Muv-luv

The main action takes place in the modern world with an alternative history, according to which during the Sino-Canadian expedition to the moon in 1967 , all crew members were killed by the mysterious aliens Beta discovered on Mars in 1958 . In 1973, Beta invaded Earth , destroying entire countries and devouring all the people in its path. In 2001, the population was 2.2 billion people, almost all the people of Eurasia were exterminated, and chaos, hunger and poverty reigned in the rest of the world, the UN policy among refugees was saturated with corruption and totalitarianism, and the military began to make up a kind of elite. The Soviet Union and the United States established powerful military bases in Kamchatka and Alaska . When in 1998 Beta attacked Japan, which for a long time could steadily restrain the integrity of the country and the stability of the economy, they killed 6 million people in the first week, but Japan managed to recapture the Beta army, while losing the southern part of the island. By the beginning of the main events, people managed to construct huge humanoid robots piloted by people, with the help of which they can fight off Beta. However, most young pilots die within a “critical 8 minutes,” mainly due to beta laser hits. Despite the critical situation on Earth and the close cooperation of the superpowers, relations between them remain tense, especially between the USSR and the USA with the Japanese Empire . Despite this, the powers are obliged to conduct joint exercises and introduce young pilots to internationalism and friendship in order to unite all forces against Beta.

Character List (Alternative: Total Eclipse)

Yuya Bridges ( ユ ウ ヤ ・ ブ リ ッ ジ ス Yu: I Buridzisu ) is the main character of the anime and second lieutenant of the US Army and the main pilot of the team created as part of the US-Japanese program XFJ. He grew up in the deep south of the United States , in a provincial town, where virtually no people of non-white origin lived. Yuya is a half-breed who was born as a result of the novel of an American and a Japanese soldier. Due to his Asian appearance, his own grandfather and classmates despised him. As a result, Yuya became a zealous US patriot and disgusted with everything Japanese , denying his father. He was one of the best pilots of American TSF, but due to the fact that the Japanese TSF are controlled differently, at first he did not cope well with them and quickly quarreled with Yui, not hiding his dislike for everything Japanese, she always scolded the guy, pointing out his futility , and Yuya in response is rude and humiliates her in many ways. However, later it begins to gradually approach it and adapts to the new TSF, calling it “blue light”. Later, his hostility to the Japanese passes, and even vice versa, he begins to be proud of his semi-Japanese origin and believes that Japanese technology will always amaze all human society. He is also the only one who is friends with the red twins and learns that contrary to rumors, they are not bad at all.

Seiyu: Daisuke Ono

Yui Takamura ( Jap. 篁 唯依 Takamura Yui ) is the main character of the story, she is the daughter of one of the creators of the TSF and the legendary soldier in Japan, for which she was nicknamed the princess, she was training with her friends at the TSF at the very beginning, however, when to Japan Beta attacked, they were still inexperienced released on the battlefield in the city of Kyoto . Yui witnessed how all of her friends and the commander were killed in turn by Beta, and when it seemed that the worst was behind, the three remaining girls were shot down, and in front of Yui, the last two girls were eaten alive by Beta, she shoots the last one at her request so that she can die instantly before being eaten. Yui herself miraculously remains alive when other pilots come to her aid, destroying Beta. A few years later, Yui becomes a lieutenant in the imperial guard of Japan. She herself is radically changing and becoming extremely serious and gloomy after the tragedy with her first real battle on the robot. At first she treats Yue very badly, seeing his confusion during the battle and open Japanese-phobia, and all the time she lectures, indicating the complete inexperience and inability of the guy to pilot. But later it becomes softer towards Yue, learning about his difficult childhood and begins to nourish romantic feelings.

Seiyu: Mai Nakahara

Ibrahim Dahl ( イ ブ ラ ヒ ム ・ ド ー ゥ б Iburahim Do: ur ) is the commander of the team Argod and the formal lieutenant of the 94 Turkish battalion "Cobra", he values ​​his pilots very much, since he lost almost all of his allies on the European front. Widely known for his great help to refugees in the Middle East, but does not consider himself a hero. In almost all situations, he remains calm and sensible.

Seiyu: Rikiya Koyama

Talisa Manandal ( Jap. タ リ サ ・ マ ナ ン ダ ル Tarisa Manandaru ) - the second Nepalese army lieutenant and pilot of the TSF, is Gurkha , known for her great spirit of valor and victory. Despite her status, she looks like a small teenager, is quick-tempered, cheerful and does earlier before she thinks. For this, the team often tease her, giving her different nicknames. He stands for friendship, regardless of where the person came from.

Seiyu: Sakura Nogawa

Valerio Giagosa ( Jap. ヴ ァ レ リ オ · ジ ャ コ ザ ザ Varerio Dziako: dza ) - second lieutenant of Italy and pilot of the TSF. Very friendly, smart. He likes to flirt with ladies and pin up the main characters, especially Talis and Yuya.

Seiyu: Kenji Hamada

Stella Bremer ( Jap. ス テ ラ ・ ブ レ ー メ ル Sutera Bure: mayor ) is Sweden's second lieutenant and pilot of the TSF, she is a professional sniper. Very kind, but sometimes likes to tease his comrades. It treats the USSR badly and the Russians in general.

Seiyu: Sayaka Ohara

Vincent Lovell ( ヴ ィ ン セ ン ト · ロ ー ウ ェ ル Vincento Ro: era ) is a US Army sergeant and chief mechanic at Yukon Base, Yui’s best friend.

Seiyu: Tomokazu Sugita

Red twins

• Two sister pilots, and the central figures of the series, along with Yui and Yui, about whom little is known, except that they are the strongest pilots of the Soviet army and during training they show the best results, ruthlessly destroying enemies. For this they are afraid, in particular, when they should attend joint events and exercises. When Yuya gets to know them, he realizes that they are not scary at all, but loving sisters, with their dreams and interests, which, however, simply do not have the opportunity to communicate with others, since Soviet bases pursue a policy of strict isolationism.

Kriska Bjachenova ( Jap. ク リ ス カ ・ ビ ャ ー チ ェ ノ ワ Kurisuka Bya: tenova ) is an elite TSF pilot of the Soviet army. The eldest of the red twins, she is very serious and at first glance it seems cold, but she treasures Iniya like a younger sister. Since Kriska grew up in the laboratory, she knows almost nothing about human relationships and for the first time from Yui learned what love is, later she falls in love with him, at first not understanding her feelings.

Seiyu: Hitomi Nabatame

Iniya Shestina ( イ ー ニ ァ ・ シ ェ ス チ ナ I: Nia Sesutina ) is the youngest of the red twins, an elite pilot of the TSF. Looks like a teenager. The most harmless of all the characters. She always carries with her a teddy bear, whom she nicknamed "Misha." Very kind and naive. Trusts his older sister. Once, because of her ignorance, she led Yuya to a Soviet base, where the guy was caught and ready to be interrogated under torture. Later falls in love with Yuya.

Seiyu: Mamiko Noto

Fats Latrov ( Japanese. フ ィ カ ー ツ ィ ア ・ ラ ト ロ ワ Fika: Tsia Ratorova ) - commander of the battalion of pilots of the TSF, consisting of national minorities of the former Soviet republics. Despite the fact that her subordinates are very embittered with the Russians (they beat Kriska), the Soviet Union and all the elite pilots of the American base (in particular, they hated Yuya), Fikatsia closes her eyes to this, because she knows the policy of the Soviet Union, according to which For the most part, only minorities are sent to the front, and the Russians constitute an elite layer. Although Ficia herself is Russian, she is ashamed of her origin. By all means, she takes care of the members of her team who answer her the same. It disappears with the whole team when it sets off on its own free will to destroy all beta lasers. However, her further fate is unknown, in the last frames it can be seen that Fiction meets the TSF belonging to the Red Twins.

Seiyu: Takako Honda

Chui Jifei ( 崔 亦 菲 Kui Jifei ) is the first lieutenant of the Chinese front. The leader of the Bao-Feng TCF pilots team known for its great strength and skill. Very self-confident and at first intended to completely “break” the team of Yui and Yui. However, she was defeated, and declared herself Yui's mistress and bride, after she noticed that Yui was secretly in love with Yui, and began to put pressure on her to let her fall behind him. Very strong in close combat.

Seiyu: Kaori Ishihara

Leon Kuze ( Japanese レ オ ン ・ ク ゼ Reon Kuze ) is a member of the 65th US combat training group. Once upon a time he was friends with Yui and studied with him at the same school. Like Yui, he is half Japanese, however, a zealous US patriot, and denies Japanese roots. Hates Yuya, especially after Rick Sven was killed through his fault.

Seiyu: Wataru Hatano

The gameplay focuses mainly on the player’s interaction with the characters, most of the time the player should read the text displayed at the bottom of the screen, develop a dialogue between other characters, or the inner thoughts of the controlled hero. The player must make decisions, thereby choosing one of several options for the development of the plot. In each storyline, you can choose according to a certain controlled character, there are 12 possible endings to the story and in order to view all the storylines, the player must repeat the game several times. The game may end unsuccessfully if the player makes the wrong decision, but he can return to the previously saved place to try again.

Muv-Luv is divided into two story arches: Extra and Unlimited , which are the various phases in the overall plot of the story. At first, only the Extra Arch is available, but after receiving the endings of the two main characters, Sumiki Kagami and Mayi Mitsurugi, the player gains access to the Unlimited Arch.

Muv-Luv was first released on CD February 28, 2003 for Windows ^[1] , and April 30, 2004 was released on DVD ^[1] . A fan disc called Muv-Luv Supplement was also released, which included short extras, desktop wallpapers, audio dramas, and a trailer for the upcoming Muv-Luv Alternative game. A limited edition was released on DVD on December 17, 2004, and a simple edition on December 24 ^[2] .

Muv-Luv Alternative is a continuation of the history of Muv-Luv and begins after the end of the Unlimited arc from the original game. The DVD game was released on February 24, 2006 ^[3] , and the CD version was released on March 3, 2006 ^[3] . A Muv-Luv Alternative game disc called Muv-Luv Altered Fable was released on August 31, 2007, which offers an alternative Extra storyline from the original game, also a radio drama, desktop wallpapers and a short story from Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse ^[4] .

New versions of the game Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative without elements of an erotic nature were released on September 22, 2006 ^{[5] [6]} . Version of the game adapted by 5pb. for the Xbox 360 was released on October 27, 2011 ^{[7] [8]} .

The opening of Muv-Luv's “Muv-Luv” ( マ ブ ラ ヴ ) is performed by Minami Kuribayashi . The closure for the extra addition to the game is “I Will,” and for the Unlimited expansion, Harukanaru Furusato no Uta ( я か な る 地球 の 歌 ) , both pieces are performed by Minami Kuribayashi . In the new version of the game with no age restrictions, the opening of "divergence" is performed by Minami Kuribayashi . To complement Unlimited, the opening - -sion- ( 紫 音 -sion- ) is performed by Masami Okui . The endings in the new version are as follows: “I will” performed by Minami Kuribayashi , Kizu wa Kaseki ni Narenai Keredo ( Japanese 傷 は 化石 に な ら な い け れ ど ) performed by Aki Misato , Astraea performed by Miyuki Hashimoto and Little More ( Japanese ア リ リト , performed by CooRie .

Discoveries to be continued Muv-Luv Alternative - Asu e no Houkou ( Jap. 未来 へ の ет ) performs JAM Project ( eroge ) and "NAME ～ Kimi no Na wa ～" ( Jap. NAME ～ 君 の 名 は ～ ) also performs JAM Project (for the version without age restrictions). The ending for the two versions of the game is the same - "Muv-Luv (2005 ver.)" ( Japanese マ ブ ラ ヴ (2005ver.) ) , Performed by Minami Kuribayashi .

Three manga based on the Muv-Luv game and its sequel, Muv-Luv Alternative, were published by MediaWorks (later becoming ASCII Media Works ) in Dengeki Daioh magazine . The first manga called Muv-Luv was written and illustrated by Ukyou Takako, in which the plot unfolds around an additional part of the main gameplay of the first game. The manga was published by MediaWorks and assembled in 3 volumes. The second manga, based on the Muv-Luv Unlimited game, was written, illustrated by Tomo Hiryokawa and collected in 4 volumes. The third manga Muv-Luv Alternative was written and illustrated by Azusa Mahima and is based on the second part of the game of the same name. Manga began to be released in February 2007 in Dengeki Daioh magazine . As of February 12, 2012, ASCII Media Works released 7 manga volumes. 3 Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse novels were written and illustrated by Takashi Ishigaki and published on February 12, 2012.

On July 24, 2011, an anime adaptation of the novel Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse was announced ^[39] . The series was released by Satelight Studios ^[40] and broadcast for the first time on Japanese TV channels TV Tokyo , TV Osaka , TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting , TV Hokkaido , AT-X , TV Setouchi , TV Aichi and Nico Nico Douga since July 2, 2012.

According to a review of the first 6 episodes of anime, Anime News Network spokeswoman Rebecca Silverman noted that the series itself turned out to be very unusual. On the one hand, it clearly traces the origin of the erotic game, in particular frank female pilot suits, as well as scenes where the main characters appear in swimsuits. The first 2 episodes are very different from the series, especially the second episode, which was distinguished by a special atrocity, where it is clear that the main character loses an entire team in a matter of minutes, consisting of her best friends, two of whom are alive by the aliens Beta. In subsequent series, you can pay attention to the fact that the picture is very close to realism, the main characters suffer from prejudice, and the political situation in human society that could have arisen if the catastrophe actually happened was credibly demonstrated ^[41] .

According to a review by a representative of world-art, the series turned out to be very heterogeneous, in particular, the 2 series are radically different from the rest of the series, they demonstrate all the horror that humanity suffers when defending itself from aliens from Beta. The next series concentrate on the relationship between the main characters, as well as the policies of various surviving states, the series itself does not reach the second series in terms of severity. It is striking how the policy of the Soviet Union is presented here in a negative light, their unfriendliness and "inhuman plans" regarding their comrades and all other people. At the same time, the authors managed to ascribe to the Russians fictitious political racism, according to which all Russians represent the elite, and in fact only residents of the former Soviet republics fight on the fronts. But the American UN is also shown here in a negative light, in particular with its corrupt and dishonest policy towards the refugees whose lands were captured by Beta. It is noteworthy that the plot manages to keep the viewer in suspense until the very end, but the topic about Beta herself is too poorly disclosed, which at the end of the series completely falls into the secondary plan. It is also striking that the first two series are more budgetary than the rest ^[42] .

• Muv-Luv Official Website (Japanese)
• Anime “Muv-Luv” in the encyclopedia of Anime News Network
• Anime “Muv-Luv” in the AniDB Database