History VisualNovel / MuvLuvAlternative

* TemporalThemeNaming: Japanese TSF models and equipment (even those manufactured under foreign license such as the F-4 Phantom) are given designations of the form "Type-xx", where the latter is the last two digits of the year the particular equipment was adopted; for example, the Type-74 longsword was adopted in 1974, the Type-77 Gekishin (alternate name of the F-4J) was first used in 1977, the Type-97 Fubuki TSF entered Imperial Army service in 1997, while the Type-00 Takemikazuchi was adopted by the Imperial Royal Guard in 2000. [[spoiler:And in 2004, after the success of the [[LightNovel/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse XFJ Programme]] and successful trials during Operation Sledgehammer, Yuuhi orders the IJA to adopt the Shiranui Second as the Type-04.]]

* TemporalThemeNaming: Japanese TSF models and equipment (even those manufactured under foreign license such as the F-4 Phantom) are given designations of the form "Type-xx", where the latter is the last two digits of the year the particular equipment was adopted; for example, the Type-74 longsword was adopted in 1974, the Type-77 Gekishin (alternate name of the F-4J) was first used in 1977, the Type-97 Fubuki TSF entered Imperial Army service in 1997, while the Type-00 Takemikazuchi was adopted by the Imperial Royal Guard in 2000.

* SoLastSeason: Enforced upon the Empire of Japan by the peace settlement ending the Second World War: it was forbidden from building and operating aircraft carriers and furthermore was forced to maintain in active service its ''six'' superheavy battleships (''four Yamato''-classes and ''two Yamato-Kai''-classes) - each a resource hog crippling the Japanese economy and a sitting duck in the era of American air supremacy. And then, the [[AntiAir BETA]] came, giving them a new lease on life as superheavy fire support.

* SoLastSeason: Enforced upon the Empire of Japan by the peace settlement ending the Second World War: it was forbidden from building and operating aircraft carriers and furthermore was forced to maintain in active service its ''six'' superheavy battleships (''four Yamato''-classes and ''two Yamato-Kai''-classes) - each a resource hog crippling the Japanese economy and a sitting duck in the era of American air supremacy. And then, the [[AntiAir BETA]] came.

* CavalryRefusal: In the midst of the BETA invasion of Japan, the United States broke its mutual-defense treaty with Japan, and withdrew combat assets to send them to the European / Middle Eastern front. While earning the ire of a substantial fraction of the Japanese populace, it was acknowledged as the correct decision during one of Captain Isumi's lectures. [[spoiler:Setting materials imply that had the US not done it, the Suez Canal defense line would have fallen, and Africa - home-in-exile of many European nations, source of much of the food for the remaining countries and critical materials for the war effort - would have been lost. It would have been Game Over for humanity at that point, fall-of-Japan or no.]]

* GratuitousLatin: The names given to the different BETA classes (e.g. ''Medium'', ''Lux'', ''Gravis'' etc). Averted in the official translation, where they're called Soldier-class, Laser-class, and Fortress-class.

* FrickinLaserBeams: The presence of the laser-class BETA (''Lux'' and ''Magnus Lux'') ended ''air superiority'' as a viable combat philosophy, and was the reason for the development of the [=TSF=]s. In contrast humanity only had conventional weapons [[spoiler: and later a WaveMotionGun, but that's only on two [[SuperPrototype Super Prototypes]]]]. No BeamSpam for humanity here, folks.

Of course, one thing that didn't carry over was Takeru's rank, so he has to begin again in basic training. This time however, he is physically fit and mentally ready and he and the squad breeze through their former obstacles. Throughout the early parts of the story, Takeru does his best to move events forward and get promoted to a position with some measure of authority to it as quickly as possible. While hurrying the rehash of ''Unlimited'' along, Takeru also acts in ways differently than he had before, hoping to introduce changes into the timeline. Sure enough, he succeeds and a brand new story begins. This time, however, [[RaceAgainstTime there is an inescapable deadline to stop the BETA before Alternative V goes into effect]].

* IAmNotLeftHanded: [[spoiler:The BETA can use combined arms and tactical awareness beyond simple Zerg rushing if enabled by the Superior. When they do, human casualties shoot up massively.]]

* ActionBomb: The Japanese TSF units (and them alone) are equipped with the S-11 Explosive which doubles as a self-destruct system, allowing pilots to go out on their own terms [[EatenAlive instead of the other alternative]]. [[spoiler: Mitsuki sacrifices herself using two to destroy the Yokohama Hive reactor, while Chizuru and Ayamine self-destruct at the end of the Original Hive mission after running out of options and to prevent more BETA from coming after the rest of the squad.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Music/JAMProject Stand forth and dance nobly\\
O warrior who has accepted your destiny...]]'']]

* WarIsHell: A major reason why ''Alternative'' gets a lot darker than the earlier installments is that it shows humanity's struggle against the BETA in all its unflinching brutality, with Takeru right in the middle of it all, instead of taking a backseat like he did in ''Unlimited''. The emotional toll that the war takes is also not glossed over, with the impact it's had on both Takeru and [[spoiler:Sumika]] being a key plot point.

* NewGamePlus: The first part of ''Alternative'' is the rare example of this trope happening in-story- Takeru keeps the skills and training he gained during ''Unlimited'', allowing him to breeze through the basic training that thoroughly kicked his ass the first time around. This reflects the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original development plans]] for the title; Alternative was supposed to be the NewGamePlus true ending to ''Unlimited'', before production issues caused it to become a separate title.

* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler: Marimo after losing her squadmates to a surprise BETA attack, as her backstory reveals.]]

* NewGamePlus: The first part of ''Alternative'' is the rare example of this trope happening in-story- Takeru keeps the skills and training he gained during ''Unlimited'', allowing him to breeze through the basic training that thoroughly kicked his ass the first time around. This reflects the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original development plans]] for the title; Alternative was ''supposed to be'' the NewGamePlus true ending to ''Unlimited'', before production issues caused it to become a seperate title.

* NewGamePlus: The first part of ''Alternative'' is the rare example of this trope happening in-story- Takeru keeps the skills and training he gained during ''Unlimited'', allowing him to breeze through the basic training that thoroughly kicked his ass the first time around.

* AdaptationExpansion: Azusa Maxima's manga adaptation integrates material from, among other sources,''Chronicles'' side-stories like ''Atonement'', dealing with Marimo's past.

* GratuitousLatin: The names given to the different BETA classes (e.g. ''Medium'', ''Lux'', ''Gravis'' etc). Averted in the official translation, where they're called Soldier, Tank, and Fortress.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Alternative IV is successful, and Takeru has bought humanity three more decades of survival... at the price of the lives of his lover and closest friends[[note]]all of whom were his lovers in alternate worlds[[/note]], one of whom he had to [[ICannotSelfTerminate personally pull the trigger on]]. Takeru himself becomes [[RetGone Ret Goned]], and only three of the Valkyries remain. And there remain at least 10^37 BETA out in space, though Yuuko expects to be prepared for them if they return. On the bright side for Takeru personally, he gets a reward of sorts when Unit 00 not only returns him to his original world for good, but also rewrites reality so that it's an even better world than ''Extra'' was.]]

* CavalryRefusal: In the midst of the BETA invasion of Japan, the United States broke its mutual-defense treaty with Japan, and withdrew combat assets to send them to the European / Middle Eastern front. While earning the ire of a substantial fraction of the Japanese populace, it was acknowledged as the correct decision during one of Captain Isumi's lectures. [[spoiler:Setting materials imply that had the US not done it, the Suez Canal defense line would have fallen, and Africa - home-in-exile of many European nations, source of much of the food for the remaining countries and critical materials for the war effort - would have been lost. It would have been Game Over for humanity at that point.]]

--> [[spoiler:'''Yuuko''', under interrogation]]

--> ''[[spoiler:Like I said, how many times do I have to repeat it? An awkward hero saved this world. Stumbling, crying, fighting stubbornly for so long.. a bratty hero.]]''
--> ''[[spoiler:And it's funny: not knowing anything, everyone still went along with him, even after finding out they still continued on... Well, I was one of them too.]]''
--> ''[[spoiler:Geez, you could say we really were trusting.]]''
--> ''[[spoiler:...I guess it's no use talking any more with snobs like you.]]''

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The ED of the prequel ''Akane Maniax'', the OP of ''Extra'', '''and''' the ED of ''Alternative'', is the same song: "Muv-Luv" by Minami Kuribayashi (the voice actress of Kasumi and Haruka). The song has also been stated by [[WordOfGod the singer]] to be about Sumika ''in Unlimited / Alternative''.]]

** There is also a notable subversion with regards to Alternative V. Takeru constantly wonders if the emigration plan of the ''Unimited'' timeline even succeeded, since he has no knowledge or memory of what happened to the migrant fleet. However, the endings where he sends his love interest off with the fleet are pretty explicit in showing them alive and well, with a daughter to boot. Hence, the audience knows that Alternative V did achieve some measure of success, even if Takeru doesn't.

* CommonTongue: English is the official international language mandated by the United Nations. This leads to the [[https://youtu.be/Pu0tbiYaHqc following scene]][[note]]2017 re-release with re-recorded English dialogue[[/note]] [[spoiler:during the coup d'etat by Japanese nationalists]]:

On September 25th 2015, having gained domestic acclaim and a sizable international fanbase, âge, in collaboration with Degica (a Japan-based e-commerce company and video game publisher), officially launched a [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/muvluv/muv-luv-a-pretty-sweet-visual-novel-series Kickstarter campaign]] to fund an ''official English localization'' of ''Alternative'' and it's prequels ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra'' and ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvUnlimited''. Within less than a day, âge achieved their funding goal of $US 250,000. The campaign concluded on November 4th, 2015, having exceeded the target amount by more than $US 1,000,000. A manga serialization ran in ''Dengeki Daioh'' up to June 2017. The official international edition of ''Alternative'' was released on Steam on September 19, 2017.

* NinjaProp: Why is this the only VN without multiple routes? [[spoiler:Because Sumika would have reset the timeline if Takeru fell for someone else]].