Muv-Luv Alternative ep 12: A New Dawn
And here we are, the finale of the “prologue”.
We start this review with the episode 12. 2 things that have been the advantage of this adaptation: the TSF animation and music, as always, shine bright like a diamond. Even though compare to episode 6 or episode 10, it did have lesser than them, but thanks to the building up in atmosphere from the previous episode, the climax has been achieved in some good way. But the problems are still there: the emotion of the majority of the main cast are left out, only Meiya, Takeru and probably Tama could connect with the fans, while Ayamine, Chizuru and especially Mikoto got left out badly. Ayamine even though she had the thickest connection with the antagonist of this arc and a great voicing part thanks to her seiyuu, sadly the content rushing could not make the anime only fan sympathize with her. Chizuru got the second worst straw, when lots of moment for her to develop got reduced of cut out, but she was not the most unfortunate case, that would be for Mikoto.
We start this review with the episode 12. 2 things that have been the advantage of this adaptation: the TSF animation and music, as always, shine bright like a diamond. Even though compare to episode 6 or episode 10, it did have lesser than them, but thanks to the building up in atmosphere from the previous episode, the climax has been achieved in some good way. But the problems are still there: the emotion of the majority of the main cast are left out, only Meiya, Takeru and probably Tama could connect with the fans, while Ayamine, Chizuru and especially Mikoto got left out badly. Ayamine even though she had the thickest connection with the antagonist of this arc and a great voicing part thanks to her seiyuu, sadly the content rushing could not make the anime only fan sympathize with her. Chizuru got the second worst straw, when lots of moment for her to develop got reduced of cut out, but she was not the most unfortunate case, that would be for Mikoto.
Why was she there? She did not have that much role in the anime when her main stage was cut out completely. It felt like she was there just to have enough member for the team. Frankly, even her dad was developed better in anime than her. In the visual novel she was someone that you could you say, she is a bro to you (but no one said “Mikoto-bro”, that would be for another character. Man, Mikoto’s fans sure had a tough time. You can say she has almost as much screentime as the mysterious girl from episode 1 that now has joined the Valkyrie, which was also a surprise to me. An anime-original character joining a very significant squad? Now this is setting up for something.
The music in episode 12, well what can I say, they did a great job, the same with the sound department and the seiyuus. For the 2D sides, thank god that there was no strange-looking frames, or strange enough that my eyes could notice. But of course there are some moments that would make you think: the staffs kinda overdid the emotion on the face of characters, and their deaths as well. There are some scenes that were adapted from the manga, that was arguably better than the VN (because the VN didn’t have them anyway). The scene where Takeru fly up side-by-side with Yuuhi’s TSF while carrying Meiya is one of the best moment this season.
The music in episode 12, well what can I say, they did a great job, the same with the sound department and the seiyuus. For the 2D sides, thank god that there was no strange-looking frames, or strange enough that my eyes could notice. But of course there are some moments that would make you think: the staffs kinda overdid the emotion on the face of characters, and their deaths as well. There are some scenes that were adapted from the manga, that was arguably better than the VN (because the VN didn’t have them anyway). The scene where Takeru fly up side-by-side with Yuuhi’s TSF while carrying Meiya is one of the best moment this season.
The rest, 8/10. Walken is my favorite sub character. He was a great man, great soldier and not afraid to admit his country’s fault. Too bad good men are usually the ones to die first. On the other hand, Komaki, her job is probably done here, considering the later arcs she did not have any roles in the original visual novel, but time will tell.
Now, the first season verdict.
For me, the first season feels like an introduction arc for viewers, to let people connect with the characters, the world, etc but they also want to give old fans a service treat. The rushing hurts the adaptation in plots, characterization, 2D animation but the mecha animation, sound department, music, seiyuus and the passion of the staffs balanced back the negatives. Especially when the mecha, the TSFs entering the stage, not much faults you could find in those scenes. The staffs understand what their advantages are, focus on them and minimize the disadvantages as many as possible. If I’m strict, 6-6.5 would be an ok point. But I would like to give them a 7 for the enjoyment It gave to me and my friends.
Next stop, season 2. The fight with the BETA has yet to begun.
Now, the first season verdict.
For me, the first season feels like an introduction arc for viewers, to let people connect with the characters, the world, etc but they also want to give old fans a service treat. The rushing hurts the adaptation in plots, characterization, 2D animation but the mecha animation, sound department, music, seiyuus and the passion of the staffs balanced back the negatives. Especially when the mecha, the TSFs entering the stage, not much faults you could find in those scenes. The staffs understand what their advantages are, focus on them and minimize the disadvantages as many as possible. If I’m strict, 6-6.5 would be an ok point. But I would like to give them a 7 for the enjoyment It gave to me and my friends.
Next stop, season 2. The fight with the BETA has yet to begun.
>Reryuu<
