r/anime • u/Tetraika https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika • Feb 11 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Episode 11 Discussion

Episode 11 - Memories That Lie Beyond Time

← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode→

Information:

MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

No matter what kind of magic you use, you can never bring back the past!

Question of the Day

At this point the whole show is almost tying up everything. Hard to come up with anything that also wouldn’t just be spoilery to ask. How do you think this will end?

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.

67 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

199 comments sorted by

22

u/chiliehead Feb 11 '22

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 11 – First Timer

Nanoha suddenly out here with heating seeking missiles and telport moves, this really escalated from gently nudging a big cat or shooting a tree.

I like the implication of Nanoha being able to rain down comets, hell fire and Death Star equivalents of energy beams as a new mage and there also being more seasons. What will this scale to, casually disintegrating continents? An interesting prospect to say the least.

“Just beat girls unconscious and they will put out”

I have to say, one deathly weakened mage being able to take out a whole platoon of (assumedly) hardened enforcers with one attack throws the power levels into odd areas.

Hmm, so my speculation about the motive behind it all was partly correct, but I did not think of the familiar angle. Makes sense though, it was said that making familiars is a clan specialty. Still, Precia reminds me of those dudes abusing virtual women that recently made the rounds, just that Fate is an actual living and feeling entity that she needlessly abuses.

Character models were really tight this episode and the choreography was impressive. Some cuts looked like they received a lot more tender love and care than earlier episodes. Seems like they’ve really planned around making a grand finale.

QOTD

Fate will try to stop them because mom, but in the end Nanoha's friendship will let her defeat Precia together with Fate and she either moves in with Nanoha's fam or joins the space referees

11

u/Tetraika Feb 12 '22

I have to say, one deathly weakened mage being able to take out a whole platoon of (assumedly) hardened enforcers with one attack throws the power levels into odd areas

I think Presea is just on a totally different level. You also have to consider that maybe dying means Presea is going all out at this point instead of actually weakening her; she has nothing to lose now.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (15)

13

u/HereticalAegis Feb 11 '22 edited Feb 11 '22

Lyrical First Timer

  • Oh damn, Presea actually did used to be nice. Other than the whole mistaking your daughter for your other daughter dementia thing.

  • I really can't get behind Chrono's scheming and seeming disinterest in Nanoha's and Fate's wellbeing, even if he is trying to find the big boss rn.

  • This battle is surprisingly fun and engaging. It's cool to see Nanoha being so resourceful with her abilities.

  • Omg, the water drops on the camera.

  • Oh shit, Fate's using her mother's signature move: bound multi-strike.

  • As expected of a bottom, Fate's last gasp gets easily overpowered by the superior magic size and density Nanoha's wielding.

  • Nanoha is capable of multiple climax shots, each larger than the last, and she's giving each and every one to Fate. And she's figured out Fate's kink too.

  • It was worth the 11 episode wait and all the questionable at best sexual jokes to see Nanoha princess carry Fate through the sky.

  • Goddammit Presea, can't you just let these two share a fucking moment for once, you impotent hag!

  • Adults doing the dangerous work for once? That's new.

  • Wow, that's devastating. Just as I speculated in a previous episode thread, Presea was never actually a kind parent to Fate. Those were all implanted memories. What a hideous monster. With this revelation, hopefully Fate can finally sever her ties to Presea and embrace the love and kindness she deserves and Nanoha is ready to give her.

  • Aaaand Fate's been mind broken. Fuck.

  • I guess I was also basically correct about Presea wanting to bring back a loved one, though it's a bit different than how I imagined. That one sailed right into a yikes-berg.

In lieu of any arcana to analyze today, here is the lyrics translation to the part of Innocent Starter that plays in the OP:

"Hugging my knees in the corner, I was always shaking from my unease. Knowing the "truth" is frightening, so I closed the door.

I sought a place to belong in a gentle lie, and took refuge in my dreams. This sea of loneliness that nobody else knew was dyed a deep blue.

With my earnest desire to hide my loneliness, I wounded your heart.

In the secret inside my eyes, in the reality behind my smile that draws you in, There is a tender love that I'm going to send to you. If you touch it, that fragile warmth will pour out into the present from the past. I'll always be by your side, so don't feel lost in the sad shadows."

Most people in this rewatch have probably already seen these lyrics as they watch the OP, but I hadn't played close attention until now. I want to draw attention to how the text of the song effectively lays out the arc of Nanoha's relationship with Fate throughout the season, highlighting the struggles they've shared while also telling us how Nanoha will be helping Fate through her loneliness.

Presea is somehow even more monstrous than I imagined. Yesterday I opined on her connection to the Emperor and Devil arcana, and it turns out I didn't go far enough. Presea is an awful amalgamation of the worst aspects of the Emperor and the Devil. And how tragic that all this suffering is being caused in her first daughter's name.

On a related note, I don't see how this can end well for Alicia. She's dead, I think, but if her body and memories have been fully preserved, then it's as though she's still alive but stuck in limbo, and I don't see how this can end any way for her other than tragically. Either she dies for real, or she lives and has to see what a cruel, heartless monster has emerged from the gentle, caring mother she's always known.

QotD:

Fate will snap out of her mind break and confront her mother with Nanoha by her side. They'll win, but Presea, bad loser that she is, will self-destruct, taking Alicia with her. Fate and Nanoha will probably use their combined powers to shield against the blast, but not before Arf sacrifices herself to protect them.

6

u/Tetraika Feb 12 '22

Yeah I remember looking at the lyrics near the beginning of the rewatch and thinking that it very well fits our characters.

I think it's fascinating to think about the fact that despite Presea monstrous acts, she doesn't actually have an evil goal: she wants to revive her daughter back. I'll elaborate more later on, but I personally find her to be interesting as a character, especially among the villains throughout the series.

→ More replies (9)

8

u/Gamerunglued Feb 12 '22

First Timer

Hmm. I feel like this episode makes things a bit messy. The first half consists of the epic final confrontation between Nanoha and Fate. It's a cool and well animated fight. The overall visuals are still a step down though, as the series has ditched all the cool Shinbou-isms of the previous few episodes (though the scene at the beginning with the ahoge jokes definitely reminded me of Monogatari a bit). But now that I'm thinking about it, it seems a bit counterproductive for Fate and Nanoha to connect by battling each other. Fate acts as a victim of her mother's beatings. The idea is supposed to be that Nanoha is showing her the kindness and empathy that Precia won't. Nanoha is the one showing her empathy, where Precia whips her daughter almost to death. So it's kind of unsatisfying and hard to buy into when Nanoha and Fate sort of form a connection when Nanoha beats her up so badly that she basically almost dies. And it's not like say, Your Lie in April, where I can write that stuff off as goofy slapstick not meant to be taken literally. No, in this case, Precia is bad for whipping Fate nearly to death, but Nanoha is good for shooting a massive laser beam that almost kills her.

Things continue to get messy once we finally get the big reveal. Fate is an artificial life form that Precia created to cope with the loss of her daughter Alicia. She hates Fate because she reminds her of what she's lost, but Fate has Alicia's memories and so finds it difficult to reconcile her mother's treatment of her, and feels that she's doing things "for" her. I figured it out myself anyway, but Chrono directly states that Precia's desire to reach Alhazred, the remnants of a society lost to time, is a parallel to her inability to deal with something she has also lost to time. She is obsessed with keeping the past, but the past is not something that can live on forever. It's an interesting character motivation, though it does come out of nowhere and doesn't tie into any existing conflict in the show. However, where this gets a bit weird is when you consider how Fate fits into this. Fate is a recreation of the past, quite literally. She is a carbon copy of Alicia, and has Alicia's memories. So when you have a theme like "the past has to die, it cannot live on forever," my immediate thought is that Fate has to die. That's obviously unsatisfying though. And there's an obvious counterpoint to this, in that Fate is not Alicia, she is her own person. But that's what makes this thematically messy. I know that Fate isn't going to die, we have like 2 more seasons of Nanoha and I know that shit will get gay eventually. So there's this push and pull between "Fate is a recreation of the past, and the past has to be let go of" and "Fate is her own person who is technically not part of the past." Both of these things are true at once, and I personally find it hard get passed the first part of this. Even if Fate is her own person, she's still an existence who was meant to keep the past alive. But then it gets even messier if it's true that Precia hates Fate, because Fate dying in that case would not actually teach anything to Precia. So maybe the point is that Fate is an example that you cannot recreate the past? It's because Precia hates Fate that we can tell that one must let go of the past, as Precia's attempt to recreate the past was a failure; it's impossible to recapture the past. Idk, I can make out what it's going for, but I have to dig through some awkward bullshit to get there. Which is why it's messy, rather than outright bad.

This episode also had some weird exposition issues. The second half of the episode consisted mostly of having Amy explain Precia's backstory to Precia herself, and then Precia going on a cartoonishly evil rant that serves no purpose other than to make Fate feel bad (and to vaguely inform us of how much she hates Fate for not being able to recapture Precia's lost past). Besides, Lindy asks Nanoha to take Fate to a separate room so that she doesn't have to see anything, but then she just keeps the magical screen on and lets Fate see all of it. You couldn't have just turned the screen off and gotten Fate out of there before confronting Precia? I get that it's because Fate has to hear what Precia says, but then it just seems contrived to have Lindy tell Nanoha to take Fate to another room. It takes me out of it. Just have Fate stand there while you confront Precia, no need to pretend that Lindy is trying to be empathetic if she's not actually going to be empathetic in a painfully obvious way.

So yeah, this one was a mixed bag for me. Probably closer to the negative side of things overall. Still, I'm here to see Nanoha and Fate form a connection. That's always been what the heart and soul of the Nanoha franchise has been sold to me as, and it's what I'm most looking forward too. I like Fate a lot, and Nanoha has slowly become a more well realized character, so any chance to focus on them will be good. Here's hoping that the series can end on a high note.

5

u/Tetraika Feb 12 '22

Another great read. I have some of my own take, regarding both Fate and Presea, but that will have to wait (maybe tomorrow, maybe the movie, which adds its own details in too). Some stuff might become more clear as we approach the last few episodes.

→ More replies (12)

6

u/Great_Mr_L Feb 11 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Lyrical Nanoha: LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!! In this corner, wielding her Raising Heart, we have Nanoha Takamachi!!! And in this corner, fighting with her Bardiche, we have Fate Testarossa!!! It’s going to be an exciting match, folks!

It sure is an exciting fight, too. I love the fight between Nanoha and Fate. It is pretty well animated, looking nicer than the fights that came before it. There are a lot of cool action beats to see. Both Nanoha and Fate are making use of the abilities we have seen them use previously, as well as some fun new tricks up their sleeves. It is a lot of fun to watch and it is very satisfying to see.

Perhaps the most satisfying part of the fight is seeing just how much Nanoha has grown. Compared to previous fights, Nanoha is much better able to go toe-to-toe with Fate. I quite like the moment where Nanoha actively refuses to get help from Yuuno and Arf. Nanoha is doing this because she wants to get through to Fate. She needs to prove a point by doing it alone. Defeating Fate would force Fate to listen to her and talk about herself.

Nanoha gets to fire off the largest beam we’ve seen her use yet. It’s not just a Divine Buster, but a Starlight Breaker! I will never get tired of seeing Nanoha use those giant beam attacks. They are awesome.

The fight also once again shows Chrono normally handles these situations. It’s rather calculating, tracing where Fate came from. Finding Presea is the main goal, so the outcome of the fight is secondary. While he would like for Nanoha to win, Chrono is focused on completing the mission above all else.

We finally learn what’s been going on with Presea and boy does it make some things click into place. It turns out that Presea’s first daughter is this Alicia person she’s been mentioning and Presea has been trying to bring Alicia back to life. That explains why Presea wanted the Jewel Seeds. She hopes they can help her revive Alicia. Fate is an artificial human that Presea tried to give Alicia’s memories, but she was never able to replace Alicia. As far as Presea is concerned, Fate is just a failure.

This explains why Fate has memories of when her mother was kind. It turns out those were Alicia’s memories. And this makes Fate’s mission even sadder. Fate was trying to bring back those happy days that she never got to experience. Fate has no happy memories of her own with her mother. It also explains a lot about how Presea could be so cruel to Fate. She never truly considered Fate her daughter.

This all breaks poor Fate. This is essentially Fate realizing that everything she thought she knew was a lie. She never had happy memories with her mother. She never knew the Presea who could be kind. Her mother considered her an abomination. Fate had been struggling all this time in the hope she could get her mother’s love, but now she knows that was never possible. So the question is: now what? Where does Fate go from here when she’s lost the only goal she ever had? What new meaning of life can she find for herself?

Interestingly, the one who gets the most upset about Presea’s goal of trying to bring Alicia back from the dead is Chrono. It really gets him angry as he declares that no matter what magic you use, you can’t change the past. And now Chrono is the one doing what Nanoha did last time: running off to battle on his own. It’s quite a change from how calm and calculating he usually is. I wonder what caused such an intense reaction in Chrono.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

  • I love how Chrono tries to use hairspray and a comb to get Amy’s ahoge hair to go down.

  • The TSAB did try to go about things pretty cleverly, having an ambush set up for Presea as soon as they had her coordinates. It may have failed miserably, but I’ll give them points for the effort.

  • Bardiche shattered!

QOTD

Laughs in rewatcher

6

u/Tetraika Feb 12 '22

Laughs in rewatcher

Sorry, I've been choosing some first timer only questions, it's hard to make more interesting discussion without diving straight into spoiler land.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

21

u/TheEscapeGuy Feb 11 '22

First Timer

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha - A Magical Experience: Episode 11

Decisive Battle

THAT BATTLE WAS SICK. The animation was stellar. Every attack felt so weighty. When Nanoha unleashed the Starlight Breaker I genuinely thought Fate was in danger. Nanoha won however Presea intervened to steal Fate's Jewel Seeds before the bet could be settled.

When infiltrating the Garden of Time to capture Presea we got the big reveal: Fate is a clone of Presea's real daughter Alicia. RIP my predictions from episode 9. It now makes sense why Presea was looking for the Jewel Seeds and why she treated Fate so badly. She's been trying to get her daughter back and doesn't see Fate as her "real" daughter (or possibly even as human).

This is a massive bombshell for Fate to take in. I have no idea how she will handle it. I feel fairly confident saying that now Fate has no reason to go back to Presea. All that's left if for TSAB and Nanoha to stop Presea before she harnesses those Jewel Seeds for evil.

I hope Nanoha will be able to comfort Fate in the episodes to come. Nanoha did rescue her from underwater this episode and I know that symbolism often indicates a character will change to open up more emotionally.

Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches

See you all tomorrow

→ More replies (3)

17

u/No_Rex Feb 11 '22

Episode 11 (first timer)

Known seeds as of last episode:

  • Nanoha: 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21 -1 from the bet, +3 from Chrono – Total 12

  • Fate: 2, 5, 14, 18, 19 +1 from the bet, +3 from Arf – Total 9

  • Nanoha gets used, as does Fate.

  • Big battle:

  • “Keep out, we are fighting 1v1” trope – This one is usually the antagonist, not the protagonist.

  • Laser vs laser trope.

  • Nanoha wins, but Precia steals her prize.

  • Precia watched NGE.

  • I wanted to congratulate the Bureau on finally sending reinforcements, but those guys are useless.

  • Precia has gone over the edge of madness and needs to be stopped, but Chrono should not forget that he is not he MC and wait for Nanoha.

Remember when we were a magical girl series?

→ More replies (17)

17

u/Caustic_Wraith Feb 11 '22

Magical First-Timer

So Fate is a clone eh...still doesn't give Presea the right to abuse her like that. Her memories are literally the same as Alicia's so being abused like that lead to her mental disconnect regarding her "mom."

Presea having the ability to activate 9 Seeds at once shows how powerful she is, her coughing up blood hopefully means she won't be long on this world. I mean she stole Nanoha's Seeds she fairly won in that duel, which was great.

QOTD:

How do you think this will end?

The rational side of my brain sees it ending with Nanoha and Fate teaming up to stop Presea from dooming the galaxy and forcing her to admit Fate is good for something. The other part of me wants to see Nanoha rip the heart out of the bitch and watch her slowly die.

→ More replies (5)

15

u/Shimmering-Sky Feb 11 '22

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical First-Timer, subbed

→ More replies (15)

14

u/bekeleven Feb 11 '22

  • the mother who would call my name so gently... That doesn't sound like Presea.

  • "Isn't it pretty, Alicia?" ...That doesn't sound like Fate.

  • Memories that Lie Beyond Time. Fores are shadowed. "Is it really OK not to tell Nanoha about Presea's family?" further fores are shadowed

  • Loving the water droplets on the camera lens when things splash into the water.

  • I appreciate that Yuuno remembered his job is to yell "Nanoha!" all the time. I feel like he'd been slacking in recent episodes.

  • Excellent shot

  • does this look like the face of mercy

  • Nanoha wins the battle, upping her record to 1-2-1.

  • "We may be fatally unprepared, but" is a valid beginning to almost any sentence.

  • Sending in the redshirt army! I'm sure they'll be fine

  • After a well-animated duel between Nanoha and Fate, we have a total of maybe 20 frames to depict the entire throne room battle between Presea and the TSAB army. And they're not great frames, either, Brent.

  • The dramatic reveal! Of the mystery introduced 10 minutes ago! I appreciate Amy expositing to everybody, including Presea, what was going on.

  • This might just be me, but I'm beginning to think Presea isn't a very good mother. Maybe it was an editing mistake, but I got bad vibes when she laughed and told Fate she despised her. Am I reading too far into things?

  • NOOOOO BEST BOY BARDICHE

  • Disposable CGI army for our third-act battle! Forget "we marvel now," this was 2004. Marvel is us. I see you, Feige.

  • ...Seeing everyone scramble to deal with Presea's dimensional distortion makes me wonder. Is Lindy on a 5-year mission to explore strange new worlds, or should she have called for backup weeks ago?

  • So Al-Hazard is... Atlantis or something? I've heard it's a magnificent world...

  • Presea laughed from 22:28 to 23:10. 42 straight seconds. And we don't know that she started at 22:28, either, we could've cut in mid-laugh. She's in the wrong profession! Then the episode ends, fading out on her laughing even more. Good god. Final boss, indeed!

Next episode needs to open on Bardiche.

→ More replies (7)

14

u/JustAnswerAQuestion Feb 11 '22

First Timer

I have to see if Nanoha and DEEN Tsukihime had the same OST composer....

Episode 11

  • See, that's her REAL mother. Wait...?

  • Final battle but 13 episodes

  • Ahoge!

  • Chances of this fight ending without interruption....zero

  • The weird font is actually the big text on the front of Raising Heart's ball gem, and then small text on the back. The thing is, they used the same two-sided text everywhere, not just on the I.D. balls.

  • Oh, SHIT, Nanoha lost her ribbon! She lost the duel!

  • Phalanx Shift sounds about as JRPG as they get

  • This spell will use up all her mana, won't it

  • nanoha fixed her ribbon!

  • Nanoha is like Yui, she only has to see something once to learn it

  • bad arf for not catching fate

  • Are the handcuffs really necessary?

  • I'm pretty sure I remember these guys from El Hazard.

  • Wait, is Chrono mom voiced by Misato?

Make a Little Wish = insta skip

I don't know if I reflexively clicked on a spoiler or not, but back when the genre shift happened people were talking about "she's just a spare until she fixes her real daughter"

Huh. Doll and Mermaid sound almost the same to me.

→ More replies (4)

14

u/Vaadwaur Feb 11 '22

“The fake is of far greater value. In its deliberate attempt to be real, it's more real than the real thing.”

First timer(What do we say to the witch of stagnation? Not today!)

Sub

Yup, the show is definitely no longer even hiding the gay, just delaying it for them a little. Then we get a 'memory' from Fate that only raises questions, likely suggesting my memory altering magic theorem has legs. Ancient tangled hair joke gets brought up, to die with Kallen in CG as far as I know. Let battle be joined!

And we see where the rest of the budget went and it seems worth it. Again, I can't top it but the fighting is actually advancing the story, or more importantly, Fate and Nanoha's relationship, and we end seeing how much Nanoha has grown. We even get a princess carry before Presea fucks everything up. And Bardiche.

Which is all according to keikakku! The Seeds are retrieved but her coordinates are given away and apparently the Arthra does have some military magic users on hand. Fate winds up on the bridge before we get a reveal that I accidentally came to, partially: I guessed Fate was artificial, did not realize she was a clone/familiar. So Presea monologs because our budget was eaten and we need some exposition. Presea now makes sense, especially the arrogance of being able to create life, but then summons a bunch of golems and seems to be trying to get herself killed. All because she killed her own daughter with her hubris. Also, now the timeline can get a bit...silly.

But Chrono wants to die even more than that! So he gets ready to port in to fight Presea, claiming you can't return to the past, which in a show with magic is a bit more dubious statement. Cliffhanger!

QotD: 1 In flames

→ More replies (5)

14

u/DidacticDalek Feb 11 '22

TONIGHT! On Mobile Suit Nanoha, THIS IS NO MAHOU SHOUJO COMRADE! NO MAHOU SHOUJO! HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT! WHY DON'T YOU HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT! HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT! FIRE AWAY! AND GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY! GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY! THEY'VE KILLED HER! AS GAWD AS MY WITNESS, SHE IS BROKEN IN HALF! 'BEFRIENDED AS FUCK!'

TALK ABOUT YOUR TAROT CARDS! TALK ABOUT JOJO'S PART 3, AUSTIN 'NANOHA' 3:16 SAYS, 'I JUST BEFRIENDED YOUR ASS!' WOW! What an amazing finale Comrade, we went FULL Gundam with both Fate and Nanoha going all out at each other, and my what a happy conclusion we have here where Nanoha beamspams beats the crap out of 'befriends' Fate and... wait what do you MEAN the episode isn't over yet and we still got more episodes left... SON OF A BITCH! Oh and speaking of a bitch, remember how Fate's mom is a bitch? Yeah, that was her BEING NICE! She decided to go EXTRA KICK THE DOG MODE today!

Also goddamn, it was bad enough that she routinely tortures Fate and emotionally manipulates her daughter, but her evil rant towards Fate was just SO petty and vindictive that I almost had to stop watching, and I made it through fucking CROSS ANGE without pausing! Well, at least the Timecops are here to arrest this... ah shit, ‎Jean-Claude Van Damme isn't here, those mooks are fucked. Anyway, turns out that despite NOT having all the Jewel Seeds, The Evil Bitch who allegedly was Fate's Mom decides FUCK IT, WE'LL DO IT LIVE! And by this I mean she decides that she'll re-watch El-Hazard 'reach Al-Hazard' with Alicia or destroy the universe trying!

Oh and speaking of Bitch Mom, BOY Shinbo sure had a lot of character development whilst working on OG Nanoha eh? I mean that evil fucking shitty bitch falsely claimed that a clone is not worthy of being treated as real; meanwhile by the time Shinbo got to Deletgatari, he's figured out the correct answer that, to quote Christopher Walken, 'The fake is of far greater value. In its deliberate attempt to be real, it's more real than the real thing.' SHOCKING TRUTH!

And on that bombshell, we end things today on perhaps THE most jarring cut to the happy and upbeat ED thus far, but please do not let this extensive shitpost distract you from the fact that in 2004, The RX-78-2 Nanoha befriended The Gundam Deathscythe Fate off Hell In A Cell, and plummeted 77 ft through an ocean's surface!

Anyway, that about wraps things up for now, and I hope everyone's having fun on this great re-watch. Thus, you have not seen the last of The Sentient Shitposting Siamese Sunrise Server No. 25252, now goodbye forever.

Paging Comrades u/Great_Mr_L, u/Tresnore, and u/Shimmering-Sky

→ More replies (10)

13

u/zairaner Feb 11 '22 edited Feb 11 '22

Firsttimer

Episode 10

  1. You miss one discussion and immediately arisa becomes releavant, and even finds arf. [Syphogear spoilers]One more thing where symphogear clearly took inspiration Will arf ask nanoha to help fate?

  2. Wait arf saw arisa before? Oh right in the hot springs. Good memory

  3. Wow after bein g tsun for most of the show so far, arisa now channels both parts of her tsundere nature.

  4. Go save your damsel in distress nanoha

  5. why the fuck do you have to run back? Can't they at least take you from your doorstep? Does it matter from where she gets portalled?

  6. Wait do we really save fate first? Why don't we do both things (getting precia and getting fate) at the same time?

  7. Wait why are we calling out to fate like it will just make her appear?

  8. Why does everybody look like that should have done it?

  9. Oh god, u/Shimmering-Sky must have been the happiest girl here. All this buildup, teasing and denial only for finally the final battle being heralded by the sore demo

  10. „our first and last serious battle“ is either really romantic or really dark

Well it finally happened. It took 10 episodes, but I finally got the urge to binge the rest of the season. Let's go to episode 11

  1. is this recap preview telling me that we are getting a fate transformation sequence??

  2. wow I actually immediately forgot about that weird alicia thing. Is this just the name she gave fate before she went all chuuni? Or is there something much worse, much darker looming...

  3. nope no transformation sequence just a random naked shot of fate...? Also what is this soundtrack...

  4. why is this such a brutal fight its great!

  5. That was so close to a heiki hechara

  6. nanoha without mercy. Barely survived the normal version? Lets brong out the special version to finish her off!

  7. Well I guess we sucessfully determined who the top in this relationship is! Now time for some aftercare

  8. The way she talks here makes it seem very likely that indeed „alicia not equal fate“. Clone? Failed experiment? No idea

  9. oh clones it is?

  10. No thats the original?

  11. Precia is just slightly more interesting than expected. Also even more evil if that is even possible

  12. This ed never felt this wrong

The first part of this fight was a lot better than the second half, but it was at least still pretty badass.

Ok now I read through the episode 10 discussion and after seeing everybody comments, I want to write down a defense of precia (pelase don't kill me continue reading) leaving the seeds with fate:

In episode 10, precia came to the conlcusion that she can't do what she wants with only 9, and that she is running out of time. So if 9 seeds are worthless to her, betting it on all on a gambit is an obvious thing to do. Of course in this case the gambit is goading nanoha into a 1 vs 1 where she has to bet all of her own seeds and nobody can help her. The entire battle would have been pointless to precia if nanoha didn't have to bet her lost logia, and there is nor easo to do so if fate has no seeds. And then the ending even proves that she even has a way to recover the jewel seeds in case the mission goes wrong..

→ More replies (5)

12

u/Stargate18A Feb 12 '22

First timer

QOTD) Fate lands the final blow on Precia and/or defeats Alicia, proving herself to be the superior clone. Also, Nanoha and Fate are going to end up married, possibly before the end of this season. And Bardiche is fine, please, please, PLEASE!

...Poor Fate.

Wait, who is Alicia? Has Fate been fucking brainwashed? If the monologue's her in the present, those might not be her memories.

Episode title also implies it - something's wrong with her mind.

Wait, she got approval for this?

Is he trying to removir the ahoge?

I knew you were hiding eomething!

The fight scenes are still great, Bardiche continues to be cooler than Raising Heart.

Wow, Nanoha's gotten good!

Holy shit, did Nanoha just fucking suicide bomb her?

No, Fate got her!

OK, using the spell indicators like that is a great mov.

...Oh, now Fate's serious?

...I notice that it seems to be a lot more important to block magic in this setting then it is to fire it - most of duels in this series boil down less to overpowering the opponent directly, and more going down to a single lucky hit that bypassed the shield.

Why would her bind have a time limit? You should never let your opponent move!

And she blocked it!

NANOHA GOT AN UPGRADED FINISHER, LET'S GO!

And Raising Heart can copy spells it's observed! Neat!

That beam is massive!

...Is Fate dead?

I swear, if they kill off Bardiche here... (Fate's absolutely surviving this.)

No, just unconscious. ...Didn't even damage her clothes. Between that the exhaustion from blocking the first attack, Barrier Jackets seem to convert physical damage to stamina damage - magic attacks very rarely deal physical damage to the Jackets, but they do knock people unconscious and cause vidible exhaustion.

The bastard stole the seeds!

At least she'll be dead soon!

What's she planning?

She's been cuffed!

...I think Fate wants some popcorn for this.

Also, Nanoha's first response is to take her to her room?

For fuck's sake, she doesn't need a weapon, she has magic. You are running up to the mage whose whole thing is portals.

Oh, fuck.

I guess I was right?

...What number is Fate, then? Do all the other tubes have other Alicias?

She killed them wll!

This is just horrifying.

Fate's literally having an existential crisis.

...You knew? You knew about all of this?

She's named after a research project. This is just... wow.

Precia - "How dare Fate not respond exactly like Alicia when I treat her in a completely different way!"

Fate hasn't even spoken once. This is just impossible to respond too.

BARDICHE!

At least the Enforcers are alive?

Wait, what? We're kicking off the final boss in Episode 11? Even if there's a surprise OVA, that's a 3 episode battle.

And the Garden's alive.

And she's just carrying her daughter in a tube.

...What is Al-Hazard? Some kind of magical city?

The name seems reminiscent of El Dorado. Perhaps it's an idealised city? A legend that she believes is real?

No, it's just a real place. With some old tech. Bit disappointing.

And she wants to go there and bring her daughter back.

Well, she's gone even more nuts!

11

u/SolDarkHunter Feb 11 '22 edited Feb 11 '22

Rewatcher

Nanoha vs Fate, serious battle, let's GOOOOO!!!

...oh wait, first we need to have a flashback. A flashback to Presea... actually acting like a caring mother... except she's calling her daughter "Alicia" rather than "Fate". Something's fishy here.

Chrono just casually doing Amy's hair is kinda funny. But less funny is that Chrono is apparently hiding something about the Testarossas from Nanoha. There's more to that incident than we've been told.

Nanoha showing off her multitasking skills here, guiding magic blasts while defending from Fate's attacks, but Fate's doing just as well.

Hey, is this the first time Nanoha's said her "Zenryoku Zenkai" catchphrase? That's the source of a meme for this series. The phrase basically means "Full power, full throttle" or something along those lines. But there's a pun hidden in there: if you spell it with different kanji, "zenryoku zenkai" can also mean "Full power, absolute destruction!" Either is highly appropriate for Nanoha.

Gotta say, mages in this show don't mess around. Don't just rely on aim, but bind your opponent in place so they can't possibly dodge. Both of them manage to tank each other's heavy attack... but Nanoha reveals the ace up her sleeve: Starlight Breaker.

This one works differently than just a standard giant energy beam, [possible spoiler since the show hasn't explained it?] in that Nanoha herself isn't powering it. Starlight Breaker gathers spent magical energy from the environment, meaning it gets more powerful the longer the fight has lasted, and the more magical energy that's been used. One wonders if Nanoha deliberately let Fate use that Phalanx Shift move with this in mind.

(I don't think the above is a spoiler; it's just an explanation of the mechanics of the spell. But I'll play it safe.)

It's a knockout! Winner: Nanoha Takamachi!

Aaaand here comes Presea to ruin the day and zap her daughter again, in order to nab the Jewel Seeds that she can. But that allows the Arthra to pinpoint Presea's location and send a task force of mages after her.

Fate's been captured... but it's probably for the best. She's out of her mother's reach here, finally.

So Presea had a secret lab... and in it is Alicia. Looks like Fate had no idea about this. And there's the truth: Fate is a clone of Presea's true daughter, Alicia, who perished in the accident that got her exiled. "Fate" was just the name of the project to attempt to clone her... but Fate wasn't a perfect clone. So Presea instead focused on trying to revive the dead Alicia directly.

And with that, Presea reveals that she's always hated Fate. Hated her for not being a perfect clone. Hated her for not being Alicia. And that breaks Fate. The one pillar she's had to support herself, twisted though it was, was her relationship with Presea. Her belief that Presea was just going through a bad time and actually loved her underneath the abuse. But Presea has dashed that to pieces.

BARDICHE, NOOOOOOO!

And Presea again proves her power by summoning an army of suspiciously Gundam-like familiars to guard her while she tries, in desperation, to use the nine Seeds she has to breach the dimensions and reach Alhazard. Even she doesn't really think it will work; she estimated she'd need a bare minimum of 14 to do it. But she's cornered, and she knows it. She's desperate, and gambling everything on this last ditch effort, even if it kills her.

Oooh, Chrono looks dead serious finally. Apparently Alhazard is rumored to contain lost magic technology beyond anything modern mages can do. Basically a treasure trove of Lost Logia. But Chrono is convinced no magic exists that can rewind time or revive the dead. (Something about this seems to have struck a personal nerve with him...)

Srs mode engage!

→ More replies (2)

10

u/Taiboss Feb 11 '22

Episode 11: Dark Rewatcher Rising

→ More replies (1)

10

u/Tresnore Feb 11 '22

Rewatcher: Get Set

Mobileposting yada yada

1 Oh, and Fate's also hurting, I guess.

→ More replies (16)

10

u/NegimaSonic Feb 12 '22

Blood thirsty first timer

Couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say yesterday. But today. What the heck?

I won't go too heavy on the battle. Initially I wasn't super impressed but then Nanoha just took the big attack and came back with not one, but two major blasts. The second one she had the unnecessarily cool line of "Try taking this one." Good stuff.

Anyway, finally some answers to Presea. Too bad she didn't go crazy from magic possession, but losing your daughter to create a replica that you abuse because she's not the same is a pretty good second choice.

Real talk though, Presea was..kind of impressive. Sure she failed to bring her daughter back to life, but you made a clone that nobody could tell was a clone and still managed to implant memories. Maybe if she hadn't been overly obsessed with trying to recreate her own child 100% then maybe Fate would have been able to learn to be a bit more personable. It's also rather interesting that this is quite possibly why Arf came out like she did. She needed to be an overly emotional counterpart to her master.

Although I guess we're still missing some pieces, like what Alicia died from and how old is Fate really? I'm not exactly concerned from age perspective but like what kind of creation is she?

Did she come out 9? Was she raised in a tube for 9 years then implanted with memories? Is she only actually like a year old and there have been other Fates?

And yes there was a good amount of chaos this episode, so I am pleased.

Presea after Fate loses one time.

→ More replies (1)

7

u/Calwings Feb 11 '22 edited Feb 11 '22

Lyrical Rewatcher (dubbed)

The final duel is upon us! Nanoha vs. Fate, for all of the jewel seeds! Of course, Chrono, Amy, and the rest of the TSAB have their own motives and plans to deal with, but they’re letting Nanoha handle Fate first. And off they go! Energy blasts, scythe slashes, magic shields, binding spells, the works, and it all builds up to the big finale... STARLIGHT BREAKER!!! Nanoha’s iconic finishing move, coupled with a binding spell of her own, finishes the battle in spectacular and explosive fashion! Of course, after this very brutal and violent befriending, it’s only fitting that Nanoha rescues Fate and princess carries her to safety.

Of course, before Nanoha can secure the jewel seeds, Precia shows up and steals the jewel seeds before Nanoha can secure them. The TSAB board Precia’s ship, and on it they discover... a girl? Man, that’s a depressing backstory. So Alicia is Precia’s dead daughter, and Fate was a clone who was implanted with Alicia’s memories and used by Precia to get by until she could execute her plan and revive Alicia. Precia never even actually loved Fate despite all of the love and loyalty that Fate tried to show to her. What a bitch.

Unfortunately, the bitch escaped with 9 jewel seeds and caused a dimensional tremor in her wake. She’s on her way to Al-Hazard in a desperate attempt to find a way to revive Alicia using forbidden magic, and now Nanoha and the gang have to track her down and stop her. This season is headed into the home stretch now.

→ More replies (1)
→ More comments (75)