In order to save the world, you obviously need a team that hates each other, right?
What They Say:
No episode summary provided.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse certainly had an interesting pair of opening episodes which gave us a lot to digest as it moved across quite a few years. And then at the end, shifted forward again several years to age up the high school girl to someone older and in a different realm of experience. That can be a little disconcerting, especially since it makes it hard to grab onto them as the changes are quick and hard, but I like that we got as much background material as we did. It also put a lot of the focus on the animation and action which is a big selling point for many here and it was an area that they definitely excelled at. It didn’t connect with the characters, but it was all shiny enough to get me to keep coming back for a bit more in hopes that things would settle down in that area, especially after the time advance.
Unfortunately, a good chunk of this episode is made up of more action and more background material. That has some good bits to it as we see the base that everyone operates out of in the Yukon which is certainly interesting to see with its design and large scale feeling. Shows like this have been few and far between where it has a sense of real science fiction to it and an advancement in a lot of ways, so things like the buildings, mecha and more can be pretty engaging even when the show itself falls short. When it does finally shift to more character material in the second half, introducing the group from the Yukon base to Yui, we get a lot of names thrown our way. Which isn’t bad, but you can start laying odds on who will be killed in battle next.
Not surprisingly, we do get some good (and enjoyable) fanservice here as well due to the uniforms, skintight and bouncy as they are for both men and women. And that means some changing scenes too, where important dialogue is placed between the women of course. It’s not a surprise to have this here considering the shows origins and it’s definitely not overdone, but it is patently obvious. What we do get as it goes on is a good deal of tension and dissent in the ranks with how this crew of pilots deals with each other, something that doesn’t give you much hope for teamwork when you get down to it. The show once again excels at showing us some solid and well choreographed action scenes that keep you glued to the screen, but with the way the pilots interact, you really want to just slap a lot of them around.
In Summary:
Total Eclipse is a show that I find myself really wanting to like more. I want to be invested in some of these characters, to make what they’re doing all the more real and engaging, but it’s not in the cards at the moment. Some shows of this nature can take some time before they hit that mark, as I continually think of Divergence Eve while watching this, so I’m in it for the long haul just based on the action and animation itself. But this episode doesn’t do much to advance things and leaves it kind of just hanging there in a way. There’s a lot to like with this production, but its storytelling and execution is the weak point since it has a lot it can do but is just focused on wrangling with itself at the moment. I’ll continue to hold out hope for improvements though that can get it on the right footing.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
