Muv-Luv

 is a Japanese visual novel developed by âge and originally released as an adult game for Windows on February 28, 2003. Consisting of two parts, and , the gameplay in "Muv-Luv" follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the differing scenarios of the female main characters. "Muv-Luv" was followed by a sequel, , which was released for Windows on April 24, 2006 and follows the storyline of "Muv-Luv Unlimited".
The trilogy's story initially presents itself as a light-hearted romantic comedy ("Extra"), but changes into an alternate timeline coming-of-age story ("Unlimited"), and finally evolves into an alien invasion war epic ("Alternative").
Plot.
The visual novel "Muv-Luv" is divided into two parts. The first part, titled "Muv-Luv Extra", features playable character Takeru Shirogane (voiced by Takeshi Aiba in the Windows version and Soichiro Hoshi in ports) who wakes up one morning to find a beautiful young woman sleeping in his bed, just as an infuriated Sumika Kagami (voiced by Hiroko Taguchi, credited as Rika Fujiwara in the Windows version), Takeru's neighbor and childhood friend, comes to wake him up that morning. The young woman, Meiya Mitsurugi (voiced by Aki Okuda in the Windows version and Kazumi Okushima in ports), is the heiress to a financially powerful family and is determined to be Takeru's bride. As the story progresses, both girls compete for Takeru's affections while Takeru has recurring dreams about a marriage promise he made to a girl long ago. At first, he believes the girl was Sumika, but eventually realizes that it was actually Meiya. At the conclusion, Takeru must choose between which of the girls he truly loves. In addition, the player may also make decisions to choose between one of the three main supporting cast: Chizuru Sakaki (voiced by Masayo Kurata), Miki Tamase (voiced by Hitomi), and Kei Ayamine (voiced by Nagashima Yuuko).
The second part, "Muv-Luv Unlimited", starts with Takeru Shirogane waking up in his bed, reminiscent of the start of "Muv-Luv Extra"; however, Takeru quickly realizes that neither Meiya nor Sumika come to wake him that morning. Upon leaving his house, he finds his neighborhood destroyed and Sumika's house crushed under the wreckage of a large mecha. Takeru later learns that he is in an alternate world to "Extra", where aliens called BETA (an acronym for "Beings of Extra Terrestrial origin which are Adversary of the human race") have invaded and mankind fights back against the alien aggressors with mecha called , usually referred to in Japanese as simply .
"Muv-Luv Unlimited" explains that the BETA first arrived on Earth in 1973 (in China and Canada) after arriving on the Moon in 1967 and being spotted on Mars in 1958. Subsequent battles with BETA resulted in the global population dropping to 2.4 billion with most of mainland Eurasia having been lost by the time the game starts in 2001. Most of the major characters from the "Extra" timeline are present in "Unlimited", notably excluding the "Unlimited" world's Takeru, who is said to be dead, and Sumika, who does not seem to exist in the "Unlimited" timeline. The characters are mostly identical to their "Extra" counterparts, with the notable exception Yoroi, Takeru's best friend in Extra who, for reasons unclear, is a girl in this reality.
In the sequel "Muv-Luv Alternative", Takeru wakes up three years after the beginning of "Unlimited" to find himself back in his room. Although he first thinks that the events of "Muv-Luv Unlimited" were a dream, he soon feels that something is wrong, and leaves the house to find that he has been sent back in time to the beginning of the events in "Unlimited". Unwilling to accept the events at the end of "Unlimited", he decides to help professor Kouzuki save the earth and mankind by bringing the mysterious Alternative IV — cancelled at the end of "Unlimited" — to fruition.
Gameplay.
The gameplay in "Muv-Luv" requires little player interaction as most time is spent reading the text that appears on the lower portion of the screen, representing either dialogue between characters, narration, or the inner thoughts of the player character. Every so often, the player will arrive at a "decision point", and be required to choose between multiple options. Gameplay pauses and depending upon the player's choice, the plot will develop in a specific direction. There are multiple plot lines that the player can follow, one for each heroine in the story, and there are nineteen possible endings. To view all plot lines, the player must replay the game multiple times. The game can end in failure if the player makes the wrong decisions. When this occurs, the player can return to a previously saved spot to try again.
"Muv-Luv" is divided into two segments, or story arcs—"Extra" and "Unlimited"—which serve as different phases in the overall story. Initially, only the "Extra" arc is available to play, but once the player has completed the "Extra" scenarios for the two main heroines, Sumika Kagami and Meiya Mitsurugi, the "Unlimited" arc becomes accessible. The 2016 Steam release removes this lock and makes "Unlimited" available immediately, albeit with a warning that the player should experience "Extra" first.
Development and release.
Japanese releases.
"Muv-Luv" was released on February 28, 2003 on Windows CD-ROM, and re-released on DVD-ROM on April 30, 2004. A fandisc, called "Muv-Luv Supplement" containing a number of short stories, computer wallpapers, audio clips, and a trailer for the upcoming "Muv-Luv Alternative". The limited edition DVD was released on December 17, 2004 and the regular edition was released on December 24.
"Muv-Luv Alternative" is a sequel to "Muv-Luv" and taking place after the events of the "Unlimited" arc in the original game. The DVD version of the game was released on February 24, 2006 and the CD version was released on March 3, 2006. A "Muv-Luv Alternative" fandisc, "Muv-Luv Altered Fable", was released on August 31, 2007 containing an alternate version of the "Extra" arc from "Muv-Luv" along with a radio drama, a Senjoki vs. BETA strategy RPG, computer wallpapers, and a "Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse" short story.
"All-age" versions of "Muv-Luv" and "Muv-Luv Alternative" with the adult content removed were released simultaneously on September 22, 2006. In 2011, both games were ported to the Xbox 360 by 5pb. and simultaneously released on October 27, 2011. Both titles were also released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in 2012 and 2016, respectively.
English localizations.
In the early 2010s, Mangagamer attempted to negotiate an English-language release of "Muv-Luv" and "Muv-Luv Alternative", but talks broke down, and the translator unilaterally released an unofficial fan translation patch, effectively ending Mangagamer's efforts. In 2015, âge partnered with Degica to launch a Kickstarter campaign to officially release the "Muv-Luv" series in English. The campaign succeeded in late 2015 after raising over US$1.25 million, against an initial goal of $250,000. The campaign also met all of its stretch goals, including ports to PlayStation Vita and Android and English localizations of "photonflowers*" and "photonmelodies♮" side-story collections. The English localization of the first "Muv-Luv" visual novel was released on Steam in July 2016, and "Muv-Luv Alternative" was released in September 2017. PS Vita versions of both games were released in June 2018.
The English version of "photonflowers*" was released on Steam on August 3, 2019, and the English version of "photonmelodies♮" was released on July 30, 2020. The English versions of "Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After" episodes 00 through 03 were released via Steam on February 5, 2021, marking the first English release of a "Muv-Luv" visual novel not directly funded by the 2015 Kickstarter.
Related media.
Anime.
At the conclusion of an October 2019 live event, âge presented the on-screen title “Muv-Luv Alternative in Animation”, followed by a clip of new animation, seemingly indicating an anime adaptation of the original "Muv-Luv Alternative" visual novel. It was later announced that the new anime would be a television series. The series is animated by Yumeta Company and Graphinica, with production by Flagship Line, and is directed by Yukio Nishimoto, featuring Tatsuhiko Urahata handling the series' scripts, Takuya Tani designing the characters, and Evan Call composing the series' music. It is set to premiere in October 2021 on Fuji TV's +Ultra programming block.
Manga and light novels.
"Muv-Luv" and its sequel "Muv-Luv Alternative" have since been adapted into three manga series by MediaWorks (later ASCII Media Works) and were serialized in the manga magazine "Dengeki Daioh" through 2018. In 2020, âge announced it would digitally self-publish an English translation of the "Muv-Luv Alternative" manga.
In addition, Shueisha has published a seven volume novel series based on "Muv-Luv" and "Muv-Luv Alternative".
Sequel.
In an October 2019 livestream producer Koki Yoshimune announced he was working on a new sequel to "Alternative", called "Muv-Luv INTEGRATE", but was not sure at that time what form the project would ultimately take or when it might be released.
Spin-offs.
"Muv-Luv" has prompted many spin-offs, and is itself a spin-off of âge's "Kimi ga Nozomu Eien" and its sequel "Akane Maniax", as it features several characters, locations, and story elements from those games. "Muv-Luv Alternative" also adds a character from âge's first visual novel, "Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu".
"Muv-Luv Alternative Chronicles".
"Muv-Luv Unlimited The Day After" continues the story of "Muv-Luv Unlimited", showing what happens after the end of that story and prior to Takeru's backward time-skip that begins "Muv-Luv Alternative". Currently incomplete, "TDA" was released episodically (as episodes "00" through "03") as part of the "Muv-Luv Alternative Chronicles" series of side-story discs. In 2020, âge announced that it will release episodes 00 through 03 in English, and that work has begun on episode 04, which was subsequently retitled "Muv-Luv Resonative".
"Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse".
"Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse" is a spin-off story set parallel to "Muv-Luv Alternative", following a new cast of characters while retaining the setting of the original visual novel. It focuses on the development of experimental TSF craft and the relationship between Yuuya Bridges, a Japanese-American test pilot and Yui Takamura, a leading figure in the development of a new generation TSF, which may able to change the course of the war.
Enterbrain published "Total Eclipse" in its "Tech Gian" magazine. This was followed by a manga adaptation titled "Total Eclipse" published by ASCII Media Works. "Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse" was later adapted into the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 visual novel by âge and 5pb. in 2013.
On July 24, 2011, a teaser website announced that an anime television adaptation of the novels is in the works. Produced by ixtl and Satelight, it aired between July 2 and December 23, 2012. Crunchyroll has acquired the streaming rights for the series, with Sentai Filmworks licensing the anime for digital and home video release. The first 13 episodes were released on January 20, 2015, on Blu-ray and DVD.
"Schwarzesmarken".
 is a series set in the Germany of the Alternative universe, during the early years of the BETA invasion in 1983. The protagonists are the 666th TSF squadron of East Germany, who fight both the BETA and opponents from the corrupt Stasi (Ministry of State Security).
"Schwarzesmarken" replaced the "Total Eclipse" serialization in Tech Gian magazine. The series is written by Hiroki Uchida and features character designs and illustrations by CARNELIAN. The novel was compiled into seven volumes following a 41 chapter run from 2011 to 2014. The series was followed in Tech Gian by its prequel, "Bernhard im Schatten".
A visual novel adaptation by âge was released in late 2015 for Microsoft Windows in two parts: Kouketsu no Monshou and Junkyoushatachi. Between the release of the two parts a Steam release and English localization of the visual novel was considered. However, despite this version of the game being approved via Steam Greenlight, it was ultimately not released.
On September 18, 2015, a teaser website announced that an anime television adaptation of the "Schwarzesmarken" novels by ixtl and Liden Films is scheduled to air in January 2016. The series began airing on January 10, 2016. Crunchyroll has acquired the rights to stream the anime outside of Japan.
Other.
Several other prose spin-offs were published as short stories in "Tech Gian" magazine. In addition, two fandiscs were also released, and , containing alternate scenarios, short stories, computer wallpapers, and audio dramas. Other spin-off material appeared as short visual novels in re-releases of earlier games, and in the "Muv-Luv Alternative Chronicles" series. Some of these visual novel segments for PC were assembled into the collections "photonflowers*" and "photonmelodies♮" for the PlayStation 3 in 2014, later ported to PC via Steam.
Aside from the visual novels, several other styles of games based on "Muv-Luv" have been released over the years. The browser game "Muv-Luv Alternative: Next Answer" launched in February, 2015, and remained in operation for about a year. "Muv-Luv Alternative: Strike Frontier", available initially as a browser game and later for iOS and Android, launched in September, 2016, and shut down in July, 2018. In October, 2019, âge showed a demo of "Project Mikhail" (working title), a new TSF-focused action game, to be released for Steam, iOS, and Android in 2021, and available in Japanese, English, and Chinese.
Music.
The opening theme of "Muv-Luv" is by Minami Kuribayashi. The closing theme for the "Extra" segment of "Muv-Luv" is "I Will" and the "Unlimited" segment's ending theme is , both by Minami Kuribayashi. For the all ages version, the opening theme the "Extra" segment is "divergence" by Minami Kuribayashi. For the "Unlimited" segment, the opening theme is by Masami Okui. The all ages version featured several ending themes depending on the ending, including "I will" by Minami Kuribayashi, by Aki Misato, "Astraea" by Miyuki Hashimoto, and by CooRie.
The opening themes for the sequel "Muv-Luv Alternative" are by JAM Project for the original release and by JAM Project for the all age release. The ending theme for both releases is "Muv-Luv (2005 ver.)" by Minami Kuribayashi. "Carry On" by Masaaki Endoh of JAM Project is used as an insert song in "Alternative".
Merchandise.
The "Muv-Luv" franchise has prompted the creation of a wide variety of tie-in merchandise, including clothing, model kits, action figures, dakimakura (hug pillows), and more. Several tie-in books provide coverage of the franchise's lore, such as "Muv-Luv Alternative Integral Works"
The Kickstarter campaign that funded the official English translation of the core trilogy commissioned new merchandise as rewards for backers. Unique items included a plush BETA toy, and "Muv-Luv Alternative Codex", an English translation of most of "Integral Works" along with other material.
Reception.
In 2003, "Muv-Luv" was number one in national PC sales following its release. The sequel, "Muv-Luv Alternative", released in 2006, was number three in sales during the first half of 2006.
"Muv-Luv" has received a median rating of 79 out of 100 on Erogamescape (EGS), while "Muv-Luv Alternative" has received a median rating of 93 out of 100, making it the third-highest rated visual novel on the website. On the Visual Novel Database (VNDB), "Muv-Luv Alternative" received an average rating of 9.13 (out of 10), making it the site's #1 visual novel by Bayesian ranking.
The English-language release of "Muv-Luv" has a Metacritic score of 76/100 based on reviews from four critics. RPGFan writer Don Kim gave the game a mixed review, writing "although Extra is nothing more than a glorified character introduction (and a terrible one at that), the game went far beyond my expectations in Unlimited, making the mediocrity of Extra almost forgivable."
"Muv-Luv Alternative"'s English release has a Metacritic score of 83/100, based on reviews form six critics. Summarizing the series for DualShockers, Giuseppe Nelva wrote: "If you love strong storytelling, solid and realistic sci-fi, diverse and engaging characters, quite a bit of charming fanservice, and to be deeply engaged on the emotional level, you owe it to yourself to try the Muv-Luv trilogy out."
According to the manga author Hajime Isayama, his hit manga series "Attack on Titan" was partly inspired by "Muv-Luv Alternative".