First Impressions / Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

「蒼ざめた焔」 (Ao Zameta Honoo)
“Pale Blue Flame”

The Blue Flag mock battle tournament gets under way, and everyone’s eager to take down a particular somebody. It’s just really hard to be the center of attention sometimes, but it sure looks like Yuuya’s starting to relish his role as that center. We got Lt. Cui on one end, Leon on the other, and we even got Cryska being distracted by him too! In any case, what can I say? This episode was rife with some darn nice developments as a result of this attention, and we viewers definitely reaped the benefit because of it.

First and foremost, perhaps the most notable benefit was the seemingly increased budget allotted this episode. Sketchy animation’s been a common occurrence throughout the series and heck, it’s even spawned a whole host of internet memes (such as Muv-Luv Alternative: Total “QUALITY”). But for once, we got some great, quality animation throughout, and I’ll be damned if they didn’t choose a better episode to do it. That extra detail on Cryska’s Eishi suit mid-way thru the episode! Part of me was blinking twice to see if I was imagining things, as well as wondering if it’d continue… and well, it did. The CG for the TSF fights between the Idar Flight and EU squadron had some amazing detail to it already, but I didn’t expect em’ to maintain it for the Bao Feng Flight vs. Argos Flight battle toward the end. Either way, it was definitely a pleasant surprise, and one I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more often. The added detail just adds so much to the experience, as does the addition of insert songs from GRANRODEO (NO PLACE LIKE A STAGE!) too. Just amazing, amazing stuff.

Moving on, it’s not all just action and visual eye candy this week though, as we get some nice developments and reinforcement of past ones too. The politics aspect gets emphasized further for one, as Leon and his American counterparts show their true intent, which is to enforce American dominance and to end the entire Prominence Project altogether. In addition, we see exactly why the UN bothered agreeing in the first place as well, which was to acquire various details on primary technology they currently don’t possess, such as the J-10’s sword. Guess in the end, it breaks even eh? You steal some of our stuff, we’ll steal yours. Sounds like a fair trade to me, albeit somewhat stupid, considering their need to cooperate in order to survive. But hey, it’s just the continued commentary from Muv-Luv in regards to human nature, and I’m inclined to think that if we were thrust into a similar scenario, we’d be doing the same thing. Humans really are enigmas when all’s said and done… but yeah, that’s enough philosophical pandering.

Continuing off from before after reinforcement of past developments, we get continued emphasis on Yuuya’s development and maturation as both a person and an Eishi. His acceptance of himself as a Japanese-American continues, and it’s surprising quite a few people in the process. It’s been a long time coming and not quite unexpected as a result, but it really is just nice to see. His skills have improved greatly with the adaption of Japanese technology and TSF philosophies and he’s notably nowhere near the arrogant asshole he was before… though that role’s now being taken over by Leon. Seems like there just has to be one of those guys around from time to time eh? Keep the motivation levels high, heh.

In any case, it sure looks like there was some romance going on between Sharon and Yuuya at some point before, which in turn seems to link somewhat to an event that Leon seems quite distraught about. Not quite sure what it could be at the moment, but hoping they’ll go into some more detail into that soon. Continuing on the romance discussion, gotta also love Cui and her assertiveness, as doing somersaults and saying things like “It’s okay to fall in love with me too” are some quite bold (and enjoyable to watch) actions/statements.

Looking forward, while it seems like things’ll take a break from the serious anti-BETA operations for a little bit, it doesn’t look like any of the coming episodes will disappoint at the least. The Infinities vs. Argos Flight battle’s coming up soon, and it’ll be a darn treat. Until then, here are some relevant pictures of some figures I’ve recently acquired regarding the Muv-Luv franchise:

  • Volks – A3 – Takemikazuchi Type 00-C/F
  • Volks – A3 – Shiranui Demonstrator Color
  • Revoltech SU-37M2
  • Volks A3 – Takemikazuchi Type-00A
  • And finally, the obligatory line of TSF’s picture.

    • Full-length images: 18.

     

    Preview

    50 Comments

    2. And then there were 5…

      Hot Russian girl? Check.
      Hot Japanese girl? Check.
      Hot Chinese girl? Check.
      Loli? Check.
      Short, spunky, fun girl from some other country? Check. (Was it Nepal?)

      Yuuya, you BETA blasting girl hoarding SOB you. Good job 😉

      Horus
      Reply

      1. Don’t forget his Shiranui TSF love. She took care of him; brought him back alive, and even helped to teach him to embrace his YAMATO DAMASHII side.

        And maybe Sharon.

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Really want to see Yuuya vs Leon Show Spoiler ▼

        Lurker
        Reply

    3. I would like to see Yuuya turn in a better performance in one of these fights. He beat Yui earlier because she was testing him. Cui was basically doing something similar during this fight. She was trying to force him to get serious. Even Yuuya basically admitted she could have finished him whenever she wanted.

      It’s nice that he is getting better. But I am still waiting for it to come together.

      Rukia
      Reply

      1. Yifei wanted 1v1 with Yuuya and that’s what she got. I don’t think she went easy on him, otherwise that wouldn’t explain that surprised [and blushing!] look on her face when her J-10X got cut in half.

        Sol
        Reply

        1. I don’t think Cui was holding back in terms of technique, she was swinging her sword at full strength enough to make the Shiranui buckle under each blow. But at the same time, she was certainly not following through with her attacks, as Yuuya noted she could have finished him at multiple points during their bout. Cui was likely waiting for Yuuya to accept her challenge and stake everything on a final duel.

          MasterDragonKnight
          Reply

    4. I think they skipped the best part. I wanted to see how the anime would do Yui’s jelly face.

      Its safe to say the Chinese Miku is now officially wet for Yuuya, and is a lot braver than Yui is. Cryska is getting there, but she still doesn’t understand the idea of attraction. Although it may have indirectly put Yuuya on the Soviet’s hit list. Meanwhile Yuuya’s former teammates are getting to reveal more aspects on Yuuya’s previous life.

      I did notice the bump in quality on this episode. I wonder what happened in the studio but it must have been good. This episode felt like the most Muv-Luv episode yet, because the characters sit down and exposit every detail on the different TSF and weapon design philosophies. Its like Kouki himself wrote the screenplay. The actual battle was more detailed and exciting than before and it didn’t feel stiff.

      fragb85
      Reply

    5. I really like how they explained technically how those swords work, as a mecha fan that was nice. Its also interesting to see how insane the Scarlett Twins can literally tear apart their competition in short order.

      I think I have a theory as to why they do the Blue Flag battles. Basically its to have a diversion from dealing with the BETA on a mental level, I definitely forgot about the possibility of being chomped on when I was watching the awesome TSF battles.

      Stabber Opsig
      Reply

      1. Its actually pretty funny that Yuuya was referring the PB Blade’e design as a marvel of Japanese engineering when he’s completely wrong. The Type-74 PB blade was actually invented in (gasp!) America. They came along the package of the first F-4J exports to Japan when they still weren’t making their own domestic TSF.

        I suppose I can chalk that up to simple ignorance. Nothing wrong with Yuuya embracing his inner YAMATO DAMASHII.

        fragb85
        Reply

        1. From the wiki entry:

          >”First planned by Japanese developers (of which Takamura Yui’s father was rumoured to be one of them) and manufactured by the United States in 1974, it is not in use with the US military.”

          Though [Citation needed]

          Sol
          Reply

    8. Yui needs to step up her game. Shes going to lose Yuuya if she keeps of this shy rutine up? Does she ever sum up the courage to confess?

      Can’t wait to see Yuuya reaction to Miku. The dense fool will probably just be confused. LOL

      Wissenschaft
      Reply

    11. Here i’m expecting some epic Takeru-style fight, and what i got is a set up fight similar to the battle against Yui… Not that i disagree with what shown over here anyway. =/

      Seriously Lt. Cui? I know that i said you being a potential candidate for Mr. Hot-Chick-Magnet Yuuya’s harem, but all it took is a single episode to get all lovely!? i fear(?) for whats gonna happen next… =D

      PS: I didn’t notice the animation upgrade until now. Hmm what was i staring at…? HMMMMMM

      Bakaro
      Reply

        1. Of course i’m not expecting till that level, it’s just a form of speech.

          I’m just complaining about Yuuya fight were mostly set-up, with his opponent not trying to defeat him, but giving him a lot of chancing. I just want to see some serious fight, from the start to the last second, letting Yuuya to prove his mettle.

          Bakaro
          Reply

    12. Total Eclipse keep getting better! Now I wonder what will happen when they change the OP and ED at around ep 20…

      If they left with great momentum, I believe the chance for original trilogy’s adaptation will be higher.

      zeroyuki92
      Reply

    16. Damn, Chinese Miku sure is interesting…
      That chinese sword looks really chinese.. DAT BLADE

      About the QUALITY, well, it’s Satelight’s style to get the CG perfect and the other animation not as perfect.

      Whatsht
      Reply

    18. well, this episode was awesome, totally enjoyable 😀

      but i there’s some inconsistensy in the position of blue united nations logo and red prominence project logo on Yuuya and Vincent’s jacket. It’s most noticable on the scenes when Vincent are talking with Leon and Sharon in the bar. Dang, im too lazy to take screenshots 😀

      DarkSlayer
      Reply

    19. Annnddd the russians is at it again. When will they ever learn ==; And how dare they experimented/brainwash the twins!!!

      Yuuya has obtained a new haremmate!! And a confession!! Congratulation to your life XD (I still ship YuixYuuya though)

      So diff country is allow to officially “steal” TSF data…. Wow can they actually do tht?
      Not to mention US is trying to stop their own project…. The situation is rly hopeless in ML-verse.

      Abt the QUALITY and the memes….I do not own a QUALITY scanner eyes lol. Mind showing some of them?

      D-LaN
      Reply

    20. Oh my this episode was full of goodness… from Cui pwning the Benelux team all by herself, to the exquisite duel between he r and Yuuya – followed by sommersaulting tsundere love declaration “ok, its not that I like you or something but it is ok for you to love me!”
      But the real deal that caught my attention was Cryska and Inia – it is now confirmed that they are product of some mad bioengineering and were raised to not even know what date is!
      Might I add that if humans were peace-loving, non-competitive species, they would not have any weapons to face the BETAs… If I can asses humanity’s aggression levels, it is just below the self-destruction treshold, and I’d say perhaps alien civilizations out there are dreading the day humans invent faster than light space travel…

      ewok40k
      Reply

    21. Russia = stereotypical communist regime (wants to demonstrate how communist regime benefits them all, and how great their country is…even if they lost half of it)

      America = stereotypical capitalist regime (wants to have monopoly of TSF production,even if almost all countries cannot afford their prices)

      paulrenzo
      Reply

      1. Japanese = stereotypical Imperialist regime (too concerned on trivial facts like honor, duty and suicide when the BETA are right on their doorstep)

        Rest assured Muv-Luv hates all politics equally. In the VN, Japan’s political climate ends up being a major theme in one of its arcs. In TE, Yui’s stiff, formal, unbending demeanor at first was portrayed as a flaw in the LN but the anime didn’t really portray that properly.

        fragb85
        Reply

    22. Budgetwise this was among the very best episodes. I enjoyed the fights with the split screen character portraits.
      Hopefully we wont have to wait until the last episode for another one that looks that good.

      Still playing MLA and very much enjoying it (reveal of a certain unit).

      boingman
      Reply

    23. Argos takes on Bao-Feng with the Phase 2’s true debut in this exciting episode of Total Eclipse.

      I was always under the impression that Yuuya was sent to the Yukon because he pissed off his superiors in America, but it looks like he did something else in the past that drove him away from his old squad. Though there is a good chance that Leon is exaggerating the severity of what Yuuya did, especially since Sharon doesn’t seem to hold anything against him. I’m more willing to bet it’s just something personal between the two of them, presumably over Sharon. And for the record Leon, it takes a smart mouth to know a smart mouth…

      Congrats to Yuuya and the Shirauni for managing to beat Cui and scoring a victory for Argos.
      Yuuya earned that win thanks to his gift for quickly analyzing and reading TSF’s, which allowed him to see the weaknesses of the J-10 and defeat it with the advantages found in the Shirauni. This skill will probably be what makes up for the power gap between the Raptor and Shirauni in the fight with the Infinities.

      +1 Cui Yifei to Yuuya’s harem. Now he currently has, a girl who has just realized her feelings for him but has no idea what to do, a girl who’s beginning to become attracted to him but has no idea what that even means, the sister of the previous girl who is drawn to him for some reason, a hot-blooded girl who appears to have a huge crush on him, and as of now he has a very forward hot-blooded girl who has practically just confessed to him. And with all these girls around him what’s the most Yuuya can think about? Of course, TSF’s! He probably had this extensive monologue about the Raptor where he analyzed it inch by inch, we just didn’t get to hear it. I kinda feel bad for the harem… though I can’t deny that I think their future interactions with one another, and subsequent vying for Yuuya’s attention, will be quite entertaining.

      I feel this series is going to end with Vincent being the one character who completely understands both Yuuya and his relationships, especially since he seemed to give a very extensive rundown of what’s happened so far in the Yukon, I.E. the series so far, to Leon and Sharon. And he seems to be the only character aware of how Yuuya is in love with the Shirauni, and TSF’s in general, which in a way puts him above Yuuya’s harem in understanding him as a person. I find that fitting considering he’s probably known Yuuya the longest out of the entire cast.

      Oh Yui-Hime… she’s trying her very best, even if the guy she’s in love with is not only super dense, but more affectionate towards his TSF than her. He was probably going to ask her for the name of the engineer instead of anything romantic. Thankfully Stella appears to be both on her side and willing to help her win Yuuya. I’m eagerly awaiting to see how Yui deals with Love Rivals.

      With Cryska beginning to lose focus, and with Yuuya appearing to be the cause, it looks like the Soviets have him in their crosshairs. They can’t very well have the Scarlett Twins under perform after all. He’s gotten on their bad sides before when he first encountered the Twins, and now they have even more reason to want Yuuya out of the picture.

      The next episode looks to have some more Yuuya/Cryska development as she tries to understand her feelings and why they’re adversely effecting her. I’m looking forward to seeing what answer she finds, if any, and how this will effect her relationship with Yui.

      Frontier
      Reply

    24. At the end, Yuuya was trying to ask Yui for a favor before being interrupted by Cui Yifei. My guess is that it was for kendo lessons. Yuuya is incredibly reflective of himself as of late, realizing his own flaws and shortcomings, and probably realizes his lack of formal sword training. Both of his melee fights against other TSFs has come from countering his opponent via raw skill (very risky) and he lacks training to mount a proper offense (he just swings his sword around). This will give Yui the perfect chance to have some alone time with Yuuya with a high chance for personal moments (like when they were alone with the Type 99).

      Yui has another advantage in Stella who has seen them show affection for each other, especially Yui who cried and called out Yuuya’s name in Stella’s Strike Eagle in episode 13. Stella has decided to involve herself in getting them together, albeit subtlety unlike the Vincent and VG who openly mocks Yuuya and Tarisa who just silently pouts in jealousy. Her cooking idea was genius and will probably have another clever idea before the show is over. Why she doesn’t have interests in Yuuya personally? Maybe some tragic events in her life or professional discipline in not being romantically involved with anyone in the team…

      MacrossFan
      Reply

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