Muv-Luv: Difference between revisions

[[File:logo8_4955.jpg|framethumb|350px|''Muv-Luv'']]

{{quote| ''Save in the name of true love.''}}

{{quote| ''Even if your own life is what's most important to you, you can't protect it alone.''}}

Completion of the two endings<ref>Sumika's and Meiya's</ref> of the "main route" in ''Extra'' unlocks the ''Unlimited'' portion of ''Muv-Luv''.

In ''Unlimited'', Takeru wakes up one morning to discover that the rest of the city around him is in ruins, and Sumika is nowhere to be found. He later finds out that he's in an alternate world to ''Extra'', where aliens called BETA (an acronym for "Beings of Extra Terrestrial origin. Adversaries to the human race") have invaded Earth and mankind fights back against the alien aggressors with [[Humongous Mecha]] called ''Senjutsuhokousentouki'' (戦術歩行戦闘機), "Tactical Surface Fighters", as almost all conventional weapons before simply didn't work. ''Unlimited'' relates Takeru's story as he tries to adjust to military life in an unfamiliar world, while rebuilding relationships with his friends. All of the major characters from the ''Extra'' timeline are present in ''Unlimited'', except for Sumika, {{spoiler|and the ''Unlimited'' world's Takeru, who is said to be dead}}. The characters are, for the most part identical to their ''Extra'' counterparts, with the possible exception of Mikoto, who is now female.

{{quote| ''This is the alternative ending unable to be told before: <br />

The sequel to ''Unlimited'' and released [[Schedule Slip|after several delays]] around 3 years later.

After 3 years in the ''Unlimited'' world, Takeru wakes up to find that he has rewound back to the beginning of ''Unlimited''. Unable to accept the result of what happened at the end of ''Unlimited'' ({{spoiler|mass evacuation of Earth, followed by the remaining humans' last stand against the BETA}}), he strives to find a method that could give humanity victory. ''Alternative'' also includes Michiru Isumi from age's debut game ''Kimi Ga Ita Kisetsu'', which got a remake in 2011 (in which Touko Kazama and Misae Munakata also appear), and Mitsuki Hayase, Haruka Suzumiya (Akane's sister), along with Akane herself, from ''[[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien]]''. The composers from ''Muv-Luv'' return for the music, which also features contributions from [[JAM Project]], Hijiri Anze (''[[Resident Evil Code: Veronica]]''), Hikaru Nanase (''[[Zone of the Enders]]'', ''[[Chrno Crusade]]''), and Taku Iwasaki (who would later compose for ''[[Soul Eater]]'' and ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'').

A port of the series to the Xbox 360 was announced by 5pb, co-creators of ''[[Chaos Head|Chaos;Head]]'' and ''[[Steins Gate|Steins;Gate]]'' with [[Nitroplus]] and was released in October 2011. ''Total Eclipse'', one of the many side stories, [http://muv-luv-te-anime.com/ will receive an anime adaptation in Summer 2012].

You can find (and please add to) other tropes and fandom reactions [[Muv -Luv (Visual Novel)/YMMV|here]], Crowning Moments of Awesome [[Muv -Luv (Visual Novel)/Awesome|here]], funny moments [[Muv -Luv (Visual Novel)/Funny|here]], and depressing moments [[Muv -Luv (Visual Novel)/Tear Jerker|here]].

Please contribute to the [[Muv -Luv (Visual Novel)/Characters|character sheet]].

* [[Brain In Aa Jar]]: In ''Unlimited'' / ''Alternative'', Takeru often sees Kasumi in a room with this. {{spoiler|''Alternative'' reveals that it is all that remains of Sumika.}}

{{quote| '''US Pilot''': Attention, unidentified craft! Enable your real-time interpreter, or, follow the UN mandate procedure, and identify yourselves in English. That's the official international language.<br />

'''JP Pilot''': {{spoiler|You are a foreign nation intervening in a domestic affair. Cease all hostilities at once!}}<br />

'''US Pilot''': Repeat. Speak in English, the official language. I don't understand what you're saying.<br />

'''JP Pilot''' ''(presumably activating his interpreter)'': {{spoiler|To the American Army. [[Memetic Mutation|English can eat shit. I repeat - English can eat shit.]]}}<br />

* [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him|Dropped Two G-Bombs on Him]]: The ''Unlimited''/''Alternative'' prequel/side story ''Operation Zero'' implies that {{spoiler|[[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien|Narumi Takayuki]] [[Leeroy Jenkins|ignored an urgent retreat order]] during the attack on the Yokohama Hive and was caught up in the resulting blast.}}

* [[Due to Thethe Dead]]: One responsibility of a Valkyrie who witnessed a comrade fall in battle is to tell of her last moments to the remaining squadron members, so that her memory lives on. {{spoiler|For Granny Kyozuka the camp cook, her due is to cook the deceased's favorite dish.}}

* [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]/[[Face Death Withwith Dignity]]: Invoked in the worlds of ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'': all TSF pilots are trained to be prepared for death, so long as their deaths count for something or is something they could be proud of. {{spoiler|This is why, in the ''Alternative'' sidestory ''Succession'' set in the aftermath of Michiru Isumi's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] during the Sadogashima Hive battle, her younger sister, a pilot in the Imperial Army herself and a survivor of the same battle, was unable to accept the official reason given for Michiru's death: a freak training accident on the day of the assault.}}

* [[Expy]]/[[Captain Ersatz]]: Takahashi Ichimonji, Meiya's limo driver, is basically [[Initial D|Ryousuke]] [[Takehito Koyasu|Takahashi]] in personality and traits - stoic, always with a laptop, formulating a Theory of Maximum Street Velocity - with the face of [[Initial D|Takumi Fujiwara]]. Yuuko is a [[Rule 63|genderbent]] [[Super Robot Wars|Shuu Shirakawa]], and Meiya has a hairstyle taken from the [[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory|RX-78GP02A Physalis]], while {{spoiler|her twin sister Yuuhi}} has one from the [[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory|AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra]]. In sidestories we also see Meiya's grandfather and training master, who look like, and are named after, [[Raideen]] and [[Grendizer]] respectively, while {{spoiler|Yuuhi's}} master's name is a pun on [[God Sigma]]. The ongoing sidestory ''Schwarzesmarken'' adds Captain Ersatzes of [[Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (Anime)|Meat]] and [[Guilty Crown (Anime)|Tsugumi]].

** Pay no mind to the fact that Meiya looks every similar to [[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien|Mitsuki]] and Sumika looks similar to [[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien|Haruka]] or that Sumika gets hit by a car in "Extra" in blatant reference to Haruka's accident in [[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien]]. Don't worry, this is only played for laughs and Sumika gets better pretty much immediately. As you might had guess, like Haruka and Mitsuki, Sumika and Meiya are the main heroines in this game. As a bonus, the song "Muv-Luv" is sung by Haruka's voice actress and is apparently, by "[[Word of God]]," a song about Sumika. To make up for it, the personalities between Meiya/Mitsuki and Sumika/Haruka are completely different.

* [[Fan Translation]]: ''Muv-Luv Extra'', ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' were translated by Amaterasu Translations in 2010 and 2011. An independent (and earlier) project to translate the all-ages versions of the trilogy by someone on [[Image Boards|/m/]] [http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/m/thread/6026336#p6028650 is currently on indefinite hiatus.]{{Dead link}}

* [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]: The presence of the laser-class BETA (''Lux'' and ''Magnus Lux'') ended ''air superiority'' as a viable combat philosophy, and was the reason for the development of the TSFs. In contrast humanity only had conventional weapons {{spoiler|and later a [[Wave Motion Gun]], but that's only on two [[Super Prototype|Super Prototypes]]s}}. No [[Beam Spam]] for humanity here, folks.

* [[Good -Looking Privates]]: Pretty much the entire cast (including Takeru).

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Gen. Radhabinod''': ''We will carve into our hearts the noble deeds of those who are not permitted to reveal even their names.''}}}}

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: The original trilogy has, among others, [[Soichiro Hoshi|Kira]] [[Gundam Seed|Yamato]], [[Masayo Kurata|Rakshata]] [[Code Geass (Anime)|Chawla]], [[Minami Hokuto|Akiha]] [[Melty Blood (Video Game)|Tohno]], [[Tetsu Inada|Lu]] [[Dynasty Warriors|Bu]], [[Yuu Asakawa|Ri]][[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight|der]], [[Shizuka Ito|Hinagiku]] [[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Katsura]], [[Kumiko Watanabe|Katejina]] [[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (Anime)|Loos]] and [[Norio Wakamoto|Charles]] [[Code Geass (Anime)|zi Britannia]]. The side stories add, among others, [[Daisuke Ono|Battler]] [[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)ni|Ushiromiya]], [[Mai Nakahara|Rena]] [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)ni|Ryuugu]], [[Hitomi Nabatame|Bazett Fraga]] [[Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)night|McRemitz]], [[Tomokazu Sugita|Ky]][[Suzumiya Haruhi|on]] and [[Mamiko Noto|Kotomi]] [[Clannad (Visualvisual Novelnovel)||Ichinose]]. Sumika also shares a voice with [[Ef: aA Fairy Tale of Thethe Two.|Miyako Miyamura.]]

* [[Humongous Mecha]]: The "Tactical Surface Fighters" in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' are [[Real Robot|Real Robots]]s. {{spoiler|The Type-2 and Type-4 Susano'o units technically are, as well, but veer close to the [[Super Robot]] borderline.}}

{{quote| '''Sumika:''' Gaaaaah!!! Apologize to slugs!<br />

'''Takeru:''' Gyahahahahaha!! do you even know what you're saying!?<br />

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: The ''Rumbling Angel'' card game included in the ''Muv Luv Supplement'' fandisk (known as "that card game from hell") and the two [[Turn -Based Strategy]] games included with the fandisks ''Altered Fable'' and ''Haruko Maniax'' (infamously known as "Get Raped By BETA: The Game" and "Get Raped By BETA: The Game 2".

* [[Old Save Bonus]]: ''Unlimited'' shows several scenes for certain heroines only when their corresponding routes in ''Extra'' had been cleared. ''Alternative'' does similar things with regards to both ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited''. {{spoiler|In-universe this is a major plot point: see [[Tomato in Thethe Mirror]] below.}} There was an issue in the 18+ version of ''Alternative'' where it would not check for applicable event flags taken from the previous two games; this was fixed in the all-ages version.

* [[Relationship Voice Actor]]: [[Masayo Kurata]] (Chizuru) and Yuko Nagashima (Ayamine) voicing allies who are rivals of some sort at the same time? Hmm...[[ScryedS-Cry-ed|Where have I heard that before?]]

* [[Schedule Slip]]: ''Extra'', ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' were supposed to be released together, but ''Alternative'' got delayed for three years due to various problems, thus the Japanese meme ''"Oruta mada~[[?"'' ("Is ''Alternative'' here yet~]]?").

** '''Mecha and Tokusatsu Series.''' ''[[Muv -Luv]]'' and its prequel ''Akane Maniax'' has a ton of shout-outs to these. A partial list includes ''[[Tekkaman (Anime)|Tekkaman]]'', ''[[Ultraman]]'', ''[[Getter Robo]]'', ''[[Grendizer]]'', ''[[Brave Raideen]]'', ''[[Chars Counterattack|Char's Counterattack]]'' (see [[Colony Drop]] above), and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory]]''.

* {{spoiler|[[Shrine to Thethe Fallen]]}}: {{spoiler|In ''Alternative'', a short beam of iron was erected on the spot Marimo fell as a memorial to her. It was later moved to the foot of one of the cherry trees in front of the base, and turned into a memorial for all the fallen Valkyries (Marimo with her "children") together.}}

* [[Signature Style]]: {{spoiler|1=age seems to have a thing for [[Last Stand|Last Stands]]s, [[Kill'Em All]] and/or [[Sole Survivor]] in its works set in the ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' timelines.}}

* [[Super-Deformed]]: In typical age fashion, characters are drawn as such during moments of levity, as well as in Sumika's diary sketches (see the image on the [[Muv -Luv (Visual Novel)/YMMV|YMMV subpage]] for an example)

* [[Universal Adaptor Cast]]: Done on purpose by the creators. {{spoiler|Part of the experience of those who played ''Unlimited'' without knowing about its setting beforehand is the surprise at seeing [[Anime Hair|Anime Haired]]ed girls seen in the typical romantic comedy suddenly thrust into a life-and-death war story.}}

* [[You Should Know This Already]]: The setting of ''Unlimited'', which was a surprise and [[Mood Whiplash]] to those who played it for the first time when ''[[Muv -Luv]]'' came out.

* {{spoiler|[[Bittersweet Ending]]}}: {{spoiler|Alternative IV is successful, and Takeru has bought humanity three more decades of survival... at the price of the lives of his lover and closest friends,<ref> all of whom were his lovers in alternate worlds</ref>, one of whom he had to [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|personally pull the trigger on]]. Takeru himself becomes [[Ret-Gone|Ret Goned]], and only three of the Valkyries remain. And there remain at least 10^37 BETA out in space. May border on [[Shaggy Dog Story]] considering the last point.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Earn Your Happy Ending]]}}: {{spoiler|When Takeru tries to weasel out of his responsibility to save humanity from the BETA/find out why he's trapped in that timeline, it really doesn't work out so well, so he resolves to return and finish his work. His efforts not only earn him a return to his happy life (see however, the [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] entry on the [[Muv -Luv (Visual Novel)/YMMV|YMMV subpage]]), but the parallel-universe selves of several characters introduced in ''Alternative'' (being dead or otherwise not present in the ''Extra'' world) get to join him in happiness.}}

* '''{{spoiler|[[Kill'Em All]]}}''': {{spoiler|'''All'''<ref>except two if you consider Kasumi and Yuuko as main characters</ref> of the main cast, as well as the majority of the supporting cast, are dead by the end of Operation Cherry Blossom and its aftermath, many of them via [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. Of the three immediate survivors of the operation, Sumika dies due to [[No Ontological Inertia]] and Takeru [[Ret-Gone|ceases to exist]] in the aftermath. Old Tomino would have been proud.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Silicon -Based Life]]}}: {{spoiler|Takeru later finds out that the Creators of the BETA are silicon-based life-forms.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Taking You Withwith Me]]}}: {{spoiler|VFA-01 commander Michiru Isumi starts off with wiping out the Sadogashima Hive, along with the entire island, in self-destructing in the Susano'o Type-2. [[Kimi ga Nozomu Eien|Acting commander Mitsuki Hayase]] soon follows suit in taking out the Yokohama hive reactor to stop the BETA assault on the UN base aboveground. ''Alternative'' caps it off with the final mission in the Original Hive, where Chizuru and Ayamine choose to self-destruct after fighting to the end, taking out a large number of BETA with them.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Tomato in Thethe Mirror]]}}: {{spoiler|The Takeru we see in ''Unlimited'' and ''Alternative'' is a quantum-causality phenomenon, an amalgamation of all the Takerus in ''Extra'', and has gone through ''Unlimited'' [[Groundhog Day Loop|many times in numerous alternate timelines]]. Unlike [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini|Rika]], however, Takeru is wiped clean at the end of each ''Unlimited'' loop (save the one which preceeded ''Alternative''), and can only remember brief flashes from ''Extra'' and ''Unlimited'' when certain triggers are present. He had also started subconsciously absorbing memories from ''Unlimited / Alternative'''s Takeru, who had been killed off long before the start of the story.}}

* {{spoiler|[[You Shall Not Pass]]}}: {{spoiler|In the Original Hive mission, Chizuru and Ayamine choose to buy time for the rest of the squad to proceed to the target. Leads into [[Taking You Withwith Me]] above after a desperate fight.}}

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