I went into the Muv-Luv trilogy on a whim like I always do with everything I watch, read and play.

I'm one of those people who were extremely tired after a few routes in Extra while reading and it. It was not that bad per se, but classic school-life VN romance eroge aren't my thing at all, however I trusted the hype and went into Unlimited which was still kind of similar in terms of romance eroge but the settings instantly hooked me up since I love seeing realistic politics and detailed worldbuilding.

Then... I hopped onto freaking Muv-Luv Alternative, even if a lot people seem to feel it's very slow at the few first chapters, I was already loving it. It took everything that was set in the previous entry and elevated it to a majestic and powerful level as well as including an indecent level of character development especially for Takeru, even Extra was extremely well used in the process which is insane to me since as I said earlier, I was tired of Extra, and that made me like it more.

One thing that is very important about this work is how much it's human at its core, it's funny, it's sad, it's epic, it's detailed, it's everything I'm asking from a piece of fiction, emotions are very important to me and this shit made me feel EVERYTHING. MLA is a story about humanity facing a unknown threat that is eventually going to exterminate us all, it's trying to unite but we're seeing how difficult it is even though the BETAs are the enemy of ALL of us. Humans are stupid by nature, we're afraid of the unknown and that includes other continents, countries, regions and people. Basically cultural differences.

After a long and insane build-up in Alternative at seeing all of this, humanity finally united to save itself from its REAL enemy, the BETAs, there is nothing more beautiful than this, the humankind finally came to the same conclusion, and treated everyone as equal even if temporary.
It might never happen in the real world, but Kouki Yoshimune definitely wants to believe it and I also do.

MLA is extremely violent and extremely sad but it is a life-affirming story screaming at us to LIVE and aim for a better FUTURE.
Cherish the people you love, make good actions at your scale, try to understand other people whether they're culturally very afar from you or not, be passionate about what you love. In other words : LIVE.

Will never understand why this is as acclaimed as it is, because I've never seen a more unredeeming piece of garbage. The promise of "it gets SO GOOD" is one that goes unfulfilled. There's maybe 3 hours of interesting content in this 50 hour waste of life. This is time I will never get back. I should've just read GANTZ or Berserk again. The absolute most dryly written VN I've ever stumbled onto. Huge exposition dumps & redundancy. The protagonist's rambling drivel made me want to end it all. Any time lore is brought up it fizzles out so you can read forty paragraphs of the protagonist making something up the spot. "To be honest, the reason I felt the way I felt is that I learned to feel differently because I watched you look around and accomplish a goal one time, like that time you made a sandwich. And honestly I may be in the wrong here but I'm just thinking you thought a certain way I didn't agree with." It's just endless mindless ranting. I just kept hoping something interesting would happen. It really never did. The only reason I am ok with giving this half a star is because Meiya is a cool character, and also it inspired Attack on Titan, which does every single theme this tries to do infinitely better. I loathed this VN from start to finish. Wild that I enjoyed the first part more because, at least it was sometimes funny lmao.

I found the lore really interesting, but the marketing for this is laughable. The steam page description is "Playtime's over. Time for despair. Experience the definitive version of a masterpiece in the Muv-Luv trilogy's thrilling conclusion. Note: therapy not included.". I just kind of wonder what was exceptionally disturbing here compared to other fiction, because the character side of the equation is woefully underdeveloped compared to the mil sci fi stuff. Its just a lot of talking in circles and hand waving away "dark" stuff nearly immediately after mentioning it. A fun story but woefully overrated.

I think one of the things that Alternative "lacks" compared to its predecessors is the protagonist's relationship with the other characters. Both Extra and Unlimited were built within the relationships and moments of the characters, making everyone grow and evolve together, each one learning about the other. It's something very intimate and this relationship has always been the focus of the work previously.

However, with Takeru already experienced and having a second chance to prevent the disastrous ending of Unlimited, there is no need for all that relationship the characters had previously. It doesn't mean that there isn't an emotional connection between the characters, but the relationship is diametrically different from what it was in Unlimited and Extra, that is, one of the greatest strengths in its predecessor works, it is not here, because it is no longer the focus as such. .

And this change adds a lot of extra tension to the story, as we initially see Takeru have a more rigid relationship with his ex-friends, and his relationships become very different from what they were before, as it was his relationship with his friends and his partner. romance within Unlimited that gave strength to the character in that timeline. Alternative establishes his position for the reader when he doesn't branch the work into routes, there is no opportunity to romance his team members this time.

I need to highlight the structure of the Muv-Luv series as a whole in this world, as it culminates in Alternative. One of Unlimited's greatest strengths is the fact that they build that whole terrifying vision of the BETAS and they didn't even appear on screen or have any prominence, and yet the ending of Unlimited is painful in itself, even though we didn't see a single not even a battle, or just a single BETA. Alternative, on the other hand, now loaded with the narrative power of its predecessor, uses this to remedy this omnipresence that the BETAS had in the world's setting, meaning that only much later does its appearance have a brutal impact on the story. It is from this point that Alternative begins to collect all the pieces of information produced by its two ancestors.

What seemed like plot holes, forgotten stories, or even throwaway conversations are paid off magnificently here. The level of planning that went into structuring this story is incredibly impressive.

Just as many Mecha after the 90s were inspired by Evangelion, Muv-Luv seems to stand out even within that medium. Not that observing, or having a greater focus on the protagonist's internal struggles is something exclusive to Evangelion within the genre, but it is what he is most remembered and highlighted for. Takeru's internal struggle within Muv-Luv Alternative is exciting and repulsive at the same time, they are feelings similar to what I had with Shinji Ikari, although they are not as great as what I had for Takeru, because he goes beyond the level of being pathetic . However, it should be noted that despite the similarities, Muv-luv stands out more for the sci-fi and the mecha genre as a whole, prioritizing these elements rather than Takeru's internal struggle, unlike Evangelion. While Evangelion highlights the protagonist's internal struggle, in Muv-Luv, despite the protagonist dealing with strong internal conflicts, the emphasis is on the struggle in personal relationships, social institutions and the forces of the physical world, which are personified in the BETAS. Despite the similarities, Muv-Luv is on another plot spectrum than Evangelion.
Takeru's entire arc within the series is frustrating to watch, anyone who looked at my comments during the Extra/Unlimited review understands why.
In Extra, he's a nobody, inexplicably attracting female attention without any obvious effort on his part, a two-dimensional character with no personality traits who can't make a decision without someone telling him what decision he needs to make.
In Unlimited the world begins to oppress him and forces him to mature, even though there is still a need for people to point out to him the thoughts he should have, he manages to reach his own conclusions and it is rewarding on a certain level.
Now Alternative? It completely reiterates Takeru's lack of conviction and punishes him for each of his wrong choices, and a large part of these choices are repeated choices where he already knew he had made a mistake, there is even a difference of opinion when it comes to Unlimited, making that the narrative demonstrates what exactly is wrong when comparing two works. So it's frustrating and even angering to see the protagonist make the same mistakes, and to see him escape the notion that he made a mistake. Before in Extra, people point out to him what he should do or think, but even when they try to do this in Alternative the protagonist starts acting childishly using his "false conviction" as an excuse. MLA never stops punishing Takeru for any choice he makes, causing such brutal emotional trauma, a PTSD arc that is painful to watch and all of this to destroy every fragment of the pathetic character he was and mold him into a protagonist unique and singular that is possible to remain in our memories.

To add to my opinion, I must point out that MLA makes specific criticisms of certain regime models, and highlights Japanese nationalism as something good, bringing as a vision the Japanese nationalist spirit that helped rebuild the country after the war and unite people, it is this feeling that is reflected within the work. Furthermore, there is an interesting political vision in MLA that is highlighted in the actions of all the characters, the setting of Muv-Luv is impeccable and worth mentioning, as it is never just mere worldbuilding. (And don't be an idiot to confuse nationalism within the work with imperialism or facism.)

Muv-Luv Alternative is a great visual novel and its themes are not so different from its predecessors, in this case it is a version of Unlimited that goes even deeper into its themes, reiterating the central theme surrounding acceptance of reality and what connects human beings with each other; And it is only together that we can face a threat like the Betas. The ending is fantastic and gives us a satisfactory explanation for everything that happens, which had been built since Extra onwards. There are no gaps in the plot, any uncomfortable doubts have been impressively dispelled, and everyone should be aware of how complicated it is to correlate and remain aware of a plot that involves time travel and parallel universes that could say that.

If you're going to read Muv-Luv, be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions, whether pleasurable or distressing. This is a story to recapture what we lost.

Após o final do unlimited, eu estava muito hypado pra alternative. Sério, tanto que, no momento que eu acabei unlimited vim direto pra cá.

Mas... foi decepcionante. Não, não achei ruim, só decepcionante. A obra é definitivamente boa (apesar dos caps iniciais mid) e tem um dos melhores protagonistas que eu já vi na mídia, agora, nada além do EP 7 e do EP 10 supriram meu hype, o EP 9 chegou bem perto de suprir ele tho.

O ep 7 em especialmente me afetou demais e vou levar ele pro coração, assim como várias coisas que a obra me trouxe, apesar de eu não ter achado a masterpiece que pensei que seria, tirei proveito. E seu final me fez ficar muito feliz.

A masterpiece homage to the visual novel medium
ep 1-4: 4/10
ep 5: 6.5/10
ep 6: 8.5/10
ep 7: 9/10
ep 8: 8.5/10
ep 9: 9.1/10
ep 10: 10/10
SAVE IN THE NAME OF TRUE LOVE

(This review contains no spoilers for Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative. For any links to videos that I have, I will send the spoiler-free versions with just songs or OST with no story-related thumbnails)

Muv-Luv Alternative is my favourite story of all time.

In the autumn of 2021, I was looking for visual novels to read since I'd taken a break from the medium. Then, I remembered that there was this one acclaimed visual novel trilogy called Muv-Luv that I knew nothing about, other than that it somehow goes from a cutesy romcom to having mechs. The Muv-Luv trilogy consists of Extra (a slice-of-life romcom), Unlimited (a-coming-of-age story) and Alternative (a real robot mecha war story). I decided that, since this is one of the most loved VNs, I would have a blind playthrough, and so I got the trilogy. At the time, I had only read Doki Doki Literature Club, ChäoS;Child (my pre-MLA favourite), Fate/stay night and Tsukihime. At the time of writing this review, I have read just over 70 VNs (an obsession with the medium of which was fueled in no small part by ML), and while I have great respect for all of those to this day, this is the one that changed my life. I've learned many things from it, and even gained a desire to learn Japanese to a level that would make me appreciate this even more through a reread.

Right off the bat, I thought Extra was pretty enjoyable — I liked the art style, cute chibis, characters, humour and Initial D references. There's a character whose name and personality are blatantly based on Rei Ayanami, some of the girls have hair based on Gundam helmets, all of them have gigantic hair vents and/or ahoges (otherwise known as hair antennae) that were above average in size even in the 2000s. Still, even though I really clicked with the characters and cute humour, but I couldn't see where this was going, especially considering the acclaim of the series. Nonetheless, I kept going due to liking the cast and being intrigued by how this ever becomes a serious mecha story. And to be honest, I think the hate for Extra is overblown — sure, the structure equals slow pacing, Takeru is mean and sometimes borderline obnoxious in Extra, the jokes are repeated a lot, and the routes vary highly in quality, but it was a comedic take on what âge and other visual novel companies often released at the time, and it allows for greater contrast to how the mecha aspect works. Plus, if you enjoy it for what it is, it's quite fun. However, even though I knew the trilogy was a slow burn, I was left wondering if it truly would get better than just "pretty good". So Unlimited rolls around with its genre shift that I did not expect to be executed in the way it was, with massive contrast to Extra while still keeping that familiar Muv-Luv vibe, as well as intriguing worldbuilding that was merely a demo before MLA, and I was beginning to understand that this was something special. Once I got to Alternative, I was thrilled by the way the "main" story finally began. I was so hooked that I read the entire trilogy in less than two weeks.

Starting with the visuals, this part of the series is marvellous. For something that was made in 2003 and 2006, it is insane that there is so much motion, such as with eyes blinking, lipsync, many sprites (they sometimes face you with their back, which was a small detail that blew my mind at the time), backgrounds and CGs, and creative use of all of those to create a dynamic experience. Also there is a small detail I like where the text is basically subtitles with different colours depending on who's speaking. And this is just in Extra and Unlimited. In Alternative, TSFs (Muv-Luv mechs) move in fights, too. It is extremely immersive to sit in the cockpit with ambient background noise and have the UI (that changes with time!) appear on your screen, as the POV camera shifts across the screen, while seeing the TSF move from the inside, but also in other moments seeing multiple TSFs flying around, shooting bullets, swinging a sword or knife, etc. The fights have movement, and sometimes even straight up animation. Coming from Type-Moon, DDLC and Chaos;Child, the latter two of which are more recent than ML and MLA, I wasn't aware that Muv-Luv was this visually impressive to this day (big thanks to how much budget went into this, some of which was out of the author's, Kouki's, own pocket), so I was absolutely shocked by the fact that it was borderline an anime with how vibrant everything was.

Speaking of TSFs, I did enjoy Gurren Lagann and Evangelion, but I wasn't exactly into them for the mecha aspect. I did not like superpowered robots or space fights. I wanted mechs that behave more like machines, but are also not especially powerful so that fights will be tense. I tried ML/MLA in the first place because of its high acclaim and intriguing transition from Extra to mecha, not for the mecha aspect itself. I did not consider myself to be a mecha fan. But then, I realised that I just had not found my niche, and that niche was something Muv-Luv hard sci-fi has. Everything mecha, strategy, technologically, in-universe historically, geopolitically or worldbuilding related is explained and consistent in a "grounded" way, so to speak. They even made a 400-page textbook called the CODEX which is based primarily on lore featured in the source material, and even that is considered a bit outdated by now as more material came out. TSFs are agile yet fragile machines, and are treated as just another weapon. They are not superior in every aspect to tanks and planes, they have a reason (besides being cool) to exist. They are not able to do space flight, and they do not have beam or laser weapons such as laser guns or beam swords. They have bullets and large metal swords for the most part. They also have various mech-related features that I wish more mecha featured, such as neck braces for the pilot's safety due to sudden movements, various magnetic points on the fortified suit that attach to the seat and a pattern-recognition algorithm that calibrates how the machine behaves for greater efficiency as the pilot uses it more. We are also given history on various TSFs and how the various generations of them progressed and their limits. There is also the fact that TSFs are based on real life jets — the F-22 Raptor is a fighter jet in real life, but in Muv-Luv it's a TSF. Various TSFs also have different strategies and features when using them, such as how the Raptor has stealth capabilities, as well as different designs, inspired by quite a few other mecha, such as Gunbuster, Gundam and Evangelion. The politics in this are very layered, too, with many parties having complex, yet understandable, goals, while being portrayed in a humane manner.

In addition to hard sci-fi, the strategy and tactics featured in this go an extra mile in terms of details and immersion. One thing that personally bugged me (not that there's anything wrong with it) in a lot of mecha was that they use cool-sounding terms and words that are barely (and sometimes never) explained, like the "omega actuator" or something. When tech is being described to you in Muv-Luv, you are told exactly what each term means and how it contributes to the overall picture working. When you are told there will be a military op in Muv-Luv, you are given an explanation on what each plan and phase is, what the backup plan is, what to do depending on the situation, parameters such as distance and weight of objects, the advantages and disadvantages of the situation, what each squad member's placement in the plan is, what the deadline is, etc. If they suddenly need to change to plan B, you know exactly what that entails. You know what the Arrowhead 2 TSF formation is, so if in a fight someone says "All units, switch to Arrowhead 2," you know what they're referring to. You know when to switch to what weapon. You know what that omega actuator would be here. All of this is accompanied with various technical and strategic diagrams, to boot. There is so much depth that they go into with a plethora of things, that one would need a separate post just to discuss all the major topics. And when a very large-scale fight starts, you end up keeping track of so many variables and players, but it feels natural, and so mesmerising.

The soundtrack in this is wonderful. You are greeted by two opening themes in MLA, one being the PS3 theme, 0-GRAVITY, which is insanely exciting, especially after after the cute opening theme of Extra and the Unlimited OP which fills one with wonder; and the other being the original opening by the legendary band JAM PROJECT, who have been involved in many mecha and other anime projects. The song's name is Asu e no Houkou, or Roar to the Future. I think to this day, this is my favourite Japanese song of all time, let alone opening to anything, ever. It is so, so cool, hype, whatever you want to call it. It makes one remember the days of Extra and find it unbelievable that this is part of the same story as it. The non-vocal soundtrack is great in this too, when there are tracks like the briefing track which really set the tone for the mecha war story aspect of the trilogy. There are also more relaxing tracks for day-to-day life. There are so many tracks in this that just ooze passion and variety. This, similarly to the animated scene and voice acting aspect, is in part due to having some very known and talented people working as composers, such as Iwasaki Taku, who also worked on the Gurren Lagann's, Katanagatari's, Soul Eater's and other soundtracks.

Of course, the most important aspect is the story. Takeru starts as an immature teen and develops as he gains an adult's perspective on life. This is possible largely due to the genre shift of having that same romcom protagonist in Extra experience the different sides of what life is like. The change from having his biggest concern be who he wants to eat lunch with to what one might call having "real problems", with both him and the reader now remembering those relaxing times as something to be appreciated, leaves a lasting impression, and is only possible due to having lived through Extra. As this is a spoiler-free review, I will leave the plot discussion at that, and now just mention the impact it had on me. I hadn't cried from a story for years at that point, and yet Muv-Luv Alternative had me crying so hard that I had to stop reading lines for a few moments just so that the tears would clear and that I would see the screen better, six times. It was an absolutely incredible experience, and nothing has come close since for me. There were a few aspects of the story that were personally relatable to me that had an impact as well. I am so glad I went into this unspoiled.

That's not to say it's perfect, of course, there are issues such as some jokes that would be in bad taste now, 17 to 20 years later, the road to it truly becoming great (after being decent in Extra and pretty good in Unlimited) in Alternative is very much a "it gets good bro, trust me" deal where the beginning is in no way indicative of what comes later, but man, the intrigue, the characters and investment got me there without any issues. The structure definitely makes it a slow burn, and there's some weird stuff at times. But you know how in a lot of media, you have a peaceful town life for a bit in the first episode before the real story begins? Well here, you live the peace, and you live the war, making the impact very great for many people such as myself, and for others it might not be worth the build-up, which is fine. The infodumping and lore might be too much for some, but for people such as myself who get into it, it is a treat. This isn't a work for everyone, and that's fine. However, I would recommend many people, including mecha fans, visual novel readers and Attack on Titan fans, to check this out, since it really is worth trying.

Finally, I want to give thanks. I was sitting there bawling my eyes out as the credits rolled, and I want to write down the words of gratitude that I had not written anywhere before.

Thank you, Shirogane Takeru, for your inspiring journey. Thank you, Kagami Sumika, Mitsurugi Meiya, Ayamine Kei, Tamase Miki, Sakaki Chizuru and Yashiro Kasumi, for your stories that showed both the protagonist and reader the many perspectives and lives that exist in the world. Thank you, Kouzuki Yuuko, Jinguuji Marimo and other cast members, for being reliable mentors and saying things that both Takeru and I, a university student at the time who had been lost with as to what to do with life, needed to hear. Thank you for making this story such a joy to read.

Lastly, and most importantly, thank you, âge and Yoshimune Kouki, for creating this beautiful tale of love and courage that I hold dear in my heart to this day.