Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

Synopsis

After a six-year conflict on the moon ended in 1973, alien invaders called the BETA descended on Earth, laying waste to Eurasia and killing billions. Conventional arms failed against the BETA's advanced laser weapons, leading to the creation of giant combat mechs known as Tactical Surface Fighters (TSFs). When the BETA reached Japan in 1998, Yui Takamura, a TSF pilot training at a military academy, was ordered to hold Kyoto's final defensive line with her classmates. They successfully beat back the attack, but the Japanese Imperial Army suffered crippling losses, including Yui's closest friends, deepening her resolve to prevent future devastation. Three years later, now a lieutenant, Yui joins the XFJ project—a joint Japan-U.S. initiative based in Alaska aimed at developing the new Shiranui TSF. Working alongside an international team that includes the prickly test pilot Yuuya Bridges and pilots from other BETA-stricken nations, Yui navigates Cold War-era political tensions while Yuuya wrestles with his own history, weaving a story of Yui's crucial mission and Yuuya's personal battle.

Background

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse is a side entry of the larger Muv-Luv franchise, showing events taking place prior to and in parallel with the events of the latter two entries of the original Muv-Luv visual novel trilogy. The anime and light novel versions take place on the Unlimited timeline while the manga and visual novel versions of the story take place on the Alternative timeline. The series was released on Blu-ray and DVD in two collections each by Sentai Filmworks. Both versions of the first set, containing the first half of the series, were released on January 20, 2015. Both versions of the second set, containing the second half of the series, were released on May 12, 2015.