The Oni tackles MuvLuv - a let's play of sorts (Update #45 on 25/08)

[tensai_oni]

Update #42: October 24th - infodump

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The date/timeskip cards look like this now. Also we confirm the year when MuvLuv takes place. The VN was made in 2002 so it's pretty much "present time, present day" from its perspective.



Yuuko already dug up a lot of info on Takeru, it seems.

Also she looks even more alien than usual on this screencap.



But Takeru is still busy trying to accept this all. I've told you already, it's not a dream.

Also he's back to being voiceless again. But anyway!




This will be interesting. I don't mean Takeru telling her about Yuuko being a colossal troll who creates shenanigans just to entertain herself, no. We knew that already. I mean her reaction to being told this.



Or not, since Takeru's being unusually reserved about this.




Yes?




Ah, stop "if"ing that! I'm pretty sure that is exactly the case, here.



Takeru is not very impressed.



The feeling is mutual.




A very mature reaction from our protagonist, as usual.




He's taking his toys (except the ones stolen by security guards, I guess) and leaving this playground.



Oh yeah, that might be a slight problem...




Fair enough. Going to wake up and return to Extra, any second now!

... Any second.



You win this one, Yuuko.



And with this statement, comes a big reveal:





Yeah.

Even Takeru can't believe it. And not in a good way.



Not discouraged, Yuuko commences a small infodump.




She doesn't seem too impressed with real life, non-mecha using military.



Or with Takeru himself for that matter.



Nope.




That's an overstatement.



Hey, now. An orderly is a perfectly acceptable, responsible job!

But Takeru's attention is already focused, no - fixated on a small detail.



A true /m/an.



Takeru's thoughts at the moment: "I'm going to be a mecha pilot, whee!"



Ah yeah, there was that too.




That sounds suspicious.



Very suspicious.





Comical or not, you have to admit the idea of Marimo being an army sergeant is rather amusing.

And lastly:



I know he needs access to be at your beck and call, but giving Takeru such priviledge can't be a good idea.





That sounds like Yuuko alright.




Always fooling around, huh.



Ack.



And so ends the giant infodump. With the contract between Yuuko and Takeru sealed, the setup for the rest of Unlimited is all complete.



Or not yet. Time for more infodump still!



That sounds very Japanese alright.

Also rather dangerous. Is it a "Samurai must be ready to die at any moment" kind of thing?

But suddenly!



A projectile flies through the air and goes right for the flying object magnet of the VN - Takeru's head.





Dun.




Dun.




DUUUUUN.

Cue the opening. Which I'm going to link below.

Warning: minor NSFW nudity (say hello to the infamous MuvLuv pilot suits), also low resolution in attempt to mask the former. I'm sure you can find a higher quality version if you search youtube.

My thoughts:
That was long as far as introductory scenes go. And by "that" I mean everything that happened from start of Unlimited to the opening. But despite the length and the lot of text, in terms of pacing and timing, it was... pretty excellent! I wonder what people who went through this VN 11-12 years ago must've felt, when they didn't know this route was even there.

[Tengu_temp]

Good job Takeru, you were told not to let anyone know you know them and the first thing you do is call Meiya by her name. As brilliant as ever.

I already knew the big reveals in this chapter, so I'll comment on the opening video instead. I forgot how ridiculous the training pilot suits are - the combat ones are slightly better, they're at least not transparent. On the other hand, the TSFs are such cool machines - early oughties mecha design at its finest! And I think the video spoils/confirms a certain fact about Mikoto that was so subtly foreshadowed in Extra.

[Terraoblivion]

Tengu, keep in mind that this is the same guy whose reaction to "you're in a different world, you'll never see your friends and family again and humanity is losing a war against aliens that you have been drafted to fight in" is to go "whooo, giant robots!" Intelligence was clearly not going to happen.

And, indeed, the video pretty blatantly spoils that...Wanna bet they're still going to play it as a shocking reveal once it comes up in the plot?

Still, this is interesting, apart from the pilot suits at least, and I look forward to seeing where exactly it goes.

[Avian Overlord]

... I wouldn't want to sit down in that, much less fight in it.

Actually, given how the ex-teachers are dressed (i.e. like sane people) maybe that's a privilege of rank. Or rather a penalty for lack thereof. God knows I'd be climbing the rank ladder with all the vigor of a monkey on illegal stimulants.

[Tengu_temp]

That's just the piloting suits. The uniforms are much more normal.

(And they technically cover the whole body, it's just that major parts are transparent for a reason that will be explained later. A reason I don't buy at all, but you will see.)

[Ishikar]

Yes the training suits are rather ridiculous and the reasoning behind the translucency is laughable at best and are a part of the 18+ VN origin that is pretty much never mentioned outside of Unlimited besides a passing comment in Alternative.

Continuing our Mecha watch the Opening adds three more units (two of which we're likely to not see for some time) the Type-97 Fubuki (blockier head, training unit), the Type-94 Shiranui (rounded head with paired Antennae) and the Type-00R Takemikazuchi (the great purple beast) the latter of which is the poster child TSF for Muv-Luv despite not being used by main characters until MUCH later. We also see a shadowy figure in the background which couldn't possibly be important could it?

Adding in the (wrecked) Gekishin we saw earlier we have now seen 4 of the 6 Japanese built TSFs in the Muv-Luv universe even if none of them have been in action as of yet.

So we now have Marimo and Meiya added into the mix with an opening video that reveals that all the other girls are present along with a mysterious waif of a girl with blue eyes who wears black. We also see the Nodachi that Meiya swings around like a Katana (even in Extra it was notably longer than any standard Katana would be, Mitsurugi ancestors must have been GIANTS).

[tensai_oni]

Update #43: October 25th - workout

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These images seem a little redundant now that the date's in the update title.




Takeru's done with his oath, stating that he is willing to sacrifice his life for humanity, be thrown at the aliens as cannon fodder, blah blah blah. Nothing too important.

Let's eat.



Tama exists in this reality too.



So that's why she got all those cat-like implements in Extra!



Being admonished by Chizuru? It really feels like nothing much has changed.




Including Takeru's ignorance.



Now you know.

And knowing is half the battle!





Takeru's doing an excellent job blending into this reality.



An excellent job. Yuuko has nothing to worry about.



Huh, apparently we already met Marimo offscreen? That must've been an interesting encounter.




Takeru's friends (who didn't know him until today) don't have much confidence in him.



Except Tama. I always knew you were a good cat... person!



What.



Oh boy. It's Lacrosse arc all over again, military edition.



Alright, Takeru. Go out and show everyone what you can do!




Not much.



Drill sergeant Marimo-chan is not impressed.



Come on, Takeru. You know this will just make her angry.



What did I say?



Dunno if you noticed, but it's not your home universe.

I'm not sure "anymore" applies when aliens threaten to kill the whole of humanity.




Too exhausted to even eat properly. That's harsh.



Takeru Shirogane, avatar of maturity.

Suddenly!





Is it a surprise Marimo inspection?



No, just a call from a local mad scientist.

I can't tell if the look she gave Takeru was one of pity or disappointment. Probably a bit of both.



Familiar hair angularity spotted en-route.



Meiya is an overachiever as usual. Takeru is a derp - as usual.



Oh, come on!



Yuuko told you this just yesterday, don't tell me you forgot already.





Meiya decides to save Takeru from her own tricky question.



Gee, how nice of you.



How nice of everyone.



I suppose that's just Meiya's way of being encouraging.

But wait, normal humans? Are you saying this is a facility for abnormal ones?



Oh yeah, that's right. Time to visit Yuuko.



I don't think we have much to expect from that manly pride, though.

[Tengu_temp]

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I see Unlimited replaces generic dating sim lines with generic mecha show lines. Waiting for someone to say "it can't be helped" now.

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Lolchair: "please don't die, Takeru!"

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Am I the only one who thinks Marimo-chan looks really good in a uniform?

[Avian Overlord]

Am I the only one who thinks Marimo-chan looks really good in a uniform?

The uniforms actually look pretty good on the whole cast. I'm interested to see how our protagonist looks in one, but I doubt we'll see that very much. I was about to comment on the bangs, but clearly this base does not require military haircuts. Actually, now that I think about it that would have been an interesting angle, given the ... distinctive hair.

I wonder if Takeru is going to have to wear a fanservice suit. That would be *hilarious*. Actually, given that we never see him, he might.

[kamikasei]

I wonder if Takeru is going to have to wear a fanservice suit. That would be *hilarious*. Actually, given that we never see him, he might.

We do see Takeru occasionally. I'm pretty sure he wears a trainee suit like everyone else. Of course, being a guy, it's less fanservice and more Doctor Rockso.

[Avian Overlord]

...What...

[tensai_oni]

If you want realistic hair, even in a military setting, anime and anime-inspired stuff (VNs, video games) are not the work to go to. Especially early oughties titles.

I wonder if Takeru is going to have to wear a fanservice suit. That would be *hilarious*. Actually, given that we never see him, he might.

Spoilers:

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Yes!

Everyone gets to wear the fanservice suits. They are unisex. Male pilots, female pilots, main characters. They're for everyone.

[Terraoblivion]

Of course the base is for abnormal people. It's for the ones who actually sign up to become cannon fodder rather than hoping for others to do it.

Also, how bad at pretending can Takeru be? This is getting farcical. You'd think he'd at least be scared, freaked out or tired enough to just kinda mumble along and not make big scenes all the time.

[Avian Overlord]

If you want realistic hair, even in a military setting, anime and anime-inspired stuff (VNs, video games) are not the work to go to. Especially early oughties titles.



Spoilers:

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Yes!

Everyone gets to wear the fanservice suits. They are unisex. Male pilots, female pilots, main characters. They're for everyone.

Well, I wasn't really expecting realistic hair, and it would probably mangle character recognition with the art style. It just struck me as a way they could really get across the "everything is serious" vibe quite well.

I don't know why the outfits being unisex makes me happy, but it does.

For the record, I'm really enjoying this let's play/read (plead?) and am eagerly awaiting the next installment. Keep up the good work.

[tensai_oni]

Update #44: October 26th - acceptance and rejection

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Takeru's military workout/torture continues.



He performs about as well as expected.



What's this? This is new. Apparently Unlimited is divided into episodes now.

Back to Takeru, who's in class.




It's a class about GUNS.

To be more specific, he has to learn how to disassemble and put one back together.





He's not doing a very good job.



Being an immigrant from a world NOT on the brink of being consumed by alien invaders sure is tough. Especially if you can barely into English... let's ignore for a second that the whole VN was translated.

Takeru eventually managed to reassemble his rifle. And look, he's even left with spare parts!



Spare parts necessary for the gun to work.



Sgt Marimo-chan is, once again, not impressed.




Ow.

Some time later:



The atmosphere in the mess hall is rather uneasy. For obvious reasons.



Tama bravely tries to salvage the situation. It doesn't work.





Takeru's dragging the whole group down. Everyone realizes it, and they don't like it.




Including Takeru himself. That's so sad! It actually makes me feel bad for him.



... Meiya?





Are you really trying to...






In Extra, it was hard to judge Meiya's actions objectively because she loved Takeru and came to his house to get in his pants. Of course she'd treat him and his friends nicely.

But in Unlimited, he's a stranger to her. They met two days ago, and he was a handful fo r her just as for everyone else - yet there she is, defending him from unjust treatment.

Meiya... you really are a good person.





Chizuru is determined not to lose at Lacrosse: Military Edition.



And there she goes. Others soon follow, leaving the table empty.



Empty except for Meiya and a despirited Takeru.







Well. That "despirited" part didn't last long.

Takeru's reminded of something though. Or rather, someone.





High expectations of Sumika you have there.




Oh yeah, might as well ask about that.





That's an unexpected reaction.




Oh great. Now it will turn out Meiya's family actually controls the whole of Japan and Takeru outed himself as an outsider and/or idiot for not knowing.

Well, one more thing left to do.




She's your squad leader, not the class rep. Get it right for once.



Takeru is... apologizing sincerely? How unexpected, and uncharacteristically mature. He even bowed, if the screen moving is any indication.



That went surprisingly well.



Shoot! I'm sure it won't be anything tricky and hard to answer.



Geh.




You can't leave all the thinking up to Yuuko, you know. That can only get you so far.



Fortunately Chizuru is not going to push.




Everyone is being relatively mature and raising good points recently. That's one thing I never thought I'd say about MuvLuv!




Nevermind, Takeru is still an idiot.



That's better.





She knows him for only two days, but Marimo is already too used to this behaviour to even get angry.

But let's bring up someone else. Maybe she'll know more than Meiya?



Nope. Unfortunately Marimo's no help, and also tired of Takeru's wishy-washiness.



Well, enough of this angst, as Takeru is suddenly very quick to notice that the uniform looks really good on her.



A sentiment we can get behind. Also, that's right - he visited Yuuko yesterday too. But that visit was offscreen.




This time, it isn't.



The usual banter of the two begins.




Hmm. Fine, you win that one.





Maybe you should've told Takeru that sooner, then!

... Well, not that people needed that as a reason to call him an idiot. He's providing plenty of reasons himself.

Anyway, it's history storytime with Yuuko!






Takeru's right for once. Real life Viking 1 was in the 70s. But let's focus on the important thing.







I won't interrupt the storytime/massive infodump with any comments. From now on I'll let Yuuko make all the explanations herself.



With a suitable theme song.















Story time, over.



That was... quite a tale you have there, Yuuko. Let's see what Takeru has to say about it.





He found it hard to sleep that night. Not because of physical exertion though, not today.




If you can't accept it...

Then what are you going to do about it?

[kamikasei]

I'm already vaguely aware of most of the shocking revelations in this update, so no comment on those. I do want to note that BETA may be the most contrived backronym I've ever been expected to take vaguely seriously.

And while it was nice to see maturity carry the day once Meiya spoke up... does the military in this world have no procedures for bringing untrained people up to speed? Handing someone a rifle and telling them to field-strip it with no instruction seems like an obviously pointless exercise.

[Tengu_temp]

I wonder is this just how Japan rolls, considering things that happen in other manga and anime (see: Asuka does bad on tests in Evangelion because the questions are in kanji and she can't read them, and nobody though a foreigner might need any help with that). Or maybe it's because you're in the army now, Takeru.

As for acronyms, remember Gundam SEED, where, for example, ZAKU means ZAFT Armed Keeped of Unity?
...Okay, that's still not as ridiculous.

[tensai_oni]

Every fresh recruit just gets a friendly pink cat-like creature that helps them and shows them how everything is done.

[Tengu_temp]

every fresh recruit just gets a friendly pink cat-like creature that helps them and shows them how everything is done.

WHERE DO I SIGN UP
Some white text to stop it from getting de-allcaped

[kamikasei]

Every fresh recruit just gets a friendly pink cat-like creature that helps them and shows them how everything is done.

Does that make this Fairy Tail, or PreCure?

[Terraoblivion]

I'll be honest, I'm getting way more into this than I should a game that tries to combine sex and the apocalypse. But as far as very dark scenarios go, the one I really like is the one about humanity's last, desperate stand against aliens. So I'm totally eating this up. People actually getting mature and reasonable when Meiya pointed out that Takeru was clearly a fresh recruit dumped on them and so had catching up to do, helped too.

[Avian Overlord]

Yeah, this is actually getting quite interesting.

[Ishikar]

So we're introduced to the BETA and a bit more world history in this update after Takeru shows how green he is in basic and Chizuru reveals some themes in her discussion following.

I wonder why Meiya would be so surprised about Takeru apparently not knowing about her family. It's not like she'd be a dead ringer for anyone important or anything like that. I like how Meiya is still so similar to her self from Takeru's world despite the massive shifts from one world to the next and how she is ready to give advice and correct others on their own shortcomings. Honest, dutiful, caring, and independent, totally best girl of Muv-Luv right there.

I just have to wonder where Mikoto is to show off those mad skills they've been talking about.

On a side note for those watching Total Eclipse the timelines line up with the first 2-3 episodes taking place in 98-99 (the big battle to cap that section is the rout Yuuko mentioned) and the events at Yuukon Base happen between March (maybe april) and September with Unlimited starting in October.

I just really enjoy the world building that they did in this series and come Alternative it all pays off in a big way.

[tensai_oni]

Update #45: November 1st - guns and discoveries

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That's right, we just got a short timeskip. I think. Takeru sometimes treats things he learnt last update as if they happened yesterday. He either got hit on the head a few times too many, or the timeskip happened earlier than expected.

Well, anyway!



Come on Marimo, at least make an effort to pretend you're not reading from the book.



Isn't it nice? It's all for Takeru's sake.

So the fool in question opens the coursebook while everyone else already knows everything and talks from memory.



I hope you like infodumps. Well, a small one this time.





Bweh. Just because Takeru is an idiot doesn't mean you have to treat him like one.





Aand... there we go.



This is how BETA look like. Well, more like you get their vague silhouettes, leaving the rest to the imagination.*



As Marimo talks away, Takeru wonders what exactly did he get himself into.



Episode 2 starts already? Maybe we really will maintain the speed of one per update!



Takeru's first live shooting exercise!




He's not doing very well. And come on everyone, don't be mean. We've been over this last update!



Same for Sgt Marimo-chan. Of course, talking back to her might not be the smartest move here.



;_;

But hey, even Takeru can learn after failing once, right?



We'll be here for a while.



Pink cat to the rescue! ... Again.

What would we do without you, Tama?




Massive gun-related tl;dr skipped. This isn't /k/.



And that's the end of the lecture. Takeru's a big boy, he'll be able to handle things from now on, right?





Sure he will.



The VN decides to fact-check our knowledge by giving us a gun-oriented choice to make.

... Are you saying I should've paid attention to what Tama was saying before?! Isn't it enough that Takeru does it?



Fortunately the choice here is rather simple and obvious.

That, and I have a walkthrough, you know.




Time for round two.




Despite Takeru's random noises/another weird creature living somewhere on Tasmania (if you ask Yuuko)...




He actually scored a hit. Well done!



Well done for a total noob that is. Keep practicing.

Forever.



No. Not more of that. Thank you Tama, you are really wonderful and helpful and cute, but the update is long enough even without your gun trivia.

Skip.



Meiya materialized in the meantime.




Apparently Miki's skills translated into hardcore sniping in Unlimited.

But what does she have to say about it?



She's really into it. Look at that eager pose, ready to get to shooting at a moment's notice! (Not pictured)



Takeru, please.

Okay, in his defense she said "prone" in English.



So, how did Tama do?





Really well actually. Now you know not to mess with her.





Lesson of the day - hard work and guts will get you far. We're in the mecha genre now after all!



Are you really capable of learning, Takeru?



An expected reaction.




Others seem to agree though. It's almost like if this was an alternative universe where everyone's normal occupations were transmuted into military-oriented ones.



Harsh.



But Takeru does not seem to mind that, just this one time.

It's as if he took all the lessons to heart and decided to become a slightly less bratty individual.



Suddenly!



A collission with someone.

Someone who sounds really familiar.




Hello Mikoto. Something's different about you now.



The inability to follow a conversation remains as in Extra however.





Takeru.

How thick can you be? ... Is what I wanted to say a long time ago, somewhere around the hot springs visit.

Anyway Mikoto does not approve of this assault on personal space.



That cracking sound is worrying.



And then Takeru died. The end.



Okay, no. Mikoto just made him tired and forced him to nap a little. Thank you, non lethal takedowns.





Yeah, he's still the thick-headed dumbass you know and love(?).



Look who else is there.





Sleep? But Takeru just woke up.

Also, what a tweest. That everyone saw coming. A mile away.



Drawing on the board? What are you doing?






Yup. That's Mikoto alright.




Takeru agrees.



And everyone immediately gangs up on him for being a massive idiot. In other words, for being Takeru.



A bit of a delayed reaction you have there.



Takeru is in despair. Recent plot twists have left him in despair.



It's not nice to blame others.



Yours are rather complicated feelings now, oh protagonist.



But having gathered his resolve, Takeru walks out - ready to uncover the truth, whatever it may be!



Surprise!



The truth is right there.



That's Mikoto for you, able to successfully forage even on a running track.




Spit it out, Takeru!




Dammit, Mikoto. There's no way you don't realize what you're doing.

Or is there? It's Mikoto we're talking about after all.



She's going to tell him about how exactly he messed up this time.



But Takeru has had enough of this intense encounter. Flee, run for the hills!




And by hills I mean Yuuko's office. However...



The troll seems absent from her lair.

Takeru decides to look around.



Look into some really dark, suspicious areas.





Hello. What's going on here? This isn't suspicious at all, or anything.




This is not going well.



Oh.




I am sure this will never become relevant or important in any shape or form.

Absolutely sure.





That wasn't awkward or anything.




Okay, that was kinda adorable. For both of you.



Yuuko located.




Really grasping at straws there, Takeru. Just accept it.



Yuuko acts like it's no big deal. Also, spoilers: Mikoto was a girl in Extra too. Shocking, I know.

Also, also:




Great! So, what did you learn?



...



...





Yeah. That's Yuuko alright.




But, that's actually a decent point. Sumika wouldn't make it far in Unlimited, anyway.




A repeat of the awkward conversation.



That's a very good question.




What.



Oh you.

10/10 trolling.



And so Yuuko just lets Takeru visit the strange girl whenever he wants to.

I smell ulterior motives here.




Speaking of ulterior motives.



I'm not sure you'd like to hear about all of that Yuuko.

More importantly, I'm not sure everyone else would like you to hear about it...

*: Actually, I already had some second-hand knowledge about BETA and this image is WRONG. The "Lightweight anti infantry class" is really a Tank class, the Destroyer-Class is really a Heavy Laser, and the Heavy Laser is really a Fort Class. Now you know. And knowing is half the battle!

Where's my GI Takeru image?

[Terraoblivion]

Some of you know already, but I really like Unlimited version Chizuru. While I didn't dislike her as much as others in Extra, I didn't really like her either, but here she's one of my favorites. She's actually responsible, instead of nagging people about stuff that's only really her concern, and her backhanded compliments and insults that are actually kinda compliments are amusing. Of course, this version of her is also pretty much exactly the kind of character I tend to default to, but that doesn't mean all characters of the same general archetype work.

[tensai_oni]

Update #46: November 2nd - duty

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Hello, this is familiar.




Oh, it's the very start of Extra. And Takeru is voiced again, so we must be having a flashback!



This is where I remind everyone that the LP started really classily, with an "accidental" grope. Did I mention it in the first update?

...

I return, having checked. Yes I did mention it.




Ah, so nostalgic.



Good times.




Takeru is woken up - not by Sumika, obviously. So Kasumi can leave her room after all.

She also continues trying to shake him even after it's obvious he's awake already.




Thanks, you're being useful!



Takeru starts the morning by pondering a drooling Sumika. Also by having a minor existential crisis.



Being Takeru, he gets over it immediately.



What's this about, Mikoto?



Ah, first aid techniques. Yet another area for Takeru to show his ineptitude at.



Alright.

Wait, what?




Takeru, your maturity is staggering.




What would we do without you, Tama?

And then, the scene whites out.



Don't get a nosebleed, you.



Oh no, I can see where this is going. What Tama did with guns yesterday, now Mikoto tries to do with first aid. But I know better than to get bogged down in that!

Skip!



Okay, this is kinda useful to know.





Heh.

One more point remains in the MD Takeru course.



The opinions are divided.



Well, I'd say Takeru was shocked quite a few times recently then. Sometimes because of you, Mikoto! Because he's the thickest person in the universe.



That's nice and informative and all but... wait. Are you going to...?




Yup. Mikoto wants Takeru to try it. On her.

Takeru doesn't want to. The disapproval of others is palpable.




Hey now. Takeru might be Takeru (read: gigantic child), but he's still not the weird one in the room.



Oh yeah, speaking of children protagonists. Chizuru is the first to call when she sees one.



Really good defenses you have there, Takeru.





Even he realizes how much of an immature twerp he was just now.




N... not even with Kei? Please don't break my heart like that.




And there she goes.



Except Takeru stops her.



Time to play the "I admit I was an idiot" card.



With truth of his background sprinkled on top.




Takeru's awareness of the world increases a little. Unfortunately so does his angst.




That's Takeru for you. Always jumping from one extreme to another. You realize though - saying you're sorry won't work forever if you keep acting like a brat. Even visual novel characters run out of patience.





Hurry up for the foods, already.



That pitiful look hurts, Mikoto.



Well, she recovers quickly enough. Ha ha, keep getting uncomfortable, Takeru.

Suddenly!




A new minor character appears.



She seems friendly enough.




And then she immediately gets in Takeru's face. Watch out, here comes a jab to the gut!



Takeru can recognize the legendary punch when he sees it. Or rather, when he feels it.



What a scary thought.




Oh? It seems the chef lady has a soft heart for starving visual novel protagonists.





Ha ha, the truth comes out.



Ehh?



Oh. That's what you mean. Of course.

And then, this happens:




Takeru's food ration arrives.



How does that stay in the bowl?



The cafeteria lady, I mean Sgt Major Kyozuka, is a force to be reckoned with.





Takeru's food challenge gathers spectators.



Oh. This is why.



He gets depressed by the realization.



Hey, we just had this conversation already.





What does gender have to do with that?




Harsh.



And Mikoto already lost her train of thought. Never change, sis4lyfe.



Ah, there Chizuru goes again, with her Lacrosse equivalent.



Erk. Okay, no one died playing lacrosse yet, I am almost entirely sure.



As soon as he hears about the possibility of piloting TSFs, Takeru perks up immediately. Of course.



Kei, no trolling. Also that name sounds familiar.



This really is Unlimited version of Lacrosse, isn't it.



A quick defense.




That was a rhetorical question, I assume. The Kei one I mean.



Oh boy. Both Tama and Mikoto enter damage control mode? That means Takeru opened a can of worms.



Here.



It.



Comes.




Damage control surrenders unconditionally.



No, Takeru.



Takeru, stop. You're making the argument worse.







Here's Chizuru's completely unsurprising opinion on the chain of command.



Takeru doesn't like that.



Will this become one of those stories where a new, free spirit arrives in a crusty traditional environment and shows everyone how wrong their stance was?

Only, you know. Military-related.



Not quite.




Meiya makes it obvious, orders are orders for a reason.





You know, Mikoto is actually rather mature under the skindeep levels of derp. That was the case in Extra too, wasn't it.



Yeah, that sounds pretty lacrosse-like as well. I hope this time your unity will develop in less annoying ways though.



Suddenly, a rather heavy question out of nowhere.

...



Unfortunately, that is the truth.



Others may be willing to accept it, but Takeru won't. At least he is honest enough to admit it openly.



Meiya seems rather disappointed.



Awkward attempts at changing the topic, go!

While everyone talks, Takeru is busy with some soul searching.







Ah.



Ah!




It's natural because that's what you were hearing for almost 40 updates now.




Ha, good point.



And that's it for self-discovery. Let's hope it'll help Takeru develop into a less bratty individual.



Takeru's quickly becoming the ringleader in the naming department.



For better or for worse.



Definitely for worse.




Will his many mysteries ever cease?

Oh, one more thing:





Eat your giant portion of rice already!



Troll leader, we meet again.




Of course she'd say that. Yuuko is the one giving orders after all.




Way ahead of you, sorry.




Looks like it's time to say hi to Kasumi.



And there she is. The ears I assume are some kind of hi-tech device, but what purpose does the bunny tail serve?



A typical Kasumi line.




The conversation is being a bit one sided.






What! I didn't know those ears could move.

... That's kinda cute though.



Welcome to a lesson on kana.



And now, kanji.




So, I guess Kasumi just guessed that Takeru's name has a non-standard spelling.

That, or she knows. From somewhere.



Fail.

Well, that's that.





Is that a smile? It seems despite the staggering awkwardness from all parties included, Kasumi is having fun.



You have a strange definition of fun, Takeru. Well, who am I to judge? I'm just the LPer, here.

[Terraoblivion]

It's so weird for Meiya to be the reasonable, sensible one. It's like a complete 180 from Extra, despite her actual personality staying almost entirely the same, just with different context and different knowledge.

Also, with how much of a deal was made out of orders being inviolate and how awful MuvLuv governments appear to be, I'm imagining that at some point the main characters will have to defy orders. Probably to save somebody from being needlessly sacrificed for being the wrong ethnicity or similar.

[tensai_oni]

Update #47: November 3rd - games

Spoiler

Show

Here come the dreams again.




Ah, those were the days - dealing with an annoyingly-voiced brat. Also, Sumika was there too.



So starts the 3rd chapter and... that pixellation looks really similar to something else.




Of course.

Good morning Kasumi.



Takeru is drawing some parallels in his head.

Wait, could it be that...?



Nah, it's probably just coincidence.

Let's train with melee weapons, what could go wrong?



The return of chibis.



This went as expected.



And then Takeru was cut in half.

THE END.



Okay, no. That didn't actually happen.

Not that I doubt Meiya's ability to cut through things with a non-sharp blade. Or even with a non-blade. Just give her a stick.





Oh yeah, good point. Soldiers don't usually train to fight with full length swords, do they?



By all means, continue Meiya.

... Wait.



Oh no you don't! This will turn into another huge skippable lecture, won't it?




Actually, no. Not this time. Instead, here's a question.





The answer to which Meiya decides not to judge - for now.






Pretty NIPPON DAMASHII look you have there, Meiya. Not that I'm surprised, since everything you do emanates pure Japan-ness.

By the way this is explicitly not the writer's national pride/nationalism/call-it-as-you-will at work here. Unlimited-verse is just... different in terms of cultural sensibilities.




Time for another answer.




For TSFs, melee weapons are backup. If you try to charge at BETA with a sword in hand, you won't get far!



But even that sword needs training to be used properly.




And just like that, the conversation segways into Takeru making an idiot out of himself. D'oh!



Even Meiya can tell this is a half-assed excuse.



Oh? You're really into something there. Dangerously into something.



But it looks like Meiya won't go around telling everyone. Always so reliable!




Aww, that's sweet of you two. Now go back to beating each other with sword-shaped sticks.



The scene changes into an evening.



Looks like the gang is gathering to play games of some kind?





Old-fashioned physical ones. You know, not video games - which probably means Takeru never played them in his life.




Tama quickly starts throwing the beanbags around.




It's okay, don't be depressed oh feline one. It's a really good score regardless!




There is no way this will go wrong.




Overconfidence will be your demise, Takeru. Hey, Kei's here.



She tries her hands at the beanbags.

She's really good at it.





So modest, too.

But Takeru won't give up yet! He failed the first time, but second's a charm, right?




The gathering grows, one person after another. None impressed by the protagonist's feats of agility.



But Takeru has a clever plan.



Time for schadenfreude.



Schadenfreude fail. Perhaps you should act more humble about your skills when they really are no hot sh*it, Takeru...



No. That's the exact opposite of what I meant.




Good evening, Meiya.





Her attention quickly diverted, Meiya's killer intent fades. Instead she goes for the beanbags.

... Of course she's good at them.




Ah, come on now.



... Huh?





Who is this mysterious useless individual known only as Chop-kun? And why is Mikoto's gaze suddenly so creepy?




Oh.




Well, I can't really disagree with that. You heard it all folks - Takeru is a children's show puppet now.



No use arguing about it. Mikoto changes the topic.



Here's a kendama. Wield it responsibly.





Don't give up, Takeru.





See, told you. Also I wonder why from the three, only Game Guy is a No Trademarks Were Breached version.

Perhaps Nintendo decided they don't want to be associated with an 18+ visual novel?

Anyway, everyone's bored of heckling so they're off to play on their own.



That's a very smug Tama.




Don't be a sarcastic jerk, Meiya.



Now then, whom to play with? Let's not lie to ourselves, Takeru is going to have his butt sorely kicked either way.



Marbles seem the least dangerous. Takeru already has experience dealing with small, hard objects hitting him in the head. And knowing him, he'll end up strangling himself with the cat cradle strings, alternatively his brain might fry from Japanese chess-related overheating.



Do you really think Takeru is an opponent on your level, Meiya?



Tama seems really happy to explain the rules.




Go, Sharpshooter Takeru! Show us what you got.



Not much.




Yeah, stop coming up with excuses, Chop-kun.



What's this, more heckling?




Tama really tries to be helpful though.



But on the other hand, Sharpshooter Chop-kun can take her advice to heart and really show Kei not to underestimate him!



Let's do this.







Yeah...



Defeated, Takeru lies in his bed.




But he still has his kind of games. Others can't beat him at what they don't even know exists.



But before Takeru's one true love could be turned on, someone knocks on the door!



Several times in a row.





After playing poltergeist, Kei brought games.



Still frustratingly good, I see.



Oh, so she wants Takeru to learn from example and suck less. How nice of her.

Suddenly!





Takeru you idiot.

The situation gets a bit complicated from here.





Good morning, Ayamine.



Even something as innocent as a handheld gaming console seems mighty suspicious for Alternative-verse standards.





Okay Takeru, that's not helping.




Kei is being a tough audience.





Act quickly, Takeru.




Hey!



You can't just jump from one to ten with nothing in between!

Anyway!



Does it really matter what choice we make here?



Takeru, you blew it. You really expect Kei to buy that?



She seems to be buying that.



She stopped buying that.




Okay, for now she's not shanking anyone so... progress?





Come on now, Unlimited-verse. Entertainment is an important part of effective relaxation.

I'm sure BETA would be long defeated if you only invented video games. Positively, absolutely sure.





Yuuko is the universal explanation. You need no other.




Ayamine seems so into it (somehow) that she's making up her own part of the story now.



Come on Takeru, did the thought AA batteries are non-standard for Unlimited never visit that empty head of yours?

Also, way to go and ruin the situation right now.






That's Kei for you.



Phew, situation salvaged. Somehow.





So generous towards a person who was willing to, possibly, maybe, stab you just a few minutes ago.



I have no idea what this is referencing.



That's a fair trade, right? Now Takeru can become less of a clumsy derp by practicing with the spiky hammer and a ball, and Kei...

Kei will probably become even more of a stealthy infiltration specialist, taking instruction from I Can't Believe It's Not Metal Gear.



Aww.



And so ends Unlimited's first contact with video games.

[GloatingSwine]

I wonder is this just how Japan rolls, considering things that happen in other manga and anime (see: Asuka does bad on tests in Evangelion because the questions are in kanji and she can't read them, and nobody though a foreigner might need any help with that). Or maybe it's because you're in the army now, Takeru.

If you can't clumsily exposit at the main character like he's a child how else are you going to explain the setting?

Also the BETA are like the slowest Tyranids ever.


I have and will never play Muv Luv because I am actually allergic to visual novels, but I watched the anime set in the Unlimited/Alternative world, which is somewhat interesting. Quite a lot of the time it's being fanservicey and bad, but some of the bits about the world are really quite interesting. Infighting between humans is largely the order of the day. Everyone, and I mean everyone is massively racist about everyone else, and most of their activity seems to be designed around getting the upper hand against other nations and pretending the BETA are going to go away on their own.

You can really see the (acknowledged) influence it had on Attack on Titan as well.

[tensai_oni]

The Total Eclipse anime is widely considered not very good, both by the fandom and people outside of it. I only saw a little of it, but from what I saw - I am unfortunately forced to agree.

The original TE visual novel is supposedly much better but once again: visual novel, not everyone's cup of tea.

I wonder, would animating the whole VN trilogy (from Extra through Unlimited to Alternative) be only a little impossible, or very much impossible.