A tale of two anime...

Written by aussieluvr05 on December 24, 2012 at 9:47 AM

I've been waiting for this final episode to air before writing a review. I don't remember being as excited before about being able to review a series, and not in the way you might think...

While I have no clue what the title of Muv-Luv Alternative really means, ironically it turns out the series itself didn't know what it was trying to accomplish either...

I picked this series up after reading a few positive comments about it and I'll admit I was completely taken in after the first 2 episodes... really great action sequences and emotional death scenes that made it appear that this series would take the mech genre seriously and not fall all over itself. Looking back, I should've realized this was too good to be true from the overly generous size of the female characters upper anatomy and the skin-tight flight suits they wear. But being ever optimistic I naively plunged ahead with the series...

Technically this show has it all. The animation is top-notch, in particular the parts that matter, the action sequences are fluid, well coordinated, and explosive. And the good guys don't always win which added to the level of tension during each fight scene. The first OP and ED were quite good although not keepers and BGM was enough to create atmosphere without detraction... I'll be frank, the weakest link in the rating was quite possibly the dialog which although technically understandable, the military setting lent itself to some fairly wooden lines delivered with all the emotion of a tree stump. Nothing to write home about that's for sure.

Back to the 'plot'... I finally realized that the 'Alternative' part of Muv-Luv is that there's really a 2nd anime mixed in after episode 2 until the special episode 20 that leads into the climax. What you basically have is a re-hashing of Infinite Stratos complete with ecchi harem content. Ridiculous and disappointing! I'm not one to shy away from harem or ecchi but when the series began with such a serious outlook and seemed to be focusing on real fights with real consequences, the onsen episodes and multi-national love quadrangles that were the focus throughout the middle episodes were such a let down.

There's a saying that goes something like 'do one thing and do it well'... Muv-Luv expanded on that, picked 2 things, and did them both, well, just ok... granted the climactic episodes after episode 20 brought the show back to it's gritty beginnings but for me that was too little too late. And to top it off they end without resolving any kind of 'romance' that is built up through the middle episodes and leave you hanging in typically harem fashion...

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse was entertaining I'll grant it that. But the mix of tense, almost terrifying moments of characters being ripped apart by zerg aliens, with hot tub fan-service harem love proved too much even for me...

By all means give Muv-Luv a chance and you will be entertained. Just don't be surprised at the disappointment when you look back and realize 'what might have been'...