Muv-Luv Extra Review (+18!)

Warning : The following review is meant for adults (18+). If you're not older than 18 years old, read at your own discretion!

Muv-luv Extra

Is the first part of the ''Muvluv franchise'' which is currently a big titan in the ''Visual Novel market''. Recently there have been anime series, and ''spin-off visual novels'' made with the ''Muv-luv'' label and it seems to me that they're trying to milk it to the end. But as it isn't quite what you're here for, I'll continue this talk for when we reach the ''Highlight'' of the franchise (aka Muv-luv Alternative), where I'll compare the series with the currently ''released for the masses'' anime.

Story:   

The story is a simple Visual novel story. You're Shirogane Takeru, and you live a fun life with your childhood friend Kagami Sumika. But until your fun life gets interrupted with the polite, beautiful, rich, smart Mitsurugi Meiya, who's the leader of a huge corporation (Which handles pretty much everything. Similar to acme.). For some reason she started talking about how she's in love with Shirogane, and how it's fate that they'll get together. At school Shirogane hangs out with 3 other girls - Sakaki Chizuru, Ayamine Kei and Tamase Miki. The story itself is split up into arcs that can play out differently if you go for different girls, although it isn't played upon that much, and most of the main arcs have similar conclusions what-ever girl you go for.
The first arc is the womens lacrosse (Which is a sport similar to soccer, but players use a stick to hold the ball and try to throw goals.), where the experienced lacrosse player, Sakaki, put together a ''patchwerk'' of a team composed of Shiroganes female friends, who're all complete newbies to the sport. Shirogane is stuck managing the team.
The story itself isn't that strong in Muv-luv Extra, but I'll just say that Muv-luv Extra is just a small part of a much bigger story.

 Characters:

There's an extremely big character roster for a visual novel, and I think that the characters are honestly one of the biggest strengths of this franchise. Most of the characters are extremely well fleshed out, and everyone has their own problems, be it big or small.

Shirogane Takeru: Is the main character of the story. He's a up-beat sociable character, who enjoys playing games in arcades, teasing his childhood friend, and is basically an every-day japanese kid. It's the character that the viewers need to empathize with.

Kagami Sumika: She is the childhood friend of Takeru and one of the main heroines of the game. She enjoys playing around with Shirogane, wakes up Shirogane everyday, and is an extremely consistent diary-keeper. She's a somewhat awkward girl, who believes her parents really easily, and she gets stuck in her own little world quite often. But she does try to give her utmost attention to Shirogane, as it's quite obvious from early on that she has deep feelings for him.

Mitsurugi Meiya: She's a mysterious beauty who suddenly shows up at Takeru's place and started living with him, and she's the second main heroine of the game.. As a heir to a huge company, she has resources that most people wont be able to compete with, and she for some reason is really into Takeru. She transfers into Takeru's school and tries to win him over throughout the game.

Yoroi Mikoto: He's the only male friend of Takeru's, and even then he's more of a cute girly male character (Which won't really seem too awkward once you find out what happens in Unlimited.). He's a character that's constantly in his own world, and usually doesn't pay too much attention to what everyone says. But to contradict his own ignorance, he manages to be extremely likeable and up-beat. Thanks to his mysterious father (who throws him randomly onto an unhabited island for example.), Yoroi has a lot of real-life survival knowledge and experience.

Tamase Miki: She's the cute, loli, klutzy character, who's extremely up-beat. While she also has a huge archery prodgy. She's also has a heavy case of stage-fright, which becomes one of the main topics of her route.

Sakaki Chizuru: Sakaki is the serious class-rep character. She's the captain of the lacrosse club and the lacrosse arc shows off her extremely competitive attitude quite well. She has a lot of different issues and problems that are also played out quite well in her route. But if you don't go her route, she won't become anything more than ''just a friend''.

Ayamine Kei: Ayamine is the ''strange'' girl of this game. Although Sumika was awkward, she is nothing compared to Ayamine. She speaks in sentences, enjoys yakisoba bread over everything and skips lessons just to go and sleep/lie on the roof. She's an extremely proficient martial artist who doesn't mind throwing anyone while she's annoyed.

Tsukuyomi Mana: Mana is Meiya's maid, who's extremely smart, and loyal to Meiya. She takes care of Takeru's household and is extremely competent in whatever she takes upon herself she's also the one who teaches Meiya about how the common household functions (And she also gives Meiya misleading advice for comic relief.)

Kouzuki Yuuko: Yuuko is a teacher in Takeru's school. She teaches physics, and is an genius that researches a ''quantum multi-verse theory'' that becomes an essential part of the following parts.
She's a schemer, who enjoys controlling people, and basically enjoys life in every way possible thanks to her proficiency in manipulating people. She is especially fond of teasing Marimo.

Jingjuuji Marimo: She's the homeroom teacher of Takeru (and co.). She's a single teacher who's extremely mature and kind, who hasn't managed to find a man for some~ reason.

Art/Graphics:  

The art in this game is extremely good, as most of the character movement isn't too un-natural, and most of the CG's were drawn quite well. The backgrounds were drawn quite well, and the amount of backgrounds that were used was extremely high, and there aren't too many backgrounds that are re-used too much (Only a few are used throughout the game.).
What gives this VN a great feeling is also the fact that there's a good amount of ''chibi'' CG's, which are kind of cute, as the drawings are similar to a childs, and there's a good amount of extermely funny moments that are complimented by those CG's, as they manage to convey the feeling of the scene extremely well.

I do have to say though that there were a few badly drawn scenes, where the character wasn't drawn quite so well. But that's pretty much dust in the wind, considering that the budget wasn't quite so high for the first game of the franchise

Sound:

The music is actually another one of the strong points of this game, as most of the music is extremely fitting to the scenes, up-beat music for when the atmosphere is light, and faster music for when the atmosphere is a bit quicker. There's also a good amount of ''comedic music'' that fits the comedy scenes like a fist in a eyesocket, there's even a song that's similar to ''living la vida loca''. It's far better than most other Visual novels, and there's quite a few tracks that just get stuck in your mind.

Verdict:
 This visual novel doesn't really have anything new in terms of what it offers (As the base of the VN is the same as any other Visual novel.), but the quality is extremely high in almost every single area.
Muv-luv Extra was meant to be the introduction game for what is to follow. It aimed at the biggest audience possible, by offering something to both those who're in it for the ''Kawaii- moe'' crowd, while also showing off a bit of the following depth in certain areas to the more educated crowd (And a lot of good comedy.).
But I do have to say that if you're extremely against the usual Visual Novel formula, which is mostly a lighthearted slice-of-life and with romance. Than you might want to skip this cause even though the amount of  great comedy in it is quite high, and as it's an introduction game to the following Muvluv Unlimited and Alternative, it still follows the usual VN formula, and the length of this game is quite long (Although it's nothing compared to Unlimited and Alternative.)
 
Final Verdict : 8.5/10