Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse – 25 (Fin)

When Major Christopher activates his TSF’s onboard thingamajig, the Scarlet Twins go berserk, killing him, ripping Lt. Sendak’s TSF’s arms off, and tearing Chobi’s TSF to pieces. Yuuya bails out Yui by facing off against them, trying to talk them down. He eventually drops his weapon and lets them spear his TSF. They come out of their hypnosis. The American Air Force mops up the Beta, ending the crisis. In the aftermath, the XFJ Project is in doubt, and Yui Takamura is recalled to Japan for debriefing and inquiries. She promises to return. She and Yuuya say farewell without words, and Cryska tells Yui that she also loves Yuuya, making them rivals in love.

Well, you’ll have to forgive us for getting the final episode count wrong again. Episode 20 was just a recap, making this the 24th “real” episode, despite being numbered 25. So this is the final episode. And while the end of the world was averted (for now), a lot is left on the table. Who Yuuya picks to be his mate is not resolved. Admittedly, that’s not the biggest deal in the world, as even his most tender moments with Yui never exactly set the world on fire (that’s for the Beta to do.)

We were glad Major Christopher got a quick exit stage right, but his mysterious “Master” is never identified, nor is his specific plan for the world, a map of which is hung in his swanky office upside-down, suggesting he intends to turn the world on its end, though that’s just a guess, and like we said, who the heck knows? Sendak is apparently a bad guy too, with plans for the Scarlet Twins that they probably aren’t privy to. All these hanging threads leave open the possibility for a sequel one day. Would we watch that sequel? Our answer is a firm “maybe.”

Rating: 7 (Very Good)

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse – 24 (Not Fin)

As US and Soviet special forces attempt to recapture the Comms Center and HQ, Yui, Yuuya & Co. must execute a feint attack on the RLF’s TSF forces, led by Major Christopher piloting an advanced experimental Soviet model. Sandek intends to activate “Prafka” to sic the Scarlet Twins on the BETA before Red Shift is tripped. Leon and Sharon team up with Yuuya to take on the RLF’s TSFs. Back at HQ, Sharon is ignored by both Christopher and the RLF’s’ “Master”. She intends to send out a surrender order, but is killed by a subordinate. The remaining RLF fighters then kill off the UN command staff before taking their own lives. Only Dogulu and the UN Commander survive. Sandek activates Prafka, but Christopher activates something else that disrupts Cryska and Inia.

There’s a lot going on in what we thought would be the final episode. Now there’s apparently two more to go for a total of 26, not 24. That’s probably for the best, considering all the loose ends that still need tying up. The RLF may contain many fighters who truly care about refugees, but they were all being used by Major Christopher and whomever he answers to. It’s as if their whole raid was just a diversion so that he could get his hands on that badass Soviet TSF. When Zarner realizes their mission has failed and that causing Red Shift would be catastrophic, she puts her partisanship aside and tries to do the right thing…and is killed for it.

That’s a shame, because she was a much more interesting character than the one-dimensional Christopher, who doesn’t seem to care how much the world suffers for his own selfish goals. By attacking Inia and Cryska, he seems intent on allowing the BETA to reach the Red Shift line, which will trigger 2,000 50-megaton nukes and cast a radioactive pall over the last remaining breadbasket on earth. The question is, why? Does he just want to watch the world burn and laugh? Add to that the fact he was introduced to the show so late in the game and we know almost nothing about him, and we have ourselves a fairly dull villain who is sure to have his ass handed to him before the series is over. If and how that happens will determine if this ends well.

Rating: 6 (Good)

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse – 23

With RLF-controlled TSFs on the way with guided rounds, Yui takes Sendak’s advice to split their forces, leaving Yuuya behind alone to cover their retreat. Yuuya is surrounded, but bailed out by Inia in the Terminator. Yui, Cryska and the others return to Yuuya and Inia, and all the enemy TSFs are taken out. The last one, piloted by Mariem’s sister Gisele, self-destructs when Cui reaches for her weapon, but Cui ejects in time to survive. Meanwhile, after failing to sway Dogulu, Mariem broadcasts the RLF’s demands and actions taken, including releasing Laser-class Beta from the research lab to take out American bombers. She also publicly reveals the secret “Red Shift” plan, which would destroy the heart of Alaska to create a new defense line, abandoning the USSR and Eurasia.

This week Yui, Yuuya, and the test pilots prove they’re no slouches in real-deal combat, taking out all 24 TSFs the terrorists deployed. The group also proves that even when the head of an operation is cut off (the UN leadership, HQ, and even Lt. Dogulu are out of action this week), they can still cast aside their individual cultural or national prejudices to work as a cohesive combat team. The only problem is, the RLF are no longer the only threat on the field. They’ve released Beta, and if those Beta reach a certain line, a line of hydrogen bombs will nuke the shit out of Alaska, killing the entire cast of this series! But wait, there’s more! As Mariem Zarner states her intentions and demands to the world, the Major is commandeering a TSF with some modifications made to it.

This will probably ensure this major’s a wild card in the impending finale. It would seem his desire to rule over “supermen” (is he talking about Cryska and Inia?) trumps whatever humanitarian goals the RLF claims to have. And Dogulu said it best: being a trod-upon refugee who’s had a tough life still doesn’t give you the right to kill people. Mariem isn’t hearing it, and when she learns her sister was KIA, she decides to make revenge her leading motivator. Will Cui ever get that date with Yuuya, or will they be annihilated in a massive nuclear fireball? We doubt the ending will be that nihilistic. We wouldn’t even be surprised if next week isn’t actually the end of this story.

Rating: 7 (Very Good)

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse – 22

Yui and all four Argos pilots are able to make it back to the Argos hangar, along with Cryska and Cui. Yui orders the launch of all TSFs, lending Strike Eagles to Cryska and Yui and retrieving her own TSF. After picking up Sendak, she orders Stella and VG to head to anchorage to try to find help, while everyone else heads to the defensible urban combat training ground. Sendak suspects the Americans may be behind the terrorist attack. Back at the command center, Dahl is cornered by RLF fighters, including Mariem Zarner, a refugee he saved while in the Turkish Army.

The terrorists keep referring to “The Lord” as their one true commander, including the shadowy, red-haired fellow in a suit who’s in charge of the whole thing. Rogofsky mentions the “Christian Allegiance”, but they neither confirm or deny it. Regardless of their religious proclivities, they’re supremely well-organized force that has control of the command center and most of the UN base. Their one miscalculation was not pressing an attack on the test flights. Argos and Idar are able to get their units in the sky. Yui aims to disrupt whatever’s happening here in any way she can. While last week tore to pieces all the comfort and order of the base and left everyone scattered, quick and steady leadership by Yui gets everyone organized.

We like how much everyone has to improvise, using found weapons or in Cryska’s case, brute force to fight the RLF-controlled TSFs. It’s also pretty neat to see Cui and Cryska in Argos flight suits flying borrowed Argos TSFs – their various nations’ tensions will have to be put aside as long as they’re all at RLF’s mercy (the love polygon crap is also put aside, thankfully). Leon and the American Infinities remain a wild card, while RLF’s Mariem Zarner proves it’s a small world by bumping into the man who saved her and her sister Gisele. Will she sway Dahl to come to her side, or vice versa? However this pans out, it’s good to see the series in high gear again.

Rating: 7 (Very Good)

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse – 13

Yuuya cannot fight effectively or flee with Yui aboard Shiranui, so he transfers her to Stella. They use a taxiway to try to take off, but Yuuya doesn’t have enough power, so he opens a path for Stella to escape, leaving him on the ground, surrounded by Beta. Meanwhile, Lt. Sendak’s superior orders the Kamchatsky base bombed with no traces left behind.

Nothing’s simple for Yui, Yuuya, and Stella this week. With Yui safe, all they need to do is blow up the cannon and escape the base. Yuuya intentionally aims low, saving the core module so he can carry it with him, but a Beta shears off the arm he was going to carry it with. Because Yui isn’t in a plug suit (there aren’t spare ones aboard the TSF?), Yuuya has to take it easy or risk killing her. And even when he passes her off to Stella, his Shiranui is simply so beaten up he can barely do anything.

With all these logistical issues at hand, Sendak insists he can still retrieve the cannon by ordering Zhar to “rescue” the UN guys. But his boss cuts his losses and orders the base razed. Which means while Stella and Yui are out of harm’s way (for now), Yuuya is about to face dual dilemmas: a company of Beta all up in his grille, and death from above (and shucks, he didn’t even hear Yui insisting he call her by her first name!) Still, Yuuya seems to see this as an opportunity to prove himself yet again, and we’re confident he’ll pull through somehow.

Rating: 6 (Good)

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse – 11

The test flights are ordered to standby as command determines the next course of action. Ultimately, Lt. Sendak orders a total evacuation of the base and a retreat of all forces, with Zhar battalion covering them. This means abandoning all equipment, including the Japanese Type 99 Cannon. Realizing this was the Soviets’ plan all along, Dahl sents a coded message to the XFJ team. Vincent informs Takamura, who heads to the cannon after getting the slip from her escort team, but its self-destruct program has been sabotaged. She and a corporal who stayed behind prepare to blow it up manually. Vincent informs Yuuya that Yui is still at the base, with Beta hordes knocking on its door.

The political chess game continues, as the underground Beta offensive is merely an excuse to abandon the base so the Soviets can get their hands on the Type 99, or so it seems. The Beta are using the same tunnels they dug in an earlier offensive,  never filled in by the Soviets, so there’s no vibrations warning of their numbers. Suffice it to say, there are enough coming. Outside of the base and lucky enough to bump into Vincent, Takamura is able to get to the cannon. And so the weapon she slaved over – that could potentially save humanity – has to be blown up so it won’t fall into Soviet hands. Sounds like a raw deal to us, but never underestimate mankind’s capacity for, well, self-destruction.

What we don’t get is why Takamura and straggler Corporal Yamamoto are laboring to blow the cannon up…won’t the Beta do that for them? Considering what’s been going on globally – the Beta are invading human territories and holding them, destroying everyone and everything in sight. It seems unlikely the Soviets would be able to ensure the Type 99 isn’t damaged beyond recognition by the Beta before if they’re even able to clear them out. Still, better safe than sorry, and in Takamura’s own words, her people don’t always act on reason alone. This is a matter of pride: they know what the Soviets are up to and they won’t let them get away with it…even if it means Princess Yui risks having her body puréed by Beta. So…will Yuuya disobey orders and go save her?

Rating: 6 (Good)