Post by Darthtabby on Dec 27, 2012 11:29:02 GMT -7
Anyone been watching Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse? Its one of those shows where you have to take the bad along with the good, but when it's good, its good. Its a spin off of a H-game franchise where the cast of a silly romantic comedy game ends up on a bleak alternate earth where humanity is in a war for survival against ruthless alien invaders. Which may explain the combination of serious military science fiction with sometimes jarring fan service and harem elements. The series also has an alternate history in which the Soviet Union still exists (its been too busy fighting aliens to break up) and Japan is still an Empire with a shogunate (this has led to some controversy, though I’m personally not convinced the series has the strong pro-nationalist bias some people seem to think it does).
The main protagonist of Total Eclipse is Yuuya Bridges, an American TSF (mech) test pilot who has issues with his half-Japanese heritage because of parental abandonment and growing up in one of the more backwards parts of the country. While he has excellent skills, he’s also considered a problem soldier, so he’s been assigned to a multinational R&D facility in Alaska by superiors who want him out of their hair. His first assignment: to act as the lead test pilot for the XFJ program, a joint American-Japanese program to upgrade the backbone of the Imperial Army's TSF forces, the Type-94 Shiranui.
The main heroine of the series (there are several) is Yui Takamura, the Japanese liaison officer for the XFJ program. She hails from a prominent samurai family and is a member of the Empire’s elite Royal Guard. She also views everything from a very Japanese perspective and lacks cultural sensitivity.
As you might imagine, sparks fly.
As I noted, its a series where you have to take the bad along with the good, but when its good, its good. A lot of the good parts are in the second half of the series, but the anime original second episode, which covers Yui's experience as a fifteen year old Royal Guard cadet whose unit is pressed into active service to defend Kyoto, is quite something and contains one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series.
The main protagonist of Total Eclipse is Yuuya Bridges, an American TSF (mech) test pilot who has issues with his half-Japanese heritage because of parental abandonment and growing up in one of the more backwards parts of the country. While he has excellent skills, he’s also considered a problem soldier, so he’s been assigned to a multinational R&D facility in Alaska by superiors who want him out of their hair. His first assignment: to act as the lead test pilot for the XFJ program, a joint American-Japanese program to upgrade the backbone of the Imperial Army's TSF forces, the Type-94 Shiranui.
The main heroine of the series (there are several) is Yui Takamura, the Japanese liaison officer for the XFJ program. She hails from a prominent samurai family and is a member of the Empire’s elite Royal Guard. She also views everything from a very Japanese perspective and lacks cultural sensitivity.
As you might imagine, sparks fly.
As I noted, its a series where you have to take the bad along with the good, but when its good, its good. A lot of the good parts are in the second half of the series, but the anime original second episode, which covers Yui's experience as a fifteen year old Royal Guard cadet whose unit is pressed into active service to defend Kyoto, is quite something and contains one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series.