Like the title says, this is the place to discuss the power and capabilities of the Visual Novel, Muv-Luv.
Including all the related (canon) material.
What the hell is Muv-Luv?
Despite the weird name, Muv-Luv is a decent Sci-Fi/Military story which (this being Japan) features giant mecha.
The plot follows the struggle of Takeru Shirogane, used to be a regular highschooler, who suddenly finds himself in an apocalyptic parallel universe. In this world humanity is in a constant war with the aliens called BETA, slowly but surely getting closer to extinction.
Having no ways to return, Takeru decides to train to become a soldier and make a name for himself in that world.
Do you remember the old Starship Troopers movie?
This just like that turned up to eleven.
Betraying your initial expectations, Muv-Luv has a grim and rather intricate plot.
Muv-Luv Alternative (the final part which was released as a separate game) is also often considered the best visual novel amongst the Western fans.
If you have the time (circa 60-100 hours, depending how quick you read), I definitely recommend this to you.
So yeah, back to the topic.
While lacking any good interstellar showings, Muv-Luv is a surprisingly strong universe. The capabilities and firepower of both the BETA and human military reach near-absurd levels.
How much so? Spoiler
Chronological summary:
By the '50s, Muv-Luv humanity reached and in some areas even surpassed the technology of our modern Earth.
They had mass-productible CNTs (called "Super Carbon"), military-grade powered exoskeletons and friggin' bases on the Moon.
In the early 60s they developed giant mechas which became then the first TSF.
Around the '60s the Soviets were doing research on Espers and by the late 70s they were definitely showing results.
By the same time cloning and gene manipulation were advanced enough to "mass-produce" these Espers.
By the 70s, cybernetic prosthetics became the norm to replace lost limbs or other deficiencies.
In 1975 they complete a global surveillance and early warning system of spy satellites and space bases. The latter were armed with nukes.
In 1979 they begin the HI-MAERF project to create an unstoppable flying fortress.
Using the exotic materials stolen from the BETA, the HI-MAERF had the Moorcock-Lechte Engine which manipulated gravity.
This allowed the HI-MAERF to float and project a near-impenetrable forcefield.
It could also use the excess energy to fire a retardedly powerful particle cannon (see later).
Due to a tragic accident the HI-MAERF project was frozen and instead they developed the G-Bombs.
G-Bombs entered service in 1991 and their effects made nukes look like a firecracker.
In 1997 a young genius comes up with a practical theory to interact with parallel universes.
In 2001 the said genius completes her theory and manages to create a quantum computer
Said computer theoretically had limitless calculation ability thanks to being connected to infinite parallel universe versions of itself.
The 120mm shells are much stronger than that. With the high-explosive variant being able to blow up larger strains of BETA (1000+ tons of flesh) to tiny pieces. That would require hundreds of kilograms worth TNT.
Worths noting this feat abused a structural fault in the 150m tall rock. Still, the very least it destroyed over 1000 cubic meters worth of material in the process. Easily gigajoule level.
TSFs can fly at supersonic speeds even when they're just 10 meters off the ground. Skilled pilots can also bullet time with their mech. Against Mach 7 projectiles.
The more expensive units are also protected by Anti-Laser Coating. This stuff has ridiculous heat capacity, allowing to tank shots from Laser Classes for a while.
They also have anti-laser warheads that spread heavy metal particles coated with similar stuff to weaken the lasers in the area.
Speaking of artillery, a single volley from the combined Pacific Fleet is enough to saturate the entire Sado Island with explosions.
And we're only at the conventional weapons. There are experimental arms that have flat-out absurd power.
They also have the EML-99X Railgun which rapid-fires 120mm shells, each with enough power to penetrate the armor of 5+ Destroyer Class in a row. KE equal to at least hundreds of tons of TNT each.
When infiltrating Hives, TSFs are also equipped with the S-11 SD Device. These were compared to the yield of a tactical nuke.
Which is apparently set on a different standard in Muv-Luv. Because a single S-11 Device can vaporize hundreds of thousands of BETA. Calculated to be at least 24 megatons in yield.
As for strategic weapons, they're a different monster altogether. A straight row of hundreds or maybe thousands buried nukes can split the landmass of Alaska in half.
And those nukes are nothing compared to the G-Bombs. The side effect of these alone can reignite several inactive volcanoes.
The explosion of the Susanoo II also made the entire Sado Island disappear, plus other gigantic side effects. I calculated this to be 275 to 4700 gigatons in yield.
The above-described event was referred to be 20 times more powerful than an average G-Bomb, making those also measure in the gigatons.
Lastly, I again mention the XG-70 Susanoo which has a charged particle cannon comparable or even superior to the G-Bombs in yield. And it possesses a gravity-based defense at the same power, called the Rutherford Field.
Long story short, they're far more than just a slightly futuristic modern military with mechs.
They were already like that in the '50s.
Things only got crazier in the following 50 years.
Next would be their infamous adversary:
Spoiler
BETA Facts:
Despite the appearances, BETA are actually a "peaceful" intergalactic force of "miners" who send minerals and collect genetic material for their enigmatic masters.
They don't recognize carbon-based beings (including themselves) as lifeforms. Neither they view humanity as enemy. Just a pest they need to fend off while continuing their work.
The BETA are hivemind-like creatures, controlled by the Superior and its proxies the Reactors.
Each Hive is like a control hub and the various BETA strains are like their countless limbs.
Hives also gather information on a constant basis and feed it to the Superior, which then directs them by developing new strategies.
The BETA has many different strains, the most common types can be fitted into 7 classes.
Their size varies wildly depending on class. The smaller strains are comparable to humans or large mammals in size. The larger strains are 12-20 meters tall and the towering Fort Classes are 66 m.
While biological, BETA behave more like finely tuned machines. They don't eat or breathe, instead require periodical recharging from the Reactor.
Thus the BETA has incredible toughness for a biological creature. They can survive in space and walk on the cailings of Oceans like nobody's business.
This and several other features make the BETA highly resistant to poisons and viruses. Humanity's attempts to create biological weapons against the BETA have failed.
Most of them also seems to lack sight, smell or hearing. Instead relying on much more abstract ways.
One of these is the weird ability to sense "technology". They can detect high sources of energy and even distinguish between the quality of computers.
Their other, more explainable sense is to detect life (especially humans). This is most likely connected to heat detection and the combination of more mundane senses.
BETA don't breed. They're created from the combination of organic and inorganic material gathered on site.
This also allows them to replenish their numbers at an alarming rate. A Phase 4 Hive for example can remake hundreds of thousands of BETA under weeks of time.
On the other hand there seems to be an upper limit for each Hive to maintain. Each phase has a certain capacity which raises exponentially as the Hive develops.
As turned out there are 10^37 number of "existences" (Superiors) in the Universe.
If we divide this number with the estimation of all planets in the visible universe, we'd get quadrillions of BETA on each and every stellar body.
Which is obviously untrue. Most likely there are many different types of BETA fleets. The one invaded the Earth was just the tame mining force. And there are more militarized forms of BETA which probably is full of Superior-class strains. Preferably commanding swarms of spaceships.
BETA Specifics:
While primarily miners, the BETA also produces a number of exotic materials. Named after its researcher they call these the Gray Elements or G-Elements for short.
These have a diverse range of nearly miraculous capabilities and almost the entire BETA tech is based on them.
The Destroyer Class has an armored front shell which was estimated to be Mohs 15 in hardness. For reference, the diamond is only Mohs 10. I attempted to calc this, using extrapolation.
The arms of the Grapplers and the pointed legs of the Fort Class have similar qualities, but they use them as powerful melee weapons instead of just armors.
Back to Destroyer Classes, they prefer to ram the opposition while running at 170 km/h. They also weigh thousands of tons so in conclusion their impact energy is measured in many gigajoules.
Grappler Classes also physically compete with TSFs in mellee which makes their
Fort Classes have a 50m long tentacle that they can use as a whip and powerful enough to split a battleship in half. The far end also has an acidic stinger that can burn through thick bulkheads.
The shots of the Laser Classes are ridiculously energetic, enough to instantly vaporize any armor not protected by anti-laser coating.
Special mention goes to the Heavy Laser Class, which has beams capable of vaporizing thousands of tons of material in a split-second. I calculated that to be 5.1 kilotons.
The regular Laser Classes aren't much behind. And if I compare the effectiveness of anti-laser coating against the two, it turns out they have 1-4% of the Heavy Laser's output.
The wall of each Hive is also retardedly durable. It required the detonation of 16 megaton-yield S-11 charges to just make a section of the Original Hive's wall crumble.
To destroy even a recently born Hive, you'd need to spam it with Muv-Luv's over-fed versions for strategic nukes. In the past, one such action made Canada an irradiated wasteland.
Even the power of a G-bomb only managed to destroy the relatively small (50m) monument of a Phase 2 Hive.
The Reactor Class are also notably tough. Requiring the detonation of 2 S-11 devices to kill.
The Superior itself was suggested to be even more powerful. Rendering S-11 explosives little more than a nuisance.
Both the Reactors and the Superior also have telepathy and technopathy.
Lastly, the Superior's tentacles also have several different functions like energy absorption, cancelling the Susanoo's Rutherford Field. It can be even used to physically invade both human and machine alike, controlling them like puppets.
It again worths noting that the BETA encountered in Muv-Luv is actually the non-military faction of their race.
Aside from wild speculations we have no idea what a serious BETA attack force is like.
Due to the lack of interstellar capabilities, the BETA on Earth would be no match for the classic swarm races like the Tyranids and Zergs.
They would held their ground against the ground forces quite well but space is a different matter.
If we use the power of the human-developed G-tech as the baseline, the theoretical BETA warships would be at least a good match for Tyranid Hive Fleets.
But again, the actual military of the BETA (if they really have it) possesses no feats whatsoever.
Long-arching speculations are nice but never could be a grounds for a real VS debate.
This thread is to collect facts and analyze them.
While I already summarized a great deal, help is always appreciated.
You can also use this as a new discussion thread for everything related to Muv-Luv.
Photography Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Well, I'm not sure if I can call it a game.
It's more like an interactive story.
In Muv-Luv's case it's often similar to watching a movie, even.
And yes, the original trilogy is pretty good.
The first two parts (Extra, Unlimited) are so-so but they still have their moments.
What makes Muv-Luv awasome is the third part (Alternative).
Until then everything else is just a build-up for that storyline.
And honestly, it does live up to its hype.
As for whether the VN is available in English, thankfully my answer is yes.
My Japanese knowledge stops at recognizing a few common words and phrases.
So you can bet I read the entire thing in English.
There's a translation patch made by Amaterasu.
As for how to get the actual VN, I leave that to you.
I have three things to warn you, though.
First, like you can expect, Muv-Luv's style is similar to most Japanese anime. So there are certain things you might need getting used to.
If you saw more than a couple of anime series, it's no problem.
Second, even if it isn't the focus, Muv-Luv is considered an eroge.
In Japan it's apparently difficult to sell a VN without adding dating sim and adult content like elements to it.
The romance stuff might get a little annoying in Extra and I suggest you to just skip the erotic scenes because it has no relevance to the plot.
Well, save for one certain scene which is actually more like a nightmare fuel in context.
And that's the third point. Muv-Luv, especially Alternative, has its share of visceral scenes. Coupled with the narration and the context these are downright cruel. So be prepared. I heard there's a "gore censor patch" that lessens this but I honestly can't find it.
Altogether, I suggest you to read/watch Muv-Luv in private or only with close friends. There are certain things that aren't safe in work environment.
