The second season of MuvLuv Alternative is a major improvement over the first in every single way. The story has finally arrived at the arc fans have been waiting for the mech visuals are still going strong the 2D visuals are more consistent and as for music theres been an improvement in an OST/ED tracks along with them even getting JAM PROJECT back for the opening song. However it does have its flaws of course especially if this anime is your introduction to the franchise. This is a spoilerfree review. There are no spoilers for either the first or second season of the MLA anime nor are there spoilers for any other kind of MuvLuv content such as the original visual novels. Story and characters The MuvLuv trilogy is largely a love story that starts as a sliceoflife romcom in MuvLuv Extra genreshifts into a comingofage mecha with MuvLuv Unlimited and becomes a serious war story in MuvLuv Alternative. Throughout all of this though there is a strong emphasis on emotion and knowing the characters. https://files.catbox.moe/janz2r.png In this show some of this heart is saved and is clearly shown and in some moments it clearly does not hit as hard due to only the last entry of the trilogy being animated as well as rushing some subplots. In this season specifically the emotional core in the first half has taken a hit due to that arc of the story being heavily reliant on Extra. It is clear that this shows staff decided to put more emphasis on the mechs and that the story threads reliant on previous entries are the weakest link as a result. https://files.catbox.moe/hw2cou.png As far as the Alternativespecific content especially in the latter half of the season is concerned though I think it was adapted well. There were certain character bonding scenes in the last few episodes that were important for the development of some of the main cast and those were wellexecuted. What is probably the standout part of the story this season though is Operation 21st which is a largescale military operation involving TSF mech units such as the main gang the Navy tanks as well as other specialised units from the BETAverse such as TSAs and Orbital Divers. One of the coolest chunks of the original was this massive battle with many moving parts and I think they nailed it. The briefings the strategy and tactics the tension the fights and the emotion were all done in a way that does this arc of the original story justice. The replacement voice actors also did a good job. Visuals 2D The 2D visuals were never anything to write home about in this show but in this season they are for the most part consistently animated. There arent as many weird frames like in the first barring a few derpylooking character shots in the first half of the season that stick out like a sore thumb. The overall improvement also helps when the characters are depicted in a more cutesy manner in line with their character designs during more relaxed moments like in the originals. https://files.catbox.moe/jf88rw.png What you might like are the redesigns for the TSF/tech UI which takes a more holographic/modernised approach which makes military operation briefings and TSF piloting look cool in their own way compared to the way the VN presented these. There are also the redesigns for the fortified suits. In the first season the transparentlooking ones from the VNs were replaced with monotone white suits which in my opinion was an improvement. This season just like the first takes a less sexualised approach to the newer suits which is appreciated if that was one of your issues in the original. They were obviously saving on animation budget by removing their chinguards though. Visuals 3D Now as for the CGI animation this is definitely the shows greatest strength. Even in the first season most of the standout moments were the fights the 3D animated scenes were genuinely great. And here this potential is finally used in the largescale fights the original is known for. https://files.catbox.moe/3rpvzt. The MuvLuv mechs TSFs are by nature agile yet brittle machines. There is a strong emphasis on speed and agility since it takes just one accurate shot from the Laser class and its over for you. Good CGI is an appropriate fit for such mechs where this approach to combat can be shown off. You get to see the various ways a BETA specimen can be shot cut smashed or blown up. Same goes for the TSFs themselves though. https://files.catbox.moe/l8rvmh. Soundtrack The Schwarzesmarken a spinoff of the original that was animated first and Violet Evergarden composer Evan Call returns for composing this show and I think the soundtrack got even betterhttps://www..com/watch?v=bpfXXDfGMs. The first season did have standouts like Not Yet Deadhttps://www..com/watch?v=4D9w9K2SXiM but the second seasons soundtrack fits the setting and mood of the show even more especially during the hype action/briefing scenes. https://files.catbox.moe/vsfw31. As mentioned earlier JAM PROJECT the singers of the original MLA VN OP have come back to make the song for this onehttps://www..com/watch?v=qmBcfZmWEE. This is a really exciting Jrock song made better by the fact that they are collaborating with the singer for the original ML VN OP Kuribayashi Minami. The singers of the first seasons OP Virtual Witch Phenomenon have also come back to sing a fitting melancholic EDhttps://www..com/watch?v=oApETJTZvPs. Closing thoughts For fans of the visual novel: What I see this as is good supplementary material for people who have read and enjoyed the original you get to see Operation 21st and other moments in the story in animated form. As a matter of fact considering the strong improvement over the first season as well as the content that follows this season in the original it makes one wish for a third season. For newcomers: If you personally never plan to read the original MuvLuv and MuvLuv Alternative visual novels then I would honestly recommend trying the manga first instead of this in terms of understanding the details of the story. But if you are fine with that and dont plan to read the manga either and/or just want a fun mecha with a cool premise and largescale fights theres no reason not to give this a shot besides having to be patient with the mixed bag that is the first season.