Muv-Luv Alternative

Episode 10

The last episode of Muv-Luv Alternative gave us a vast, visceral illustration of a country's forces rent asunder over fundamental differences in political beliefs, so what if this week, they all sat down and just discussed it in dialogue some more? Okay, that's an oversimplification of a situation the show itself immediately recognizes is manifoldly more complex than can be hashed out via a simple back-and-forth, martial or otherwise. And the writing here actually makes good on the reasoning for all our main characters suddenly taking up time with this kind of discussion. And on top of that there are still some action cutaways that both illustrate the ideals being discussed and tie back to some of the Muv-Luv anime's foremost establishing content. So my immediate observation there is less of an actual gripe, and more just a simple acknowledgement that the pacing to get all that to happen this week feels just a bit more stuttered— necessarily uneven, even.

At the crux of this conundrum is the crisis of command culminated in by the ending of that aforementioned episode: Riding around at the speed of sound in Takuya's mecha has proven too much for Yuuhi's frail constitution, and the while our boy and the other members of the flight think it would be best to simply let her rest and recover for a few minutes, the American commander in charge of the UN's end of their efforts is staunchly in favor of simply sedating her with drugs and moving on. Now initially, unfamiliar as I am with the original Muv-Luv visual novel's mechanics, I considered if this represented a choice the player was presented with in that source format: In Takuya's place asked to make a decision as to what kind of risk to take with the Shogun's life. And I'm still not sure if that's what the deal originally was, but the direction the anime runs with this story point ends up making it feel interesting in its own right, regardless!

A combination of factual factors conspires to make Takuya decide that drugging Yuuhi is the incorrect choice pretty quickly, with most of the flight taking his side. Thus, it becomes a question of talking that aforementioned American commander around, and that's how we land on the ideological discussion this episode's presentational concepts are built on. There's a surprising variety and nuance to the points of view different characters posit for why waiting is the preferable choice, with still other counterpoints made by the commander. While it is darkly ironic to hear an American arguing the 'immaturity' of a nation bifurcated to the point of civil war, he is technically correct in this situation, reflecting as it does opinions espoused by other characters here (Takuya included!) that all this conflict is basically time and efforts wasted in the face of the BETA crisis. On the other end, you've got the likes of Tsukuyomi bringing back those whiffs of Muv-Luv's good old nationalism, arguing that the presence of other nations in Japan post-World-War-defeat drove them to have no choice but to idealistically splinter like this, which is certainly…a take.

All those are some weedy issues which would be dense enough asides in visual novel form, but mostly feel like a circuitous distraction in the format of this episode. And it turns out that's a sign of good writing because, wouldn't you know it, the whole thing turns out to be theater to force the commander to spend the time waiting regardless of whether he actually wanted to or not! It's a delightful reveal in the moment, doing a lot to alleviate any annoyance with the preceding Debate Club scene. If that guy can praise the effectualness of their ruse, then why shouldn't I, after all? I should've guessed that they'd know the best way to waste an American's time is to drag them into a petty political argument, they've sure got our number.

So while that's going on, there's another multi-TSF melee happening some distance away as other UN forces try to stop the rebels from closing in on our Shogun-escorting friends. On its surface this is similar to the action scene with the American forces we got last week, except this time we actually get to see most of the pilots involved, being that they're members of the 'A Squad' to the 207th Unit 'B Squad' our main characters belong to. This is really only a nominal context nod though, given that we've got even less context for these girls than that supposed primary set. Then again, since basically all the action drama in Muv-Luv has revolved around trying to articulate the feelings of people we haven't properly been introduced to anyway, this is about as effective as anything else in the show. One thing that does work in this case is how the battle shows the effects of the time-stalling that Takeru and crew are arguing for over on their side of the story, illustrating the human cost from the people protecting them. The structure even smartly cuts back to the American commander imposing this issue just as we watch some of the A Squad pay that price.

The other side of the A Squad fight that attempts to infuse some interest into the situation actually comes from the rebels' side: The prominent face among them being Sayoko Komaki, whom you might remember from way back in the anime's first episode! Some quick research actually informed me that Komaki was not present in the original game version of Muv-Luv, being a new character originally conceived for the manga adaptation before being ported over here. It's neat to follow up on her in this way, even if her espousal of her devotion to Sagiri's ideals mostly serves to impress how much the horrors of seeing that BETA attack may have turned her into a nationalist weirdo. Her inclusion is also useful for putting a face to the idea the A Squad pilots grapple with in this battle of having to actually kill their fellow man instead of monstrous alien enemies. Though that itself gets turned on its head given how Komaki turns out to be able to take the team on even with their fancy upgraded OS. It's easy enough to decide to kill other humans when it's apparent they have no qualms about killing you. So the thematics of these dramatics are a bit all over the place, but at least the presentation of the mecha battles remains as snappy as ever.

That's kind of the name of the game for this episode of Muv-Luv overall. It doesn't feel as tight or effectively intense as the preceding one, but the connective tissue is just interesting enough with the major moments landing with enough impact that I think it works. Most of the lacking elements are lingering side effects from the structural problems of the earlier part of the series— The lack of characterization and so forth (At this point, Meiya's sister Yuuhi has communicated more of Meiya's character to us than Meiya herself has!). But for what the anime's trying to do in this moment, it still seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.

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Muv-Luv Alternative is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris is a freelance writer who appreciates anime, action figures, and additional ancillary artistry. He can be found staying up way too late posting screencaps on his Twitter.