Speed-Luv Alternative ep 3: I’m gonna step on the Muv
In my opinion, this episode should be counted as 2nd episode, because the first one was more like an introductory prequel to the actual story. Hence why, if some of you want to apply the 3-ep rule, I recommend you to watch the next episode before deciding to drop it or not. Now, let us discuss more about this episode.
The episode started with an event from the past: the moment humanity achieved its first major victory, but with a heavy price, Operation Lucifer. This part actually went straight out from the visual novel and holy mother of goodness they did this part better than the visual novel, with the smooth mech movements, the close-up mech face shots… The quality is insane. This applies to the later TSF part as well. Even though the screen time was not much but sometimes, quality beats quantity. They also opted to use proper English Voice just like the Steam version of the VN instead of Japanglish like the original game. Sadly there’s no girl operator voice, but it’s very well done.
The animation for the characters is, well, mixed. There are parts that it did good, but some parts are just questionable. The frame drop did happen quite frequently, the character model from the casts were not consistent. This is probably the weakest part from this week episode. And the rush, holy damn the rush. Mikoto’s introduction is probably even flatter than her chest considering it passed through in the blink of an eye and didn’t hold any significant whatsoever. They really want people to read the VN to find out more about these characters.
The adapted part of this has skipped quite a lot of information, build-up from the original. It kinda shock me with how they adapted the first and second episode I thought this episode would be the same pace. I was wrong, the directors just pumped a lot of nitro and then cranked “GAS GAS GAS” on max volume. But then while writing this, I decided to rewatch again and realized that if they adapted the whole thing, it would be kinda pointless if you don’t have any knowledge about EXTRA or UNLIMITED, which are the foundation for the visual novel Altertive to shine. The anime did not adapt EXTRA or UNLIMITED so those parts, actually can be left out for the adaptation. All the girls’ emotion this episode was shafted and even Mikoto kinda just…blended into the background while not doing anything much. I assume only Meiya will get any kind of real investment (and another, but you know). It’s sad, yes but I respect the anime staff decision. Hopefully, the later episodes will be done better.
The adapted part of this has skipped quite a lot of information, build-up from the original. It kinda shock me with how they adapted the first and second episode I thought this episode would be the same pace. I was wrong, the directors just pumped a lot of nitro and then cranked “GAS GAS GAS” on max volume. But then while writing this, I decided to rewatch again and realized that if they adapted the whole thing, it would be kinda pointless if you don’t have any knowledge about EXTRA or UNLIMITED, which are the foundation for the visual novel Altertive to shine. The anime did not adapt EXTRA or UNLIMITED so those parts, actually can be left out for the adaptation. All the girls’ emotion this episode was shafted and even Mikoto kinda just…blended into the background while not doing anything much. I assume only Meiya will get any kind of real investment (and another, but you know). It’s sad, yes but I respect the anime staff decision. Hopefully, the later episodes will be done better.
But it’s not like it’s all rush and speed this episode. As always, the staff paid extra attention to the small details in the series, such as the Operation Lucifer scene and Yuuko’s obvious dissatisfaction after the BETA prediction when her pilots got KIA. We also got some really cool fanservice from Yuuko’s secret service squad, which is totally badass. And the Shiranuis look amazing as always.
