Anime ● Review: Muv-Luv Alternative
- Very Average Joe
- Jun 30
- 4 min read
English Title: Muv-Luv Alternative
Japanese Title: マブラヴ オルタネイティヴ
Director(s): Nishimoto Yukio
Screenwriter(s): Urahata Tatsuhiko
Studio: Yumeta Company, Graphinica, Flagship Line
Released: 2021–2022
Season 1 Runtime: 12 episodes, ~23m each.
Season 2 Runtime: 12 episodes, ~23m each.
Starring: Kamiki Kouichi, Aoki Ruriko, Nanami Karin
My Verdict: Guy wakes up in a parallel timeline dealing with an alien-infested world. Harem genre cheese with mecha. Looks clean but at times a bit cheap.
● Muv-Luv Alternative is the third part of a visual novel trilogy, the first part being Muv-Luv Extra and the second part Muv-Luv Unlimited. There is a manga and a novel series adaptation of the trilogy. This review is of the anime only.
● Although it is the third part of the original work, this anime does seem to mostly work on its own.
● The first episode serves as a prologue: aliens referred to as “BETA” landed on Earth in 1973, setting up hives in conquered territory around the world, including Japan. Billions have died and many displaced. The military, even with mecha referred to as “Tactical Surface Attacker” (TSA), struggle to hold them back when they do engage.
● The plot is set in Japan in late 2001. High school student Shirogane Takeru wakes up in his own house but finds the town to be different. He has memories of the recent past in this alternate world. In other words, he is able to travel to a parallel timeline and seems to be in some sort of time loop.
● Takeru goes to the local military base and finds Kouzuki Yuuko, the scientist-commander, telling her that her “Alternative IV” plan must succeed. This is to avoid “Alternative V” which is merely an evacuation of a relatively small percentage of the population, the remaining to fight the BETA. The plot follows Takeru and those around him as they try to save the world.
● To those who expect an exciting sci-fi mecha action epic: don’t.
● The series is also of the harem genre. Kouzuki assigns Takeru to a training squad with five girls. Takeru’s presence is explained away by him having previously held an exemption, implying that most of the men have already gone off to war. But even accepting the genre, the fact that he is surrounded by girls or women almost all the time is just unrealistic.
● Mitsurugi Meiya, one of the ladies in the squad, is the female lead amongst all the ladies around Takeru. She has more of a relationship with Takeru and is a source of mild tension given his connection to another.
● Season 1 does not focus on the BETA. Apart from the usual high school harem genre cheese, the conflict is, perhaps surprisingly, politically based.
● Takeru operates under UN authority even though there are also national armed forces. Elements of the Japanese forces do not like the UN and, as is common, there is the argument whether Japan needs the UN and the US involved.
● Although there are political games, this is done superficially. Even given the genre, it could go further to make the narrative more intriguing.
● Season 2 proceeds to deal with sci-fi aspects of the Alternative IV plan more directly, including directly engaging the BETA. The plot for the second season is probably what one expects given the premise and genre.
● Although most of the key elements are signposted generally, the plotting still feels convenient because the specifics are brought in conveniently or not dealt with at all.
● To put it differently, since Takeru and therefore the audience don’t know what the Alternative IV plan is exactly, that progression can happen in whatever way without much consideration for how much sense it makes.
● The pacing throughout the series can be much tighter, especially in the first season.
● Kouzuki is stereotypically “sexy with brains”. Although it is cool that she is calculated and does not always reveal what she is thinking, the narrative abuses this by withholding information from the audience just because it needs to. She is also too capable and practically solves all the problems.
● Takeru is a nice enough guy. He is earnest but then at times pathetically backs off. It’s good to have flawed main characters and although he is far from outright annoying, one does want to slap him occasionally.
● Most of the other characters are merely convenient filler. In this regard, perhaps having the previous two parts would yield fuller secondary characters.
● Visually, the designs of mecha, human characters and the environment are mostly decent. The mecha cockpit and seating can be way more realistic, looking like a living room rather than a cockpit. The main weakness is that the aliens adopt the approach of having different “classes” which are very different from each other. As such, it looks too random and comes across as something seen in some cheap fantasy.
● The rendering is clean, going for that slick look. But it sometimes lacks detail, and it looks too simple and clean. It is not bad but it can come across a bit cheap.
● With the use of 3D, some of the mecha action is cool enough but sometimes the animation (motion) doesn’t look smooth enough. Like the rendering, it can come across as a little cheap sometimes.
● Although Season 1 does not focus on the BETA, which can be argued is not a bad thing, it needs to be tighter. Season 2 deals with the BETA but in a way that is too formulaic and the pacing can also be quicker. It also fails to provide sufficient details regarding some plot points and devices; for example, it addresses but does not entirely explain why Takeru can travel to an alternate world.
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