So Muvluv is coming out to steam soon. I think in two days? Anyways, I’ve been meening to write something on it but I kept pushing it back because I was trying to finish Hyperdimensional Neptunia Rebirth 3 before I start 4. I’m still not done with it, lol, but I did finish reading Koihime, which I felt was longer than it needed to be when the side routes are concerned.
Anyways, this will contain spoilers because I’ll be talking on my experience of reading it with a few key elements in the novels. I’ll also just be talking about Extra and Unlimited, as I haven’t got to Alternative yet. So I’ll just put the short end of it here. Its highest merit is its comedic routine. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and that’s a good thing as a lot of random shit happens in it. And I believe that’s why it’s famous to VN readers, because honestly, it’s pretty mediocre outside of it. The sprite art must’ve been good for its time and it’s quite expressive on the characters emotions. On the flipside, there’s a character here and there that were given a route simply because she’s one of the many main characters. The endings to Unlimited are also quite meh, as it’s just the same ending with different lines that reflect their personalities. I’d rather it just go straight to the true end. There’s also a lot of choices that are basically just, “who’s food do you want to eat”; Seriously, it comes up like five times. In the end, it was fun to read so go have a try if you’re nostalgic for some late 90s/early 2000s harem anime.
Now, all the characters are archetypes, they were most likely aiming for this though, leaving it as a parody, at least for the two main characters at least.
Sumika is the main character’s childhood friend, she’s quite funny but also kind of a tard. C
Meiya is basically an ignorant rich girl, but she basically acts like a knight. C+
Aki is the loli; She’s semi hyper and cheery for the most part. C
Sakaki is always on the main character’s case, basically because he doesn’t really listen to rules. She has a no nonsense attitude but is also quite kind when she opens up. B+
Kei is the kuudere and also a delinquent, just not the violent type. She messes around with the main character’s personality quite a bit. B
Marimo is treated as the bad end, as it just ended abruptly. She was pretty funny to me though.
Note on the scores, the only reason the first two get Cs is because it’s an ending that is shown a lot. They’re still quite good.
Ok, that’s the end of the short stuff, now it’s basically just nagging and giving some props here and there.
Muvluv is actually a pretty funny story to me. Every time someone talked to me about Muvluv, mecha was always brought up here and there. So to my surprise, there was no mecha for the longest time and I started thinking the guys I talked to were trolling me because it was basically just a 90s harem novel. Then Unlimited popped up after I beat Extra. And that’s what I wanted, I didn’t need the first part. Though I understand the need for it to continue to Alternative.
Nags and props.
The three maids? I get they were trying to be funny in the annoying way, but they did it too well. They really were just annoying brats that really had no place in the story.
Takumi the butler? Amazing comedic character, he should’ve been somewhere in Unlimited instead of the maids.
Meiya? I think I probably would’ve given her a C too if it wasn’t driving scene in her ending.
Sakaki and Kei had great routes. I especially liked Sakaki’s route, and is basically my favorite route in the novel. But if you saw my scores from other reviews, you basically know what genre her route is, lol. However, both of them are a lot more meh in Unlimited.
Aki? She’s way more important in Unlimited, and I honestly like her more there. Her Extra’s route is quite boring, you could honestly just not do it. I’m pretty sure only Sumika and Meiya are required to unlock Unlimited. You should still check out the remaining two optional routes though.
I actually liked the military aspect in Unlimited, but the main reason for that is you see the main character grow. Once the mecha comes out, you’re guy is a pro so it’s not as interesting.
In short, the novel is ok. I have no idea why it’s this renowned popular unless it was regarding to the humor or because it’s about Alternative. And if that’s the case, that’s a rather large read just to get to the good part. On the other hand, I’d recommend Demonbane over this.
Mainly a Visual Novel Blog now 