri shows his ability he got from the past life. Then you go to this dumb coup d'etat where human are fighting human when the BETA fight are more interesting, and about Takeru shows his (annoying) naivety and hero complex.
ART: I think it's pretty great. There are some dramatization, but the fighting animation are quite good. You know you got those epic anime like robot movement.
SOUND: It's okay I guess, the sound effect are good, I don't really pay attention to the VA stuff.
Characters: Well they kind of got axed a lot since most of the development is in Unlimited where you first met them, where Alternative is a lot more about the story of saving the world while using the pre-established character development from Unlimited.
Overall: Season 1 is more like trying it's best to establish the setting for Season 2, because I feel like that's where things are going to escalate real quick. Just imagine Episode 1 but the whole season, that's prolly what I expect.
Drangerous
Muv-Luv Alternative has to be one of the biggest incomprehensible, unfulfilling, oversaturated and overall disappointing piece of anime in recent memories. As someone who didn't play the games but watched M-L: Total Eclipse, I can say the latter was an infinitely more enjoyable experience even though both Muv-Luv animes are existing in the same world. M-L Alt.'s problems come down to 2 major flaws that make it a chore to watch and just generally unpleasant: the pacing and the story is overambitious. First, like mentioned, the pacing of the story is a major flaw of this anime. At 12 episodes short, M-L A. manages to accomplish nothing ofit's initial story which is kind of amazing when you think about it. The premise of the alien invasion (BETAs) is the main plot of the story, yet by the end of this series run nothing of importance towards the resolution of this thread is made. Obviously, any good story needs to take time to establish its world and characters, yet instead of doing these simple things M-L A. just makes its characters spout exposition constantly and goes half-way through every side stories. So much plot points are introduced about every single characters, but barely any story has time to develop or has a continuation/resolution so it just feels like nothing happens for the duration of the series. However, it also feels like some story beats are glossed over. When the series is over it seems like the real main story of this anime went at a breakneck speed and just ended so suddenly.
Which leads directly to the second major flaw of this anime: it's overambitious. What started with a pretty forward story of alien invasion apocalypse (with a twist of parallel universe mumbo-jumbo) ends up with countless divergent stories that don't seem particularly interconnected between each others. The main threat of the series, the BETAs, are never seen again after the first or second episode (except for flashbacks or exposition scenes in no direct contact with the story). In other words, the whole premise of the series has no bearing on this season of M-L A. so anyone interested by this story and liked episode 1 can only be disappointed and feel betrayed by this. No, instead we spend every episode adding more lore about every single thing and person in this anime. Not only do we have the MC's story to follow, his 5 or 6 squad mates individual stories, then professor's story, the head of intelligence story, the royal squad story, the little esper girl's story, the...ahem, well you get the point. What promise to be a kind of mecha/harem/mystery anime ends up being a political wishy-washy nonsensical story about patriotism that is executed with the finesse of a kid playing with a toy. Not only does this sudden turn of story comes half way through the season, it comes from nowhere and none of the stakes and motivations are put forward before this story comes to play. It's just messy and boring from start to finish and feels like this whole ''arc'' was filler and pointless because nothing important happened (or at east it felt that way by the end). We're also introduce to the alternate/parallel universe theory, the history of the five Alternatives, some lore about the BETAs and it just feels overwhelming. Yet at the same time, even though we're catapulted with exposition, somehow it feels like nothing is really explained fully meaning nothing we're told makes sense. M-L A. just doesn't know what it wants to be nor where it wants to go with any of its plot. It's just frustrating and confusing in an increasing pace though its run.
So after all of this, what are we left with? Characters ranging from bland to boring, unimpressive art, unmemorable music, nearly non-existent mecha action that isn't even good and just a overall painstakingly bad viewing experience. M-L A as it stands (a second season has been announced) is not worth your time even at its short runtime of a mere 12 episodes. If you want any semblance of fun from this license, Muv-Luv: Total Eclipse (which is twice has long but definitely twice as better than this anime) is the way to go if you want your mecha vs. aliens fill.
amf85
Reading the summary, watching the opening theme, watching the first episode, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was an anime about giant mechs fighting for the survival of mankind against the Alien Betas. It is not. After the first episode, the aliens are never seen again. The majority of the season is just mild school harem drama, then there are a handful of episodes at the end with some human vs human conflict that makes absolutely no sense, does absolutely nothing to move the story forward, and isn't even connected with the theoretical plot of the series generally. The series ends and you realize thatyou've watched 12 episodes and NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. They're exactly where they were in episode 2.
What a disappointment.
Sharingan123412
Muv-Luv Alternative is the 3rd and final part of the Muv-Luv trilogy. It is also the highest rated visual novel of all time on VNDB, which is the MAL equivalent for visual novels. As the overwhelming majority of VN->anime adaptations go, I was expecting complete garbage from the anime adaptation. But needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by its quality. It's nothing spectacular but it's definitely fine. The mecha action is well-animated and the CG looks pretty solid. The pacing itself isn't horrendous although it is a bit rushed in some of the earlier parts of the season. In general, it's genuinely not a bad adaptation.If the VN is a 9/10, the first season of the anime is a 7/10. The main issue is that it's not friendly to newcomers into the franchise as it requires context from the first two parts of the trilogy, of which neither have been adapted.
I would recommend this to anybody who has read the original trilogy via the visual novels.
OverlordBel
I am writing this review just to let anyone who might be interested in Muv-Luv to NOT WATCH THIS ANIME AND GO READ THE VISUAL NOVELS INSTEAD! The original Muv Luv trilogy(Muv Luv, Unlimited, Alternative) is one of THE BEST visual novels ever made, so its a great read regardless if you either never read a visual novel before or if you already reads them. This anime adaptation just does not do the visual novel justice, so if by any chance you happen to like this anime even just a bit then you DEFINITELY should go read the visual novels. Muv Luv is a story about aversion of Earth that has been invaded by the BETA, one of the most terrifying alien species ever created in fictional media. The only way humans are able to defeat the BETA is by using mechas, but even early on you can tell that their fight against the BETA is still pretty hopeless, meaning that this series got a lot of painful moments of despair and death.
Not just the story is well written but the characters too, and pretty much all of them react realistically to current situations, which is very important to these types of dark stories. You get to have carefree or romantic moments with your favorite waifus in between the tough times.
Anyway, I could go on and on about this series but this review is just to tell people to GO TRY THE VISUAL NOVEL, its VERY worth it for ANY anime fan out there. And if you happen to enjoy the first trilogy, there are at least 5 other spin-offs in the series that have been translated to english right now, not to mention manga as well, so you got a lot more reading if you so desire.
H1GHLANDER360
I first got into the world of MUV-LUV when a friend of mines gifted me both MUV-LUV and Alternative on Steam with him quoting its memo "Save in the name of love". After finishing the KNK films I made a voting poll to see which VN I would tackle next this or CHAOS;HEAD. All votes went into MUV-LUV, MUV-LUV became one of my favorite VN franchises after reading its trilogy and branching off to its spin-off titles. Hearing about an adaptation of Alternative had me a lot of mixed feelings and I wasn't expecting to be a perfect adaptation. But hopefully decent. The hugequestion in my mind was. "How could anyone watch Alternative first without understanding Extra/Unlimited?" That was the problem.
MUV-LUV Alternative is based on the third entry of the MUV-LUV trilogy. The VN itself has received acclaim for its character development and plot. Even reaching the number one spot on VNDB. Its also one of my all time favorite VNs I've read in the past years.
The anime adaptation only adapts chapters 1-6 of the VN. So a quarter of it. Focusing on Takeru revisiting events from the Unlimited TL and following a human war between a Japanese rebellion. When it first aired I was hooked onto the first episode as it was based on one of the important plot points of Alternative. The BETA's takeover of Sadogashima.
Even features Komaki Sayoko as a character. A character from MUV-LUV's spin-off series The Day After. A series of VNs set after the ending of Unlimited. She doesn't appear in Alternative's VN but this was nice to see. I thought it was a real nice way to set up newcomers (If there is any) to how the world of MUV-LUV's BETA-verse is like. Its brutal, horrifying and showcases the deadly threat that is the BETA.
Then we cut to Takeru waking up from his bed. Its where the rest of the anime turns into meh for me. I can see why "Western" MUV-LUV fans aren't a big fan of this adaptation and I can understand that. But for me honestly its a very run of the mill VN to anime adaptation.
Watching this without understanding Extra and Unlimited is something I need to address. Because of a lot of context needs to be clear towards the viewer.
How will they understand the previous events of Unlimited/Extra?
Why is Sumika so integral to Takeru?
The importance of the Alternative IV project.
The parallels between the BETA TL and the Extra TL.
And the list goes on. VN to anime adaptations are notorious for cutting out important elements of its storyline to trim it down for its audience. It doesn't do a good job of it conveying to the viewer on these said plotlines. It feels sloppily put together.
Alternative's VN is infamously known for a lot its exposition. At times its justified, while at times it can be grating which is one of my criticisms with the VN. However it all boils down to why this is so important.
I can get that they're trying to ensure it doesn't drag too long but with a span of 12 episodes really doesn't seem to justify that. If anything, watching this without prior knowledge of the series will make people assume its all a set up to its second season. Speaking of that. How does it fair up as a standalone anime?
Mech fans would probably pass this up as your typical alien invasion with teenagers piloting giant robots type plotline. Something for them to binge watch if they're bored. I don't see them having a favorite character in this show seeing is that I don't think they can grow attach these characters and they would find them real bland or need to be fleshed out more until its second season. They would be better off waiting for the giant robot fights if any then grow attached to them. Its passable as a standalone show if you ignore it from an adaptation stand point. Something to easily binge watch.
Despite some gripes I have. They're some ok things I liked about the show. The CGI with the mechs while janky at first does get real better over time and it looks real fantastic to watch. The action is super enjoyable and it keeps up the pace. The music has some nice tracks that pay homage to the VN's OST and some of the new ones aren't that half bad. The intro music is catchy too.
The character designs are also pretty good too even if I prefer the OG designs then the new. The absence of hair vents is saddening. But they transition well within the animation even if its very hit/miss at times. New voice cast is good and did fine with the material they were given.
Do I think this is the worst adaptation? No, they're far worse adaptations then this. I still refuse to watch CHAO;CHILD's and Umineko's after putting so much hours into them. I do have that sense they're not gonna be enjoyable.
If you're looking for an adaptation of a VN that can be enjoyed as both an adaptation and stand-alone. Go watch Steins;Gate. If you're looking for giant robot shows then their is plenty of fish out there to look into. If you want to get into the MUV-LUV series. To quote the average Fate fan "Read the VN."
In conclusion, if you're a fan of MUV-LUV you might as well pass this one up. If you're a mech fan or an anime fan looking for something to binge watch with very little care of the source material its from then go for it you'll find it mediocre or a waste of time.
I dunno if the second season will be better or worse. We'll just have to find out.
CerbearusBane
Don't bother. It is based on the third game in a series, where the first two are extremely important for context. It lacks all the heart and soul of the VN, and throws in random flashbacks that are trying to replace the events of what could be 50+ episodes of anime. Alternative is the payoff of the buildup created by Muv-Luv and Unlimited. The emotional bond between the characters that spans alternate timelines. Anyone who has read Mu-Luv could tell you that only adapting the 3rd part was never going to work That being said, the anime original episode 0 is absolutely fantastic and you shouldwatch that, but instead of watching the rest, play the games if you want to experience the story.
SSJ-SUP3RM4N
As one of the most critically acclaimed visual novels (VNs) out there, it seems odd that it would take 15 years for Muv-Luv Alternative (MLA) to finally get an anime adaptation. In the world of VN adaptations, it is often the case that the quality or acclaim of the source material is not indicative of the quality of the adaptation it receives. How does this one stack up? I'll attempt to provide an answer to that in this review. Let's begin The story of MLA at its core is a hard-nosed military drama with many old school alien invasion story beats present. The synopsis gives theimpression that this is a more of a traditional alien invasion story, but it actually gets very political, especially in the middle portions, and it can get more complex and intimate than simple clashing of humans vs. aliens. There is also a very strong Gundam aesthetic, as the TSFs, the mechs in the story’s universe, hark strongly to the sharp angles and bright colorways signature to Gunpla models. And if readers end up getting Attack on Titan vibes out of this, that is because Hajime Isayama himself has publicly stated that the original VN was a strong influence behind his magnum opus.
In terms of the events actually covered in the anime, there is one huge problem. The first third to half of the series is simply way too fast. Some context regarding the VN is needed to really understand why that happens here. MLA the VN is the third entry of a trilogy. This first season of the anime covers the first 6 chapters of that VN. Of those 6, the first 4 are mainly set up for the rest of the story and move much quicker than the rest. The reason the VN can get away with this in terms of both the story and the characters is because of the context gained from the previous two games, especially the 2nd game, ML Unlimited. The anime tries to emulate this effect, but fails badly. Events from the other 2 games are not significantly covered at all, making the first third of the anime feel incomprehensible on top of it being even further rushed due to the episode constraints. There are short callbacks to the other 2 games throughout the anime that are kept brief, but again, there is no context provided so VN readers are the only viewers who can make anything of them. Trying to bounce off of context while not actually having it, on top of the deadly 12-episode constraint to try and force it, is a messy catch 22 and the fatal flaw here. Having episode 1 being anime-original like it is here pours salt on the wound in this regard. It does its job with introducing a general state of affairs, but that time ought to have been spent doing so with the already relevant characters instead of introducing new ones that have nowhere near as much screen time.
Speaking of the characters, they also suffer from the same fundamental issue. If anything, the pacing actually hurts the character developments more than it does the progression of the narrative. Again, due to being in the 3rd game of a trilogy, readers already have attachment to the characters due to context from the previous 2 games. The early chapters of Alternative (as well as a majority of Unlimited’s entire story) involve a lot of the slower moments involving Takeru simply bonding with Squad 207 as they help him come into his own with what is going on around him. Those types of interactions are not touched upon enough in this anime. Due to this, Squad 207 does not spend anywhere near enough time together for the emotional buildups in the first half of the story to meaningfully pay off. None of the characters feel too tropey or problematic but because of how quickly things move at the start, there isn't even really a chance to get to know them that well. The developments of the other members of Squad 207 are covered at a basic level, but the pacing and episode constraints result in a noticeable lack of depth. Though like with the story, the back third handles things better after finding a more consistent pacing.
For all the story woes early, the back third, which adapts Chapters 5 and 6, is very enjoyable. In the game, this is where the story starts to slow down and the anime also finally starts taking its time here as well. These parts of the story also are where the more political storylines kick in, so more of the story's complexities start to show as well. While those beats may not be what viewers initially sign up for, they serve as important character development. The sense of urgency in the direction and sound is executed very nicely. The cuts made for these sections also hurt much less than the ones earlier on. It is just a shame that it takes until that point for the anime to find a consistent pacing. They even add content that, while not groundbreaking, is still meaningful. The anime-original content provided in episode 1 sees its return on investment in the Chapter 6 adaptation, as the main anime-original character viewers meet provides a unique perspective on the complex landscape of the events that are occurring at the time.
Visuals are a point of contention for this anime and it mainly comes down to two points. Firstly, pretty much every action set piece utilizes CGI. Depending on your tastes, your mileage will vary. There is certainly worse CGI out there. The BETA models do not look too great, but the TSFs look good, as those models have good detail and their colors pop really nicely. The TSF movement is a bit inconsistent though, it will sometimes look smooth, but will look choppy at others. Secondly, the art style and color palette massively differ from the VN. The VN originally came out in 2006, with an art style that screams 2000s, with its balanced colors, wider, exaggerated eyes, and thicker, sharper edges. Likewise, the anime, having come out 15 years later, more matches the modern aesthetics of the medium today with its softer features and much brighter colors, a strong tonal shift in the art direction compared to the VN. This element of the design is fine, but this is something VN readers will likely see as a negative. That aside, there are still several finer details that are lacking. The most noticeable of these are in the character designs. There are too many scenes where the characters' facial expressions feel too stiff. It's a typical quirk of low budget anime that is hard to get around, but it is not any less unfortunate to see from an emotional drama like this one. The designs on their own are fine, but for VN readers, those elements are the elephant in the room for this anime. Compared to the VN sprites, almost every character's appearance, both main and side, feels like a very significant downgrade. There are even some characters who look radically different and are completely unrecognizable at first glance. They do feel more consistent with the general design approach of the anime in terms of matching modern design trends, but it could also be argued that what isn't broken doesn't need to be fixed.
The sound design is very good, and is easily the biggest positive here. Given that it's been 15 years since the VN released and that none of the original VAs at the time were any type of household name, none of them return. It is a fair circumstance, all things considered, albeit unfortunate. Still, the VAs that take their place are proven names. They do a good job with their own interpretations of the characters, with some even finely matching the ranges of the original voices. VN readers will be right to nitpick some of the finer details of the main group, but given the circumstances, there is good base quality in the voice acting. The music is also strong. They brought in Evan Call to help compose, and while he is still a fresher face in the medium, he is steadily building a resume to become a strong presence in the industry. The quality is high in the OST, especially when Chapter 6 comes around. The OP and ED aren't bad either, just a bit generic. Music from the VN is present but is hard to point out. Tracks from it that are used have mainly been interpolated from it instead of being taken directly from it. The sound effects also have a high level of quality, especially when it comes to the TSFs, and at times even surpassing the visuals. Sound effects from the VN are present but are only used sparingly.
This anime is not as abysmal as many of the VN readers may try to make it out to be (and this is coming from a VN reader). Such sentiments, however, do reveal that it can be hard to see who this anime is supposed to appeal to. It follows the VN and works like the 3rd entry in a trilogy, but still tries to make itself work as a standalone product within its own limitations at the same time. It fails at both in different ways. It's hard to recommend going in blind because of the pacing and the lack of context, and it's the same for VN readers because of all of the other changes, especially to the visuals. Still, though it is just a middling tie-in, a just-serviceable attempt was made given those limitations from a small studio. The back third felt decently close to a proper adaptation, making the most out of when it most mattered. The voice acting and music are strong. The visual elements can potentially be stomached, and viewers going in blind are none the wiser to the changes the anime makes. The thing that hurts viewers across the board is the super fast pacing at the start, and is the main reason I would recommend the VN over the anime.
