Muv-Luv Alternative 2nd Season

Dear all VN readers - don't be swayed by false reviews in other side of the internet that claims that this is a blasphemy of an adaptation. Those saying that are just losers who quits the anime when it's in the lowest, just like people who quits the VN trilogy because of Extra. This adaptation is just as decent as it could be, and it's really good.

S2 has managed to bring some of the crucial part of the series to another level, despite setbacks that I can say forgivable due to the reality of the anime ground. Especially the most anticipated battle where half of ... the season is dedicated to it - and that's despite speculation that it would be sped up horribly as claimed by those false reviewers. It's doing fine by itself - very good battles and epic drama in it.

Yes, I could admit it can be better, but the anime is fine, I repeat, fine to watch it if you enjoyed the VN enough. No need to be shy and hesitative just because you hear things are wrong. It done its justice to the VN its own good way.

For anime adaptations based off of visual novels, Muv-Luv Alternative stands out as one of the better ones. This is no train-wreck adaptation like Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child. The MLA anime is legitimately good, season 2 especially. I'd honestly put season 2 above the anime of Robotics;Notes and Higurashi DEEN.

Anyways, let's get into the pros. As was the case in season 1, the mecha animation was absolutely phenomenal. It's eye candy to look at. It's what makes the anime worth watching for anybody. Moreover, the pacing is pretty good for the most part. They didn't try to do a rush job and adapt the whole thing ... in one go. They paced the whole story out such that if they were to adapt everything, it'd be done in 3 cours. Hopefully, we get that 3rd season some day.

That being said, season 2 had some unfortunate issues. As was we all know from season 1, the MLA anime demands prior VN knowledge from its audience via Extra and Unlimited. But because they didn't adapt Extra earlier, season 2 made some... interesting adaptation decisions. They rushed through one of the most impactful parts of the VN in chapter 7 because it was very reliant on its audience having gone through Extra. Episode 3 in particular was just unbelievably disappointing. Instead, however, they lengthened chapter 9, opting to adapt the manga at 2 chapters per episode for Sadogashima, meaning 4 episodes spent on what only took 2.5 hours in the VN. While this did mean that Sadogashima was handled superbly, parts of chapter 7 were handled very poorly. Additionally, as was also the case in season 1, we still have the rather stale and lifeless character designs and colour palettes. The 2D animation did improve between the two seasons but it was still not exactly the greatest thing in the world.

Anyways, if you've already played through the trilogy, the Muv-Luv Alternative anime is absolutely worth watching. Don't let the cynicism of the fandom fool you. Honestly, if it weren't for how poorly they handled episodes 3-4, I think this would definitely deserve a higher score.

This anime is not as bad as the VN purists would like you to say. As a matter of fact it is actually a much superior product that the disappointing gundam AUs of the 2010s. This is definitely the mecha show of the season and it certainly feels that way vs that new Gundam show that is more like a parody.

What people expected to be the berserk 2016 of VNs due to low funding, actually had phenomenal mecha action and sound mixing. I promised you the action does feel like it has proper build up, and you can really feel the tighter stakes and thrills. ... The sound doesn't feel like background noise and endless beam spams like the Gundam shows, but actually has the rhythm as they are building up to larger and larger stakes. It makes you feel like you are actually playing a video game vs watching a cutscene. The CGI rarely has blemishes like the regular 2d mechs where you can pause and see the bad drawings. Overall very well done for such a niche studio

The plot is definitely top notch and doesn't suffer from being proedictable. There is great surprises and you can really feel the trauma. There is definitely a ton of highs. They really did flesh out Takeru. Kouzoki for the most part does most of the talking for the series.

Overall, this is still definitely worth watching even if you haven't played the VNs. I do recommend watching Total Eclipse and Schwarzesmarken for more background knowledge.

At the risk of being ridiculed, I’ll make a confession. I like the Muv Luv Alternative anime. Yes, it may not be a perfect adaptation of an 80 hour long VN series, but it doesn’t need to be. No anime can be. The purpose of these types of adaptations is to drive up interest in the VN and to give you just enough of the story for it to be a competent story on its own, but enough that you want to seek out the VN to play. MLA anime, particularly season 2, did that perfectly for me and was one of the most enjoyable ... shows this season.

I will admit, season one of this anime had some rushed pacing and subpar direction at times. Even as an anime only I felt it was missing something. Season 2 has corrected a lot of those mistakes and from the very first episode it was apparent that pacing had been fixed, direction was fixed and that we would be in for a treat this season. The biggest improvement over that first season is for sure the pacing. There were times last season when it was hard to really care about what was going on because of how fast everything was going and how much was being omitted from the story. MLA S2’s pacing is much slower and allows you to get fully invested in the characters and their situations. I feel like this really benefited Takeru and other characters like Sumika, Meiya and others who play large roles in this season.

The story on its own is also just much better in this season than in season 1. There’s some genuinely “wtf” plot twists that we got in this season that legitimately stayed with me for weeks. I think we really got a much more candid look at the brutal nature of the war between humanity and the beta in this season. In season 1, we often just got descriptions and heard kind of an idealised version of things, but it’s very apparent in this season that this is not just some heroic everyone comes home at the end type of war. People are dying and sacrifices are being made and because of how well paced and directed the season is, you feel the weight of every loss.

Speaking of the brutal reality of war, it’s hard to discuss a war anime without discussing the action scenes. While not on the level of 86 or other top tier mecha anime, I think the production qualities of MLA S2 were substantially improved upon from the first season and there’s some pretty solid looking fight scenes particularly during that last little arc of the season. I was pretty impressed.

So, what’s the deal? Should you watch MLA or read the VN? I can only go off of what I am doing which is both. I believe that anime and VNs are different mediums and have their own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, the anime omits things, any anime adaptation of a VN will, but at the same time the voice acting, updated character designs and the fact that some episodes of the anime actually surpass the VN make the MLA anime worth a watch as well. Here’s to hoping we get more of the anime going forward.

MLA S2 gets 8 out of 10.

This season is a big improvement over the first in every aspect. The mech visuals are good as always, and they even got the classic VN OP singers back to sing the OP for this season. It's less confusing for newcomers due to reaching the more exciting part of the story that also does not rely on unadapted material that much and has many fights, the character animation is more consistent with far fewer weird-looking moments, and the aforementioned good mech animation is used for those large-scale fights to its fullest potential. Season 1 was already notably better after the first three episodes, but this ... season blows everything in season 1 out of the water. They really did well with adapting some of the key moments of the original story here, even on an emotional level.

Even though a season 3 is unlikely (season 2 was announced right after season 1 ended), I prefer the two-thirds of an MLA adaptation that we have through these two seasons, to rushing everything in 1-2 cours like we thought they would. To any VN readers who are thinking about watching this or dropped the show early on in season 1, trust me, it really DOES get better after the first few episodes in season 1, and especially in this season. For newcomers, I would first and formost recommend reading the visual novel or officially translated manga first if you want to understand all the details and get a more complete experience. But if you don't like visual novels or manga, you can enjoy this as a show with cool mech fights and some original ideas.

TL;DR: It's almost like this show is really goddamn enjoyable and peak hype when the focus is on the Mechs and humanity's desperate battle against this unstoppable, existential threat


Story: This is what we've been edging for!

When it comes down to it, this whole thing is about retaking Sado back from the BETA after losing the island in the first episode of Season 1. It's a simple premise, but up until the latter half of Season 2, the plot and the pacing felt whack and derailed. Sure, the whole thing about alternate realities and jumping between timelines to save the world is interesting, but if I ... want to watch something like that, I'd watch Steins Gate. I get that it's a melodrama still, but a lot of times it feels like I'm watching a different show. It's things like this why Season 1 was such a massive let down, and at worst, felt incredibly misleading. Muv-Luv has a great worldbuilding, has these really cool Mechs based on real fighter aircraft, and the BETA. Why are they not the focus?!

When we do eventually get to the part about retaking Sado though, everything picks up and the show instantly becomes much more enjoyable. There's still melodrama that would get people a NJP, court martial or even killed should it happen in real life, but it's not detriment to the story and actually adds more. This is how the show's melodrama should have been handled.

The climax of the battle is exactly something that you would expect from a show with a premise like this. It's perfect, it's bittersweet and the emotional impact felt deserved than forced.


Characters: More enjoyable this time around

The MC in Season 1 was not likeable, like at all. Seeing him suffer in the first half of Season 2, his shit getting kicked in and suffer some more was honestly quite satisfying and lowkey funny. But, because of what he went through, he was able to overcome and grow up as a character. He's still an angsty anime teenager, but he isnt as insufferable that you are actually able to root for him to succeed during battles.

The original 207B cast and the addition Sumika are still meh, but putting more focus on the Valkyries, in particular the squad lead and the rest of the leadership is such a welcome one. Despite not having as much screen time, the aforementioned Valkyrie characters are enjoyable. They act their part as the seniors and as combat veterans without feeling like bland, generic military characters. If anything, the Valkyries should have been part of the main cast instead of being the supporting ones.


Visuals & Audio: Hype, hype and even more hype?!

Evan Call, the music composer for this show is a peak hype machine. The battles wouldnt be as impactful if it were not for Evan's music, and that new track that plays during the Sado battles for a few episodes simply out-hypes "Not Yet Dead" from Season 1. The new Opening is also hype and hopeful, which fits the show a lot more than Season 1's Rinne by VWP. The ending music though, also by VWP is simply beautiful and bittersweet, it perfectly captures the vibes and emotions when it's played on screen.

The animation and CGI are about the same as Season 1 when it comes to "quality". There is no sense of weight and realism, it's fast paced and a spectacle, but it is very enjoyable. There is a very short scene in Episode 8 where we get a cockpit view POV inside the Mech during combat, it's delicious, it's hype and it gives us a tiny glimpse of just how fast faced and how much reaction time is such a big thing when it comes to close ranged TSF fights.


Personal Enjoyment: Stop teasing and give us the goods!

I say this as a Muv-Luv fan, the setting is wonderful, the worldbuilding is intriguing, the TSF / TSA designs are fantastic, and the BETA are disgusting and uncanny. The show is at its peak when we get these. For the casual viewer, these are what they probably expected, so give it to us! I don't care if the adaptation is faithful / unfaithful to the VN, dont waste our time by giving us these filler stuff that feels deralied to the main story.
When a good portion of the show are anything but the mentioned above, it feels like we're being teased in a bad way. It takes away from the atmosphere, the urgency and when you literally forget that there is an alien invasion going on where billions are already dead, that's not a good thing.


Summary: Stick to the premise!

If Season 1 was a cold unseasoned bagel, Season 2 is like eating left over cake for lunch. It could be better, there are more nutritious food to eat, but you'll get by for the rest of your day. You could skip the cold stale bread and only eat the frosting and the toppings and still enjoy it, but that alone could leave you wanting for more. The latter half of Season 2 is a fantastic example of the show's premise being fully utilized as humanity's desperate struggle against an unstoppable, existential threat - they really should focus on this way more.

Should a Season 3 exist, it can only get better from here.