Total Eclipse - Episode 7 Discussion / Poll

[Kairin]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Total Eclipse, Episode 7.

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[Miraluka]

Lol, I found hilarious how Kryska make Yuuya pay attention on her but when Yui tries... Yuuya goes Chuck Norris' facial mode at her.

What a hopeless situation you are into Yui, and thats why one never should bother a guy that much, he'll become dense!! .

[grevierr]

"What are you two doing?"
"Fostering international relationships..."

[EagleBlue]

Looks like we'll get to see some action against the BETA again next episode.

[Miraluka]

Originally Posted by grevierr

"What are you two doing?"
"Fostering international relationships..."

Spoiler for If you know what I mean::

[Ray]

Great episode. It made like Cryska a lot more; I'm quite fond of her calm demeanor. Yuuya's dense, but I still can't help but like him as the protagonist.

And Yui proves to be as adorable as ever with all her blushing. The ending was spectacular in that regard. And pretty hilarious, too. Seeing her get all hot and bothered by being seen by Yuuya in her bikini is just too much!

Images

Dat body. Dem legs. And most importantly, dat ass.

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[KleenexGhost]

Originally Posted by Wilfriback

Spoiler for If you know what I mean::

Hey Yuuya, you better watch where you put that hand! And lol at Yui showing some of her Juvia side in that picture.

Another suitable title for this show would be "My Lieutenant and Russian super-soldier can't possibly be this cute!"

This was a fun episode. It built on Yuuya's blossoming harem lol. It was nice to see Cryska's understanding side, and I'm always entertained by Yui's going all tsundere and Yuuya being the clueless chick magnet. The bit with the swimsuits at the end was icing on the cake. I'm excited that we're getting back to the action with the next episode.

And Inia, so innocent. She just wants Cryska to be friends with Yuuya. All in all an entertaining episode.

[YF19EX]

It was a very nice character building ep. Cryska does not have much of a frame of reference for family other than Inia. But I think she is learning fast. Yuuya opening up about his past. Although dense (not as bad as IS's Itchka) he seems to understand that Yui is trying to get along with him and reading right through her. And Yui going full Tsundere!

And of course what would not be a perfect end without the whole team throwing innuendos toward their team mates!

[Belgaesh]

This episode was awesome in so many ways.

Glad to see that the main trio are opening up, but Yui acting all cute through the episode made me like her even more.

Cryska looks like it still need more screen time to show her true colors, but we've already seen a glimpsy of that.

Yuuya attitude towards Yui was softened this episode, I'm happy to see that they go at each other throats all the time. He is also finally oppening up his problems, and maybe we can see a better in his attitude towards Yui and Japan linked topics without freaking out

[Klashikari]

I know that some things were to be expected since "beach" context is a huge indication of the mood for the episodes, but somehow, I really wonder if the director is really handling the series with its initial premise.
I mean... the tropes and all are textbook what you find in a harem comedy, with Yui as the class rep, Cryska being the transfer student etc.
Exaggeration aside, the execution of the whole mess was crude and quite subpar: past the fanservice, it is more like the setup and the forced "character development" that are baffling me in this episode, more so than the previous happy training moments.

For those who don't see where I'm coming: just ignore TE premise a moment and imagine that it is just a high school comedy/drama series with foreigners packed in the lot. It wouldn't be much difference in this case. No offense to anyone who liked this episode, but really, there are way better methods to expose character angst and "development" without ridiculing its own "mature" setup (main culprit would be the telegraphed drama with Yui, spectating Yuuya and Cryska in a "kiss" look alike posture).

Which is a shame, since the point going across with Cryska wasn't too bad, but the context itself is the glaring issue.

[DezoPenguin]

Hmm...while I admit that "stuck on the island with two girls in swimsuits while we talk a lot" didn't do much for me (simply because the fanservice crossed the line from "hmm, cute" to "okay, enough of this already), it was nice to get to see some more character development, particularly from Cryska, who's been rather an enigma for the first six eps. (well, 3-6, since she wasn't in 1-2). Glimpses of her background and her occasionally odd perspectives on things suggest that her upbringing was very different than normal (something that informs on her background with Inia), making me interested in what's going on.

Particularly, this makes me interested in her response to Yuuya's revelation about his father--the point that she tells him he should be glad to have parents. Given that his entire point about his dad is that he doesn't have a father--that said father ran out on his family before Yuuya was even born--it makes me wonder if Cryska was basically born in a lab-rat creche or something, without even having identifiable parents. Guess Commie human-building technology found something more productive than East German female Olympic athletes to work on in MLA...

Yui, meanwhile, appears to have elevated her tsundere status to weapons-grade. The little sulking fit in the cave after catching Yuuya and Cryska in an "I know it's not a compromising circumstance but I don't care!" moment pretty much made her seem like a thirteen-year-old with her first crush. Which, depending on her age (she's probably still in her teens, since she was a high-schooler in 1998), and given her likely limited social experience owing to the usual dedication to family duty, etc., etc., she basically is. (The ending, where VG, Vincent, Stella, and Chobi are basically laughing at Yui and Yuuya's kid-romance antics, hangs a hat on this. It's also entertaining that all of them see through Yui's tsuntsun antics in half a second. Which goes a long way towards explaining why the other half of a pairing with a tsundere is always the Generic Clueless Harem Lead Nice Guy, because anyone else would either lose patience and bail or force the girl to cut through the BS and confront reality.)

(I don't know if Europeans have school swimsuits, but I have no idea why Vincent should have called it classic, since Americans definitely don't.)

Inia gets the best bit of the whole episode, when she smirks at Cryska's denial of having any interest in Yuuya. Looks like Yuuya's got himself into that rarest of rarities, the double-tsundere love triangle.

[dazguy]

the anime scene where they got rescued seem to be different then that of the manga... i liked more time with inia

[Sheba]

@Klash:

You put the nail on the head as in one of the many things that makes Muv Luv what it is. Those people would be right at home in a highschool romcom. One of the aspects of the universe itself is an experiment of thought along the lines of "We take those harem romcom stereotypes. Put them in highschool romcom moments, with its share of jealousy, misunderstanding and rivalry. Before feeding them to the realpolitik or meat grinder."

I mean, you are right, this is usually an universe fit for "unshaven macho men" (to quote someone who seems to have an unhealthy obsession with them). Either the context is a sore for harem romcom fans or the characters are such for those wanting the meatgrinder to start. And you don't have to like it. You just have to bear it. So when the shit hit the fan, if you cry bitch tears and long for the simpler times, those quirky romcom moments have likely done their job. (emphasis on if)

[DezoPenguin]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

For those who don't see where I'm coming: just ignore TE premise a moment and imagine that it is just a high school comedy/drama series with foreigners packed in the lot. It wouldn't be much difference in this case. No offense to anyone who liked this episode, but really, there are way better methods to expose character angst and "development" without ridiculing its own "mature" setup (main culprit would be the telegraphed drama with Yui, spectating Yuuya and Cryska in a "kiss" look alike posture).

Yeah, this is what I was getting at with Yui (and why I gave the ep. a 7 on the poll), only you say it a lot better. Even if Yui's just a kid, Yuuya is both an adult and an American; he shouldn't be acting like a Generic Japanese High School Student. (Heh...maybe Yui's been right all along about the effects of racial genetics in the MLA universe...who knew that Harem Protagonist Guy was an ethnic attribute?)

I do like the fact that Argos Flight and Inia were, however, hanging a lampshade on how ridiculous it was. It would have been better, however, if the writer had actually gone with a more realistic romance development.

(On the other hand, there's part of me that thinks that complaining about how the romance in a LN adaptation that's based off an eroge franchise follows generic tropes for romance in otaku-centric media would be just like me complaining about how the romance in a Harlequin romance novel follows the tropes for pretty much every other Harlequin romance novel. While I'd like things to be better, given the premise, I'm not sure I have the right to expect anything different than what we have so far.)

[Triple_R]

Before I begin, let me just say that I really didn't like this episode. So if you don't want to read a critical review, it might be a good idea to stop reading now.


I didn't mind the softening that Yui received last episode, but this episode's depiction of her was downright ridiculous, imo. The way they portrayed her character in this episode may well make it impossible for me to take her seriously ever again.

And that final scene... good grief. That's one of the worst anime scenes I've seen in a long time. Am I to seriously believe that this sort of utterly shameless silliness is going on within a military operating in a world severely threatened by a massive alien invasion?

For all the talk of racism/nationalism in this anime, it pales in comparison to the obnoxious male chauvinism of the last scene of this episode, imo.

About the only thing I liked in this episode was Yuuya's character. He's about the only character in this show that consistently acts like a self-respecting professional, let alone a soldier. He's a good character - It's a shame he's been saddled with goofball allies and over-the-top tsunderes.


Edit:

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

Yeah, this is what I was getting at with Yui (and why I gave the ep. a 7 on the poll), only you say it a lot better. Even if Yui's just a kid, Yuuya is both an adult and an American; he shouldn't be acting like a Generic Japanese High School Student.

He's not acting like that. Yuuya was clearly exasperated with all the nonsense that went on in this episode, as almost any self-respecting adult soldier would be if in his shoes. He continually makes it clear that he just wants Cryska and Yui to shoot straight with him. Which, you know, is what soldiers would naturally expect their freakin' military superiors and allies to do.

[YF19EX]

I can understand people being critical of the ep. The underlying premise with the world on the tip of destruction and you have what we expect to be strong militaristic characters reacting more like as said school romance comedy. I will probably take the underlying fact it was based on a Eroge and so those elements will probably always be present (and I find them entertaining) just as I find the more serious war aspects of the show enjoyable as well. The disconnect between the two parts might be hard for people to understand or enjoy unless is all one or the other. Hey its anime!

If you want a serious sciifi drama go watch Yamato 2199. Now that a good old tale of adventure, war and romance that does not take it to silly levels.

[Klashikari]

Please bear in mind that the mere "eroge" origin is just nonsensical: surely, you have tons of highschool setting (which seems to be the eternal favorite premise for otaku), however, you have many of them that just get away without the cliche (hell, even some high school stuff actually don't rely on harem antics to deliver romance and all).
Really, the format is not relevant at all: it all depends how things are delivered, which would give a coherent storytelling without challenging the audience suspension of disbelief.

The whole "beach + stranded on a desert island" part could be more original, but is "fine". But really, it is all the tropes oozing in this single episode that just makes you wonder why it involves military personel.
And no, "looking for another series" is again a weird argument push there: you can then excuse any mediocre series because there are better series? I take the opposite: the fact there are good series doesn't mean this one should fell flat on the cliche. The very reason why I likened Yui and Cryska to class rep and transfer student template trope.

[YF19EX]

Its not an excuse to let bad writing slide, but more of a series can never give an audience all it whats. Sometimes to get to the better part you have to live with it. This is a 20+ ep series. There will be plenty of time for it to sink or swim. So the next question, is such "bad writing" in this early stage unforgivable or do you still see potential to flush out a story. I still see the war aspect of the story engaging and the romance element could possibly be given a better writing out during those times. I have no particular problems with either way it goes.

[Bombo]

Yui so cute .
ANYWAY
From the preview we will meet BETA ....!

[Key Board]

so much off model characters in this episode
and so much jelly