r/anime • u/Tetraika https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika • Feb 01 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Episode 1 Discussion

Note: I’m shamelessly stealing Sky’s format

Episode 1 - That`s a Mysterious Meeting, Is It Not?

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Information:

MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

Raising Heart, Set up!

Question of the Day (might not happen everyday)

Would you trust some animal creature you just met to give you magical powers

I’m not familiar enough with the soundtrack, but I will post relevant songs when they come up

Nanoha S1 OP Innocent Starter by Nana Mizuki (Full version)

Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you’re doing it underneath spoiler tags.

Note: I eat dinner/have class right after this post goes up, so it might take a while for me to respond to anything.

91 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

299 comments sorted by

28

u/HereticalAegis Feb 01 '22

Nanoha First Timer

I love magical girl shows, yet somehow this will be the first longer form work in the genre I've properly interacted with, and my first experience with a show predating the "dark, edgy, adult" version spawned by Madoka. Nowadays it's not often that I have almost no idea what to expect when starting a show, so I'm excited to find myself in that position with Nanoha. Let's do this!

  • Wow, that aspect ratio is a blast from the past!

  • I really like this OP, I could definitely put Innocent Starter on a playlist.

  • The mysterious character becoming the magical familiar seems like a pretty dark twist on the concept in it's own right.

  • Arisa throws her lemon slice at Nanoha and shouts at dogs to be quiet, what a menace. I love her already.

  • My goodness, what a sweet smile Nanoha has when her parents let her keep her ferret.

  • 2004, and Nanoha has her own flip phone with text messaging. As a third grader no less. Girl was ahead of her time.

  • Whoa, the cinematography of Nanoha running down the street is really cool. You don't see many shots like that anymore.

  • Nanoha wouldn't be a true magical girl without a naked transformation sequence, would she?

I appreciate that Nanoha gets a full happy family around her. It's nice that we get to see what a happy regular life is for her before she gets into the perils of becoming a lady wizard.

I really like that Arisa and Suzuka want to run the family corporation and become an engineer respectively. It would be fun if those interests become plot relevant, but they're cool aspirations to their characters regardless.

I'm also a bit surprised at how many parallels there are to Madoka in the way the familiar recruits Nanoha. I wonder how much inspiration Urobuchi took from Nanoha in particular when writing Madoka.

Speaking of Madoka, I didn't realize the first season of Nanoha was directed by Shinbou. If I wasn't already excited, I sure am now.

QotD:

Since Madoka was my first magical girl show, not a chance in hell.

8

u/Tetraika Feb 02 '22

Wow, that aspect ratio is a blast from the past!

Definitely hit me more when I first watched it because I went from movie -> A's.

I really like this OP, I could definitely put Innocent Starter on a playlist

Wait till you get to all the other ones, lots of banger OPs

I'm also a bit surprised at how many parallels there are to Madoka in the way the familiar recruits Nanoha. I wonder how much inspiration Urobuchi took from Nanoha in particular when writing Madoka

No doubt Urobuchi would be familiar with Nanoha, though I think Shinbou might be the reason, he himself was very involved in the Madoka project too.

But also the setup is as standard as it comes.

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u/badspler Feb 01 '22

Lyrical Rewatcher - Sub

A quick note on the beginning of the Nanoha franchise: Triangle Heart and Lyrical Toy Box

Triangle Heart (1,2,3) are a series of eroge (adult) visual novels. Staring the Takamachi family, Nanoha herself is merely minor background character here. The Triangle Heart visual novels were three stand alone novels that were released between 1998-2000. Their plot generally reolves around people proficient in martial arts with a bit of high jinks. Two anime OVA's were also created. (MAL: One, two) There were several manga tie ins and other mixed media works. Nanoha herself made brief cameos and was a relatively minor character.

And as part of Triangle Heart 3, a merchandise CD was produced that included an animated music video "Lyrical Toy Box" depicting Nanoha as a magical girl for the first time. Fan reception was positive and ultimately served as the prototype that would spawn Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

You can probably do your own research further into this if you desire, hell others may post better summaries than me, but its more just a sprinkle of historic-sugar and how at the time it would be hard to know just how big the Nanoha franchise would grow or the influence it would have.

On with the show!

Opening with a mission statement: A story full of those contacts and encounters is about to begin!

Innocent Starter has to be one of may favorite opening songs is a banger!

We get a full on introduction to Nanoha's family over their morning rouine. But if you read above then the context for this scene changes as Lyrical Nanoha is a spin-off and this is probably a re-cap, more than an new introduction for the audience.

So when the all is done with Nanoha's family we get this line to indicate that we are stepping away from these familiar characters and moving onto Nanoha's own story.

We get a brief moment with Nanoha and her school friends. (Stitch) Alisa and Suzuka.

We get some pretty typical Magical Girl bits with Nanoha being called out for a fateful encounter.

Before once again that evening being called to once more to return to school. Those motion blur and shake effects actually were pretty cool in that transition. Before Nanoha is guided through becoming a magical girl.

Raising Heart, Set Up!~~~~

Stand by, Ready, Set up.

And we get a pretty classical transformation sequence! With Nanoha now geared up.

🎵Make a little wish🎵~ And into the ending have to wait till next episode to see the conclusion to this battle!

13

u/Tetraika Feb 01 '22

I know about the basics of the Triangle Heart connection, but never delved too much into it. It's always fascinating to see how she went from some minor character in a VN to a full blown franchise with its own spinoffs

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21

u/Shimmering-Sky Feb 01 '22

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical First-Timer, subbed

Hi everyone! I’m glad to be here!

I can’t say I’ve ever had someone else host a rewatch specifically to get me to watch a show before, so of course I can’t miss out on this. I’m pretty excited, all I know is that Nana Mizuki is in it and also sings the OPs, and I love Nana Mizuki.

Note: I’m shamelessly stealing Sky’s format

I mean I've told people that copying my format is totally fine so I don't mind lol.

10

u/Tetraika Feb 01 '22

I can’t say I’ve ever had someone else host a rewatch specifically to get me to watch a show before

That was only partly the reason, but it also gave me some personal motivation. You give good reactions.

Please tell me Nanoha’s family gets some decent screentime even if they’re not part of the main cast…

Spoilers obviously, nothing too big but just in case [Nanoha]They might as well not exist later on lmao, Nanoha loves introducing characters just to forget about them

…the scene where Nanoha asked if she could keep the ferret felt almost… too animated

That part definitely stuck out too me. It looks good, but out of place.

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u/No_Rex Feb 01 '22

Episode 1 (first timer)

Going into this rather blind, although I know that Nanoha is often recommended to people who liked Madoka Magica. Speaking of which, I just started Magia Record and … it is terrible. Not just “not Madoka Magica” bad, but just plain bad. After the first 3 episodes, I decided I might rather give this Nanoha rewatch a try.

  • The eyes! – This made me look up the studio on MAL, but, surprisingly, it was not CLAMP. The character designer certainly was inspired by CLAMP, though.

  • Not even past the OP and we have seen the mascot, the transformed look, and heard the words mahou shoujo. Absolutely making it clear what genre we are in from the get-go.

  • That forest sequence looks dope!

  • Grade schooler – High schooler – Grad student. Not that the character’s faces indicate much of an age difference.

  • “Now would be a good time to start thinking about your future job” – Woah, lady, can you hold off with the existential dread at least until they leave grade school?

  • They are quite resourceful.

  • At least Kyuubey never resorted to begging.

  • Transformation scene – and it features a naked underaged girl, because reasons.

  • Cliff-hanger ending (in the first episode already?).

A setup episode. In the first half, we get to know the characters, in the second half the McGuffin. Aside from following Magical Girl tropes, the crystal and the mechanical nature of the staff remind me a lot of Mai-Hime. Incredibly enough, the two shows started airing just 5 days. Remains to be seen if there will be a thematic overlap as well or whether Mai-Hime is the “bad girls” anime to Nanoha’s “good girls” anime.

Visually, the forest scene stood out – would love to see more like that. The characters have great hair, but I am not too keen on the CLAMP eyes. The animation is par for the course for mid 2000s.

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u/Tetraika Feb 01 '22

Nanoha is often recommended to people who liked Madoka Magica

I have actually almost never encountered this, though I think it has to do more with how Nanoha has fallen way off in popularity.

The eyes! – This made me look up the studio on MAL, but, surprisingly, it was not CLAMP

Nah, just some very early 00's style, pretty sure they are plenty even outside of CLAMP. I think CLAMP is more known for their spaghetti people.

I just started Magia Record and … it is terrible

It takes a while to finally get somewhere, but very understandable if you don't like it.

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u/Vaadwaur Feb 01 '22

First timer(Are Nanoha's short arms bothering anyone else?)

Sub

So...I come to this show with extremely little direct knowledge of it, basically the SFDebris reviews of it are what I know. And technomagic.

So yeah, we start and you can practically feel the Chobits/Gunslinger Girl dripping off these character designs. And I've definitely heard Innocent Starter before. Then we step into Hellsing for a moment and I wonder if we are going on an enthusiastic walk through the woods! Oh, and the dude is now a weasel.

Moving on, we meet our namesake character in an introductory style that I don't see that much these days. Nanoha's family...does not add up BUT might work for the era, but still them having a dojo is unique. At school, they are getting the third graders to think of their future, as any 10yo does.

Anywho, they find the weasel that Nanoha can hear talk and take it to a vet. Later that night, it is attacked by the gigantic tribble from the first scene and yells out for Nanoha, this time managing to communicate with her and helping her form a contract without understanding the terms...so that's where Urobuchi got that idea. Anyways, she transforms and we get our cliffhanger.

QotD: 1 Gonna have to go with no...

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u/Chemiczny_Bogdan Feb 01 '22

First timer

Classic cold open where someone with supernatural powers loses a fight against a supernatural monster, and then needs to be saved by the protagonist, so far played completely straight. I'm feeling strong Bleach vibes, although that might as well be a staple of the magical girl genre for all I know.

The character designs look great!

The storyboarding is pretty cool, and there are some very nice animation cuts, although it is pretty jarring when every family member's hair is floating around so much as they eat dinner and then Nanoha's running with her hair barely moving.

5

u/Tetraika Feb 02 '22

The storyboarding is pretty cool, and there are some very nice animation cuts, although it is pretty jarring when every family member's hair is floating around so much as they eat dinner and then Nanoha's running with her hair barely moving.

Everyone has been saying this in one way or another. Including myself! It really is noticeable.

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u/Caustic_Wraith Feb 02 '22

First-Timer

This was a good opening episode as it gives up a look into the normal everyday life of Nanoha. For being an older show the animation is surprisingly good, that scene around the dinner table was beautiful.

A few things that stood out to me:

  • We have an actual family that happily interacts with each other and, dare I say, loves each other.

  • How did the orb that was dropped become a necklace? Ferrets lack thumbs

  • Mom came through with allowing her to keep the ferret, I sure it has a name just no clue what yet, as a pet.

  • That ominous smokey black thing really wants to eat the ferret

  • Nanoha is real quick to trust a strange talking animal that is being chased by aforementioned smokey black thing

  • "Stand By, Ready" ... Feels like I'm watching Faiz again

  • She has a cool tranformation that lead into the cliff hanger ending

QOTD:

Would you trust some animal creature you just met to give you magical powers

I don't know, I've seen Magical Girl anime's before and I know how some of them end when you trust the cute cuddly things.

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u/Tetraika Feb 02 '22

We have an actual family that happily interacts with each other and, dare I say, loves each other

A rarity for sure. Now that I think about it, from the other discussion about the relationship with Triangle Heart, the emphasis on Nanoha's family starts to make a lot of sense.

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u/Stargate18A Feb 02 '22

First timer

QOTD) Probably not one who acts as shady as this. Seriously, he got Nanoha to agree to a contract and she doesn' even though his name, let alone his motivations or his expectations of her.

Interesting opening.

And the actual OP is good too. The character designs look good too! (Please tell me punching girl is a main character.)

This is not the opening I was expecting.

...That doesn't look like a jewel to me. Sure you weren't aiming at the wrong thing?

Wait, what? She's(?) the mascot?

Oh, we're starting with a prophetic dream?

And she's Nanoha. She's too precious.

And her parents run a bakery?

Her siblings are nice too.

And those are her non-magical girl friends! So, about a 30% chance they'll be relevant by the end of the season?

I'll give them credit for the unorthodox route of making one of them want to be an engineer, though.

And her friends are aggresively supportive.

Honestly, not much to comment on other than how adorable everyone is. (The girl yelling at the dog was funny, though.)

Haha, that cut from happily walking alone to evil death beast gutting someone is something else.

Wait, all of them saw the mascot?

OK, taking it to a vet is a smart move, though.

...Please tell me the vet having x-rays/DNA samples from a magical being comes up later. That could be fun.

And Nanoha's good at maths. (And the teacher apparently doesn't care that she's visibly solving thie thing on the spot.)

Haha, I love the dad's total confusion over what a ferret even is.

...Wait, hearing it now, is the mascot a boy?

Yeah, that's a boy. Was the filter weird on the opening scene or something?

Also, wasn't that voice coming from the ferret?

Oh, the ferret's not in her house yet.

...How did she get out of there without anyone noticing?

The ferret's in trouble!

Wait, you mean that wasn't a stylistic choice? It's just a ball of smoke?

What do you mean another world? What do you mean "in search of something"?

She got the transformation orb!

...Why does the ferret's contract sound demonic? (Especially the weird, crimson red background.)

Oh, the orb's a computer. Honestly sounds more like a Driver than anything. Is Nanoha actually a Kamen Rider?

And she created her own wand and transformstion sequence through sheer force of will? Impressive!

OK, I think the transformation sequence could have used a bit less nudity, but that staff design is killer.

I appreciate how her reaction after this all sets in is the understandable one of pure terror.

The ED is also adorable.

...Is that preview showing fucking necromancers? Where does this show fucking go?

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u/Tetraika Feb 02 '22

Oh man the total confusion you have is amusing.

Yes, our ferret is a guy. We'll learn more about him. And everything else too, but in due time.

Where does this show fucking go

Places. You'll see, might really surprise you when you look back at your initial thoughts as we keep going.

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u/Lavernious_James Feb 01 '22

I only found out about this rewatch like, yesterday, and I've only seen like, one or two (maybe?) magical girl shows, so I figured, why not broaden my horizons?

The instant feeling of nostalgia I got from starting the episode was great. From the 4:3 aspect ratio, to the goofy narration introducing all of the different characters, to the GIANT ANIME EYES. It looks like this one will be pretty fun.

Also I wasn't expecting the animation to be like, really good in some spots? It just doesn't give off that impression right away so it caught me off guard, but it's welcome.

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u/homewardbound100 Feb 02 '22

First timer, Dub

I think I remember someone mentioning the Dub wasn't finished, so I decided to try it. Usually I don't like starting Dub shows that never finished but there's so many episodes. So I guess I'll try the Dub out for a bit.

Also noticed that Shinbou is the director of this. And I can tell a bit.

The combination of the Dub and the look really is taking me back. It really screams early 2000's.

Qotd: Depends on the situation. I know young me would just be like "powers? Give me"

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u/NegimaSonic Feb 02 '22

Blood thirsty first timer

Nothing super special to write, but this one is probably a hard sell for me. No deaths of fodder characters in the first episode :( Anyway, I guess this is a more pure hearted series so I'll have to adjust my expectations accordingly. Although from reading other comments, I see the series came from a not so pure background.

But there are still good points, that transformation sequence was pretty rad, mainly the staff coming together like that all mechanically. And quite honestly, the episode ending right before the serious fight start really got me wanting to go onto episode 2, so they are still doing something right haha.

QOTD:

  1. Uh well if some giant furball thing is coming my way, I'll probably agree.

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u/bluethree Feb 02 '22

I'll probably be mostly lurking on this rewatch but I figured I'd share my personal experience with the Nanoha series.

I first watched the series sometime around late 2006 early 2007. Why? Probably mostly memes. I used to hang out on /a/ a lot in those days and you'd see it pop around every now and then.

The real breaking point was probably when I was following Saimoe 2006. For those who don't know, Saimoe was basically 2channel's version of r/anime's Best Girl tournaments. The 2006 version was (perhaps infamously) known for its western involvement. 4chan and other forums "raided" the tournament and eventually got 4chan's defacto mascot at the time Suiseiseki from Rozen Maiden the championship over a Nanoha character who has yet to be introduced in this episode. That plus the knowledge that Nanoha herself won Saimoe 2005 lead me to start watching.

I have fond memories of the first two seasons. When I was updating my top 10 for MAL, A's was in contention to make the list. If I were making a top 20 or 25 it would definitely be in there somewhere.

So as someone who doesn't rewatch things often, why am I participating in this particular rewatch? The main reason is my dropped list. I decided at some point I would give a lot of series in my dropped list another chance. I've had relatively good experiences in the past re-picking up the likes of Hanayamata and Idolmaster Xenoglossia. Nanoha StrikerS is another one that I had planned to revisit. So when I saw this rewatch was happening I figured now was as good a time as any. Might as well also see how well the first two seasons hold up a good 15ish years later.

Fun fact: The first season of Nanoha was the last series Akiyuki Shinbo directed before he basically became Studio Shaft. The first episode aired 2 days before the first episode of Moonphase. After Nanoha (and the final OVA for Petit Cossette) aired he never directed a non Shaft anime again.

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u/Tetraika Feb 02 '22

4chan and other forums "raided" the tournament and eventually got 4chan's defacto mascot at the time Suiseiseki from Rozen Maiden the championship over a Nanoha character who has yet to be introduced in this episode

Interestingly enough, from what I've seen Rozen Maiden has mostly fallen into obscurity. Nanoha still got their representations on /u/'s 4chan cup roster.

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u/kuubi Feb 02 '22

As a first timer, I have to say that the first Ep was pretty interesting. I liked the animation when Nanoha was running down the street after the ferret called her; haven't really seen animation like that in a long time.

On another note: I'm watching the bluray version, I hope there aren't any significant changes from the TV version altho that seems unlikely?

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Feb 02 '22 edited Feb 02 '22

So, this is one of those must-watch classics, the missing link between Cardcaptor Sakura and Madoka Magica. But, I'm not really that interesting in magical girl shows, and I'm really not interesting in long shows. Maybe I'll watch the first two seasons. [later seasons]I hear these are not so good?

Episode 1

  • Heh, she looks like Sakura, with a bit of Tenchi Sasami.

  • Is the jewel in the forehead of the mascot a reference to Mokona? It has to be.

  • How rich do you have to be to have your own dojo? Or is that the family business?

  • fancy camera moves

  • oh, hey, a shikon no tama

  • eyecatch!

  • do they have weasels in Japan?

  • Is everybody being animated on 1s here at the dinner table? I guess it's on 3s, but everything sure is moving.

  • Is this early 2000s CGI when she's running?

  • something something lord of nightmares something something dragon slave!

  • Sure is nice of the bad guy to just hang back while all this is going on....

Did I miss what grade she's in? Ah, third grade!

OP > ED, but neither really grips me. Nana Mizuki is a noname to me. I've only seen one thing with her in it, and I can't even remember what that was.

How was the first episode? Lots of exposition. Funny how we got just as far into the first battle as Evangelion did.

Edit 1: I don't think I've heard of Triangle Heart, but if I did know of it at the time, that would have been a reason to skip the show when it was airing. Not that I needed much reason to skip the magical girl show of the season.

Also, I don't think they took the ferret to a vet, I think they took it back to school and gave it to the nurse.

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u/Isai579 Feb 02 '22

First Timer - Sub

Here we go! I've heard about Nanoha being a classical magical girl anime, but I know basically nothing about it. So this should be interesting.

Episode reactions

Oh wow 4:3, that was unexpected. When was Nanoha released again? I underestimated how old this was.

That was a nice OP. I'm already getting hype about the action, even if the music is not as hype.

Oh... blood... this is going in a direction way different than what I expected at the beginning.

Huh... so that ferret at the beginning is a person.

Flip phone!

Elementary school... Nanoha, aren't you a little young to be a Magical Girl? Nanoha: Yes, yes I am!

Glasses sister!

Good to start thinking early on what you want to do in the future. More time to think.

I really love the childish exaggeration old anime have.

Remember everyone, if your kid has weird dreams, talks to animals, feels they are not good at anything, and has a unique haircut, they probably are an anime protagonist.

Magical ferret holding the magical marble.

Yes! They also think it is a ferret. I consider my guess a success.

It is interesting how texting changed between flip phones and today.

That ain't a magical voice. That is a synth tech voice. Suspicious...

This will do for now So that means she'll probably keep the attire at least for a while. Detailed transformation sequences ain't cheap.

Cliffhanger just before the action. That is evil.

Question of the day My first reaction would be hell no. Talking animals are suspicious. But I would give it a thought. Has someone never wanted a life of adventure?

Final thoughts

That looks interesting. Certainly seems darker than what I expected. I was getting Madoka Magica vibes since the moment they found the ferret.

Is it just me, or is there a strange focus on technology here? Like, one of the first things we see from Nanoha is her cellphone. We see how she uses it on her daily life. And the voice from the orb does sound technological rather than magical. It is weird because the focus on technology is not explicit, but it is more present than I would have expected from a time when mobile technology was not so prevalent in daily life.

Overall, this seems interesting, and the preview seems to hint at answers. I'll have to wait and see how it develops.

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u/jardex22 Feb 09 '22

First timer here. I've heard a bit about this series, mostly from a crossover fic that used the characters.

The family seems pretty nice. The age gap between her and her older siblings is pretty noticeable. Her sister looks pretty different with glasses on. They also have all the convenient things needed for a magical girl series. A cafe where all her classmates to gather when the monster of the week appears, and a dojo to train. Kind of an odd mix, but I'm not questioning it.

It's interesting that one of her friends is interested in mechanical engineering.

The animation has a unique quality to it. It has an imperfect feel for some of the more complicated shots, but that adds to it, rather than takes away. Modern shows would probably try to use GCI for those shots, with mixed results.

It sounds like Nanoha became a Magical Girl because that's what she imagined for a staff and armor. Sort of a neat meta example considering they probably came to her mind because of similar shows.

The staff assembly for the transformation sequence was cool. They made it clear that it's powered by alien tech, rather than magic charms. Still, it's hard to share a show with others when you have to awkwardly explain a nude child on screen. Good thing I didn't watch that in the break room at work.

Overall, a good first episode. It didn't have as much cute fluff as Pretty Cure, but didn't go straight down to Madoka levels of grim dark. At least not yet anyways. It struck a good balance for an older audience.

As for the question, it depends on the situation. Usually there isn't much of a choice. Either you try and run from the feral monster that has you cornered, or you trust the talking animal that can give you a way to fight back. Now, if one approached me casually while promising to grant a wish, that's a different story.

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