Episode Review: Muv-Luv Alternative ep 17: Reunion

Accomplish your mission with all your might!
Fight to your last breath!
Make your death count!

They did it! Those sons of a gun actually put a vocal song from the Visual novel into the anime! When the moment comes, they actually pulled through to deliver a faithful experience. 50% of the character animation still needed improvement, but the story seemed to have better pacing now; considering that we are about to enter one of the biggest arcs in Muv Luv Alternative, It is not a bad trade at all.

WINGS and Kageyama Hironobu is back. Holy hell, hearing it when Yuuko prepare to send Takeru back to the BETAverse is so emotional. As if JAM Project sang with Minami Kuribayashi for the OP isn’t enough, WINGS came back meant that if they don’t majorly screw up the upcoming episodes, we can get an honest-to-god “The Longest Day” – which is one of the most epic battles in Muv-Luv. Although there are some scenes that changed a bit from the VN, the anime delivered great emotional impact that is a great way to start off Takeru’s redemption arc.

As much villain vibe reeks out from Yuuko (BETA world), she did what she must, so that the world won’t meet its end. God knows how much she had sacrificed for Alternative IV, and Takeru is the one who knows better what had happened when it did fail. But then, how much will Takeru will pay for it?

Sumika, or rather S00mika has finally entered the stage. The visual novel readers have been in shocked when she was introduced because it was just too cruel if you think about the Sumika that we just left. Even more, Sumika is the 00-Unit, or rather, the 00-Unit IS Sumika, the very being that Takeru helped created. Fresh out of the hell that he just left, to come back to the hell that he ran away from, running from a damaged, almost beyond saving Sumika, just to encounter another Sumika that seems borderline psychotic. The sequence may be short, but if you put yourself in his shoes, I’m sure you won’t be able to keep a straight face.

Aside from that, the assembly of Valkyries was not bad at all. We have seen them before but aside from the visual novel readers, they have never been officially introduced to Takeru before. Also, we also had an official introduction from that survivor girl from the first episode, Usuki Sakura. I dont know when did she join Valkyrie, either it after the end of season 1 or she actually fight in the coup d’tat. But I just hope that she could get some characterization, not just become some cannon fodder. I’m not sure if anyone else realized, but we get some familiar faces from another romance anime – Rumbling Hearts (aka Kimi ga Nozomu Eien). The pink-haired Haruka and blue-haired Mitsuki, as well as Akane. Yes, Muv-Luv is connected to Rumbling Hearts. Furthermore, Captain Isumi was also from another Visual Novel connected to Muv-Luv: Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu. Alternative is basically the “Avenger” of Muv-Luv.

Next episode: Takeru’s next step to saving the worlds is…?

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