Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「汚れ無き報復」 (Yogore Naki Houfuku)
“Untainted Revenge”
Continuing off from the previous episode, we get the progression down a multitude of story threads this week.
First and foremost, there’s the thread involving Mariem and Dahl, who finally meet and have their discussion. As Mariem attempts to recruit Dahl into the RLF, we’re treated into an exchange that pretty much highlights how messed up the Muv-Luv world is in general. In addition we’re shown how the two pretty much represent the two paths you can take to try and “revise the world”—which is either trying to topple the system to rebuild it, or trying to change the system from within. And as I mentioned last week, there’s just no right or wrong answer to it all. It really depends on who you are and how you’ve grown up, and the result is a scenario where you can’t help but feel for both sides. Regardless though, it really hammers in the tough decisions virtually everyone has to make if they want to make a difference—especially so for the Eishi, who know about the problems going on in refugee camps, but also know there’s only so much they can do about it while they’re fighting on the front lines for all of humanity.
Moving on, the next big thread involves the TSF force sent after Yui and company last episode. Outgunned in both numbers and ammunition (weapon types), Yuuya makes the choice to voluntarily stay and fight off the enemy in order to give the rest time to escape and resupply. Needless to say, it shows how much he’s grown as a character, and he gets some darn nice time in the limelight as a result. Inia ends up saving the day, but things are only getting started as the terrorists look ready to unveil a new surprise of their own, and Cui’s taken out of the fighting after Mariem’s sister tries to kill her with her kamikaze attack.
Still, this pales to the last major thread from the episode, which is the major part the Americans are playing in the background. Courtesy of a bunch of new revelations, we not only see that they’re trying to take advantage of the situation to ensure they still have the biggest supply of G-elements (not mentioned here, but used to make weapons), but also that they pretty much also tried to knock the entire Yukon base off the map in one swell swoop. The latter is counteracted by the release of the Laser Class BETA from the U.S.’s own research lab (the irony!), but there’s one more revelation this episode too, and it’s arguably the biggest one: the fact that the U.S. pretty much made it so they could knock off the entire Soviet portion of the Alaskan peninsula should the BETA invade past their absolute defense line.
Needless to say, the time’s ticking on Yui and Co. to both take out the terrorists AND the BETA to prevent the worse case scenario. Led by Yuuya’s plan to try and take weapons from the Soviet portion of Yukon Base rather than trying to retreat, we’re now put into a scenario where it looks like there’s no way this series won’t end with a bang. Gotta say, definitely looking forward to the remaining few episodes (time passes by so quickly!).
Preview
 |
 |
Yuuya’s love is a true love.
He wanted to go out at the Shiranui’s side.
And he wants to make sure that the second Shiranui, the product of his and the first Shiranui’s love, survives to the end. Just like how a parent would lay down his life for his child.
You know, I have to wonder.
Does this mean that Lt. Sandek has been sitting on Cryska’s lap the whole time?
Naaa. TSF’s have a side “seat’ to the left of the pilot that’s made of an emergency harness. Used in times where you need to carry an additional passenger. Not… comfortable at all though. 😛
EDIT: Though… according to Sol it might indeed be lap sitting for a bit. Sandek seems to enjoy standing most of the time though. Can’t quite tell for sure.
You’d be right. It’s the lap. They have the orange harness but there’s no seat.
…I’ll just throw this in for comparison…
no opinions from me this time (haven’t seen the ep. yet).
hasnt Yuuya take Yui for a ride back in Kamchatka the same way?
I am not suggesting any lap riding… oh, wait?
good episode yuuya and that boss dude at the end of the episode going to go at end at the end
Inia was scared but kicked more ass than anyone!
Merits to Yuuya!
You have to love how Inia is crying how she is scared…while blasting several enemy TSF out of the sky!
Badass adorable at its finest.
More divergence; stupid sexy Berkut isn’t supposed to appear (TE VN teasers show it appearing as a silhouette towards the end of them).
Ah well, they did need to give the big bad something powerful to cause trouble in.
Minor potential and known spoilers in the following guesses of next episode or three:
Show Spoiler ▼
Last but not least… (Another spoiler)
Show Spoiler ▼
Remember, you can’t spell “RAGE” without “AGE”.
Where did Lt. Sandek get his suit from?
I like how even within the RLF, they have a leader who seems to have a sinister agenda of his own, despite what the organization supposedly stands for.
Probably took it from the Terminator. Maybe TSFs have spare Eishi suits stashed in the cockpit or something.
I’m pretty sure at this point that guy’s not even really a guy fighting for the RLF, but rather inserted into the RLF to make use of the RLF where needed to make things easier for another faction (perhaps maybe the Americans).
Well the guy did tell his men to get rid of all those stupid idealists. So I guess you are right Zephyr:D
Being a fan of Cui, I almost thought the series killed her. Almost.
I keep thinking she’s going to get killed and this was foreshadowing.
Hope that’s not the case :/
How nice, they’re reunited. Not a bad episode.
If anyone wants a more detailed account on the battle this episode, the TSFiA short story In the Cage gives more a more description on how awesome a pilot Yui is. Personally I wanted Yuuya’s stand to be much longer, preferably with something like Storm Vanguard for a BGM. It was still nice to watch though.
This might be the first time in 10 years of Muv-Luv that I witnessed a successful ejection though that might be because there is a distinct lack of people-eating aliens. Cui is still hurt though and she is heading back into a battle without a TSF so odds are stacked against her.
The Berkut was definitely not in the LN at this point. Still its one of the few TSF that match the Takemi so it would make a good antagonist. Don’t care for the rest of the RLF though, as far as I’m concerned they are still a bunch of short-sighted idiots. Good riddance to Mariem’s sister.
Yeah man, I’ve thought so many times how much better the series could be if they just used some of the music from the original trilogy, but there’s probably a bunch of hoops they’ve have to jump thru to get permission from the composers to use it again. -_- SAD STUFF.
And yeah actually, now that you mention it… successful ejections don’t happen too often do they? Heh. -_-
As for Berkut, yeah I found it extremely strange it suddenly appeared because I had some prior knowledge about the pilot of it… and it wasn’t this unnamed Major. Either way I guess as long as it preserves the same result though, it’s just serving as a device to end the series properly, as I’ve also heard that the way the LN was structured, it would’ve been pretty hard to just end the series in this part of the arc.
So guess overall we’ll be getting a bit of anime original stuff to finish things off, which should yield some potentially interesting results. The original creator is assisting too so… Hmm.
TSFiA #30 (http://muvluv.wikia.com/wiki/The_Butteryfly_Dream) has the Su-47E not appearing at Yukon Base for another 8 days (although the short story has the terrorist event happening in August instead of September). However, the Berkut in the anime could just be a standard Su-47 that the “Illusive Man” acquired for this mission.
My heart nearly stopped with that kamikaze attack even though I knew it was coming. I do think that’s some foreshadowing there, though, or could simply just be a setup for her to get into the limelight by swooping in for a timely rescue.
Not sure how VG and Stella are going to manage either. Two against an entire group of BETA? Good decision, but potentially fatal.
The simple elaboration of details by Mariem in her conversation with Dahl is one of the reasons why the series is so riveting – It connects. In some form, what she says is actually a reflection of certain things happening in reality, in our own world, making it very much relatable and giving viewers a reason to pause and think about what’s occurring in various parts of the world.
Would love to read about Dahl’s past as a side-story too. Apparently this guy’s made some really tough calls and formed his own philosophy.
You’re in luck, Lt. Ibrahim Dogulu does in fact have a short story on his past and its translated: TSFiA#13 Battle of Rohdes
So I got to see how TSFiA #64 ends, although how the short story starts was more touching than how it happened in the anime. The little battle also shows the tremendous the skill and experience gap between the RLF pilots and the test pilots. They essentially squandered all of their missiles trying to take out one TSF. Yuuya, on the other hand, avoided all of the missiles and probably took out 4-5 TSFs (he wonders how many he shot down and how many were left) before help arrived. I don’t know how many he avoided. Each MGM container holds about 16 missiles each and there were probably 16 of them for a grand total of 256 missiles but those missiles in the anime looked huge, like AIM-54 huge, so who knows how many he avoided. Also, Inia firing with her eyes closed was cute.
Zephyr, I have to disagree about the two different paths being represented in the conversation between Mariem and Dahl. While Dahl definitely represents the change-from-within path, Mariem does not represent the outside struggle. An outside struggle is a rebellion, an open conflict where rebels are trying to overthrow an existing government, a tangible plan working toward a tangible goal. But because it is tangible, doesn’t mean it is easy to reach. Terrorism has had a long history of never working and has only caused a targeted government to clamp down hard on the perpetrators (and perpetuate the anger onto more people). The RLF members have lost all hope and are just lashing out and trying to justify their rage with some noble goal. This action will never promote the change they want because the victim will feel victimized and want revenge and not care a bit about the terrorists’ demands. Two episodes back one the TSF pilots in the security room was probably going to call the RLF a terrorist group before he was killed even though he was a perfect candidate to join–he probably rationally understood that the RLF would never affect any real change and was just a group lashing out against their mistreatment.
On a lighter note, Yuuya jokes to Yui about him confronting 24 TSFs alone was easier than taking on BETAs on foot, a jab at what she tried to do in episode 12. I bet he was trying to tell her that his suicide mission was less suicidal than hers, but a suicide mission is still a suicide mission.
Well, I mean, it is admittedly a debate whether or not Mariem represents the “outside path.”
I see where you’re going, but at the same time I just feel like given a big enough scenario, the terrorist groups may indeed succeed in at least bringing more attention to their plight and the plight faced by refugees who aren’t fighting with the RLF. Chances are it would result in clamping down to try and mitigate the formation and viability of these terrorist groups, but there is a realistic chance of also alleviating the discomforts of the refugees in an attempt to stop them from joining the terrorists in the first place too. And also, I don’t see many other possible options for any kind of alternative “outside struggle” considering how the world is overall eh.
Anyway, that’s just how I see it. 😛
If anything though, I mentioned it a few times, but I gotta say… this struggle really highlights the mental fortitude of the Eishi in general to be able to move forward despite knowing there’s so much wrong with the world and after seeing some of the worst of human nature. The manly tearssss!
By combining all of the historical facts I know about terrorists and their actions and what resulted (I am avid podcast listener to NPR shows like Fresh Air and PBS News Hour) I would define terrorists as a relatively small group of people using violence in an attempt to achieve some kind of goal. It is because it is a small group that they do not have the power or ability to constantly apply pressure to a government to affect the change they want. They commit their attack, shock the populous, then disappear for a period of time as they either have to hide or get hunted down. Terrorists have no real power beyond their shock value and the populous will forget rather quickly. The RLF is no different in that they will be wiped out at Yukon Base and their demands will be quickly forgotten amongst all the dead UN personnel that will be shown on the news.
I don’t like acknowledging any possibility of a terrorist act, real or fictional, succeeding because of the horrible precedent it sets and am glad that so far they have never succeeded. It is something that I feel passionately about because I believe such horrible means can never justify the ends as Lt. Dahl pointed out the RLF had no right to kill people just to achieve a goal. I have a similar view of torture and to former VP Cheney on waterboarding, with all due respect, FU idiot.
To add just a little bit more, if the RLF was a proper rebellion then I would sympathize with them but they chose an incredibly deplorable way of trying to achieve their goal, which pretty much shows that they lost their ability to reason. The fact that they are being played for fools by some shadow organization further proves how hopeless their plan was from the beginning.
A lot of groups that are/could be labeled as terrorists today and throughout history usually either DID some noble goal in mind (very few truly did though, IMO) OR merely try to mask their actions with some noble goal announced to the outside just to garner support for themselves, whether it be financial or otherwise (usually the case). Either way, if they weren’t already, and even if they succeeded in their endeavors, they tend to end up pretty quickly corrupt and become just as bad if not worse than the group(s) they were fighting against.
And even if the RLF succeeded here, there’s also no sign that they have ANY sort of long-term goals set for what they would do, on how they would “change the world”, after it’s all over. Sure, they would take out some important political bigwigs and expensive new TSF prototypes, which would definitely be a big setback, but still, not only is this just 1 group/base that’s a part of a BIGGER group worldwide they’d have to deal with after (and those others would want to do what they can to stop/get rid of the RLF for what they did before they can do more), but they’d also, after all their losses, would have not much left to use to go against the countless BETA already on Earth and STILL moving and, as we learn, a majority of their forces DON’T have any real military or combat experience beyond basic training pretty much.
If you take an objective view and a decently narrow enough definition of what being a terrorist means then it is pretty easy to know when a group is either a rebel or a terrorist. If you take the recent Libya and Syria conflicts as examples, then the conflicts are true rebellions, regardless of how the state media tries to frame them as terrorists. If the rebel group takes such huge losses or becomes disillusioned and breaks up into smaller groups that still continue to fight is when you start getting terrorist groups like what happened in Iraq because small groups as a rule can only commit small brutal actions in the hopes of gaining attention for their cause.
But yeah, there can also be an overuse of the term like when the US doesn’t count some collateral damage in their drone strikes because any male of “fighting age” is considered a legitimate target. That is just dishonest and lazy.
Yeah, quite a lot can depend on point of view. What may be a rebellion to the group instigating it may be seen as “terrorism” to the ones being rebelled against. Then it just becomes a contest on who can garner more support against the other while trying to make the other look like the real “evil” one.
Sadly, as we also know from history, things are rarely SO black and white, rarely a clear “good guy” or “bad guy”.
Alrighty, more and more revelations. Again BETA’s to the rescue from carpet bombing, thank you . And as suspected there is plot within terrorist plot, apparently by someone wnating to get his hands on best and newest TSFs…
The big revelation though is the “ultimate defence line” of hydrogen bombs. BTW in cold war there was a plan to set off a similar chain of nuclear mines at inter-german border making it if not impassable then hard to move past by hordes of Soviet troops.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Demolition_Munitions
RLF Soldier #? : “What kind of magic are they using?!”
Show Spoiler ▼
Reading the review, I couldn’t help but think of this :
Mariem : “Follow us Captain Dahl! Together we will destroy this corrupt world and build a new one!”
Dahl : “No! Nothing can come from terrorism. We must change the system from the inside. If I climb high enough I’ll become the Knight of One and… Wait, what the hell is a Knight of One?”
Mariem : “And why am I wearing a helmet and a cape?”
Together : “WRONG ANIME!”
Very funny! I like your parody!^_^
But, come on, don’t group ‘Total eclipse’ with THAT ANIME. ‘Total Eclipse’ has a very sound and carefully thought-out universe and military setting (although a lot of elements are definitely come from the original novels of ‘Starship Troopers’ and ‘War of the Worlds’) while that ‘WRONG ANIME’ is just:
1. piecing daily news (like Iraq War), hot military topics at the time (insurgency and RPG)
together
2. some way-too-common sci-fi elements (like ‘synchronization rate’ in piloting EVA…no,
Knightmare)
3. fan service, marketing (targeting female audiences as well as males) and,
4.on top of all, ‘heavily referencing’ Horro from ‘Spice and Wolf’ (that means, C.C.).
So, although I believe that ‘WRONG ANIME’ have bigger budget, MUV-LUV definitely got better story,
Or, to the very least, the creators of MUV-LUV franchise has put in more effort in making the best story they could come up with while the creators of that ‘WRONG ANIME’ simply pull the piece at a lower yet commercially safer level rather than push it to a new, ground-breaking height like how did Gainax make ‘Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan’.
By the way, I really laughed my ass off when Inia said “Yuuya I’m scared”… all the while shooting RLF TSFs like practice targets.
Somewhere, a screw fell loose. Lol.
Not going to lie to you. I laughed as well. ^_^
Boob physics have been increased!!
Well, you know, MUV LUV is originally a hentai game. Also, the franchise debuted around 2002. Back then, the shadow of ‘Neon Gensis Evangelion’ was still there and the image of skin-tight, body-painting-like pilot suit was deeply imprinted in many otakus’ minds, and his opened a kind-of-new approach of design of mecha pilots’ outfit.
So, with all these elements mixed in a hentai game, what is the ‘use’ of those way-too sexy suits in a mecha story full of young girls is just way too obvious.
TSF’s and ideals clash in this awesome episode of Total Eclipse.
Props to Yuuya for agreeing to go on what essentially seemed like a suicide mission just so that he could protect those precious to him, with a flashback to Latrova put in for good measure, and taking on the RLF with his lover… I mean partner, the Shiranui, alone. Sure, Inia’s appearance pretty much overshadowed him as she casually killed TSF’s left and right in her Terminator, but that doesn’t belie either Yuuya’s bravery nor the fact that he handled himself well under very daunting circumstances. He also gets points for coming up with a good plan for taking the fight to both the RLF and the BETA, one that not even Sandek had thought of, proving that Yuuya isn’t just a good pilot, he can also come up with clever strategies when it counts.
I seriously thought Cui was dead for a second there, though I’m glad that she managed to skirt out with just a few injuries. Of course, how could she die when she still hasn’t had her long awaited date with Yuuya? And if his reaction to her survival was any indication, he might just start looking forward to it. Well, that’s going under the assumption that they both live through this. Hopefully that pistol will keep Cui safe in this madness until she can get to the J-10X and get back in the fight.
So The Infinities are indeed sabotaging other nations in an effort to keep America as the top world power, all amidst a terrorist attack that the American government may or may not have been aware of, taking advantage of the RLF’s attack to carry out their mission none the wiser. Not to mention the fact that America has been keeping a contingency plan in place in the case that the BETA get pass the absolute defense line, a plan that basically screws over the Soviet Union. The worst part about it is that the BETA that are about cause said contingency plan? They’re from America’s own secret research facility, so essentially Argos, Yuuya’s harem, and Sandek have to go up against both the plans of the RLF and America. I’m not saying I don’t understand why the American government made such decisions, pragmatic as they are, but in the end all it’s done is effectively make it much more difficult for the cast to make it out of this arc alive.
The discussion between Ibrahim and Mariem was a major highlight of the episode. In essence, we had a clash of ideals between two people who overall want what’s best for others. Ibrahim did all he could to help refugees, becoming The “Hero of Rhodes” in the process, but both he and his men paid the price for doing the right thing. Ibrahim learned that to really change things, to really help others in this time of political machinations and monstrous alien forces, is to work your way up the ladder and change things from the inside. But Mariem makes a valid point as well. Are those who are suffering meant to just sit around and wait for this to happen? Should the innocent be left to wallow and die under neglect from the U.N., without fighting for themselves? Though while I can understand her noble intentions, I still can’t seem to find myself supporting the RLF, especially after they’ve killed so many innocents in their attack on the Yukon. Doesn’t that little girl who lost her mother have as much a right to happiness as Mariem and her sister did? To make matters worse, the idealist beliefs of the RLF is a front for their true objective, with those actually believing it serving as nothing more than cannon fodder.
If anything positive came out of this attack, it’s that Yui and Cui seem to have a newfound respect for one another, both as Eishi and as rivals for Yuuya’s heart. If they both manage to make it out of this alive, I’ll be interested to see their further interactions outside of combat.
So just as the main cast is about to mount a major offensive, the Major, who seems to be one of the few aware of the RLF’s and their leaders true objective, finds the Berkut… things are about to get extremely hairy. And here I was thinking the Berkut’s appearance in the op would turn out to be red herring! Judging by the op, it looks like it’ll come down to a showdown between Yuuya and the Major, who along with the Berkut may serve as the “final boss” of sorts for Total Eclipse, and going by the alterations to the ed in this episode it’s going to be one close fight.
With Ibrahim still on the inside, VG and Stella taking on the Laser Class, and the rest of the cast taking on the RLF and the BETA in a race against time, Total Eclipse looks to be ending in one action packed finale!
> proving that Yuuya isn’t just a good pilot, he can also come up with clever >strategies when > it counts.
I totally agree with you. I especially like the part that when Inia rushed to Yuuya while she is crying, Yuuya said: ‘Christ…stay close to me!’. This line indicated how much Yuuya is relieved when he was on the brink of death and, at the same time, being rescued by a crying girl who wiped out a couple of hostile TSFs just made it so ironic.
And yes, by the day the U.S. Army made Yuuya a general, the BETA will be reeling back.
> Yuuya’s harem, and Sandek have to go up against both the plans of the RLF and America. I’m
> not saying I don’t understand why the American government made such decisions, pragmatic as > they are, but in the end all it’s done is effectively make it much more difficult for the
> cast to make it out of this arc alive
Can’t be helped, take one look at the events during and after WW2 and you will find out one thing: while U.S.A. did obtained a lot of benefits from the war, other countries, like China and U.S.S.R. did tried to obtained or even had obtained massive benefits from U.S.A. Not to mention U.S.S.R. even exaggerated the military assistance they needed during the war to stockpile the surplus and used it against the U.S. in Cold War. All these were because out of the concern of keeping the Allied together and fear of unable to defeat the Axis, U.S.A. did agreed to a lot of conditions and demands from U.S.S.R. (or, more precisely, the bloody dictator Joseph Stalin)
Now, back to the story, given this unhappy memory, it is not a surprise that U.S.A. would not want to play selfless superman anymore as the U.S. has learned what does the statement ‘in war, beware of enemy as well as friends’ means, in the hard way.
> With Ibrahim still on the inside, VG and Stella taking on the Laser Class, and the rest of
> the cast taking on the RLF and the BETA in a race against time, Total Eclipse looks to be
> ending in one action packed finale!
Yes, I definitely hope so! I also hope there will be more sequels as the story of ‘Muv Luv’ is a rather big universe and ‘Total Eclipse’ is just a piece of it. Although I am not sure would the main story fit with ‘total eclipse’.
As I don’t want to give spoiler, for those who don’t know about the main story of Muv Luv, please look up the Wikipedia.
LOL…getting rid of the idealists….someone got played….HARD.
‘I know how this world works. Sometimes, you have to make the hard decision, but that’s when you have no other option…’
From Captain David Anderson in ‘Mass Effect’
So, that’s the ‘American secret’ they are talking about? Seriously, it is not a secret anymore as the Soviets have known about it all along!
OK, it’s limited to those on the need-to-know list but just like LT. Cui said, it’s just terrorists’ rambles.
From an objective point of view, the ‘Red Shift’ is a good plan. Remember what’s happened to Kyoto in second episode? That’s what will happen to the entire American Continent without ‘Red Shift’. As long as the evacuation is done with whatever reason, it is a sound military strategy. The terrorists are just using it as an excuse to sugar-coat their attack.
On the other hand, as I predicted in my earlier posts, the refugees are just pawns that will be ‘fired and forgotten’. The entire attack under the banner of so-called ‘voices of the voiceless’ is just another lies of the masterminds. As I always said, the refugees definitely deserve helps and sympathy but their actions had made them all saboteurs in war time, leaving them no way to be spared, especially after they released the BETA. Just think about these:
How many has already been eaten?
How many bomber pilots died?
How many will die in the future because of the losses caused by this terrorist attack?
How many will die just for cleaning up this mess?
This time, I have to say: no more second chance for RLF. Even if someone said everyone deserve a second chance or they just feel sad about how people are treated, my comment stands. Any more sympathy to RLF is bullshit as they robbed far too many ‘second chance’ from too many people already.
About the characters, Ibrahim’s image simply raised from a heroic commander to a kick-ass hero! The way he talked with Mariem (the terrorist who tried to convince Ibrahim) and his escape are all so cooled yet logical that I will make that scene one of my favourite! I especially liked the reasoning of Ibrahim: to only way to end the BETA war is to rise to a higher position, where you can do more rather than less! Men, what a good speech!
Another character who shined in this episode is V.G. Yuuya does kick-ass as well but I loved how did V.G. deduct that the best course-of-action he and Stellar have to take is perform a recon on the laser type rather than go to Anchorage as V.G. identified those bombers (probably B-2 Lancer) came from Anchorage. That means: Anchorage has known about the incident and responding, and its counter-attack (the air raid) has been neutralized. So, if the laser type allowed to remain, all reinforcements are futile effort.
Men, I love this anime. I love the characters, story, action and, on top of all, it seriousness of military logic. Although not everything are full-marks, like the design of the Eishi’s Uniform (lack of armor) and how weak their sidearms are (why would they only be issued pistols rather than sub-machinegun/ carbine or even personal defense weapon like P90 when they have to face BETA?), every episode managed to give me satisfaction, excitement and even surprise with a steady, well paced manner.
Just wonder has anyone licensed this anime yet?