Yes, they’re making a Nanoha movie and oh god, I nearly came in my pants when I saw the scans. Here’s some details about what’s being announced in Megami this month:

1. It’s gonna be a “parallel history” movie, and it will be non-canon. Gonna be a “New World” kinda thing. I bet it’s gonna be a more awesome retelling of the series.
2. Nanoha and Fate will be rivals
3. The battle clothes and devices will be changed. Apparently Bardiche is gonna get a female VA this time. More details in the scans below
4. There’s gonna be a 2 hour drama CD, set 3 years after StrikerS, focusing on the rookies. No Nanoha/Fate/Hayate in it apparently.
5. Movie release date is set for Winter 2009. A lot of time to save up for the DVD’s! Wait, apparently it’s THIS winter.

Scans after the jump.

Remember, I’m not the source for the pics, okay.

Anyways, first impresisons… OH FUCK YES MORE NANOHA!!! AND IT’S THE LOLI ONES TOO!!!!

Also, the new devices look positively cooler, especially Bardiche, who’s gonna be feminized too hahaha. Stick doujins anyone?

Nanoha’s Barrier Jacket is also upgraded, and looks more heavy duty now. God I can’t wait for the beamspam.

Oh man, I hope this is gonna be awesome. StrikerS was… forgettable, for the lack of a better word.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

A required read for _any_ self-respecting Nanoha fan. It’s more of a behind-the-scenes look and extras of the anime series. Quite a very interesting read, too bad it’s only around 7 chapters in length :x. A big appreciation to the people of I-Jin for translating and releasing this.

A lot of images to follow, 56-k’ers are forewarned.

Sleepy Nanoha <3~~

Raising Heart: The Handheld Console.

Bath scene.

Nanoha’s daily training.

“Max power is important too ;)”…. White Devil desu…

Starlight Breaker, breaking barriers since 2006

Call me onii-sama.

So Chrono’s actually stronger than Fate and Nanoha? Didn’t expect it…

Yuri alert! Yuri alert!

Well…

This two need to get a room…

Oh man… the double entendres….

Fate… aren’t you a bit over doing it :3.

As I said…

Holy shit…. Suzuka!!

Hayate-chan…

I so feel like giving Hayate a hug here too T-T.

Gawd… the uniforms….

Hayate’s habit at work?

Poor Yunno…

Yare yare…

Uh… oh….

LOL Hayate.

OSHI…

:)

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

By now, word should be all around that the new Nanoha project announced is a Hayate OVA. Which is good for me, since I think development wise, Fayt and Nanoha are pretty much done enough. What I seriously wanted to see is more Hayate and her _kishidan-tachi_. Hayate x Viita x Signum 4TW!

Seriously, I hope there’ll be some real kickass action from Hayate-chan this OVA. We only got a teaser glimpse of her powers in the 2nd last episode of A’s, and it does seem she has the potential to rival the “White Devil” herself. It would be like having chocolate cake without the chocolate if that doesn’t happen :P.

I will forever worship them if they manage to slip in a Hayate cosplay-raping the _kishidan_ ala Chiyuri style.

Extra post, just because Signum is too awesome…

Hayate/Stay Night

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Final episode of Nanoha A’s…. wai~~ wai~~~ :). Ending in the typical happy ending style, too bad they ruined the loli factor in the end, XD.

Oh and a little warning, 86 screencaps following. The best I could do to trim off the 300++ I originally took, LOL.

(As usual, summary later :)
(post done)

Summary

It seems that even with the *bousou* program gone, the Yaten no Madousho program has been corrupted too much to return to it’s original form and Hayate is suffering the effects of it. The only way to save Hayate is to destroy the Yami no Sho program, which means killing off deleting Linforce. Luckily, the *kishidan* programs also seem to have seperated off too earlier, so they will still continue to exist.

Linforce requests Nanoha & Fayt to do the job and calls everyone to keep this a secret from Hayate, as she doesn’t want Hayate to feel the pain. As they are performing the ceremony however, Hayate senses something and rushes to the scene and tearfully requests Linforce to stay. However, Linforce refuses but reassures Hayate that her spirit will always be with them and that thanks to her, she’s the most happy *madousho* in the world (LOL? How many *madousho’s* are there lying around anyways?). As she disappears, she leaves Hayate with a little memento, an Intelligent Device.

With that, the Yami no Sho incident, comes to an end. As usual, the *kishidan* is called upon to the Adminstration Bureau to be tried, but with Chrono helping them. Nanoha, Fayt and Hayate decide to tell their friends and families about their “little secret”. Yuuno-kun gets an offer to become an admin at the Mugenshoko while, Gil is stripped of his rank but gets no further punishment.

Fast forward 6 years later and everyone’s grown up (killing off the loli factor :P, but hey, at least now they’re legal :). Hayate is living with the *kishidan*, being programs, do not age and thankfully leaving Viita as the sole loli in the show :). Lindy-san has retired and becomes a full time mom to Fayt-chan, who’s looking really hawt. Chrono is now the Captain of the Asura and Yuuno-kun has grown to be quite a *bishounen* (hears the scream of a million fangirls :). Nanoha is still as usual, only with a longer pigtail (quite unmoé-ish , IMHO). Suzuka looks like normal, but god…. Arisa is sooo darn hawt with the short hair. Graham is happily enjoying retirement and at the end, our three *mahou shoujo’s* get ready for some transformation seqeunce, which (unluckily) doesn’t get shown, though, *chibi* Linforce is darn moé :). With that, Nanoha A’s ends :).

Oh, and erm…, Santa or God or well… anyone powerful enough,if you’re reading this, please, I mean pretty please, let there be a third season of Nanoha >_< . Thanks in advance XD.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Action filled episode and everyone’s back ^_^.

(Warning: 90 screencaps following)

Summary

Hayate and the bousou program has been seperated and she revives the kishidan for starters, and then changes into her mahou shoujo form. The kishidan and others are happy to see her back(including me), especially Viita who breaks down. Hayate apologizes to Nanoha and Fayt for all the problems the Yami no Sho has caused.

Chrono interrupts to inform them that now, there’s two ways to stop the berserk program, one is to seal it with Durandal and the other is to shoot it with Asura’s new weapon, the Arkansil, to destroy it, and asks the kishidan of any other way to stop it. Apparently the first way is hard to pull off because Hayate and the program have been seperated, while shooting it with the Arkansil will result in a lot of collateral damage as the blast radius is a few hundred km’s. All of them are against either way and try to think of some other way to stop it. Arf gets irritated and complains why can’t they just use brute force to destroy it which somehow leads Nanoha, Fayt and Hayate to an idea and asks if it’s possible to shoot the Arkansil in space, to which Amy-san confidently replies yes and Chrono comes to a realization…

Meanwhile, Suzuka and Arisa are a safe distance away, watching everything unfolding. Arisa is worried but Suzuka calms her down, saying that Nanoha and Fayt are probably fighting there now. This leads Arisa to complain about why her Christmas Eve has turned out to be this way while Suzuka tries to restrain her :P.

Back to the scene, the plan is that everyone will break open the program’s barriers and when it’s core is revealed, Yuuno will teleport it into space where Asura can safely shoot it with the Arkansil. The plan is risky but everyone agrees to it and starts the preparation.With two minutes left before the program starts, Shamal heals Nanoha and Fayt with her powers.

With Zafira, Yuuno and Arf as the support team, the rest get ready to start hitting the barrier. The opening salvo is fired by Viita who uses her Graf Eisen’s Full Drive Giga Form (I think, at least that’s what I heard). Next up, Nanoha fires her Excelion Buster combo, consisting of Barrel Shot and Break Shoot fired consecutively. Signum follows up by changing Levantine into a bow(couldn’t catch the name though) and uses her Hayabusa attack followed up by Fayt using her Zanber. Zafira provides some support while Hayate takes the time to execute her attack, Mysteltain, that manages to hit the program’s body but it instantly regenerates. Chrono uses his Durandal for the first time and launches Eternal Cover to freeze the program, albeit a bit unsuccessfully.

Finally, Nanoha, Fayt and Hayate launches simultaneous attacks , with Nanoha’s Starlight Breaker, Fayt’s Zanber Plasma and Hayate’s Ragnarok. They successfully damage it enough to reveal the core and Shamal, Yuuno and Arf teleport it to outer space, where the Asura instantly hits it with the Arkansil, finally destroying it. Everyone is relieved and happy and Amy invites everyone to rest in the Asura. Unfortunately, Hayate suddenly collapses………

Opinion

As expected from MSLN, episode 12 is the big final fight episode and everyone gets to show off their powers, including Hayate-chan :). It felt a little cheesy at times but it was still very much fun to watch. It truly felt like I was watching a RPG-type battle though, with everyone taking turns to hit the program, though it was a bit one-sided considering that the program didn’t really fight back well.

The kishidan are finally back and I couldn’t help but shed a little tear out of happiness to see them all back. Really, I kinda missed Viita and Signum quite a lot, as they really kick ass.

On to the fights, Hayate-chan’s Barrier Jacket is just sooo cool plus her attacks are all named from Nordic mythology, with attacks such as Mysteltain and Ragnarok ; Kakkoii +10 . I NEED to get more of Hayate-chan battling. Signum’s Full Drive took me by surprise, by turning into a bow considering she’s been using it as a sword all this while, but it still darn cool, especially when she sets it up. Viita’s Giga Mode kinda reminds me of a certain character in D-Grayman though. Ending it off with a triple combo attack was really kakkoi~~~ ^_-. I kinda pity Chrono though, he didn’t really get to show off more attacks.

The art was kinda funny at times though, I guess the same guy who did the episode with all the fish-eye-view angles was doing this episode, but overall it was good :). There’s also another insert song, “BRAVE PHOENIX” sung by Nana Mizuki. Really love her vocals ^_^.

However it would seem that Hayate’s still not fully cured yet and ending the episode with her collapse just really makes a big cliffhanger.Looks like it’s related to Linforce somehow, judging from the next episode preview. Plus the timing of the episode is just right on Christmas and hopefully we’ll get to see a happy ending with everyone :).

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

A few unexpected events make this a very interesting episode….

Summary

Arisa and Suzuka have been teleported a safe distance away to their school, while Nanoha is still in shock on what happened to Fayt-chan. Amy informs that Fayt’s vitals are still there and she tries to find a way to recover her back. The Yami no Sho states that Fayt and Hayate are now in an eternal dream….

Fayt, meanwhile, seems to be in a room, and awakens to discover none other than Alicia, sleeping next to her. Their maid, Rinis, comes in and wakes them up and they head for breakfast, where Precia is already waiting there for them. Fayt, still traumatized by past events, hesitates to face Precia, but Precia kindly says that everyone is with her. After breakfast, everyone heads for town to go shopping, where Fayt, constantly reminding herself that this is dream, breaks down, as she finally gets to feel what it’s like to be a family.

Outside, Nanoha has a hard time fighting with the Yami no Sho, when Raging Heart tells her to use Excelion Mode. Initially, Nanoha hesitates but finally follows Raging Heart’s wish and uses it, changing her staff into a spear-like formation and Yami no Sho responds by using a variation of Fayt’s Photon attacks…

While, in the dream world, Fayt and Alicia is sheltering under a tree from a sudden rain…

- Fayt: Nee.. Alicia, this is a dream isn’t it?
- (silence)
- Fayt: A world where both you and me are in doesn’t exist. If you had lived on, I wouldn’t be born.
- Alicia: Sou… da ne.
- Fayt: Mother…. hasn’t treated me that kindly…
- Alicia: She is kind… because she was a kind person, that’s why she broke down…. to try and revive me.
- Fayt: Um…
- Alicia: Nee.. Fayt, this world isn’t bad as well. I can exist here, we can be together with everyone. Fayt’s happiness is also here…..

Back outside, Nanoha shows off some new moves with her Excelion mode, including A.C.S and Strike Flame and manages to use Break Shoot to damage the Yami no Sho.

Inside, where Hayate has all this while been talking to the Yami no Sho, the Yami no Sho confesses that because her Linker Cores are connected to the kishidan’s, she feels regret for causing Hayate all this pain and apologizes for the bousou program is starting. Hayate decides to give the Yami no Sho a new name and tries to stop the program. She manages to communicate with Nanoha and tells her to try and stop the Yami no Sho from outside. Yuuno-kun agrees to it as well, and tells Nanoha not to hold back.

On Fayt’s side, Alicia hands Fayt her Bardiche and they hug while Alicia disappears. Fayt changes into her Barrier Jacket and uses Zanber Form, changing Bardiche into a broadsword. Both Fayt and Nanoha launch their attacks simultaneously resulting in a big explosion. Everyone is happy to see Fayt back but Amy informs them that the Yami no Sho’s reaction is still there. Chrono is almost to the scene, apparently with a way to end it all…

Opinion

A lot of action this episode. I was primarily surprised they made Fayt dream of a happy family with Alicia, Precia and Rinis. Luckily she didn’y get trapped in it.

The Full Drive Modes were really sugoi~~, especially Fayt-chan’s Zanber Mode, which seems to take it’s name from a Gundam weapon ( i think, based on some Googling). Nanoha’s Excelion Mode is really good too. Nanoha-chan is getting more and more kakkoii as well. She had quite a few cool lines this episode, like “there’s no such thing as permanance, everyone will change, they must change, even you and I.” and “I will sleep one day, but now is not the time, because I have to save Fayt-chan and Hayate-chan… and you too.”

The Yami no Sho, or should I say Linforce( I don’t think i got the name right….=.=;;) seems to care a lot too for Hayate-chan. I really feel sad for her, as she was forced to do all this. But from the preview, it looks like she’s going to get a new role (and perhaps we’ll be seeing a third mahou shoujo ^_^).

On that matter, the next episode seems to be a endboss fight against the bousou program, with the help of everyone.The production crew is really not letting us down :).

Oh and for some last words, SNOW RAIN ROCKSS!!!!! I NEED the OST :).

P.S. : Just heard this on IRC, too damn funny to ignore, XD.

[18:42] [lee-kun] just watched ep 11

[18:48] [lee-kun] glorious self incest of fayt-chan XD

Further down the line….

[18:53] [kur0gan3] haha

[18:54] [kur0gan3] :)

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Another episode full of twists and surprises, with some big events happening that are totally unexpected…………

(screencaps up for the moment, summary will be done later, I’ve lost my internet connection actually _|-|0””””’)
(post done)

Summary

On a Time-Space Administration Bureau ship, Esthea (?, guessing), the Yami no Sho is running amok. Clyde, Chrono’s father, contacts Graham, who is on another ship to inform him about the situation. Graham orders him to leave, but Clyde refuses and cuts the connection. Finally, Graham orders his ship to shoot down Esthea in order to contain the Yami no Sho menace. Graham later blames himself for being unable to restrain the Yami no Sho and causing all this….

While back to the present, Hayate starts to attack, while the hentai kamen’s are watching from a distance, mentioning something about “Dullindal”. They are suddenly surrounded by binds, casted by none other than Chrono, who reveals their true identities to be Alia and Lotte, his shishou’s.In the meantime, Nanoha and Fayt are hiding from Hayate, after taking one of her attacks head-on. While they are joined by Yuuno and Fayt, Hayate expands a kekkai all over the city and uses Sleipnir to fly and search for them.

Back at the Time-Space Administration Headquarters, Chrono questions Graham about his actions and asks him if he’s found a way to seal the Yami no Sho permanantly. It turns out that Graham has been searching for the new master of the Yami no Sho after the incident and finally found Hayate. As restraining the master or destroying the book before it’s compeleted is useless, Graham intentionally did nothing and sent the catgirls to help complete the book. The only way to stop the Yami no Sho is to freeze the master and book together in a frozen world inside a dimensional loophole (might not be accurate).

The catgirls beg Chrono to release them, as the only way to stop it is the few moments before the Yami no Sho goes totally berserk.However, Chrono is against that, saying it’s illegal. Lotte gets angry and says it’s because of this hesitation, the Yami no Sho hasn’t been able to be stopped, causing a lot of sadness. Graham stops her and Chrono tells Graham that there’s a fundamental flaw in his plan, which is that eventually, even being sealed off in a frozen world, people with bad intentions will always find a way to get it. With that, Chrono excuses himself, saying he’s worried about the situation on Earth. Graham stops him and hands the Dullindal(the spell to seal it, I guess) to him, letting him decide wheather to use it or not.

Back on Earth, Fayt is squaring off with Hayate, while Yuuno and Arf bind her. Taking the chance, Nanoha and Fayt each use Divine Buster and Photon Lancer each, but Hayate easily blocks the attacks and attacks Nanoha and Fayt back. Then Hayate proceeds to use a familiar move… Nanoha’s Starlight Breaker. Knowing the destructive power of the attack, Fayt orders a retreat.

While retreating, Bardiche informs Fayt that there are non-combatants inside the field, which turns out to be Arisa and Suzuka-chan, scared that no one is around.Fayt and Nanoha search for the non-combatants and finally find them, surprising all of them… However more pressing issues arise in the form of Hayate’s Starlight Breaker attack. Fayt and Nanoha instantly form a three-layer protection for Arisa and Suzuka, taking on Hayate’s Starlight Breaker head-on. After the attack subsides, Arisa and Suzuka try to ask questions but before they can do that, Amy teleports them away to a safe place while Fayt and Nanoha ask Arf and Yuuno to take care of them.

Amy contacts them both afterwards, saying that Chrono’s asking them to try and contact Hayate-chan telepathically. They ask Hayate and the Yami no Sho to stop all this but she tells them that she is just granting her master’s wish and Hayate is sleeping inside of her. She summons tentacles to hold both of them and claims that she’s the Madousho and she’s just a tool. Fayt breaks the tentacles and claims that although she’s a tool, why is she crying and begs her to release Hayate. However, suddenly the ground explodes and the Madousho says she’s going to go berserk soon. Fayt attacks her but gets blocked and the Madousho absorbs Fayt inside the Yami no Sho in front of a shocked Nanoha…..

Opinion

More revelations as Nanoha A’s heads for it’s finale, with the incident 11 years ago revealed and Nanoha and Fayt’s secret discovered by Arisa and Suzuka.

First of all…. looks like I have to eat my words as it turns out that the hentai kamen’s are really Alia and Lotte….. well, there goes my “Chrono’s father” theory :P. But still, it was a nice twist to see that actually they are working to seal the book instead of being some random bad guys who want the Yami no Sho’s power for their own good. But still, the method used to seal it is quite a bit sad….. and they really went all out to incite the Yami no Sho to go berserk, with all that happened in the past episodes.

The most unexpected thing to happen was Arisa and Suzuka-chan now knowing Fayt and Nanoha’s mahou shoujo alter-egos. I didn’t really expect that to happen, with all the action going on with the Yami no Sho and stuff… so I guess they’re gonna resolve the Yami no Sho arc by episode 12 and episode 13 will most likely be a resolving of Arisa, Suzuka, Nanoha and Fayt’s relationships and hopefully a happy ending with Hayate and the kishidan’s :).

Other than that, it was a pretty much straightforward episode with everyone trying to stop the Yami no Sho and with a nice twist at the end of Fayt getting trapped into the book herself. Based on the preview, it looks like that she’s going to meet up with Hayate inside and maybe persuade her to stop all this, while Nanoha and the rest takes care of everything outside.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

A totally amazing episode. Nanoha A’s quickly becoming one of the best shows this season, with all this twists.

Summary

Christmas is coming soon and everyone’s in to the festive mood. Fayt-chan has dinner over at Nanoha’s place and they discuss about Midoriya’s famous Christmas cake. After that, Nanoha, Fayt, Suzuka and Arisa chat about giving Hayate a surprise for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, the four of them visit Hayate and they bump into the kishidan, who are with Hayate. After some initial shock between the kishidan and Nanoha and Fayt, they act as everything’s alright (although not including Vita-chan :).

After they leave, Nanoha and Fayt confront the kishidan and try to tell them what will happen after the Yami no Sho is completed.But their words fall on deaf ears and they start to fight, with Shamal maintaining a communications barrier to avoid Nanoha and Fayt contacting the Time-Space Adminstration Bureau. However Nanoha is interrupted half way by binds appearing out of nowhere and Fayt stops to scan the area for the intruder.

She manages to damage the masked man, who’s invisible but suddenly another one appears out of nowhere and kicks Fayt-chan away and binds her as well. The masked men then bind the kishidan as well, summoning the Yami no Sho to eat away at the kishidan’s Linker Cores, thereby completing the Yami no Sho. Zafira, who arrives later to try and stop them but fails, suffering the same fate as the rest, disappearing into thin air…..

After imprisoning Fayt and Nanoha in a crystal barrier, the masked men then change their appearances to the both of them, and summon out Hayate. In the guise of Fayt and Nanoha, they start to tell Hayate that she’s not going to be saved despite the completion of the book and point out that Shamal and Signum are gone. They proceed to destroy a fake of Viita and Zafira to the repeated pleas of Hayate-chan for them to stop.The Yami no Sho appears in front of Hayate, greeting her as Master. Hayate’s magic circle appears and turns from white to black….

Fayt and Nanoha finally manage to break out of the cage to discover a grieving Hayate. Out of anger, Hayate explodes and releases a seal on the Yami no Sho, engaging a transformation that turns her older with a uber cool gothic black outfit. Hayate then continues on to summon a gigantic black ball of energy……

Opinion

What can I say about this episode? The shock factor is soo high. I was practically going all fanboy and shouting “HOLY SHIT!!!!” all around. Nanoha A’s has just really been elevated to one of the best shows for this season to me.

The story is heading over to a dramatic turn, with Hayate going berserk and utilizing the Yami no Sho’s power. According to Yuuno last episode, the Yami no Sho has potentially high and lethal destructive powers and it looks like it’s gonna be a quite a job for Fayt and Nanoha to stop Hayate-chan from running amok.

The existence of two masked men now explains how Fayt-chan was attacked so fast after Nanoha dealt with the first one.. I was quite shocked at the sudden appearence of the second one but now it makes sense and correlates with my theory that the masked men are Chrono’s father and his friend. We still need to see what part is Graham playing in all of this. He’s still suspicious and Chrono is thinking the same things as well.

Other than that, the part where Hayate was mentally tortured was really disturbing. It’s hard to imagine that this is still a mahou shoujo anime with the two masked bastards doing all that to my poor Hayate-chan t_t. By mentally manipulating her into thinking that Fayt and Nanoha were the ones who killed off the kishidan, it’s gonna be hard for Hayate-chan to calm down and stop. Still this is Nanoha here we’re talking about and we’re probably going to see a happy ending, hopefully. If they don’t, rest be assured, Nanoha A’s will be immortalized in me still. By the way, there’s really been a lot of comparisions made between Hayate’s battle outfit with Suigintou’s one. I have to say, they’re really somewhat alike, with the black-feathered wings and all.

The next episode will be a full on battle between Hayate, Fayt and Nanoha, with Chrono-kun facing off the masked men, potentially revealing their identities. Ahhh….. a total war on Christmas…. damn, they really know how to infuse the dramaticness…….

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Totally great episode this time, with action, chracter development and sudden twists at the end.

Summary

Lindy-san is finishing off her duties and chatting with her friend in the Bureau. She’s supposed to be back for the Asura maintenance and her friend wants to know more about Fayt-chan. Meanwhile, Fayt and Nanoha are enjoying themselves at school. After class, the gang discusses about buying a keitai for Fayt-chan and finally, Lindy gets one for her.

Back in the Bureau, Yuuno and Chrono’s shishio’s are in the Mugenshoko (Infinite Archive, not assured correct) , a gigantic archive, where Yuuno’s using his clan’s specialty in archeology to search for information regarding the Yami no Sho, with the catgirls help.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Amy’s just returned with the groceries for dinner. It seems that Lindy’s left for the Bureau, so they’re the only ones there, when suddenly the alarm rings out and they detect Signum and Zafira at a desert world. Fayt and Arf volunteer themselves to apprehand them, while Nanoha stays behind on standby.

Teleporting in, Fayt saves Signum in a pinch, where Signum’s got herself trapped by tentacles (what is it with tentacle monsters this week?!!), earning Fayt a reprimand from Amy that she’s supposed to capture her, not save her :P. Signum comments that she’s not gonna thank her and Fayt replies, “warui hito no jama ga, watashi no shigoto desu shi.” Pretty cool lines ^_^.

While, back to Amy, she’s just detected Viita on another world with the Yami no Sho with her. Without further ado, Nanoha heads for her.

Back at the Bureau, Lindy’s having a talk with Cmd. Gil. Something about “shitai”, which I don’t know it means either “corpse” or “task force”, but it seems pretty important. At the Mugenshoko, Yuuno discovers that Chrono’s father, Clyde (again, guessing) , died with another guy while sealing the Yami no Sho 11 years ago.

Back to Fayt vs Signum, the fight is getting on pretty intensively, with both Fayt and Signum evenly matched. In a flurry of attack and defense, of what must be the best fight to date in Nanoha, both are unable to gain an upperhand on each other. While Arf vs Zafira is also progressing at the same rate, with Zafira declaring that he’ll gladly sacrifice himself for his master.

Nanoha intercepts Vita while she’s being updated on the news about Signum by Shamal. She quickly focuses her attention to her, calling her, “Takamachi nanto-ka”, irritating Nanoha. Nanoha tries to ask Vita to sit down and talk, so that maybe she can help them. Vita hesitates for a while, then flatly refusing her, creates a smoke screen while she gains some distance away from her to teleport away.

However, Nanoha engages her Buster mode and uses two catridges to launch her “Divine Buster: Extension” extreme long-range attack. All seems lost for Vita, but after the smoke clears, the masked man has blocked Nanoha’s attack, allowing Vita to teleport away. Nanoha instantly attacks a second time, but the masked man stops her with some magical binds. Nanoha manages to free herself, but it’s too late with both of them gone.

Back to Signum vs Fayt, both of them are tired out and injured. As they both start their last attacks, the fight is interrupted when suddenly, the masked man’s hand reaches out of Fayt’s chest with her Linker Core, stopping the fight and ending the episode with a cliffhanger.

Opinions

Another great episode this time, with the Fayt vs Signum action, Nanoha’s Buster mode, more information about Chrono’s background and also the sudden twist at the end.

As mentioned by moyism in the MAB shoutbox, there’s some funny camera angles this episode with the art being funny in a few places here and there. Check my caps for some examples.

Fayt pretty much stole the show here today, showing off some kickass moves in her fight against Signum and also giving off a few cool lines. I pity Signum a bit, being the 4th tentacle monster victim this week, after Erstin, Nina and Shiho, XD. Nanoha too has her share of the spotlights, being called “Nanto-ka” and totally kakkoi with her “Divine Buster: Extension” attack.

Quite some information about Chrono was given this episode, as we learn about his father’s death while sealing the Yami no Sho, 11 years ago, with the incident actually being witnessed by Chrono’s shishio’s. Too bad it was in vain, as the Book is still well around. This would explain Chrono’s anger at it and his determination to stop them.

However, this unearths some interesting aspects and theories. I have a lingering suspicion that the masked man is either Chrono’s father or the person who was supposedly died with him. Given how the guy easily blocks Nanoha’s attack, he must be quite powerful and experienced. During the Gil x Lindy conversation, Gil’s giving off quite a suspicious look, increasing my opinion that he’s somehow playing a part in all of this. Being that Nanoha is actually shounen anime disguised as mahou shoujo anime, I’m pretty sure that it’s all quite possible that Gil’s the real suspect. I’m pretty frustrated that I can’t understand the conversation fully.

The cliffhanger in the end with the masked man taking Fayt’s Linker Core out, is quite a shocker. I would hope that Signum’s not taking it, but according to the preview, she does :(. Perhaps Nanoha will arrive in time to save Fayt ^_^. The preview for the next episode shows that Shamal’s discovered that Fayt and Nanoha are nearby, thanks to camera phones and also Yuuno’s found out the whole history of the Yami no Sho.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

(bleh, wanted to put up a Hayate pic, but couldn’t find any, so had to settle with Vita ^_^)

\*takes in a deep breathe\*

**HAYATE-CHAN KAWAII SUGI!!!!!! MOÈRU!!!!!!!** \*explodes from kawaii overload\*

ok, back to business, major developments this episode, so if you hate getting spolied, don’t go ahead ;).

Summary

Continuing from last week, where the kishidan was revealed to be artificial lives bound to the Yami no Sho, Fayt voices her thoughts that she’s the same as them. Lindy strongly rejects that and assures Fayt that although she’s born differently, she still considered a true “life” (personal interpretation, not accurate).

Amy defuses the stituation by explaining more into detail about the kishidan, saying that they exist to serve the master of the book. They are also supposed to be emotionless but Nanoha and Fayt says otherwise. After that, everyone dismisses and before heading home with Nanoha, Chrono asks Yuuno to help him the next day.

Meanwhile, Hayate is just leaving Suzuka-chan’s house to go home, driven by one of Suzuka’s maids (am i correct?). Back home, Signum and Shamal are reminscing back when they first appeared before Hayate. I’m not going into much detail here as I don’t think I can give justice to it, but it’s really damn funny.

As it turns out, Hayate, being Hayate, doesn’t really have any needs to use the Yami no Sho, and treats the four of them as family instead, forbidding them to finish the Yami no Sho.The kishidan are of course surprised with their new master but they slwoly adapt to their newfound blissful and peaceful life with Hayate.

Unfortunately, things are not what they seem to be as it turns out Hayate’s life is in danger, partly due to the Yami no Sho and she will die soon. Unable to accpet that, the kishidan start to complete the Yami no Sho in order to heal Hayate, thus explaining their motives.

The next day, Chrono and Yuuno go to the Time-Space Administration Bureau and meet with Chrono’s shishou’s, two catgirl tsukaima’s, Alia and Lotte(?). Chrono and Yuuno ask them for their help with the Yami no Sho incident.

The next episode is a big battle episode, with Nanoha and Fayt facing off the kishidan in another world.

Opinion

A major character development episode as the revelation of the kishidan’s motives are unfolded here. The best part about the Nanoha series is that there’s not actually a single “real” bad guy in this show as most of the clashes are more of due to differences in opinions and aims. For one now, I’m really liking the kishidan a lot after this episode and as Nanoha says all the time, they should sit down and talk together and get to know each other. I’m pretty sure that they will all eventually get to know the reasons and work together to cure Hayate.

Of course the main point of this episode is the flashbacks of the kishidan on how they first met Hayate and why are they now trying to complete the Book. I feel genuine pity for them as they’re just only trying to save Hayate-chan, especially Vita, having developed such deep emotions for her. I was particularly touched with Vita this episode on where she’s struggling to kill the monsters in order to complete the Yami no Sho as soon as possible to cure Hayate-chan.

There’s also the part in the beginning where Fayt voices her thoughts that she’s also an artificial life to be angrily dispelled by Lindy. She’s really a good mother to Fayt now ^_^. It’s good to see that Fayt now has a “real” family that really cares for her and thinks of her a lot.

On the flipside, a lot of humour was injected in this episode, to offset the sad parts. The first appearance of the kishidan to Hayate really scared her a lot and the part in the hospital was humorous, especially with Zafira’s nekomimi XD. The eyecatch proved to be even funnier, with Nanoha “eating” Yuuno-kun, LOL. The catgirl shishou’s of Chrono are also really funny, with one of them, pouncing on Chrono and then saying “Gochisousama” after “finishing” with him XD. Yuuno was also quite freaked out by them after hearing that they want to “eat” him too (^_^);;;. Poor Yuuno-kun XD.

In all, this is the best episode of Nanoha A’s to date, with the production crew actually balancing the right amounts of humour, character development and plot advancing perfectly. The fact that Hayate’s omega kawaii in this episode helps too ^_^. IMHO, Nanoha A’s is shaping out to be better than Nanoha One, as long as this keeps up. I’m also seeing quite a twist in store in the future with the masked man from episode five. Most probably he’s aiming to use the Yami no Sho’s powers for his own. But the show’s only still halfway, so his true intents are still up in the air.

©2009 Kurogane's Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.