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Thoughts on ‘Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha’

Frankly, I was not very impressed with the first season. At certain points, I was aghast or just downright indifferent. The mama-tortures-me scenes? Way too over-the-top. I just could not empathise with Fate during those scenes. They placed too much shock value into those scenes, which effectively killed the mood by overloading the immersion. It was… too jarring; there was no transition to speak of.

Basically speaking, my reaction was, “So what?”

Also, the animation consistency was all over the place. I do not demand super levels of animation in my anime, but I do appreciate it when they stick to a standard. Inconsistent animation runs the terrible risk of broken immersion.

Those were my main complaints about the first season. On to the positive aspects which encouraged me to continue on to the second season.

The battles were well done. At this point, I recall with amusement on how some have commented that this is where all the budget went into. I liked how the battles were not a matter of “My power stick is more powerful than yours!” or worse, “I won because I can shout louder than you!” It gave some tension to the combat scenes, despite the fact that you knew the main protagonist would not die( 99.99%). The fights actually managed to excite me. Too often have I been subjected to the torture of watching battles that degenerate into pretty coloured lines in the sky and white sword strokes on a black background. So hurrah to ‘L.Nanoha’ for not falling into this pithole.

Additionally, I would like to thank the producers for hiring REAL English speakers for the intelligent devices. They may sprout grammatically wrong phrases most of the time, BUT at least they SOUND English. They. Sound. Real. I still get a tingle whenever Bardiche speaks.

Unfortunately, besides that, I did not really find myself engrossing on ‘L.Nanoha’. It lacked something for me. I could find any of the characters likable/adorable/worshipable/etc… I saw the first season as a grand 13 episode full of character introductions and story setup. It was not until the second season that I really started enjoying the series.

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Thoughts on ‘Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s’

When I finished watching the first episode, I felt good. Suddenly I had a reason to continue on with the show, and that reason was Vita. When Vita did her contracted pupils scene, I went into ‘kawaii-overload’. This was it. THIS was what was missing in the first episode. A real antagonist. Fate’s mother? Please… I felt no tension from her. A rabid Koala would probably cause more tension than Precia…

Sadly… not until Hayate went bonkers, did I get to see any more pupil-contractions. :(

Also, since six months had passed already, and the girls have been training, the intensity of the battles became better( if a tad bombastic at times). It was unfortunate then… that the battle against the ‘Defense Program’ was turned into a joke, and became target practice for all their ultimate moves…

“My Excelion is better!”
“No! My Zanber is the best!”
“Bah! You’re all wimps. I have 666 pages of Nordic-arsekickage at my disposal!”

“I’m just an innocent program gone berserk! Spare me!”

Still, it was a pretty fight. :P So I ain’t going to rag about it too much.

Animation was also mercifully consistent most of the time, and I appreciated their efforts into making the backgrounds more detailed. The characters were also more matured-acting this time round( and I am mostly referring to the adults here…), which led to better immersion. The antagonism between the Knights and the Agents was delicious, as was the Knights’ sense of desperation. Empathy with the antagonist is one way in making them memorable, and I definitely had empathy for the Knights. So kudos to the direction there.

A third season is possible… since 15 is not old for Mahou Shoujo… how they intend to handle the transformation scenes however, who knows? I mean… we already had a ’sneak-preview’ from Hayate transforming into the Defense Program. :P All in all, the transformation scenes have been relatively tame in Nanoha. I was more grateful that they chose to cut down on the transformation times.

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Personal Favourites:

1) Vita, I just love borderline-psychotic girls( who’s the little girl who loves the sad bunnies, who?). ^_^ Love the maniacal tone of her weapon too( I could have died happy if it had said, “Tötung! Tötung! Tötung!”).
2) Signum, pseudo-trenchcoat = BEST Barrier Jacket, BEST LOOKING WEAPON in my opinion.
3) Bardiche, best voice among the devices
4) Hayate, so sickeningly sweet…

More importantly, keep the Device voices (ala Kamen Rider Ryuki/Faiz/Blade). Except Raging Heart. She needs an overhaul. =_=

A’s was awsome. I wonder if Nanoha crew should do space drama Gundam style, Stellvia-esque saving the world, a Nadesico derivative or more of the same next. Nanoha’s too great to end at season 2!

if there’ any
i prefer the-blank-of-six-years as 3rd season